The strange properties of the water baffled the rest of the group. They watched as the water slowly grew larger and coursed up into the air and into the next area. Lee Seng and Keng lifted the group high and low.
"There!" Calis pointed. "I see it!" A large pool of stagnant water filled the next room. A glow of light and a quiet hum filled the room. The twins lowered Team Zephyr onto the only platform available. The song of the Cup grew louder. Calis was the first to drift towards the water.
"I'll be back!" Keng waved. He followed after Calis, submerging himself. Lee Seng and the others watched as the two descended deep into the water. Lee Seng watched the area around them while the others took a look around.
'There's a couple ways out of this place.' Lee Seng observed. 'South, Northeast, top, and West. We're closest to the West… The water is filled with energy… It's hard to keep track of Calis and Keng…' He turned to look at the Northeast exit. Lee Seng's eyes narrowed.
A silhouette peeked out and quickly pulled back behind the wall. Lee Seng stepped over and looked over to Manny and Liz. They were trying to keep an eye on Calis and Keng, who was lost to the light of the water. He turned his head back to the Northeast exit and didn't feel anything.
'Was it my imagination?' Lee Seng wondered.
'What's wrong?' Ritsuka tapped Lee Seng. Lee Seng turned and acknowledged him.
'Nothing. I think I'm seeing things.' Lee Seng answered, telepathically. 'What do you think will happen when we remove the source of all this water? Will it disappear?' Ritsuka sighed and folded his arms.
'Maybe… How long do you think it's been here?'
'The rate the water was going, I think it could've been here for at least two weeks before getting this high.'
As if on cue, the entire cave shook. The waters began to swirl as the light at the bottom of the water began to rise. Team Zephyr turned their attention to the light, watching it slowly rise up. The light continued until it broke from the body of water, pulling the energy around it.
"We got it!" Keng shouted after ascending. He looked at Calis with a smile as Calis stared in awe at the power.
"Now we use the sheath of your daggers." Calis looked at Keng. Keng nodded and began to pull it out when a dark energy flew out. It hit the Cup, knocking it out of Calis' hand and plunged back into the water. The energy dissipated as the Cup slowly sank back into the water.
"Well, well, well… It looks like someone's gone and found our little treasure trove…" A deep voice spoke. The group looked around as the voice bounced around the cavern. Lee Seng, Keng and Calis turned their attention to the Northeast exit. A muscled man stepped into view. Horns grew out of his head while parts of his skin were discolored.
"I never thought someone would come for this…" A soft female voice spoke. A white haired woman with bat wings appeared from the shadows behind the muscled man. A devil's tail swayed behind the bat woman as she folded her arms. "Who knew others would know what properties this healing water has… And now they want it for themselves… How mean when we were the first ones to find it."
A loud rumbling noise grew from the West gate. A large rock flew out and plunged into the water as a scale-skinned woman stepped out. Smoke billowed from her fists as she looked at Team Zephyr.
'Purple eyes.' Lee Seng observed. 'And purple veins. Discoloration… Don't tell me these guys are—'
"What're we waitin' for?" The scale-skinned woman asked loudly. "Why don't we just get rid of these guys and get on our way? This is our water!" The scale-skinned woman pounded her fists together and grinned. "I'm itchin' for a fight!"
'Corrupted?' Manny telepathically asked the group.
'I think you're right about that.' Calis answered.
"You're raring to go as always, Agatha…" A quiet male voice spoke. A flame ignited in the air and appeared a teenage boy with cat ears and eyes. "We were told to guard the waters, not murder as we please." The cat boy sat on a broomstick. He tilted his tired head to the left as he looked at Team Zephyr.
"Anyone who came near, I stopped! And no one dared to come until now! What do you say, Baro? Can I?" Agatha the scale-skinned woman asked the horned man. Baro stared at Lee Seng like he was hypnotized by something. Lee Seng had an air about him that made Baro feel like Lee Seng was one of them.
