Ch.3 Surviving The Underground

[Atom’s POV]

I was laying on the floor as dust started to settle on the ground, however something felt a bit… off. There was something on top of me, as if protecting me from the rubble as it was falling. I felt the weight lifting off of me as I opened my eyes. “So the prince finally awakens” was the first thing I heard as I looked up to see a tall figure that was a little taller than me. “Tidus…? Is that you?”

“It’s been a long while, hasn’t it Atom?”

“It has been…”

He looked at me as I got up from the ground, curiosity in his eyes. “You really are as unique as ever, aren’t you? Such a beautiful thing from up above, where it’s cold and snowy, it’s nice to see that you’re still kicking” he said with a chuckle. I couldn’t tell if he was joking around or trying to flirt with me, however I gave him a look with a scowl on my face before I walked towards the blocked entrance, large pieces of rock and earth in front of us. We could hear voices coming from the other side, and my first instinct was to try and find a way out that would be short and simple, but there was nothing. No small opening, no weak points, no nothing. “Are you two ok?!” I yelled, hoping that the other two could hear me.

“We’re fine, but what about you? Are you okay?!” Phantom asked, distress in her voice as she spoke, it sounded like she was on the verge of tears. “Father, can you hear me?” Tidus asked, his eyes narrowed slightly as he looked at what was ahead of us. “I can hear you, do not worry my child” the Dr replied, before Tidus spoke again. “I want you to take those two back to mother using the route that we used before this incident occurred, and I’ll take Atom with me using a different way to get back to mother” there was a bit of silence before we heard a response from Dr.Rutile who agreed to such a plan, telling us to be careful before leaving with Phantom and Spectre.

“What was the point of that?” I asked Tidus, wondering why he didn’t try to dig around the rubble or even let his father do it. Clayfoxes were known for being creatures that could burrow and dig into the underground, it’s how they survived for so long. “I’d rather not risk having mother become a widow, nor would I risk leaving her without a son if the surrounding area is becoming too fragile to hold itself together.” He had a point there about the stability of this part of the cave being fragile. “Now then, follow me” was all he said before moving deeper into the tunnel that we were in. 

We took all sorts of different turns to get through certain tunnels in order to reach our destination, yet it was all so confusing and complicated to me. Granted, Tidus surely knew everything about the cave and tunnel systems that were in the underground, making it easy for him to get around. He had grown up in a maze such as this one, so the chances of getting lost were low, yet never zero.

“How long do you think we’ll be before we get there?” I asked him, stopping for a moment. “It’s not too far away, I promise you. Why? Are you hurt?” He asked, gesturing to my right hind leg. “I don’t like walking too long, ever since I’ve gained a limp and these scars it’s been a pain to travel sometimes, as my leg never fully healed properly over the last few weeks.” He smiled softly as he sat down in front of me. I wasn’t sure if he was taking pity on me or what, but he told me to rest for a little bit. 

“Tell me, what have you been doing all this time, for all these years?”

“I’ve been trying to stay on my feet, to stay alive— or as alive as I can really be… since having my head removed from my body and then reattached to it, my sanity suffers from time to time now…”

“Surely that wasn’t anything naturally occurring, right? One can’t simply have their head removed and then once it’s back on, have their sanity become unstable!”

“I’m convinced that something or someone has done something to me….”

“Atom… something has happened to you, but I fear it is tied to an old story that my grandmother used to tell me”

“Some say that revival leads to more hassle than what it’s worth, and in fact, so does immortality. It is nothing more than a cursed cycle that a few are forced to endure.”

“And what of your friends? Do they too possess the curse that the ‘Administrator’ has bestowed upon us? Because if they do then I worry for them for the worst, especially if it has done anything to them similarly to what it has done to you”

“The ‘Administrator’ hasn’t been seen in decades, besides, it’s nothing but a myth at this point”

He looked at me, his expression being one of uncertainty, however he didn’t disagree with my point, but he suggested that we start moving again due to him feeling uneasy about our surroundings. “Once we find mother, I'll ask her to look at your leg for you, maybe your neck as well” he said as he got up again, his tail dragged against the floor a little bit as he moved, maintaining a form of elegance in the process. “Why prioritise me? Why not the other two? Why do this for me?” He looked at me, not saying a word for a little while before he spoke again “they’re more than likely being looked at right now, and as far as I’m concerned, you need to be looked at properly.” He had me there, so I couldn’t argue with him, as I hadn’t really considered meeting up with any doctors back at the port to be checked up on, due to being too stubborn and afraid of being too close to anyone that I wasn’t familiar with. “Fine, you got me there”

After a bit more walking we came to a waterfall. It was really beautiful to look at. “Tell me, can you swim?”

“I beg your pardon?”

“Can you swim?”

“I can, why do you ask? And why do you have that smug look on your face?!”

“Oh, no reason~ it’s just that… you’ll need to swim a little to get home”

I stared at his smug face before he pushed me in, the little (not so little) shit. He started laughing after pulling that stunt. “You know I can always give you a shock when you jump into the water, see who’s laughing then” this was an empty threat, however he took me seriously after he stopped laughing. His reaction gave me a small chuckle, the look on his face was priceless. It took him a bit to process that I wasn’t being serious about what I said before he jumped in. “So where to now?” I asked, looking at him as he answered with “just follow me, and you’ll be fine, I promise” and that’s all he said before leading the way.