CHAPTER 8

It is dark, very dark in the Bottomless Pit.

Alister and Zephyr are still fast asleep after a dozen hours. The only one with a clue on the time is Riley, who ended up taking a nap as well.

The animals, despite their enhancements, barely stand up against the pitch black of this void. It's an endless gulf of emptiness. It traps them on this sturdy platform. It better stay that way. They are not ready to risk another fall. Even with the oppressive nature of the pit, Nil, Urth, and Eylventh can see around a dozen meters in these darker environments. The way they were programmed and retooled by their master is supernatural. Riley gifted to his creatures an eyesight superior to any intelligent being on the surface.

He did steal the nervous systems of humans with the best senses on the planet to achieve this. He tweaked them to fit within the configurations of the newborn mutations. Between the three, Eylventh obtained the better results by far. It is not a stretch to say that it can see very well the details of the forty years old rock formations and exactly which platform is better suited for landing, in case they must move out. 

These animals are truly a marriage between the natural, artificial and the fantastical. They hold an almost human like quality to them. Clear signs of boredom, impatience, and fatigue. These emotions are not as well expressed by other monsters in the wild, especially not to the extend these three do.

They hear something near them however that quenches this thirst for anything exciting: The young blacksmith mumbling words in his deep slumber.

"Riley. Where... is she? Where..."

The first one to pick up on these signs of life is Nil, who walks up to the boy with precaution. Urth follows suit and Eylventh comes in third. Soon, all three animals are gathered to witness Zephyr as he slowly wakes up.

When he opens his eyes, he can't see a thing, but can hear the animals close to him. The echo produced by Nil's meows takes him aback. The Bottomless Pit is a massive, wide-open space that can produce such sounds, yet the boy couldn't guess the echo would be that big.

"Well, thank you for waking me up. Much appreciated." Gently lets the young man, drowsy and still at an emotional crossroad. He pets the animals one by one. He realizes quickly that his field of vision is limited to a tiny spec of platform, just enough to see the pets and very little else. On top of that, his lack of a bag and a sword freezes him.

This is frightening, no means of self-defense in such abyss of gloom is scary for Zephyr. What's bothersome too is the amount of black powder stuck to his clothes and skin, like a rain of dark dust fell on him. The animals seem to have some as well, but it's minor compared to the young blacksmith. His gear is covered in ash. His recollection of the events prior to this situation is foggy at best, and nonexistent at worst.

"Okay. This is great. Alright, kit' cat, you see my big bag somewhere? if so, you bring it to me please, and fast." He points at Nil.

In this darkness, Nil's main way to travel is with smell. Luckily for it, one of its enhancements triggers a superior ability to track odors it recognizes. Some of the cinder left by the boy after the sudden explosion is what Nil picks up and recognizes. This in fact leads him straight to the bag. The feline slowly brings it to the blacksmith, who doesn't expect the cat to return anyway. At this rate, Zephyr takes any victories he can get.

"Well thank you. You're a life saver kitty."

There's another sound in the background that the young blacksmith doesn't hear. It sounds like someone is waking up after him.

"Hmph! You should be far more thankful to me then, young man. I birthed these creatures after all."

Zephyr hears Riley voice, which alerts him. His vision is so limited that he cannot see the scientist, but the animals are looking at his direction, which helps Zephyr to locate the doctor's whereabouts and where to talk to.

"Also, its name is Nil. I'm sure it's going to enjoy your company while I am still around, so at the very least call it by its actual name."

In response to hearing the doctor, the cat purrs and scratches it hears. Zephyr switches to a more serious tone of voice.

"Doctor. Glad to know your nearby." 

"Why, so you can kill me sooner!? Knowing you had a vendetta against me, I wouldn't have let you catch me with that rope!" Throws Riley, still baffled of his predicament.

"Well, I guess you can't run away from fate, Riley J. Smith."

The boy let's a pause simmer in the air, as the doctor now clenches his fist in exasperation. The dark acts as some sort of vision block. The two cannot see each other, nor Alister for that matter. It's just them, the pets and absolute obscurity. To remedy against this, Zephyr looks in his bag, carefully, getting a couple of canned food and other supplies before grabbing a flashlight. he targets it upwards.

The second he presses on the switch; a light starts hitting the sky. With this in hand, he can shine certain spots with ease, now throwing the spotlight on the doctor, pinpointing his location. The light is so bright the doctor covers his eyes to escape blindness.

"ARGH! What in the world!? Is this flashlight nuclear powered!? Why is it this strong!?"

"It sure as it's utilities. With it, we can relatively see in the dark with our own eyes."

"Obviously, but watch how you manipulate that tool, boy! You'll destroy our vision before we have the time to discover anything with it!"

Ignoring that comment, Zephyr finds the device on Riley's wrist.

"What's that on your arm?" Asks Zephyr, pointing at the device in question.

"Ha! Et bien mon ami, this is a time-space GPS designed specifically for this trip! It calculates up to hundreds of meters at a time, creates a holographic map of our surroundings, tell time and produce its own source of light! It doesn't beat that flashlight of yours, but it's useful in cases of emergency!"

"What time is it?"

The lack of enthusiasm on Zephyr's part shuns the last ray of hope the scientist has of peaceful reconciliation. The teenager's murderous intent is still present.

"W-well, if it's that easy for you to be mean-spirited, how about I keep that information for myself then!"

"Too bad for you, because I got two flashlights, and as far as I'm concerned, you're not getting the second one." Retorts Zephyr.

