"Age."
[18]
"Favorite colors."
[Black, red]
"Birthday."
[July 5th]
Every time a question was asked verbally, a written response was given. This little game went on for minutes as questions quickly piled up. Crystal couldn't get enough of it. Her curiosity went into overdrive and the only way to satisfy her urge was to keep asking more questions.
"Favorite food."
[Grilled meat]
"Cinnamon or Butterscotch?"
[Both]
"Hobbies! Favorite animal! Sweets you like!"
Scribble, scribble, scribble.
Their interaction would've gone on forever and Crystal probably would've known every last detail of Raziel's life if it wasn't for the branch in his hand breaking from overuse.
"Phew."
She wiped the sweat off her forehead while staring at the pile of answers on the ground.
"Our birthdays are only a few months apart. That's awesome!"
"It's nice to finally have someone the same age as me here. Everyone's so much older so our interests never align. But now that you're here that's no longer a problem!"
"There's so many games I want to play together and places I want to show you."
"We have all the puzzles to go through, riddles to solve, traps to avoid, animals to talk to...! MMMH, I'm so excited!"
Crystal's enthusiasm could be seen beaming from her body.
If scientists ever found a way to turn positivity into energy, she'd likely be able to power an entire village by herself.
...
Wait, did she just say traps?!
"Come on! Let's get going." She said as she jumped on her two feet.
All right, time to go! Every second spent at the pond was one less spent in the Ruins.
However, as Raziel got up, a thought crossed Crystal's mind.
"Wait... if we're walking around and exploring the Ruins, you won't be able to write on the ground anymore."
"Hmph..." A cute pout formed on her face. "But I want to keep talking to you."
Crystal kept on pouting for a few moments until...
"Ah! I have an idea!"
"I'll be right back, stay there."
Crystal ran back to her home in a flash.
Following the princess's order, Raziel sat down again and waited for Crystal to return.
Shortly after, she kicked the door open and ran back to the pond, hiding her hands behind her back.
"Tadah!"
As she said that, she showed her hands, revealing a pen and a notebook.
"With these, you'll be able to communicate freely, isn't that nice?"
Raziel stared at the notebook before taking it and writing his first message.
[THANK YOU!]
A rare smile formed on the boy's face.
"Hehe, you're welcome. Mama and Papa were super excited about this idea, they can't wait to talk to you once you're back."
He nodded happily.
"Now come on let's go already! We've already spent way too much time here!"
Crystal grabbed Raziel's hand and ran with him to the Ruins as quickly as she could.
Although a bit startled, Raziel couldn't help but crack a little smile as she dragged him.
***
When Crystal first carried Raziel to her house, he repeatedly fell in and out of consciousness for brief moments. As such, he didn't see much of the Ruins then.
However, he did have some faint memories.
Purple. All he could see was purple.
He thought the head injury and fatigue might've affected his vision, thus explaining the weird color, but as foggy as his memories were, they weren't inaccurate.
As he marched past the entrance, his surroundings quickly proved his theory wrong.
Everything was indeed purple.
An infinity of purple bricks covered the walls while long, overgrown vines clung to them from top to bottom. The floor had the same coloration as the walls aside from one exception. A path made of a lighter, lavender tone ran through the middle of the ground, indicating every route one could take.
Like the walls, growing vines occasionally covered the path. A pile of red leaves covered it too; however, that one felt manually placed as it was roughly shaped like an arrow and coincidentally pointed to the Dreemurrs' home.
The entrance hall split into a crossroad leading to two separate rooms.
"From here you'll want to go right."
"I'll show you the left path another time. It's a much larger section of the Ruins that even I haven't explored much. For now, let's focus on the more entertaining bits of this place!"
Looking at the left path, it certainly did feel 'large'.
The entrance was dark and far away. A cold breeze flowed through it, blowing past Raziel giving his exposed forearms slight goosebumps.
