FicWad

Chapter 10

The arrival

The Delphinus rocked slightly, but kept on course. The stone wall covered practically the whole window, so the three Rogues and mercenary might have to go back up again and look at another spot. They were hopeful, though, since they had seen a bunch of cracks that might have originated from a large hole, a.k.a. the opening to the base. The sonar hadn't given a good enough answer, so they would have to do it the hard way.

"Now we're almost at the bottom," said Aika.

They broke through the cloud-layer that separated normal sky from under-sky. The whole underside of the continent could now be seen. Various roots hung down like worn-out wigs.

"I always thought the opening would be in the wall," said Vyse. "But we're in the right place. We'll just look around for a bit and see what we can find."

"We should check the roots first," said Fina. "These are the only things around that could cover something."

"Great idea, Fina!" said Aika.

Vyse tuned his sky-seer to zoom in.

"Let's settle for that," he said. "We'll start with that one up front. If it's true, then it should be the closest one."

The Delphinus moved at half-speed forward to the roots. It was quite hard to look upwards to see if something was there, especially since the long roots almost covered the front-window. But there seemed to be something up there that wasn't roots... Was it something metallic?

"We should get a closer look at it," said Vyse.

"I'll go and check it out," Esteban said and walked to the door.

"Just be careful of the wind!" Vyse called after him.

"Oh, I wouldn't have dreamt of being that. Thanks a lot for reminding me," he answered with a huge amount of sarcasm. Then he closed the door.

They heard the sound of his footsteps on their way to the lookout tower.

"I suppose he didn't cover the whole 'Charm-course' while studying to be a mercenary," said Vyse. He wasn't angry, though.

"Probably not," said Aika. "But I don't think he wants anyone to feel sorry for him or try to be nice or something like that."

"Or more precisely," Fina started. "He doesn't want to hear it out loud."

Esteban was so complicated. But there seemed to be a sort of pattern in the way he acted. Always keeping his distance, did his best to be a jerk, but still somehow... Although she had accidentally stepped on his toes this morning by using that nickname, he hadn't been angry with /her/. Since, how could she have known? And the reason he had called Brabham imbecile was because the old man had started it all, although it was a bit outrageous. Her thoughts were suddenly interrupted.

"There seems to be some sort of hatch or something," was heard from the talking-tube. "There are some ropes also."

"That's great!" Vyse answered with heavy anticipation. "Can you open it up while we get the equipment?"

"Just move up a little bit. I can't reach it from here."

Aika turned down the speed and then Fina slowly pulled the altitude-lever.

"That's enough," said Esteban. "I think I have it... just a..."

Then there was a sudden silence.

"Esteban?" Vyse called into the tube. "Esteban, come in!"

Nothing was heard. What could have happened to him? Whatever it was, it couldn't be good! Aika rushed out from the bridge to the lookout. She climbed up the ladder as fast as she could, fully prepared to find him hanging from the gunwale or something like that. Instead she saw a huge metal-door of some sort accompanied with some ropes hanging down from the bottom of the island. Where the door once had been, there was a huge black hole. The mercenary was nowhere to be seen.

"Esteban!" she called.

"Up here," said his voice.

She looked up into the hole. It was still pitch-black, but then he stepped out on the edge so that he was partially visible. His blonde hair blew in the wind.

"What the heck happened?" Aika asked, a little annoyed. She had thought something hazardous had taken place. Now he just stood up there, seemingly without a care in the world.

"I brought down the hatch" he said. "but it almost hit me so I had to dodge, pretty quick that is." He pointed at the hinges. The door was even now flipping weakly. "Then I decided to take a quick look inside."

"At least you could have told us, instead of just going away! We were worried about you."

She couldn't see any details of his face, so she couldn't tell how he reacted. And then Vyse and Fina appeared.

"Is he alright?" Fina asked.

"Just fine," Esteban answered.

Fina and Vyse looked up at the hole.

"Glad to see that," Vyse said, relieved. "Now we just have to get the stuff we need, and we're on our merry way."

