Anne Boonchuy, Maddie Flour and Olivier Clawthorne walked carefully down the long, dark cave tunnel with only the orbs of gold and blue light that Olivier conjured with his magic to light their way.
The Trio then noticed that the cave tunnel was starting to become wider the further they went.
Eventually they saw what looked like wooden beams against the stone walls and ceiling.
"I'm starting to think we're not the first ones to come down here." spoke Anne, thinking aloud.
"I think you're right. This is starting to look like a Mine." spoke Olivier.
"Whose?" spoke Maddie, misunderstanding what Olivier said.
"a Mine." repeated Olivier. "It's an underground catacomb where people dig to harvest valuable minerals."
"Ohhh... I get it." said Maddie, mildly embarrassed.
"Hey, I see a light up ahead!!" exclaimed Anne, pointing.
The group looked ahead, and indeed saw a faint light at the end of the dark tunnel.
(usually that would be a 'bad thing' in a certain context, but the trio certainly weren't dead yet!)
"Come on." spoke Olivier. "maybe it's a way out."
The three all ran ahead, discarding their light orbs that eventually fizzled out.
Once they reached the end of the tunnel... They all froze, their mouths gaped open in shock and awe.
Before them was a colossal chamber that was filled with aged machinery, excavated stone, and all illuminated by glowing crystals they grew over the cavern walls like moss.
"what... IS all of this!!?" exclaimed Anne, still stunned.
Olivier and Maddie walked up to a wooden cart on some rusty train tracks.
"Just as I expected..." spoke Olivier, as he examined the cart. "This is a Mine, a BIG one. It must've taken years to excavate this much."
Olivier then drew a spell circle and put his hand through it. He then waved his glowing hand over the old Mine Cart... and then gasped.
"This thing... It's hundreds of years old." spoke Olivier.
Now Anne's shock had faded, and was replaced with wonder.
"Awwwe-Sooome!! So, this is kinda like an ancient, archeological find! DUUDE!!, Marcy would just LOVE this place!! I feel like Laura Kroft!!"
Everything Anne was saying made ZERO sense to both Olivier, and Maddie.
"Well, you are right about One Thing: This place is ancient." said Olivier.
"But is it safe?" spoke Maddie, still worried.
"Doesn't look like anything has been here in Centuries... Not even Zapapedes." mused Olivier.
"though we should probably find a way out of here all th-where did Anne go?"
Indeed, Anne was now nowhere in sight (almost as if she disappeared out of thin air.)
(("ANNE!!?")) called Olivier, his voice echoed in the cavern.
(("OVER HERE!!")) called Anne's voice.
Olivier and Maddie ran over to another part of the cavern where they saw Anne near a small cluster of hot pink crystals.
"These things are SO COOL!!" exclaimed Anne, excited. "We GOTTA take some back home with us! Sprig'll love 'em!!"
As Anne drew out a pickaxe from her satchel, Olivier marched up with a stern expression.
"ANNE... We need to stay together in a group and find a way out of this place!"
Anne was too lost in her own thoughts to hear what Olivier was saying. She knelt down and started to hammer the pickaxe into the crystal cluster...
...which started sparking, and NOTfrom the friction.
"Anne. I really don't think you should be-"
(*CLUNK!*) Anne managed to break off a big crystal chunk. "I GOT-"
At that moment, the Crystal Cluster began to pulse with purple volts. "...it?"
As the cluster pulsed more erratically, Olivier quickly grabbed the back of Anne's shirt and yanked her away from the pulsing crystals, JUST as they all exploded. knocking the trio backwards.
"WOW!" exclaimed Maddie, who recovered first. "That was like TEN Boom-Shrooms exploding all at once!!"
Anne looked at Olivier... who just glared angrily at the girl. "(*nervous chuckle*) oops?"
"I thought you were Thirteen, Anne... (("NOT SIX!!")) exclaimed Olivier, trying to restrain his anger.
