“It’s so big…” Terra spoke, looking up into a distance that the imager didn’t reach.
“We need to be careful from here on out.”
“I apologize for freaking out about the fake tunnel worm.”
“Let’s forget the tunnel worm! As I said, there are a lot of dangers in the deep. On the surface, mana is mostly dispersed so we don’t get many powerful monsters, but down here the mana is allowed to congregate.”
“Didn’t you say there were a lot of dungeons down here? Wouldn’t they eat all of that mana?”
“They do… but because of the high pressure and potential seismic events, dungeons will also collapse and be destroyed if they grow too big or act too recklessly. That causes all of that miasma to explode out. That’s not even mentioning the monsters that escape the dungeons and are free to procreate and expand unhindered.”
“It’s dangerous. I got it.” Terra responded. “I’ll try to keep a scout by feeling for vibrations.”
“Even so, can you even feel the ceiling? Anything could drop down on top of us at any time.”
“I-I can’t! I thought I’d be glad to be in a spacious area. I’m suddenly missing the claustrophobic corridors. This is somehow worse.”
“I’m just trying to keep us safe. I promised I’d bring you down here and get you back. If I failed, Master would be angry. We’ll be fine. Just stay aware.”
“I never thought I’d say this, but I’m suddenly missing Celeste. Her ability to feel air vibrations would be really useful. Then again, Lydia’s scouting and leadership, Miki’s ability to calm the people around her… heh, even Shao can see in the dark and isn’t scared of anything.”
“You’re really good friends, aren’t you…”
“We have to be, Master is-“
“There is something wrong.” Garnet frowned. “This has been far too quiet.”
“Something in the darkness… it sounds like footsteps.”
“Are we being followed?”
The images were starting to break down. Occasional distorted images and voices appeared. I leaned closer. This was getting toward the end. This was the point where I found out what happened to them.
“I’m not leaving you…”
Although the recording supposedly took a 3D image and wouldn’t be a victim of shaky came or darkness, the image was still strangely obscured. The girls appeared blurry and blotched out. Their voices sounded like they were coming through water. I could hear the panic and fear in their voices.
Terra was alone. Garnet was missing. She was curled up in a fetal position.
“Master… I’m going to send this up through a vent. If it somehow reaches you…” She swallowed hard. “I’m sorry… we should have told you about the risks before coming. We should have turned back when the bond broke. We should have…
“Please, listen carefully. There is something down here. The Deep Dwarves…” The sound and image flickered and for a second, I feared losing the whole message before her face returned. “Don’t come down. Don’t come to find us. It’s already too late. Ah… what’s that… no… it’s coming… no! No!”
The image flickered out. There were no more memories.