The Heart of Gaia

"So you've lost the boy?!"

I could sense a bit of disappointment in his tone, I prepared myself for a long sermon.

"How can you lose a child?!"

*Blah!* *Blah!*

What continued was an onslaught of words, I couldn't keep up as I felt that my ears would bleed. Right now we've met with Sir Bardel and his squadron.

"E-excuse us Sir!" said Dale.

"WHAT?!"

"I've got good news as well..." Timidly I said.

"Nice save Dale..." Whispered John.

"Hmp." Cain followed

"Go on!" as Bardel waved his hand at my direction.

"Well, my men and I tried tracking him down and so far I've found something interesting."

I explained him the details of my discovery. From the large man that took our recruit, to that very dead end where he disappeared. I felt that he took notice of the situation and felt the severity of my suspicions of it.

"We'll have to investigate further and save that brat..."

"But this doesn't change the fact that you failed to return the boy." He continued.

I put on a very timid smile as his frustration got to me. Even so, what made the child so important.

"I-If I may Sir..."

He stared at me and must've realized my intention. Without a doubt people could notice the dismay in his face. I'm sure I wasn't the only one who longed for an answer.

"As my right hand, you've earned the right to know. But, as of now I'm under orders..."

He face exuded loyalty, for him to be able a secret like this... He wasn't the type to keep to himself and had always invested time with others. It must be a direct order from the Commander Rhys himself. Despite my curiosity, I won't pry any more than I should.

"Right! get me a scout! we need to contact Cordelia!"

Soon a scout came and was instructed to inform Cordelia of the current situation. Hours had passed.

"Sir! there's still no response from Madame and her squad."

"What about Yela?!"

"No response from either of them..."

"Sh*t! We'll have to operate ourselves! Have the remaining men posted far from here to search for them! as for the rest! follow me."

I've got the strangest feeling about them, hopefully they're alright.

"Where are we going Sir?!" I questioned.

"Where do you think?! Lead the way!"

"B-but Sir! Shouldn't we search for the princess first?!"

"Right now we don't have any leads where to find the Princess, we've searched every possible area..."

"T-then?! Don't tell me?!"

"Yes! They must be in there!"

"What makes you say that?!"

"Gut! feeling!"

I hastily retraced my steps as our combined squads followed us through the maze-like alleyways of the Black Market. As stupid as it may seem, his instincts had always been on point and we've been saved by it multiples times before.

I didn't dare to question it, not while we're going to stumble into something dangerous. He wouldn't lead us into something that could potentially lead to our doom.

Bardel marched forward alongside me without any hesitation amid our journey.

"If what you suspected proves to be true, then we'll be able to solve all our problems." He said.

"I can only hope..."

*Gulp*

The feeling of hesitation surged within me as the idea of failing to meet his expectations became a burden. But even though I was sure, that thing I saw carrying the recruit adds as proof. His Corr levels was abnormal and it had the same sinister aura that most monsters we've encountered so far had. If I'm wrong then I've risked our safety, the mission and Sir Bardel. Everything was riding on this speculation of mine.

Our large group had trouble passing through the streets, as it had attracted a lot of unwanted attention. Thugs and ruffians made fools of themselves while trying to make a scene as they were disposed of fairly quickly. Those that met us from afar would scatter, their faint whispers and fearful eyes made it clear.

They knew how to stay away from trouble, mostly men in large groups, this place was large enough for most organizations to take control. Getting involved with their business could mean certain death... The path was long and the still light of the Central Crystalline monument made our travel seem still and lifeless.

Soon we arrived at our destination, the familiar Lamp post and the dead end rugged wall.

"Is this the place?" Bardel questioned.

"Yeah..."

"So where did that man disappear?"

"Over here."

I pointed towards a specific location in the area where I had last seen the man.

"Alright men! those proficient in magic detection should start investigating!"

As our men surrounded the area, searching for Gaia knows what. All types of detection magic were activated, a chant here and some over there. With our sheer numbers we would easily find a way to break into whatever our minds thought was.

Hours flew by as we all slowly got frustrated...

"What are we even looking for?!" Cain asked as his face threw a frustrated remark.

"Uh... Something?!" Dale blurted out.

Maybe we were thinking of this the wrong way, I tried retracing his steps. It should bring light to our situation. I stood directly beneath the lamp post with it's green luminosity showering me, I stared straight at the blank cavern walls.

"Was this all for nothing?" I questioned myself.

My mind went blank as I my eyes further explored the very walls in front of me.

"Hey Hackmann!"

I turned around.

"What do you want John?"

He motioned towards the cavern walls and I nodded in agreement. Maybe there was something on the rocky walls, it wasn't that far off from our location that'll take him at least five minutes to get there. This was getting hopeless...

Frustrated and infuriated at my own uselessness I kicked onto the ground.

*Thud*

My eyes widened as I realized that maybe we thought of this too deeply.

"What is it?"

I turned to look at Sir Bardel as I knelt to inspect the hollow sound.

"This spot..."

