Paltio and Pax continued to fall into what appeared to be an ancient mining pit, opened by the powerful spear of the second hooded individual. Pax was the first to hit the bottom after pushing Paltio to cushion his fall.
Upon impact, Pax's armor began to fracture in several places. It was clear that it wasn't made of very resilient alloys—or perhaps the height from which they had fallen was simply too great.
Paltio was also descending rapidly, but at the last moment, Golden intervened with telekinesis, halting him just before he collided with the ground. Without that intervention, he surely would have died.
"What were those things?" Paltio asked, still dazed from the fall.
"I don't know," Golden replied. "I've never seen them before."
"Yes, I have," Pax said in a strained voice. The fall had left her motionless on the ground, with trickles of blood dripping from her mouth.
"Pax, are you okay?" Golden asked with concern.
"No, I didn't stay here because I wanted to rest," Lukeandria responded sarcastically while lying sprawled on the ground, unmoving. "It's just that… after that epic fall, it seems my body decided this was the perfect spot for an impromptu nap."
Her voice dripped with irony, though it was evident she was fighting through the pain.
"Damn it!" Pax growled, glaring at Paltio with fury. "This is your fault."
Paltio slowly approached where Pax lay. Noticing that the front of her helmet had cracked open, he saw her face for the first time. Strands of curly red hair peeked out, revealing unmistakable features. "You… you're a girl!" the prince exclaimed, surprised.
"Well, aren't you observant," Pax retorted sarcastically, though her tone was weak. "I'll kill you for seeing my face, though it doesn't matter anymore, because I'm going to die here anyway. I can't move."
"But what are you? You look like us avocado people, but you have a strange color," Paltio asked, examining her with curiosity.
"I'm a lucuma," she replied dryly. "But that doesn't matter now. Leave me here to die. I've failed as a soldier."
"You're being very melodramatic, young lady," Golden interjected calmly. "Paltio, heal her with the scepter's magic."
The boy nodded and pulled the Ulimeo recovery sphere from his bag. As he passed it over Pax, it glowed brightly and began healing her wounds instantly. Within seconds, Pax could move again.
"Ah, damn it!" she exclaimed, getting to her feet while wiping the blood from her mouth. "I'd forgotten about your damn healing orb. Though, technically, you need me alive now. My master needs you to find the pieces of the scepter."
"And besides," Paltio added, "you can't use it twice on the same thing or person in one day."
"But then, who are you?" Paltio asked, furrowing his brow as he looked at her curiously. "If you're not Pax, why were you pretending to be a man?"
Lukeandria shot him a glare, her voice as sharp as the edge of a sword. "That's none of your business," she snapped, though her cheeks flushed slightly, betraying a hint of discomfort.
But after a few tense seconds of silence, she sighed and softened her tone, though it remained firm. "My name is Lukeandria," she finally replied, holding his gaze without blinking.
"Lukeandria… that's a beautiful name. Like you," Paltio commented with a kind smile, his voice warm and sincere. "Besides, you call me 'boy' or 'brat' all the time, but we're almost the same age, you know."
"Ha," Lukeandria retorted with a mocking laugh, though her cheeks tinged a faint crimson, contrasting with her attempt to remain impassive. "I'm older than you, boy, and I'm a full-fledged warrior."
Despite her defiant tone, Paltio's compliment had momentarily disarmed her. Her blush was subtle, almost imperceptible in the dim light of the mine, but it was there, betraying her mask of indifference. Uncomfortable with the situation, she crossed her arms over her chest and averted her gaze to the side, as if the comment hadn't affected her at all. However, the slight furrow of her brow and the way she avoided looking directly at him said otherwise.
Paltio glanced at the broken helmet and picked it up curiously. "So, this is how you spoke with a deep, masculine voice? Interesting."
"Put that down, princeling!" she ordered, snatching it from his hands with a brusque gesture.
"Sorry, here you go," Paltio said as he handed the helmet back to Lukeandria. "But why did you hide your true form? And why are you serving Tejod?"
"That's a lot of questions, prince," Lukeandria replied with a sigh that echoed through the gloom of the mine. Her voice was calm, though tinged with weariness, as if the words themselves weighed on her shoulders. "I'll tell you everything… once we get back on track." She paused briefly, glancing toward the surrounding shadows with a mix of caution and resignation. "If we survive," she added in a barely audible murmur, laced with irony and fatalism.
"Alright, so how do we get back?" Paltio asked, looking upward. The path seemed endless, a deep abyss connecting to the surface.
"Tell your magical friend to lift us with his telekinesis," Lukeandria suggested, gesturing toward Golden.
Golden intervened calmly but firmly. "We don't know how high this place is. My power couldn't sustain us for long without knowing the exact route."
"What a surprise," Lukeandria shot back sarcastically. "How useful you are now."
Golden ignored the comment and pointed ahead. "There's a path further on. It looks like some kind of abandoned mine. I believe it connects to the upper levels, or at least that's what I can sense."
"Maybe if you call your cat, he could carry us in his giant-cat form," Lukeandria suggested.
"His FELICA form, you mean," Paltio corrected with a mischievous smile.
"Whatever," she replied, rolling her eyes.
Golden shook his head. "We can't rely on Toco-Toco now. If those specters return, we'll need his help to face them. We can't risk it."
"Fine!" Lukeandria said, making an irritated noise with her mouth.
"Wait," Paltio interrupted. "You said you knew what those things were. What are they?"
Lukeandria lowered her gaze for a moment before responding. "They're Spelectrums, dark specters summoned by someone. They won't leave until they've completed their objective, and apparently, that objective is you. Their red eyes were locked onto you from the start."
"So, are my friends safe?" Paltio asked, concern etched in his voice.
"I don't know," she replied curtly. "They also tried to attack them. Maybe they plan to execute them after capturing you."
"We need to get back up there immediately," Paltio said urgently.
"And what do you plan to do, princeling?" Lukeandria shot back skeptically. "Those things are immortal. They won't die no matter what."
"I don't know," Paltio admitted, determination shining in his eyes. "But I'll find a way."
Both decided to enter the abandoned mine, moving cautiously through the shadows.
Meanwhile, above ground, Mok continued to fight the specter. The entity was incredibly skilled with its spear, moving with supernatural precision. It whispered over and over again: "Die… die… capture Paltio."
"So, they've come for my young master," Mok murmured, wielding his red blade with skill to repel the specter's attacks.
Alita and Ron, on the other hand, were in trouble. The second specter was also pursuing them, wielding its spear with mastery. Though Alita tried to stop it by throwing water at it, this only slowed the weapon momentarily but did no harm to the specter.
"We'd better run," Ron said, pulling Alita by the arm. This time, she agreed, and both fled toward where Mok was.
"Where's Paltio?" Mok asked as he saw them arrive.
"The other specter made him fall into a huge hole along with Pax," Alita quickly responded.
"What other specter?" Mok asked, just as another spear descended toward them with a sharp whistle cutting through the air. The explosion roared like deafening thunder, opening a massive chasm in the ground. Though not as large as the one that had swallowed Paltio and Pax, it was wide enough to destabilize the earth beneath their feet.
The ground crumbled in a cascade of dust and debris, dragging Mok, Alita, and Ron into the depths. Their screams mingled with the roar of the collapse as the shadows swallowed them mercilessly.