It felt eerily... ominous
Let's... avoid that section for the time being. They'll return once the boy understands this place better and is more confident.
As such, the two youths walked down the right path, leading to a large room filled with white pillars. These pillars were similar to the ones Raziel saw when he first fell, aside from how short and wide they were in comparison.
Raziel didn't think much of it until he noticed something strange.
Behind one of the pillars was a colored switch! A closer look revealed that every pillar in the room had a colored switch behind it. A few were green, some were red, and others were blue.
What are they for?
"I already cleared the puzzle in this room so there isn't much to see here."
Hm? Could the switches be...
[Are the switches part of the puzzle?]
"Yes, they are!"
"The puzzle consists of pressing the right switch to free the path ahead. The green switch over there unlocked the gate to the door we just went through."
"I really struggled with this one the first time. I kept pressing the wrong switch and even tried pressing multiple at once."
"I almost gave up and went back home... then I read the sign on the wall."
The princess's head dropped in embarrassment as she pointed to a sign with a painfully visible message that said:
*If you can read this, press the green switch*
"..."
"So uhm... yeah, not my proudest moment."
"Out of every puzzle in the Ruins, this is by far the easiest one and it took me the longest to clear."
[You should pay more attention to your surroundings.]
"I was a little girl, okay?! Cut me some slack!"
"L-let's move on to the next room already, there's nothing to see here."
Crystal walked away with her feet stomping. Needless to say, Raziel was quite amused by her reaction.
The next few rooms had the same puzzle as the previous one with only the placement and color of the switch changing. The sign, however, remained the same in every room.
*If you can read this, press the red switch*
*If you can read this, press the blue switch*
One of them even pointed to the switch itself with an arrow of the same color.
Every time Raziel walked past one of these signs he'd stop, look at it for a few seconds, then turn to Crystal, and stare at her, judging her profoundly.
"Not. A. Word."
Luckily for her, the boy had no intention of saying a single word.
...Only laugh at her expense.
Moving along was an empty hall. The only things worth noticing were some gaps on the wall wide enough for a person to get in and some cracks on the floor. Six to be exact.
"Don't worry there aren't many empty rooms like these here. Most are filled with tons of fun stuff to do."
"Just be careful not to step on the- "
POOM!
...
On the cracks.
It was the second time that the fallen angel was punished for his curiosity. And coincidentally his punishment was once again a tumble.
"Oh my god, are you okay?!"
Crystal ran towards the now gaping hole on the ground, peeking inside to check on Raziel. Unlike him though, she made sure not to get too close and risk joining him.
Luckily his fall was softened by a pile of red leaves.
Raziel gave a thumbs up. His demolished pride begged to differ.
"There should be a gap on the wall next to you. Climb inside it to get back up."
To his right was indeed a crevice identical to the one he saw above. Without asking many questions Raziel got up and stuck his head in it.
After a bit of trouble getting in, he climbed up the gap and popped out the wall safely.
Gaps that serve as tunnels...weird.
"Geez, listen to me before wandering off on your own. You could've gotten hurt." She said while brushing off the dirt from his hair.
[Sorry.]
"It's okay, just stay close to me from now on."
He nodded.
"Let's go, I really want to show you the next room. It's one of my favorites!"
Putting aside that embarrassing event, Crystal glued herself to Raziel to ensure she didn't lose sight of him again and proceeded to the next area.
Which was... another empty room.
*stare*
"Wait and see."
Crystal placed her hands around her mouth, took a huge inhale, and loudly shouted:
"GOOD MORNING EVERYONE, I HAVE A SURPRISE!"
The whole room rumbled before falling silent again.
Shortly after her loud message, distant footsteps echoed from afar.
As the footsteps grew louder and louder, a few small figures could be seen approaching in the distance.
They were... frogs?
Two white frogs calmly approached the youths, stopping next to their feet.
