Down Time

Melody smiled, chuckling at the punch to her shoulder, seeming to get back to her normal self with the gesture. While she didn’t make eye contact, not right away at least, she returned the arm punch and rolled her eyes, “Yeah yeah…I hear ya, I’ll ease up.” She paused for a moment, wondering if she should go on, and then let out a small, quiet breath. “And uh…thanks…thank you. I appreciate it, Yang, I owe ya one for this, even if ya say I don’t. There’s no getting out it now.” She said, giving Yang’s side a small nudge with her elbow, now deadest determined to find some way to repay Yang for whatever training they’d go through.

Despite her usual keen eyes and rather observant habits, all honed through hero work, Melody didn’t seem to catch the sudden change on her friend’s face. She didn’t see the blush or how Yang flustered at the prospect. Unlike her friend, she didn’t seem at all bothered or shy by the concept. At Yang’s word, Melody was on her back, holding on tight and ready to take off without a second thought of it, not seeming to consider how this could look to an outside party. To her, this was just a ride, she had carried other people like this before…though mainly kids when she was doing public events, but occasionally an adult when they needed quick evac from somewhere.

It grew slowly on Mel’s face, but soon was beaming with excitement as the two soared through the air. The sensation of flying wasn’t unlike that of her hops, fast, bounding motions through the air as you propelled forward. Flying, hopping, the two were so similar, and yet…this was more. This felt different and she wasn’t sure why, but the grin on her face was wide and she actually laughed in joy at it. “Ha! This incredible!” She exclaimed, unsure how else to explain it.

“Oh! Right, sorry! My power!” She suddenly snapped to attention, having almost completely forgotten about their prior conversation. “Basically, as I move around I build up energy that both shields me and that I can release in power bursts! I basically store up kinetic energy! Also, I got the rabbit stuff going on, making me quicker and a bit more aware of stuff around me.” She thought for a second, adjusting her grip on Yang’s shoulders. “I got that new thing I wanna demo, but also I guess if I was to have a special technique or something I can change the way I absorb energy and instead use my bloodflow to build kinetic energy at a much quicker rate, though doing it long much causes me to overheat and pass out. And that about sums it up, I think. I don’t really have a limit, at least none that I’ve reached, I can use the kinetic energy to also propel me at quick speeds, so I can move faster as you saw. Uh…yeah, that’s it I think.”

Yang did her best to keep her gaze forward, lest her friend see her face in such an embarrassed state. She kept her gaze forward and traveled relatively slow for the most part. It wasn’t a slow crawl by any means, but she also didn’t want to zip to the island without giving Melody a chance to explain her powers, as much as every fiber of Yang’s being was screaming for her to get this impromptu piggy back ride over with.  The embarrassment would slowly fade from Yang’s face as she listened to the enthusiasm in Melody’s voice. It took a moment for Yang to realize that the sensation would definitely be something not everyone was used to.

“It’s alright..I guess. she’d say with a slight smirk. Her grip around Melody’s thighs would tighten, mainly securing her grip on her friend as she then began to speed up. A little show for her friend as they closed in on the island. The wind rushing over them with this new pace. She would remain silent for the rest of the flight, mentally taking note of how Melody described her power. It wasn’t far off from how Yang’s worked, to a degree. But where Melody built her power up through movement and kinetic motion, Yang’s body constantly produced energy on a cellular level. Each and every cell acting as a small power plant to fuel her whole body.

Having picked up the pace she had been flying at, the two would arrive at the island shortly after Melody finished explaining the nature of her powers. Yang would slow down as they approached the island and softly touch down on the grassy outcrop in the middle of the lake. She’d cautiously let go of Melody to allow her to get down on the ground safely. The overseers crystal blue eyes would be drawn to the uncommon amount of fog that had been hovering over the surface of the island and it wasn’t until now, that they were on the ground that Yang noticed the fog had gotten heavier. “Surly it didn’t get foggier right?” She looked all around them for any signs of an outside party interfering with the weather or trying to ambush them, but nothing immediately leapt out at her.

