Tap, tap, tap. Thud, thud, thud. Two sets of footsteps rang in tandem as they disturbed the peaceful silence of the caverns they were traversing. The scraping of stone against stone was faint as the various weapons in Bie's duffel jostled against each other, and an aura like light shone from Amitha's body. Funnily enough, a faint cross symbol emerged from the drifting light every now and then, a bit stubbier than the marking Bie's eyes had sometimes shown.
The blue tunnel was darker than both of the undeads' skins, and the glowing neon green moss got sparser and sparser as they proceeded onwards. The light was replaced by multicolored beams of dim luminosity from gems that jutted out from the rough, rocky walls. Bie walked along with faint gasps of breath emerging from his mouth every now and then as he saw new things.
On the moss, the growth itself sprouted eye patterns where it was brightest when it grew long enough to encompass the length of the tight wall. It would then converge into a giant light that shined even brighter filling the eye patterns it had once sported.
Small creatures without legs munched at the crystals as they slid along the ground, enlarging with each bite before ridged structures sprouted from the undersides of their body. They then hobbled towards more crystals, the structures becoming more claw-like with each bite.
Sometimes the stalactites themselves grew mouths, falling on the stalagmites before engulfing them in their mass. The rock would then pulse, a simulacrum of biological life, and become a bit clearer or mottle up as dry flakes would form along their surfaces.
From time to time there would be an open rocky expanse that laid before them, simply waiting to be explored with new sights to see. At others. there would be multiple paths ahead, each leading into more caverns, or more tunnels, or even to the unknown.
Rocks. Metal. Rocks. Flora. Fauna. A rhythm persisted of the ups and downs that were established in Bie's eyes. The worm creatures crawled up to the ceiling once their claws were formed and rapidly consumed the energy in their bodies to literally become stalactites. The traces they left became food for various types of plants. The stalactites would fall, and their smashing onto the ground worked to refine the rock into crystals, while the stalagmites they fell onto would refine both rocks into one being. Any fragments soon morphed into eggs with a similar texture, where the worms would eat until they could become stalactites again. It was a large cycle.
He kept time by counting down each and every second in a corner of his mind. Ever since making contact with that strange space inside of him and enduring the whistles, he felt as if the mental load on him had lessened considerably. He could maintain three separate trains of thought, one allocated to holding off the itch, the other for paying attention to where he was walking, and the last for any miscellaneous effort. Like counting, for instance.
Checking up on the corner, he realized a little over five hours had passed. He thought back to how he first appeared near Amitha's hut in the first place, after meeting that mysterious figure behind the Black Door. It really wouldn't make sense for someone to have carried him all the way there, so maybe he was teleported?
"Open up. Rock Reset." Amitha laid her palm flat on a wall that soon separated, revealing a steep staircase that was etched with similar runic symbols. They depicted various states of the moon, with speckles of light resembling starlit skies and clouds obscuring some of them. An eclipse was carved along the wall and seemed to follow the two as they made their gradual ascent.
"Each layer of our dear mum is like a world unto its own, daylight. Merely moving upwards or downwards won't do it, ya hafta have either enough power to pierce through the layers or rely on stuff like this. It's hard for Seers to come down here as a result of it, prolly cause our mum already thought of that." Amitha's tone was uncharacteristically reverent, her lips held into a line and delicately parting as she uttered each word. Her voice was a lot less boisterous than usual as well, and was even slightly...
Melodious? No, it couldn't be...these were the types of thoughts Bie held as he looked up at her. Though her countenance bore a few scars that traced white lines along her face, he found them to be quite pretty. Her face was charming as well, if a little fierce, and he thought back to his face. If he had a mother, not regarding the supposed Mother of the Night, he imagined Amitha would be his.
'Mother? What am I even thinking about? Hmm...' He noticed that the sector of his mind suppressing the itch was momentarily disrupted as a longing sensation arose in his brain. His eyes echoed that sentiment, lovingly gazing at Amitha as if she really was his parent.
The two arrived at the top of the staircase, where a door laid before them. Taking the initiative to push it open, Bie ran ahead of Amitha and futilely pushed against it. Amitha chuckled softly, before saying, "Ya gotta will for it to open, because yer not strong enough yet!"
"I will be!" Bie's hands leaked a black glow as the door suddenly gave way, pushing apart the Underground to reveal...
--
Somewhere far away.
The wind blew wildly, whirling and entangling against itself as it moved across the land. The wind did not move blindly, having a purpose, nay, a destination it was aiming for. A tea green streak gusted about as it made its way to a more sacramento green cluster.
The cluster was towering in height, it's surface porous. The wind entered each and every hole available to it as the cluster shined a brilliant green before the light quickly contained itself. This same phenomenon could be seen all over Uthreth, in numerous spaces in each and every single layer. The Messengers of the world regarded it as a natural phenomenon, the Seers were wary of it, but only the Guides knew what it was for.
"Ahh...I have so much work to do..." A deep voice grumbled in a completely white space. And when I say completely, even the counter he was leaning on was white. He stood out as the only color in that space, the whiteness of his skin juxtaposing his crocodile green eyes and the long strands of fern green hair that stretched past his shoulders and spilled down onto the middle of his chest in thick locks. His rightmost eyebrow was split, the longest side the right section, and his young, handsome sylph-like face revealed a listless, almost apathetic expression.
The business apparel he wore was the standard black jacket and a white undershirt, the collar of which was unbuttoned and popped haphazardly. A russian green tie did hang down from it though, so it wasn't completely sloppy. An armband with 'RR' etched onto it was around the upper portion of his arm, the same color as his tie. The wind floated into that empty space and his eyes dimmed considerably as his lips twitched.
"You've gotta be kidding me..."