Delve Into the Abyss: The First Layers

[Marisa Kirisame]

“So… we’re supposed to go look at this unusual hole in the ground?” She turned her head slightly towards John while she was busy slipping into a set of training gear. While she didn’t mind the chance to enjoy another part of the Omniverse, she did question the necessity of the training she was being pushed through albeit it was enjoyable to feel the burn of her muscles.

“Yep, apparently the Empire lost a couple of survey droids, and the research team sent alongside them, so they’re sending us to find out what happened and try to find its depths.” The close friend and ally said before beginning to rappel down the uneven training area, with Marisa not far behind.

“Mmm, alright I can understand that but why not someone more qualified? Surely we’d be better off staying stationed in Coruscant Proper and not out on some island away from any action?”

“Eh, I don’t quite question what the bosses up top want us to do. They have better use for us than in Coruscant.” John said hanging off the side of the artificial cliff. The warm weather in Costa del Sol only helped to give the duo a sense of a vacation.

“I still wonder what we will find? Riches? Oh, maybe there’s some long lost tech!” John could see her eyes gleaming with a desire not often seen, and with her infectious smile out in the open, it wasn’t hard to grin at her excitement as well.

“Well, Mari we will surely find out what’s at the bottom. But before then we have to pass this class.”

“Right, right. Afterward, let's do something fun for once after we get out.” Kirisame said, waving her hand absentmindedly before rappelling once more down the cliff before finally touching the padded ground below her with her compatriot close behind her.

“Hey uh Teach, did the Empire ever get the data from the Droids?” She called over to the alien lifeform who looked up from his papers before thinking for a few seconds.

“Yea, but they’re still sifting through the information gathered from the first couple layers. Anyways you two are released for the day. Tomorrow, we’ll go over the final techniques for the trek.” The instructor said with a neutral expression, noting some stuff down.

Smiling to herself Marisa began quickly removing her gear, her mind shifting across many thoughts as she couldn’t help herself. “Thanks for the training, I know it was quite helpful for myself.” Waving towards the teacher she ran off with John in tow.

Once outside the large training building, the two moved at a much more conservative pace with John taking the lead for once. “So where did you want to go and do Mari?” He went silent after that leaving Marisa to think quietly. The two were fairly quiet people in all actuality, they didn’t like people getting up close to them though they were an exception for the other.

Doesn’t help I can be very overbearing at times then flip on a dime, I guess we could always read something together or watch a movie. But that’s boring, hmm would the beach be fine with John? 

Her thoughts gauging what they should do, while she gripped her chin lightly with her thumb and pointer finger. “Can we go to the Beach? I’ve never seen the ocean before. And I would like to do so before we head to the cave system.” She said with a grin enjoying her time on the surface of the Omniverse before she delved once again into the depths.

The duo soon found themselves away from Costa del Sol’s massive crowded beaches, and bustling recreational centers. But rather the two found themselves alone on a small secluded beach a few hours out. Opening the Door Marisa hopped out the side, landing on the soft sand. Staring towards the open waters and the dunes, she couldn’t help but laugh at the sight.

“Back uh home, we did have a beach but it was nothing like here! It looks so pretty.” chuckling slightly, John nodded understanding just how nice it is to be able to swim whenever you’d like. The buzzing of the communicator stopped him from leaving, however, and looking at it he could see some information had arrived for the two of them to read. 

“Are you coming or not John? We’re burning daylight!” Marisa called from the beach itself as she had already changed before they left. 

“Hold on Marisa!” Quickly glancing over the message they had gotten he realized it wasn’t something important enough to warrant heading back for. Putting the device back in the jeep, they chased after her. The two racing around on the beach enjoying themselves fully. Finally, after ten minutes of playing around, he managed to wrap his arms around the woman he had finally caught.

“Gotcha!” Even if she was ‘struggling’ he wouldn’t let go. Gasping Marisa laughed some more before nudging him in his stomach. Noticing she wanted to be released he complied and the two walked over to the edge of the beach, hearing the waves roll by and the seagulls cry in the distance.