"Are you really going to leave the ship out in the open?" Esteban said, his tone showed that he thought it was the world's stupidest idea.

"If 'out in the open' means below an island in deep sky, then yes." said Vyse. "By the way, aren't we the only ones on this side of Arcadia who can sail below the skies? That's the whole reason why you have to stick with us. She'll be safe here."

It sounded reasonable enough. Esteban glided down on one of the ropes and hit the deck. Then the group went down the ladder to get the equipment they would need. Not too much; just ropes, tools to use on locked doors and such, all stuffed in nifty little backpacks. Esteban seemed to wonder if he should bring his new weapon with him, but he passed and settled for his only crossbow.

To bring it all up to the lookout wasn't much of a problem, but the trouble really started when it had to be transported into the base. The loose rope didn't offer much support, and the wind made its best to disturb their passage, so Fina remained in the crow's nest and held the rope in a firm grip to ease the climbing for the rest of them. When they were done, she climbed up herself. Now all four of them stood in the cave, in total darkness.

"Moons, give me light," Vyse said as he lit one of their lanterns. It spread a bright and nice light.

"Where do you get all these bad jokes from?" Aika asked.

"And from where do you get all your stories or imaginings or whatever they are?"

"I just tell you what I've heard," she grinned. "Don't come crying to me for not taking advice."

Vyse held up the lantern, waving it around.

"Not much of a base," he said. "But it's... was home."

"It could be a store," Fina suggested, always the sensible one. "Remote enough to keep away others, but it's quite unpractical for a main base."

Sure was. One could only wonder how Octavio had found this place. Now they had it proved that sailing below the skies existed way before the Crystal War, let be in a very, very low number.

The cave they stood in seemed artificial enough. Almost like a miniature dock, quite similar to Dyne's dock, but smaller. A quick look around showed that nothing of value was stored there. Just old equipment, anchors, ropes, a semi-huge crane and various tools. An old door made out of wood suggested a way in to the base itself. Just above it was a huge metal panel with the seal of Octavio on it. The bone crossed skull grinned down at them, as if it promised to have their heads on a platter if they moved in. The group had no plans to retreat, however. They headed for the door to see what could be found. The door had a lock but, thankfully, whoever had closed it the last time had forgotten to lock it. Not only that, he or she hadn't oiled the hinges either. The squeak it made sounded almost like a child's crying, making Fina shiver. They didn't bother to close it, and now they gazed around the tunnel they had arrived at. The roof was quite high up. The breadth was fine as well. Here and there, roots and holes in the ground could be seen, showing that it was a natural creation after all. It was very similar to Daccat's island, only there were no machinery in sight, and it was much darker. There were torches on the wall, but they had burned out long ago.

"He was quite lucky to just stumble over a place like this," said Vyse. "I just hope he was equally lucky when it came to treasure."

"We'll see about that soon," said Esteban. "But let's go find it."

With Vyse in the lead, the group started to walk. The sound of the blustering wind from the skies outside slowly died out and soon it became quiet. Ghostly quiet. But quite exciting, thought Vyse. Not only Aika was going crazy over potential treasure. It was an interesting fact that they were the first people here for around five generations. Hadn't he said something like that on Shrine Island? But that hadn't stopped them from getting into all sorts of trouble, not only to bring out that moonstone but also to fight some guardian robot.

It's our job to create trouble, sort of/, he thought. /But just not for ourselves.

Speaking of trouble, or maybe not. Aika would probably beat him up if he thought of Esteban as trouble. Sure the mercenary guy wasn't, only for himself or whatever. He seemed to give it all at being repugnant. It might have worked, only if it weren't for what Aika had said about him. And for what he did with the Black Pirates. Vyse shook his head. It would be best to let Aika deal with it. For some reason, she seemed most fitting for it. She seemed to understand Esteban a lot more. No wonder, perhaps. With her parents dead at early age, she knew what a big loss felt like, if that had happened to Esteban that is. And Fina then. With a whole childhood spent on a lone space station. Her dearest friend had been forced to leave her for his doomed quest down on Arcadia. She if anyone knew the intricacies of isolation and what it felt to be alone. Vyse himself had experienced a maybe not so secure childhood, but at least it was stable. It didn't mean that he didn't know the power of trauma or anything; he knew damn well it would hurt. But why did everything he thought of go back to childhood, by the way? Ah, what did he know?

