Bottom of the food chain

(Underground chamber - Olivia's P.O.V.)

"I missed you so much big sis!", Shyza's hug got tighter. "This whole survive alone mission doesn't make any sense, humph!"

…

Strange. I thought there was something strange about Shyza but the more time passed and the more I heard her voice… the less that seemed to be the case. Maybe, the fear was getting to me a bit too much.

"Big Sis?"

My eyelids rose and my vision immediately sharpened. The little girl stared deep into my eyes with an innocent allure in hers.

"I- I'm sorry! I didn't hear you earlier!", I stammered as I stood up.

[Blitz: Entering incognito mode]

The floating robot instantly disappeared as if it were never there.

"Huh? Isn't that Blitz??", Shyza tilted her head. "I didn't think you'd turn it on."

"I'm… not the one who turned it on", my fists tightened lightly.

"Hmmm??", the little girl paused for a bit and then grabbed my right hand. "Lemme show you what I found!"

"Eh? O- Okay"

Shyza took me through a series of winding tunnels. The pathway was dimly lit with glowing crystals that protruded from the tunnels' walls.

Finally, we reached a large cave.

"What is this place?", I stopped in my tracks and looked around at the wide space.

"Heyyyy! Big Sis!!", Shyza waved at me from the other end of the cave.

I made my way to her and as I got closer, my eyes caught a small opening on the wall behind her.

"Teehee, try to look inside", the little girl smiled.

There was something fishy about it, but for some reason I chose to ignore my suspicions. I bent over to try and take a look, just as she said.

"Um, there's nothing-"

"Gotcha!"

My body suddenly jerked forward as an unknown force slammed against my butt. 

"Shyza! W- Why did you do…", my eyes widened for a moment. "…that."

Slowly, I felt my entire body slide deeper into the small tunnel as it began to steepen and before I knew it, I was sliding through the dark tunnel at full speed.

"Hahahaha! Isn't this fun!?", Shyza slid along with pure joy.

Her giggles resounded throughout the tunnel, a sharp contrast to my petrified screams.

How could she do this to me!?

My eyes were shut tight and the wind rushed all over my skin until strangely, I felt my eyes twitch and my body rise. The rushing air also grew even more intense.

Was I-

"Woohoo! We're in for a big dip!"

I felt something grab onto me, forcing my eyes open at that very instant. Shyza tightly hugged my body with a stubborn grin on her face. Complaints almost made their way out of my chest, but they died the moment I set my eyes on our surroundings.

Lush forests spanned the entire region, several alien beasts also roamed the air as well as the ground.

There was an entire ecosystem underground??

But then, how?

Wait…

My heart suddenly sank into my stomach as a horrifying realization hit me. The rushing winds, my body seemingly rising… was I in the air!?

"M- My goodness!", I immediately covered my face with my palms. "Shyzaaaa!"

The little girl continued to laugh with some kind of unexplainable joy as we began to make a high-speed descent.

What were we going to do!?

Our skin shields were obviously not going to protect us from any impact!

Hold on, I had an idea! Maybe Blitz could-

*SPLASH!*

A cold substance surrounded my body and my hearing dampened as the liquid rushed into them.

What was it?

Water? It felt like water!

Without wasting any time, I carefully made my way to the surface. My head popped out from beneath the waters with a light splash while I took in a big gasp for air.

"Shyza! Shyza?", my eyes darted around. There was nothing but the lake I was in and the forest that surrounded me.

Just then, I noticed a shadow slowly approaching from beneath the water a short distance away. The water erupted as a little girl took in a gasp for air.

"Hehe", Shyza turned to me and smiled. "That was fun, wasn't it?"

I kept silent, just staring at her with my eyes wide open.

"No, it wasn't", my eyelids lowered as I looked away. "It was AMAZING!"

"HAHA! Really!? 'Cuz I swear, I thought we were gonna die", she blurted out with an expressionless face.

Sigh, what was I going to do with someone like her?

.

.

.

(A few minutes later)

"So, you mean to tell me that you found this place when you were running away from those predator plants last night?", I stared at the sight way above our heads.

The entire place was caved in and the only sources of light were the abnormally large luminescent crystals that decorated the far boundaries of the area.

"Yes", Shyza answered in a low voice as she stared into the blazing fire before her. "It was horrible and really really scary. I mean, they just came outta nowhere."

I placed my palms over the flames, "Yeah…"

"When I fell through the quicksand, I really wasn't to meet all this", she muttered. "Sliza says the animals here don't really belong underground and that something forced them down here."

"Something?", I cocked an eyebrow. "Do you mean those plants?"

Shyza nodded, "Apparently, they're an alien parasite species called Litzizi. They suck out all the resources from lush planets and once they're done, they explode as seeds into space in order to search for new planets to feed on. Of course, they end up destroying their host in the process."

An unsettling feeling began to make my stomach churn once I heard her say that.

"What about the plants here?", my line of sight trailed off into the forests. "There isn't a shred of sunlight here, so how do they grow so big?"

"Oh, Ahahaha!"

"W- What's so funny?"

"These are the Litzizi", she sarcastically smiled. "And they feed on flesh to survive."

"What!?", I immediately stood up on both feet and took a step back.

"Don't worry, big sis… they're in some kind of sleep state", Shyza looked at the supposedly 'normal' trees behind her. "Or more precisely, the true tree is asleep."

"True tree?"

She pointed in a certain direction, prompting me to turn around. There was an exceptionally huge tree in the centre of the forest.

"That's the queen. Actually, all these plants are just one plant and that's the queen", Shyza spoke quite sternly.

"So, she's getting ready to release her seeds and spread her offspring?", my hands began to tremble lightly.

Shyza got up and then walked to my side, "She's already in the release stage."

"Huh?"

Right there and then, the entire ground began to rumble violently. All the aliens in the vicinity were thrown into confusion and the once peaceful environment was thrown into utter chaos as every tree began to pull themselves out from the soils.

At this point, the ground wasn't the only thing trembling. Ha…

"Big sis", Shyza held my hand. "Don't be scared, we've got each other!"

She smiled

"Plus, I'm sure Sekky's gonna cut this so-called queen Litzizi with Dzinu's help!", the little girl bent her head. "I just hope he's okay…"

I stood there, doing nothing but staring at the distressed girl. She was scared and yet ready to cheer me up. 

Ha, wasn't it supposed to be the opposite?

But…

What if I messed up?

What if I failed to protect her?

What if Sek never comes?

What if

What if we all die?

My fingers curled into soft fists

"Let's go, Shyza"