I watched as Yuna raised her blade, blitzing ahead to attack the mummy with determination on her face. The giant mummy tried to hit her away with his staff, still roaring in pain, but she nimbly dodged out of the way. She concentrated in front of the mummy, yelling out, "All-Seeing Slash!" Her movements were almost superhuman as she slashed the monster right down the middle as she dashed past. The mummy began yelling out as blue sand poured out of him like a faucet. He kneeled on the ground, trying to stop the blue sand from pouring out, but that created an opening.
Aeolus got back on his feet, clapping, "Good job, human. You set him up for me." He brought out his silver sword, charging in. He jumped higher than expected, aiming for the mummy's neck; his blade heated up. He slashed a clean line through the beast's neck as he uttered, "Divine Execution." The mummy's head slowly separated from his body, collapsing on the floor.
The rest of his body began breaking apart into many pieces, blue sand slowly filling up the room. The barriers that had held us in place fizzled out; their magic was no longer being sustained, and the seal on the floor also disappeared. That should have been the end of it, but weirdly the Sarcophagus began to glow again. It pulsed normally at first, but then too rapidly sped up. I yelled out, "Run!" The pain in my ribs flared up, but I had to get up. I felt energy gathering into a mass. This wasn't good; we had to get away. I had no idea how far the blast would reach.
We were almost out of the room when I felt something grab my legs; it was the Sarcophagus. Damn it, they really thought of everything! The blue sand formed into magic bindings, willing to do anything to make sure we didn't leave here alive. Yuna momentarily stopped; it was a brief hesitation that lasted a single second. That small amount of time was enough to signal the beginning of the end of our group.
I heard Aeolus saying something, but it was too late; the blast would hit us no matter what now. Finn seemed to try to take over again, but Aeolus kept control and kept running. I gathered my energy together, trying desperately to form something that could shield us. I tried to think of anything, but I had no time; the blast was reaching a crescendo.
Finally, Yuna walked beside me; she concentrated on her hands, "Damn it, I can't die like this!" Yellow energy circulated around both of us as she seemed to unleash everything she had at once. As the room filled with the ominous glow of the accelerating explosion, Yuna's eyes flared with determination. She tapped into the depths of her natural-born magic, intertwining their essences in a desperate bid for survival. The sand beneath us shifted and swirled, responding to her command with an otherworldly dance.
In an instant, the surroundings distorted, and the blue sand formed a protective cocoon around Yuna and me. Her eyes radiated with her intense magical energy as we sunk deep into the blue sand. My surroundings cascaded into darkness as I closed my eyes, feeling Yuna next to me, holding me for dear life. This was no longer the jaded assassin who had tried to kill us but a girl scared for her life. We sank deeper into the earth as the explosion shook the entire area to its core; I had never felt such a supermassive blast. The earth quaked, but we remained in one piece as we sunk beneath the earth. Slowly, we sank down into the earth, barely able to breathe as my body felt like it was being crushed.
Once the sounds from above cleared out, I noticed an issue: my lungs. I couldn't hold my breath much longer. If I were to open my mouth or eyes, sand would fill both of them. Just as I began feeling lightheaded, the ground opened up. I felt us begin to fall down as we hit the ruin floor hard; the ground was hard, no longer made of sand. We had phased through an entire layer of these underground ruins. I gasped for breath; my back hurting, and my ribs still broken—breathing was all I could manage. After what seemed like an eternity, my throat dry from coughing, still covered in blue sand, I managed to stand up. Yuna was already up, looking around at her surroundings. I asked, "Did you save me?" She frowned, "Don't flatter yourself; you just happened to be close by."
I followed up with, "What was that power? Was that your magic?" Yuna crossed her arms, "No idea what you are talking about. The ground just swallowed us up." I asked, "No, that was clearly yo-" Yuna snapped, "The ground swallowed us up, how lucky! Now, if you're done gawking, let's see where we are." I looked around; there was sand on the ceiling, but otherwise, the floor was made of sandstone. The corridor we landed in was long; the end was blacked out by the darkness both in front and back. I asked, "Should we turn around or continue forward?" Yuna sighed, "It matters not; we have no idea where we are either way."
