Slugterran Saviours

Chapter 10

Author's Note: okay guys i succeeded to publish this on a monday WOOT WOOT! so i'm starting school so forgive me if i publish late or things like that, but i'm working on a secret project too 👀👀 so look out for that!

also i'm giving a HUGE thank you to Blue_562 for designing the Defensores Antris's logo! NOW LETS GOOOO

Junjie's POV

The day came to an end, the Lumino Crystals dimming to signal the day fading away.

The neon green crystals dimmed as their light faded away gradually, a slight, cooling breeze swept through the caverns. Crystals and stalagmites stuck out from the ceiling, slugs travelling across the shards. The fragrance of orchids filled the clearing I tended to call my own, a little area hidden by the dense trees. Orchids in various, vibrant colours dotted the grass, seventeen of them in total dotting the grass. This was were I spent some of my nights, where I came when I wanted to be disconnected from the rest of the world, when I wanted to melt into Slugterra's energies that flowed like the never ending currents of the cavern sea, that changed like the winds.

But when I meditated today, the energies flowing through Slugterra were very different from before.

As my arms and legs moved along with those energies, my eyes fell shut as I melted into each and every wave and breeze of the 99 Caverns, like they usually did. But something felt...off. Whenever I connected myself with the energy of Slugterra, I was greeted with a soothing, cooling sensation, along with a calming, peaceful feeling that seeped into my bones, that relaxed my every muscle until it fully took over my body, until I could feel it flowing in my bloodstream, surging through my veins, my surroundings tinted a brilliant blue, tingling at my fingertips, my whole body covered in a soothing feeling of serenity.

But that was definitely not what I felt this evening.

Instead, the energies of Slugterra were warm to the touch, a strange, peculiar, uncomfortable heat coating my body, searing into my mind, prickling at my skin, even though all I wore was a thin, long sleeved shirt and a pair of black leggings, compared to my usual slinging outfit. Instead of the cooling sensation I always felt, a sweltering heat covered my body, filling up my lungs, suffocating me as sweat trickling down my brow, as slow, fluid movements turned to quick, sudden ones, each movement made with the eerie sinister feeling of something creeping up to me. Each breath became shorter, each thrust and punch and move getting quicker and quicker. I tried desperately to let go of the energy, fear maintaining the deadly grip on my senses I was all too familiar with, but it never left me, creeping into my consciousness like a parasite, the calming feeling I normally felt when I connected to the energies of Slugterra fading away completely, replaced by a burning anger that melted into each harsh movement I made with my body. Fear sent shivers down my spine, panic shortening my breath, anger causing my teeth to grit, my fists to clench tighter. Fear caused my eyes to widen. Panic caused my heart to pound rapidly in my chest. Anger caused my jaw to clench tightly.

And in a blink, my surroundings were tinted blood red.

Cruelty and heartlessness finally caught up to me, and all of the sudden, pure anger surged through my veins. Short, fleeting moments of screams and shrieks echoed in my mind, brief flashes of a girl falling deeper and deeper into the abyss, of a boy's screams as he was ripped apart. And all that caused the anger bottled up in me to crack, tensing up my muscles, and I could feel it corrupting me from within. But as much as I willed for it to leave me, to cut the connection, it stayed on stubbornly. I felt hands and legs swiping at me, stopping my arms, before I felt a hard force hit my face, sending me toppling to the floor.