"Maddie is SIX, and right now I am more concerned about YOU,than I am about HER!!"
"Actually, I'm Eleven." said Maddie.
Olivier was about to yell something else... when he noticed the hurt look on Anne's face.
Immediately all his anger melted away, and was replaced with guilt and shame. Inhaling deeply, Olivier exhaled as he forced all his anger to suppress and tried to calm himself down.
"i'm sorry..." said Olivier, now calmer. "I shouldn't have yelled at you."
"It's alri-"
"But you shouldn't have run off like that, either." continued Olivier, stern once again.
"This is a dangerous place, and we NEED to stay together as a group. Now if you want to explore, then we can since we need to anyway in order to find an exit. But we will do so AS A GROUP, so no running off on our own."
Anne nodded. "okay... Sorry, I guess I just got excited."
"I know. we all need to keep our emotions in check right now." said Olivier.
"I'm sorry for losing my temper. that was... wrong of me."
Anne forced a smile. "It's cool, dude. I guess I did kinda act irresponsibly. Sorry."
Maddie then hopped over. "Actually, Anne might've helped us a little."
Both Anne and Olivier looked at the blue frog girl in confusion. "How So??"
Maddie grabbed a fragment of exploded Crystal.
"These crystals are pulsing with so much energy, they're highly explosive." began Maddie.
"If we gather enough safely, we could use them to blow our own exit out of here. And MAYBE even use some against that King Zapapede if it's still out there."
Olivier took a moment to ponder this. "that's... not a bad idea. Alright, Anne... We'll gather some of those crystals."
"YAY!" exclaimed Anne, making a goofy victory pose.
"But we're going to do it the Right Way this time." continued Olivier. "Now, let's search around for any useful tools. hopefully the miners left something behind before they all left."
"Dude, that was like a long, Long, LONG time ago. Would anything still be working if there is?!" said Anne.
"I'll take care of that." said Olivier. "Let's just focus on finding anything useful."
Maddie then hopped over to the two humans. "Then let's try looking over there."
Anne and Olivier looked to where Maddie was pointing, which was a makeshift wooden structure built overtop a High Rise that seemed to overlook the whole mine itself.
"That looks like a workshop of some kind." spoke Maddie. "If miners DID work here years ago, then that might be where they left their tools."
"Good eye, Maddie. we'll search there first."
Maddie smiled, pleased at the praise Olivier had given her.
True, it had nothing to do with magic crafting, but any praise from Olivier made her feel happy.
The three walked towards the structure, which only got taller and bigger the closer they got. They each climbed single file up a wooden ladder, and finally reached the very top of the structure.
"Whooooaa... Look at that." began Anne, gazing out at the view of the mine. "This place is even BIGGER than I thought it was! It's like the whole mountain is hollowed out!"
Olivier and Maddie joined Anne at the edge of what was essentially a lookout tower.
And Anne was indeed right. The mine down below was like the ruins of an ancient temple.
The remnants of old cranes and pulleys still remained. Some even had blocks of stone still chained to their harnesses, indicating work that would forever be incomplete.
It was clear that whoever used this mine had been working on it for YEARS to make this much progress.
"I wonder what they were mining in this place..." mused Anne.
"Safe to say it was those "Thunder Stones" spoke Maddie. "It's the only thing of value still here!"
"maybe..." mused Olivier. "It has been hundreds of years, so We may never know why they were here, and what made them finally leave."
"yeah... It's like a Mystery that'll never be solved!" exclaimed Anne, getting excited again.
"MAN, I really do wish Marcy was here right now. She'd love trying to figure this place out!"
Olivier raised an eyebrow. "There's that name again... Marcy. I take it she isn't the same friend that you mentioned earlier today."
Anne widened her eyes at what Olivier was implying.
"Not even REMOTELY, Dude!THAT was Sasha. Marcy... she's different. Sasha may've been... a brute, but Marcy has always been sweet and kind to everyone."