She paused for a moment and looked to Melody. Since they were in no danger at the present, best to let the local fill her in on the details of this supposed haunted island. Perhaps this was a common occurrence or the exact reason why people seemed to think it was haunted.

Thankfully, for Yang, Melody was completely oblivious to her expression. She would stay oblivious all the way to island, all with no hints to what had gone on in the alien’s head. Still, it was something she enjoyed and main threat to Yang now was future requests for flight, as it was too much fun not to consider doing that again sometime in the future. This thought, however, was combatted with both the want to not appear childish and the want to not be too much of a burden on her new friend. Plus…was that weird to request that? Was that against the norm to whatever species Yang was? That opened a whole new can of worms as to the situation, one that Mel would shove down for now and come back to later.

Mel’s own eyes now trailed across the island and…yes, that increased level of fog. This had always been the case here on the island, but one that had never really occurred to her before. The strangeness of that mist…it was unreal. She never really put much merit into the island being “supposedly” haunted, but now…

She sighed and tried her best to dismiss the thought. While something actually supernatural would be a nice change from the weird evil organization they had taken down the other day, it was still her vacation and she didn’t want to it spend knee deep in some ectoplasm. Still, she couldn’t help but be on guard. It was that hero instinct that kicked in and one she wished she could turn off. Though, even as her eyes searched the area they didn’t seem to catch anything. Her ears, though…they picked up a lot. Every crackle of a leaf, every small plop from a nearby fish in the water. They were alert and ready, but everything seemed to set her on edge.

As she finally looked back to Yang, she grinned and gave her friend a nod. “Creepy, right?” She joked, nudging her side and then starting forward to head deeper into the small island. “So, anything ya wanted to check out here or were you just looking to be spooked?” He taunted teasingly. “There apparently was an old house here at some point, not sure what happened to it. The well that it used to have is still somewhere around here.”

The island itself wasn’t all that vast. A fifteen…maybe twenty minute hike would bring you to the other side. There was a dense cover of trees, which did give the illusion of it being deeper than it was. Despite the noise from the water and from the crackle of leaves and the sound of a faint wind blowing…it was quiet. Wildlife was sparse here and every other sound was just…muted behind the trees, seeming more distant than it was. There was probably a good explanation for all that though. Probably.

This place was definitely surreal. The energy in the air here was different. It was feint, as though the island was in a bubble and nothing from the outside could get in…except them. That embarrassed expression and feeling Yang had, had on the way here was completely gone. Much less a hero sense, Yang was still immediately put on guard. She’d glance down at her palm for a moment, lighting up a small orb of energy. Ok, so that still worked, not that she expected it not to. The fact that the naturally outside occurring energies were muted or all but absent here gave her a slight pause.

“Huh” she’d mumble to herself before looking to Melody with an adventurous grin on her face. “Lets press on and see what all we can find.” Yang would start trekking down what she could only assume were remnants of an old worn path that whoever lived on this island used to use. “Do you know anything else about the island? Where this old house used to be located, who lived there?” Her voice rang out with excitement as the only sign of life on this island other than Melody and the soothing sound of baby wave lapping against the islands shoreline.

The eerie nature of this place up front made Yang think of the camping grounds they were just at the other day. It made her think back to what her father told her about the local mines in the area and just what was lurking beneath that lake’s surface. Was this something similar? Would Yang and Melody stumble upon another hidden research base for that company, or would they find something linked to what that company was doing in the surrounding area. Not that she was hoping for any of that, at least not right now. This was supposed to be a vacation, but she couldn’t let the events of the other day leave her mind either. When she got back to work, she’d hit the ground hard investigating that company and what they saw and fought there that day.

Melody set her hands in her vest pockets, looking around the island with only the faintest bit of apprehension. She wasn't as paranoid about this place as she was about the camp they had visited, this was something entirely different (at least she hoped that was the case), but at the same time she wasn't sure how ready she was to get into another brawl or at least a serious one that had lives on the line. A friendly brawl she would be up for. In fact, she was probably counting on that.