I knocked onto the ground with the back of knuckle, apparently it's made out of metal. The smooth surface felt cold to the touch, completely opposite of it's current texture. I called upon one of the men investigating from afar.

"Can you check this area?"

"Sure."

With a wave of his hand followed by a chant, the ground started to vibrate. The vibrations soon shook off the cloaking ability that concealed it's original appearance.

"Move."

I moved on to the side as he started to pry open the hatch.

"It won't budge..." He said lightly.

"HACKMANN!! I FOUND SOMETHING ON THE WALL!"

John abruptly shouted while hurriedly running towards me, with a sense of urgency I went to him.

"I saw some sort of crystalline figure embedded the wall, It was dark that blended well into the wall."

"Hm... Do you think it has a purpose?"

"Well, it's directly facing the lamp post but anything other than that... None!"

Maybe we're overthinking this.

*CLANG!*

The clamoring of steel made me cover my ears. I turned to look at Bardel whose fist lay dormant at the base of the hatch.

"This thing... It's Terranite! We can't force our way in!"

This made things worse as Terranite is the only known metal to negate magic, due to certain phenomena which current technology can't comprehend. It's one of the rarest metals around, hard to find and definitely hard to mine. This would mean that whoever was under here had multiple connections. Hopefully it's mastermind is the sole enemy of our group, I don't want to make this difficult more than it should.

"Sir! I have an Idea!"

I ran towards Bardel and revealed my shield. He stared at me with curiosity.

"One of my men found out something, let me see if this works..."

I stood in the middle of the hatch.

"If my speculations are right..." I said to myself cautiously.

I rubbed my sleeves against the flawless part of the shield that I could find. After it gleamed clean, I raised it against the radiant green light of the Street lamp. As The light bounced off against the shield, It flew towards the cavern walls.

"I knew it!" I exclaimed.

Now that I noticed the width of the light that shone from the lamp was too narrow unlike the others. I told john to go back the wall and indicate where the crystal was. Soon enough he arrived and was pointing towards it.

I steadily adjusted the shield, slowly the beam of light rose upwards. It passed through his body, above his head then...

*Swoosh!*

"AHHH!"

"Hackmann!" Bardel shouted.

Midway, I stopped. My shield was stuck in between the hatch, it seems that the hatch closes almost immediately after activation. As I ended up dangling while hanging from the handle of the shield, inside the wide chute was a cold atmosphere.

"Are you alright?!"

I heard Bardel shouting. I couldn't see him as the shield blocked the view.

"I'm fine! Find another thing to block the hatch with!"

I stared at the pitch black abyss below me, a strong wind gusted outwards, escaping through the entrance I went in. As I gaze upon the darkness I heard faint voices, it chilled me to the bone. I listened...

*Groan*

"Ugh..."

"hehehehehehehehehe!"

"Help! help! help!"

"Gaia has forsaken us!"

The eerie voices of the unknown became clear, it was desperate voices of what seemed to be people.

"SIR! I'LL HEAD DOWN FIRST!"

"WHAT?! WHY?!" He questioned.

"There's people down here... I think they need help!"

"Well it's up to you, we'll follow right after we find a way to force this Hatch open."

"Alright!"

My instincts were stopping myself from heading down, it's as if my body knew something was down there. But if there is something down there, especially if it's that hulking monster then there's more reason for me to head down.

The faint light that shone into the hole revealed the metal ladders embedded right into the walls that surrounded me. I fought against my trembling body by taking in a deep breath.

*Exhale*

I slowly proceeded downwards as each step of the ladder turned colder and colder. The voices of the damned grew louder, their horrible sounds made my skin crawl in fear. Finally I had reached the last steps of the louder.

I felt disturbed as I heard the endless voices that echoed throughout the seemingly bottomless pit below me. Once more I hesitated...

"I can do this..." I whispered to myself.

Slowly I loosened my grip and dropped down.

*Smack!*

The sound of my boots meeting the ground below echoed throughout the emptiness. My eyes explored the vastness that surrounded me as I searched for the owner of the voices. Afar I saw a silhouette whose presence was masked by the gloomy green light that came from the hallway before it.

"Hey!" I shouted.

The figure remained unfazed, while I paved my way towards it. The freezing coldness of this place instilled dread into me, this horrid area smelt of rotten flesh, as if dead corpses were left unburied...

Soon I had reached the silhouette, oddly enough he wasn't freezing under the coldness as his bare back was exposed to me. With the minimal lighting I could barely tell but maybe he was suffering under some sort of illness.

His skin had a green-ish hue and his back carried small types of jagged looking materials. But what bothered me the most, is the fact that the smell of death was pungent around him.

"HEY! I'M TALKING TO YOU!" I shouted once more.

*Whisper* *Whisper*

I could hear him weirdly muttering something. Out of frustration and impatience I reached towards his back and pulled him towards my direction. What appeared before me was horrible.

His face was completely devoid of life, his eyes were sunken deep into it's sockets. The eyes looked lifeless as it couldn't focus into a single direction, he was mostly skin and bones with crystals that grew everywhere on his body. The flesh on his body were trembling.