"I'll take your word for it. This Marcy must be nice for you to wish she was here so much."
"Trust me, SHE IS!" chirped Anne. "She's Marcy: Everyone's Friend. You'd like her!"
Olivier fell silent. He then turned, and approached the workshop without another word.
Anne frowned, feeling a little disappointed at being given the cold shoulder. But she decided to let it go and focus on their current task (there would be another time to talk later.)
"Hmm... let's see. Drills, Chisels, Hammers. Yeah, that's everything we need." said Olivier.
"But it's all rusty and old!" spoke Maddie, lamenting the situation.
"not for long." said Olivier.
As Anne approached, both she and Maddie watched as Olivier drew a blue spell circle with his finger. The blue ring of light formed into a disc that shined a light on the rusty tools that lay on the worktable.
Olivier grasped the disc of hard blue light, and turned it counter-clockwise like one would turn a dial.
Anne and Maddie's mouths gaped as the rust and degradation of the tools slowly faded away.
Within minutes the old tools now looked almost brand new, without barely any signs of age.
"whoooaa... you-You fixed them!!" exclaimed Maddie, elated. "Now that's REAL magic!!"
"Oh, you SO gotta do that with some of my stuff!" said Anne, also amazed.
Olivier breathed out sharply, releasing the dial (which dematerialized) and grasping his chest tightly. The boy winced, as if feeling a sharp pain. This jolted both girls from their amazement, which turned into worry.
"Oliver!!" exclaimed Anne, running to the boy.
Olivier breathed harshly as Anne and Maddie tried to support his body. After a few minutes, Olivier wiped some sweat from his brow and shook his head.
"I'm... f-fine. I'll be... oh-okay." gasped Olivier. "just... give me... a m-minute."
Anne frowned, feeling very concerned for her new friend's health. Magic was cool and all, but this wasn't anything like when her dad played 'Dynasty Souls II.'
(well... Maybe a little like it, except draining too much "MP" for Olivier was actually dangerous!)
"maddie." spoke Anne, her tone serious. "are there any more potions left for Ollie??"
Maddie checked her satchel... and frowned. "no. Olivier used the last one to help us escape the Hedge-Hogs."
"You mean there isn't any more!??" spoke Anne, alarmed.
"no." said Olivier, now. "never had the chance to make any before we left. thought this would be a quick trip."
Anne grimaced, feeling dread creep over her. "shoot. Ollie, you REALLY need to take it easy for now."
"I told you I'm-"
(("NO YOU'RE NOT!!")) shouted Anne, suddenly. "You've nearly passed out THREE TIMES already!! What if you push yourself so hard, that your heart actually stops! I DON'T WANT YOU DEAD!!"
Olivier looked at Anne with a slightly annoyed look.
"I'm not a weakling, Boonchuy. I've had to deal with this kind of thing for the past thirteen years of my life.
I know how much of my limited magic that I need to conserve in order to survive, even without any potions."
"No one thinks you're weak, Olivier," said Anne, sternly. "we're just... Worried about you."
"Yeah." said Maddie, touching Olivier's chest. "We don't want anything bad to happen to you... We care about you."
Olivier paused as he looked at Maddie, then Anne, and then Maddie again.
"ollie." spoke Anne, as she knelt down beside Olivier. "I know you have no reason to trust us.
and I'm sure from your perspective, it seems like we're just using you to get something that we want."
Maddie widened her eyes at this statement... only to realize that in a certain context, Anne had a point.
Anne wanted to get back home, and Olivier had a quick and easy means to do that. SHE wanted to become a powerful witch, and Olivier was her best (and so far ONLY) means to do that.
From a certain point of view, it DID seem like both she and Anne were just using Olivier for their own gain.
"But BELIEVE ME... we genuinely do care about you." continued Anne.
Olivier breathed out a little. "I do want to believe that... but every instinct is telling me not to. We only just met. How could anyone care so much about someone that they barely even know??"