As she started down what looked like an old trail, it was more so just patches of dirt that weren't covered in leaves, she looked over to Yang and gave a shrug, "No clue honestly. There were a lot urban legends about this place. A crazy family that butchered anyone who came to the island. There was a story about a reclusive writer who made his house here, but ended up placing it on some burial ground and cursing the whole thing. I think there was one...a ghost of a college student who ran away from home, but something happened and now, until someone helps her, she's trapped here..." She looked up, rubbing her chin and humming thoughtfully, "I think...there was another one about some old cave with a malicious bear spirit who mauled anyone who came near." She looked back to Yang and nodded, "Those were the popular ones at least. There was a million of 'em. Either way, there was once a house here, now there isn't and the island is all around spooky."

Suddenly, Melody did stop walking and stared straight ahead. It wouldn't take long for Yang to realize what she had been staring at. In front of them, only a few feet off, was a clearing and towards the start of this clearing a stone well that protruded from the ground and just beyond it, a small mound of dirt that oddly stood above the rest. With a knowing smirk, Melody looked back to Yang and urged her forward. "After you."

Yang continued down the makeshift path, her eyes looking all about the place as she moved. She never hung on any one detail or thing for to long, instead just trying to get a general feeling for the place. She continued moving along, her arms behind her head showing she was relatively relaxed despite her initial impressions of the place. Her eyes would soon drift to the path before her as she listened to Mel go over the various rumors and campfire stories that had been formed about this island. When the words stopped and the sound of a second pair of shuffling feet died down, Yang quickly spun around to face Melody.

Seeing the look on her face, Yang followed the trail of her eyesight back up the path. So fixated on not paying much attention to her surroundings, Yang only now remembered seeing the same thing Melody now saw. Before them as a small clearing in the unusually dense vegetation that had consumed the island. A small old fashioned stone well and a mound of dirt, the initial size of said mound not being immediately apparent. That was until Melody’s playful jab to make Yang approach the supposedly haunted or cursed ground first.

Puffing out her chest and letting a sly smirk creep onto her face, Yang accepted the dare “Alright, chicken. I’ll go first and make sure there are no spooky ghosts or vicious bears lying in wait” She’d spin back around on her heel, making a small dig in the dirt path before marching ever so bravely forward. She made sure to glance over her shoulder every so often to ensure her friend was still there. Perhaps she had watched one to many slasher flicks in her lifetime, for letting the idea slip into her mind that Mel would suddenly disappear without a trace, abducted by some reclusive hermit hell bent on protecting their property only to later be revealed to be an unlikely ally.

Shaking the thought from her head and pressing on, Yang would arrive at the end of the path and the beginning of the clearing. From here the mound of dirt made clear just how large of a building had once stood here. There didn’t appear to be any signs that a home once stood here, at least not at a first glance, perhaps a second pair of eyes would spot something Yang had missed.

Melody knew for a fact that there were strange and supernatural things in this world. Given her line of work, she, of course, had to believe in the supernatural. She had taken out beings of magical backgrounds, monsters that were apparently from legend, and everything in between. There was no lack of strange, unexplainable things out there. A few experts who looked her over when she first got her power even inferred that there may be something supernatural about it, although she could never get a straight answer.

She knew that sort of stuff existed, but even as she followed Yang forward she didn't think this place was actually haunted. Yes, there was...a strange feeling in the air, like some kind of presence or...just something she couldn't explain. It was a feeling that she just couldn't shake. Yet, even with her knowledge and experience with the supernatural, she just chalked up those feelings to her head playing tricks on her. All the talk about ghost and the stories around this place just put that vibe out there in the air and now she was feeling it. For whatever reason, she felt sure that it couldn't happen here.

She was sure that nothing was to go wrong. She was sure of it as she opened her mouth to make a sassy comeback right back at Yang. She was sure of it as she felt the ground suddenly give under her. And then she was sure of it up until she was halfway through her fall through the ground.

As she had followed Yang, it seemed as a small bit of earth she walked over gave way and sent her down into a pit, potentially the remainder of the old sink hole that had once taken the house that had been here. Thankfully, it wouldn't have been a very wide hole, sparring Yang for now, though it did seem as though in general the ground here was unstable.

