66 Hidden

Half an hour passed after the explosion. Jet's group was almost buried alive. Luckily, they made it in time before the entrance collapsed. Enyo found Dash unconscious near the rubble at the entrance. His injury wasn't life-threatening but lost a lot of blood. Luckily, they have the new medicine from the Lab (*ehem* diluted water from space) which stabilizes his condition for now.

Still no signal and no response from the other side, so they start digging. Unblock at least some of the debris large enough to pass through.

༄༄༄༄

Bella threw two glow sticks on the bridge and below to see how deep the trench was. The light disappeared, but there's no sound, like a bottomless abyss. Still thinking about how to cross the broken bridge when "Booom!" Looking back at the tunnel, sounds of falling rocks coming. Getting the grappling hook guns from space, they shot between the rocks above the ceiling. As soon as they jumped, the tunnel behind them collapsed.

But Dean's hook wasn't stable till it 'snapped!'. "Dean!!!! Noooooo!!!!" Without a second thought, she jumped with him. Dean was shocked but his reaction was fast and was about to shoot another hook from his arm when he saw Bella jump. His heart stopped! It won't support both of them but decided to do it as soon as he embraces her.

Darkness surrounds them while the only light left on the broken bridge slowly dims as they fall. He tried to reach out in fear that he wouldn't see her anymore. Then he's blinded by the abrupt light and fell on something soft. There's a pain in his chest when something falls on top of him. Covered his eyes, blinked to adjust his sight, and then the familiar scent calmed him down. Embracing her, relieved that they're fine. "Wife, please don't do that again."

She crawled up from his chest, looking straight at him with an angry face. Dean was afraid and wiped her tears. "I'm sorry baby, I'm so sorry, what's wrong? Don't worry, we will get out of here. Please don't cry anymore."

Her face is red from anger. She was so scared when he fell. At that moment, it felt like a part of her would disappear and if it's gone, it's also her end. Her mind went blank for a second and, without thinking, she jumped. Darkness swallowed both of them and fear crawled in her heart. 'No, I'm not gonna lose you!' Then both of them fell on the soft bed. Without realizing the impact, she fell on top of him. And now, telling her not to do that anymore? Not to save him? Is he kidding? Realizing he might have hurt him from the fall, she kissed him, roughly venting her frustration. Tears are still falling on her face.

He responded to her kiss, but when he saw her crying, he stopped reluctantly. "Baby, I'm sorry, what did I do?"

Looking at his worried face. "I don't regret it, I will do it all over again."

"No baby, if something like this happens in the future, you must save your life first, remember that."

"You b******! How could you say that! Do you think your life isn't important? Don't say that ever again! I don't know what I would do If….If....Iff…..huhuhuhuhu….you selfish m****!" Dean is surprised to hear her swear because he never saw her like this. Although he's angry she risked her life, it's not a happy moment, but this side of her is kinda cute. How can he coax her? She's really upset. (*ehem* you'll get beaten if she knew what ur thinkin)

Feeling helpless, his anger vanished because he also understood that both of them cherished each other. It makes him gratified but also scared of losing her because it's the same for her. No matter what he says, she won't listen. Protecting each other is what lovers do, but he wants to do more. He promised himself that it won't happen again.

Worried about the team's safety, they discuss the escape plan. The last time the space was upgraded, there's visual and sound of what's happening outside, like a 360 degree view. It's pitch black, so she threw glow sticks around hitting the rocky wall. In that direction, using a smaller grappling hook, she shot upward and attached a portable camping light on the end, illuminating the surrounding area. It's the place where they entered the space. Although she can move up 15 meters above, it is unknown how far they've fallen.

"Look, do you see that?" She pointed downwards. He tried to see, but it wasn't clear until she threw another glow stick and fell at the edge, revealing the entrance. It was like a tunnel.

They move at the opening wearing a gas mask, holding guns and flashlights. Dean was in front of her, blocking whatever traps, surprises may come, or maybe an unmapped exit.