Anne paused as she tried to find an answer... so she gave the only one she had.
"I don't know... I just do. Something inside me just wants to help you. I know we're technically strangers, but I want us to be friends... we CAN be friends."
Olivier still looked unsure. "I want us to be too... I'm just scared of being hurt again."
Maddie crawled up into Olivier's lap. "We promise that we'll NEVER hurt you. And I'm sorry that you were hurt."
Olivier looked into Maddie's sweet looking eyes for a moment. He found no trace of deception in them. Only genuine admiration and caring.
"We're both sorry that you got hurt, Ollie... Truly." continued Anne. "And we swear that we'll never do that to you. just... give us a chance to prove that. Let us help you."
Olivier looked at Anne once again. And again, he looked into her eyes for any trace of deception. But all he found was the same genuine and caring look that Maddie had given him just now.
Finally, he let out a deep sigh. "okay. I guess a group only works if everyone trusts each other."
Anne and Maddie smiled. "So, you'll lay off the big magic spells for now??" inquired Anne.
"sure... I'll still do what I can, but nothing fancy." said Olivier.
"Don't worry." said Maddie. "I'll help with any spellcasting that you need."
Olivier grinned. "Okay, but for the moment we only need to excavate these crystals."
"Sure thing, dude." said Anne, with a smile. "You rest while me and Mads get started on that."
"Alright, but be careful," said Olivier. "Remember that these things blow up, so be gentle with them."
"We will." said Anne, as she stood up. "Let's go, Maddie!"
Olivier watched as Anne and Maddie gathered the restored mining equipment. Maddie then hopped and clung onto Anne as she slid down the ladder back to ground level.
Olivier leaned over, looking down and watching as Anne and Maddie ran off into the mine. He then let out a sharp breath before slumping down and taking a moment to brood on his current situation.
Anne and Maddie seemed to be nice, and appeared to really care about him.
But so too was ONE person from his childhood... and she not only disappointed him, but broke his heart. So why was he taking this risk again??, Why was he doing the same thing that he did over Eight years ago??
Olivier wished he knew why.. Maybe he was stupid. Maybe he hated himself, and was a glutton for punishment.
Or maybe... deep down, he still wanted to believe the best in other people and wanted to believe that this time things would be different. Maybe he could make a friend for life.
...but he's been wrong about that before.
Anne and Maddie searched around the mine, looking for another of those crystal clusters.
Eventually they found some, and immediately rushed over to it.
"Okay, remember: Slow & Steady wins the race."
Maddie looked at Anne in confusion. "huh?"
"oh, you know what I mean." said Anne, with mild frustration.
"Right." Maddie knelt down and drew out a Chisel and Hammer.
Anne did the same, and the pair carefully broke some crystals from the cluster mass. Evidently they were doing something right, as they hadn't exploded like before yet.
As they filled a nearby minecart with crystals... Maddie looked to Anne.
"does he really think we're just using him?" spoke Maddie.
Anne looked at Maddie. "what?"
"Olivier. does he really think we're only taking advantage of him??" repeated Maddie.
Anne frowned. "I... never really considered it. But looking at things from his perspective... he might."
Maddie frowned. "but... we're not... right?"
Anne paused to ponder what Maddie was asking her. She wanted to say no... but was that true??
Anne's goal was to return to her own world. THAT had been her goal since the very beginning. And Olivier had the means to do just that more easily IF she helped Olivier return to his own world.
It was a mutually beneficial situation... But what did that REALLY say about her??
What if Olivier's mother DIDN'T have her own personal portal back to Earth? Would Anne STILL be so willing to help Olivier return to his own world??
...Or, would she prioritize her own needs above all else.
Anne wanted to think she would still try to help him, even if she DID get what he wanted first. It just wasn't in her nature to NOT help people that clearly needed help. It had been both her greatest strength, AND flaw.
