Night 69: Underground Lake

[nobleman]

[From here.]

Guy landed awkwardly in the sandy area, his ankle almost twisting as a result, though he managed to regain his balance before he hurt himself or fell over. It was still disorienting, though, especially since it had been a while, and so he took a few moments to orient himself.

It looked like Anise and Claude had made it safely, and the underground cave itself was just as he remembered it. Good to see that not much changed when they weren't around, then. Then again, there wasn't much at Landel's that changed. The entrance of the military had been the largest change, and even that had turned out to be temporary.

"By the way, Claude," Guy spoke up once he'd recovered, "Anise and I worked out that I'm the one who'll be giving the toll this time." It was better if he just got that out of the way now so they didn't have to get into a discussion about it when they approached the ferryman.

Comments

[earthling]

That could have either been great news or terrible news, and Claude didn't know which. Judging from past experiences, though, it was probably more ominous than he wanted to think.

While he was on the same page as Guy, and worried that they may need to be at the ready for something nasty, Claude remained still. When crossing over a lake filled with dead bodies, it stood to reason that annoying the guy who was rowing you across the water wasn't the best idea.

That was why he tensely waited for an answer, leaving the questions to Guy and Anise.

[trolltaker]

"You guys should form your own comedy routine, you know that?" Charon snorted. "Anyway, I meant exactly what I said. Dunno why you're making such a fuss about it, sheesh."

As he spoke, he shifted the boat's position, turning further left. The gentle waves created by his paddle rolled across the quiet lake. Unlike the other two docks, the destination they were approaching was dark and difficult to make out from where they were.

"Probably won't get to see you guys much after this," he admitted. "Well, unless you decide to visit lil' ole me -- or you decide to hightail it the way you came from, heheh."

[gald_digger]

They wouldn’t see the skeleton after this? If they wouldn’t have any reason to come back to the underground lake, then… Could that mean…?

Anise was afraid to get her hopes up, but it almost sounded like they were actually getting out of here. Could that really be true, though? All of this had probably been set up by the Head Doctor. Was this just going to be another trap? Or was this like a rat maze, and they’d finally reached the end of it?

It was clear that Guy was still suspicious, and he had good reason to be. Cautiously, as if anticipating being told the whole thing was a joke, Anise dared to voice her optimism. “You mean… we’re getting out of here? There’s an exit?”

[nobleman]

It didn't take long to realize that the boat wasn't going to the other side of the shore like it usually did, and as they moved further to the west side of the cave, Guy tried to see if there was anything waiting for them there. He couldn't hear anything, which meant they weren't likely to go plummeting off of a sudden waterfall or anything like that.

Still, all of this sounded way too good to be true, and Anise seemed similarly uncertain about it in the way that she asked her questions. All of them had been searching for a way out for so long. To suddenly have it given to them like this, with no prior warning, just seemed out of place.

"We don't have to do any more of those challenges?" They'd gotten through two of them already, so maybe that was enough, but the ferryman could have at least mentioned that beforehand. Still, even if this was the real thing and they did get out, they couldn't just run off like this, not without telling their other friends. Guy didn't know what to make of it at this point, but they were just going to have to wait and see. They were already on the boat, so there was no turning back now.

[earthling]

It seemed pretty hard to believe. Considering who was telling them this, Claude wasn't sure how much stock they could put into that information. Granted, the ferryman had never outright lied to them before -- at least, not to his knowledge. On the other hand, they all knew he wasn't exactly the most charitable guy around here.

Once again, Anise and Guy had already asked the most pressing questions, so Claude waited for the skeleton to go into more detail -- if he even went into more detail at all, anyway.

[trolltaker]

"Maybe, maybe not," Charon cryptically answered in response to both of their questions. "Maybe what's waiting for you on the other side is one big challenge. Ooh, that sounded pretty ominous, huh."

He gave a gravelly chuckle. "To be honest, I don't know what's out there. When you're dead like me, you stop caring about those kinds of details after awhile.

"Either way, I just know I don't have much reason to ferry you three around anymore. My old bones get pretty tired, you know? Gimme a holler if you want me to come get your asses for some reason, but otherwise those presents I gave you awhile back? They should bring you right over...there."

By now, they were starting to approach the dock that was attached to a dark platform. What looked like a flickering lantern light attached to a wall revealed the entrance of a startlingly large tunnel. After a few minutes, the boat finally reached their destination, and Charon stopped paddling.

"You kids have fun now, heheh," he said. "Just try not to die. Maybe I'll see you around again."

[gald_digger]

He didn’t know? “Seriously? You’ve got all this free time down here, and you never thought to check it out?” Anise still kind of wondered just where the ferryman came from, and what his relationships to Landel and the institute were. Maybe he couldn’t leave the area around the lake.

Since they were parting ways now, it looked like she’d never figure it out. There were more pressing mysteries to solve… like finding out what was down that tunnel. Anise was quick to hop off the boat, glad to be on solid ground again. She didn’t mind boats, but that was because they normally floated over water and not faces. Those people in the lake were another mystery Anise probably wasn’t going to see solved.