Now they had reached an intersection. The tunnel formed a "Y" that stretched out seemingly forever.

"Bummer," said Aika. "At least he could've set up a sign or somethin' saying 'This way to the treasure'."

"Mmm," Fina nodded. "This time we seem to be separated instead of united." She referred of course to Daccat's treasure.

"Absolutely," said Vyse. "We'll split up. Me and Fina will go this way." He pointed at the right tunnel. "You guys take the left. Whoever finds the treasure will go and look for the others. Good luck."

With that said, the two pairs walked into their respective tunnels. Vyse could vaguely hear the faint sound of Aika's and Esteban's footsteps. He decided to wait with what he was going to say until they were gone.

"I hope they'll be alright," Fina said, suddenly. "One never knows what could lurk in here."

On the outside, Fina looked pretty much like perfect company for an average guy to walk together with in a scary place. Company as in someone to keep saying: "I'm scared!" and hold his hand in a frantic but sweet grip. She didn't like caves much, but she could stand them pretty well. Vyse was glad to have her with him, though. Being all alone in this place would give anyone creeps.

"They will be," he said. "We've been through tougher places than this. At least we're not walking upside-down."

It suddenly hit him that he shouldn't have brought up the silver shrine. It had been her home and to see it be destroyed with the elders...

"Sorry," he said quickly. "I shouldn't have said..."

"No, no, it's OK."

Quiet arose, but Vyse knew Fina well enough to feel that she had something more to say.

"It might was my home, but it wasn't really /home/." Her gaze got lost in the past. "What I remember most is that it was so lonely. There was only Ramirez, and the elders of course. But ever since he left, I felt so alone. I tried to get on as best as I could on my own, but it wasn't easy."

All alone in a cold world. Sure, one could cope with it for some time, but for several years! And especially after one had possessed a close friend who was gone, never knowing when or if he would get back.

Vyse then noticed Fina had stopped walking. He looked at her face and saw a lone tear running down her cheek. Her green eyes expressed woe, woe that hit Vyse straight in his heart like a spear of ice. She suddenly looked so frail, standing all alone in the darkness. How much of her pain had really been healed? Only six months ago, her entire world had been changed, altered, twisted. Finding herself in a plot to destroy the world, finding herself as the only survivor of her civilisation, and finding herself not only seeing her oldest friend die but also taking part in it. Letting his actions speak for him, Vyse put down his lantern, stepped forward and gently laid his arms around Fina. No words would do any good now, at least no words he knew. A small clank was heard when Fina's lantern hit the ground, and then her arms slowly found their way around Vyse, her forehead rested against his shoulder. Her breathing was just the slightest bit shaky.

"I should leave it behind me," she said, a bit muddled. "I'm really trying to, but..." The words fell out into nothingness.

Fina wanted to leave the bad times behind. But like she said, it was hard. And meanwhile, she felt bad about it. Frail and weak.

"It's not wrong of you to mourn," said Vyse. "You are a strong person who actually faces your past, and you will make it through." He hoped he sounded stable. "Until then, and ever after, we'll always be with you. You are not alone anymore. We want you here with us."

Vyse turned his gaze slightly down to look at her, didn't want to move his head too much as he could feel Fina's hair touching his cheek. Her eyes were closed, but then a smile started to grow across her lips. She looked so peaceful, calm and relaxed. It made him think of the night before the last battle against Galcian, when they had stood together at the lookout. "Can we stay like this a bit longer?" If Vyse could make Fina happy, he would do anything. Even let her use his shoulder as pillow, although that wasn't really much of a sacrifice. It was more of a privilege. After a while, she turned her head and looked up at him.

