[center][h3]Arahabaki[/h3]
Level 6 Goldlewis (148/60) Level 5 Sandalphon (74/50)
Blazermate, Susie, and Roland’s [@Archmage MC], Midna’s [@DracoLunaris], Geralt and Zenkichi’s [@Multi_Media_Man], Sakura and Karin’s [@Zoey Boey], Pit’s [@Yankee], Roxas’ [@Double], Giovanna
[b]Word Count:[/b] 1072[/center]

Once scattered by Arahabaki’s teleportation trap, the Seekers wound up on the very tips of the furthest branches of the vast subterranean computer network’s forked paths. Gradually, however, they’d worked their way inward, navigating their way past the trips and traps of the elevated maze. They pushed their way through the emergency response crews, getting ever closer to the towering pillar that dominated the area’s center. In its vicinity the different module chains coalesced as they routed into three main processing centers, where three quartets of the heroic intruders faced off against their stiffest competition yet by way of two Shinra Administration big shots, and a surprise interloper in the form of Senator Armstrong. Yet even they could not bring the Seekers’ story to an end. Though it took a lot out of the three teams, they claimed victory over some of the staunchest opponents that Midgar had to offer, and stepped onto the final set of bridges -these ones through tunnels of torii gates- to be conveyed toward Arahabaki’s final destination.

The three bridges converged at a large, trapezoidal module attached to the central column itself. Among the teams arriving there, the one in the worst shape by a country mile was Goldlewis, Zenkichi, Sakura, and Susie. With no team medic and only modest sustain at best, they’d been forced to slug it out with little more than their own sturdiness for survival, so Blazermate and Sandalphon were sights for sore eyes. Everyone in Midgar knew the name of Public Security’s head, but maybe nobody other than Zenkichi knew what Konoe was really capable of until today. First with the Zephyrus mech and then with his own two hands, Konoe had put his challengers through the wringer, and Goldlewis was only too happy to trudge on over to Blazermate for treatment. “Hoo, boy,” he breathed. “Outta everyone I figured we might run into on our way down, I did not bet on Konoe, lemme tell you what. Gave us a real lickin’.” He stretched out his shoulders as the medabot tended to his wounds. “Whew. Whatever that healin’ stuff is you got, it sure does a body good.”

Sandalphon hadn’t expected Konoe either, and while it sounded like her comrade’s quarter had a rough go of it, things hadn’t been much easier on her end. “We received a guest of honor as well. Rufus Shinra, here to finish what he started last night, perhaps.” She paused for a moment as she recalled the night’s events. “Come to think of it, we should be ready to engage with one or both Consuls at any point. I cannot imagine they will allow us to destroy their Guardian.”

“That’s what I’ve been wonderin’,” Goldlewis told her, his brow furrowed. “It was a Consul that told us the way down here to begin with. Dunno why, he sure seemed like the shit-stirrin’ type, but we’d be fools to write him off.”

With that, Sandalphon could agree. Normally she’d be more inclined to analyze after a fight to see what could be learned and optimized from the experience, but she figured that Rufus Shinra was a once-in-a-lifetime opponent. For now, then, she focused on what came next. The Worship Hall was extremely cluttered with technological equipment, all funneling toward a circular area in the module’s center. Countless nodes, prongs, and other doodads seemed to be arranged in a rough dome shape, strung together with braided cords and hanging circuit boards like talismans. Beyond lay a huge doorway covered by a bright blue wall of light that shone and sizzled like it was one hundred percent energy, and in the circle’s center -the most dramatic spot possible- sat one man that everyone ought to recognize by now. With that distinctive combination of fur-collared overcoat and silvery mask, together with the ears and tail of a jackal, Karen Travers was unmistakable. He was sitting in a meditative position, but by the time the Seekers approached, his deep red eyes were open.

“Karen,” Goldlewis muttered as he came to a stop at the head of the pack. “Wondered when we’d see ya again. You ain’t here for a fight, are ya?”

