Biohuman

Sometime later…

Keng's eyes fluttered open. Water surrounded him as his body responded to his conscious state with pain. He groaned as he instinctively tried to clutch at his stomach. He groaned louder as he squirmed. If Keng had paid a little more attention, he would've noticed how poor his hearing was. The pain was that heavy on him.

"You're awake." Calis poked his head into view. The Merman plunged his hand into the water bubble, popping it. He slowly helped Keng up, revealing he was lying on shadows. "Don't try to move so much. You're not healed properly. We'll have to find young Cayi."

"Where's Lily?" Keng croaked. Calis didn't take any surprise to this. If he was in Keng's place, he would surely worry about his teammates, too. Keng looked around, focusing on where Calis was pointing. Another floating water bubble was next to him. It was cramped in the tunnels of wherever they were. Sweat glistened off of Calis as the lava holes lit up the space.

A couple small orbs of water floated around them. Keng knew these were ways some of the Merfolk lit the area. Calis was using it as a per caution. Most monsters would be wary of light if they could see in this place. He turned back to look at Keng.

"Has she woken up?" Keng asked. His throat was dry.

"No," Calis shook his head. He pulled water from the orb and offered it to Keng. Keng took the water, quenching his thirst. "But she isn't as bad as you are." Keng pulled away from the water, letting out a sigh of relief. "You smelled like a burning corpse. You fought those wolves, didn't you?"

"We had no choice. The room was surrounded in magical darkness." Keng replied.

"That's exactly what I feared would happen." Calis shook his head. He folded his arms and turned to look to Keng's right. His cheek puffed up as his mind thought. Calis turned to look at Keng. "You should lie down longer. We need to get you to a healer."

"I can heal myself enough…" Keng brushed him off. "Just give me some time." He began to push himself off of the water platform. Calis grabbed Keng and looked him in the eye. For a moment, Keng was stunned by his strength. His eyes naturally went to Calis's lips and turned red.

"F-fine…" Keng quickly readjusted himself. He winced in pain as Calis helped him down. "I… I don't—"

"You are hurt. Just let me help you."

Keng reluctantly allowed the Merman to help him back down. The burning recent memory of Calis kissing him made him red as he turned his head away. Calis didn't seem to notice it. He thoroughly made sure Keng felt okay and when it was done, he began to raise his arm over to Keng.

"I'll put you back in the bubble. It'll stop the heat from bothering you." Calis told him.

"Oh, you don't have to." Keng turned to look at Calis.

"You sure? It's awfully hot. I'm not surprised you were thirsty. This place sucks."

"I'll keep you company while I heal." Keng insisted. A silver body washed over Keng. Calis watched, a bit curious about the Savior's magic. The rumors he heard from the scouts who went on land, the Savior was young (which was true), but powerful (which was also true). If they weren't on mission, Calis wouldn't mind getting to know the Savior more. He would be a powerful ally to have.

Keng watched as they slowly moved. The silver and water orb lights lit the area around as lava holes came and went. He laid there in silence as Calis moved forward. The sounds of water bubbled and sloshed, filling the silence.

Keng lifted himself up after a long silence. Calis turned to check on him before re-focusing back in front of him. Keng groaned, stretching his arms and taking time to listen to his body. It ached. He was tired. A bit hungry, but everything felt fine on the upper half of his body.

Keng wiggled his toes, moving to shake his feet and legs. He scooted off the edge of the platform and jumped.

"Hoop!" Keng landed on his feet, turning. Calis stopped, looking back as the shadows pulled back into the ground.

"Are you sure you don't want to rest more?" Calis asked.

"I'll be fine." Keng waved his question off.

"You sure?" Calis raised his eyebrows at Keng. Keng nodded, catching up to him. The two walked side by side together. Keng casually gave glances at Lily while also sneaking in glances at Calis' feet.

"Strange to see a Merman with feet?" Calis asked. Keng looked up at him as his eyes moved back forward. A smile grew on Calis's face as Keng turned his head straight at what was in front of him.

"No." Keng answered, almost stuttering. "I just… Was curious." He bit his lip as his ruby and sapphire eyes watched as the tunnel widened.

The Merman and the Fox Spirit entered the large cavern. The sound of water sloshing captured their attention. They both stopped, looking up.

"Woah." Keng gasped. The ceiling was covered in water. It sloshed and moved, not falling like gravity would've intended it.

"One of these again." Calis studied it. His arm raised, fingers tracing the water as small orbs of water formed. Keng watched him trace the water for a while until a fairly large sphere of water hung above them.

"We'll have to lift the young Savior and ourselves up in this." Calis told Keng. "The veil between the water and us is tough. It'll be hard to penetrate unless we use water."

With Calis's direction, the sphere descended downwards in front of them as Calis moved over to Lily. Keng took this opportunity to check on his friend. She had put up a strong fight but used too much energy.

Lily's hair was in her face but she slept soundly on the shadows holding her up. Keng let out a breath. He felt better known g she wasn't dead. His eyes followed Lily as Calis slowly motioned for the capsule to enter the sphere.

"Alright," Calis spoke after Lily went in. "Time for us to go." Keng followed Calis, who waved at the sphere. The water split l, allowing entry into the sphere. Keng stepped in and Calis waved his hand.

Hydrosphere started to glow as Calis lifted them up.

"Brace yourself." Calis warned Keng. "The veil is a bit tough still." The top of the sphere pressed against the veil of water. Water began to trickle downwards, sizzling into nothing as Calis continued to push.

Hydrosphere pulsed, drawing Keng's attention. He pulled the dagger out and lifted it. The veil began to glow as the sphere pushed through. The sphere pushed all the way through, plopping into the waters like a bubble.

"That was much easier." Calis commented. He looked at the dagger. "The goddesses' weapon does wonders with water."

"I guess so." Keng slipped the dagger back into it's holster. Calis directed them upwards, following whatever hole he saw first.

"Can you try to make contact with the others?" Calis asked, looking at Keng. Keng nodded and unhooked his conch. He lifted it up, wrapping it in cosmic energy as it moved close to his mouth. He slid his hand on the conch like he was taught and listened to it buzz. It went for awhile until the buzzing stopped.

"Did it not get anyone?" Keng whispered, taking a closer look at the top of the conch.

"Hello? Keng?" Aliza's voice broke through the conch. Keng jerked his head backwards.  "Finally! We got connection!"

"What? With Keng?" Cayi asked.

"Is the Leader with him?" Trenni asked.

"I'm here." Calis answered. A sigh of relief came from the conch. Keng moved it further.

"Did you find Leader Rya yet?" Keng asked.

"We're close!" Aliza announced. "But there's something strange happening."

"What?"

"Well… The cave system is changing before our very eyes."

On cue, everything shifted around them. Keng's eyes immediately looked around as one of his hands shifted to the dagger. Calis raised his hands and grasped on the sphere. They watched the earth shift around them. Water began to move up and down, rocking them along.

"Crap! I think we're experiencing that now!" Keng shouted. The sphere jerked, shifting Lily's capsule towards them. Without much thought, Calis stepped in front of Keng, moving a hand to steady the capsule as a hand moved to grab Keng.

"I'm fine!" Keng shouted. Cosmic energy wrapped around them and bubble, slowly stopping the shaking. They moved in a random direction of the current, snaking left and right, eventually rising upwards.

The sphere shot out of the ground, popping straight into the ground. Keng grasped onto Calis without much thought as his shadows flew straight for the moving capsule. The shadows wrapped around the capsule, locking up as the waters began to fill the space.

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