Marisa couldn’t quite put her finger on it but she felt, content for once with the reasoning for it eluding her. What was so different from back in Gensokyo, what had changed? It wasn’t like she hadn’t lost anything, her more recent memories were extremely fuzzy if she even remembered them. Those rolling dunes, the steel labyrinth. Things mixed and matched with no rhyme or reason. She instinctively knew something was taken but not who, what to an extent, when, where, or why.

Maybe finding the bottom of this pit would give her the answers she so desired. It at least would give her some closure to those memories, and allow her to go forward instead of looking back. Naturally, she glanced over to John as the two had jumped into the water and were swimming and playing around. What was his wish, what did he desire to find? Was it glory, riches, or maybe something else entirely? She didn’t know... and she didn’t quite want to ask for fear of ruining whatever it was they had. The simple thought of it made her heart drop to her stomach which she quickly dealt with.

No matter how she looked at it, it likely wouldn’t do any good if she asked. She knew it was cowardly but she wasn’t going to threaten this gentle peace with a question.

Word count 1091

[Marisa Kirisame]

Before John had any chance to ask her what she was thinking she looked at the time. And surprisingly it was nearing when they had to head back, command wouldn’t tolerate them being AWOL for any amount of time after all.

It took a while but eventually, the duo found themselves back in Costa del Sol, the Palm trees swaying in the wind gently. Looking over to the right she watched the slowly setting sun. The pinks, oranges, and reds in the sky making it a picturesque scene. John finally had a chance to talk began as they could. “So, what’s it like not having your old eyes like?”

It was a fairly innocent question after all and she couldn’t get particularly defensive over it. “Well… it’s an odd feeling, and I don’t quite remember what happened that made me get these new eyes. I’m a bit wary about talking about it,” Breathing in, she began to turn towards John before sighing to let out her worries.

“My newer memories, I guess are jumbled. Things that make no sense. Places I don’t remember, smells I’ve never smelled. Sounds I've never heard. It’s just so exhausting trying to sift through what makes sense and what doesn’t. Hell, I don’t even remember where I got these artificial eyes” Going silent once more John took that as his cue to leave the topic alone, at least for now. Once she was ready to continue then they could continue that conversation.

“In any case, how are you feeling about the final exam? Personally, I feel like it should be an easy success.” Soon enough the two managed to reach the Elysium, one of the empire’s many outposts in the Vasty Deep’s and, one of the greater ones at that. Showing their credentials to the guards at the entrance they were soon let through. Parking the Jeep in one of the empty spaces the two began walking to their respective room.

Tipping her head to the side while she tapped her chin, the witch responded. “Well, you never know. I feel good about the exam of course, but there’s a worry that’s settled at the bottom of my gut. But that’s just me of course, I’m glad you feel we’re prepared.” Nodding to herself she fired herself up a bit, mentally squashing any worries she has. After all, if John feels it’ll be perfectly fine then why shouldn’t she?

Opening the pneumatic doors the duo walked in and looked around. It wasn’t particularly fancy, being built around utility first and foremost. But what was interesting was the dossier alongside a holo pad on the table. “Hey what do you think that is John?”

Stepping over to the table she picked up the file before opening it. Not much actual information could be gleaned off the notes at a cursory glance, various animals from birds to some sort of snake?

I guess this is the information obtained from the Droids. Sensing John standing right behind her she adjusted the paper to allow him easier access to the notes. “What did the holo pad have?” Gently smiling as she set the file down on the wooden table, as she scooted over before letting the holo pad begin to play a tape.

“Day five, this is uh Dr. Baker. We have found an island that is thought to be previously unfound, at least our GPS didn’t show it on the map. Seems to be a caldera of fairly massive size. I and the others have decided to shift our subject of interest to this very caldera, and will be sending the probots we were assigned with to delve into the caldera. End of Log-”

Frowning slightly at this information she glanced over to John before the next recording began.