From the hole in the ground, after a few moments, a low groan would echo out of it. "...I'm okay...ow...I think I landed on a rock." She didn't sound that bad, she at least could still add a bit of sass and levity to her tone, but it obviously hadn't been a pleasant experience. There would then be a few more moments of silence that followed, some sifting of dirt and an echo of a few footsteps. Then, finally, that brief silence was replaced with a resounding "Holy shit.".

"Yang, ya gotta come down here and check this out. Plus, of all the holes I've fallen in this one certainly smells the least bad, so there's that too!"

Things were seemingly peaceful and quiet on this small island. Almost to quiet. Yang continued to survey the area awaiting some sort of response from Melody, and when one didn’t come she turned back to face the path. There was no sign of her friend at all, what was more, the path had seemingly disappeared. From Yang’s point of view, the path the two had been on, was completely gone. Instead it looked as though there was no visible clear path out of this small clearing. “Mel? You there?” the young woman would ask wearily. As the words left her mouth it was almost as if she was speaking under water or through a pillow.

Yang’s eyes would immediately narrow, a small build up of her power began to form around her body like a flame. She wasn’t on edge, but more on guard, expecting something to attack her at any moment. But then a sudden wave of calm washed over her. It was inexplicable and while her instincts told her this was not normal and that she needed to remain vigilant, she couldn’t bring herself to power up any further.  As this feeling of calm washed over her, she couldn’t help but hear something like speech. The voice and the words were inaudible but there was a feeling of being communicated to. She could at least tell that it wasn’t Melody trying to speak with her.

Whatever was going on, would suddenly clear away, as if a veil had been lifted from over Yang’s eyes. The path was back but there was no sign of her friend, at least not immediately. Then came the call out. Yang let out a small sigh of relief. She wasn’t about to just forget about the small little episode she just had, but more pressing was finding Melody and seeing what she was talking about. If she wasn’t convinced before, Yang certainly knew or at least was now well aware that there was something else on this island with them.

With a quick jog, Yang would rush over to where she had heard Melody calling out from. “What’s going on, are you alright, you aren’t hurt are you?” Yang asked, leaning over the edge of the hole so she could see Mel.

Melody could only make out a few feet in front of her with a small bit of light that shone down from the hole above. She barely could make out the area around her, but silhouetted she could make out the vague outline of a large, looming mass in front of her. It was some kind of...structure? It was big enough to pass as a house, but there was something...wrong about it? Though, she couldn't tell what was wrong with it. There was just something...wrong.

She looked back up at the hole and called back, "Yeah, I am still here. No...no, I am not hurt, head hurts a lil'bit, but honestly not too bad. I was just caught a bit off guard." She looked around, rubbing the back of her head and still trying to get whatever bearing she could and then looked back up to the hole. "I wanna jump up there, but I am worried that when I land I will cause another pitfall." She'd eventually find good enough ground to land on, the edge of this sinkhole, but to waste all that time and just fall for each failed guess...

Nah. "Ya wanna come down here and check it out? You can create energy from your hands right? Wanna come light it up down here and see what's going on?" She let out a whistle, sounding more impressed than anything. "There is something down here...a building or...monument? I can't tell, but pretty sure it is a building."

She took a few cautious steps forward, the rock and dirt crunching beneath her feet as she went. Then her foot tapped against something, sending it clattering against the ground. It sounded a bit to heavy and had too defined of a shape to be anything natural, but still the light was too poor to see. She sent another glance back to the hole, hesitating for just a moment before calling back to Yang, "Yeah, I think this place is worth checking out!"

Yang peered into the sinkhole, just barely able to see Melody with what little light was making its way through the treetops and down into the pit. She crouch down and reach her hand out, a small ball of energy forming in her palm to light the way. “Are you sure you’re really seeing what you’re seein? I can barely see you from up here and you said yourself its too dark to make anything out.” The young woman would let out a reluctant sigh. Taking one final survey of her surroundings and the visible patch of ground in the pit, Yang would slowly lower herself down.