The Psych-OSF’s Septentrion First Class stood, stared for a moment, then shook his head. “...No.” When the Seekers seemed surprised, he decided to elaborate. “We’re here for the same thing, after all. The answer. The source. The secret behind the Administration’s power, and the instrument of this city’s subjugation. Once we have it, we’ll be able to set everything right. Back to how it should be.” He shrugged. “Besides. One against twelve? I don’t like those odds.”

Sandalphon narrowed in on one thing he said. “So it’s close, then? The Guardian?”

“Yes,” Karen replied, half-turning to look at the doorway. “So near, and yet, so far.”

Stepping forward, Goldlewis narrowed his eyes at the wall of light. “What’s this, then? The…we got told the way’s impassable.”

“You were told correct. Unless you happen to be one of very few VIPs, this wall will atomize you the minute you touch it.” Karen reached down and lifted a steel lockbox from where it sat behind him while he’d been meditating. Out of everyone here, only Sakura, Midna, and Roxas had seen this sturdy-looking box before, shackled to the corpse of [url=https://i.imgur.com/7VOhZxu.png]Truman Zanotto[/url] before he turned to ash the night before. It had never been recovered; evidently it had found its way here.

Karen walked past Goldlewis toward the wall of light, then set the box down and sent it sliding across the floor with a kick. The veteran watched, baffled, as the lockbox slid closer, on a deadly collision course with the security field. Just before touching it, however, the wall blinked out. Just like that, the way was open, without Roxas even needing to try his luck.

Turning, Karen beckoned the Seekers. “After you.”

When the Seekers proceeded, Karen didn’t move to join them, instead watching them head in. Before passing him, Goldlewis paused to give him a skeptical stare. “What’s your angle, partner? You sounded mighty interested in whatever’s down there.”

Karen nodded, his arms crossed. “That’s true. However, you all have a better shot of getting there than I. Backup is on the way, so I’ll wait until then.”

That didn’t really satisfy Goldlewis, but he knew he and his team couldn’t afford to delay. “If you say so.”

[center][h3]Dystopiascape[/h3][/center]

The Salvage corps detected it first, though for a little while the discovery preceded a hasty check and more thorough recheck of their equipment. Nobody, after all, wanted to believe what they saw. Yet the long-range scanners did not lie. Lead Engineer Clarke immediately began to make some calls, starting with the Sector 07 militia, and the order went out to start getting ready. Those in the know tried to keep things quiet in a vain attempt to suppress the panic, but they knew better than everywhere that there was no salvaging this situation, and word quickly got out. Within five minutes, sirens were ringing out across the slums to signal an all-too-familiar state of emergency. Within ten, citizens throughout sectors 06 and 07 were sounding the alarm in Deep-Paris and Detroit. Up above, the police and guards of the plates must have surely heard the terrible din, but no soldiers were dispatched. Up in the City of Glass, Vandelay Campus lay dormant, crippled, a tough nut to crack thanks to all the robots that lingered there but unable to take any action. To the east, Detroit lay defenseless without DespoRHado, its cyborg remnants scattered and its android corps vanished. What remained of Psych-OSF and Peace Preservation lay quietly in wait. No help would be coming.

The people of the undercities began to act, disorganized and frenzied by fear. Some hunkered down, taking shelter wherever they could. They prayed that out of every rock that would soon be overturned, their enemies might happen to overlook theirs. Some took up arms and rallied, heading to the undercity walls with all the weapons, armor, and vehicles they had. This was the rainy day that every prepper had saved for. But most of the citizens fled, taking to the streets en masse with their families to flee northward however. Cars and buses got overrun, train stations swamped. People were trampled. It was chaos.