"Thank you, Vyse," she said in a low voice but with deep sincerity. Her warm gaze shimmered with tenderness, it was a look that could melt just about any heart.

Vyse smiled in return, joyous to see her happy again. Especially since he had brought it up, sort of.

"Do you feel better now?"

"Much better," she nodded. "Let's go."

They slowly released the soft embrace, picked up their lanterns and started to walk. Vyse glanced at Fina. Her very being seemed so light, free from any burden. That and the shine from her lantern made her more beautiful than usual. Then Vyse gave himself a quick mind-lash on his knuckles.

Watch what you're thinking!

But what was so wrong with that? There was nothing wrong with thinking she was pretty. It didn't have to mean he was in love with one of them; he wasn't. Vyse loved Fina in the same way and just as much as he loved Aika. But to call it romance; no way.

xXx

On the other side of the wall, but still pretty far away, Aika and Esteban walked their tunnel. The whole cave had a fearful atmosphere. It was so quiet that even a sudden whisper would feel like a scream. Aika herself had no problem with scary places, as long as there weren't any ghosts around. Like in Rixis, she thought with a brisk smile.

"You don't have any problems with dark places, right?" she asked.

Esteban gave her a strange look.

"What is there to be afraid of?" he said, as if he wondered if she was really sane.

True, there wasn't anyone but them here. But being all alone in this place would freak out just anyone. Esteban seemed to go on just fine.

"As you say, not much. Only that we'll probably get chafed feet. Seriously, he didn't have to have such a long base. It's not like anyone would find it anyway."

"At least all the pillagers would fall asleep on their way to the treasure."

Aika laughed slightly. Not because it was funny, it wasn't really, but it was so unexpected and quite nice to actually hear him joke.

Oh giddy. Have I been a bad influence? she thought ironically.

He had seemed just a little more warmer on the way here, then he had turned back to his usual self, and now this. Then she thought, as she had done before, that no matter what she said or did, she couldn't really make him "turn around". She could show him the brighter sides of life, how it could be to have friends. But in the end, whatever Esteban did, it would have to be his own decision.

The lantern's light was suddenly broken off. Aika and Esteban stopped and saw a huge chasm right in their way. It stretched from wall to wall. A closer look showed it was quite deep. Esteban picked up a stone from the ground and dropped it in the hole. They didn't hear it hit the ground. It might have continued down to the sky.

"Too deep to walk across," he said. "And it's too long to jump over."

Aika looked up at the "roof" and in the middle section above the chasm she saw some sturdy looking branches. They were fittingly formed almost as hooks. The only way over was across, but not by jumping.

"What do you say about swingin'?" she said and took a rope from her pack. She tied it into a lasso. "I was getting a little bored actually."

Esteban looked at her, cautiously.

"I hope you know what you're doing."

"Sure I know. But if I've done it before" She shrugged. "that's something else."

The caution was changed to disbelief.

"You go first," he said. Not so surprisingly.

"Of course. Ladies first, you know."

Aika threw the lasso at one of the hooks and hit it on her second try. She tugged the rope to make sure it would hold her weight. It seemed to be just fine. She placed herself on the edge, the rope was stretched at an almost perfect 45 degree angle. She took a step forward, let herself fall, but then the rope took her over the deep hole. The other side was approaching quickly. She pulled up her feet and made a perfect landing.

"Works perfectly!" she called as she pulled back the rope and then let it swing back. "Catch!"

He grabbed the rope with both hands. While Aika had swung over, Esteban had attached his lantern to his belt. With one look down at the chasm, he jumped up, letting the rope swiftly carry him over. Had he looked up instead of down, maybe he would've seen that the branch that kept up the rope was slowly being pulled out by his weight. Just before he was about to let his feet touch the ground, the branch cracked, bringing both the rope and Esteban down with it! For a second, he seemed to just hang in the thin air, then he fell, screaming at the top of his lungs!