Nina looked out over the lake and spotted a black scarf float above the water's surface. She required a few seconds to realize the scarf belonged to Tim, and she reached forward with her hand to take it.
"This is... This is Tim's! He would never let go of that scarf, it's important to him! So, why did it emerge from the lake's depths?!" Her fear and anxiety could be seen on her face. Her pupils were constantly shaking and her eyes were wide open. Her face was soaked with sweat, and she never took her gaze away from the lake.
"I can feel it. Something bad must've happened to him! I should go look for him, right? But my body refuses to move. What's the matter with it? Why isn't it moving? Am I afraid of going underwater?! Is there something forcing me to not go in?"
As she approached the lake, she lifted her foot above the water's surface. She was unable to enter, though. Her body was still being controlled by her dread and worry, causing her to be unable to move.
"I'm going to go find him! I have no choice! What if something bad happened to him while he was underwater? He hasn't shown up on the surface or swum to it! He could have drowned?!" She couldn't think of anything to do, so she attempted to recall what Tim would do in this circumstance.
"If I were Tim, I'd jump in and start looking for his friends! That is why I must follow his traces!" Her body gave out before she could go inside. She knelt on her knees, terrified.
She was sweating profusely and clutched her face. "I'm afraid I can't. I'm afraid I won't be able to go inside. I'm the very worst person to accompany him." She pounded her fist into the ground in rage, saddened by her own deeds. "I'm such a coward... I should never have joined them; I'm only a roadblock for them..."
Water gushed through a massive breach at the cave's bottom, spilling onto the floor. Tim's body came sliding through it, and he appeared exhausted. He was drenched and his hair was tangled. He was soaked through and through, and there wasn't much he could do. He took a deep breath and coughed up the water.
"I don't understand. I'm exhausted after only a few meters of swimming. What caused that to happen? Was it just due to the lack of oxygen in my lungs?" As the water flowed behind him one last time, he coughed and grasped his chest.
"I'm in desperate need of a break. I'm lucky that I didn't drown. But, seriously, what is the depth of this lake?" He returned his sight to the hole.
He pushed himself up from his crawling posture and took a glance around the place. The room was silent, but there were two statues of humans affixed to the ground, both of whom had fearful expressions on their faces. "What the hell is this?" He inhaled a foul odor and hurriedly covered his mouth and nose.
He began marching forward into the tunnel, toward the menacingly standing door. The enigma surrounding this location appeared to be significant, and there were symbols on the walls that he couldn't decipher.
"I have no idea what these symbols mean. We really need someone who can read these. But that's for the future; I believe there is something else I should be concentrating on now."
He seized both sides of the door as soon as he was in front of it and pushed them open with all his force. He strained for a few seconds, but was able to open the door. It wasn't long before he came into view of a cave, where he observed a human standing at the cave's circling road's top.
The boy at the very top was taken aback and swiftly cried out to him. "Hold on, Tim, is that you?" When the two of them exchanged glances, it appeared to be Elliott. "Elliott?"
"What the hell are you doing down there?" Elliott was puzzled and disturbed by his unidentified presence. "And what's the matter with you? Why are you so wet?"
"Let's just say I had a good time exploring the lake's depths. And where has Codey gone? I thought you two were supposed to be together."
"Even when I waved him to come with me, the jackass left me alone. But, of course, he must've arrived in the wrong frame of mind and bolted. Nina, what about her? Wasn't she there with you?"
"I'm actually not sure. We were together until a sudden fog formed and separated us after we noticed a silhouette of a girl. I tried calling out to her, but she didn't answer, and I couldn't see her because of the thick fog."
"So, how did you end yourself down there in the first place? If my memory serves me well, the lake is far above this cave."
"As the fog grew thicker, I became aware of a strange silhouette. It sung this strange song that compelled me to walk within the lake. My body was snatched by some sort of underwater beast at that point, and it dragged me down the lake. It felt as though there was no end in sight, and I barely made it out alive. I would have drowned if I had stayed down there for a few more seconds."
