Chapter 33: Cracking the Cave

"We are looping."

"I'm sorry, but I beg your pardon?"

What does Gene mean by "looping"? That sounds ridiculous, so he better have a good explanation.

"I know that you are all confused by the look on your faces but bear with me. Ever since we have entered this area and traveled down the pathways, I've felt more and more deja vu. I can't be the only one, right?"

Gene looks at the three of us, hoping to find someone that shares his sentiment. Admittedly, I think I do.

"Now that you mention it, I've kinda felt like we were seeing the same thing over again. I mean, what are the odds that we see perfectly identical rooms all with the same four paths?"

"Right? The odds of us looping is much higher compared to that."

"So, Gene, why did you leave us behind for a moment?"

My sister posed the question that the three of us were thinking about. Gene never does things without reason, even if I think the reason is dumb. 

"Think about it, if we are looping back to the starting area, then what came before that?"

"The cave entrance, of course. Is this a trick question?"

"No, not at all, Thena! Take a guess what I discovered. Hint: it wasn't the previous room."

"Lily knows! Lily knows the answer! Gene found the cave entrance!"

"Ding-ding-ding, Lily is the winner!"

Lily cheers in excitement as Gene claps for her. Even Aisha is lightly clapping and whistling. What is this, a gameshow?

"So let me get this straight, this entire time we never made it past this area and have been closer to the entrance than our destination? But how could that be possible?"

"What do you mean?"

"Did you forget? I placed my slime near each pathway entrance that we took in order to mark where we have traveled. However, inside none of the rooms, including this one, have I seen my slime. If we are truly looping, shouldn't we see the same slime?"

"..."

Gene closes his eyes and rubs his chin, appearing to get lost in his thoughts. 

"That's a fair point, though I think I've come up with a logical explanation that aligns with my loop theory. 'Looping' refers to going around in circles, repeating the same thing endlessly. Well, it wouldn't be a true loop if this area remained changed, right?"

"I…suppose?"

I'm trying my hardest to follow his logic and way of thinking, but I swear he sounds like a teacher giving a lecture. Lily looks like she's following along, and there's no way I'm gonna look dumber than a little girl!

"I mean, yes, that makes sense! So my slime disappears because…because…"

I motion my hand for Gene to continue. Come on, get a clue!

"Because the area resets every time we leave and reenter."

"Oh, so no matter what we do, everything in here will reset, making my slime markings pointless."

"I wouldn't say 'pointless', but definitely not the most reliable strategy."

"All we need to do is find a way out of the loop so that we can stop meandering. Leave this to me!"

When it comes to thinking of strategies, it's much easier for me to showcase my wits like a genius. Our family calls that "Tackle Tactics"!

"Lily, do you smell anything right now?"

"..."

Lily hesitates for a moment, then closes her eyes and smells the air. 

I'm abundantly aware that she has been more reserved when it comes to interacting with me or even Aisha–especially compared to Gene. I wouldn't mind being more friendly with her, but I did make a hostile first impression by taking her partner. I don't feel bad for that guy though, he deserved it! Honestly, it's strange how quickly she agreed to joining our party. If it were me, all hell would break loose!

"Yes, Lily smells a sweet scent. It's the same sweet scent as before."

"Which path is the aroma coming from?"

"Hmm…there."

Lily points to the second path.

"It's coming from there? We have already been down that path, and that's what started this looping mess…"

Man, I wish I could smell what she's smelling so I could better understand what's going on…or at least figure it out. There's got to be more to it than that…

Got it.

"Lily, try smelling the other paths. I think you may notice something."

"Mmm."

Lily nods and walks over to the first pathway.

"Sniff sniff, it smells sweet. Just like the other one."

"So path one and two smell sweet. Just a moment ago, you already tried the fourth path, and knowing that this is the same room, that means that you'd get the same outcome. Then that only leaves path three."

"Okay, Lily will get close to path three."

Lily quickly arrived at the 3rd path and she immediately started sniffing. She's definitely curious about the outcome, just like I am.

"Sniff sniff, sniff sniff…"

"Hey, you are sniffing that one much longer than the others. Notice anything different?"

"...flowers. It smells like flowers! This one is different!"

"Aha, there we go! We were following the wrong scent all along."

"Ah, perhaps Lily could only smell a sweet scent because the other three pathways were masking the flowery scent coming from the 3rd path. Nice job figuring that out, Thena!"

"That's my baby sister! Men love a girl who can use her brain, right Gene?"

"Yeah, for sure I–wait…"

"Aisha, don't ask him weird questions like that!"

"Oookay, if you say sooo!"

"Oh, so you want to keep mocking, eh?"

I secrete a few miniature slimeballs in my hand. I found a better purpose for using my slime within this cave!

"What 'cha got there, Thena? A little snack for me?"

"Your hair seems like it could use some moisturizer. Let me help with that!"

"Aww, you're so cute, sis."

We stand face-to-face with each other, waiting for someone to make the first move. Does Aisha think I'm joking? It's about time I show her just how dead-serious I am!

"Uh, girls? I hate to interrupt your sisterly bonding time, but Lily is already heading down the path. I think it's best to join her and save this for later…"

Gene subtly reminds us to stay focused on the reason we came here. Realizing this, Aisha and I nod, and turn our attention towards Gene in unison.

"Agreed."

I empty the slime from my hands. No worries–once we are done with this expedition…

"My dear friend Thena, we can hear you chuckling."

