"Guys! I found something!" Jenna shouts, her voice a faint echo from deep within the cavern's narrow passageway.
Allen shares a look with the young couple. It's obvious that Ana and Blake are curious—they keep glancing between their half-eaten sandwiches and the narrow passage near the back of the cavern.
Allen sighs, amused.
"Hey, Allen–"
"Can we–?" Ana cuts herself off and turns to Blake with a wide-eyed, apologetic look, "Sorry, I didn't meant to–-"
"It's fine," he replies with an amused smile.
"You sure?"
Blake chuckles; "Yes, I'm sure."
They stare at one another for a long beat, before finally breaking eye contact with a shared laugh.
Allen rolls his eyes, the corner of his lip twitching in amusement. Teenagers.
"Yes, you can go," he chuckles, waving them away with his half-eaten cheese sandwich.
The pair are quick to scramble to their feet—Ana pauses as Blake rushes off. She turns back to Allen, her eyes wide and her brows furrows.
"Are you coming?" she asks.
Allen smiles, takes a bite of his sandwich and stands up. He gestures towards the small mess of the place they'd made while eating lunch, "In a minute."
Blake and Jenna can be heard bickering with each other in the distance.
Ana smiles back, "Don't take too long, okay?"
"Yes, yes—now get going before a certain someone gets lost." Allen shoos her away with an empty water bottle before slipping it into Blake's pack.
"I heard that!" Blake shouts.
"Oi, don't shout at Allen, you brat!" Jenna's voice echoes back.
"Bite me, old hag!"
───※ ·❆· ※───
Allen takes his time cleaning up, moving the group's hiking packs a fraction deeper into the cavern. What if another hiker happens upon the cave and decides to pinch their belongings?
A little caution never hurt anyone.
He gets back onto his feet and cracks his spine with a well-earned stretch—the relief is immediate.
The man sighs. Not even twenty-four years old yet and his back is already on its way out. At this rate, it's only a matter of time before he starts going grey as well.
Allen slips his phone out of his pocket and turns on the flashlight, illuminating the dark, narrow passageway at the back of the cavern. Thankfully, the passageway doesn't seem to be that narrow up close. It looks to be about an arm's width wide, if he stretched himself out a bit.
He turns his flashlight to the ground, revealing a series of familiar footsteps leading deeper into the caves. Allen huffs in amusement. All of that bickering about directions with his sister, when Blake could've just looked down... he rolls his eyes and begins calmly following the footsteps towards his destination.
───※ ·❆· ※───
Allen hears his friends long before he reaches them.
"Oh. My. God."
"Don't."
"Blake, check it out – this fancy old jug's got a bunch of naked people drawn on it."
"I really don't care."
"Of course you do. You used to love—mmph!"
"Shut up, shut up, shut up!"
Allen turns the final corner to see Jenna standing in the middle of what looks to be some kind of ancient Roman ritual site. She's holding a large piece of pottery under her arm while Blake attempts to silence the nonsense coming out of her mouth with his hands. Allen has little chance to take in the vast open cavern, the half-crumbled pillars, and the beautifully arranged sun and moon mosaic on the floor... because that poor piece of pottery looks one wrong move away from slipping out from under her arm and becoming a pile of shards on the floor.
A headache is already starting to form.
Jenna pushes Blake's hand off her mouth, "What? You think I didn't know what your desk looked like in middle school?"
"I was thirteen–" Blake protests.
"Excuse me, Mr Park," Jenna interrupts, putting on the voice she likes to use when mocking authority figures, "I'm calling today because I have some concerns about your son."
"You are so annoying," Blake growls.
"He keeps drawing obscene imagery all over his desk," she turns to Allen in fake horror, "Whatever are we going to do?"
Allen raises his brow in response, thoroughly unimpressed. She drops the act.
"Oh, come on, that was at least a little funny," Jenna pouts.
"Hm..." Allen pretends to think about it for a moment, "No."
"Not even a little?"
"No."
"Damn, there goes my dream of being a comedic genius," she sighs dramatically, dipping back into a brief, fake faint.
Allen just rolls his eyes and motions for the jug under her arm.
