AngelSubzero - Douma's Adventures

"This place looks like a garden of some sort. It's huge."

While Chachamaru was admiring the architecture of this dome-like area, Douma observed the artifact on the stand placed right in the middle.

The artifact was a grey sphere embedded with gems and carved with lines that surrounded its surface. It blended in perfectly with the stand, most people wouldn't have noticed it if it weren't for the glistening gems surrounding the sphere.

Douma saw Chachamaru eagerly running to the artifact. He shot the feline a displeased look but of course, he didn't notice because of his distraction.

"Don't touch it Chachamaru."

"Yeah I know I just wanna get a better look at it," Chachamaru said ogling at the sphere and its shiny studded gems like a child playing with their favorite toy. "I'm not stupid, there's definitely another trap setup around here."

Exactly who in their right mind leaves a prized possession open for anyone to take? Something wasn't adding up. Douma felt unsafe leaving Chachamaru standing in front of the artifact, this entire place was ominous.

A small leaf fell from one of the stems of the plants hanging on the ceiling. It slowly flew down towards the artifact, glistening under the ray of light from the cracks on the ceiling.

Douma watched the leaf getting closer, there was still life in this Aztec Temple after many years, the greenery in this dome was still flourishing.

As Chachamaru continued standing around and admiring the sphere, Douma noticed something within the ray of light, he widened his eyes in horror, a rush of adrenaline pumping through his veins when the leaf landed on what it was.

"Chachamaru look out!" Douma dashed towards the feline and pulled him away from the artifact that got crushed instantly by two huge compressors from both ends of the area.

The feline got up the floor and stared at the center in shock. "What just happened?! The artifact's been destroyed!"

There's a reason this trap was placed here. Douma walked over to the crumbled piece of the artifact lying on the floor. The shiny gems sparkled underneath like shimmering stars. It's a shame something so precious had to go down as a scapegoat for victims of the unseen trap. Whoever was behind this had a lot of thinking to do before going on with the rash decision.

Both compressors returned to their positions hidden in the abyss of the supposedly indoor garden or conference area of some sort. Chachamaru peered at Douma timidly once he got up, internally pleading for the blonde to step away from the center of the dome area immediately. It was a terrible idea after seeing what happened.

Though it seemed the coast was clear, both compressors only struck when the artifact was still in good condition. "This artifact is fake..." Examining the speck of dust from the sloppy piece he picked up from the floor, Douma brushed it off his fingers and watched it fall to the ground like pollen.

"What are you talking about? It can't be fake!" Chachamaru denied the angel's hypothesis he swore it was an actual valuable possession that nobody had.

"The material, it's not a legitimate byproduct of what it's supposed to have originated from," Douma explained, gathering the gems in his palm and looking at them for a few seconds before turning to Chachamaru who was starting to put the pieces together. "These gems are made from plastic." The blonde tapped the gem in his fingers repeatedly a few times.

Chachamaru's ears perked up when he heard the familiar sound of plastic echo in the place. Those light taps that sounded similar to the pitter patter of rain.

"That can't be-"

"It's what those hieroglyphics said," Douma continued rotating the gem in his finger. Even the light reflecting off of it gave the impression that it was a fake gem. It wasn't as shiny as the real deal. "If you noticed, the walls had drawings of the artifacts and jewelry here but they were all taken by their righteous possessors. Likewise, this particular artifact had been taken too."

Dumbfounded, Chachamaru couldn't believe Douma was able to decipher the stuff displayed on the walls of this ancient temple. The feline had a hard time trying to understand what they were trying to say. Douma's abilities were truly incredible, no wonder Atlas had a lot of respect for the angel.

"Man I can't believe I fell for it." Rubbing the back of his head, Chachamaru stood beside Douma and stared at the broken pieces on the ground.

True enough, the material resembled Styrofoam mixed with foil.

"Let's keep moving." Douma walked away towards a darker and narrower hallway at the end of the dome-like area.

Seeing this hallway gave Chachamaru the creeps but there was no other choice in the matter. This was the only way to the next location and the feline didn't want to be left here all by himself so he took a deep breath and followed after the angel.

Somewhere in the deeper corners of the ancient temple stood a throne that was occupied by someone who had been keeping track of the changes in the atmosphere of his lair.

"Looks like some guests have wandered into my hideout. Interesting, but they won't survive for long." The person peered at the front of his lair and closed his eyes, he could hear and sense everything that was going on in the other parts of the ancient temple.

It intrigued him and he was looking forward to see if these visitors could even reach him. They were surprisingly doing well, navigating through the traps and dangers that await them every time a new location was discovered.

The person on the throne opened his eyes and processed everything he sensed, visioned and heard. He was well aware that Douma and Chachamaru's progress was consistent throughout their time in the ancient temple, however it was far from over.

"Things are going to be quite complex from here on out. If you don't turn back now, you'll regret it." Sitting back on his giant throne in the dimly lit room surrounded by vines and moss, the person waited for the potential arrival of his new guests.