95 Hell Built Upon Heaven (1/2)
”Are you sure we're heading the right way?” said Reed as he cautiously inspected his dimly-lit surroundings. ”…Needless to say, this is not what I'd expected. I thought they'd be kept in a hidden safe-house, or tightly guarded secret manor. Something relatively normal, for heaven's sake…”
A man-made hell — there was no better way to describe it.
”Surely you jest, Ka'an. Has anything we've been through ever been normal? Do you really think that the word 'normal' can even apply to us?”
The hidden tunnel system they'd been traversing through was supposedly connected to Xibalba itself. It'd been a secret escape route that a couple of high-ranking officials had created just in case of an emergency.
Unfortunately for them, it'd been discovered before they'd ever get the opportunity to even use it. Ironically, the escape route ended up damning them.
It'd been the extermination squads who'd benefited from the escape route in the end. They'd used it to infiltrate the facility undetected during their assault, to great success…
Reed scratched his head and said, ”…I guess not.”
Normal people don't go looking for trouble — they stay home and take care of their families.
They don't go on daring rescue missions and they sure as hell do not infiltrate abandoned, top-secret research facilities.
No, normal people hear about crazy fools who do that kind of insane stuff on the evening news. That's what normal people do.
Eventually, they'd reached the hidden entrance spending an hour trekking through the old tunnel system. The ancient gate loomed over the pair as they stared at it in contemplation.
Reed stroked his chin and said, ”As always, Mulian technology never ceases to impress. Isn't this more than five thousand years old, at a minimum? Just look at the damn thing!”
It hasn't rusted a single bit despite having been down here in this damp, humid cave for more than five millenniums. The damn door is older than everyone on this continent and it still hasn't worn down in the slightest…
”You think there's such a thing as building something too well?” said Reed. He put one of his ears on the giant door, gave it a couple hard knocks and said, ”It's thick as hell, too. I think we might have a problem…”
Sure, they could blast the door open easily — that wasn't an issue — but it was too dangerous. If they put too much strength into the attack, there was a good chance it'd collapse the tunnel. And even if it didn't, the destructive blast would likely end up alerting their enemies…
This is going to require some finesse. We can't just—
His thought process was suddenly cut short by something truly astounding. It'd been so shocking that it'd caught him completely off guard.
She had opened the door.
In fact, she had not used Anima at all. That was the scariest part.
She'd opened the sealed door with her bare hands. She'd pushed it open without the assistance of Anima, using only her raw, physical strength.
The sealed door — which weighed several tons — had been effortlessly bent open by Lu'um in less than a minute. She forcibly bent the enormous, metal door open as if it were made of dough.
Reed stared at the elegant, fair maiden who had abused the sealed door in disbelief and wondered if he'd finally lost his marbles.
Lu'um raised one of her eyebrows and said, ”What? Never seen someone open a door before, Ka'an?”
”.........…No.”
Reed felt as if he'd seen something he shouldn't have. From that day forth, Reed would always stare at Lu'um in a different, slightly more respectful light, much to her confusion...
Xibalba ended up being everything Reed had expected and more. The entire place reeked of a particular stench that he couldn't put his finger on. It was a mixture of something godawful that he'd smelled before.