It wasn’t long before people could begin to make visual confirmation on the enemy force. The Machines were marching from the desolate Valley of Ruin beneath a stormy sky, less a rain and more a flood. Compared to this army, the force dispatched two days ago looked like cannon fodder, assembled from tin cans and children’s toys. For starters, there were plenty of robotic beasts, the same sort seen -and typically avoided- in the flooded district, from apelike [url=https://i.imgur.com/FRPPGTX.png]Clamberjaws[/url] to terrifying [url=https://i.imgur.com/0x5MuTw.png]Widemaws[/url] to vicious [url=https://i.imgur.com/89LM7Us.png]Snapjaws[/url], along with the towering [url=https://i.imgur.com/7Tw2flu.png]Tallnecks[/url] that sustained the Machines’ communication network. There were plenty of bipeds, shooters, and life-sucking noxin drones, but today the Machines were fielding a plethora of new units, practically alien in appearance and heavily armed. Primarily quadrupedal, these war machines came in two varieties. White and blue war machines like [url=https://i.imgur.com/dzX00u5.png]Loudmouth[/url], [url=https://i.imgur.com/ae5K7Pt.png]Halo[/url], [url=https://i.imgur.com/Z9cfhiq.png]Spread[/url], and [url=https://i.imgur.com/OiLjHKF.png]Duelring[/url] featured built-in shields and tech weapons so futuristic that their function was difficult to make out. Meanwhile, the black and red models were biomechanical-looking monstrosities with bloodthirsty behavior and strange gimmick weapons, like [url=https://i.imgur.com/lV44yMM.png]Cucumber[/url], [url=https://i.imgur.com/v1MNpJb.png]Sunbather[/url], [url=https://i.imgur.com/pX5U4YE.png]Scarf[/url], and [url=https://i.imgur.com/EHJ4JoB.png]Porter[/url]. Even among those horrors, there seemed to be elites. Like [url=https://i.imgur.com/ZyLUTS3.png]Chatterbox[/url], a titan with the stance and muscles of a gorilla, and [url=https://i.imgur.com/26BGVga.png]Sinister[/url], an aerial weapons platform capable of threatening Midgar’s plates. On spiderlike legs strode a mobile fortress in the shape of a gigantic [url=https://i.imgur.com/o1ZgWSz.png]clock[/url]. And through it all plodded not one but three immense [url=https://i.imgur.com/Ls0j7Fh.png]Engels[/url], their saw-arms swinging in anticipation of destroying Midgar brick by brick.

Eventually, the Machines’ march stopped in front of Midgar, and from the ranks strode three humanoid figures. Two of them looked simultaneously very similar but very different, twin brothers with contrasting styles. [url=https://i.imgur.com/Ms1Ge5q.png]Adam and Eve[/url] walked out ahead of their brethren with confidence, the former wearing fancy clothes and the latter half-dressed in the garb of a berserker. Other than their looks, the brothers had one thing in common: that they didn’t look at all like robots. That couldn’t be said for the man who followed behind them, though. Half mummy and half machine, [url=https://i.imgur.com/XohOQE9.png]he[/url] strode with unblinking eyes and unwavering purpose. Never once deviating from the path ahead.

In front of Midgar, the city’s defenders had gathered. Without the Administration’s support or DepoRHado’s muscle their numbers paled in comparison, but what they lacked in quantity they made up for in quality. Neuron’s finest were here, including Jin Wong, Alicia Lopez, Alan King, and Marie Wentz, led by Maximillian Howard. So too were the remnants of the Hermits and Zone 09, from Mudrock to Wind Chimes to Mudtooth, and not even Karl was missing this party. The bravest souls of Sector 07 were here, not just Isaac Clarke and the other scrappers but the militia as well, including Cloud, Tifa, Barrett, and Aerith. Even Clara and Svarog stood amongst them, ready to defend their new home. On the other hand were the plucky bunch of misfits fresh from Vandelay Campus: Chai, Peppermint, Macaron, and Korsica. A number of armed civilians joined them, interspersed with various heroes who’d come to lend their strength to Midgar’s defense. With little more than 808 and Hal’s drone around for support, this ragtag bunch stared down the Machine horde and its leaders, waiting for the inevitable.

Eventually, Cloud broke the silence, leveling the Buster Sword at the twins and their masked companion. “Well, say whatever you’re gonna, and let’s get on with this.”