Their appearance was quite unusual for a frog. They were entirely white, with three black dots on their chests. They were also astonishingly big, as big as your average dog. Yet, what struck Raziel as the most odd were their bellies. Or rather under their bellies.
Something hid under their stomachs showing only its eyes and mouth. It kept excessively blinking while its mouth drooped into a melted frown.
Were these the animals Crystal mentioned living in the Ruins?
"Ribbit, ribbit. Good morning princess."
"EH?!"
Raziel jolted backward in utter shock.
"Hm? What's wrong?"
[IT TALKS?]
"Oh, yeah I forgot to tell you."
"Every animal in the Underground either speaks or understands the human language."
"Sorry for not telling you before, but I couldn't wait to show you around!"
"You'll get used to it quickly I promise."
He nodded in confusion.
"But now that you know that, I'd like to introduce you to Mr. and Mrs. Froggit!"
"They're one of the many animal species that live in the Underground. We commonly refer to them as 'Magical Beasts'."
"They were the first thing I encountered in the Ruins as a kid, and we've been buddies ever since!"
"Mr. and Mrs. Froggit, meet Raziel our new friend."
"Ribbit. Greetings." Said the two Froggits.
Raziel waved at them reluctantly.
"Ribbit. Princess, he isn't from the Underground, is he? Ribbit." Said the male Froggit.
"Uhm, no. He's from the surface. He fell here yesterday and we decided to take him in. He'll be staying with us from now on."
Wait. How could he tell that Raziel was from the surface? Did he guess?
[How do you know?]
"You're magicless. Ribbit."
"???" His face scrunched in confusion.
"Magical beings can sense each other's magic. If we concentrate, we can even figure out who it is based on their type and intensity."
"But you Raziel have no magic, so we can't sense anything coming from you. In other words, we can immediately tell you're not from here."
[Is that a bad thing?]
"Not necessarily, but it is a weird feeling to not sense who's next to us. Even I'm still getting used to it."
"There's a chance some Magical Beasts may act hostile towards you due to lacking magic, but don't worry everyone in the Ruins is very friendly."
"And even if one tries to attack, I'll be there to protect you, so you're fine believe me!"
Raziel smiled and nodded. Despite feeling uneasy about being so out of place, he put his worries aside and trusted Crystal's words.
"That aside, Mrs. Froggit, where are the others?"
"Ribbit. Some were still asleep. They're coming now."
"Oh yeah, there they are."
Lifting their heads, the youths saw another pair of small figures approaching them.
Could they be some other kind of wild animal? Pfft, if only.
What ended up showing themselves were...
A carrot... And a gelatin mold.
*Stare*
"What?"
[You said animals. Not food.]
"T-the term 'Magical Beast' is very broad, okay?"
"Anyway, these are Vegetoid and Moldsmal."
"You two, meet Raziel, our new... surface friend!"
"Pleasure, kid."
*Wiggle*
[Hi]
"Ribbit. Princess, do all surface humans only speak through paper?" Asked Mr. Froggit.
"Not really. Let's just say that Raziel doesn't like to talk."
"Being a little shy isn't a problem, welcome to the Underground kid." The Vegetoid smiled wickedly.
Talking frogs are one thing, but a giant talking carrot is pushing it. How can it even... live?! All it had was a huge face that covered its front. It smiled from ear to ear (or stem to stem in its case) and had hollow yet overjoyed eyes. No matter the smile, it still looked creepy.
Then there was the Moldsmal.
No eyes, no mouth, no nose. Nothing. Just a glistening lime-green gelatin mold.
*Wiggle*
"..."
Raziel wiggled his hips.
The Moldsmal wiggled back.
...What a meaningful conversation.
Seeing the gelatin move. It looked curvaceously attractive, ...and delicious.
Gurgle, gurgle.
"Hm? Are you hungry by chance, kid?"
The boy patted his growling stomach.
"Here! Eat your greens."
In an instant, two carrots sprouted from the ground.