The air in the corridor carried a subtle mustiness, indicative of the ancient passageways we found ourselves in. The sandstone floor felt cool beneath my feet as Yuna and I proceeded forward, the uncertain darkness ahead veiling the corridor's secrets. Each step echoed softly, creating a rhythmic cadence that resonated through the unseen chambers.
The walls, adorned with weathered hieroglyphs and faded reliefs, spoke of a history long forgotten. Strange symbols and depictions of forgotten deities intertwined with the sandstone's natural grooves. It was as if the very essence of the ruins had seeped into the rock, weaving a narrative that only time could decipher. Yuna walked with an air of nonchalance, her silhouette partially illuminated by the faint glow of her magic. The sand on the ceiling created an inverted dune-like pattern, giving the corridor an unusual, almost surreal atmosphere. I couldn't shake the feeling that these passages held untold stories and hidden wonders, waiting to be unveiled with each step.
I began hearing a buzzing sound throughout the corridor sort of like a humming, or maybe even a voice? I asked, "You hear that?" Yuna said, "Shh" We both walked along listening to what I began recognizing as a voice. The voice began getting louder as we walked a long weirdly it was in a language I recognized. I heard the words child, killer, lied, bloodline, pain, fear, wrong, right, contradiction. The words were random, but they came in different sounding voices almost like multiple people were speaking at once. I was getting a little creeped out, but we continued forward into the darkness.
The voices grew louder and began to form conversations a woman's voice rang out into the darkness. The woman screamed loudly, "Gin they are here we need to leave right away!" A man's voice rang back, "Dammit no time to waste they will kill us if they see us." Yuna froze in place for a moment. Her body seemed to break out into chills, "Mom? Dad?" I asked, "Everything ok?" Her mouth hung open like a fish, "No it's nothing just keep going." We walked as the chanting continued it was almost painful as they seemed to speak right into my brain. Finally laughter could be felt in the darkness ahead of us.
We noticed a small figure in the darkness; we both stopped in place. Yuna readied her blade, waiting for the figure. The figure didn't seem to move until we moved a little closer; the figure was small, I would guess about 8 years old. She smiled at us sweetly. I asked, "Little girl? What are you doing down here?" She didn't respond to me as she held her white teddy bear, petting it in her lap as she leaned against the sandstone. The little girl held an odd-looking bear with unnaturally sharp teeth; it certainly wasn't a bear I'd ever sell. Instead, the girl looked at Yuna, ignoring me, "Yuna! You're home! Mr. Chompers, and I were getting lonely." Yuna dropped her sword on the ground, visibly shaken up now; she muttered, "Crystal? Crystal!" She made to run towards the little girl, but I put out my arms, blocking her. I exclaimed, "Wait, Yuna; it could be a trap!"
Yuna shook her head, "No, that's my sister; let me go!" The little girl smiled, "Mommy and daddy won't be coming home today!" The little girl stood up, approaching Yuna, "Why is that, Yuna? Where did they go?" Yuna's voice broke, "They tried to kill me, so... so I..." Crystal smiled, "So you what?" Yuna seemed to swallow, "I had to do it; I wanted to protect you!" The little girl frowned, "Protect me? Don't you mean you wanted to protect yourself?" The tiny girl tilted her head now, "Murderer. Murderer. Murderer." Her laughs grew wilder as her smile grew wider, "You killed them, Yuna. You killed them yourself! Monster! Monster!" I got mad now; I went to shove the little girl; her body felt light; she smashed into the sandstone bricks, laughing. Yuna began to cry, "No, they tried to kill me; I had to defend myself. The covenant saved me, gave me a way to fight back." A deeper voice echoed out from the corridor, "You crave acceptance, but deep down, you know you're unworthy of it. Your hands are stained with the blood of your own family. Your sister, where is she? Dead! Your little cult is responsible! What did you do to stop them? Nothing! Useless, useless, useless!" The chants ramped up as Yuna held her head, tears now streaming down her face.