Underground Cave

"Haha, I'm not very hungry yet," she replied to Ash who was standing in front of her holding a plate of food.

"Oh, don't lie to me. You eat a lot," said Ash, sitting down next to her.

Then Ash took a piece of sausage and offered it to Maya's mouth.

Maya just stared at the sausage, and Ash said to her, "Here, eat."

She opened her mouth hesitantly and bit into the sausage.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Liliana standing a bit away from them, looking in their direction.

Maya couldn't see her expression, but she was sure that Liliana had a sour expression while watching them. In her heart, she grinned, 'You may be pretty, but for Ash, he pays more attention to me,' she thought happily while chewing the sausage.

The two of them started eating from the same plate and joking with each other.

***

A few days later were filled with Maya's visits to John's house, where they discussed with John how they would get the items they were looking for.

Maya had already informed John that she was here to steal an item from somewhere in the city, but she wasn't sure where it was, so she asked John's permission to use her Treasure Sense skill to find the item for her quest.

Treasure Sense could be a bit misleading, as there were many valuable items she could steal in the city.

The item that Maya was going to steal was called the Ring of Teleportation. They didn't know where it was, but Maya was sure that the item was in Sassi City.

They checked The Captain's Map, and it indeed showed that the Ring of Teleportation was in Sassi City. However, strangely, the item was located under the hill.

John thought while looking at The Captain's Map, then said, "Maybe I know where it is. But that place is dangerous."

Maya eagerly leaned towards John with both hands on the table and asked, "Where, Sir? Please tell me."

"Hmm. Actually, that place is rarely visited by us because it is indeed dangerous," John considered whether to tell them.

Finally, he stood up and asked them to follow him, "Follow me."

Ash and Maya got up and followed him. Jagu followed them lazily as he just woken up from his nap.

They left the house, heading to the middle of the hill, where several caves had entrances shaped like small houses' entrances.

Decorative flowers adorned the path they walked along, with a bicycle leaning against the side of one of the houses.

John walked to the end of the road, which turned out to be a cave hollow, with an iron door covering the entrance.

A large chain and two big padlocks were attached there. John took out the keys, all bound together in a large ring from his Inventory, and began unlocking all the padlocks and the door lock.

"This place is indeed forbidden to keep children from entering," John explained, then opened the door.

He entered and then called Ash and Maya over.

Ash and Maya entered and immediately saw that the place was a cave, with a cliff at the end.

From that cliff, there was a large hole leading underground.

Ash and Maya looked down with a terrified expression. The hole was very deep.

Many lights illuminated the cave and the hole, and they saw some kind of platforms on a small lake at the bottom.

"Now, can your Treasure Sense feel if the item you're looking for is here or not?" asked John.

Maya paused for a moment, then said, "Yes, Sir. I'm sure now, the item I'm looking for is somewhere down there."

John nodded, "Alright. When will you start searching?"

Ash said, "It's okay to start now, Uncle John. Let's get everything done quickly."

"Hmm. Okay. To go up and down, there is an elevator. But there are also stairs," said John, then paused for a moment while thinking.

He took two walkie talkies and handed one to Ash.

"Unfortunately, I have to close the door again from the outside to keep children from entering here," he said, looking at the door, which now had many children peeking into the cave.

Ash and Maya looked at the door with slight amusement.

"It's okay, Uncle John. We'll contact you when we've managed to get the item," said Ash, reassuring his uncle.

John sighed deeply. Then he said, "Be careful, especially you, young man. You are my only family here."

Ash approached John, who was about twenty centimeters shorter than him, and hugged him.

"I'll be fine, Uncle. Don't worry," he said, while patting his uncle's shoulder.

They checked if the walkie talkies were working properly, John said, "Alright. I will go out now and lock the door. Remember, be careful, all of you."

Ash and Maya nodded, followed by a tail-wave from Jagu.

After shooing the children away from the door, John left and locked the cave door. The sound of their footsteps could be heard moving away.

They immediately walked towards the elevator and entered it. There were only two buttons inside the elevator, down and up. Ash pressed the down button.

The elevator moved slowly downwards, silently. Tensed, they both looked out through the glass of the elevator, and Jagu sniffed around the entire elevator.

They arrived at the bottom without any issues. As soon as they exited the elevator, they were greeted by slightly stale air.

Several large circular platforms with walls surrounding them, and some platforms shaped like bridges connecting the elevator, and all the circular platforms. It was illuminated by lights, contrasting with the darkness in the cave, and was extremely breathtaking. 

Below the platforms, there was a small lake, with several boats moored to platform support columns.

Jagu walked ahead of them out of the elevator and sniffed around the entire place.

Ash asked Maya as they walked out of the elevator, "Where do you feel the item is located?"

Maya paused for a moment, then pointed up the cave, at the wall across the lake. There was a small hole, between the entrance door and where they were standing.

"Up there," she answered.