“You’re definitely brave, throwing your lives away like this,” Adam remarked offhandedly. “I’m eager to see what makes you tick.”

His little brother Eve grinned wildly. “Well, what’re we waiting for? Let’s play!”

“Just a moment.” Nox spoke in a highly mechanical voice, not to mention a strong French accent. He stared at the gathering of heroes, then up at Midgar. “Last night, my noxins drained every drop of Wakfu from every living thing in this region, from the smallest mouse to the largest tree. After all these years, I finally have enough. I do not need your lives, and you need not throw them away. It is all inconsequential. [i]When[/i] I succeed, none of this will have ever mattered. I will undo it all.” Nox paused, then sighed, hanging his head. “I know you don’t believe me. I just thought you should know that if you insist on dying, just how little it will matter.”

Chai stepped forward, standing beside Cloud with his scrap guitar raised. “Uh, not gonna lie, you’re preeetty scary! But if we’re trading ultimatums and all that, I guess you should know something too.” He grinned. “That you’re underestimating the people of Midgar.”

From within the army of defenders, a balding man in a green suit with purple hair stepped forward. “Now!”

Hundreds of eyes turned skyward as a huge number of darkly-dressed figures leaped from the Sector 07 plate high above. They hurtled downward through the air, then grabbed onto their pods to slow their falls and land around the defenders. YoRHa had arrived in all their glory, weapons at the ready and spearheaded by a handful of androids in Flight Units, with none other than 2B and 9S at the forefront. At the same time, the psychics with Transport powers embedded among the militia stepped forward, activating their abilities. Orange fields appeared in the air, and a moment later dozens of Psych-OSF defenders appeared from thin air. Yuito, Hanabi, Luka, Gemma, Kasane, Naomi, Arashi, Shiden, Kagero, Tsugumi, and all the rest had arrived, joined by Septentrions Second through Sixth Class: Fubuki, Sasha, Milla, Seto, and Kyoka. It was Crenshaw who enacted the final, desperate measure: a delivery straight from the heart of Supernatural Life, a squad of intelligent Other Weapons under the command of Peach.

Together they all formed a united front against the Machines, a lot beefier than the paltry resistance presented moments ago. Even still, Eve cackled with laughter. In a move rather similar to Chai, he magnetized a load of surrounding scrap to his body, creating a huge metal arm. “Bahahaha! Now THIS is more like it!”

“Oookay,” Chai muttered, still pretty overwhelmed. With his friends at his back, however, he wasn’t about to throw in the towel. “What do you say we take care of Mr. Shirtless?” he called over to Cloud.

The Soldier brandished his blade at Adam. Barret, Tifa, and Aerith stood ready to fight alongside him. “We’ll handle the fop.”

“Hmph,” Adam smiled, pushing up his glasses. “Then allow me to witness your deaths firsthand.”

“I’ll leave this to you two. I must conserve my energy.” With that, Nox teleported away, retreating to his mobile fortress. In his wake, man and machine clashed in a bid for Midgar’s future. The final battle of the Ever Crisis had begun.

[center][h3]Deep Ground[/h3][/center]

[center][youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=62ezXENOuIA&ab_channel=FINALFANTASYXIV[/youtube][/center]

Inside Arahabaki’s core, the Seekers found a long, arduous descent through predominantly magitech facilities, a jumbled nest of sophisticated power stations (including more than one thrumming miniature reactor), laboratories, and workshops, winding every which way but ultimately leading downward. In response to the intrusion a lockdown had been enacted, so instead of any employees the Seekers found more of the turrets they’d encountered in Arahabaki and handfuls of easily-dispatched Vandelay robots. The road they took led them to not one but several lifts, all carrying them deeper underground. With no serious challenges in the team’s way, the tension seemed to mount, building up the further they got underground. Finally, after what seemed like forever, a sliding door opened to reveal a huge, dark hallway, lined on either side by row upon row of large, ominous red [url=https://i.imgur.com/q35xerS.png]pods[/url]

Of course, that paled in comparison to what lay beyond the hallway. On the other side, the black and red gave way to overwhelming, brilliant green. There lay a circular room of incredible proportions, reaching much higher upward -and much, much further down- than the hallway itself, the whole thing filled with a staggering abundance of brilliant green energy, so thick in the air that one could practically taste it. “Is that…mako?” Goldlewis breathed, dumbfounded. Over the green void reached a long bridge that terminated at a large industrial facility, covered with tanks and pipes.

