All three of us stood there in shock, staring down at where my duplicate once was. How could he have disappeard like that? Just straight up vanished?
"Well….what now?"
I asked, dismissing [Fool's Rapier], turning to face the two of them. Isabella had a complicated looked on her face, but she seemed relieved since this confirmed that I was the real one. Zeke, meanwhile, remained unreadable because of that mask.
Still, the same obnoxious laughter sounded from inside him, as he said.
"Let's just continue on. We got a mission to finish, remember? The longer we wait, the more danger Cas will be in."
Isabella gave a nod.
"I'm worried about her, too. She is strong, im sure of it. But she's still a young girl…."
Zeke gave her a brief look, then turned to me.
"The duplicate's doesn't seem to be part of this mission. Like you said, they just appear to be enemies trying to lead us to their boss as an offering, right? All we gotta do is kill them if they get in our way. Our priority is searching for the Abyssal Heart."
I hummed thoughtfully. Zeke wasn't wrong. The duplicate's seem to be just distraction. Mova said so. Still, at the same time, it feels a little worrying just disregarding them completely as distractions. The one that came to "pick up" My duplicate was somehow able to do it so fast, our eyes couldn't even catch a blur.
"Are you sure? We really don't know how strong they are. Maybe getting rid of them will bring us to the Abyssal Heart? They might be the enemy of this mission we have to get rid of, to unlock access to the Abyssal Heart. The Mulligan seems to work like a game, after all."
Zeke looked thoughtful, leaning back against the wall. Then, he asked.
"Let's say what you said was true. Then, what? We hunt down each one, hoping it will unlock access to the Abyssal Heart? That will be time consuming, especially considering they could mimick us and our abilities to near-perfection."
Isabella pursed her lips.
"I agree with Zeke, Morgan. How can we be sure that these duplicate's were even created by the mission? For all we know, it could be created by the blondie. Have you seen his duplicate?"
My eyes widened in thought at the new perspective. Isabella was right. Why haven't I thought about this before? Placing a hand on my chin, I began to think of this possibility. But i only ended up thinking of a counter.
"Nico mentioned that his blessing ability was to fly, not create near-perfect clones of others."
Zeke chimed in.
"He could of been lying."
Isabella shook his head.
"No, I saw him flying when I was falling. Chances are, this Nico is telling the truth."
I sighed.
"Whatever the case is, reuniting with him will increase our chances of succeeding in this mission. He knows something we don't."
Isabella raised an eyebrow, interested. Zeke turned to me.
"Why do you say so? Were you with him?"
I nodded my head.
"He brought me into this mission by force. He seems to want something here."
Then I turned towards Isabella.
"He is also part of that government— the Umbral Compact he called it. Part of the Europe Regional Division, I believe."
Isabella furrowed her eyebrows in thought. Even she didn't know the name of this government, so this was new information for her. She must be considering them.
Zeke, however, didn't seem so interesed.
"Well, good. We have a goal, then. Let's search for him."
Both of us nodded. With a course of action set, it would make things much easier. Zeke turned around, then spoke.
"Do you know you're way around the tunnels, Morgz?"
I thought, then shook my head. Before smiling.
"No, but I do know someone who does, though. Follow me."
I was tempted to just keep the existence of Movarathos secret from the rest, because I was afraid I might not get a chance to bind him to me. I thought they might steal him away from me, but I have realized how selfish I was being. It was childish. Right now, the top priority was getting out of here. To do that, Movarathos is needed.
Without saying anything else, I had turned around and began walking ahead, expecting the two of them to follow me.
They clearly had questions, but kept them to themselves, which I appreciated. Trying to explain everything I have seen and heard would just be a bother and a total waste of time.
So, silently, all three of us was venturing down the tunnels….
I had memorized the location where Mova was. Not actually memorized, I just knew from muscle memory. That strange sensation he left in my head was still there, making me remember what turns to take and when to keep on going straight. It was extremely useful and made me wonder what exactly Movarathos did to me.
Now inside the 'correct' tunnel, I was letting my hand run across the rocky walls of the tunnel, while Zeke held up the torch and followed closely behind.
"There should be a lever here…."
I murmured, still trying to feel it while I continued walking.
Isabella chimed in, closely behind me.
"What lever? I don't see anything."
I didn't respond and kept my focus concentrated on searching for it. I didn't exactly memorize where this lever is, but I knew it was somewhere around here. I shouldn't have missed it yet. It would be a huge issue if I did.
Zeke observed me and said humorously.
"You being real mysterious, Morgz."
Isabella giggled, but didn't say anything, as she felt my annoyed glare. Going back to being silent, following me with folded arms.
We were like this for some time. Just walking straight, with me feeling the walls. I was starting to panic a little, after not feeling the lever for quite some time. However, eventually, I felt it.
"Here it is."
I smiled. The two of them stopped behind me, curious. Without waiting any longer, I pulled down the lever— or atleast I thought I did. Instead, I felt that the lever was already pulled down. My eyes widening in surprise.
Zeke seemed to notice my bewildered and stepped closer, lighting up the wall using the torch.
Someone had pulled the lever.
"Who…."
