Weirdos IV: The Emerald Heart

Chapter 24: Fire and Crystals

Sorry. I really can't TagLish na. Haha. It sounds awkward sa aking ears. Sinubukan ko namang mag-TagLish in the previous chapters pero off-putting na talaga siya. Hindi siya tunog professional. It sounded like I was talking in conyo instead of narrating a story. Pasensya na pero babalik na ako sa aking half-baked English.

Sorry po mga timawa.

Also, I'm really surprised na walang humihingi ng BS so far dito sa kwento. Haha. Unlike sa Weirdos II at III na halos every update eh may naniningil. Kaya heto na po ang huling SPG ng series, mga minamahal kong timawa. Lamutakin niyo.

theashtone

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RB and I have been very busy catching up with the others the entire day that we didn't notice that we haven't spent much time together. We only realized this after helping cleaning the dishes and when all the other people in the Tunnels had gone to mind their own businesses. I was walking alone in the main tunnel when RB also exited a room. Earlier he went to Matilda for his checkup.

"Oh, hey," I said upon seeing him.

"Hi," RB replied, clearly not expecting to see me.

"Are you done with your checkup?" I asked.

"Uh, yeah. Matilda said that I still have to drink several doses of her potions before I could fully recover."

The two of us continued walking absentmindedly in total silence, not having the slightest idea as to where to go. The buzzes and chatters of the people eventually faded away behind us, and the two of us only stopped walking when we hit a dead end in the tunnel.

We're currently facing an arched entrance leading to an empty circular room carved out of sheer stone. I realized a second later that we're already at the main entrance of the Tunnels. The shaft was guarded by two men flanking the entrance.

"Are you going outside?" one of the guards asked.

RB and I glanced at each other tentatively. "Yes, I guess?" The two of us just entered the circular stone room and waited.

The guard placed an open hand on the wall outside the stone room. A moment later, the stone floor started moving upward like an elevator. At the same time, the ground above us moved aside to make way for the ascending stone platform. The two of us eventually emerged out of the ground and into the dark and silent forest of the Terreña Mountains.

The area around the main entrance doesn't have any signs of human activity. Wild undergrowth brushed our feet and trees towered above us. The only sign of the entrance was the huge, old tree standing several meters directly in front of us. If someone wants to descend into the Tunnels, he or she must knock on the tree three times. Down underneath the earth, the guards will receive the signal and open up the shaft.

"I should've known that you were just hiding in the Mansion," RB said as we continued walking. "Why didn't it cross my mind? I would've been able to escape those villains right away."

"What's important is you're already here," I said. "Also, we could actually spy on Emerald from the Mansion. Professor Evanesca had an underground surveillance room."