"What?" Jenna blinks, surprised, "You wanna see the jug dicks too?"
"No, I do not want to see the jug di—just put it down, at least," he replies, pinching the bridge of his nose, "If you haven't noticed, we're not exactly in a dollar store right now. You can't just go around touching everything and call it a day. That's a bloody priceless artefact you've got under your arm. Would it kill you to show a little respect for the place?"
"Thank you," Blake says with a dramatic show of his arms, "Finally, some sense in here."
"Hey," Ana interjects from behind the half-crumbled stone wall, "That's not fair."
Blake blanches, spinning on his heel to face Allen's little sister, "Ah—no, shit, that's not what I meant–"
"Blake."
Blake wastes no time in rushing over to her mid-apology, disappearing behind the wall without a single glance back. Allen and Jenna share a knowing look, before turning away to give the two some privacy to hash it out... not that they can see them behind the wall, but it's the thought that counts.
Allen then slips the surprisingly hefty fertility jug out from under Jenna's arm and carefully places it back on the ground. The look he gives her is pointed.
Jenna just rolls her eyes and looks away, because of course she does. Allen pinches the bridge of his nose and sighs. He needs to focus on the positives. He's gotten her to stop messing with the jug. The battle is won. Let it go.
───※ ·❆· ※───
"How long do you think this place has been here?" Ana asks, crouching beside Allen as he looks at the large, ornate sun and moon mosaic acting as the centrepiece of the room. He dusts some of the dirt away with his hand, revealing a hint of red in one of the moon's stone tiles. Allen and Ana share a look.
"Not sure," he replies, "Centuries, I'd assume—"
Smash!
"Jenna!" Allen snaps; his head snapping around to glare at the Park siblings standing in a state of panic around a shattered piece of pottery, "I told you not to touch anything!"
"It wasn't me!"
"I'm sorry," Blake squeaks.
Allen sighs, resisting the urge to curse up a storm. These bloody Americans...
"Please don't be mad at him," Ana pleads, eyes wide, " You know he didn't mean to."
"It was an accident, I swear," Blake rambles, "I just—I only meant to move it a little, I didn't mean to—"
Allen stops him with a raise of his palm. He takes a moment to breathe through the irritation, then he sighs—exhaustion settling deep within his bones.
"Alright, alright. Stop. Just—please try not to damage anything else," Allen implores, getting back onto his feet, "For all we know, we've stumbled upon an undiscovered ruin. These artefacts could be priceless. The last thing we want to do is leave them in pieces when we go."
The room is silent as he helps Ana to her feet. He absentmindedly fixes the twisted strap of her shoulder bag.
"Okay?"
"Hey, what's this?" Jenna interrupts from the back of the cavern, picking up what looks to be some kind of... stone tablet? "Cool. Al, you speak Latin, right?"
Allen blinks, "Uh, yeah, a little—wait, no, stop touching stuff."
"Yeah, yeah, got it," she replies, his words having clearly gone in one ear and out the other. She jogs across the room to present him with the tablet, "So... what's it say?"
"What?" Allen stares at her, unimpressed.
Jenna's amber eyes twinkle as she eagerly nudges it towards him, "The tablet. What's it say?"
Allen just stares at her for another long beat, before he sighs, relents and finally takes the tablet in hand. He's careful not to damage it as he turns it over, revealing the Latin text carved onto the other side.
"Well?"
Sure, he studied Latin for a semester in college last year, but he's hardly an expert on the language. Luckily for Jenna, Allen hadn't come on this trip unprepared.
Allen pulls out his phone, opens up the offline translator app that he'd downloaded the night before they'd left the US, and switches the language from Italian to Latin. The translation will be awful, but it's better than nothing.
He sits back down and starts typing in the three lines of text carved onto the stone tablet. Jenna crouches alongside him to watch.
───※ ·❆· ※───
Godien glances towards the relic cabinets lining the Sacred Spring walls. He knows he shouldn't, but... they're not the easiest to see from the prayer platform, and it's not like the water's completely off limits. Members of the clergy pass through it all the time to clean the glass.