[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/Lzxu2JW.png[/img][/center]

And as the Seekers approached the end of the long hall, an entity blipped into existence above the bridge. It was simple in appearance, yet oddly terrifying. Five curled fingers and a featureless white glove–to those who had seen it before, there was no mistaking it, nor what it represented. It was [url=https://i.imgur.com/FMaAdq0.png]Master Hand[/url].

Right afterward, a nebulous purple energy began to coalesce on the bridge in front of it, and a second later [url=https://i.imgur.com/Rlc1Srg.jpg]Consul Y[/url] warped in. Though his face was hidden, he gave off the distinct impression of furious indignation, as if utterly vexed by the fact that the Seekers had gotten this far. “...You got close, I’ll give you that,” he told the intruders after a moment. “Very close. You even took some of my best pawns. Replacing them will be tiresome. But I’m afraid this is checkmate.”

Just then, the pods (now mostly behind the Seekers) began to burst in quick succession, and from within dozens of women began to emerge. Some wore [url=https://i.imgur.com/nzLQVpt.png]full armor[/url], others no more than barebones undersuits, but all appeared to be exact copies of one another–not to mention the police officer that some might know as Akira Howard, with her short brown hair and severe expression. Goldlewis and Sandalphon both remembered seeing her die last night, however, shortly before the fight against Jena Apotheosis that also claimed her brother. Yet here she stood, several dozen of her at once in fact, and every single one of them held an X-baton like she’d been born with it. Not only that, but when they held out their hands, red legions of all kinds -barely visible to the Seekers- manifested beside them. These weren’t just cops, but legio, born and bred. 

“Officers,” Y called out, raising his voice. “...Arrest them.”

[center][h3]The Under - Leaving Mercy Dreams[/h3]
Level 13 Ms Fortune (78/130)
The Koopa Troop’s [@DracoLunaris], Primrose and Therion’s [@Yankee], Sectonia’s [@Archmage MC], Ganondorf’s [@Double]
[b]Word Count:[/b] 1803[/center]

After leaving the empty cell behind, Nadia just wandered the jail for a little while, no particular goal in mind. Were anyone around, they would have seen an unusually listless, morose-looking Ms Fortune, but for now her teammates had spread out through Mercy Dreams again. They were tying up various loose ends throughout the miserable jail, either collecting the all-important Dreamcatcher or delving into various cells. In theory Nadia wouldn’t have minded taking another crack at a cell to see what was inside, whether for the chance of good loot, stress relief, or cutting into the prisoners’ ghastly racket, but right now she just couldn’t muster up the energy. Awakening after the battle with Robin had shown her just how tired she really was, and then her little chat with ‘Minette’ drained the rest of her vigor right out of her. After that joyless, short-lived reunion, she just felt angry, lonely, and more than anything, cold. By now, the chill of this inhospitable place had seeped through her skin and into her bones. The poor feral wanted nothing more than to feel the sun on her skin again. Nadia made her way back down to the fifth layer, where she waited for the Seekers to reconvene, reconstructing the facade of the smiley, jocular Ms Fortune who could never be hurt again.

Once everyone finished attending to various matters in Mercy Dreams, the team met back up in the cavernous cell where Ten Piedad once slept in the statue’s arms. Now that stone woman lay in pieces, and the whole area had suffered the consequences of the subsequent fights against Ten Piedad and Robin Goodfellow. Withered, thorny briars had torn apart the trails of tile and left treacherous snares behind, while bullet holes from Jesse and the warframe’s firearms could be found everywhere. Most of the dead flowers had been reduced to chaff, some of which still smoldered with radioactive flame, and as the heroes headed toward the train station Nadia found herself staring as the desiccated flora. Though those memories were fading, she could still picture the lumenflowers from the dream world, eerily beautiful in full bloom. In front of her were nothing but long-dead husks, yet in that mysterious place, the flowers lived on in splendor. Could Robin have continued on in there, if the Seekers didn’t slay him in the dream, too?