"no... we're not." said Anne, finally. "but someone hurt Ollie a long time ago... someone who he trusted. and because of that, he is having a hard time trusting US to not do the same thing to him."
Maddie scowled, mentally 'cursing' whoever had done such a horrible thing to someone she now looked up to.
"who would do something like that..." spoke Maddie, gesturing at where her 'ears' were.
True, as a Frog, Maddie technically didn't have any 'ears' (least none like a human does) So at face value, she didn't see the big deal in Olivier having flat earholes like any amphibian does.
But she knew that it wasn't normal for humans, and she knew 'mutilation' when she saw it. And the scars on Olivier's head made it very clear that he 'survived' something horrible.
Anne herself scowled upon realizing what Maddie was implying. She shuddered as she forced herself to remember the sight of Olivier's scars.
While thirteen, she wasn't completely ignorant to brutal violence (especially after Sasha convinced her once to sneak into a movie theater and watch an R-rated movie, or the time Sasha snuck a copy of 'Immortal Kombat' as a gift to Marcy and Anne saw the many "fatality" animations.)
So Anne's imagination didn't paint a very pretty picture when it came to how Olivier got his scars. And all she had to go by was that a friend betrayed his trust, and there was a bully... with a KNIFE.
"a real sicko." spoke Anne finally, her tone dark. "not all monsters in the world are giant beasts, Maddie."
Maddie frowned, still brooding as she mindlessly chiseled the hot pink crystals.
"what can we do to convince him to trust us??" asked Maddie, finally.
"By being good friends," said Anne. "It may take some time, and it won't be easy. but one day he'll realize that we're different from whoever it was that hurt him."
Maddie stopped to look up at Anne. "I swear that I won't let him down."
Anne smiled meekly. "yeah... me too, mads."
Ten whole minutes passed with Anne and Maddie saying nothing else while they focused on their tasks. It wasn't long until the minecart they were using was now full of the Thunder Stones.
"Whew!, looks like we're done." said Anne, as she wiped some sweat from her brow.
"Nice work." spoke a voice, suddenly.
"Gaah!" Anne jumped, startled to see Olivier suddenly standing there.
"JEEZ!, are you a Witch or a NINJA!!?" exclaimed Anne, gripping her chest.
"sorry if I scared you." said Olivier, monotoned.
Maddie grinned creepily and gave Olivier a thumbs up... to which Anne exhaled. "you both really are two of a kind."
"you feel better, Olivier?" asked Maddie, hopping over.
"yeah. And I saw something of interest from the lookout tower that you both should see."
Anne recomposed herself, placed her fists on her hips and smiled. "Lead the way, dude."
Olivier turned and walked off, followed closely by Anne and Maddie.
The pair walked deeper into the Mine, following a trail that ultimately led to a huge mound of rubble that vaguely resembled a hill with how big it was.
"What's this?!" asked Anne, staring up at the rubble mound.
"I don't know. but whoever was here before progressed past this point." explained Olivier. "I don't know what's on the other side of all this rubble, but I don't see any other way forward."
"Soo... It might be our way out of here." spoke Anne.
"That is what I am hoping for," said Olivier.
"But, what if it just leads to a dead end??" said Maddie, thinking aloud.
"Maddie, come on! We gotta think more positively." said Anne.
"Anne's right. If we do nothing, we've reached an impasse anyway." said Olivier.
"We may as well clear this rubble to see what's on the other side. It COULD be our way out."
Maddie blushed as she looked down. "you're right. sorry."
"Cool.Sooo... How do we clear all this rubble??" asked Anne. "Grab a shovel, and dig-"
"no, we blow it up." said Olivier, bluntly.
Anne's eyes nearly bulged as she stared at Olivier. "come again!??"
"digging this out will take too long, and may also be dangerous." spoke Olivier. "But we already know the crystals here are explosive, so we'll use them to blow all of this away."
Maddie grinned like a gremlin. "I like this plan."
"So we're going with the Bay Michaels method... awesome." said Anne, smirking.