"One for you too princess."
"Thanks! That's so nice of you."
The two youths grabbed a carrot each and began eating it. To be more precise, Crystal took a small bite, while Raziel gobbled the whole thing entirely.
Gurgle, gurgle!
His empty stomach grumbled happily.
"Part of a complete breakfast." Said the winking Vegetoid.
Crunch, crunch! Gulp.
"Mmh!" Crystal finished the last bite of her carrot, exclamating her excitement loudly. "Your veggies are always so good! Thank you again."
"Alright!" She quickly wiped the crumbs off her mouth.
"We'll be going now. I still have tons of places to show Raziel. We'll see you around, okay?"
Crystal took Raziel's hand and ran off.
"Oh! And if you find the others tell them to come meet us, okay? Bye!"
"Ribbit. One moment princess! Ribbit."
"Huh?" Crystal briskly stopped. "Yes Mrs. Froggit?"
"Mr. Froggit and I would like to show you something later. Ribbit."
"Sure! Meet us at the tree when we're done. We'll be waiting. See you later!"
"Bye." "Ribbit." *Wiggles goodbye*
***
"Okay, from here go left."
"..."
"Hey, you're staring into the void a lot." The two stopped walking. "Is everything okay?"
Raziel looked quite pensive. He tried to find a logical explanation as to what the creatures he saw were. Tried as he might, however, no answer came.
"Is something bothering you?"
[Can I ask you a question?]
"Sure, ask me anything."
[What are Magical Beasts exactly?]
"Oh right! I guess I haven't explained it to you yet."
Crystal began walking back and forth as she spoke.
"I'll try to make it as simple as possible."
"At its core, Magical Beasts are animals that possess magic like us, but there's a key difference."
"When we all lived on the surface, Magical Beasts didn't exist. It was only after we were trapped underground that they started appearing. There's a reason for that."
"When we use magic, magical essence is released into the environment. Think of it as excess magic that leaks out from every spell. No matter how little magic you use, magical essence will be released, it's impossible to prevent it."
"Normally it doesn't do anything, it just spreads into the atmosphere and disappears, but that's when you're in an open area. The earth is too big to be affected by our magic, so nothing ever changed no matter how much we used it."
"But the Underground is a lot smaller than the earth, and unlike it, can only hold so much magical essence. Over the years, the Underground started to fill up with magical essence and eventually became highly concentrated in magic."
"At first we thought nothing of it, but then something unexpected happened."
"The wildlife began adapting."
"The animals exposed to the high levels of magic in the air adapted to the environment and evolved into new species that now possessed magic."
"The environment itself changed too. Plants and rocks morphed, changed colors, and gained new abilities we'd never seen before. In less than a decade, Mt. Ebott became full of magical life."
"And since the animals effectively changed species, we gave them a new title."
"A name was quickly found and from then on we began referring to them as 'Magical Beasts'."
"That's about it, did you understand everything?"
"(visibly excited nods)"
"Hehe, I'm glad."
"Is there anything else you'd like to know before we move on?"
There was one question that kept buzzing inside Raziel's mind. One part of her explanation stuck out to him.
Adaptation. Beings who acquired the ability to use magic.
His imagination began wandering, giving birth to a single question.
Scribble, scribble.
[Can non-magical humans also gain magic?]
"Huh?"
"Uhm, we... don't know."
"You're the first human that ever fell down here, so we know nearly nothing about you guys."
"Believe me when I say this is as much of a new experience to you as it is for us. Only time can tell if you'll be able to use magic."
Raziel wasn't satisfied with her answer. It only amplified his curiosity. Just the thought of being able to use magic thrilled him to no end. All the things he would do, the excitement he would feel, and the fun he would have made his heart skip a beat.
However, for the time being, he had to wait and be patient.
"Anything else?
He shook his head.
"Great! Onto the next area! Follow me, hehe!"
CHAPTER END.