"Captain Baro?" The bat woman called out. Baro snapped out of it. "What are you orders, sir?"
"Kill them. Anyone who tries to take the spring will have to die." Baro answered.
"Alright! In that case… I'll take—" Agatha began to jump when a blast of water flew at her. Calis pulled the water, capturing the Cup and flew at Agatha.
'I'll take the her!' Calis telepathically told the group. Keng began to move when the cat boy froze the entire water, trapping Keng. The cat boy clicked his tongue and shook his head.
"You're not going anywhere." The cat boy shook his head.
'I'll go with Calis!' Evan booked it for the hole. It summoned his shield and slammed it onto the ice, rocketing himself straight for the hole.
"Tch." The bat woman stepped forward, conjuring a large sniper. She held it and aimed her shot at the moving Evan. She fired the shot and watched as the ice shattered into pieces hitting Evan. Evan grunted as he slammed into the wall, barely missing the West exit.
Liz's body lit up in electricity. She fired a couple bolts of lightning at the sniper. An invisible shield appeared blocking the attack. Baro's eyes glimmered gray as he fired the attack back. Lee Seng and Keng created multiple barriers as Manny got into place. The barriers exploded in an instant, hitting Manny and sending him straight into the wall.
"Manny!" Liz shouted. She whipped her head to see where Manny was, but was only met with the cat boy grabbing her.
"I'll take you." The cat boy groaned. He pulled Liz into the vortex space with Ritsuka grabbing Olivia.
"Liz!" Ritsuka shouted.
"Liv!" Lee Seng took a step when an exploding bullet knocked both Lee Seng and Manny off their feet. Ritsuka grunted as he pushed through the pain. He leapt and grabbed Olivia, forcing himself to push Olivia out as the cat boy absorbed them.
"Well, I guess that will work." The bat woman sighed. She leaned the sniper on her shoulder as she watched Keng burst out of the water. "The source of the spring is with that water-user. Should I go after him?"
"Agatha will probably need help. I'll give you a way through." Baro nodded. The bat woman smiled and released her sniper, replacing it with an assault rifle. Baro threw his hand forward and a gray energy fired out.
"Keng!" Lee Seng shouted.
"Runeweaver: Absolute Defense." Keng quickly wrote the rune and shattered it. A large silver and gold wall appeared diverting the gray energy upwards into the exit above him. The bat woman readied her assault rifled and shot at Keng, noticing the energy bullets bouncing.
"This one has high defense capabilities, sir." The bat woman informed Baro. "Maybe I should stay with you. It would be a bit unfair."
"Do not worry about me, Silva. Find Agatha with the bead." Baro handed Silva a black bead. Silva nodded and threw the bead onto the ground, crushing it. A black smoke billowed out of it, swallowing Silva. Lee Seng sent out a couple more gravity shots, watching Baro catch them with his energy shield. Baro's body glimmered with gray energy, building an armor around him.
"Too bad I can't play with you, boys! I guess you'll have so much fun with the Captain! You're no match for a Demon Captain!" Silva smiled and blew a kiss before she disappeared.
'A Demon captain?' Keng telepathically spoke to Lee Seng, Manny, and Olivia. He deflected the energy away from him, dismissing Absolute Defense. 'With an I?'
"You don't feel like one of those demons… The ones from Hell, anyway." Lee Seng whispered. Baro smiled.
"A Demon who ate a stupid set of humans and ingested this odd power within them." Baro tightened his fist. A purple energy seeped out of him. "Corrupted beings, they were. Why would humans be so weak? Because of your own greed, I became strong. And now… my team guards the one thing that can help us become stronger… And you want it? Hmph, you can die then." Baro's fist released and a blast of gray energy rushed outwards. The icy chunks disintegrated into steam as Baro's tan skin turned ashy gray. "I will feast upon your energies and evolve into something much greater… Something that even the strongest humans wouldn't dare dream about…"
This 𝓬ontent is taken from f(r)eeweb(n)ovel.𝒄𝒐𝙢