章 11: Mama's Cradle

The present:

Elise stood alone on a desolate road, surrounded by abandoned buildings left to decay, with nature reclaiming them through broken windows and overgrown vines.

The scene stirred within Elise bitter memories, reminiscent of the desolate ruins of the palace from three years prior. Each day, she had journeyed to the crumbling building, clinging to the hope that either Minerva or the enigmatic entity that had taken her away would return.

For a year, she waited but no one returned.

As she stood there, gazing into the abyss left by their departure, the echoes of her past struggles reverberated through her mind like shards of shattered glass.

The once grand palace, now reduced to rubble, served as a haunting reminder of the price she had paid in pursuit of answers and redemption.

Snapping back to reality,

Elise found herself in the streets of Ward 15, known colloquially as the slums of Porte. Situated perilously close to the Anomaly Zone, this district had become a wasteland, due to the numerous attacks of entities from the zone.

This is why this Ward was shunned by most businesses as it was deemed too dangerous to import their goods and services.

The anomaly zones are forsaken lands lost to the entities where they now roamed unchecked, their presence instilling a sense of dread and uncertainty among the few brave souls who dared to venture into its depths, well it was mostly just suicidal bastards.

Due to the lack of resources most of the residents of Ward 15 retreated underground utilizing an abandoned military bunker system to protect themselves from the regular entity attacks from the Anomaly Zone.

This bunker was known today as "The Underground City"

As numerous attacks from the entities destroyed the other routes the only remaining accessible passage was through a single entrance and exit.

"This door, huh?" Elise mused aloud. "Seems like it isn't used often."

Her gaze fixated upon a weather-beaten metal door, its surface tarnished by the passage of time and neglect.

Affixed to it was a wheel for opening, surrounded by ominous red graffiti that spelled out "HelL!!" in jagged letters.

Armed with a shotgun and lightweight armor, she held a piece of paper in her hand, scanning the eerily silent surroundings. Despite her hesitation, she eventually turned the handle, her resolve bolstered by the crimson note she held.

"If you want to find Minerva, complete the mission."

The words on the paper remained stark and unmistakable. It was not a mirage but a tangible clue, providing Elise with a renewed sense of purpose.

She had already contemplated the possibility of this being an elaborate trap, but the prospect no longer held sway over her.

After three years of relentless searching, venturing with no clear direction, she now had a lead—that served as a beacon of hope amidst uncertainty. Whether it meant life or death, fulfilling her mission and finding Minerva had become her sole focus.

Rust gnawed at the very essence of the bunker's interior, its insidious spread devouring the once pristine walls and machinery.

With the lighting system recently extinguished, Elise's flashlight became the sole beacon in the suffocating darkness, casting feeble beams that danced over corroded surfaces.

As she ventured deeper into the bowels of the bunker, the passageways multiplied like twisting arteries of decay, weaving an intricate labyrinth beneath the earth.

Before her stretched three diverging paths, each adorned with faded engravings, cryptic markers of their destinations:

"Generator"

"Control"

"Living Area"

Elise clutched her flashlight between her teeth, eyes darting over the map spread out before her. Generator and Living Area were both marked with crosses, leaving Control as the sole viable path ahead.

"Control it is then," she muttered to herself. But just as she prepared to set forth, a deafening roar reverberated through the tunnel, accompanied by the crackle of thunder.

"FWUM!"

A sudden gust of wind whipped through the passageway, prompting Elise to draw her weapon, her senses sharpening in anticipation. From the shadows emerged a tiny figure, appearing almost childlike in stature.

Alert and poised, Elise spun around as she detected a footstep behind her, ready to confront the unseen threat. "WAIT! DON'T SHOOT!" a desperate, high-pitched voice implored from behind.

Turning, Elise was met with the sight of a young girl, her features illuminated by glowing orange eyes amidst short blonde hair. Her panting breaths betrayed the urgency of her situation.

"Who are you? Why are you here?" Elise demanded, her gun aimed unwaveringly at the girl's head. "Did you give me this note?" Elise showed her the red note, but the stranger seemed to ignore her demands as she struggled to gasp for air.

"I—do you have water?" The girl struggled to respond.

"Answer me first," Elise insisted, her resolve unyielding.

"Look, miss, I barely escaped alive, could you just—Water? Please?" The girl's plea was desperate, her need palpable.

Without hesitation, Elise retrieved a water jug, her weapon still at the ready. "Here."

The girl seized the water, greedily quenching her thirst before speaking further. "You got your water, now talk," Elise pressed, her patience wearing thin.

The girl hesitated before disappearing in a blink of an eye, leaving Elise's hands bound by rope, a shotgun trained on her. Shocked and disoriented, Elise struggled to comprehend the sudden turn of events.

"Wh—what?" she stammered, her mind racing to make sense of the situation.

"Doesn't exactly feel good when a gun is pointed at your head, now does it?" the stranger retorted sternly.

Elise remained silent, her gaze fixed upon the small figure before her.

"Were you with the forward squad?" the stranger demanded, her tone sharp and accusatory.

"I don't know, am I?" Elise replied, her uncertainty palpable.

"Listen here, you little—"

Elise's eyes narrowed at the insult, gazing at the magus' miniature body. Noticing the observation the magus corrected herself.

"Listen here, asshole"

Elise widened her mouth to reply, but before she could respond, a sudden roar echoed from the depths of the tunnel, prompting the stranger to point her flashlight into the darkness. A shape emerged—a black box that seemed to defy explanation.

