First rule: everyone has a predator
The abyss had a pungent stench. It wasn't like a smell of death, no, nothing like that. It was more like a sour, saturated smell, like sulfur. At first, smelling it made you dizzy, but then your sense of smell got used to it.
The hole extended meters and meters under the ground. The air grew colder and the sound of the wind was replaced by the echoes of the earth, the trickle of water, and the whisper of something that dragged on the ground.
"You will feel pressure in your chest," Elian announced, as they descended a ledge of underground rock, "don't worry, it's normal."
Was it normal to feel pressure in the chest down there? What the hell!
"How long are we going to keep going down?" Nahuel complained, "I feel like we are going to come out on the other side of the planet."
Yaima let out a small giggle. She remembered that when she was little, she thought that if she dug a hole deep enough, she would eventually come out to the other side of the Earth.
What a crazy idea! (Although it had some logic if you think about it and ignore the lack of oxygen, light, and the hot core in the center of the planet).
Yaima felt the cold humidity of the rocks. She felt that she might slip if she was not careful. She looked everywhere, expecting to meet some strange creature. At the moment she only saw cobwebs and dripping stalactites. What terrifying things awaited her down there?
They finally hit the ground. It was firm and moist. The light came from multicolored rocks that covered some walls and part of the ground. It looked… beautiful. Yaima imagined it more terrifying.
"Don't be fooled," Elian warned, looking at Yaima, "down here, beauty can be dangerous."
'Okay, I'll keep that in mind,' thought the girl.
They walked through a long tunnel of multicolored earth and rocks, watching for anything moving in the dark.
"And how is this Rokura creature?" Nahuel asked, his arms linked behind his neck. His voice echoed in the dark tunnel.
"It is a dangerous beast," Elian answered, his voice sullen. As if he wasn't afraid. He seemed like she longed to meet that monster, "it has a hard shell, difficult to break. At least it is difficult for an unmarked. If we break it, we'll find fat on the back of it. That fat is used to cure the pink flower disease."
"Ah, it's hard for a normal person to break, but we are marked ones," Nahuel gave a thumbs up.
"That is correct."
"Then let's kick that Rokura's ass!"
Something moved.
Yaima shuddered. They were small rocks that were attached to the wall of the cave. No, they weren't rocks, they were like the shells of small insects, as big as the palm of a hand. They jerked as if they had detected the presence of the trio of young marked ones.
The little creatures, hundreds of them, flew above them. pinning and emitting a small red glow.
"Watch out!" Elian yelled, "Don't let them touch you!"
The rotating shells were shot toward the youths, but each one dodged them as best they could. Yaima had a hard time avoiding them.
"AAAAAH!" the girl yelled.
Elian moved as fast as the breeze, purple lightning in his right hand, he waved it and… CRASH! A slash, like a bolt of lightning, destroyed several of these creatures. It was as if the boy's arm had turned into a sharp electric blade.
WOOSH! When he swung his arm around and slashed at those things, the shells exploded and were reduced to ashes. WOOSH! WOOSH! WOOSH!
That seemed to be working. However, those creatures didn't seem to diminish. More seemed to be coming. They were surrounded.
Elian cut through with his electric blade-arm.
"Here!" The boy yelled, beckoning Yaima and Nahuel.
The two ran after Elian, who was cutting dozens of those things.
"Why don't we transform?" Nahuel asked.
"Nope!" Elian cut ZAS! "Transforming spends stamina. We need to save stamina until we find the Rokura."
They ran through a tunnel diversion. The little whirling creatures followed close behind.
"What if they touch us?" Nahuel asked, looking back as he ran.
"They burn a large part of your body" answered the masked boy.
Yaima's heart jumped.
From the darkness in front of them, a round flying figure emerged. Like a balloon. It passed over them, brushing their heads. It was like an inflated reptile. It opened its snout and swallowed dozens of those flying things.
Behind that creature, another balloon reptile emerged, and another emerged, and another. Soon, hundreds of those shells were consumed.
"First rule of the abyss," Elian said, "down here ALMOST everything has a predator. Let's take the opportunity to run away."
Yaima and Nahuel nodded and ran alongside the masked boy.
They had no time to rest, for the walls shook, as if fearful. Something big was coming. Elian staggered, he almost fell, if it weren't for the fact that he clung to a rock.
"Hey, friend," Nahuel extended his hand, "are you okay?"
