A World Below Us (Ark Aberration/Final Fantasy 14)

The Fall

"Well, we heard everything about the.... uh... the element! Yeah that's what it was called!" I said. Emet Selch made a "no" motion with his finger. "Oh no, you didn't hear anything that could be of use to you. You heard no precious info." He replied. Alphinaud struggled against his invisible bonds as Lahabrea laughed. "Now what to do with you two? Ah, we need a fitting punishment for eves dropping. How about..." Emet Selch paused, considering his options. I thrashed about, hoping to get free. "Oh, that's not going to help you, dear. Only make you tired." He chuckled. "Do NOT call me dear!" I yelled as I continued to thrash. Maybe if I could break the ascian's focus.... my tail swished around in midair, reaching toward the ground. It curled around a rock and chucked it towards Elidibus. It bounced off his head, leaving him with a confused look. Alphinaud and I fell to the floor. It worked! "Oh no you don't!" Lahabrea started to charge toward us. "Run!!" I screamed as I hurriedly helped Alphinaud up. We sped through the woods at our top speed but the three ascians were gaining on us, yelling and cursing. I took a swift left turn and Alphinaud took a right. We were now split up. Crap, that's not good. Gotta get back to Alphinaud! I thought. And I would have turned around if Elidibus wasn't right on my tail. I circled around trees, through bushes, and past piles of leaves, desperately trying to escape. Someone was running toward me from ahead. "Alphinaud!" I called. Lahabrea and Emet Selch were behind him in hot pursuit. We ran toward each other, then dove out of the way as Emet Selch collided with Elidibus. Lahabrea continued his chase as Alphinaud and I shot off together. As I kept running, I realized no one was behind us. "Hey, Alphi. I think... we lost them..." I said between breaths. We both stopped running and gasped for air. I took in my surroundings. We ended up near a wide river, a few large rocks on either side. There were odd scraps of metal on the ground, some of them being a decent size. As I looked closer I realized they weren't scattered on the ground, but rather stuck in the ground. "Where are we?" Alphinaud asked. "Why, you're right where we want you to be!" Emet Selch jumped out from behind a tree, his other ascian friends right beside him. Alphinaud and I jumped back. The three ascians began their advance. "You have no where else to run." Elidibus smiled cruelly. Alphinaud and I took slow steps backing away from the villains. My foot hit a mossy rock and I lost my balance. I grabbed Alphinaud's shirt, but ended up dragging him down with me. When we hit the floor, it seemed to cave in. Our screams pierced the air as we fell, fell down the unknown hole in the ground. I could hear the ascians curse as they lost their prey. We fell at a rapid speed as the sound of screams and wind whipping around us filled my ears. I could see flashes of blue, purple, and yellow glowing substances. The last thing I saw was a strange forest biome. Then, with a thud, the world went black.