Triple Point

Chapter 7: Trapped

Present day

March 22, 33 AE

The first thing that Elsie noticed was that she was very, very hungry. Her second realization was that her head felt heavy and foggy, as if she partied too much the night before. The third was that every single muscle in her body was stiff and achy, and while she was able to move, it hurt to do so.

"Ow," Elsie groaned without meaning to, then was surprised at the rough sound of her voice. She coughed a few times to clear her throat, but immediately regretted it as her ribs began to throb and her skin felt like it was being pulled so taut it was going to tear. "Shit. Ow."

"Oh, thank goodness you're awake," a voice said. Or, at least Elsie thought that's what she heard, but she couldn't really tell over the high pitched ringing in her ears. "How're you feeling?"

Miserable, Elsie thought as she continued her painful coughing fit. But she had trouble voicing her opinions at that moment and she struggled to push her upright with shaking arms. The other person thankfully noticed, and helped lift her up by her shoulders. After a minute, the coughing subsided, and Elsie took the chance to finally get her bearings.

Her first thought was that she was in a basement, if the darkness and concrete decor were any indication. The only source of light was a small ball of fire floating in the middle of it all, flickering weakly. Wait... fireballs?

Elsie's mind finally caught up with the present. She was just at the Games, watching the awards ceremony, when... fireballs? Flying balls of fire? Flying towards her? And then... falling...

"Great balls of fire," Elsie muttered incoherently, trying to erase that memory from her head. If she thought about it too much, she felt like she was falling all over again.

"Uh... sorry, what? Oh, that? Sorry, it's not much, but it's the best I could do at the moment. Besides, I wouldn't want to burn up all the oxygen in here either, you know?"

Elsie almost forgot she had company as she turned dazed towards the sound of the voice. Belatedly, she realized she should've known who it was, based on the sound. Plus, the last person she remembered seeing was Camilla, so it would make sense if that's who was besides her. But Elsie supposed she was having a rough day.

But one look at Camilla told Elsie that something was seriously wrong, because whoever it was definitely looked like Camilla, but their face wore an expression of genuine concern and sympathy. Directed at her. That couldn't have been right.

Elsie looked around them, trying to see if anyone else was seeing this, but they were alone with nothing but concrete rubble and rebar surrounding them. It was a small space, about three times the size of an elevator, and filled with a swirling cloud of dust. There wasn't even a door.

"Yeah, it's not the most ideal situation, but we can make it work."

It took a moment for Elsie to realize that the oddly optimistic voice was Camilla's. Did the other woman hit her head or something?

"Where... are we exactly?" Elsie asked tentatively. She already had an idea of what the answer was, but she needed to hear it from someone else, even if that someone was Camilla.

"We're under the stadium," Camilla said, looking around them. "Or inside it, depending on how you see it. We're under the stands, but it's still technically part of the stadium."

Elsie was somewhat familiar with the typical layout of Games stadiums, and she knew that hidden out of sight were dozens of locker rooms, a couple press conference halls, and multiple offices. Under the field were enormous tanks to supply the materials to build the terrain, and there were several floors of walkways running between and around them for maintenance access. Elsie guessed that's where they probably were, deep below the surface. Thankfully, she wasn't claustrophobic, but several years ago, she wasn't afraid of heights either.