“Day twelve, this is Dr. Baker. One of the Probots has failed to return from the Pit. There has been some dissenting-”

“Day thirty-seven, this is cough, Dr. Baker. Our fellow scientist Dr. Orion threw up on the way up to the surface-”

And after the day thirty-seven recording ended there were no more left to listen to that could make active sense. “Geeze,” The done had dampened greatly from the beginning of the tape recordings.

“I’ll, uh go do something else.” She walked away from the holo pad warily glancing towards it as she headed back out. Some fresh air should help take the edge off the situation. Truthfully, the tapes that were decipherable didn’t have anything that sounded like it was a lost cause. But something about Dr. Baker's tone gave her an iffy feeling about this island.

Maybe I'm overthinking this? Surely, it was just something they consumed after all. Yea just my imagination. Anyway, I should get some last-minute training in before we do the final exam.

While her mind wandered she stepped into the mountaineering area, taking a simple look at the artificial mound of concrete, stone, and rubber. Lowering her whole body she contemplated the best way up for the better part of a minute. “No need to rush into something, me and John have time to decide our route downwards and upwards as it demands.”

While she had planned to do one of the easier ones, a last-minute change of idea nudged her into going on the hardest wall. Standing up straight once more she walked up to the wall proper before she began to scale up the rough terrain towards the marker.

The witch hadn’t put much thought into that meeting with Ms. Knowledge from afar. And yet it came peeking its ugly head back to the forefront of her memories. At least whenever she didn’t have other things on her mind. Shaking her head slightly she leaped to the next climbing hold. Grunting ever so slightly she let herself rest for a few seconds before continuing her ascent towards that ever-elusive bell.

Finally, she reached the top with heavy breathing, the minor burn of her muscles felt throughout her body.  “Haa, haa-” Breathing through her mouth she rested there for a few minutes letting the adrenaline coursing through her veins to ease up.

Sweat dripping, she began her slow but methodical descent back to the floor. Finally, she reached a few feet off the floor and would push herself off the wall landing on the padded flooring with a thud. Hopefully, that would keep her from fretting about the Abyss at least for the moment.

And before her mind began to fret about the mission at hand she walked off to do something better with her time. “Fretting does nobody any good, so stop overthinking this. We will find them or we won’t, simple as that. Now, what to do… Hrm, I could brush up on my cooking a bit.” After all, it was likely the research team had headed deeper than a simple trip would allow without foraging for supplies. Who knew what the so-called had in store for the duo?

Word count 1162, total word count 2253

[Marisa Kirisame]

It was a couple of hours after the training and Marisa was busy cooking up a last good meal for the two of them before they had to eat those disgusting energy rations. Shivering slightly at the last time she eats one of them due to their taste. Literally, how does anyone get the taste so wrong that it literally is like eating a wall?

Hearing the beginning sounds of her food burning she snapped back into stirring the food around and flipping the fish over if need be. Sighing mentally she continued to work with the fish using her moderate cooking capabilities to make something she’d at least would enjoy.

John started from the entrance to the kitchen and watched her work diligently with her food. “So did you cook for a job beforehand? You seem to be pretty good at cooking.”

Flipping the fish over once more to grill them a bit longer, she shook her head speaking to John. “Mmm, Nah I’ve never cooked as a job really before. It’s all self-taught, and well fish or at least sea fish is a rarity from where I’m from. Have to get it imported, you know, heck I was raised in a nice little cabin in the woods by an adoptive parent of mine. Though a lot of the skills I have personally were cultivated by myself and no one else.”

Grabbing a few essentials like salt and a couple of herbs and seasonings, she began to work on the finishing touches of her meal. “Hey John, you mind getting the table set up? I have my hands a bit busy with the meal after all.” It was a simple request and one accepted by John as he began to set the table.

Soon enough the two sat down and began to eat. It was relatively quiet besides the noise of the silverware, for the duo before Marisa spoke up. “So what was your childhood like? Surely it isn’t anything like mine, living out in the middle of nowhere.”