"Oh mais c'est fantastique! The assassin is acquiring it instead of me I assume!? He's a bounty hunter! He has gadgets at his disposal he can use for this kind of ordeal!"

"Yeah, I figured. Guess that will make more light for him, or for me. Whatever the case is, this is my turf now, Riley. I've got you under watch and there is nothing you can do about it." Finishes the young blacksmith with a bit more aggression in his tone.

"Wha-This is nonsense! This is far from your turf boy! This-! Argh, damn it!" Are the only words the scientist can eject from his mouth.

For Riley, the situation is far from ideal.

The plan is obvious: Zephyr is keeping Riley in check, in all likelihood to ask more questions and track down the whereabouts of the one he's looking for back in the surface. The scientist is fearful and tense at the prospect of being served an interrogatoire by this vengeful teenager. Riley awakened three minutes ago and he's already in the brink of a mid-life crisis.

Zephyr gets up and walks around the platform, looking for a way up with the flashlight.

Zephyr keeps on strolling when he notices signs that marks checkpoints on much smaller platforms below them. Someone may have attempted to reach the surface and record some of his progress. Sadly, the sign fittingly marked as "the last checkpoint" is the platform they currently stand on. It is too far removed from the surface.

Zephyr can feel a wave of disappointment crash on his psyche. Whoever did this couldn't reach the top himself. The platforms are so close to each other it makes no difference, like playing around with coffins glued to a wall. That's not a good sign for things to come.

No matter the cost, Zephyr is resolute in finding a way out. The young boy can get as many answers from Riley as he wants, but it won't matter if he can't leave the Bottomless Pit to look for his mother.

The issue is infatuated when the blacksmith hears a distant noise, like gas is being released. He looks up and realizes that a purple mist blocking the view from the outside world appeared out of nowhere. It wasn't there before. It was never there to begin with. One minute, nothing. The next minute, this menacing floating gas covers the way out. Why is this cloud present now?

Zephyr has no idea if he can pass through. The cloud seems toxic, its colors blending too well with the environment, as if the pit itself was throwing a warning to them. This thwarts the blacksmith's plan, as there is no clear way out. So many mysteries, so many unforeseen hiccups and details that Zephyr did not plan when he decided to jump in the Bottomless Pit.

Zephyr then hears a crack, like a can being opened by force.

When the blacksmith turns around to inspect the noise, he sees Eylventh practically destroying his rations of canned beans with its crocodile teeth. It's about to serve its creator some of those beans, to the boy's dismay.

"Interesting choice" States Riley with enthusiam. "I forgot that beans could be eaten crudely like this. That's some good protein source! Maybe we should use the boy's sword to make a fire. I see a lighter attached to it, for some reason... That could be of good use !"

"Hey! Put that down!" Erupts the boy. "I don't remember you stealing my supplies being part of the contract!

"Pardon!? What contract!? You're forcing my hand here! If I'm your hostage, at least be more hospitable! And why should I answer any of your question with an empty stomach!? Let us eat a bit! Besides, you didn't even bring that much!"

"Excuse me!?"

"Don't translate my lines! Look, with your rations and with the 3 of us, we're going to die of starvation in a few weeks!"

"I don't think that you understand your predicament doctor-!"

"And I don't think you understand how this place works! This is not your territory! The Bottomless Pit doesn't care about our agendas. It cares about the present moment, and the present moment is that YOU are stuck here with ME! SO, you help me get down and discover these caves and I'll answer as many questions as you want! But to do that, we must first eat, or have you forgotten how to be hungry!?"

"I... Well...!"

Zephyr places his left hand on his stomach. There is something he ignored. He fought an assassin, tried to pull up a man with the help of a rope and dived into a pit hundreds of feet deep. All those actions should have drained him of his energy. He doesn't feel hungry in the slightest. 

"I'm not hungry. I just-No! That's impossible, that's stupid!"

Desperately, Zephyr punches his own stomach repeatedly. Riley looks at him, slightly amused at what he's witnessing.

"Boy, what are you doing?"

"I'm trying to see if my body hasn't morphed into something else entirely during this damn fall!" Replies the young man, hysterical. By the fifth punch, he starts to feel pain in his small intestine. He smacks himself too hard. He crumbles on one knee, almost dropping the flashlight on the floor. 

"To be fair young man, you did in fact blow yourself up and turned into charcoal. At this point, it is guaranteed that something happened to your body. Something definitely happened to my body as-."

"WHAT!?"

The blacksmith's bewildered scream takes the doctor by surprise.

They both look at each other for a few seconds.

The doctor can see the need for an immediate explanation in Zephyr's face. The doctor however has no words to help the young man with his plea. He goes back into the can of beans, eating away and trying to ignore the blacksmith still looking at his direction.

The young boy gives up shortly after, sits down and watches as strangers eats on his rations. In the mix of this chaos, Zephyr now has to content with the idea that his body transformed into a ticking time bomb, allegedly. That kind of information coming from the doctor's mouth sounds ridiculous. Then again, that creep studied this place whiles being in Gallows. His research might have multiplied by the dozen when he left. Zephyr has a hard time accepting it, but if anyone knows what they are talking about regarding the Bottomless Pit, it's Riley J. Smith… Probably. At least he is the most reliable source of information.

Zephyr contents with believing his arch-nemesis for now. Good news is, his body structure, at a physical glance, remains the same. He did punch himself hard enough to confirm that his intestines we're still present.

Still, blowing up then turning into charcoal.

That's too much to think about, but there aren't many ways to distract the blacksmith from his circumstances. And he thought it was going to be easy.

It could still be if, the assassin is willing to cooperate.