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The downed alien didn't make a protest, save whimpering a little and trying to say something trying to make himself smaller. The newcomer continued to growl at him, before reaching out with a proprietary hand, grabbing up the largest piece of meat on the fire.
For all the magic that the wizards and witches of Earth ever developed, why did no one ever try to figure out a way up to create a translation spell? Hell, why didn't I? Lily thought shaking her head. This was obviously some kind of gang or other, and the squatters couldn't fight them, so obviously gave into their demands.
Thankfully after a moment the group of thugs seemed satisfied and moved back off down the tunnel. Lily watched as the squatters breathed sighs of relief, including the young woman who stuck her head out from her hiding place.
She watched as the guard who had obviously warned the others of the gangsters arrival walked up. He said something to the young woman who nodded back, reaching out to stroke one of his tentacle-things lightly, which caused him to smile slightly, it's tip winding around her hand for a moment. Then he turned back, moving further down the corridor while she hurried over to remove the soup she had been tending from over the fire.
Lily followed the guard, coming to a small unobtrusive and well-hidden barricade at the end of the tunnel, where he stood hidden in the dark of the tunnel staring out into the first fully lit tunnel Lily had seen so far, which this one intersected. From here she could hear some sounds in the distance in both directions, though it was noticeably noisier in one direction than the other.
She decided to head in the direction of the least noise for now, quickly coming out into what was obviously some kind of underground factory or other which is obviously seen better times. A lot of the machinery she could see, whose purpose she couldn't understand, looked ancient, rusting in places and obviously worn down. There was also a harsh tang of rust in the air, further hinting at the age of the place.
So, squatters living on the edge of a rundown area, understandable I suppose if not exactly a good sign for Harry and I. She refused to think about the fact that it was just Harry that really needed food and water to survive since she was a ghost. Worse, Lily could possibly continue on if Harry died even if he didn't immediately join her. That was a horrifying thought on many levels, and she refused to do well on it.
She spent a few moments zooming through the ancient looking factory, finally understanding what they were building here. It looked as if they were building small batteries and small handheld devices of some kind, though not quickly, and not in very large numbers. Though Lily decided to put the low output down to simply the age of the machines rather than the workers themselves, who seemed to go about their jobs efficiently At least from her perspective which admittedly wasn't worth much.
Possibly this place could be gang-owned I suppose, but nothing we can do about it, not right away at least. Lily had a firm grasp of right and wrong, and about law and justice and she detested bullies. That had been one of the many reasons why she'd kept on turning James away for so long until he finally changed his tune during their senior year and become a man rather than a little boy.
She turned, making her way back down the corridor quickly, moving towards the other end of it. After several smaller areas each with other groups of squatters or gangsters, she finally broke out into an area that looked well-to-do, with far better lighting, better-looking housing, and better looking clothing on the people all around.
The men she saw around now wore full-body clothing of decent design if rather drab in color and more than half of them seemed to go around armed, which Lily wondered was a defensive reaction or a societal thing. If those monsters we saw outside can get in here sometimes she shuddered at the very idea of what one of those beasts could do in close confines like this.
And it was close, even here in the better areas the cavern was only about two or three stories tall and about 600 feet across. She estimated this would be the equivalent of a mid-range suburb or so, and she hoped that the higher she got into the interior of the mountain the better it would look. But even that thought was set aside due to the main issue she was seeing as she looked around.
Many of the women around her wore skimpy clothing of the kind that she knew would cause her son issues, which rather amused her frankly. But what didn't was the fact that it might not be their own choice. More than half of the women Lily saw around her wore collars, or possibly other things over the tentacles on their heads, signifying what could be slave status. That isn't good she thought grimly. Not good at all.
Harry awoke in darkness, his light of having gone out long since, but the gentle humming of his mother, and the familiar warmth of having her near made him smile despite the dire straits he still knew he was in. He opened his eyes slowly, getting accustomed once again to the darkness all around them, not even lit by the luminescence of the crystal growths as the night side of the planet had been. "Mum?"
Lily's humming broke off quickly and she hovered in front of her son, glowing ethereally giving enough light for Harry to see. "How are you feeling Harry?" she asked solicitously.
"I'm all right," he lied then winced a little as she cocked her head her lips forming into a frown. "All right, I feel really weak. Not as weak as I was out there, the magics filling me up again I suppose, but…" he shrugged.
He watched while Lily bit her lip then asked, "Do you think you could apparate again?"
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