by Leona Jarnefeldt 20th June 2023, 10:06 pm
-In the tunnel, twenty-one minutes later-
Leona and Mortemer had been walking for almost half an hour and had seen nothing but tunnel, tunnel, and more tunnel. Thankfully the temperature had remained constant... maybe she was just getting used to the cold instead of it getting warmer. She really should have gone back and gotten her jacket from the Pilot's Quarters, but she thought she could do without it. Her recent intelligence boost had not done anything to reduce her tendency to go into a situation without fully preparing. No wonder of technology could fully eliminate Leona's questionable decision-making abilities, but technology should not have to do all of the work... she needed to learn to think things all the way through instead of trying to "wing it" through everything.
"Are you OK, Leona?" Mortemer asked the Wizard Saint.
"Yeah. I'm a bit cold, but otherwise I'm fine." Leona told her mummy companion. She continued to put one foot in front of the other while hoping that she would find something interesting soon. She peered ahead of her and saw that the tunnel seemed to go on forever.
-Twenty-three minutes later-
The Wizard Saint had reached a branch in the tunnel. One path continued straight ahead. The other led to the right. Leona looked at each path for clues that could indicate which one she needed to take but was currently not seeing anything. Leona folded her arms across her chest for warmth while she looked at the walls.
Leona looked around while Mortemer held up the lantern to give her more lighting to work with. She looked left and right but did not see anything. She then looked at the floor and spotted jagged letters carved into the ground. She stepped back to get a better view.
"I see writing, but I can't read a word of it." Leona commented on what she was seeing. She wondered if the same group who hid the elemental stones had carved the letters she was looking at. Dr. Ravenholm could translate it, but she lived all the way in Capital Crocus and did not go out into the field for anything, so having the good doctor translate was not an option.
She looked at the tunnel floor on the path straight ahead and did not see any writing, so maybe she should go down the path to the right.
"Which way do we go, Leona?" Mortemer asked.
"I say we go right." Leona answered. She did not understand what the message beneath her feet said, so she could be walking into a hallway of traps or other danger. However, she lacked any other clues to go on, so she was willing to risk traveling down the tunnel.
"OK!" Mortemer readily agreed. Leona went first and Mortemer dutifully followed behind her.
-Down the right path, thirty-three minutes later-
Leona had been traveling for over half an hour and was not sure if she was getting any closer to her objective or was just wasting time going down the wrong path. However, she noticed that the tunnel ahead was wide enough for two people to travel side-by-side and it sloped gently downward like the tunnel from earlier. Mortemer wordlessly walked at her left and the light illuminated the area ahead of them as they walked.
Leona looked around them for any more letters carved onto the floor, walls, or ceiling as she walked and was not seeing anything. She turned away from that and focused on going down the slope without losing her footing... the slope was not very steep, but she did not want to fall and end up tumbling down the rest of the way. The pair managed to keep their footing until they reached the bottom, where the wide hallway opened onto an area that resembled a large room.
"Look, a wide space!" Mortemer stated, pointing his free hand towards the opening.
"I'm not sure if that's natural or man-made, but we'll find out." Leona replied. After walking through narrow tunnels for so long she was glad to see a space in which she could move a little more freely. The pair walked towards the area until they reached it.
-Inside the large area-
Leona and Mortemer now stood inside a large area that was about the size of a ballroom. The ceiling had stalactites as long as the blade of her Silver Longsword hanging down, but the area was devoid of other interesting features except for three tunnels... one on the left, one in the middle, and one on the right. Leona groaned when she saw them.
"Oh great. More tunnels." Leona complained. She knew that she should have expected to find more tunnels when traveling underground, but this was not quite what she was expecting. She was beginning to suffer from "decision paralysis", but all three tunnels were all wide enough to allow two people to travel side-by-side, so at least Mortemer could light the way and make it a bit easier to spot clues.
"Cheer up, Leona! I'm sure you'll find the right one!" Mortemer said to her. Leona folded her arms across her chest again.
"Yeah, you're right. We just have to start looking for clues like we did last time." Leona replied, cheering up a little bit. She started to walk around the room looking for any more letters carved on the ground that might indicate which way she needed to go.
[Post Word Count: 906]
[Total Word Count: 1,734/11,000]