Unexpected Meeting

"Ahhhh!!!!" screamed Lila as they descended lower into the crust of the earth.

"Stay calm!" Keienia commanded with a glare.

Lila clapped her hand to her mouth (or tried to, but the pressure of the drop was uncontrollable). "Oops."

As they dropped, the two girls could feel their surroundings becoming warmer and warmer. "Are we heading to lava?!" Lila cried anxiously.

Keienia glanced down. The bottom was miles away. "From what I can see, no."

"But why did we have to jump in?!"

"Believe me, something much better than magma is down there." Keienia clenched her teeth.

"Wait, isn't magma the stuff that comes out of a volcano and then becomes lava? WE'RE ACTUALLY HEADING FOR MAGMA OR LAVA??!" shrieked Lila.

"Not directly, but yes."

"Ahhhh!!!!" Lila repeated. "Eek!"

"STAY. CALM."

"Oof!" Lila landed on a hard floor.

"Where are we?" she exclaimed, her voice echoing. She glanced around and realized Keienia wasn't there. "Um..."

She stood up and inspected her surroundings carefully. On her right and front, there were solid walls made of—clay? And behind her... Lila turned around. There was a tunnel, leading to pitch darkness. To her left, there also was something different. Though it was also a clay wall, there was a tarnished painting, hanging on a thin wooden bar (the bar was stuck in the walls beside the painting). From far away, it seemed like the painting was a dark and gloomy painting. But when Lila stepped closer and squinted... the design was revealed.

There was a girl on the left, with black hair. Her hands were placed on a dark brown wall, as if trying to find something by merely feeling around.

Her gaze drifted to another girl, on the right, looking at a painting. The girl on the right had shoulder length brown hair, a pale. yellow shirt and a white sweater, and a dark skirt. "Uh..." Lila realized something. The girl on the right was looking at the same painting Lila now stood in front of. The girl was—her.

"But wait... then is the girl on the left Keienia? And those 2 openings above them..." Then Lila realized how she ended up being where she was.

It was like this:

Near the bottom of the abyss, the one crack led to 2 tunnels leading to different ­­ caverns. Lila had fallen into the cave to the right, while Keienia had gone into the left. Both sides had the same piece of art, the picture of them currently.

"Wait... those tunnels... they seem to lead to the same place. That means..." She didn't finish her sentence but rushed into the dark tunnel.

Lila lit up her wristwatch and turned around in circles.

"Who's there?!" said an alarmed voice. Lila snapped around. The one who had spoken was a young woman, a few years older than Lila.

"Is that you, Keienia?"

"Is this Keienia your friend?"

"Yes...?"

"Last time you saw her, was she in that room?" The woman jerked her head towards the tunnel leading to the cave on the left.

"What day did you see her?"

"Day? Day? I've been stuck in her for weeks!! I've lost count! How many days were you unconscious? Are you not hungry at all right now?"

"Oh, um, I didn't know I was unconscious..." Lila checked her watch. "Wait... was I unconscious for three days?! And why am I feeling so full?"

The woman sighed. "Don't ask me. I can't keep track of time."

"Oh. Um..."

"Describe this Keienia and I might be able to tell you."

"... and long black hair." Lila finished.

The woman furrowed her brows. "Yeah, I saw her. She went down that tunnel earlier. And by earlier, I mean..."

"Just now. Thanks. I'll be on my way."

"One more thing before you go!" the woman shouted, blocking Lila's path. "Whatever you do, don't. Ever. Get. Lost."

"Umm... got it. Bye."

"Bye. I do hope I will meet another being someday."

"Wait—" Lila started. "What's your name? I'm Lila."

The woman froze. She stuttered, "Well—I suppose I've forgotten."

"Would you like to come with me?"

The woman thought for a moment. "I suppose I don't have any problem with that... I will."

They arrived at a fork in the tunnel. "Which way?" asked Lila.

The mysterious woman pursed her lips. "Don't know. Didn't see where this Keienia went after she passed me. Wait—I just remembered. I had a communication device with my partner until something happened and we couldn't hear each other anymore. We can split up and still be able to communicate."

"Yeah, but we need two."

"We each had two, for backup."

"Cool."

"They're in my pocket still." The woman fished out two queer communication devices and handed one to Lila.

"So... they're already paired?"

"No, not yet. Number?"

"Uh..." Lila fumbled around with the small object. "3901849."

"Ok... 6185203." The woman hooked the earpiece to her ear and bent the microphone into the right shape. Lila did the same.

"Wait... how come these things still have battery?"

"I honestly don't know. Maybe because this whole place is swarming with electricity. Especially in the tunnels."

As she walked down the tunnel on the right and inspected it from the left wall to the right, Lila suddenly heard her companion shout out. "What did you find?" she asked anxiously.

"Something."

"I'm coming over."

"Alright."

"There! It glows faintly!" The woman pointed to an object on the ground a few feet ahead of them.

Lila walked over and tilted her head down. She raised one eyebrow. "Maybe an insect, I think.

The woman suggested, "A firefly glows."

"No, no, no, it's definitely not a firefly."

Suddenly, someone said, "Who's there?!"

Lila and the woman were shocked. "What?" Lila said. Then she noticed the voice was from the weird glowing thing.

The woman noticed it too. She recognized the voice immediately. "Arya, right...?" she said, kneeling and picking up the device on the ground.

"Everly?! Where are you?!"

The woman was silent for a moment. Then she spoke up to the microphone, "Walk a bit from the caves, remember the fork? I'm in the right tunnel."

Arya said, "Oh, how come I forgot? I obviously didn't leave the device somewhere else."

"Where are you?"

Arya sighed and replied, "I honestly don't know. These tunnels are winding everywhere! I can't memorize which turns I took!"

"I have an idea. Scream as loud as you can repeatedly."

Arya did. Her scream echoed around the maze of tunnels.

Everly walked down the right tunnel with Lila following her closely and they soon found a tunnel leading to the left of the right tunnel. In that tunnel, there were three paths to choose. Everly listened carefully. Arya's scream seemed to be coming from the path on the very right.

As they approached another cross about 20 minutes later, with the paths all winding in confusing spirals, the screaming stopped.

"We're at the spirals!" Everly shouted. "Now where?"

"You're nearly there!" Arya called in a hoarse voice. "My throat is getting sore from screaming. The one in the middle leads to a room that leads to a tunnel winding through the other spirals. That tunnel leads to another room."

When they entered the middle spiral...

"Lila! There you are!"

Lila stopped. "Keienia?"

"Yes, I'm Keienia."

Lila laughed delightfully. "There you are!"

"Lila, what was all that chaos about earlier?"

"Well..." Lila paused. "First can I ask something?"

"Sure."

"Did you see the woman in the passages, or did you not?"

"I didn't see anyone there."

"So... she saw you; you didn't see her?"

"I think so."

"Oh, and by the way, is there an exit??!"