Olivier said not a word as he ran back down the track, with Anne and Maddie close behind. The three returned to the minecart full of Thunder Stones, and began to push it down the track.
It was difficult due to how rusty and old the wheels now were, and Olivier was tempted to use his chrono magic again. But he remembered the promise he made earlier, and Olivier Clawthorne ALWAYS kept his word. So he kept on pushing.
Fortunately it wasn't too hard getting the cart to move with Anne and Maddie helping. And eventually the rusty wheels loosened up and finally ran down the track on its own momentum.
Returning to the Rubble Mound, the trio started to grab some crystals from the cart.
"Be sure to use the big ones, and leave the smaller ones," said Olivier. "The bigger the crystal, the bigger the blast... and we'll need a BIG blast to clear all of this."
"Gotcha!" said Anne, as she and Maddie started to plant large Thunder Stones into the rubble mound.
After Ten or Fifteen hot pink crystals were planted, the three pulled the minecart away from the mound.
"Sooo... how do we detonate these babies??" asked Anne.
"I was wondering about that myself." spoke Maddie.
"Get to cover, I'll take care of it." said Olivier.
Anne gave Olivier an 'aggra-worried' look. "Ollie... you promised!-"
"Trust me, Anne. It's fine. It'll only be a basic spell, nothing more." said Olivier.
Anne had an incredulous look... but ultimately relented. "alright... I trust you."
As the trio took cover behind a large block of stone, Olivier drew a spell circle with his finger. Anne and Maddie watched as he continued to draw his finger in a circle, apparently charging up a spell.
They soon realized what kind of spell once a spark formed into a flame, and then a fireball. Olivier waved his finger like a wand, and sent the fireball towards a crystal like a Will O'Wisp.
The fireball impacted a crystal... causing it to crackle with purple volts. Olivier ducked behind the block, as did Maddie... But Anne remained up, watching as the crystals all surged.
growling in exasperation, Olivier grabbed Anne by her shirt and pulled her down... JUST as the Thunder Stones all detonated.
((*KRAAAA-KOOOOOOOOOOM!!!*))
a powerful explosion discharged, causing a mild tremor that resonated throughout the cavern.
The three slowly rose up from their cover... and saw that the mound of rubble was no more.
"aww... missed it." said Anne, disappointed.
"Not worth losing your pretty little face over, Boonchuy." grumbled Olivier, annoyed.
Anne blinked towards Olivier. "what?"
"NOTHING!" exclaimed Olivier (blushing upon realizing what he just said.)
The three emerged from their cover and approached the still dusty blast zone. After a few minutes the dust cloud finally dissipated, revealing what had been hidden on the other side.
"whoa... what is THAT!?" exclaimed Anne, astonished.
The group stared at some kind of wooden rotunda with a turnstile at the center.
Olivier was the first to approach, stepping onto the wooden platform. Anne and Maddie followed, and all three looked up to see a long makeshift tube above them.
"I get it now." spoke Olivier. "This must be some kind of lift. The miners must've used this to transport their equipment and yield to and from the surface."
"Which means we can use it to get the heck outta here!" spoke Anne, in realization.
"Wait!, aren't we supposed to go DOWN the mountain to reach the Zapapede nest??" spoke up Maddie.
"Yes, but there is no way "down" from here." said Olivier. "There is literally no way to go but up."
Anne turned to the frog girl. "Hey, It's okay Mads. We'll find our way down once we get out of this cave."
Maddie nodded. "okay. At the very least, that King Zapapede should be gone by now."
Anne grimaced as she recalled that monster from earlier. "I really hope so."
Olivier ran back out towards the Minecart that still had a sizeable amount of Thunder Stones.
"Help me get this into the lift," said Olivier. "At the very least, we can bring THESE back to Wartwood to make tons of coins."
Anne grinned wide upon realizing their luck. "Oh, YEAH... Great idea, Ollie!"
