Chapter-8 : Retreat!
Screeee!
Shrieks pierced the winding halls, the flames lining either side flickering each time.
"Blirrr…"
Hammel rumbled a low fearful sound as the shrieks resounded in the distance. Freya could only tremble and stay close to Rusty, even Glint had his eyes fully open and alert.
"Let's move." Rusty spoke resolutely, swallowing the fear that shook his composure.
He knew he was the backbone of the group and if he wavered, they all would.
He lowered himself, not floating anymore but moving along the ground like the others as they moved closer to the large wooden door.
Rusty took the lead, moving slowly and carefully. Traps lined every unexpected turn of these accursed halls, he knew that much.
In the two or so years they had explored these halls after gaining their mobility, they had run into a plethora of different traps, most harmless to a slime like him being blades or strange flashy attacks that flew overhead but being vigilant was wise nonetheless.
A person could never be too cautious and if anything, he was cautious.
This room clearly signified a certain important area, he could assume by the faded sign above and the size of the grand wooden double door.
They paused a few feet away from the gate.
"I'll go first."
"You all can follow once I ensure it's safe and give the signal."
Rusty spoke as the strings floating within him gave a faint thrum. He moved forward without looking at them, his eyes darting around warily as he stood right before the door.
…
…
;-;
"Sigh."
"This might be another dead e-"
VRRRRR…
KRRRR…
GRIND…
All their eyes darted back to the door, as the sound of grinding metal echoed from within. Dust shook off the rumbling wooden gate, revealing intricate designs—stars embedded into the wooden door alongside a spherical moon placed at the very center, all made from dull metal that must've once shone brilliantly. It naturally instilled a sense of awe at the precise craftsmanship, as though the spectators themselves could feel the majesty of what the creator hoped to convey.
"Who was the creator?"
"What were these symbols conveying?"
The noise continued for around 5 breaths of time before ceasing completely.
…
SKLIT!
A small slot opened up above the door, a strange humming from within.
…
ZINGGG!
A ray of light shone on Rusty, illuminating his blue figure in a greenish hue as a thrumming sound continued from beyond the door.
…
ZINGG
SKLIT
The light vanished and the slot above the door closed within a breath's time.
A faint hum was audible from whatever mechanism was working within those doors and sure enough the humming ended just as quickly as it began. A weird crackling voice spoke.
"Entry Level - 1"
"Subject-000012"
The monotonous voice announced.
"Brr…prr..rrloo!"
"No Freya the walls are not speaking." Rusty inattentively corrected, his eyes fixed on the door.
…
"It seems to be some sort of big creature that probably lives inside the door."
Rusty murmured warily, his wisdom was seldom wrong after all.
The gates slowly began to move, like two silent sentinels making way, they opened with a deep rumble.
CLINK
…
DUN..DUN…DUN!
Light vanquished the darkness, illuminating the inner room in a dimly lit white hue as the doors fully settled open.
The cohort witnessing such a scene could only stare at the macabre magnificence of the room, revealed with every light that flickered awake.
In all their years of wandering these desolate halls, never once had they encountered such a room or more specifically such a sight.
The room itself was nothing special, worn out by time with faded floors of marble and cobwebs lining the walls, the ceiling held countless weird tubes and contraptions that hummed faintly like the pulse of a beast in slumber.
What truly caught their attention was the strange glass tanks that lined either side of the room, they appeared to be filled with liquid albeit far too dusty to peer within.
Placed in front of each of these tanks were strange "machines" that seemed to have dark crystal mirrors, and all of these strange machines were connected by tubes to a machine placed at the very center of the large room, this "machine" was the largest one, easily dwarfing the other ones, it had multiple of those large crystal mirrors and many other weird parts that looked dangerous.
"Whoaaa…"
Rusty unconsciously exclaimed with wide eyes as did the others. Hammel was silent, observing many things he had never seen before, Freya was bubbling with energy restraining herself from running around all these tubes and contraptions and Glint…well Glint was slee-
…
"?!?!"
Glint was wide awake, his dull golden eyes fixed on those dusty crystal mirrors.
…
"Glint…no."
Having known Glint for as long as he did, Rusty knew damn well what was going through that pea brain of his.
"Glint…we don't know if it's safe. NO."
Glint's eyes slowly moved to look at Rusty…before slowly gliding back to the crystal mirrors.
"Glint…liste- oh god."
Glint had already been hypnotized, jumping full speed to the nearest crystal contraption.
A speed he had never achieved even while running from "The First".
The group could only watch in horror as he jumped his way atop the contraption and glued himself onto the crystal mirror, drooling slime all over it.
The crystal mirror fell from the contraption along with Glint clinging onto it like a child with a new toy.
SHATTER
…
Glint paid no mind to the expressions of his fellow comrades as he slowly began absorbing shards of the shattered crystal into himself, as they joined his collection of shiny objects.
Rusty stood there watching this unfold with wide eyes, his mouth would've gaped open had he possessed one. His mind unable to process the sheer stupidity of what he was witnessing.
After a few seconds his shock and bewilderment was replaced by pure unadulterated anger as leader of the group.
"YOU BLOB-BRAINED IDIOT!…DO YOU-DO YOU EVEN KNOW WHAT YOU'RE DOING?!"
Hammel slowly retreated to the side, followed by Freya, not wanting to fall victim to their leader's wrath.
"GLINT…COME HERE…NOW!"
Rusty spat, the tangled strings within pulsing strongly.
…
Glint's eyes slowly met his before quickly looking away, he slowly made his way to Rusty, making sure to absorb one last shiny shard before he did so.
He slowly bubbled, standing before Rusty.
"EXPLAIN."
Rusty spoke with narrowed eyes, watching Glint with barely restrained rage.
…
"Brrr…looo..loo"
…
"SO WHAT IF IT'S SHINY YOU DOOFUS, DO YOU WANNA DIE LOOKING PRETTY? IS THAT IT?"
Rusty thundered, making Glint flinch and look at the floor unable to meet Rusty's disappointed gaze.
'Sigh.'
Rusty didn't stay mad too long, as leader it was also partially his fault for not controlling Glint after knowing his personality all too well.
"It's fine…just don't repeat it. Such reckless behaviour could very well put us all in danger. Understood?"
"Brrrr…"
Glint jumped his way back to Hammel and Freya, feeling rather stupid for acting the way he did after understanding Rusty's concern.
…
Although…Glint had to admit he did look rather dazzling with these new shards added to his collection–extremely flamboyant, if he didn't say so himself.
Rusty could only sigh and shake his head internally as he saw Glint showing off to Hammel and admiring himself.
"Alright everybody…lets explore safely. We move as a group and when I say retreat…we ALL listen."
His eyes focused on Glint, who looked back rather obsequiously, as if to say "I would never!".
"Alright… we move toward the ri-BLARE"
BLARE
BLARE
Red lights flood the room, tinting the marble tiles crimson, the same crackled voice echoing once more.
"Damage Sustained."
"Monitor Number : 0047 in need of repair"
"All personnel please exit SECTION 09."
"INITIATING DISINFECTION PROTOCOL."
…
SKLIT!
SKLIT!
SKLIT!
Small slots like the one on the door appeared all around the room.
Shoooooo..
Mist-like gas escaped these slots, flooding the room in a thick layer of white as the grand doors began to rumble to a close.
…
"RETREAT!