Deseret

POV: Aria

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Current Mission

Difficulty: E

Objective: Rescue the mantis lovers' son

Rewards: Food rations (10 days). Floor 1 Access key

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The dull ache of longing gripped my chest as I read the rewards.

'Floor 1 Access Key'

We had been saved by Arlo after he cleared the first floor, alone. The first floor was the gate to the irradiated world on the outside, but, also, the safest place that our deceased leader had created for us. He molded the room to his will and seemed to manipulate matter with just his thoughts.

A weird feeling of happiness came over me as I remembered how scared I was when he created a bed out of thin air next to me. He had godlike mysterious abilities that I couldn't comprehend. He created nearly a years worth of food with a simple snap of his fingers. All of our fears melted away within seconds of entering that area.

We didn't love Arlo for his strength and ability though, at least I didn't. I just remembered waking up every morning to cook breakfast with him. I had always wanted to become a chef after my father passed away. After I told him, he promised to cook with me every day. It truly felt like, for a brief period, my father had returned from heaven to cook delicious food for me once again.

I still remember hating him for his constant teasing. Every time I overcooked meat or when I accidentally dumped an entire container of parsley on a single egg, he would always have a snarky reply.

He made us feel so safe. It was like he saw each one of us as if we were precious gemstones. He took care of all of our needs, and, even when we were fighting in different battle teams, I felt like there was a net beneath me. I never felt scared because I knew that somehow, he would protect me.

My eye quivered as a violent mix of emotions rose within me.

When he died, that net broke. The net caved in and the feelings of fear, rage, sadness, and, most of all, loneliness returned. The bitter truths began to tear us apart from the inside out. We were the last free humans on Earth. It was just the ten of us on a decimated planet.

I miss you, Arlo.

My heart wrenched as the pressure behind my eyes heightened to an unbearable degree. Little beads of water fell from my face down to my hands. The drops all had their own confusing personality that mirrored my own. Some drops were angry, some sad, some scared, and some unbearably lonely.

My hands and face became a disgusting wetlands as I covered my mouth.

A warm, strong, yet gentle hand clasped my own and tightened itself around my own. I looked up with reddened eyes to see Jeremiah's deep emerald eyes looking at me with concern.

His smooth voice penetrated my ears, "I know. We can return."

That's when I realized what emotion I was truly feeling.

It was hope.

If we could truly return to the first floor that Arlo crafted for us, it would change everything. We would finally regain the seemingly unobtainable feeling of safety.

I wiped my eyes and grit my teeth with conviction.

Jeremiah turned back to the male mantis, "We'll do everything in our power to return your son to you."

The female mantis began to tremble softly as her bug-like eyes filled with hope.

The male mantis opened a hidden compartment and pulled out an amazonian leaf that he had inscribed with his scythe-like arm.

It was a map.

The mantis held the map out to Jeremiah and bowed deeply, "Et wel ve doangerus. Plez, ve sef."

Jeremiah nodded and took the map.

-

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Aria

Age: 16

Gender: Female

Species: Homo Sapien

Race: Cree / English (AN: 1/4 Native American)

Class: Archer (Rank F)

Stats: | Affinity:

Strength: 11 | Uncommon

Agility: 19 | Epic

Stamina: 12 | Uncommon

Ability Control: 15 | Rare

Pressure: ?? | Epic

Skills:

Snipe: (Rank E)

Proficiency: 19/100

Track: (Rank E)

Proficiency: 18/100

Eagle-Eye (Rank F)

Proficiency: 24/100

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As we were wandering through the scorching desert, I summoned my status window to check on the progress of my tracking skill.

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Activating Track

Proficiency: 18/100

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I kept activating my skill to make sure that we could return back safely in the event that something were to happen.

Meanwhile, the group was unconsciously following Jeremiah while deep in conversation.

Hazel spoke, "Do any of you find it confusing?" She paused. "Did they give us a mission themselves?"