His fingers twitch—he shouldn't, he knows he shouldn't. The ledge on the other side is a clergy-only area, no princes allowed… unless—no, no, bad idea. Father Faolan would be terribly upset.
Godien bites his lip, and stares up at the stained glass ceiling.
Then again, he is wearing boots, so... no, no, he can't. Touching the water is forbidden. He shouldn't desecrate the shallow moat with his dirty boots... but there is that small ledge in front of the cabinets.
His gaze returns to the strange items displayed behind the glass.
Technically, it is just the water that's out of bounds. Father Faolan never said anything about not standing on the ledge of the moat. He hops to his feet, toes touching the edge of the prayer platform. At a glance, with a short run up... he can make it. The shallow moat wouldn't be impossible to clear, if he aims for one of the cabinet doors and grabs the handle to steady himself on the ledge.
It's doable. He can do it.
After a moment of hesitation, Godien gives himself enough room to do a short run-up, his eyes locked on the furthest cabinet to the left. He bites his lip and flexes his hands. He'll be fine, it's hardly the first running jump he's ever done.
He takes a deep breath, does a little warm-up jog on the spot, and just... goes for it. He runs, jumps, flails a bit in the air until finally... yes! His hands grasp the handle tight, and he saves himself from a fate worse than death – Father Faolan's crushing disappointment.
Godien rights himself with a wide grin, his feet now firmly planted on the narrow ledge. Now he can get a closer look at all these weird artefacts and see if any of them jog his memory—what is that?
He leans closer to the glass to look at the weird, wrinkly brown object to his right.
Is that an old fruit? Ew.
───※ ·❆· ※───
Allen's phone pings. The translation is ready.
ADITUM PETIMUS IURE NOSTRO.
FIDES NOSTRA VIAM CONFIRMAT.
GEHENNA PATEAT NUNC.
WE REQUEST ACCESS TO OUR RIGHTS.
FAITH CONFIRMS OUR LIVES.
GEHENNA IS OPEN NOW.
With the exception of Ana and Blake's giggling from behind the half stone wall—which Allen elects to ignore—the cavern is silent. He glances to his left.
Jenna looks... baffled. She looks up at him, eyebrows raised.
"You sure this thing is accurate?"
Allen just kind of... shrugs; "It's better than nothing?"
She leans in closer to his phone to get a better look.
"'We request access to our rights,'" she reads out in a dramatic voice—Jenna sits back up, "What's that even mean?" She scratches her head, "Is this some kind of... ancient protest sign or something?"
Allen finds himself glancing at the obvious ritual site around them before returning his gaze to Jenna with a raised brow.
"I doubt it," he replies, copying the text into a digital note so that he can reset the app. He re-enters the first word carved onto the tablet and hits translate, "Latin is a pretty flexible language. Context plays a large role in how to interpret what it means—see?"
Allen holds up his phone to show a list of different translations for the word 'aditum'.
Jenna grimaces as if he had shoved a lemon into her mouth.
"'Attack'? 'Beginning'? 'Chance'?" she reads, her expression contorting further with every line.
Allen chuckles, "Or 'entrance'?"
Jenna gives him a look.
"No, seriously, think about it. The 'aditum' here probably means entrance," he insists, gesturing towards the first line of the tablet.
"'We request entrance to our rights'?" Jenna recites, her tone not even remotely impressed.
"No, obviously—" Allen stops—he sighs, "Look, 'iure nostro' translates to 'our right', right? Well, what if it's referring to 'our right' to have or be something, rather than 'our rights' to our personal or legal freedoms."
"...Huh?"
"Okay, rephrase," Allen repositions himself so he can better show her his phone, "It's all about perspective, right? If this means what I think it means," he reopens the first translation, "then it's not saying 'we request access to our rights', it's actually saying 'we request entrance as it is our right.'"
The stone begins to shudder beneath their feet. The earth rumbles and the ruin shakes. Dust rains down from the ceiling in a series of thin, sedimentary lines.
Allen instinctively pulls Jenna to his side to cover her head from any falling debris, "Ana, Blake, are you okay?"
Ana squeaks as something shatters beyond the ruin wall. Jenna's grip is the only thing keeping Allen from springing free of his position to rush over and check if she's alright, earthquake be damned.