The tunnel's entry is so small that they had to crawl at the beginning. After a while, it slowly expands until it's 7 ft. high and 3 meters wide where they can walk normally. The stone walls were damp and the floor was muddy. On her watch, it's an hour's walk till they reach a spacious area, filled with stalactites and stalagmites. At the center is a small pool of water, clear enough to see the rocks at the bottom, but looking further is darker.

While they explored, a pair of green eyes in the dark were observing them. Neither of them noticed even Dean, who has top-notch skills. She took the gloves and test tubes out of thin air. The eyes gleam with surprise, curiosity, but also nervousness. At the same time, Bella was closing a tube filled with water from the pool when both of them felt a slight fluctuation in the air. In seconds, the tubes and gloves were thrown in space and both the guns pointed at the dark corner at the edge of the pool. With so many weird things happening, nothing should surprise them anymore, but seeing glowing green eyes still felt creepy. Dean was nervous and upset, but it doesn't give a murderous feeling. Maybe, for this reason, they felt nothing.

It seemed curious, blinking, being blinded by the light. They didn't feel threatened. So they slowly lowered the light a little bit downward. The curious eyes appear to be content, smiling now, showing its white teeth. Its invisible body slowly appears like a mirage, from its tattered shoes to its dirty pants and long jacket up to its muddy hands hanging upwards until the soiled face is visible.

" I….come...in...peace!" in a robotic way….

"...."

" I….I...come...in...peace?" seemed to be trembling. He regretted it a little, maybe he should have observed more. He thought that the human's idiom, curiosity kills the cat. And he's the f*****g cat! His instinct kicked in when he sensed her aura. Although the man has the energy of both life and death, the girl has a faint breath similar to his friend. Being trapped here made him gamble. Although he has invisibility, it can't be maintained for long. Without a source of energy, as years passed, his ability weakened. When he was ready to disappear….

"Puff!" Bella couldn't help laughing. Her tense nerves eased a lot and dropped her gun. Looking at the trembling guy, similar to a muddy frog….Dean still has his gun pointed at him but not tense anymore.

"Sorry, did I scare you?" Shyly rubbing his muddy hand to his neck.

"A little." Smiling but still holding the gun. "Who are you? Do you live here?"

With this, he already knew they weren't with the bad guys. Because they would have shot already instead of asking.

"Yes, we live above but we were forced to stay here in this tunnel for months." He has no idea how long they've been trapped.

"We?"

"Yes, me and my friends." Dean's eyes swept through the cave and didn't see any opening or other presence aside from the three of them.

He seemed to see their curiosity. "They're in a safe place for now."

"Are they here for you?" Dean's deep magnetic voice brings a chill. But he still answered without fear. Different from the trembling, comical guy before.

"Yes."

"Why?" They felt a slight change from the surroundings. The same feeling when she's about to enter her space. She had a hunch but didn't hastily move. "Did you k...did you commit a crime?"

"Kinda." ' I'm a traitor.' His eyes dropped, looking at the floor with extreme sadness that even Dean could sense. She can't explain why she feels sympathy even though it's the first time they met. The gun was kept in her thigh holster.

"Are you also here…." 'To catch us?' Although he already knew the answer, he asked anyway to ease the conversation.

"No, the cave collapsed, we had no choice but to go forward and find another way out." Not waiting for his sentence to finish. There was no murderous feeling, plus she can easily throw him in space just in case.

While exploring the space the other day, she accidentally discovered ten white 50 x 50 sq. meter rooms without windows or doors. It was near the 'time room' under the waterfall, which was visible only to her. Living things can survive, but no one can enter without her permission. It's basically another separate space in her domain ideal to trap dangerous animals or beings without exposing Celestia.

"There's no exit in this tunnel." They looked at him intently. He felt nervous again.

"But can we look for it together?"

Dean clenches his teeth. "We can look for it ourselves."

"Please, take me with you!"

"No." Dean said firmly.

"I….I can help! I can turn invisible!"

"So?"

"I can throw bricks!" A red brick appeared in his hand….