The crystal valley was both a beautiful sight but an ominous warning to the three who followed after the child abductor.
These crystals were clearly not normal as the reflective light that came off the crystals echoed out strange wailing moans. Almost as if there was some lingering spiritual presence in the area in the likeness of a ghost or other otherworldly beings that have yet crossed over to the afterlife.
'' What was that? Gakusha, Hakai did you both hear that? ''
Sakura couldn't hide her discomfort, she didn't like what she was hearing and she remained behind the other two merely due to this interaction. Gakusha couldn't focus on Sakura at the moment seeing that he needed to be focused on trailing after the female and finding the passage to the hideout. Hakai held up his finger to his lips to tell Sakura not to make any sound in case the male
The three continued to move, hiding behind any and all spots that may cover the three of them so that they can keep their eyes on her and move after her immediately as possible.
They had to ignore the constant sounds of voices even though the further in they had went, the deeper and more intense the voices became.
'' Look, they finally stopped moving. ''
Hakai spoke to both Sakura and Gakusha as he pointed at the two in the distance.
The woman who was stringing along Seiya towards a empty clearing, the ground began to shake and rumble heavily before the very earth beneath them opened up revealing a flight of stairs that descended in a spiraling manner.
'' You both, its time to douse yourselves in this. ''
Gakusha handed out two sets of vials to Hakai and Sakura which was meant to coat them in a miasma that blended them in with certain attributes that made them hard to sense in a place coated in the same alignment.
This camouflage would help them once inside since they won't have to actively try to hide since the properties will make them also blend with their surroundings as long as they don't actually use their abilities.
Hakai and Sakura immediately covered themselves with the vials liquid which caused a black mist to surround their body. Gakusha immediately had done the same before the trio ran after the duo into the opening in the ground.
The messy-haired woman who strung along Seiya had been silent for a time, her mind was still focused on the meeting from earlier and the one who had mentioned to her about the void in her heart.
How dare she speak to her like she knew her? Nyoko tried to ignore how she felt, she had a new child to take in and that was all that mattered right this second. She was unaware of the people following her due to how fixated she was on her own business and not before long the two had reached the base of the stairs.
From here a long winding hallway awaited them , filled with a handful of soldiers and locked doors on both ends of the hallway which held certain subjects belonging to Nyoko and other prisoners of the Dark Hand.
Gakusha, Hakai and Sakura had reached the base of the stairs several moments later, opting to split up to cover more ground although discretion and rational thinking being their guides at a time like this. They didn't want to screw this up, this particular chance was one that needed the utmost care and they wouldn't ruin this opportunity to act.
Gakusha chose to follow the female and observe the hypnotized Seiya for a bit longer as eventually she had placed Seiya into a locked chamber that was at the far end of the hallway where a larger circular room had been the open meeting space of the general soldiers here but not the actual Commanders room.
'' I hope you are okay Seiya, you do still know what to do for your part in all this right? ''
From Seiya's point of view, he was still hypnotized after being placed in the room although the state he was in was finally fading as her job in keeping him hypnotized was done. He was now locked up, within the confines of a small room with five other children.
'' Where am I? ''
Seiya asked quietly, seeing that the five other children in the room were frail and weak. Almost as if their life force has been drained, Seiya knelt down to look at the five kids but they avoided eye contact.
Seiya tried waving at them but they flinched, thinking he was planning on hitting them.
The prince sighed, this wasn't going to be simple but he needed to get some information from them on what's going on around this place before he could do something.
'' Can you tell me where we are? ''
Seiya asked the five but they offered no response in return, at least immediately. Given their health conditions, there was nothing that could be done about how they were acting.
'' Hey, I can't help you guys if I don't know anything. ''
Seiya asked again, this time the eldest child spoke.
'' We're in the Children's Nest. The lady Nyoko said this is where we'll spend the rest of our lives as her children. I don't remember where we were before this, my memory has become messy but all I can think of when I think about my parents is that lady. We get fed every two days and we get water every few hours but every day they place this crystal into our room and it makes us tired. There used to be 10 of us but five of us fell into a long sleep and didn't wake. We don't want to sleep forever like the ones before us. C-can you do something? ''