Elian put his hand to his chest as if his heart hurt so much that it would explode.
"The pressure on the chest... Using stamina down here... makes you weak..."
Yaima let out a small cry of fear and brought her hands to her mouth.
"What?" Nahuel opened his eyes, "why didn't you tell us?"
Yaima thought it was his powers that kept them safe in the abyss. However, did using their powers weaken them?
'No, no, no…'
The walls shook harder.
"Hey, Elian, friend," Nahuel looked around, "what's going on? I'm scared."
'I'm scared too,' thought the girl.
CRAAAASH! The left wall exploded into hundreds of pieces of rock and dust. Yaima didn't see it coming, it grabbed her with its long, scaly body and dragged her into the darkness.
"Yaima!" Nahuel yelled. He held out his hand for her, but she couldn't reach it. Whatever it had imprisoned her, it pulled her away from her companions at high speed.
***
She heard the trickle of water. Where was she? The last thing she remembered was a wall exploding. A long, scaly body. Nahuel shouting her name and extending his hand. Yaima opened her eyes and found herself face down, in the middle of a cold cave.
She tried to move, but she couldn't, she was imprisoned by a rope. No, it wasn't a rope, it was the thick tail of a giant snake. Or what appeared to be a snake.
The monster brought its stinking snout closer to the girl. Its head was covered by a kind of helmet, a shell of bone and spikes on its forehead. Its reptilian eyes looked up at her and then focused its attention downward.
Yaima looked at the ground and saw small snakes, screeching and jumping to try to reach the girl with their sharp teeth.
Were those the creature's babies?
'I am going to become food for these things,' the girl lamented.
"Na-Nahuel... NAHUEL!" She yelled. But it was useless. He wasn't listening to her. No one would listen to her. She was alone. Defenseless.
The mother snake brought Yaima closer to its offsprings, who squealed with excitement, anxious as if they were finally going to end a long famine.
'No, no, no, I can't die like this.'
Yaima struggled, but the snake's body was too strong. The girl couldn't move an inch.
'No, no, no, no, no!'
The hatchlings screeched louder.
'You must have your own voice if you want to survive in this world,' Elian's voice echoed in her head.
Yes, Yaima must have her own voice. And not only that, she had to fight for herself. She had to be brave, she had to defeat fear.
The girl nodded, swallowed hard, and yelled loudly:
"Transformation!"
A blinding blue light. The snake howled in pain, closing its eyes as if that light burned it with the power of a sun.
ZUZ! Water whips severed the huge monster's tail. It screamed again in pain, then roared with rage.
Yaima fell to her feet. Her body was wrapped in sky blue armor. And a helmet that covered her forehead. With her face free.
[YAIMA – WATER USER
ATQ: 90
DEF: 170
MAGIC: 300
SPEED: 120
STAMINA: 250]
Yama nodded.
She pointed her open palm at the angry snake's head.
'I must speak clearly and loudly. I must have confidence in myself.'
"WATER PRISON!"
The snake's head was engulfed in a sphere of compressed liquid. The monster shuddered and writhed, as if unable to breathe.
The hatchlings launched themselves at Yaima, but the girl evaded them, extended her open hand, pointing at them, and shouted:
"Water prison!"
The little snakes were trapped in a capsule of compressed liquid.
The mother beast shook its head forcefully and broke through the water prison. It took a breath and threw herself at Yaima. The girl reacted quickly and dodged. It was as if her reflections were unhuman.
The giant snake attacked again, but Yaima nonchalantly evaded it. She recognized that it was easy. She felt powerful.
Yaima pointed at the snake's head and shouted:
"Hydro blade!"
BUSH! A long blade of water shot out from her palm, like a boomerang, striking the beast's skull and shattering its armored protection.
Yama nodded.
"Hydro blade!"
BOOOSH! This time it lopped off the snake's head. Blood spurted everywhere, staining the cave walls, and its body fell limp. It shook the ground with the impact.
[ VICTORY! RAKNA POINTS EARNED: 7]
Yaima looked at herself and didn't recognize herself. That armor… that power…
Fush! A blue flash and she found herself wearing the maid dress.
Yaima felt dizzy. She staggered and felt a powerful pressure on her chest.
'This must be what Elian was referring to,' she thought.
Elian! Nahuel! Where were they? And most importantly: where was she?
It was after the heat of battle that she realized she was lost.