“Ok lemme take a look at ya real quick.” She’d say, holding her illuminated palm out towards Melody. Her friend was a bit scuffed but nothing serious. “Ah not to bad. But if your head is aching a bit, its probably best for me to take the lead. Use my should to brace yourself if you need to.” Yang spoke in a rather calm tone while wiping some of the dirt of of Melody’s shoulder. She’d then proceed to inch past Melody cautiously. Melody hadn’t been kidding, it really was dark in this pit.

Something about their environment felt off to. The couldn’t be that far in from the cost of the little island, yet this pit was much deeper than it could have been. Not only that but it was incredibly dry. Not dry like a desert, but if this cave or whatever it was, was truly under the lake bed, then there should have been a lot more moisture and water. With the light Yang brought with her, she was able to just barely make out the object Melody had mentioned. It was still to far away for the ambient light from Yang’s energy orb to make out any definite details. Holding her palm out, the overseer would focus on the energy in her palm and slowly direct it towards the distant object. The orb would like the areas around it as it traveled along like a little firefly lighting the path forward for the two woman to tread.

Melody waited for a moment as Yang’s ball of energy descended downward, her eyes still affixed to that strange object she couldn't quite make out. Even with the light of Yang’s hand, the object was hard to make out…just barely out of reach of the stretching arms of the light. Mel wasn’t sure if Yang could see, but she nodded. “Y-yeah!” She called back, though not sounding fully sure of herself. “I’m telling ya there’s something there…I think. It might just be…no, sorry, yeah, it’s something alright.” Melody looked up, waiting to see if her friend would come down.

Melody looked up, watching as Yang floated down and feeling a pang of jealousy as she wished she could fly like that. Melody was, as Yang appraised, fine. She didn’t get to be one of the top heroes by letting falls keep her down. She gave a small shake of her head, “Nah, it’s fine, just a small headache, ya know? Nothing major.” She insisted, but then made a motion with her hands, “But I don’t mind you taking the lead, especially since you’ve got the lead.” She smiled as Yang cleaned her up a bit, giving a nod and a small, playful punch on the shoulder, “Thanks mom.”

Melody followed Yang along, her eyes wandering to and fro. She observed the far walls, where roots from the trees above stuck out like arms grasping outward. It was creepy and she quickly stared straight again, now her eyes fixing on the display of light that Yang was producing. “Woah…” She whispered, not entirely meaning to say it aloud. Though, as her eyes followed the lights forward eventually they came to fall upon the structure that loomed in front of them. It wasn’t towering, but it did reach to the ceiling of this…dome? What was called? Cavern? A…there was a proper word for it but it was escaping her. But…it looked like a house that had been built into the side of the wall, though…it was at a strange angle, crooked…

It looked like…maybe it had fallen from above and the ground above had closed again, burying it down here?

“Woah.” This, she had meant to say aloud.

Yang narrowed her eyes at Melody, giving a slightly playful shake of her head as the young woman addressed her as mom….They were literally the same age. Deciding to keep the gag rolling just a little more, Yang smirked “None of that cheek or I’ll have to take you over my knee.” And with that she’d turn head forward with a rather satisfied grin and would lead the way through this underground space. She wasn’t entirely sure what to call it really. It was to irregular to be natural. Something about this place felt very intentional, as though someone built it.

At this point Yang began to wonder if this place was made by whatever presence she felt earlier. It certainly wasn’t outside the realm of possibility. That said she couldn’t help but share in Melody’s amazement, but perhaps amazement wasn’t the right word for the feeling Yang was having. Still manipulating her orb of energy as a floating flashlight, Yang directed it back towards the pair and began to use said light to look for a proper path up to the subterranean house. Should they really have been doing this? Was curiosity about to get the better of them for the second time in just a few days?

It remained to be seen just what awaited them, but Yang’s main thoughts were on whatever it was that ‘contacted’ her earlier. The presence had been mysteriously absent since that moment. “I don’t suppose that now is a good time to tell you that I think there is definitely something calling this island home, is it?” She’d say with a slight tinge of playfulness. She’d do her best to lead herself and Melody along a rather bumpy path, lucky for them there was no immediate danger of falling into some sort of chasm or deeper pit, but that didn’t mean they should be any less careful with where they stepped.

