"So, we have to find this Abyssal Heart and destroy it."
I said, while limping and trying to keep up with Nico. The young boy seemed unfazed as we walked through the dark tunnel— carrying only a torch, that he brought with him, but it was dim and hardly lit up the entirety of the tunnel. Plus, with the fact that I'm limping due to my still broken legs, it just made the journey even more difficult for me.
Nico didn't turn around and answered tersely.
"We do."
I had to resist the urge to roll my eyes. I still hated this guy for treating me like a fool, but it was refreshing seeing his actual true nature.
"How do you know that these missions existed, anyway? From what you said earlier, you clearly had a good idea on what these missions are."
Nico chuckled. He was silent for a few seconds, before explaining.
"You seem to already know of the secretive government. Let me guess, the girl informed you? The masked one doesn't seem to have knowledge of it. As for you're question, you are right. I do know alot."
He continued walking and I followed, the endless tunnel seemingly continuing on forever.
"I was directly part of The Umbral Compact, in the Regional Division of Europe. My work was mainly just handling the mundane work Unbound Humans can't be bothered to deal with, or is too busy to. So, I knew alot about The Mulligan and I had many friends who survived this battle royale."
My eyes widened and my ears perked up. Umbral Compact? Regional Division of Europe? These are new names. Isabella didn't even bother mentioning them to me.
From the way he said it, I can only guess that The Umbral Compact was the name of the government, the Regional Division of Europe being just a part of it. If this is the case, is there a Regional Division of Africa? Of Asia? Of North America? I was about to open my mouth to ask for more, but Nico continued.
"I was a little bitter about my work. I mean, me a normal human being, surrounded by beings that transcended mortal limits was just crushing. I know you didn't really ask, but this inferiority I always felt really pissed me off. Deeply. So, I took it upon myself to challenge The Mulligan, without waiting for death to come to me."
I blinked in surprised at the little rant. That was highly emotional and caught me off-guard. I could sense the barely concealed bitterness in his tone, but I also saw a hint of determination and resolve in his eyes.
'What a fool.'
I couldn't help but think, while walking alongside him. He got to be friends with powerful people, and from what he said, the job seemed to pay well too. Yet, in the end, he still wasn't satisfied. He felt inferior and a need to prove himself, to the point he didn't hesitate to kill himself for it.
He was smart. He had knowledge. He had experience. But in the day, with an attitude like that, he will never win The Mulligan. I was sure of it. How can he live the life he wants, if he is constantly comparing himself to others and feeling inferior? Is his life even his, if it depends on the opinions of others? Even as a homeless man before, I never had such thoughts. Mainly because caring about how I seemed, acted and looked was not a luxury I had living on the streets.
He's still a child, no matter how mature he tries to act.
Thankfully, I kept my mouth shut throughout rest of the walk. Not because I didn't have anything to say, but because I didn't want to say anything. Genuinely speaking, he was not worth trying to lecture and see reason with. Nico has already established himself as a self-righteous hypocritical fool that cares too much about how others thought of him.
'Someone like this has no value as a potential future ally.'
I thought coldly, already imagining myself betraying and killing him somewhere along the line. Keeping him around is equivalent to pulling the ring of a grenade and not throwing it. For now, however, I'll have to play passive. Atleast, until I meet Zeke and have my legs healed.
Nico sighed after not hearing a response from me.
"What about you? How did you die?"
I didn't respond for a while, then forced a laugh.
"Oh, I was strangled to death by a cop."
Nico also chuckled, but didn't say anything afterwards and continued walking, picking up the pace. It was hard for me to follow, but I somehow managed, already getting used to walking with broken legs.
Using the mission window as a reference to check the time, I had realized that more than 20 minutes had passed since the beginning of this walk.
"Let's stop walking straight and take a turn to the right. 20 minutes have already passed."
I suggested. Nico gave a brief nod, before turning on his heels and walking towards a tunnel to the right. It was the same here. With each tunnel, by the sides, there was even more. This whole thing was like an endless maze. Trying to find Isabella and zeke here is no different from trying to find a needle in a haystack.
"Stop."
Nico suddenly said, halting. Then, he summoned what seemed to be a saber in his hands, getting into a fighting stance, facing towards the darkness. He threw a torch towards me, I stumbled a little, but managed to grab it safely without the fire going out.
I heard footsteps coming towards us from the darkness.
Then, a figure revealed themselves under the light of the torch. It was a women, her tunic was drenched and her long blond hair was wet and glistening with water. She had these beautiful gem-like eyes, a perfectly shaped face and facial features that was better then some supermodels. She wasn't that tall, but her posture and figure still demanded attention. Any man would find it difficult to tear their eyes away from her.
It was Isabella.
"Isabella!"
I couldn't help but exclaim in joy. She smiled at me.
"Morgan."
Then, she turned towards Nico with a raised eyebrow. Prompting me to explain.