___________________________________________________________________________

After traveling down the third pathway, we enter another room. The path itself was nothing noteworthy compared to the others, but this room is another story. Gene and I stop side-by-side, sweeping the area with our eyes.

"Thena, do you see what I'm seeing?"

"I see it clearly."

We pause for a moment to let the revelation sit in. We then turned towards each other and–

"There are only 3 pathways now! We are making progress!"

We yell the exact same words victoriously. I know that we aren't at the oasis yet, but it feels so good to be free from that loop, I could cry tears of joy!

Not that I'd actually ever do such a thing. 

"Let's keep this progress going! I assume that if we choose the wrong path, we will be forced to restart. Lily, be sure to smell all the paths before choosing one."

"Lily understands!"

Lily smells each path one by one carefully.

"So? What is it this time?"

"The second and third paths smell the same, but the first one smells spicy."

"Then the correct path is obviously the first one this time. All right team, let's go!"

Everyone nods and sprints down the first pathway. The closer we get to the goal, the more energetic I feel! That, or it's the lingering effects of that energy drink.

As predicted, the next room has only two paths instead of three. If we get this one right, then there will be no need to carefully determine the correct path in the final room.

"Lily, which one is correct?"

Since there are only two paths, we have a 50/50 chance of getting this correct. I'm not sure how Lily will distinguish between the paths, but the four of us should be able to come up with something if need be.

"The second path on the right has no special scent. The first path on the left…stinks."

"So our two options are a stinky path, or a path with no scent. Gene, thoughts?"

There's no way I'm risking this one myself!

"Hmm, well according to what we know, the way to the veil hiding the oasis is by a faint scent an average sense of smell can't detect. Therefore, I'd wager that the correct path is the path with a scent rather than without…"

"So, Lily must choose the stinky one?"

"Sorry Lily."

Lily holds her nose and her breath as we travel down the pathway. I've been curious as to what she has been smelling throughout our time in this cave, but for this one instance, I am content with ignorance.

Fortunately for her and the rest of us, we made it to the next room very quickly. Finally, the thing I wanted to see, not counting the oasis itself: the final singular path. 

Here. We. Are.

"The end is in sight! The path forward is clear, but just to be safe…"

I look over towards Lily.

"Sniff, this path smells like…water."

"Water, you say?"

That has to be the oasis, right?

We walk down the path…for about 13 seconds. This path was the shortest by far, but I'm not complaining. Everything doesn't need to be climatic.

The ending of the path leads us to a room one-fourth the size of the other rooms. A small pool of water resides in the center. The water itself is crystal clear, and it appears to be the world's cleanest water. Besides that, what more could I say?

"That's it? We came all the way here for an oasis smaller than a swimming pool? What a scam!"

"At the end of the day, it's the journey that counts. Right, Thena?"

After hearing Gene's statement, both my sister and I stared at Gene blankly. He chuckles nervously, realizing how dumb he sounded.

"Oh yeah, you are a family of treasure hunters, my bad. Perhaps we should bottle up this water as a sort of souvenir?"

"Since when is water treasure? I doubt it's a fountain of youth or anything."

"It's either the water, or our word of mouth. I'm sure we both know which one would get a better grade for our project."

"...fine. Let's get the water."

As I motion towards Gene in hopes of begrudgingly accepting an empty canteen, I noticed Lily sniffing the air. 

"Lily smells something…strong. A strong smell is coming from the water!"

Lily inches her way to the water, as if she were following a scent trail. Gene follows behind her.

"Lily, what kind of strong smell is it? Is it a poisonous scent?"

"Lily doesn't know, but it smells so…sniff…so…sniff…"

Lily gradually moves her face closer and closer to the water. At this rate, she will end up with water up her nose!

"Hey Lily, you should be careful, or else you might take an unwanted plunge."

Despite Gene's warning, Lily continues to draw nearer to the water. It's almost as if the water is beckoning her to come. Argh, as the party leader, I'd better try to intervene.

"Lily, you may like 'em, but you're not a fish, are you? Cats should stay away from deep water or else–"

SPLOOSH

"!!!!"

Right on cue, Lily fell into the water, head-first. Despite anticipating such an outcome, it still caught the rest of us by surprise!

"Lily! I'll save you!"

"Wait Gene, don't–"

SPLASH

Before I could finish my sentence, Gene took off his backpack and headlight and dove right into the water after Lily. Only Aisha and I remain.

"Sis…what should we do now?"

We are alone, standing in a dark cave with only the water as a source of illumination. Actually, now I'm starting to realize how the water is faintly glowing as if it's radiating…

"Well, I would suggest that we wait for Gene to resurface with the girl, but I don't think that's feasible."

"Why not?"

"Look at the water."

Aisha points at the water. I don't see anything particularly noteworthy, barring its glow.

"The water looks relatively normal; what's your point?"

"That is my point, Thena. Two people just fell into the water, yet the water remains perfectly still, with no ripples or waves. That's abnormal for a body of water, isn't it?"

"Yeah…you're right. It seems like Gene and Lily outright disappeared when they entered the water, so perhaps the water is…some sort of portal?"

I shrug my shoulders, signaling that I gave the best theory I had. I'm sorry, but my brain is getting worn-out.

"Only one way to find out, Thena."

Aisha reaches her hand out to me, inviting me to grab it. I grabbed her hand, and we walked to the edge of the water together.

"Thena, let me know when you're ready."

I take a deep breath, trying my best to mentally prepare for what awaits us on the other side.

"Ready, sis."

We look each other in the eyes and nod in unison. Without saying another word, we bend our legs…

SPLOOSH

…and jumped.