Chucking slightly John smiled before responding calmly. “No, I was born in Coruscant. Tier three specifically, it wasn’t a terrible childhood. My parents were good people working nine to five jobs. Have a little sister as well. Currently, she’s working in finances if I recall correctly, I think she’d really like you.”

Tipping her head from side to side contemplating it she spoke with a slight frown. “Mmm, why not. If she’s down for it, then I don't see why we couldn’t go to a bar or something. Anyways, I’m going to begin to clean up.” Her frown shifting to a smile as she begins to collect the dishes to put away, diligently working softly away at the dishes with a hum.

She, once the dishes were put away, cleaned, and ready to be used by the next residents of the military base. No real reason to overthink it, a house for sure but not home at least for me.

Shuffling into her sleep clothing she moved to her bed before drifting off to sleep. Letting the soft covers and the exhaustion from her training do most of the work.

Eventually, she woke up fairly early in the morning. Rubbing the grit out of her eyes she got dressed and prepared herself for the exam. A pair of military boots, a helmet, a rucksack with weights put into it to imitate just what one would be carrying down into this place.

For breakfast, she grabbed one of the Type 4 Energy Rations, albeit reluctantly. It wasn’t anything to look at, being pretty bland and didn’t taste much better; at least it didn’t smell of anything really. Preferably she liked it that way though her nose might just not be picking up on anything, either way, she didn’t care and bit into the first of the bricks.

Pushing down the urge to gag up the energy ration she chewed it as quickly as possible before swallowing the square down. “Ugh, doesn’t get any easier after the first time.” Wasting no time, she began to break off the next brick. Before quickly consuming that one as well, much like one would with medicine.

The last two followed suit and she was sure to down it with whatever liquid was nearby, trying to cover the taste to some degree of success. With her meal complete and John about ready the two headed off to their exam.

The warm airlifting their spirits, as the salty air alongside the bustling port town gave the duo smiles on their face. Pulling the communicator out from her pocket she checked the location they had to head once more. “Yea takes a right up at the traffic light we’re about there.”

Nodding to the information being given, the duo soon found the massive training facility for the imperial military, from the small airforce to the navy and the marines, to even some of the rarer special forces like paratroopers and mountaineers. Though unsurprisingly, it wasn’t even the main training base for special forces of the Empire, no that was smack dab in Coruscant. With easy access to the training facilities, they made their way to the mountaineering section where their trainer was waiting for them.

“Hey, how are you two?” The trainer smiled towards the two, with the duo nodding in return, trading pleasantries between the three of them the teacher-led them towards their final exam.

Leaning forward while clasping her hands behind her back, the female of the duo spoke with a smile. “So, how long do we have to complete this exam, and what will we be dealing with?”

“Right, right. You’ll have three hours to complete the exam. And your objective is to get through the course we’ve set up. Well, there shouldn’t be any issues since I trust you’ll succeed.” And soon enough the two were on their way to beginning the course.

Word count 989 total word count 3241

[Marisa Kirisame]

Well, the duo had managed to finish the course and the exam, with what she assumed was flying colors. At least neither of them had gotten hurt seriously in the course. Bruises and cuts obviously, but nothing that required going to the hospital.

While they were about ready to head to the ship that would take them to the island, John had wanted the two of them to tend to their wounds. And so, here they were doing just that. Personally, Marisa didn’t see much reason to give much if any attention to wounds. She had survived as she had for years with little care for her injuries. But, part of her relented to John’s request.

Even… if she hated that part from time to time. Almost as much as the burning sensation of the hydrogen peroxide annoyed her. “I know you aren’t a big fan of me tending to your wounds Marisa, but we must prevent any infection. Besides, I'm not a big fan of lying around waiting for my wounds to recover either. You know how it is.”

With a bandage being stuck onto the last of the wounds that need it, Marisa stood up and grabbed her stuff, or at least the things she couldn’t or wouldn’t summon, neatly put it into a rucksack. With not much else to say or do, the duo began to move towards the vessel waiting for them.

