Zenosyne

Chapter 35

Which really peeved him.

The rest of the car ride oddly enough was mostly silent, only really small conversation now between yourself, Speedwagon and the driver. Both Joseph and Caesar were checked out entirely, deciding amongst themselves to look out the window, at least until the car pulled to a stop and everyone was led before some weird looking face. . .rock?

Watching the escort trail forward and push open the weird doorway you clicked your tongue, "Weird looking entrance to me." Joseph nodded right away in agreement while Caesar merely let out a faint laugh in response to the entrance.

"The famous Mouth of Truth was a secret entrance all this time?!" As if coming to that realization now Speedwagon's brows raised in surprise, his eyes lingered across the opening watching as the german soldier motioned inwards.

Trailing down the stairs slowly but surely your eyes lingered on the carvings that decorated the walls, many of them were soldiers fighting one another while others were depicted carrying shields.

"Caesar, have you tried Hamon on the sleeping Pillar Men?" Asking that while walking beside the blond, Speedwagon tucked his hands into his pockets.

Raising a hand Caesar let out a faint huff, "Hamon is only useful on the living. It has no effect on stone. It won't work unless they are awake."

"Hey, where are the guards that are supposed to be here?!" Bringing something to the group's attention as everyone came upon the last step Joseph raised a hand trying to see farther into the darkened tunnels. "No one's here! It's too quiet!"

"And Dark!? If the Pillar Men are sensitive to light then why's it so dark?" Pointing that out as well, you lingered closer towards the side of the group, your own eyes struggled to adjust to the lack of light.

"T-This isn't right. There should be a guard posted here." Stiffly stating that the soldier kept his lamp held up into the air.

Moving to part from the group Joseph let out a yell, the sole of his shoe fell into something squishy. "Woah! Hey, I just stepped in something! It's the grossest feeling ever! What the heck-" "Joseph please-Stop making so much nois-" A noise of surprise left you and the brunette as the lamp was shown over showing about a dozen or so drained corpses.

"Th-They're...! Th-they're all dead! No way!" The man let out a scream in despair before tossing the light he held and running off.

"Hey, Dutch! Don't run off! Something's out there!" Extending a hand as if to stop the man from running off Joseph stared off towards where the man was running, three large figures stood before him. "Wh-What is that?!"

"This can't be! Th-they're-" "The Pillar Men!" Completing what Speedwagon was saying, your eyes traced the large forms of three men, the lack of light barely allowed you to see anything apart from that they were very large in stature.

"Get out of there, Mark!" Caesar's warning went unheard as one of the Pillar Men brushed against Mark, the poor man now only half began bleeding out falling to the ground. Catching him Caesar called the man's name once more.

Staring at the three men in shock at what had just happened your eyes bounced from where Caesar was towards the Pillar Men, a choice was then quickly made after to slip around your group making your way around towards the trio, just close enough to hear what they were talking about.

You knew there was no chance you'd win a fight against the three of them so the least you could do at the moment was get some sort of intel.

Watching one of the three kneel down before the others you figured this one must've been of a lower status than the other two, his name from what you could faintly hear was Wamuu while the one with a scarf wrapped around his head was referred to as Lord Kars.

Leaning more from the wall you'd been using to blend in, you'd gathered that they were looking for some sort of stone, the Red Stone of Aja from what they called it. A stone mask was revealed to have been held by the unnamed one of the group, although unlike how you remembered them, this one had a space in it's forehead.

Esidisi, the name of the one holding the mask. This new information now courtesy of Wamuu, who continued to brief the two on how much the outside world has changed. The whole conversation revolved around finding the stone and even after watching Wamuu briefly attack the supposed Lord did you begin shifting in place trying to move back where your companions were.

"You bastards! Don't turn your backs on me!" Right as the three Pillar Men began walking off you could hear Caesar yell out, his voice clearly portrayed the need to avenge his friend while a loud clap followed. "Time to face my Hamon Bubble Launcher!" A flurry of bubbles flew through the air towards the trio and from your own experience you knew they could pack quite the punch."You're surrounded by my bubbles, Here's the bombardment!"

Wamuu, who remained calm throughout the whole ordeal, simply flicked his head in response. What seemed to have been small blades that hung from his headpiece whipped up at the nearby air creating a snowball effect that'd popped all the bubbles within the vicinity.

Realizing that these men must've been familiar with the knowledge of hamon an unsettling feeling ran through your veins, the air within the stairway they were in was beginning to blow around- something that clearly wasn't a good sign.

"Caesar! Get out of the way!" Choosing to jump from your hiding spot and tackle the blond you could feel thin blades of air slice through the cloth of your shirt surely leaving cuts into your back, one of the few air blades unfortunately slipped past however cutting into the blond's left eye. "You need to be more cautious around things like this- use your head." Harshly whispering that out you jabbed your pointer finger between the blonds brows.

Pushing yourself up you could feel the cuts along your back, biting your tongue in response to the stinging sensation they left.

Standing up you offered a hand out towards the blond pulling it back right away after as he merely ignored it standing up himself, a worried glance was casted your way before a glare was sent towards the man who'd attacked.

"Damn you...you killed my dear friend and hurt another. You think losing an eye will stop me?!" Glancing back towards where the Pillar Men stood you watched as the Trio merely laughed. "Wh-What's so damned funny?!"

Being the closest one who you recalled was named Wamuu spoke, "The Hamon tribe always says the same thing. It was the same when we crossed from the western continent as it is now. 'You think losing an arm or an eye will stop me?!' 'How dare you take my friend's life?!' That's why we laugh."

"You monsters!-" "Let's go. We must find the Stone." Turning once more Kar's began leading the group, though not before halting as Caesar moved around you to attack once more. "G-Get back here! You're running away?!"

"Caesar stop!" Your call for him to stop died quickly as your eyes landed on Wamuu who now had his fingers jabbed into Caesar's neck, the man barely breaking a sweat from the action but considering what they'd done to Mark it was of no surprise.

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Merry Christmas Ya'll! Sorry for the late updates- life has just been crazy but hey, double update today :D Hope you've all been staying warm and enjoying your winter so far!