Lani echoed my thoughts, "You're right. We've never gotten a mission that way before. It just seemed like a streamlined program."

Kenji sighed and spoke grimly, "We know nothing about this place."

Nikita seemed confused as well, "Didn't Maksim refer to it as 'The Depths'?"

I frowned, "Honestly, that sounds like a nickname, or perhaps, slang."

Gael affirmed. "I agree. We're brought miles underneath Earth's surface to fight to the death against terrifying creatures in strange environments. It sounds exactly like what a five year old would call it."

Xavier shot a questioning look at Gael. "I'm smarter than I look, am I not? At least I didn't watch children's cartoons in all of my free time."

Gael stiffened, "T-they're not cartoons!"

Lani squealed, "Stop! Stop! I do not want to hear your defense, you weirdo!"

Gael's face crumpled. I put my hand on his shoulder to cheer him up, "Don't feel bad. Ezra's already memorized every spell from the Parry Hotter series."

Ezra's eyes burst open, "Hey! You never know when the owl's gonna come. I had to be ready!"

Ezra continued rambling, "And I AM a wizard now!"

Hazel's caring eyes squinted as she held back her chuckle.

Lani seemed to brighten at Ezra's comment and shifted closer to him.

Xavier growled, "You guys are both dorks."

Jeremiah held his hand up, "We're here."

In front of us was a small rocky patch with an opening large enough for one person to slip through.

I parroted his words as a question, "We're here?"

Ezra looked like he was about to cry, "Another cave!?"

Jeremiah had a sinister smirk on his face, "Another cave."

Kenji took the lead, "Whatever, let's go."

Lani tilted her head to the side and copied Kenji, "Whatever, let's go."

Kenji growled, "What are you doing?"

Gael smiled and continued the game, "What are YOU doing?"

Kenji pursed his lips and turned to crawl inside the hole.

An uncontrollable force lifted my cheeks as I chuckled, "You guys are too funny!"

Blaire retorted emotionlessly, "You guys are too funny."

There was an awkward period of silence.

My face reddened as a feeling of embarrassment washed over me, "I'm sorry Blaire, I think the game ended."

She slowly looked down towards the sand, "Oh."

-

I managed to pull myself through the tight space, and, thankfully, the area opened up a bit to reveal a small sandstone corridor.

Thank goodness. I'm not good in tight spaces.

I turned to help Xavier down the hole, but he managed to slip through easily on his own.

Jeremiah called out from the front, "Everyone, get close. I've got a bad feeling."

He redirected his gaze to Lani. "Lani, summon an aerial creature to scout the hallway."

Lani nodded, "Got it!"

Her dark brown eyes slowly morphed into a violet abyss as she materialized her staff.

"Anubis! Come!"

Before her, a purple vulture appeared and quickly gave a nodding head motion.

The vulture flew off as Lani closed her eyes to concentrate.

Xavier, who was standing next to me, began slightly shaking.

I asked worriedly, "Xavier? Are you okay?"

His expression turned grim and a short shiver ran up my back. "Our enemy isn't from this floor."

As he said this, Lani collapsed to the ground and began coughing up blood. "I-it killed Anubis. So quickly!"

Jeremiah darkened, "Battle Formation."

As I quickly stumbled into position, a deep, powerful voice sounded from down the corridor, "How dare you!?"

A massive black jaguar cloaked in crimson energy began stalking his way towards us.

The air around me began to become dense and I struggled to compress my lungs. My hands unconsciously began to claw at my throat.

I forced my reluctant body to calm down and quickly materialized my bow as the colors in my vision began to twist into different shades of purple.

The jaguar clawed at the ground and growled "You Syndicate bastards took everything from me! To think you would even chase me down!"

Syndicate? It was the first time a creature in this place had mentioned their name.

A painful cry sounded from the jaguar, "Fine! My family awaits me in Farengar anyway! I'll just make sure to bring you with me!"