All Crumbling Down

Ryō jerked awake as the ground shook fiercely, and Mizuki sat leaned up against the trunk of tree behind him, still in the same position as he was before Ryō felt his eyes fail him. His friend's fingers twitched lightly around the pipe within his grasp and slotted delicately between his mouth. Violet smoke trailed upwards from as he breathed, swirling contentedly while the Earth broke into chaos. His eye tilted upwards to stare at the disappearing moon once again, the once yellow melting into molten amber. Ryō could feel a pressure in the air around him and glanced sideways at his position, knowing that whatever Mizuki had felt was enough to make him release his own energy. It felt heavy. He snapped his head to the East of their area, mask immediately covering his face and hands hanging limply over his weapons. There was a searching force beyond the treeline and Ryō now knew the reason behind the sudden show of force. His forest green hues narrowed into slits as he felt the tell-tale brush of darkness sweep across his own dormant power. It flared, as hot as the sun, and the feeling receded back into the forest. It was almost time.

The crawl through the opening had been an especially tight squeeze for Evelyn. She'd sucked about all she could in and wiggled her way between the broken rocks, getting stuck about halfway and needing her brother to gently nudge her through. Her fingers shook in anticipation as she shone a flashlight into the darkened space and Michael followed closely behind with his hand on the back of her left shoulder. There had been some commotion from Takao once the shaking had settled, and he'd disagreed vehemently about the twins entering such a hazardous area due to the seismic activity still going on. However, he reluctantly gave up when the brunette woman stubbornly set her foot down and argued that their efforts would have been wasted if it collapsed again. He had hoped that glancing at Michael would have hinted for him to step in, but all he saw was an apologetic grimace instead.

They ventured further into the cavern-like structure, noting with amazement that the walls surrounding them were set in a circle and decorated with beautiful depictions of lords, ladies and once again, strangely mythical figures. At the opposite end of the barricaded wall was a small shrine, also elegantly decorated with vibrant golds, yellows and reds. Evelyn's blue gaze drew instantly towards a delicate object lying in the center of a low to the ground pedestal and she beamed at her brother while tugging his arm to look.

"Takao, can you hear me?!" Her voice echoed strongly and through their temporary entrance. Their Japanese friend called back with a 'yes' that seemed to sound so distant and light. "There's something in here! You should really see this!" Michael smiled lovingly at his sister as she recounted what they'd briefly come across in the darkness of their discovery. He felt a slight tremor beneath his feet and the smile dropped as his anxiousness tripled with every tiny wobble. He could feel his nerves fray and tip in both happiness and fear. The fear amplified when he thought back to the devastation their parents suffered and compared it to the very precarious situation the both of them were in now. He grabbed Evelyn's shoulder firmly, speaking in a quiet voice so the others outside would not hear.

"Make it quick, Evi. I don't like the feeling I'm getting the longer we stay here...I can feel that something bad is going to happen if we don't move." Her eyes flickered with disappointment.

"But look! Look at all of this! What if tomorrow it all disappears?!" Her voice came out a little panicky, frantic even and he shook his head slowly.

"It's a risk we have to take," a sigh "look Evelyn, do you want to have a life or lose a life? All I'm saying is history must [not] repeat itself. You already saw what happened when we broke through...think, girl." She sobered up almost instantly and Michael could see the clarity shine in her eyes as she realised what he was referring to. With some hesitation, she took one look around her and nodded her head in acquiescence.

"You're right..." a lump formed in her throat, and he watched her swallow heavily with regret. "Let's get out of here before there's another quake."

He was happy to hear that while she was reluctant to leave, she knew the difference between life and death. He breathed a quiet sight of relief and steered her slowly back the way they came. Another tremor rumbled beneath them, and he could hear Takao's voice shouting through the passage.

"You two need to get out! Now!" There was an immediate urgency to his tone that brought both siblings to glance at each other quickly before hurrying to the hole. They could see Kurt, Takao and a few other people outside and their faces all displayed varying ranges of panic. It was at that moment that Michael knew that the feeling he'd seen across Evelyn's face before they entered was justified, a gut reaction that was never wrong. The trembling started again, this time in small increments that got closer and closer together until both brother and sister had to grab the wall for support. Evelyn snatched her brother's hand tightly and squeezed, fear beginning to bubble up to the surface as she tried to drag the both of them closer to their only exit point. Come on! Her mind screamed at her for being so naive the think nothing would happen so soon after an earthquake. Stupid! Stupid! Stupid! They finally reached the opening in the door, but it wasn't enough. Time wasn't kind. Michael saw it coming before Evelyn had chance to react. There was a strong shake and Evelyn felt like she'd stepped onto a bouncy castle made of jelly as her legs lost balance and caused her to vault forwards towards solid rock. He yanked her by her arm, making a sharp cry of pain erupt from between her lips as her bones creaked and muscles burned savagely in response to their rough treatment. He dragged her close and encased her in his arms while stumbling on two knees to the floor with a grunt. It's too late… he thought grimly. The shaking got stronger, persisted even as the cries of their team got louder to combat the force that nature was throwing at them, and he let out a small, pained whine as he realised that they were being buried alive. He could no longer focus on the voices beyond the wall and focused solely on protecting his sister as she whimpered in pain from his rough treatment. He felt guilt and sadness all at once crash through his system and fought through the haze of emotions until all that was left was the sound of crumbling rock all around them.