"How did it find me so quickly?" the blonde magus muttered to herself, her hands trembling with fear.

As the box halted its rotation, four humanoid figures emerged wearing beige military uniforms, their bodies seemed to be formed from black tar, faceless and armed with rifles, with instinctive military precision, they assembled into a firing line, unleashing a barrage of—

"FWUM!"

In a dizzying instant, Elise's head throbbed as if it might split open, but just as swiftly as the nausea had overtaken her, she found herself miraculously regaining her composure.

The magus, eyes wide with astonishment, stared at her in disbelief.

"How did she recover so quickly? I barely had a grip on her head; she should be suffering from whiplash by now."

As Elise blinked, trying to orient herself, she realized with a jolt that she had been transported to a different location. It wasn't just any place—it was the dimly lit tunnels she had traversed earlier, their shadows now playing tricks on her senses.

Confusion knitted her brows together as she scanned her surroundings, her mind racing to make sense of this sudden shift with her hands now free and the magus lying gasping on the ground before her, pale and weak with the orange tint in her eyes seeming to have faded.

"Water..." the magus croaked, her plea barely audible.

Elise hesitated, her hand hovering over her jug.

"What? So you can keep me hostage again?"

The magus's eyes narrowed in resentment as she eagerly gazed at Elise's jug.

"Answer my questions, then maybe I'll think about giving this to you." With a defiant glare, Elise drank the water out of spite.

"Let's start with that box, what is that thing?"

The magus sighed, her patience wearing thin.

"Entity-B 19984…."

"Prefferably not in mathematics"

"Mama's Cradle…. Behemoth... entity."

"Behemoth? But the report said this was just an Echidna ranked entity," Elise thought to herself, suspicion gnawing at her.

Ignoring her doubts for now, Elise poured a steady stream of water into the magus's parched mouth, causing her to cough violently.

"Who are you... you bastard?" the magus spat out, anger flashing in her eyes.

"Shhh, I ask the questions," Elise retorted, pulling something out of her pocket and showing it to the magus – the cryptic note she had been given.

"Do you know who sent this?" she demanded, frustration creeping into her voice.

To the magus, it seemed as though Elise were holding up nothing but air. "I... don't understand…" she mumbled weakly, her genuine reaction made Elise feel a surge of annoyance. "She doesn't seem to see this aswell" She thought to herself.

"Okay then...next que-"

Before she could ask another question, a familiar shriek echoed from the hallway, sending shivers down her spine.

With a trembling hand, she shone her flashlight, only to find that the box had already followed them to their new location.

Without hesitation, Elise unloaded three rounds into the entity, but to her dismay, the bullets seemed to bounce off its impenetrable exterior.

Realizing that brute force wouldn't suffice, she swiftly changed tactics, hurling a hand grenade down the hallway before grabbing the jug from the floor and emptying its contents into the magus's mouth.

"BOOM!"

An explosion rocked the corridor, sending shockwaves through the rusted walls and causing a segment to cave in. As debris rained down around them, Elise knew their escape was only temporary.

"Who do you work for?" The magus regarded Elise with a mixture of curiosity and suspicion, noting the steadying rhythm of her breath.

"Maybe…." Elise replied nonchalantly, her attention momentarily diverted as she peered through the cracks of the debris littering the tunnel.

"That— You didn't even answer the question," the magus pressed with frustration.

Elise assessed the integrity of the wall with a critical eye, deeming it thick enough to offer some semblance of protection. Behind her, she could sense the magus's rising anger, a storm waiting to break.

Turning around casually, Elise met the magus's gaze head-on. "What? Gonna kill me? I doubt you can, though."

"Oh, please. You wouldn't even know what would happen," the magus retorted, her voice tinged with both defiance and uncertainty.

"Ok... then kill me," Elise challenged, the words slipping from her lips with a daring edge.

The magus hesitated, taken aback by Elise's audacity. For a moment, silence hung heavy between them, broken only by the faint echoes of their breaths.

"That's what I thought. You can't use your spell anymore, huh?" Elise continued, a smirk playing at the corners of her lips.

"I'm guessing you use Haste? Incantationless but, you dont seem to have proper control over its effect on your body"

Clicking her tongue in resentment, the magus grappled with a surge of frustration. "How do you know that much? Who are you exactly?" she demanded, her fists clenched in frustration.

"Look, miss magus, that thing is going to get to us sooner or later, so I suggest we focus on that first," Elise interrupted, with a levelheaded response.

Annoyed by Elise's evasive replies, Erica, the magus, fought to rein in her temper. With a resigned sigh, she extended her arm in a gesture of truce.

"My name is Erica, Erica Arcillus, Magus of House Arcillus. It's a pleasure to meet you... miss?"

Elise glanced at the offered hand but made no move to reciprocate

. "No need for formalities. My name's Elise"

Erica's teeth gritted, her frustration flared anew at Elise's dismissive demeanor. "You are the rudest person I've ever met! Once we reach the surface, I swear I'll—"

Before she could finish her threat, a resounding thud echoed through the tunnel, signaling imminent danger from the other side.

"Okay, well, that's IF we reach the surface," Elise remarked dryly, swiftly pulling out her map to assess their options.

"Luckily for us the exit seems to be a straight shot from here"

"Exit? Have you gone mad? This is the deepest layer of the underground city," Erica exclaimed, her disbelief evident.

"Huh?"

Elise's confusion mirrored Erica's disbelief.

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