Walking onto the pier the two glanced around for the corvette, before finally spotting it in the near distance. “It’s right over there Marisa.” The larger of the two pointed before beginning to walk with purpose towards their intended destination. Marisa gave a curt nod before trailing right behind him.

After a couple of minutes of walking, they finally boarded the vessel. It wasn’t particularly interesting to Marisa, being a big metal ship after all. It didn’t take much longer, with a couple of others boarding the vessel as well. Taking a closer look, Marisa could tell they weren’t a part of the navy, lacking the crisp uniforms the navy was known for. With not much else to do, or particularly interact with till they got to their destination; the duo settled down for the trip.

---

It had taken a couple of boring, sickening days on the open seas. Marisa wasn’t sure what was worse, the seasickness or the boredom she gained doing menial tasks. At least she was managing to keep down whatever she had managed to eat for breakfast. Wobbling over to the railing on the side of the naval vessel she could see the island in the distance. “Is… urg- that it John?”

“Yea, the others said it was at least.” The large man said while dropping both rucksacks near their feet. “Anyways I grabbed your stuff since we should be there in about an hour.” He said, leaning against the railing taking in the clear ocean waves, and smiling slightly before gently rubbing Marisa’s back as she looked about ready to throw up yet again.

“Yea my father wasn’t too good with flying vehicles similarly, always made him queasy. Need me to get you anything, Mari?” He said frowning slightly before glancing towards her.

A curt shake of her head was all he needed to know, before letting the conversation trail off. Once the island was a bit closer the duo could see its interesting design. It had the design of a mountain with its steep sloping sides but stopped before any sort of point could be made in the landscape. Splotches of greenery could be seen but for the most part, the island at least on the outside was rocky.

With little stopping everyone leaving the vessel, the duo were some of the first off. Marisa gave a smile as she was finally on solid ground once again. “Well, we’re here,” Glancing up towards the climb they would inevitably have to take she sighed, rubbing the back of her head. “hopefully those researchers are still fine.”

John, nodded slightly as they too didn’t know the details on whoever was left alive. After all, time worked weirdly in the Omniverse, and they had little to no idea how deep, where, or how many were left. “Right, we should get into the crater and set up shop. At the very least, we can prepare various dives from there.”

With the initial planning out of the way, the two began to walk off towards their objective. Scaling the steep path was needed all the while moving with purpose, before finally after a few hours reaching the other side of the natural walls. Stopping to take in the view, Marisa gasped with a wide smile as she enjoyed the flight-like view. While there weren't a whole lot of trees, the inner crater was full of plant life, with a majority of the landscape filled with bushes and grass, alongside the occasional bunch of trees.

And then finally the very hole the notes were talking about. They had named it a wide number of things of course. The Abyss, the Netherworld to name a few, and she couldn’t help but agree with them. It was a truly deep hole from where she looked though she felt no fear from this distance at least. People died of getting lost in cave systems all the time and this time was no different.

While that knowledge only partly saddened her she knew it was a likely scenario as to what had happened to these researchers. Without proper resupply, or a way to contact HQ was a death sentence waiting to happen after all. But she didn’t let those thoughts linger too long, before heading downwards taking her first step into the grasses inside the bowl-like structure; with John not too far along.

It had taken another thirty minutes to finally reach a suitable location, and when they did they could tell it was getting closer and closer to evening; preventing a suitable trek down into the Abyss proper. Glancing to the others in their small group and then to John she began to speak. “I think me and John are going to camp here for the night. I’m not entirely sure what you all are doing, but you’re welcome to stick around for the night before we head into the cave system.”

With little complaint from John, the two began to set up camp for the night. They had food and soon fell to sleep uneventfully; with the moon watching over them silently.

Word count 1086 total word count 4372 

[Marisa Kirisame]

Glancing over the edge of the cliff, the woman sighed looking into what could only be described as a truly monstrous pit. Heck, they already were partly in the abyss with the island curling upwards around all sides, creating natural walls against those who’d wish to enter.

