9-05: Retrieval II
"Nothing... this is the seventeenth floor and we've found nothing. Should we head back, Avi?" Cassidy asked, wiping her hands off on her skirt.
"No. We'll continue another few floors."
Cassidy sighed as the rest just simply followed Aviris. She was focused, she felt like she needed to find it for more than what was asked.
Each time they searched, they found nothing. It was almost like chasing a legend would get them nothing.
"I still can not believe they have us down here searching for something that might not even exist." Eleanora said, in her own regal tone.
"Well, there's not much we can do to help out. It's either this, or let Avi's brothers kill each other." Veronica responded, digging into a pile of rocks. "Oh! I think I found-" She started, pulling out a cylindrical object. Sadly, just the handle of an old mace. "-nothing... I've found nothing."
It was a lost cause. Each floored garnered nothing new. No items, no treasure, no enemies, nothing. Especially the scepter.
"If we're looking for this special scepter, shouldn't it be somewhere special? Like, near a throne or in a special display? Especially if it belonged to one of your earlier Sultans?" Cassidy wondered, bored of searching the dungeon.
"With the way the dungeon changes, and the amount of people, I doubt it. It would be a miracle if we could even find the tiniest shred of—" Aviris cut herself off, looking off in the distance, like she saw something. "—evidence... Like that..."
"Like what, Avi? I don't see anything."
"You don't see the golden trails over there?"
"Golden trails? Aviris, dear, all I see is more dirt." Eleanora answered, not seeing whatever it was Aviris was talking about.
But, whatever it was, Aviris went to follow it. The girls words bounced off her ears, so they just followed her instead.
Whatever it was that Aviris saw, it was leading the group deeper and deeper into the dungeon. From the dirt cave, to a castle like structure, then what could've only been explained as the deepest pits of the underworld, then to a ruined library.
The dungeon was more chaotic than Hekna's. Almost like someone crested these floors in a rush. Doors that open to a blank wall, chairs on the ceiling, stairs that lead nowhere.
"This place is giving me a headache." Eleanora admitted.
But Aviris continued on, following the "golden trails". It led the girls to what could only be explained as an underground oasis. Clean air, grass, no sun, but it was still oddly relaxing. Even a large pool of water.
A large pool of water that seemed to have something moving underneath it.
Something moving alarmingly quickly towards the girls, and vaguely humanoid.