Melody let out a small snort of laughter at the remark, shaking her head. “Pffft, shut up.”  She repeated, giving her one more shove just for good measure. She followed along then, looking around at the far walls, though always ending up gazing at the looming thing in front of them. She felt…off here. Not bad, not scared, but off. She didn’t pick up on anything…dangerous here, but there was just something, yeah…no, the word for it was off. At least for now.

Despite the feeling, though, she wanted to press on and see this through.

“Oh yeah…” Mel started in a quiet voice, her attention still at the building in front of her, “I could’ve told you that without weird alien…what would you call what you have? Magic?” She asked, though still sounding a bit absent from it all. She, thankfully, wasn’t hypnotized, but it was like seeing snow for the first time. You didn’t exactly know what it was and you didn’t know what to do with it, but it was something you couldn’t ignore. “What do you want to do?” She asked cautiously, shaking her head as she tried to break herself from the trance.

As she stared forward at the house built into the wall she was caught. On one hand, spooky house in an underground cavern…cool, very cool. She wanted to see what kind of place this was. But on the other hand she also really wanted to get her spar in with Yang. Honestly, big underground pit was as good as anywhere else. Buuuut….

The thought trailed off as she looked back to Yang, grinning a bit. “Could poke around a bit, see what’s going on and if it looks cool we can go deeper and if not we could head back up and I could whoop your ass across the lake.” She offered, giving her a good humored, smug grin.

“It’s no more magical than your ability is.” Yang pouted. Unlike her companion, Yang felt fine. Despite the oddity of this place Yang was not mystified nor did she feel any other presence trying to control her. She did however swear to herself that it felt like the two women were being watched. Where they perhaps being guided to this place? Maybe whatever Yang experienced earlier, wanted them to find this place and explore it. They were here now, and the previous night notwithstanding, There was always something to be gained by exploring the unknown. “I say we investigate. Vacation or not, this bares a further look.”

As the two proceeded forward Yang also let out a small snort of laughter. “Whoop my ass across the lake HA! You got jokes today.” she said playfully. Though the appeal of a spar between the two was ever present in Yang’s mind since the moment she awoke, she just couldn’t bring herself to leave whatever this place was, alone. Double checking the path before them, Yang deemed it safe enough to traverse and took the lead in guiding Melody towards the rather unremarkable looking cabin. The closer the two drew to the door, Yang felt this was what they were meant to do.

With the light now firmly in her palm and the building now just mere feet away, it was plain to see that this building was very old. Odd and misshaped wooden planks made up the worn and weathered exterior of the cabin. Which was odd considering there was no moisture at all down here. As a matter of fact, Yang had noticed a rather abundant lack of elements at all here in this cave save for the dirt, stone, and occasional breeze that swept over her. She took a moment to asses the building further, her eyes nearly lighting up at what she had beheld. Despite its appearance, every facet of this building radiated energy. What kind, she wasn’t sure of, but it was plan as day to her. Normally she’d see a current or a faint flame or flicker, but this was like staring at the sun.

“Well that is something…” she let her words trail before realizing that Melody couldn’t see the same thing she saw. “This isnt a normal building….Obviously, but I mean like everything its made out of is not normal.” She said, trying to explain her new found amazement for the structure before her. “You uh…You still wanna go in?”