Looking back to the small camp there were about a dozen others that came alongside the duo. While it wasn’t exactly clear what their purpose here was, she could gauge it was to create a base of operations on the island. The name wouldn’t be picked for a long time but it seemed safe at least. Nothing of serious concern had been discovered on what was considered the entrance to the abyss but that wasn’t sure to be the case when they went deeper inside.

Glancing over to John, she tried to stomp any fears out. They were both trained as well as they could be, there wouldn’t be anything to worry about but those fears wouldn’t be easily put to rest until she went down there for herself. Breathing in she sighed before tearing herself from the edge. “Marisa, it’s time to head down to the first layer. Just for a quick trip” She could hear John’s voice nearby as he finished packing his rucksack for the trip downwards.

Smiling towards him she nodded. “Yep, let me just grab mine and we can begin to head downwards.” Jogging off to the duo’s tent she grabbed her own rucksack before slinging it over her arms, grunting ever so slightly as the weight was fully felt by the woman.

“We’re just doing a couple of hour trip down into the abyss right?” She called out as she walked, marching back over to John, her body tipped a bit forward to help adjust to the weight. While the two didn’t have much to do in terms of researching the abyss; It was still something Marisa wanted to do. And that’s why she had brought along research equipment even if it was quite heavy.

“Yep, we don’t want to spend too long since it’s the first time actually delving into it specifically,” John spoke as he began to walk with her not far behind. The grassy, minorly forested edge of the abyss gave for a fairly easy way down the first hundred or so meters. It was around this point that they came across something interesting.

Stopping on their way down further the witch was gathering some rock and soil samples to bring up when she came across something interesting. Hitting a part of the wall she could hear it sounded hollow. “Huh, the wall sounds quite hollow, John mind if we stop here for a few minutes? Something has piqued my interest.”  Giving a nod, John shrugged the rucksack to the ground letting it hit with a thump. At least her doing something for the moment would give them a moment of rest as the man took in his surroundings.

There was a sense of wonder and adventure to this place that he couldn’t quite place. This place at least gave the duo a change of pace which was incredibly nice. Pulling out the rations he glanced at one of the nutrition bars frowning slightly at the entirely fabricated nature of it. “Supposed to give enough nutrients to supplement a meal, huh? Guess they have no reason to lie about it not giving the nutrients of a good meal.”

Putting the bar back into one of the pockets he began to grab the notes on what was known about the abyss before the scientists and droids had dropped off the radar. Frankly, he wasn’t sure what could have killed them because the island… and the abyss for that matter were pretty much safe from their observations. The edge hadn’t shown really anything beyond the natural predators for the region and while they still had a ways to go before needing to head back up the base camp.

Although thinking about it they did see a new type of avian creature, not much larger than a hawk on their way down. Wondering what exactly they saw he began to sift through the notes before coming across avian creatures.

It took a good minute to find but John did find what looked to be a rough sketch alongside a couple of notes. “Ah, there we go, what do we have? So they decided to call it a Hammerbeak.” Humming to himself the demolitions expert began to busy himself with learning about the avian creature at least as far as the researchers had delved into learning about it.

Meanwhile, Marisa was busy breaking through the stone wall with a smile on her face. While it wasn’t the vacation she absolutely desired, to not have any worries to deal with, it was a nice, sunny day; the water was clear, and she was enjoying herself. Surely there wasn’t much else to desire from a job like this?

Smashing the pick against the stone wall, she caused it to cave in revealing a slightly ominous cavern. “Haa, there we go, now let's see what’s inside.” Stepping over the pile of rubble she began to look around the small cavern. It definitely didn’t seem very interesting. Slamming her foot into something hard she yelped out in pain. “Mother of-!”

Looking down she could see a simple stone slab. Looking to be about an inch thick and a few feet wide with a fairly generous amount of dust piled on top of the slab. Having piqued her interest she began to dust the top off to see if there were any engravings.

Sadly there was nothing that would indicate there were any engravings, causing her to frown ever so slightly.

