[Dungeon] Seeing Double ♢ Solo

Althea ventured across the large expanse of water, shoes in hand.  But they weren’t her usual ones, nor were her clothes looking as they usually did.  Instead, she was wearing something that some might say is more causal, but anything the wizard wears immediately becomes street clothes.  And of course, she wasn’t anywhere near any boat, trying to use one would be practically suicide.  Using a spell to walk on water was way more practical, no matter how much stamina it took.  Anyways, she was mostly just out on the sea to practice her magic a bit, and just by walking out there she had used plenty of energy.  Moving across water was really a headache sometimes, but she didn’t regret her decision at all once she heard the whirling of water nearby.  Hurrying up, the slayer finally arrived at the whirlpool, deciding it would be perfect for her experiment.  But all whirlpools at someplace called “Whirlpool Sea” had to be at least decent in size, although this one was particularly large.  It seemed to have the same diameter as a zeplin, and although Althea herself had never been there she had heard they are pretty big.

She stretched briefly before looking down into the bowels of the water, pinching her nose, taking a deep breath, and hopping right in, dispelling her technique that made her stay on top the water’s surface.  Now, you may be wondering why Althea decided to kill herself at this point, but she doesn’t really.  Training for her mostly entains her doing new, different things - maybe even slightly insane.  Either way, she could breathe underwater for an indefinite amount of time, so it would be fine.  So in no time at all, the water mage was swirling down that whirlpool as if she were being flushed down the toilet or something, eventually being forced deep under the water’s surface.  Even if drowning wasn’t a concern, it still wasn’t too entirely pleasant, and all Althea could do was make sure she didn’t lose her shoes she still held in her hand or break under the high pressure.  So, she simply ended up where the current took her: down.

But after plenty of spinning, the slayer somehow ended up on the ground, soaking wet.  Looking around, she discarded of her moist shoes, simply throwing them across the cave.  She could deduct that she had been spewed into some kind of underwater cave via a gaping hole located in its side.  The ocean water cascaded over it like a waterfall, but just salty and coming out of stone.  Althea got to her feet, wringing a bit of water from her clothes before moving deeper into the cavern.  She had come to that location to grow in strength, so there was a possibility that something was around there for her to fight.  She knew she was incredibly close to getting over to the next phase of her journey, but couldn’t quite reach it with the experience she currently had.  And that was exactly why she did something like leapt into a random whirlpool.  Progressing as a concept was a large part in Althea’s life, most of it having been spent for that precise purpose.   But, the young girl was jolted out of her intense focus by a sudden sharp pain on her leg.  Glancing down, the blonde spotted a sizeable slash across her leg and couldn't help but wonder when she got it.  In that one day, there were plenty of possibilities there for her to get injured, but never cut.  Suddenly, the sound of footsteps echoed from around the corner.  Carefully, she moved to meet the owner of them, silently wondering how they had gotten down there.  But most of her questions simply evaporated away to be answered later.  The person who was also within the cave with Althea was a girl with messy yet bright hair and deep blue eyes: her.

“Erm, so you’re me...?”  The scrambled slayer began only to be interrupted by the other her.  “A crimson halo, wallowing in the pitch-black sky.”  Immediately, water engulfed Althea’s fists as she stared down the doppelganger.  “What was that?”  “A false heart dwelling in the depths of a manufactured body.”  A small grin appeared slowly on the its features.  “Okay...? What even are you?”  The other Althea paused for a moment, its gaze set squarely on the original.  Then, it simply laughed, this kind of squeaky, rubbery kind of chuckle.  And that very laugh was what set the original Althea over the edge.

One moment she was a few strides away from her doppelganger, the next her fist was at its stomach. The other one was sent flying backwards into a smooth stone wall, making an imprint on it while doing so.  The slayer was then already charging at her doppelganger when it inhaled deeply, exhaling a single bullet-like orb of water.  Guarding against it speedily, the original only sustained damage to her arms that she used to block.  And at that moment, the only emotion that Althea could feel at all was pure wrath.  No matter how far she dug within herself, there was only rage at this version of herself.  Speeding towards it, the original let loose a volley of punches fueled not by her love of battle but by her anger.  But, the doppelganger seemed to have no plans to move out of the obvious attack’s way, preferring to instead lean against the underwater cavern’s walls.  When the original was finished with her flurry of attacks, her doppelganger stood there for a second, a grin making its way across its face.  “Was your heart not in it this time?”  Then, it began corroding, slowly melting into a puddle of strange silver goo.  “I guess you really do hate it~!”  All the while, it laughed its rubbery laugh, blue eyes fixed on the brief fight’s “victor”.  And in the liquid Althea could see that her pupils had been dyed crimson; she hated it.  So, the youth turned and walked back towards the salty waterfall she had entered the cave through and swam back to the water’s surface.