𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐄𝐌𝐏𝐘𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐍 𝐍𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓 𝐒𝐊𝐘

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐅𝐎𝐔𝐑𝐓𝐄𝐄𝐍

𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐅𝐋𝐈𝐂𝐓 𝐈𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐌𝐈𝐍𝐄𝐒

After everyone was ready, Seele was waiting at the entrance to the mines. I blinked at her in surprise.

"Hey, you came. That was fast." She calls out to us as we approach her.

"I thought you were already going on ahead?" I asked her. Seele glances over at me, annoyance on her brow.

"I was going to, but I decided to wait at the entrance to see if you all would actually show up. Turns out I was right." She admits and despite her annoyed expression, her voice betrays something else. Respect? Intrigue? I'm not quite certain.

"What is Wildfire doing in the mine?" Caelus asks her. Seele frowns with a glare, raising her brow incredulously at him.

"Didn't I tell you?" She sighs, as if she can't believe she's explaining herself again.

"Long story short — The underground used to have many mines. However, in recent years, some sort of corrosion called the "Fragmentum" started to spread. It's ruined a lot of mines. The one we're heading into is relatively unaffected. A bunch of vagrants made it their home after their old turf was consumed by the Fragmentum." She pauses for a moment, thinking over her thoughts before continuing.

"Actually, most of them are pretty honest folks... But with such a large group, it's inevitable that troublemakers will find their way in. They've been stealing from the miners and picking fights. And that's not the worst of it. Things are much more serious this time... For two days now, huge clashes have been breaking out between the miners and the vagrants. It isn't pretty. Mines are our lifeline in the Underworld. We have to keep providing Geomarrow to the Overworld in exchange for supplies. In order to quell the situation, Chief Oleg brought Wildfire into the mine and left me in charge of security for the towns. But the situation in the mine is critical — I have to back him up." Seele explains.

"Let's get going then. We shouldn't keep the miners waiting." I state. Seele hesitates for a moment before nodding in agreement.

"Right." She then glares in Bronya's direction. "Oh, as for you... the Chief will decide your fate when we see him." Bronya stiffly nods in agreement, an equally seething glare resting on her brow at Seele.

"Good, I've been wanting to come face to face with the leader of the Underworld." She quips back at the Underworld girl. Seele turns her back to her, heading in the direction ahead.

"Hmph, you're about to come face to face with reality." Is all she states. The walk to the mines is quiet and tense. I walk beside Dan Heng and Caelus.

"So, (Y/N)... What happened on the Overworld?" Caelus asks me, breaking the quiet tension that'd settled after Bronya and Seele's short quips and seething glares. Now that I thought about it, I hadn't really spoken about what had happened up there to them.

"Well, shortly after I came to the surface, I was stopped by a group of guards who immediately turned hostile after I mentioned knowing the three of you. Initially, I planned on resisting. However, instead of fighting back, I surrendered because I didn't know the way to the main settlement of this planet. That's pretty much all that happened. Our... dear... acquaintance helped me escape the guards shortly after I arrived in the city limits and that leads up to where we are now, just about." I explained, and not a moment too soon, as I could tell we'd arrived. A familiar doctor's coat catches March's eyes.

"Huh? Isn't that the doctor lady?" She points out. Seele frowns in concern.

"What's Natasha doing here...? Things must be worse than I thought." She mutters. We approach the doctor as she's helping aid the settlers and innocent vagrants.