Chapter 9
The Infiltration


Darkness surrounded Ryu. He couldn't see, hear or feel anything. The lights went out, and he was alone. He dare not use a flame as his guiding light; he felt very close to the temple of evil, and surely the flame would draw the attention of the guards. Brick by brick, Ryu blindly groped the harsh, stone walls of the underground, when suddenly Ryu fell over. His hands could detect no more bricks. He arose, and made out the shape of a small doorway, only big enough for one person. He stretched his elastic body through the narrow passage. He was footsteps away from the temple, its evil silently radiating.

A great, green light flashed, blinding Ryu. He retreated into the shadows to avoid detection. With his eyes adjusting he saw two torches burning green. One guard came out from the tall pillars supporting the doorway. He casually leaded against the supports, overwhelmed with boredom. Ryu didn't want to mark another tally on his body count, so he ran around the left side of the temple, disappearing so that he was a shadow, and the guard just felt a small breeze.

The temple interior was huge itself, Ryu could see that he was in a large throne room. It was dark, but he could clearly see The Demon carved into Xaviev's black marble throne. Ryu's outfit tore against the harsh walls, so he carefully examined them. The walls bled in purple waves, and Ryu knew that the stone with bubbles of air in them could not be from this dimension. Ryu slowly put his hand against the wall; it seemed to pulsate with his touch. Looking up, he saw that the shadows were uneven. Pointing his finger at the darkness, he launched a little flare at the formation. The lighted reflected to show a natural catwalk above the room. Ryu thought that it was unlikely that he would be seen, so he skillfully leaped to the pseudo-floor.

Looking down from the catwalk, Ryu noticed that there were three other doors in the throne room. There was a door both left and right, and a final door to the side of the throne. Ryu guessed that it would be unwise to open that door, since it probably led to Xaviev's personal quarters. Instead, Ryu stealthily ran to the right corner of the catwalk, and jumped off near the door. He quietly opened it, but was half-startled by a low creaking noise. When he realized that none of the cult heard it, he silently entered. 

The room that Ryu thought he entered wasn't a room at all; it was a stone staircase. Ryu began to walk down, comforted slightly because the stone was gray and natural; The World of Chaos was not welcome. After climbing down more than fifty steps, the light disappeared, and Ryu was left back in the darkness. The air was cold and damp all around; he didn't know if this subterranean world would ever end. 

"THUMP!"
Ryu recoiled in surprise. He listened for the sound again.

"THUMP! THUMP! THUMP! THUMP!"
The rhythmic pattern repeated over and over again. Ryu couldn't see anything, but he knew someone was coming. He quickly ruled out running back up the stairs and lighting a flare; both would announce his presence. Ryu groped the hard, stony walls, searching desperately for a foothold. He found one and climbed up, but the rest of the wall was smooth. He fell down, the rocks gashed the flesh of his leg. The footsteps were coming closer, and Ryu only had one option left. He jumped straight up, and caught two small stalagmites with his bare hands. He pulled himself up to the ceiling, and nimbly crawled on the ceiling undetected.

After a minute, Ryu at last reached the bottom of the staircase, which opened up into a much larger room. He jumped off the ceiling, and examined his surrounding. A few torches dimly lit the hallway. There were also ten doors, five on each side of the hall. Each door was wooden, and had barred windows, so Ryu thought that this must be some sort of dungeon. Looking into the first door on the left, he saw someone with red hair huddled with her back turned. 
"Irene," Ryu whispered to himself.
He carefully open the door, as not to make a sound, and crept up behind his love. He outreached his arm, longing to hug her. He touched her on the shoulder, and she jumped around and screamed! This was not Irene.
***
Ryu firmly covered the strange woman's mouth and ran her into the wall of the cell. He quickly pulled out a small dagger, and put it against her throat. He spoke clearly with a whisper to not upset the woman:
"Shhhh... Be quiet. I'm not going to hurt you. I don't want to hurt you. Nod your head if you understand."
She did.
"Good. Now listen to me carefully. I've come to free you, but I can't let you scream. If you scream, they will kill us both. On the count of three, I'm going to uncover your mouth, but you can't scream. Do you understand?"
She nodded.
"OK, one... two... three..."
The woman let a sign of relief. She shivered with fear, but Ryu gently held her.
"What's your name?"
"P... Pamela."
"All right Pamela, I'm Ryu. How long have you been here?"
"... I don't know... What day is it? Is it morning? I can't remember anything."
"Calm down, it's night. When did they take you?"
"Night, I think. The monsters were everywhere... they surrounded me... I don't remember anything."
"Are there other people here?"
"Yes."
"Is Irene Lew here?"
"No... I don't know. They won't let us speak. He said that if we speak, he would kill us."
"All right. Irene has red hair, and she's about your height. Have you seen her?"
"Wait... no. I remember... I'm the only redhead here. I remember, they said I was special, the only one here... beautiful red hair...
 No wait! That's not right! There's another one here, but they took her away."
"To where?"
"Ceremony, upstairs."
Ryu stood up to leave. 

"Wait! Where are you going. Don't leave me! You said you would set me free!"
"I will, but not right now, there's something I need to do first."
Ryu rose up his hand. 
"I'm sorry," he said as he knocked her unconscious.