Odd surely they wouldn’t just leave an obvious man-made structure without any symbols or engravings. Well, time to see what’s underneath the slab.

Grunting, she pushed the relatively heavy slab off and peered inside trying to see what one could find. Naturally, her eyes immediately moved towards an unknown object in both scope, and use. “Now what do we have here? Some kind of… orb?”

Though what she found next caused her to scream as she stumbled backward, landing on the rubble with a grunt of pain.

“W-what the hell is that?! Why is there a skeleton here?!” She had looked through the files of course and apparently she had missed the part about the dead people in the walls. “John, did I miss something in the files? I had to have missed something right? Surely the research team didn’t just ignore or miss something like this!”

Scrambling out of the newly formed cavern she tried to force her heart rate to calm down, to some avail. John looked up from the datapad he had in his hands before frowning slightly. “What’s the matter, why are you screaming about some dead?”

“‘Cause there’s a skeleton in that cavern. Are we sure this place was uninhabited? No tribes or anything?” She finally managed to get a hold of her emotions and calm herself down, alongside rubbing her cheek with a hand.

John shook his head before speaking. “No, the empire had sent a few probe droids with the researchers after all. They only managed to find living wildlife and nothing more or less. After all, they weren’t here for soil or rock samples.”

“Right, just living wildlife.” Sounding less than convinced she walked back into the newly made cavern and took a much closer look at the skeleton. Bleached white with age, the skeleton was in what looked to be a praying position.

“Hey uh John, do you have any idea why they’re in this position?” Of course, the body there was evidence enough people had once lived on this island at least to some extent. The main question remained of what exactly was the general purpose of the island to these people? Was it a cultural site, was it a burial ground, or was this just a random nobody?

“No idea, but at least we have confirmation that the island is at least of some value,” John said, walking out of the cave to send the information to high command; leaving Marisa to collect her thoughts before they head back up to the base camp.

Word count 1383 Total word count 5710

[Marisa Kirisame]

Stuffing the odd orb into her sack alongside the soil and rock samples, left her with only the trip back up. Eventually, ways to get deeper would be made of course but for now, it was climbing up the fairly difficult terrain. She wasn’t exactly sure when it started but after a bit, she began to get some sort of nausea and dizziness hitting her like a vehicle slamming into an unwitting bystander.

It wasn’t a particularly strong feeling but the suddenness caused her to stop and gag slightly. John heard her gagging, stopped, and turned his head looking a bit worried. “You alright there Mari? You aren’t getting sick are you?”

Smiling towards him with a weak smile she nodded. “Y-yea, I’m fine just got suddenly hit with some nausea and dizziness is all. It seems to be subsiding now.”

While it took a bit longer, with some annoying grumbling from Marisa as nausea and dizziness wouldn’t leave for good. Eventually, they reached the base camp. John stared towards her as she breathed somewhat heavily before she walked to the tent.

Sitting on a folding chair Marisa starred towards the clear orb, taking a much closer look at the device she could see a ring of metal around the clear material likely to act as the part to hold it with. With engravings of some esoteric design, and finally, the needle inside the orb was beautifully crafted to the point it almost seemed artificially made.

Gently grasping the orb she began to move it around, trying to figure out its purpose. “Well, it might be a compass. After all, it looks like one needle and all, anyways enough talking.” Setting to work, soon enough she had managed to make a very rudimentary system to test its capabilities.

Flipping it over she watched as the needle just flipped back downwards, wobbling a bit as it tried to go back to its inert state. “Is it broken?” Staring at the needle the witch frowned ever so slightly.

Before she got a chance to investigate it further her tablet began to beep causing her to huff, setting the orb down before staring towards who was contacting her. Upon seeing it was someone in high command, she took a moment to wipe a smudge of dirt off her cheek before answering.

“Status report, Ms. Kirisame.” The voice said coldly as they were busy dealing with a stack of papers.

Blinking a couple of times it took her a second to finally catch up. “Oh, right of course. John and I have entered the Island proper, and we have done our first delve into the so-called Abyss…” Mentally juggling around what she actually wanted to say, however, she continued with little waiting.