When she and the others descended the steps inside the dark doorway beneath the ringed arrow, they discovered a station very much like the ones she and Jesse saw in the Home of Tears and in Falldown Mall. It featured a primarily dark green tile floor, interspersed with patterned tiles in the same beige as the walls. Shiny steel formed both the railings and the bars over the two gateways, a simple portcullis over the human-sized one and then interlocking bars over the much, much bigger one. And just as Nadia had come to expect, she could see a [url=https://i.imgur.com/a9LEibs.png]Magikrab[/url] waiting dutifully by the smaller gateway. This place wasn’t exactly hospitable, but at least it wasn’t flooded and dripping like its Home of Tears counterpart, and for once the feral couldn’t detect that eldritch, anathematic feeling that radiated from the depths of the other stations. “Guess that freaky aura disappeared with Robin,” she reasoned. Given her run-in with the nightmarish Nowhere Monarch back in King’s Station, and what the Magikrab in Falldown Mall said, she had to assume that other ‘archangels’ like Robin lurked in the Under’s other stations. Hopefully she and the others wouldn’t have to find out.

“Over here,“ Nadia piped up, heading over toward Magikrab. “We gotta talk to this dude. Don’t worry, we’re pals. Two peas in an arthro-pod.” While she’d originally assumed that these stations were all home to identical magical crabs, she distinctly remembered what the last one told her: that they were actually all the same crab. Which was weird, but compared to everything she’d seen today, that revelation was small potatoes. “Hey li’l guy. Can we ride the train?”

The crustacean clacked its pincers together eagerly. “Of course!” Its voice was whimsical, childlike, and far too peppy for a place like this. “Now boarding at Platform B. Just ring the bell, and wherever you want to go is just one stag ride away!”

“Great.” Nadia waited a beat, then crossed her arms. “Well, where can we go? Somewhere nice, I hope?”

“Why, they’re all nice in their own unique ways. Just like people!” After a moment of silence, Magikrab cleared its throat. “Well, let’s see…we’ve got Glowcester Road, Mournington Crescent, Falldown Mall, King’s Station, Queen’s Station, Bard Street, Aldgrave Tomb, Cherry Cross, Dirtmouth, and Night’s Bridge! Any of those sound good?”

Nadia listened to the options, scratching her head until she heard a particular name. “Wait, Dirthmouth? Ain’t that the village where we ended up after comin’ from the Metro?” It had been a few days, but the name sounded familiar.

“That’s right, the one and only terminus on the Stagmer-line above ground!” The Magikrab stepped to the side, and with a grinding sound, the grate over the small passage slid upward.

The feral let out a sigh of relief. “Ohh, thank goodness. I’ve been dying for some fresh air.” She jogged through the gateway, waving for the others to follow along. “C’mon!”

On the other side of the tunnel, the Seekers emerged to see a small, somewhat dreary train platform of a familiar style. It featured stonework formed from interlaid bug shells, hanging signs inscribed with unfamiliar symbols, and plenty of wrought iron in the form of elegant, spiked railings. Poles topped with glass globes of lumaflies bathed the area in stark white light, including the faded brass bell that hung by the platform. Down below, there were no train tracks, just a stretch of earth running off into the gloomy tunnels on either side. “Well, here goes,” Nadia chirped, ringing the bell. “Man, I can’t wait. Hope it’s not a slow-comotive, eh?”

