Ivory stood at the basement door at the top of the steps; she felt it calling to her as her logic told her to stop, to turn back and stay in her room, stay out of trouble or she'd end up like Viper and Swindle H, Hawks, and Lucky, though her heart told her otherwise. Adrenaline hit her and she felt dizzy; her body walked itself down the stairs and she felt blood rush through her body; her heart screamed for her to open the door.
She expected to see Blue there, though was shocked to see Rover and Lily turn to face her when she opened the door.
Rover wrapped his arms around her and gave her a long hug as Lily hugged them both.
"It's been so long," Rover said, "I missed you."
"I missed you too."
"We heard about ... you know ---" Rover scratched the back of his head nervously.
"About me being Postpartum? It happens. Blue doesn't make it any better. Believe me, being with you two gives me great relief," Ivory smiled for the first time that day.
"We don't have much time," Rover said quietly to the young women and opened up a map and placed it on the ground; the three friends crowded around it. "It'll take some time to get down, to get into Hollow Earth ---" he pointed to the blueprint of some floor plan Ivory had never seen before.
Their eyes widened and the girls eyes met each others as wide as saucer balls.
"Hollow Earth?" Ivory chocked. "It's real?"
Rover nodded.
"I didn't get that far in the book."
"Once we get down there, we will walk through caves, wet, damp, crystallized caves. Just follow my lead and don't speak; no one knows I'm sneaking you two down there. You two need to se the troubles for yourselves."
"What's happening?" Lily asked.
"I dont' have time to tell you; I can only show you," he ran to the elevator and used a key card to open it. As the three ran inside, it felt like forever before the doors closed.
Ivory and Lily looked around and saw the crystals and lights in the elevator and room get brighter and darker, then lighten up again. It felt like an optical illusion, like the room was playing mind tricks.
The girls gasped as the elevator doors made a loud sound, like it had been millennia since they moved, and they closed with a soft hiss, sealing them in darkness.
Rover stood in the middle and gently grabbed ahold of Lily's and Ivory's arms.
Ivory pressed her right hand to the cool metal walls, feeling the vibration. The air smelled different already — metallic, damp, charged — like breathing inside a lung forged of stone and crystal.
The elevator plummeted down; it moved so quickly no one had time to react. Eventually, they found themselves on the floor as the crystals above the door lit up in the vanity lights. Ivory looked to see Rover's and Lily's silhouettes; Lily's head was on Rover's shoulder as his face rested on her head; Rover's arm held Ivory close to him.
Ivory swallowed hard. Her body felt light, almost too light, as if gravity itself had loosened its hold. Her stomach floated slightly, her ears popped, and a shiver traced her spine. Every breath carried a whisper of pressure, like the world above was sliding away and leaving her suspended between two realities.
"This air…" she murmured, voice tight. "It's… different."
"I feel nauseous," Lily murmured.
Rover glanced at her, expression unreadable. "Hollow Earth. The deeper we go, the closer we are to them. You'll feel it even more soon."
Ivory's chest tightened. Them. The word seemed to carry centuries of history, of dominance and patience, of creatures whose calculation made human games and schemes look like children still playing with their toys. No more secrets here.
The elevator descended. Time stretched and folded in the dim hum of the motor.
Ivory noticed that the time on her phone kept changing: it would go to nine, ten, eleven, seven, three, eleven.
Ivory noted that the Codex mentioned how time was different in Croxastea; she believed it was different in Hollow Earth, too.
Shadows flickered as the blue light spewed from the light.
The air grew heavier, richer, as if it were infused with centuries of unseen life. Every inhalation tasted faintly metallic, a sharp tang that made her throat tighten. Her heartbeat accelerated, and she realized her nerves were firing in ways she hadn't expected. This place wasn't merely underground. It was beyond the world she knew. It felt different, and her body reacted in such unusual ways to how the new atmosphere in an elevator felt.
She couldn't imagine how she'd feel once they were out.
What felt like a 30 second waterslide suddenly halted. They were met with complete darkness until the crystals lit up the elevator. There were only two buttons: up and down. The down button stopped glowing.
The three remained on the floor and held onto each other: Ivory noticed that Lily had a light nose bleed and offered her a tissue, which Lily gladly took.
Rover's hand hovered near the control panel and he opened the door with his key card, and for the first time, Ivory sensed his tension — the knowledge that what awaited them was not merely a meeting, but a revelation.