She took a few steps away from the dock, pointing her flashlight at the opening to the tunnel. Could that really be the way out…?

Even if it was, it wasn’t like they were home free. Luke was still back there… and Ilia and lots of other people they couldn’t just abandon. Anise needed to find her parents and Ion, too. But maybe she was getting ahead of herself. They still didn’t know if this was a trap or not. If this path led to another set of trials, Anise was going to lose it.

[nobleman]

Guy wasn't that surprised when the skeleton gave them a series of cryptic replies. Did he really not know what was waiting for them through that tunnel? Guy realized that in the end, the ferryman could be just as much of a captive as the rest of them. It made him strangely nervous to wonder at what kind of background he had, and how he'd died in the first place.

There wasn't time to ask about any of that now, especially when they were essentially being kicked off. Guy made a note of the fact that they wouldn't have to bother with the boat at all if they wanted to get back here. That was some good news, at least.

Getting off of the boat was going to be yet another challenge. Guy groped for the edge of the boat with both hands and then pushed himself up, almost losing his balance when he stood up faster than expected. The boat wobbled under him, and Guy decided that the sooner he was off of it the better. He staggered forward, and his foot caught on the boat as he stepped off of it, almost sending him right onto his face.

He grabbed for Anise to steady himself, purely out of instinct, and then paused and stared at her when he didn't react.

It made sense, of course. Physical contact with women was what triggered him, but if he couldn't feel anything at all, then there was nothing to be scared of. He was speechless for a moment, waiting to see her reaction, almost as if he was waiting for the phobia to suddenly kick in.

[earthling]

If they wanted to find out what was in the tunnel, it sounded like they would have to find out themselves. That wasn't so surprising, though. Wasn't that pretty much how the rest of Landel's worked? Claude imagined that would go double for the supposed exit (he was still pretty skeptical about that in the first place, to be honest).

Anise was the first out of the boat, but when Guy tried to follow suit, Claude furrowed his eyebrows and tried to reach for him. "Hey, hold on--" He remembered how disoriented he'd felt when he'd paid the same toll awhile back. The last thing they needed was for Guy to go toppling into the lake water!

Unfortunately, Guy lost his balance before Claude could steady his friend. The moment he gripped onto Anise to keep himself from hitting the ground, Claude froze and grew wide-eyed. He'd fully expected Guy to flail and panic, so the silence that resulted came as a shock.

"Um, are you okay?" he asked as he stepped onto the dock himself.

[trolltaker]

"Yeah, real smooth, Blondie," the ferryman snorted as he began to push his boat away from the dock. "Just latch onto that little cutie there, why don'tcha." If he'd had any eyes, he would have rolled them. Instead, he began to paddle himself into the darkness without another word.

[gald_digger]

Anise was still staring down the ever-stretching darkness of the tunnel when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She glanced up, saw Guy, and braced for the worst.

Here it comes...

... But nothing happened. Guy was simply staring down at her, and by the time she realized, Anise had been staring back.

A few beats, and then... "Wh-whoa!!" For once, Anise was the one to overreact. As soon as it clicked, she cried out in surprise, whirling around to face him properly. She took his outstretched hand in hers, feeling it over like a foreign object. Nothing? No screaming? No trembling or flailing or backing away?

It took but a few moments for surprise and confusion to turn to celebratory glee. "This is amazing, Guy! You're cured!" Letting go of his hand, Anise instead threw herself at his chest for a hug. Maybe it was premature to call it a 'cure,' but a little optimism never hurt anybody! Or so she liked to think. When it was convenient.

[nobleman]

It took Claude and Anise a moment before it sunk in for them, and it was no surprise that Anise had the stronger reaction. Guy stared down at her, and for some reason he couldn't hold back a smile. She just seemed so thrilled about it, and he had to admit that it was nice to be able to do this, even if he couldn't feel it. Then again, if he could, this wouldn't have been possible in the first place.

"I don't know about a cure," he said with a shake of his head. "More like a nice side effect." Still, Guy could grant Anise this one thing. After a pause, he managed to move his arms around her to return the hug.

He didn't feel her weight against him or the warmth of her body, but it was nice enough to realize that this was something Anise had never had the chance to do before, and if it made her happy? Well, that was good enough for him. The timing might seem strange when they were about to walk into the great unknown... but then again, wasn't that the perfect time for a hug?

[earthling]

"Hey, who would've thought something nice would come from that toll?" Claude remarked with a lopsided grin. Considering how bad Guy's phobia was, it was kind of weird seeing him and Anise hugging like that. Of course, he couldn't blame Anise for taking the opportunity to hold onto him. They had apparently known each other for years, and the only time Guy could even so much as put a hand on her shoulder was when she was in mortal peril -- which was pretty sad, when he thought about it.

With that realization, Claude fell silent and turned away under the pretense that he was checking out the immediate area for anything unusual. They had never been to this part of the lake, after all, and he didn't want to let his guard down. Besides, he doubted now was the time for a group hug, so he figured he just ought to give them their space.