Awakened

Deeper, Yet Darker

They inevitably approached the other end of the glowing cavern, where sheer darkness lay on the other side of the jagged hole in the wall where the water flowed through. Only faint cyan specks glittered eerily on the other side.
Yet to Blue, it was blindingly bright with energy.

“That.. doesn't make any sense.” Cross spoke up. “What happened to the lanterns?”
“How did it grow so fast?” Epic added, even more concerned- which was alarming coming from him.
“Should we turn back?” Cross immediately asked, tensing.
“..I don't know..” Geno muttered.

Fresh stared at the hole in bewilderment. “Is sculk always this energetic?” He asked.
That had Geno looking at Blue for an answer.
“It is.” He sighed. “A bit like looking at the sun, except.. everywhere?”
“Wow, so you're seeing the opposite of what we're seeing?” Epic asked, still uneasy as they started drifting into the darkness.

“No, I'm seeing the same thing, just a different aspect alongside it. Actually I find it a little disorienting.” Blue admitted as he squinted at the walls. “...I think your lanterns are still here.. they've simply gone out somehow.”

Cross made a small, worried noise at that, lifting a new light over his head to illuminate the now darkened water. After a moment, he hurriedly rowed over to Epic and handed it to him, letting the hoglin hook a tusk in one of the chain links.

“It's even underwater.” The spider remarked.
“I swear it wasn't even visible from the glowing cave before.” Cross explained nervously.
“And we left a line of exposed rock all the way to the openin’ with the buildings.” Epic added.

“...And all your work has been erased?” Geno asked rhetorically, drifting closer to the walls.
“.... Just.. remember not to use any magic here.” Blue warned, everyone flinching at the sound of something.. almost chittering, the sound echoing from ahead.

“What is that?” The spider rasped, crouching in her boat.
“The sculk ears.” Cross stated quietly.
“...We got rid of those too.” Epic added as they rounded the bend.
The.. tendrils were glowing, idly waving in the air like kelp in a current.

“What's it do?” Fresh asked, only to recoil as it sensed his voice.
“That.” Cross stated flatly.
“It's disturbing.”
“But ultimately harmless, from what I can tell.” Blue assured them in a more normal voice than their near whispers. It lit up with that same echoing trill-clicking, yearning in the direction of the sound.
“It still knows where we are.” Geno noted ominously.

“Is there anything pertinent that you want to share with us?” Cross snarked at him.
“Just.. stay away from any bony horns sticking out of the ground.” The wither explained.
“The spiked cauldron things? Why?”
“There's a chance they could summon something.”
“That's not ominous at all.” Epic noted.

“We never should have come here.” Cross whined, starting to turn his boat around.
“No-no, everything is fine.” Blue asserted, sliding to a stop against a nearby ledge covered in the mold.
“We've already come this far. We might as well give Killer the alone time he asked for, right?”

Fresh nodded along, though even he seemed uneasy. Blue just climbed onto the dry land, reaching down to offer a hand to the spider as she started to join him. Everything they did kept triggering the weird ear things, constantly trilling and waggling as they glowed.

She kept close to his side even as Fresh started helping the uncharacteristically timid Epic off his raft and Geno with Cross.
“How about the two of us stay in the air for now.” Geno suggested when everyone was off the boats.

“You don't want to touch this at all, do you?” Blue asked. Fresh just drifted closer to Geno.
“It's probably for the best. We don't know if it could sense your magic just from touching it.”
“Wait, how did you know it wouldn't do that with you?” Cross accused him.