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Chapter 559 - When you stare into the abyss...
🕑 Added 2022-11-21 13:00:12 +0000 UTCHera's Status
"Are we sure this is all?" Blue asked. She wasn't looking good with all the ups and downs that she had to make to keep up with Hera's pace. Still, they had already scouted the entire last island, or at least what they could see of it.
"I kind of wanted to take a look beyond this island. I mean, we already figured out that this is the Tacritan island because of the notification that showed up. But if we could get some information on the surrounding area, we might be able to find the doorway to the 12th layer. Can't you move in a straight line for a while?" Hera replied through their communicators. Trying to yell while flying wasn't working, and thankfully, their equipment had a function to remove the noise that came with moving at high speeds to a certain degree.
Blue shook her head, "I don't think so. Not anymore, at least. I'm feeling way too dizzy."
'If she wants to land, I believe I could carry both of you back as I run. Mylo is considerably larger than you, and it wasn't that much of an issue to have him on my back,' Nimbus told Hera, since he currently couldn't speak.
"Nimbus is saying he can carry us on the way back if you want, but it's going to be on the ground until we reach the forest."
"Really? I'll take that offer. This is worse than a boat. Mind if I land?"
Hera gave a thumbs up, and Blue went down, landing on the last island. According to the notification they got, the challenge of this island was to 'reach the monument.' However, they couldn't get too close to the middle of the island when flying, and most of it had a weird shimmering effect when looking from above. Daskka even tried to go there, but as soon as she got too close, she was sent back flying as if a massive gust of wind was pushing her away. It was clear that Ruma set this up so that people actually had to go through his challenge and not just go around it. At least people could still fly around the island without a problem.
"Hey, Hera, mind if I take a look at the entrance of this thing while you are checking the sky?" Blue asked as she landed.
"Go for it but don't go inside. We don't know if you can leave after you start it," Hera replied and kept flying beyond the island. Even if Ruma said that finding the doorway to the 12th floor should be tricky, he also mentioned that the one thing no one could predict were the legacies, and there were three in her party. If anyone had a chance to find that doorway, even in a bad circumstance, it should be them.
Flying beyond the island for a few minutes allowed Hera to notice a change in the ocean floor. The entire area was illuminated by the moonlight and the stars, and since the water was so clear, she could see everything going on in the sea. But at one point, that changed. The water turned dark as a massive abyss engulfed the ground. Even if the water was extremely clear, inside that pit, it turned darker and darker until it became pitch black. Hera knew of a few places back on earth that showed a similar landscape. If this was following the same idea, that hole should be the entrance for either a cave network or a single tunnel that was hundreds if not thousands of meters deep.
"How large do you guys think that hole is?" Hera asked her court.
'I would say, maybe 400 meters wide,' Core replied.
'I think that's too little. It should be close to 1 kilometer,' Frost flipped a few times in the air as if he was measuring things.
'Actually, it should be around 700 meters,' Armory replied with a tone of certainty.
"Are you sure?" Hera asked.
'I didn't get the exact distance, but I'm sure my estimate is better than everyone else's. I'm responsible for telling people how far they can go during a fight. After all,' Armory had a proud tone in her voice.
'And we thank you for that. But that feels much more than what you could eyeball,' Lurize replied.
'Yeah, but I know how far we could get if we make a conga line, so using that, I can give a rough estimate. Again, I'm not saying it's 100% right. I'm just guessing here.'
"And your help is invaluable. I don't even know what I would do without you," Hera replied with a smile, "If you ever want something, let me know. I never know what to do to thank you, guys."
"Actually, mom. I have a thing for that," Daskka said.
"Really? What?" Hera looked down at the snake that was around her waist.
"There is a skill you can get. It's called, well, in your case, it will be 'Empress' Gift.' It's a skill that lets you give a permanent buff to your court when they complete a task or prove their worth. Each court member can only receive one gift for now, but later that can increase. When you are about to give a gift, you have a choice of a few options."
"Really? Is there any restriction on what I can say about those choices? Like if I want you guys to pick, can I do that?"
"You can, but it will only start counting their contribution after you get the skill," Daskka turned to Armory, "Sorry."
"Do I have other skills from the legacy I could get?" Hera asked.
"A couple more, but I don't think you will like them. I can tell you about them later. I don't think this is the right time for it."
Hera nodded, that sounded like a serious conversation, and she had a lot on her mind right now. About ten minutes later, Hera came back to the Tacritan and asked Nimbus to land on the beach near where Blue was.
"Did you find anything?" the controller asked.
