A World Below Us (Ark Aberration/Final Fantasy 14)

Sanctum

"So Jackie, where exactly are we going?" Alphinaud asked. "To Bio Luminescence, right?" I replied. "Yes, but... do you know where that is?" He wondered. "Uh... no. But we'll find it!" I said confidently. Alphinaud facepalmed. Riqi-Tio suddenly pointed to a nearby river. "I remember this place! I swam through here while trying to get away from the ravagers." She said. "Again, I'm very sorry about what happened to your parents." Alphinaud told her. He had been sympathizing with her ever since she told him her story. I mean, I see why. He lost his Grandfather when he was trying to protect the world. Riqi's parents were trying to protect her. I guess they had similar backgrounds. "Well, we don't know that they're dead. They might still be alive down in that trench." Riqi-Tio stated. I could almost guarantee that Alphinaud and I were thinking the same thing. I had only found and read one journal about that pink glowing trench, but considering what was written.... there's no way Riqi-Tio's parents were alive. We rode on in awkward silence, with only the sounds of the wild underground world to fill our ears. "Is it ok if we stop here? I'm a bit thirsty." Riqi-Tio said, pointing to a stream. I halted Alisaie and jumped off. After doing a quick look around, I beckoned to Riqi. "Looks safe to me." She got off the raptor and headed over, kneeling down and scooping some of the water with her hands. Alphinaud was besides me, stretching his legs. "When do you think we'll find this Bio Luminescence?" He asked. "I don't know, I can't remember where I saw it." I replied. Riqi-Tio pointed to a place across the water. "Maybe there?" She said. There was another wall, this place seemed to have a lot of them. But this wall had a huge hole though it that seemed to go all the way to the other side, like our base but bigger. The hole was blocked by a metal wall. It seemed to be a man made structure. "What is that?" Alphinaud wondered. "Let's go check it out!" I said. I whistled for Alisaie and she bounded over. "Do any of you mind getting a bit wet? We'd have to cross this river. Our feet won't touch the ground but it's a very short distance." I told them. "I can't swim, Jackie." Alphinaud said. "That's ok, you can ride on Alisaie's saddle. I'm sure she'll be fine with one person. If we all rode on her, we'd probably sink the poor raptor." I explained. Riqi-Tio nodded. "I can swim. But do you think there will be anything in the water?" She asked. "I'll go first just in case there is." I offered. "Jackie no-" I heard Alphinaud start. But I had already dived in. I heard the rest of my group jump in behind me. Papalymo, who was on my shoulder, barked under the water. It was a funny sound, honestly. I did a full 360, trying to spot what he could be barking at. A horde of piranhas was swimming towards us all. My eyes widened and I broke the surface. "Go go go!" I screamed at Riqi and Alphinaud. Alisaie immediately started swimming faster. She made it to the other side safely, Alphinaud still clutching the reins. I grabbed Riqi-Tio and pulled her towards me just as a piranha was about to chomp on her leg. I pushed through the water and felt ground below me. Both me and Riqi ran onto the solid ground, escaping the river and the piranhas. We were all soaking wet now, but that didn't stop Alphinaud from almost tackling me in a hug. "Woah!" I cried, blushing quite a bit. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry. You know water makes me nervous! And large packs of piranhas like that normally devour people in Eorzea!" He said, backing up to give me space. "No, it's ok. I like your hugs." I replied, pulling him back in. We kind of just... held each other for a few moments there. "Hey guys! I found something!" Riqi-Tio yelled from a bit away. Alphinaud pulled away and began walking towards her, but before he turned away I caught a hint of blush on his face. I trailed over to where the small miqo'te was standing. She was facing the large metal wall. Now that I got closer, the wall appeared to actually be a chain of... "Jackie... these are behemoth gates! But... metal?" Alphinaud gazed at the structure. I pushed the gates, hoping at least one would open. "They're all locked." I said after a few minutes of trying. "Over here!" Riqi-Tio called. We all walked over to her. She was pointing at a small entrance to the inside. There was a section where the door didn't meet the wall, and it looked big enough for even Alisaie to fit through. Alphinaud and I nodded at each other and slipped through the hole. Riqi-Tio and Alisaie followed behind us. "Woah...." Riqi gasped. Everyone else could only stare upon the huge metal base. It was definitely a man made structure. It seemed to be spray painted multiple different colors. "Who built this?" Alphinaud questioned. "I don't know, but whoever did is long gone." I responded. The place was abandoned, there was no mistaking that. But it was definitely built way more recently than all the other weird structures in this Aberration world. It was sealed off from the rest of the underground, like some sort of Sanctum. I wandered over to the other side, passing the large metal base. At the other end, there was the same idea of metal gateways blocking off the rest of the world. Another hole between the behemoth gates and the real wall was the exit to the other side. I peaked out of it, scanning for predators. There were a few raptors fighting a pair of stegos. Ravagers chasing an odd lizard thing. And all the way to the right..."Guys, come look at this!" I called. Alphinaud and Riqi-Tio ran over to me and poked their heads out of the hole as well. "Do you think that's it?" Alphinaud asked. "Yup! I'm pretty sure we just found ourselves the Bio Luminescence!"