As Anne and Maddie ran back, Olivier scratched his head nervously.
"actually... you deserve some credit Anne." began Olivier, speaking softly. "Technically it was your idea to take these with us... sorry that I yelled at you before."
"Tsh!, it's cool dude. Water over the bridge." said Anne, making a hand waving gesture.
Olivier nodded and even gave her a smile. He, Anne and Maddie then began to push the minecart down the track and into the rotunda.
Noting some latches on the wooden platform, Olivier proceeded to secure the cart in place. Once done, he looked and noticed that Maddie was just staring out at the mind behind them.
"Maddie??... you okay, kid??" spoke Olivier, concerned.
Maddie glanced back to the two teenaged humans. "I just had a weird feeling... I mean, a VERY weird feeling. even for me."
"How weird are we talkin??" asked Anne, curious.
"Have you ever been in a place where you expected to see something, even if that something would be bad. Only for that bad something to not happen, and for some reason you feel really disappointed about it??"
Both Anne and Olivier stared at the frog girl, not quite understanding what she was talking about.
"Care to elaborate on that, kid??" spoke Olivier.
"well... I kinda expected us to run into SOME scary creatures in this cave." said Maddie, as she approached. "Like a swarm of BLOOD BATS!!, or a giant MEGA SPIDER that would all want to drain our bodily fluids!"
Anne turned pale at this, while Olivier just chuckled. "maybe we will in the next cave we explore."
"Really??" inquired Maddie.
"no." answered Olivier, bluntly.
Anne ran up to the turnstile at the center of the rotunda, and attempted to turn it. She gripped the horizontal lever and pushed... but it didn't budge. She then pulled, but still nothing.
"Crap!, this thing won't move!!" exclaimed Anne.
"That isn't how these type of things work, Anne." said Olivier. "It takes two people to turn it."
"oh. Dang, how do you know so much about these things?!"
Olivier frowned for a moment. "I... used to explore old mines with my mother back home."
"Really?" said Anne, her interest piqued.
Olivier nodded. "we were... very poor, and fugitives from the so-called "law". We had to salvage what we could to survive, and that often took us to places like this."
Anne frowned (as did Maddie.) "oh... I'm sorry to hear that."
"It's fine. Now, let's get this lift lifted up." said Olivier, as he approached the turnstile. "This will take both of us working together as one, so do as I do."
Anne nodded as she gripped the lever again. As Olivier did the same, Maddie hopped over. "What do I do??"
"I don't know... Enjoy the ride??" said Anne. "You can also watch the cart, I guess."
Maddie huffed, annoyed at having nothing special to do. But she kept her opinion to herself, and held onto the minecart full of crystals.
"ready?" spoke Olivier, looking at Anne.
"y-yeah..." answered Anne.
"One. Two. THREE!"
Anne and Olivier both began to push their respective levers, and after a minute of effort the Turnstile slowly turned. Loud, mechanical cranks and creaks were heard as the ancient mechanism came to life and performed their forgotten purpose.
Slowly the lift began to rise up. And in time, the turnstile start to move more easily.
"h-how... l-long... until we reach the... T-Top?!" spoke Anne, as she kept on pushing.
Olivier looked up for a moment... and groaned. "at this... ss-speed... it will... be awhile."
Anne groaned in annoyance. "greeeat..."
After about five minutes, Anne let out a fatigued gasp. Olivier then stopped. "Anne?"
"can we... (*huff, puff*)re-rest for a… (*pant, gasp*)m-moment??"
Olivier initially wanted to stay focused on their task, But upon seeing just how out of breath the human girl was, he ultimately relented.
"okay... we can take a breather." said Olivier, as he approached Anne. "Fortunately the lift is staying in place, so we don't have to make the climb in one go."
"thank FROG..." gasped Anne, breathing heavily.
Olivier knelt down to Anne, and began to draw a spell circle in front of her face. Before Anne could ask what he was doing, a blue ring of light started to blow a cool breeze in her face.
