Night 73: Underground Lake

[nobleman]

It had been a long, tiring trip back.

Honestly, Guy still felt apprehensive about the fact that they had decided to give up the relative freedom that they'd found in Farwell to come right back into the institute, but this device that the rebels had trusted them with was important. If the only way to stop Landel was by taking him down from the inside, then that's what they would do.

That didn't make Guy feel any better as he stepped off of the train tracks and onto the dirt ground that eventually led out of the tunnels and into the underground lake. He'd been hoping they would never have to come back here, but he'd known it would eventually be necessary, seeing how they needed to collect Luke and all of their other friends.

Having trusted Claude to hold onto the device, Guy glanced over his shoulder at him as he reached the mouth of the tunnel. At least they were all in one piece. That was what he had to keep telling himself. Of course, now that they were back in the institute, that was bound to change.

"Guess we'd better call for that ferryman."

Comments

[nobleman]

The ferryman really wasn't going to take a toll? That was surprising. They must have really shocked him if he was that taken aback that they'd returned.

Then again, Guy could kind of understand. Anyone else who had gotten out this way probably would have thought it insane to try and come back for more punishment. But Guy wasn't going to turn his back on the things that needed to be done here, and obviously Claude and Anise were in the same boat with him on that.

Speaking of boats, it looked like it was time to board. Guy nodded to the skeleton and offered his thanks, waiting for Claude to step on and act as a buffer between him and Anise. The boat was pretty cramped, after all.

"Has anything happened while we were gone?" he asked the ferryman. "Err, down here, anyway..." Guy was guessing that their bony friend here didn't have much idea of what else was going on in the institute.

[earthling]

Getting a free ride was the last thing Claude expected. Actually, he was almost offended that the skeleton had been that sure that they'd either die or abandon everyone still stuck here. Of course, actually voicing those thoughts out loud didn't seem like the best idea, and Claude wasn't about to look a gift horse in the mouth anyway.

After climbing in after Anise, Claude settled down on the seat next to her, taking care not to rock the boat too much.

Although he doubted the skeleton would know much about what was happening in the institute, it would be good to hear about any major changes that might have happened in the caverns, at least. So, without piping up with his own commentary, Claude looked at the ferryman and waited for an answer.

[trolltaker]

"Heheh, no problem, Cutie!" Charon scratched the back of his skull before looking at the three with hollow eyes. "Of course, don't go expecting a freebie every time, got it? A skeleton's gotta make a living somehow."

Once everyone was seated, the ferryman used his paddle to push away from the platform, sending gentle waves across the water's smooth surface. The sight would have been almost serene if it weren't for the more sinister inhabitants of the lake.

As they moved, Charon took a moment to think about the question.

"Hmm, well, one of the spiders thought it would be funny to take my paddle," he said. "Lazy bum must have thought it was food or something, I don't know. I got it back eventually, though, which is good for you three, 'cause otherwise you would've been waiting there for the rest of your lives, hahah!"

A pause. "Oh, yeah, and I guess there were some knuckleheads who came from that tunnel back there. Dunno what that was about. Pretty sure I hadn't seen them before, but I dunno. I just work here."

[gald_digger]

The ferryman was laughing, but Anise sure didn't find it funny that they could've been stranded. She secretly hoped he'd made the story up just to mess with them.

More importantly, someone else came through the tunnel? Anise glanced back to the beach they'd come from, which was barely visible through the thick mist. "Oh, right. Alana said something about that, didn't she? About how they brought other people to Farwell before we made it there." That would also explain why the ferryman hadn't seen them before.

As reluctant as Anise was to place her trust in the rebels, their story checked out so far. That was a good sign.

And those other people had gone ahead to the institute... Maybe they were already telling everyone about the rebels' plan. Anise and her friends were going to have to find out just what kind of information was floating around when they got back.