Melody considered that, looking up as she hummed thoughtfully. “I’m honestly not sure what mine is…” She thought back to some tests she took when she first discovered her powers. At first, they had just proven to be kinetic energy, or so the doctor said, but they also said there was something else they couldn’t read in it. Kinetic energy plus…something. It was something that always made her second guess what exactly her power was. “I mean…I know it involves kinetic energy, but the energy I dish out doesn’t feel like that. And I have no idea why it’s orange either.” She continued, sounding amused by this, “At least it looks cool. I don’t know what I would do if it was brown or something…” She didn’t want to think about that. That would’ve been…

She shook her head, happy to move on and happy to follow closely behind her friend. She set her hand in her pockets and move with a bit more confidence, slowly getting over it as her friend seemed to unphased by this place. “I’m all in for it. Let’s go!” She gave another light jab to Yang’s shoulder then rolled her eyes a bit. “Yeah, keep laughing, keep laughing all the way up until I knock you into the ground.” She shot back, still grinning and still following her forward. Her eyes shifted from Yang, looking over Yang’s shoulder, and instead looking towards the door that they both were getting closer to. For whatever reason, being close to Yang, and seeing her not seem…as worried by all this was comforting in some way.

Her head tilted ever so slightly, her brow furrowing. “Not…? Well, I mean yeah, it’s not normal but…what do you mean?” She now stepped in front of Yang moving towards the door, trying to keep that confidence in her stride. She set her hand on the doorknob and looked back to Yang, grinning. “And of course! I still wanna go in.” She looked back to the door for a long moment and took in a breath. “Also, if I get possessed or a ghost attacks me or like…pffft…” She ran through her head all the things it could be. Secret labs, though they just recently did one of those, secret lair of a supervillain, evil cursed house…drug den. “Uhhh, I honestly don’t know, I didn’t plan this far ahead. Use your best judgement? Knock me out or something, guess.” And with that, she just tried to open the door.

Despite her current feelings on the otherworldly building before them, Yang instinctually attempted to reach out and stop Melody from opening the door, but it was too late. A bright light was instantly unleashed within the cave. It was blinding, so much so that it would completely obscure the vision of the two women for a brief moment. Yang still tried to shield her eyes despite having them shut tight. No sooner had the incandescent light blinded and washed over them, a subtle and soothing gust of wind would whisk around them. Feeling it was safe to open her eyes, Yang would lower her arm, only to nearly have her jaw hit the floor…if it were physically possible.

“What the….” her voice would trail off, being replaced by the continual sound of light wind and rushing water. Eventually when Melody did the same she would come to see what had Yang suddenly awestruck. The two now stood upon a sizeable floating island. The terrain was flat minus a few rocky outcrops dotting the landscape. It was hard to tell from where they stood, but the island seemed to be roughly the size of the lake below. And how did they know this? Well Yang had quickly rushed to the nearest ledge and peered over the edge. They were surrounded by a sea of clouds on all sides, but there was just enough of a clearing that Yang could see the entirety of the lake and the small island down below.

As for how high up they were, well that was going to take some more mental gymnastics to comprehend, but before Yang could do anything rash a voice would echo across the island. “HARK MORTALS. WELCOME TO OUR ABODE!” The voice was masculine and booming, like thunder. “Come. Follow the path. We hath been eager to partake of those who’d venture unto our realm.” Yang would instantly spin around, her eyes darting all around to see where the voice was coming from, only to be met with nothingness. That said, the booming voice seemed to have the same quality of that calming feeling she had felt back down on the island.

Heeding the voices words, Yang would locate a rather immaculate looking marble stone path that snaked through the island, it was rather hard to miss considering Melody was standing on it. The inquisitive young woman had caught a glimpse of what could possibly be their destination when she had gone to peer over the edge. Again not hard when you considered that you could clearly see several odd structures a little ways in the distance. “So I’m just going to say it. This is…” Ok maybe she wasn’t going to say anything as the words escaped her and all she could do was gesture to the lush vegetation and vibrant plants that stood all around them.

Following the path, the two would eventually come to what seemed like an open courtyard or possibly something more akin to a town square? It was hard to tell as all the structures surrounding the square were composed of a myriad of cultural architecture styles. There were shades of ancient Rome, Greece, Egypt, Aztec, and Mayan all perfectly and functionally blended together. It felt natural here and didn’t look out of place. Most of these structures lay at the end of pathways that snaked out from this one central point. And to wrap it all together at the dead center was a large ornate pillar decorated in gold trimming. At its base were several crystal disks inlaid upon it. Each disk contained a strange symbol, ones that definitely didn’t mean anything at the present.