"Ana!"
"I'm okay—eek!"
The cavern is then plunged into darkness, proceeded only by the soft plap of Jenna's phone falling onto the ground. Allen feels her flinch under his arms.
The rumbling finally stops.
The dust begins to settle.
Allen releases the breath he hadn't realised he'd been holding since the light went out. He forces himself to relax his hold on his friend and let her go.
"Ana, Blake, are you okay?" Allen calls out.
"Yeah, we're alright," Blake calls back, "You?"
"Yeah, we're good," he replies with a relieved sigh, "Ana?"
"I'm okay!"
"Thank God."
───※ ·❆· ※───
As Godien skims the various strange artefacts hidden behind the protective glass, he notices something flicker out of the corner of his eye.
He frowns, furrows his brow and turns to check it out.
───※ ·❆· ※───
For a long beat, the cave is silent; then Blake clears his throat.
"Y'know," he calls out from beyond the ruin wall, "A light source would be real nice right now."
"Yeah, it would," Jenna snarks, "If the earthquake didn't kill my phone."
"Have you checked?"
"Well—no, but I have got ears."
Allen quirks his brow and turns his own torchlight on, temporarily illuminating the room. Knowing Blake, he's rolling his eyes right now.
"Wow, congratulations," Blake snarks back, his tone full of disdain, "Allen, could you grab her phone? Jenna's being a drama queen again."
"Hey–!"
"Already on it," he says, getting to his feet and heading towards the cavern entrance, "And stop fighting, we're all adults here."
"Yeah, Blake," Jenna barks out a smug laugh, "Stop fighting."
"Jenna."
"What?"
Allen redirects the flashlight towards his face so that she can see how unimpressed he is for herself. He can't see the expression she makes in response, but Jenna's lack of reply tells him all he needs to know.
He turns his attention back to finding her phone.
If those two ever go a full day without getting into a fight, he might actually give them a prize.
───※ ·❆· ※───
The flickering stops.
Godien blinks.
"What the…?" he mumbles under his breath, craning his neck towards the Lord and Lady statue standing directly adjacent to the prayer platform. He could've sworn the soul stone was... no... he probably just saw it reflecting the light from the stained glass ceiling. He turns back to the medallion he'd been gawking at through the glass.
Then again... it wouldn't hurt to take a closer look. He's never really taken the chance to look at the old stone up close, anyway.
Godien initially hesitates before he begins to cautiously navigate his way around the shallow moat, one step at a time. He's careful not to touch the water as he follows the narrow ledge around the room, coming to a halt behind the life-sized statue and peeking over its shoulder to get a better look at the stone.
It's a dark, smooth burgundy stone that doesn't look too different from a Tembellikan bloodstone – if he ignores the egg shape and the black stripes. They say it predates history itself... which makes sense, with it being a rock and all.
He's almost tempted to touch it, but stops himself before he even begins to reach out. Father Faolan would not take it well if he tried to manhandle the first gift daemonkind had ever received from the Gods.
Godien shakes his head and steps away from the altar. For once, he's choosing self-preservation.
Father Faolan is terrifying when he's mad.
───※ ·❆· ※───
Allen picks up Jenna's phone and returns it to its perch – nary a scuff in sight. He turns its torchlight back on and the cavern is dimly illuminated once more.
Crisis averted.
───※ ·❆· ※───
"We seek entrance, that's our right," Jenna strikes a dramatic pose in the centre of the sun and moon mosaic. She flings her arms open wide, "Faith confirms our lives–!"
"What are you doing?" Blake balks, looking completely baffled as he steps out from behind the partial ruin wall.
Jenna blinks, her arms temporarily frozen in place in a pose that Allen can only describe as an incredibly strange sumo squat. She grins and dramatically wiggles her fingers.
"Summoning a demon," she says, her tone a little too smug for the sheer nonsense coming out of her mouth.
Blake and Allen just... stare at her in response.
"What."
She hits them both with a double thumbs up and a wink. Allen looks away to preserve what's left of his sanity.
"Right..." Allen mutters under his breath, reaching for the tablet with his free hand. Ana crouches by his side and hands it to him with a wry smile, "Thanks."