"This is Nico. He helped me deal with the damage of the fall done to my legs. Don't worry, he's an ally and will help us with this mission."
Isabella nodded and Nico also seemed to relax a little. Before she could say anything though, I inquired, looking around.
"Where's Zeke?"
Isabella chuckled and responded very quickly.
"Come this way. I will lead you to him."
I exchanged looks with Nico and nodded towards him. Stabilizing myself using the Rapier, I followed Isabella that had turned around walking in the direction of the darkness.
I didn't find it odd that it was Isabella who found us. Since she could create a duplicate using the wind and could send it out for scouting. It was about time that she did, actually. My entire body was feeling sore and exhausted. The mission had quite the time-limit, so a rest after reuniting shouldn't be much of an issue.
I looked towards Nico and noticed how intently he was glancing at Isabella, almost ogling her. I couldn't help but feel disgusted, but kept these feelings to myself. It's not like Nico is doing anything, anyway.
And so, the two of us silently followed Isabella....
________________________________________
I still remember the sensation. The sensation of me falling and my back hitting the water. I thought I died right there. I would of, if not for me instinctively manipulating the air flow around me to create turbulent Eddie's, increasing drag, I would of seriously lost my life. Even so, with my limited understanding of how to really manipulate wind, I wasn't able to fully protect my body and as a result, I felt my spine dislocate and be destroyed.
I would of drowned if Zeke didn't save me in time and healed my body.
Unfortunately, we weren't able to find Morgan, if he was still alive, or the blond boy. I managed to catch a moment of the young blond boy flying down comfortably, so he must be around here.
After entering a tunnel, we unknownigly was forced into the Misson "Dreadful Tunnels" and ever since, the two of us has been exploring the tunnels, seeking a way out.
Sitting at a small, crude camp we created with a fire. The two of us were seated by the Fire, roasting the meat we captured before falling into this cave.
"We need to complete this mission and return back to Cassie."
Zeke said, firmly. For some reason, he has been hell-bent on returning to Cassie, as if he was uncomfortable leaving the little girl alone even for a few hours. Perhaps I underestimated how deep their relationship went. Zeke really seems to see Cassie as his little sister.
Well, same went for me too.
"Mhm, you're right. We should start moving."
I responded, finishing my fill of the meat, my stomach all satisfied. I didn't feel comfortable about leaving Cassie alone for too long, either. Zeke had mentioned that Cassie will know that he was alive, by the Abyssal Fragment he left behind, that would give her some solace and stop her from making unnecessary assumptions about the situation we were in.
And even if danger comes, I had faith she will be able to handle it. Or atleast tried to have faith.
Just when Zeke and I were about to stand up and start moving in a direction, we heard footsteps coming our way. Was it footsteps? No, it sounded more like crawling....
"Be on guard."
I heard Zeke say, I turned to him and gave a brief nod, facing the darkness where the sounds of something crawling was coming from.
Under the light of the fire, the person revealed themselves.
It was a man. A young man with ordinary facial features, long raven-black hair, grey eyes brimming with resolve and porcelain skin. The tunic he wore was dretched and his legs were broken, dislocated in a way that made me want to vomit.
It was Morgan.
"Morgan!"
I exclaimed, a deep sense of relief filling my heart. I had been so worried. So worried that I didn't even realize how worried I was. Still, Zeke seemed to be eyeing Morgan warily, but nodded and walked forward towards Morgan, who opended his mouth to speak.
"I would really appreciate a little heal, Zeke."
Zeke chuckled, crounched down and touched Morgan's legs. I already saw his Blessing in action before when he healed me, but I didn't get a good view. So, I was curious about what will happen.
I didn't see any blinding green light, or any sort of light really. The moment Zeke touched the broken legs, they began shifting and moving erratically— not the legs themselves, but the bones inside them. It was a strange sight, almost like Zeke was reversing the time of the bones, reverting them back to it's usual state.
'Was that....his blessing ability?'
I couldn't help but be shocked. In just a few seconds, the legs were as good as new, returned back to how they were before. Even Morgan seemed surprised, as he stood up and tested out his newly fixed legs.
"That's quite the blessing you have there, Zeke."
Zeke simply laughed again. The obnoxious laugh full of glee.
"I know right? I'm just that amazing and powerful. Haha, but jokes aside, we gotta start exploring this place and finish this mission as quickly as possible. I don't wanna keep Cassie waiting."
Both of us nodded. But then, curiosity got the better of me, as I turned towards Morgan and inquired.
"What of the blond boy, Morgan? Did you see him?"
Morgan seemed startled. Scratching the back of his head, he shook his head.
"No, I haven't. Maybe we will encounter him in these Tunnels."
I gave a nod, not thinking much about the answer. However, Zeke just kept staring at Morgan for some reason. Still, he didn't say anything, so I assumed nothing much of it, even if I had this odd feeling in my chest.
Something inside was saying to me that....
'It's not Morgan.'