Right away a distant rumbling began, and after a moment the Seekers’ transportation pulled up to the platform. It wasn’t a train, but a procession of giant, mustached [url=https://i.imgur.com/AQOIcDo.png]stag beetles[/url], each outfitted with a set of chairs that would allow two passengers to ride comfortable. The first one gave a gruff grunt, staring down at the unfamiliar creatures in front of it. “Well, what’re you waitin’ for?” he grumbled, kneeling down. Behind him the others followed suit.  “All aboard!” So this was what the Magikrab meant by ‘nice on the inside’. Smiling, she climbed up and seated herself, legs crossed and ready for a ride.

After another moment, the stags were off, bearing the heroes onward and upward through the fathomless bowels of the Under.

[center][img]https://i.pinimg.com/originals/18/30/dc/1830dcc509c30afa745ce448c4e5e1bf.gif[/img][/center]

[hr]

Somehow the trip didn’t take that long, despite the distances involved, and the moment the stag came to a stop at the station Nadia knew that she’d seen this place before. It felt like longer, but just two days ago she and many of her teammates had arrived via the other track, arriving from the Metro through one of those giant cat flaps on a physics-defying train pulled by an enormous orange feline. She remembered that lift against the far wall, slowly but tirelessly rising and falling. Just like last time, she didn’t plan to wait for it. As tired as today left her, the excitement of returning to the surface world at long last cut through her weariness and filled her with gleeful energy. After gathering herself she leaped right off the stag before it could kneel down. “You guys are the best!” she called back, hitting the ground running. “Stag-geringly good!” Already able to feel traces of fresh air, she leaped and jammed her claws into the wall, finding purchase in the grooves between the shells. As fast as she could, the feral scrambled up to the ground floor, raced through the quiet longhouse, and pushed through the front doors to set foot in Dirtmouth, the Fading Town.

[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/f8O7C0L.png[/img][/center]

Even in daylight Dirtmouth had seemed desolate, a shell of its former self with its best and most prosperous days far behind it, but at night it gained an oddly somber outlook. Its strangely-shaped buildings, carved from materials unknown to mankind, loomed like tombstones over a graveyard where countless dreams and ambitions had quietly come to rest. The lumafly lamp light dispersed through the banks of mist to cast pale across the rounded walls, making the wrought-iron fences and benches cast pitch-black shadows. Only the aged Elderbug with his heavy cloak and sad-looking mask gave Dirtmouth any signs of life at all. Despite all this, Nadia couldn’t be any happier. She closed her eyes, filled her lungs with crisp mountain air, then slowly let it out. While she and the others had returned too late to feel the sun’s rays, the sight of starry heavens after so much time underground still did her a world of good.

“Oh, my,” the Elderbug murmured, shuffling over to the new arrivals. “Good evening, and welcome back. If visitors are a rarity here, it’s even rarer to see those who’ve gone below return.” He shuddered, and the fronds of his cloak ruffled softly. “When the crane broke, I feared the worst.”

Nadia smiled. While they didn’t really know each other, she couldn’t help but like this ancient insect. He gave off such a grandfatherly aura. “Nice of you to worry, but never fear. We’re ‘trained’ professionals.” She headed over to the edge of the cobblestone pathway, taking in the impressive scenery for the second time. In front of Dirtmouth, the ground fell away, leading down into the gargantuan spiral basin known as the [url=https://i.imgur.com/AQiyhwy.png]Chasm[/url], ringed by immense stone serrations and glowing amber outcrops. The moonlight shone down on yellow grass, gnarly trees with faded red leaves, and various sets of mining equipment laid down after a hard day’s work. Beyond the jagged upper ring of the Cavern lay mountains as far as the eye could see, stretching out beneath the night sky. It was good to be back.

After another moment, she turned back to the Elderbug. “Don’t mean to trouble ya, but is there anywhere we could crash for the night? We’re pretty much dead on our feet.”

He nodded. “Almost all of these houses are long since empty. I cannot guarantee that they’ll be comfortable, but they’re yours.”

His words were music to Nadia’s ears. After a long day of traveling, fighting, and even dancing through some of the weirdest and wildest locales the Under had to offer, it was finally time for the Seekers to get some well-earned rest.