"You're welcome!"
Allen then turns back to Jenna with a raised brow, "Also, you're doing it wrong."
"Hah?"
He gestures towards her whole... whatever she is doing right now.
"You're..." Allen resists the urge to roll his eyes as he speaks, "'Demon summoning' thing. You're doing it wrong."
"How the heck would you know if she's doing it wrong?" Blake balks, "Is this something you people do for fun? Summon demons?"
"No, obviously," Allen retorts, shooting Blake a baffled look of his own, "Do I look like someone who would—"
He stops and pinches the bridge of his nose.
"The translation—she's doing the translation wrong," Allen continues, "Also, look me in the eyes and tell me that," he gestures towards Jenna with his phone, "Looks like a successful 'demon summoning' ritual to you?"
Jenna glares at him in response, having clearly finished with her 'ritual' by now.
Allen hides a quiet chuckle behind his phone.
"Yeah, fair point," Blake replies, dusting off the shoulder of his tan coat.
"Hey!"
Ana makes a grabbing motion towards Allen's phone. He hands it over without any fuss.
"Hey—what do you mean 'hey'?" Blake snarks, cocking his hip, "I'm not the one who tried to 'summon a demon' while pretending to take a sh—"
"Okay, okay, that's enough!" Allen interrupts with a sharp clap of his hands, "Would you like this tablet translated or not? Because if we are looking at alternate options, then I'd like to vote we start heading back to the car."
Jenna groans, "Yes, Mum."
"Huh," Ana says, eyes glued to the screen of Allen's phone—she giggles, "This translation sounds less like a summoning ritual and more like a drunk trying to open the front door."
Blake snorts, looking intrigued, "What's it say?"
Ana clears her throat dramatically and puts on her silliest voice.
"We request access to our rights," she recites with a dramatic flourish of her hand—the Park siblings are already starting to laugh, "Faith confirms our lives," she pulls her arm back to her chest, "Gehenna... is open now."
Ana then flips the phone around for Jenna and Blake to get a better look, not that Jenna needs to read it again.
"See? It's nonsense," Ana continues with an amused smile, "Sorry, Jenna. I don't think a demon is coming home with this one."
Blake bursts into laughter as Allen gently retrieves the phone from his sister. He switches the note from the app's original translation to the one he'd been working on before Jenna... distracted him with her antics.
He finishes the last line and turns his phone around to give the others a better look.
We seek entry as per our right.
Our faith strengthens the path.
Now, may Gehenna be opened.
"It's not perfect, but this seems a lot closer to what it actually means," Allen says, lowering his phone, "I'd hazard a guess that it's more of a... prayer or a meditation chant."
"Did the Ancient Romans meditate? I thought that was more of an eastern thing," Blake comments, scratching his head.
Allen shrugs, "Don't know. I have a BA in Linguistics, not History."
"Whelp, looks good enough for me," Jenna says, shooing Blake off the mosaic circle so that she can take centre stage again, "Ahem."
Allen can feel a groan building in the base of his throat as she snaps into another one of her ridiculous poses. This time, it seems like she's taken inspiration from an evangelical television host, with the way she looks like she's about to perform a 'miracle' on Blake's head. Either that, or an exorcism.
"To the demons on the other side, we beseech thee!" She calls out, her voice echoing throughout the cavern, "We seek entry as per our right!"
"What the heck are you doing? Get off me!" Blake snaps, trying to push off to no avail, "You're messing up my hair!"
"Our faith," Jenna cranes her body back like she's seen the light—or snapped her spine, "Strengthens the path!"
Despite his best attempts, Blake just can't seem to escape the death grip she has on his forehead, "Get off of me!"
Allen's lips tremble behind his right palm as he resists the urge to laugh. Ana doesn't.
The earth begins to tremble beneath their folded legs—the Lasker siblings' laughter disappears in an instant. Allen and Ana share a wide-eyed look; Allen shoves his phone into his pocket and jumps to his feet as she plants her palms on the ground to steady herself through the earthly rumble. As soon as he's as stable as he's going to get, Allen helps Ana to her feet and pulls her into a one-armed protective hug.
