Meanwhile, back in the original murky red alleyway the two had left behind, a fresh coat of crimson hung on the walls as three pairs of limbs were scattered on the tiles. Corresponding to each separated set of limbs were dimming eyes, their gazes becoming turbid gradually, while stained white matter splattered out of their heads in small amounts.
"Ggh--" Two muffled grunts bounced off of the drying walls as Bie and Uris stood atop two of the scientists, while Ulun smacked the sides of both of their faces with the rounded edges of his hook. They were wiping off the smeared slathers of blood off of their armors, though Bie gave up halfway as he had merely copied the father and daughter.
"So, where'd they go?" Ulun asked, bringing down the caned end right before one of the scientist's noses before smashing it against the fleshy structure, caving in the nose as the other scientist watched in abject terror. Tears streamed down the both of their faces in tandem, thin streams creating wet streaks not unlike the gory streaks that patterned the dingy passage.
Bie chuckled to himself, the short gasps of laughter escaping his lips in small quantities. The reason why was very simple, they hadn't even made any attempts to interrogate the scientists before resorting to violence! He was pretty sure they would've easily acquiesced to their questioning too, as they bunch were quite skittish judging from what he had seen.
As if in a desperate bid to prove Bie's conjecture's, the remaining scientist brought up her gaze to the grate in Ulun's helm, babbling near incoherently before coughing out an answer. "Th-the-th-tht," She was briefly interrupted by Uris ramming her foot down on the woman's ribcage, "HIDEout-!"
Ulun cocked his head to the side before nonchalantly clicking his tongue, tapping along the ground as he let out piercing tutting noises. The smacks droned on for a full minute, the woman holding on to her breath so tightly she could asphyxiate if he lingered on too long. He smiled under his helm before speaking again, enunciating each and every word.
"Wow. Helpful, right?" He laughed along with the giggling Bie, as if he had heard a lukewarm joke and was doubting if he had heard the punchline. "So? Where is it?"
The woman gestured with her eyes, the tears rhythmically dropping on the pavement as she held her neck deathly still. Bie looked at the wall questioningly, before stepping down from the dying scientist he used as a platform and running his fingers on its surface, consequently cloaking his hands in a drying red coating.
His digits roamed every last corner before landing on a hollow brick. He pushed slightly on it, before realizing the difference it had as it indented. In response, each and every brick fell on the ground before shimmering out of existence, revealing a two-meter-wide opening that seemed to yawn further deeper down. A stone slate was suspended before the entrance in silence, a soft hum making itself known to the three, no, four sets of ears.
Ulun looked at Uris, before jerking his head upwards and towards Bie and rising up from his squat. He arrived to where Bie stood, the woman scientist in tow and slung across one of his shoulders, Uris following him after she descended from her back.
--
They were floating steadily in a dark cavern that streamed downwards as they talked, while the female scientist's mouth had been bound by a rough lump of hewn fabric.
"Why are we doing this?" Bie asked, taking a brief pause before he continued inquiring further. "Miss Aimee has already stamped our parchment, so we can turn it in if we want?"
Uris replied to his question in good humor, as Ulun was busy training his eyes ahead as brief serrated panes of light intermittently dyed the four in spurts of light. "You're right, but a job should always be seen through if we can manage it! Word spreads really quick in Renthia, after all."
Bie brought his hand up to his chin, holding the pointed edge firmly as his blue violet lips were lit by a streak of light, before being bathed in shadow once again. "Miss Aimee was doing something sketchy, though. Would she really be able to report us?"
"If she was completely unable to communicate, how did she issue a request? Moreover, what if the whole entire reason she was doing something sketchy was because an important official ordered it?" Uris rebutted, softly asking a query while looking at Ulun, who remained silent as his right hand clenched around the handle of his hook.
Bie shrugged his shoulders, not bothering to ask any more questions as he quietly brought out a stone pike and loosely held it up to his neck, the blade pointing towards the obscured sky. His eyes roamed the jagged edges of rocky outcroppings and occasional windows that illuminated rivulets of red and orange incandescent liquid rock. The window withstood the heat without faltering even the slightest bit, proudly displaying the contents behind it as the murky smell of burning traversed the corridor.
The platform sputtered to a sudden and complete stop as it lowered to the now level terrain, floating back upwards as Uris felt a sharp sting of regret well up within her. "How are we going to get back up there?" She voiced, directing her gaze at Ulun as she said this, who merely pointed at the scientist's lopsided form that clung for dear life.
The smell moderately let up as the lights became more frequent, their shadows hanging along the curved red surface as they made their way forward. The three mercenaries of Hook and Shield were glad that there didn't appear to be any further attempts at diversion, as the area was pretty straightforward. Carvings of Domingo's face with various expressions were imprinted along the walls, most of them pulling down an eyelid and wagging their tongue in mockery.
They didn't notice the mechanisms behind the faces turning as the eyes traced their movements when they passed, the red gleam of a camera letting out miniscule arcs of light.
--
Stalactites and stalagmites created the appearance of a great dragon's looming maw, the aperture illuminated by levitating small panels with glass rims. Each step the trio made carried them further along the tight enclosure until it abruptly opened into a grand, rectangular room. Large machines akin to canisters contained a vibrant liquid that pushed against its confines, ventilating masks bound around unwavering faces.
"Ouchy! That smarts! Mommy!" Domingo's back was turned to the three as he swung his back around, before letting it drop backwards towards the entering mercenaries. His hair was suspended in midair as it reached towards the ground, while the head it was attached to showed a look of confusion before letting out a cheery smile.
"Hey, whats-her-name? I didn't think we'd be inviting guests?" Domingo contorted his form as the physique below his neck twisted and bended in odd angles before settling under his now upright face in a squat. His hand was held in a straight line above his left eyebrow, as if he wanted to salute the trio.