“We haven’t seen nor have heard any signs of the research group either, and I suspect they have gone deeper in for unknown reasons if they are still alive. I and John have yet to see some of the wildlife on this island as well, and as such we have no idea what they’re dealing with. What, do you-” Going silent for a second she hummed before speaking once again.

“What do you want us to do if we can’t find their bodies, or if it becomes too dangerous to continue?” Marisa finished leaning back, tapping her upper arm with a finger.

The person from high command grunted the question before the shuffling of papers could be seen, and heard. “Well, I’m not going to try and send you both on a death mission. But we need that equipment back. It’s expensive to lose the equipment they were using.”

Humming to herself the witch nodded slightly, all the while John entered the tent. “Before I forget, was there anything on dead bodies in the Abyss? While U was doing some research of my own, I found what looked to be a human skeleton in what looked to be a praying position.”

“A praying skeleton? I honestly can look to see if anything was found by the researchers but I doubt it. Was there anything with the skeleton or was it just the corpse?” The voice on the other end of the call asked as the clacking of the keyboard could be heard.

Marisa hummed for a few seconds before speaking simply. “Yea, I’ve found an item of interest but there’s little to say of its actual value, or if it even works from my limited testing on it. Though if I may be so bold, I'd like to ask that this find stays under the rug till the full extent of the side effects can be determined. As I and John to an extent, have been getting nausea among other ailments.”

A few deafening seconds of silence passed leaving the two quietly worrying before the person in Coruscant began to speak yet again. “I… am sure that can be arranged for an amount of time. Given you don’t waste it of course. Is that all you had to declare Pyre and Fuse?”

Glancing towards the explosives expert, she gave a slight shrug to John before seeing him consider something quickly. A lightbulb lit upon realizing it was something important leading him to ask the person on the other side of the call. “When will we be resupplied both for the people setting up shop and for us?”

“You should get resupplied in a month Since the food will be able to last for that long. Maybe a little longer depending on how you ration your food accordingly. Oh, and Marisa one last thing.” The woman said, glancing towards the blonde.

Marisa glanced towards the entrance to the tent, light filtering through dimming ever so slowly. To the person on the other end of the communications tab, she hummed allowing them to continue. Of course, it wasn’t completely silent as the buzz of insects, the croaking of frogs and toads, and even some deeper more ancient noises gave the island a sense of primal life; that even Gensokyo at times lacked.

“Marisa, I want you and John to stay safe. Don’t do anything rash and get yourselves killed. Though we trust you to live, we still are in the dark on a lot of the finer details of this place. Anyways, I’ll be signing off now, ciao.” An electronic noise could be heard by the duo as the connection was cut.

The two glanced towards each other before, the smaller of the pair closed the device entirely setting it inside the rucksack. The two moved in tandem outside the stuffy tent. There wasn’t much to talk about in all honesty between them. Eventually, they found themselves sitting on a cliff overlooking the inner ring of the island. Pinks, reds, yellows, and oranges painted the sky in broad, yet talented strokes. Cumulus clouds dotted the skies as well, which had thankfully given the two a nice clear day for their first trip down into the pit.

A gentle breeze could also be felt with Pyre, spinning a blade of grass in her left hand. Eventually, the sun would dip below the skyline leaving the two, with a clear night sky to lead the way home. Before she entered the tent she pulled out the compass staring at it with a gentle expression. “What do you think the island will be called once enough people are living here?”

John had almost not heard the voice as it was incredibly soft, but it was a simple question with many answers. “I honestly don’t know Mari. Many would fit the location but, nothing off the top of my head that definitely comes out on top. If that makes sense to you.”

Having to accept it for a reasonable choice, the black and white witch nodded in agreement. Before the conversation could drag out too much longer Marisa yawned. “I’m going to head to bed, see you in the morning, John.”

Nodding to his coworker the burly man agreed with her, and soon afterward the two were resting for the next tomorrow's adventure.

Word count 1345. Total word count 7055