"That's strange. Me and Codey both spotted a girl's shadow, but she vanished at any moment. We couldn't do anything and didn't have a chance to catch her."
"Everything is so strange. On opposite ends of the island, we all saw the same girl?"
"That girl is such a perplexing character! In any event, there should be a staircase leading back to where I came. As a result, we should be able to return to land!"
"I think we still have some luck on our side! Okay, hold your horses up there. I'll be up there as soon as I can." Tim hurried up the cave's road to the top of the hill where Elliott waited, and when he arrived, he stared at Elliott.
"Come this way!"
They followed Elliott's tracks together in the hopes of returning to land. The steps, however, vanished just as they thought they were saved.
"You've got to be kidding me!"
Tim stood motionless, staring at the wall. "So, where's the stairwell?" Elliott, who had his arms dangling at the bottom of his feet, had left him unimpressed and he felt duped. "I don't want to stay on this island any longer; I want to get back on the ship!"
The floor began to shake, and they both struggled to maintain their footing. They were both astonished and experiencing the oddest sensation imaginable. "What the hell is going on now?"
"Does it look like I know?!" While the rocks continued to fall, Elliott slid at the edge and was quickly caught by Tim. Looking down at the bottom, Elliott was terrified.
"I'm not going to make it if I fall from this height!" He swallowed his saliva, terrified.
Tim's fatigue was at an all-time high, and he was losing his grip on Elliott's hand. "You stupid, don't drop me! I came here to live, not to die! I still have Ayuka to marry!"
"Keep your mouth shut, you moron! Your arms are sweating!"
"No, you're simply too weak!" While the rocks continued to fall, they argued about nothing. "Then go ahead and fall, you jerk!"
But it wasn't long until something dug its way inside the cave. It was a worm with no face and merely a mouth capable of swallowing someone whole. "What is that thing?" Elliott screamed, knowing full well that it was there to eat him. "I have no idea what it is; all I know is that it is ugly!"
The worm roared, as if it was enraged by the prospect of blood. It was much larger than a human and crawled on the ground. The rocks where Tim had been kneeling suddenly gave way. With their eyes wide open in surprise, they both tumbled toward the worm.
They shouted as they began falling into the worm's gut, which was waiting for them. "I've never seen anything so disgusting than this!"
They were both staring at the worm at the same time. Tim's expression turned solemn as flames erupted like steam from both sides of his mouth. Orange flames flared from his left leg as he raised it and stretched his right arm to the side, and a black sword formed from it.
He closed his mouth, causing the flames on each side of his mouth to flare, and then grabbed the blade's tilt. With the other hand, he grabbed it and lifted it high above his head. From the black blade, flames surged. He drew the sword behind him and slashed it above his head as it sliced through the worm's mouth, injuring it by severing its stomach all the way to the bottom.
As the flames expanded out from the worm's body, his feet fell on the floor, and he leapt back from the position. It was Elliott's time, and he landed quickly on the worm's head, bounced off of it, and flew through the air.
He reached for his pen in the midst of the air and suddenly transformed it into a sword, which sparkled with flashing energy. He had his back against the worm's and held it close his shoulder. When electricity looped throughout his body, through, his eyes shone silver. He vanished in a flash of lightning, and slices of electricity rushed through the worm's body all over the place.
As its big jaw was opened, the worm tumbled forward. Tim stiffened his stance as he held the sword next to his hip, its blade pointing backward on the floor, as it wasn't quite dead.
As Tim hoisted the blade above his shoulder and slashed it forward, the weapon exploded in flames once more. With the final sound of the metal reverberating through the tunnel, the flaming fire slashed through the worm's head, decapitating it.
Elliott landed on top of the road as the head shot through the air as the slithering body slumped on the floor. "I've never fought anything so revolting!"
To be continued...