Chapter Text
Leif was not expecting to wake up again, after they fell.
"Per-per-permian- proj- un-way, prog- inconclusive. Fur- exp-exp-ex-ri- re-re-re-q-" the sound echoes throughout the cave, in Roach, then cuts out abruptly and does not begin again.
It sounds like the echoing of monster calls to those who don't understand. So Leif keeps quiet.
Too bad someone else speaks up.
"That was a strange sound, wasn't it?" The little bee (Vi, her name is Vi) asks.
"It was in roach, although it seems to have been simply syllables strung together." Leif replies.
It doesn't seem to have any meaning, anyway, and they just want to leave.
Find and reunite with the wife who, last they saw, reached with a scream as they fell.
They want out.
This place feels inherently wrong.
And the water down here…
It feels…
Important.
They don't like it.
The trio comes upon a room, and Leif feels only power, for a moment.
When they stumble, the Beetle (Kabbu) catches him.
The trio halts their progression in front of a pedestal.
There is a particularly old mask on display.
"Do you think that's the artifact?" Vi, questions, quiet, almost a reverent whisper.
"We hope so, because if it isn't, then we would be helpless when we actually see it." Leif replies.
"I mean, it is the only thing we've seen since entering the cave that looks like an artifact is described to be." Kabbu finalizes.
"We could always just. Take it and see?" Leif states, reaching.
Holding it feels right and wrong.
An opposition, really.
Like they were always meant to hold it, but something deeply ingrained shies awa-
"Leif! Drop it!" Vi shouts.
They drop it, startled out of their haze, and it fades back into a more visible state while it rests on the floor.
The room is flooding, how didn't they hear it? How long has the water been rising?
They want to-
No-
They belong-
To.
To.
To?
The water? The land? Where do they-
Where to?
It calls, and they-
They want- they refuse- but they?
What changed?
Their breath shakes. Breathing air shouldn't feel wrong. But the water is not a place of breath.
They gasp, and are moved.
They find themself in the air, as awareness returns.
Kabbu is holding them, as he dodges the spider, rapid movements only slowed by the unexpected passenger.
Vi is trying to draw attention, to know avail.
"We apologize for our delay, we would like to get revenge now." Leif blurts out.
Abruptly, Kabbu drops them, and the three take the formation they've managed to build together, after the last few days trapped in a cave together.
The details blur together, but somehow, Kabbu manages to enrage the spider enough to target him.
The fight dances on a while longer, and Leif has no Idea how it goes, the memories of it slipping through their grasp.
Eventually they win, and all three are panting heavily.
Vi grabs the mask, and the three move to run, despite knowing there is nowhere they can go to escape the rising waters.
The waves take them before they even manage to escape the room.
And the water is cold.
They know it is.
But it.
The water burns.
If they could scream, they would.
Instead, the rushing water screams for them, as change tears through every opposing thing they are.
The last thing they hear, as the world begins to fades to black, is the start of a scream.
They hope…
Whoever's screaming…
Is…
Going to be…
Okay…
Blessed nothing overtakes them.