Chapter 64 All According To Plan IV

"Right. It's even more strange that you even believe what I just said."

"Yes… Wait, what?"

Zio chuckled.

"I'm just kidding. But seriously, this monument is not just a random architecture in the ruins. It holds important information."

"Information about what?"

"About the ruin. The origin of this place, which civilization that built it, and about what lies within."

Lux furrowed his eyebrows.

"I thought that the ruins are just a place containing treasures… something like dungeons."

Zio shrugged. "That's what people said. They're too greedy to care about something like this."

He walked away from the monument.

"Anyway, we're not here to talk about that. Let's hurry and find Lumi," said Zio as he looked around. "There should be something around here. Lux, let's search the area."

As they rummaged around the place, searching for anything that would lead or give them clues about Lumi's whereabouts, the silence and humidity began to shroud them.

Luckily, they wore warm and thick clothes so this much cold was nothing from the one on the outside.

Eventually, after some searching, one of them, Zio found a mechanical switch on the broken pillar. He already knew about the small and camouflaging switch, but just as earlier with the direction, he pretended not to know about it.

As he turned the switch, the ruin began to rumble and floors shifted on the ground, revealing the narrow staircases leading downward.

"What's going on?!"

Lux who was startled by the crumbling sound, ran toward Zio who was standing in front of the hidden path.

"I sense a trace of mana down there…" Lux said as soon as he examined the staircases.

"Really?"

"Yes. I think this is the place where the mysterious man who took Lumi might have gone."

Nodding at each other, they began to descend the stairs.

…

The room was so small that the girl couldn't even stretch her arms out without hitting the walls. It was so narrow that she couldn't take more than a couple of steps in any direction. And it was so dark that she couldn't see anything beyond the outline of her own body.

Lumi was trapped, and the walls were closing in on her.

'Why did this have to happen to me? Why did I have to be trapped in here? How long was it since I was trapped here? I can't breathe. I can't see anything. I'm so scared.'

She tried to take deep breaths to calm herself down, but it only made her feel more panicked. She began to imagine all sorts of terrible things that could happen to her in this room.

She tried to feel her way around the room, but her fingers found only smooth, unyielding walls.

'What if the walls keep closing in until there's no space left? What if the air runs out and I can't breathe anymore? What if I'm stuck here forever?'

The more she thought about it, the more her fear grew. She felt trapped and alone, with no hope of escape.

'I can't do this. I need to get out of here. Someone has to hear me. Why isn't anyone coming to help?'

"Zio?! Lux?! Anyone?! Help me, I'm here!!"

She called out for help, but her voice echoed back at her mockingly. She tried to calm herself down, but the fear was too great.

Crying and screaming, hoping that someone, anyone, would hear her and come to her rescue.

"Please, someone, help me."

Tears streamed down her face as she realized that she might be trapped in this room forever.

"I don't want to be in here anymore! I don't want to be alone again!"

She pounded her fists against the walls, screaming until her throat was raw, but no one came to save her.

"Please, please, please."

She was alone in the darkness, with nothing but fear for company.

No one answered her pleas, only the sound of her own cries echoing back at her.

Hopeless and helpless, that was what she felt. No way out of her situation, that was what she thought.

"Anyone… please… hic…"

As her consciousness was about to leave her body, she felt the floors and walls shaking.

Then, voices started to fill her head. She was holding to those voices in her head, the only hope she had to maintain her consciousness. She wanted to know her fate, she wanted to know what and whose voices were those.

If they were only hallucinations, then so be it. But if they were the voices of her savior, she wanted to know who were they. She wanted to make sure that if she survived she could pay back her debts to her savior, her hero.

"...i!"

",,,mi!"

"...umi!!"

"Lumi!!!"

As the blur voices started to become clearer, Lumi felt relieved.

She recognized those voices, and they were real.

She knew that she wasn't alone anymore, that someone was finally there to save her. The voices were calling her name, and she could hear footsteps approaching.

But, she was too tired to mutter any strength to call them. She could only hope that they could be faster to save her.

The shaking of the floor and walls grew stronger, and suddenly, a small opening appeared in the wall in front of her.

A hand reached in and grabbed her, pulling her out of the room.

"Lumi! Are you okay?"

It was Zio's voice, so calm and reassuring.

She tried to open her eyes, but everything was still blurry. She felt someone's hands on her shoulders.

"Zio…?"

"Yes. It's me. Glad you're safe…" said Zio, his expression somewhat looked guilty, but no one noticed it.

Lumi lifted her face, she wanted to see her savior's face, Zio's face.

Though blurry, she caught a glimpse of Zio's face, but it wasn't the face that she felt familiar with. But rather a face that would give her a nightmare.

For a moment, the image of Zio's face was distorted, changing to that of her abductor's face. Jet-black hair and blue eyes, wearing old-fashion clothes and a monocle.

Because she was too tired at that time, she couldn't get more surprised as she saw that. Before she lost consciousness, she said.

"Why…did you trap me…there?"

With that words being spoken, she fell into a deep slumber.

"Huh?"

Zio and Lux, were both of them surprised at Lumi's words.

Of course, the reasons they were surprised were different from each other.