"oh, GOD... that feels Soooo Good." said Anne, relieved. "feels just like air conditioning."
Olivier still had no idea what Anne was talking about, but decided not to question it.
"thank you so much." said Anne, grateful.
Olivier blushed as a smile formed onto his face that he couldn't suppress. "you are... welcome."
Anne a minute, Anne looked at Olivier again. "even though it sucks that you get dizzy spells... I gotta say, it is pretty awesome how you can do magic, Ollie. I wish I had powers like you do."
Olivier tilted his head at Anne. "how strange..."
"Whadda ya mean?"
"It's just odd for a human to have any fascination for magic." spoke Olivier. "My Aunt always told me that humans were dangerous because they feared and hated Magic. She told me that if a human ever learned I was a witch, they would kill me by burning me alive."
Both Anne and Maddie stared with horrified looks on their faces.
"So it just feels weird... hearing you, a Human, not hating me for being a witch." continued Olivier.
Anne frowned. She then stood up and faced Olivier. "well... like I said before in Wartwood: that kind of thing was outlawed hundreds of years ago."
Olivier looked at Anne. "So, Humans REALLY don't hunt witches anymore??"
"no. It is considered a hate crime now. If a human tried doing that to you, they'd go to prison." explained Anne. "In fact, most humans in my world don't even believe in Witches, or magic in general. thinking it's all make believe."
Olivier snickered at this. "guess mom was right all along..."
((*rumble, rumble, rumble...*))
The three then became alarmed by a faint rumbling (which by now they've learnt wasn't a good thing.)
"what's that??" spoke Anne, now worried.
Maddie hopped over to Olivier, and clung to his shoulder. "I don't know... and I don't want to find out." said Olivier.
((*rumble, rumble, Rumble!!, RUMBLE!!, RUMBLE!!*))
As the cave shook more violently, Olivier quickly grabbed Anne and yanked her back mere SECONDS as a massive head burst from the stone wall.
((*SKREEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!*)) screeched the King Zapapede.
"HOLY SHITAKE!!" exclaimed Anne, freaking the ever loving f*ck out.
The Zapapede snapped its jaws, trying to reach the small creatures. But its thick neck couldn't move any further.
Unable to reach the taste morsels, it instead began to charge its horn with volts. Maddie acted quickly, and tossed one of her curse bombs at the beast. hitting it square in the eyes.
((*RAAAAARRRRRHH!!!*)) roared the King Zapapede, now blinded by the dark blue particles that exploded in its face.
The Zapapede thrashed around, cracking the cave wall even more. Its head hit the rotunda, causing it to tilt.
"OH NO!!" exclaimed Anne, as she felt herself slide towards the monster's snapping jaws.
Olivier again snatched her by the back of her shirt and jerked her back. He then flipped her body over his shoulder, to which Anne climbed over and clung behind him.
But as Olivier and Anne both started to slide down, Maddie did the only thing she could think of, and shot out her sticky, elongated tongue that tied around Olivier's waist while she stuck to the Rotunda surface.
Anne's arms and legs squeezed around Olivier tighter as the pair started to dangle from Maddie's tongue like a pair of worms on a fishing hook while the King Zapapede thrashed blindly.
Olivier growled from both Anne and Maddie's tight grip on his body, AND the absurd situation he was in.
The Witch Boy then drew twin spell circles (one gold, one blue) and energized both his hands. Making claw-like gestures, he charged two orbs within his palms and then fired dual beams straight at the beast's head.
((*RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRGGGHH!!!*)) shrieked the King Zapapede, its face now burning.
The beast finally ripped its head out of the hole it made and retreated. With the Rotunda back at equilibrium, Maddie and Anne both released Olivier and breathed sighs of relief.
"Okay… (*huff-huff, pant*) break time is officially over." said Olivier, breathing heavily.
"yep!" said Anne, suddenly feeling motivated to resume working.
[End of Part 11]