With his other arm, he reaches over to a nearby half-ruined pillar and grips it like his life depends on it. Ana holds his knitted overshirt tight enough to pop a few stitches, the pull of the garment putting pressure on the back of Allen's neck.
"We need to get out of here!" Ana shouts as the trembling escalates towards a deep rumble—the torchlight illuminating the room begins to shake. The fertility jug wobbles dangerously on its stone step perch.
"No, we have to stay put!" Jenna shouts back, immediately dropping to the ground and covering her head, "Just get down, cover your head, don't move if you can. We have to wait it out—"
The fertility jug tilts, falls towards the edge of the single step separating the ritual platform from the cavern ground before—crash!
"Ah!"
Allen winces as a flying shard of ancient fired clay shoots past his ankle and leaves a searing cut in both his tan trousers and his skin. He resists the urge to curse—not in front of Ana.
"Oh, this is great," Blake snaps, "Thanks for getting us trapped in a cave during an earthquake, Jenna."
"Me? You followed me down here!" She snaps back, "How the hell could I have predicted there was gonna be an earthquake? What is wrong with you?"
"Guys, this is not the time!" Allen stresses as the shaking causes his knees to buckle—Ana barely manages to catch him before his face meets the stone, "Please."
He squeezes the back of Ana's dress in a silent thanks.
"You're what's wrong with me!" Blake shouts at Jenna, "You're the one who insisted on 'exploring the tunnels' and made us all come down here!"
"You didn't have to stay!"
"Of course I did!"
"No, you didn't—"
"Please, for the love of God, would you two just shut up!" Allen shouts, the echo loud enough to be faintly heard over the earthquake itself, "We are in the middle of an earthquake and you two are squabbling like bloody five year olds—may Gehenna be opened just so I can get away from you people!"
The trembling stops.
Silence.
The others stare at Allen with wide eyes and slack jaws as he pants from the adrenaline rush. He winces and closes his eyes.
"I'm sorry, I didn't—" He starts—stops, and sighs, "I didn't mean it like that. I just—"
Stones begin to tremble. The silt covering the ruin begins to sift in place like flour in a siv. Allen's ankle throbs from the sudden trembling before—the earth screams as the room starts to shift like jelly on a plate. Cracks appear at an alarming speed through the floors and up the walls, forming a pattern akin to a crude, stone brick wall—the stone above Jenna's head creaks.
Allen barely manages to bowl her out of the way before a thick stone slab smashes into the ground where she stood. Someone screams. Blake clutches Ana to his chest like his life depends on it, pulling her as close to the cavern wall as he can—crack!
Barely audible beyond the earth's thunderous roar, Jenna's phone is flung from its perch on the half stone wall and smashes into the floor—the cavern is plunged into darkness. Allen clutches Jenna so tightly to his chest that his knuckles go white despite her steady gate being the only thing keeping them still on their feet. His ankle aches, his sock sticks to his shoe.
"Allen, Jenna!" Ana shouts, throat cracking in distress.
"We're over here!" Allen screams back—he shouts as the earth buckles his knees and suddenly he and Jenna are falling—
"Allen!"
Stone shifts beneath his sprawled feet as Jenna holds him up in the most life-threatening dip of his life—a deep, ominous cracking sound echoes throughout the cavern, drowning out the trembling roar shaking the limestone walls. Allen scrambles to stand, to regain balance, slipping on the drops of his own blood as Jenna tells him to stop squirming already—his foot lands on nothing.
Allen's blood turns cold.
"Ah!!"
The ground disappears beneath their feet and suddenly they are falling, they are screaming—Allen can't see anything, but he can hear his sister's screams and Blake's terrified pleas for her to hold onto him in the same way Jenna is clutching to Allen so tightly that he can barely scream, he can barely breathe.
For a split second, Allen can swear he feels his sister's familiar fingertips brush against his own as he reaches his untrapped arm out towards the unmistakable sound of her voice. He spreads his fingers as wide, as long as they can go and he reaches—
He's so close.
He's so close, he can feel it.
She's right... there…! They're both right there!
Something slams into the back of his head and his vision turns to white.
He doesn't feel anything else after that.