I let my voice trail off, I could practically hear my own heart beating wildly in my chest, turning towards where the 'door' should of been. As expected, it was open. Who else could of find this place besides me?
"Uh, Morgan, what's wrong?"
Isabella asked, her expression filled with worry. I turned towards her, then towards Zeke.
"Someone is inside, or has been inside where the lever leads."
Then, my gaze dropped to the dark abyss below. Movarathos wasn't lighting it up, so there was nothing for us to see down there. Zeke seemed to have realized the implications, since this time, he wasn't laughing and asked seriously, his voice low.
"Do we go down there, then?"
I bit my lip, lost in thought. Going down there could possibly be risky or maybe not. I wasn't really sure yet and this decision being put on my shoulders, with no actual leadership, the pressure felt immense.
With my eyes lingering on Isabella's face, I took a deep breath and looked back down.
"Yeah. Let's go down."
Then, without any hesitation, I had jumped down. Isabella and Zeke exchanged looks, before nodding and following suit without any hesitation. All three of us hurled downwards.
I sticked the landing, my legs absorbing the shock of landing noiselessly. The two of them fell right behind me. Isabella manipulated the wind around her to slow her descend, it was almost like she was using a parachute— her mastery over the wind has increased drastically. Meanwhile, Zeke didn't do anything special. He just landed on his feet and looked around, the torch giving a dim orange light.
Taking a deep inhale, I called out.
"Mova! You there?"
No response came. I waited silently for a few seconds. Then, finally. A voice sounded from the darkness. A very familier voice.
"BOY! You have come!"
I smiled as I saw the familier orange light of flames, as they ignited inside the skull. The familier cage coming into view and the skull sitting inside it.
Isabella seemed creeped out by the sight, while Zeke laughed.
"You are friends with literal giant skulls now, Morgz?"
Movarathos didn't seem pleased by the label.
"It's Skull of Ruin for you, masked boy!"
Then, Mova addressed me.
"Looks like you managed to retrieve the masked boy and you're crush. Well done. What brings you to me, though?"
Isabella was startled being called my crush, turning to look at me. While I gritted my teeth and just ignored it, replying.
"When I left, I closed the door to this dungeon. Why is it open? Did someone come here?"
Mova seemed confused— or atleast I thought so by the ways the flames seemed to dim ever so slightly.
"Was it? I didn't even realize. I was sleeping."
I blinked, surprised. This time, it was Zeke who asked, laughing.
"Skulls need sleep? I'm curious! How do you slee—"
Isabella glared at Zeke, making him cut himself off. Then, turned towards Mova.
"Morgan mentioned that you know your way around the tunnels. Can you lead us to Nico?"
I was surprised Isabella was being so direct. I was curious to know about why the door was open, but I held myself back. This was what was important right now, not whatever happend here. Atleast Mova was relatively unharmed.
"Ah, so that's it! Very well, come here. I will implant the knowledge of where he was inside you. Good luck, boy's friends."
Zeke and Isabella exchanged looks, a bit doubtful. But their trust in me one over, so they got closer. I was in front of them, of course. I was gonna be the one to take the knowledge first, since I already experienced the same sensation.
However, the moment I did I heard the sound of a string being pulled. Then something rushing towards me, whistling through the air.
"Morgan!"
I heard Isabella scream out in horror. Instinctively, I activated [Probability Pryer] blood rushing through my veins. Time seemed to slow down for me, as i turned my back and saw it— an arror rushing right towards my neck.
"Arrow stabbing my throat, 100%…."
Without any hesitation, I rolled out of the way and quickly looked in the direction of the attacker. All I saw was a dark silhouette. Isabella and Zeke had recovered from the shock and got into defensive positions as well, prepared for more arrows coming our way. They were throwing doubtful glances towards mova.
I can't blame them. I felt the same way, my voice rising as I stared at Movarathos.
"What the hell was that, Movarathos?!"
I heard a 'tch' from him.
"Foolish boy…..did you truly believe I wanted to be binded to you? I have the right to choose which master I wish to be binded to and it's not you. You don't fit my standards."
My eyes widened. But before I could say anything, another arrow came from the darkness above. There seemed to be a platform there, where the attacker was moving around and shooting out arrows.
I had [Probability Pryer] active, so I managed to roll out the way with ease. Isabella and Zeke didn't have much of a difficult time either, one of the arrows hit Zeke's shoulder, but he just healed it using his blessing, while Isabella could sense movements in the air and even change the direction of where the arrow lands by altering the wind around it, so she was also unharmed.
Zeke turned towards me.
"What happend, Morgan?"
I sighed and replied.
"I don't know, either. But it seems the Skull really doesn't want to bind with me, so he had this person he considers a better master kill me. Or atleast, that's what I think."
Zeke stared at me for awhile, then nodded.
"Then, let's kill this bow-user. After that, we can force that talking skull to talk. It wants freedom, right?"
I raised an eyebrow, about to ask how Zeke knew. But another arrow came hurling towards my direction, so I dodged.
"The bow-user is problematic…."
Isabella grinned.
"Let's get rid of the bow-user, then."
I smiled, dodging another arrow.
"Yeah, let's."