"I think so. There is a massive hole in the ocean floor back there. I'm 90% positive that it leads to the doorway to the 12th layer," Hera pulled her tablet and opened her map to show what was there now. Because of her [Explorer's Map] skill, the area no was labeled as 'The door to the abyss.'
"That's not ominous at all," Blue rolled her eyes.
"Tell me about it," Hera sighed but turned towards the direction of the hole. She couldn't see from this angle, but she still could feel that abyss somehow. Snapping out of it, the Empress turned to Blue, "Did you find anything?"
"Not really. I think this island is supposed to be a labyrinth, and I saw it moving, so it's not like we can map it out."
"I see…. Well, we need to go back, and I have a weird idea," Hera said.
"Which is?"
"You know the snakes I can make with my bracelet?"
"Yeah. What about them?"
"It doesn't say anything about maximum range. Nor if they vanish when I fall asleep."
Nimbus went back to his humanoid form, "Are you suggesting we send your snakes to scout the area while we go back?"
"Pretty much. In the best-case scenario, it works. Worst case scenario, it doesn't, and I just have to recharge the bracelet again. And since it is late, it's not like I would have another chance to use it today."
Blue nodded, "I'm down. Are you sending all the snakes?"
"Yeah. I'll tell half to look into that hole and half to take a look at this labyrinth. If the doorway really is inside there, we might be able to find it."
"Do you really think that is a possibility?" Nimbus titled his head.
"Well. It would be a place people won't think to look. After all, people would assume that a challenge is like a dungeon and doorways inside dungeons are not exactly common."
"I see your point," Nimbus nodded.
"Ok, give me some space," Hera took a few steps back and shook her wrist. Dozens of small snakes fell to the floor and stared at her as if they were an army looking at their commander, "This half will go to the northeast and dive into the area known as 'The door to the Abyss,' the other half will go inside the challenge of this island. YOu are looking for a doorway, but if you find something else that is really interesting, let me know. Also, you five," she pointed at the five snakes closest to her, "You are to stay on this island and search outside the challenge. There isn't much here, but you never know. Go!"
Her snakes quickly obeyed the commands and spread out as if they were an army of ants. Hera gave them a satisfied nod and turned to Nimbus and Blue, "Let's go back."
"Don't you want to wait here to see if they are going to find something?"
"We can do that tomorrow, and we don't know how long it will take for them to find something. Besides, if we go now, maybe we can arrive at the forge before the 2-hour cooldown. That way, we can talk about the next question. And this is supposed to be a test anyway," Hera explained.
Nimbus once more turned into his mount form and carried both Hera and Blue while speeding through the islands. During their journey back, the Empress got a couple of pings from her snakes. One of them was from inside the labyrinth, the snake had found a doorway, but it did not lead to a different room. It was just one to enter part of a building. Still, considering that, at the time, Hera was already on another island, the range the snakes could still 'connect' to her was considerably long. The second ping showed her a tunnel inside the abyss, which increased Hera's suspicion that that place was an entrance to a cave network.
When they arrived on the island where the forge was located, Hera couldn't feel the snakes anymore, but if she focused on the bracelet and requested one of them to share their senses, she could still do that, but it was as if she was watching it through an old television. Everything was staticky and fuzzy, but she still could make some things out.
After showing the map and the things they discovered, everyone agreed that the doorway to the 12th layer should be in there, but if it was a cave network like Hera suspected, it would be much harder for them to find it. Even if that layer was safer, it would be too much of a gamble, and they were pressed for time.
Going back to the original plan, Bonnie and Adriel had already devised a way to waste the least amount of questions to locate the doorway. First, they created an 8x8 grid and overlaid it on the map. Then Hera would ask if the doorway was beyond line 4. If it was, she would ask the same question about line 6. If the answer was positive, she would point blank as if it was in line 8. This would let them know which line the doorway was in 3 questions. After that, they could repeat it with the row to get a location. Sure, it would take 12 hours to narrow it to one of the squares in the grid, but it was better than running around trying to search the entire place. Was this really the best option? No one could tell, but it was the best idea they could come up with.
To make the best out of it, they also had to put the grid over the right part of the map, and Hera added one question to the mix. To know if the doorway was present in the area where they put the grid or not. It felt a bit like a waste since doing so would add another 2 hours to their timeframe, but at the same time, if they were not 100% sure they were looking in the right place, all the other questions would be for nothing. She asked that question, and Yarnball confirmed that the doorway was inside the grid. Now, all it was left was a very annoying night where Hera would wake up every couple of hours to ask a new question.
Comments
Lillith Ophidia
As a heads up, you have a spot about 2/3rds of the way through that has [insert island name here]. Glad I'm not the only one who does that when writing/world building.
