Things Lost and Found (a Waglington and Mianite fanfiction)

Chapter 64

The song of the day is "Free" by Switchfoot.

Muahahaha! *lightning flashes and dramatic organ music plays in the background* Welcome to Amniosis! These next few chapters are not for the faint of heart.

Warnings: Feelz, mind games, lots of blood, and a hint of self-loathing

(If there is anything else I should add to the warnings, please let me know. I grew up desensitized to gore between a parent in the medical field and reading Animorphs and Lord of The Rings. Also grew up with lots of NCIS and Criminal Minds... So, yeah...)

*Tucker's POV*

Andor had led us into the Nether. After walking for what felt like ages, we reached a section of caves that had not been explored before—if deposits of ardite within easy reach were anything to go by. Tom was practically twitching beside me as he eyed the ore, no doubt thinking about what weaponry he could forge with it. Waglington strode a few steps ahead of us with Andor and his cat. Every few minutes he would recast a spell on the feline that gave it fire protection. Apparently the netherack was too hot for Memento to be walking on otherwise. Sonja walked on the other side of Wag, as far away from me as possible. I did as I was ordered. Mianite needed Ianite's quintessence for the revival process. She'll see when Ianite is revived. Jordan trailed a ways behind us, staying clear of me as well. I would wager the nasty cold he'd picked up was holding him back too. His voice was worse than Tom's when he had a hangover, and his eyes and nose were red. He shouldn't have come with; he's in no shape to fight if we get into trouble. I knew he wouldn't listen to me though. So I kept my misgivings to myself.

"This is as far as I can go," Andor said, stopping as the ledge we'd been following opened up to a wide shelf attached to the edge of a massive cavern. The heat haze rising off of the floor made it hard to see the space clearly, but there appeared to be some structure ahead. A low wall of netherack surrounded the ledge, and an archway marked the only way down.

Something about this place felt ...wrong. As I scanned the lifeless area for ghasts and other threats, Tom shouted, "Hey, what gives? I can't fly here!" He flapped his wings weakly before they vanished all together. Jordan and Sonja's wings vanished too. I heard Wag curse as he tried using his magic to fly and failed. I gave it a try and discovered my armor and sigils had been affected too. I wasn't terribly surprised; this was one of Mianite's crypts, after all. We hadn't been able to fly in the others either.

"You're sure your dad's in there?" Jordan asked Andor. Crypts generally were not a safe place to be, especially if you were unarmed as Helgrind had been when Wag sent him here. Maybe this was Andor's wishful thinking at work.

Andor nodded, glancing over his shoulder at me as if he'd heard me. "I can sense him in there plain as I can sense all of you, but I can't get any closer than this. I've tried, but I always find myself further from the entry at the end of each attempt, as if waking from a dream." He seemed puzzled as he stared at the archway.

"Weird," Tom said. "Why would Mianite have a crypt in the Nether anyways? This is Dianite's turf." No one had a real answer to that. Finally, Tom shrugged and walked over to where Jordan was examining the carving in the archway—it looked like runes, but of a type I'd never seen before. "Yolo!" Tom shouted, shoving Jordan through the arch. Jordan rolled his eyes as Tom stepped through to join him, still laughing.

Looks safe. I approached the arch next and stepped through like they had. I felt magic crawl over my skin as I passed under it and became suddenly dizzy. I staggered out the other side and grabbed the netherack wall to keep myself upright. I could feel a headache coming on. Instead of it feeling like my head had too much pressure, it felt like there was too much space, if that made any sense. I looked over my shoulder to see Sonja step through next. She was watching me, and she broke into a smile when her eyes locked on mine.