NOVEL NEXT Chapter 103: Onoke Lake
The group arrived at Onoke Lake. Selina jumped off first and stayed at the edge of the forest.
"Good luck, guys!" She gave them a thumbs up.
The black cat smirked and gave her a thumbs up back.
There were a few lily pads and lotus scattered on the surface of the lake. Crow as a crow landed on a lily pad.
"No civilians in sight. No sight of the wraith as well." Crow said.
"It is a very sneaky wraith. It shouldn't just appear out of nowhere." The black cat meowed.
Bash moved closer to the shore. Mater jumped on the Dark Grimoire and flew above the lake. Aurora climbed down and stood beside Bash.
"How should we do this, Master?" Aurora said.
"Let's fish it out first. Crow!" Mater meowed.
"On it, Master!"
Crow turned into a swordfish and dove into the muddy water of the lake. The speed of the sword fish and Crow's Abyssal Dash should be more than enough to out run anything in the water.
Crow went down under and wandered around the bottom of the lake, trying to find the fish wraith.
There was nothing alive down there. Not even a small fish. All animal lives were wiped clean. Either the negativity of the wraith's Chaos had killed them. Or it ate them all.
Crow went deeper and deeper until he found a particular entrance door at the bottom of the lake. It wasn't ancient nor natural. It was a mechanical circular door amongst the water.
Crow reported the situation to Mater.
"Steel door in the bottom of the lake? This thing might not be what the people thought it was." Mater stroked his whiskers in deep thought. "See if you can get inside the door, Crow."
"On it, Master."
Bubbles went out of the swordfish's mouth. Crow transformed into a strip of shadow in the water and stuck onto the surface of the door. If it had even a tiny crevice, he would be able to get in.
But it didn't.
"The door is air tight, Master." Crow reported telepathically.
"Hmmm. We need to bash that door down somehow."
The black cat looked over to Bash. Infernal Demons would be greatly weakened in water but they didn't need to breathe.
"Break that door down, Bash."
Bash didn't need to hear it twice. His large body jumped into the lake, splashing all the water onto Aurora's, making her clothes sticking to her false skin.
Aurora stood still. She didn't feel any discomfort at all.
Bash's large and heavy body sunk to the bottom of the lake. Crow went to him and led Bash to the door.
Even in water, Bash was still incredibly strong. He slammed his forearms repeatedly on the metal door. It almost seemed impenetrable until the side of the door suddenly bent.
"It's working! Keep going bash!" Crow said.
Bash bashed the door even more excitedly. The door was dented inward and then, Bash's heavy body went through.
He pushed the door open. Water flooded to a clean white hallway. The end of the hallway was another door.
Bash marched forward and broke that door down also.
"Get back up, Bash. You are weakened in water." Crow said as he went inside.
"Uh… How do I get up?" Bash scratched his head.
"Just walk up, Bash." Mater communicated with him telepathically.
Bash definitely couldn't swim up so he just walked slowly to the shore.
Inside the hidden entrance was a ladder leading up, separating the water from the lower level.
Crow quickly found himself to be in some kind of experimental lab.
"A lab? So this wraith really was created by some humans. See if you can find out anything, Crow." Mater commanded wraith from above the lake.
Crow began to wander inside the hidden lab. It was not as large as the Institute but was definitely a complex facility. There were many rooms inside that could accommodate a single person.
Bedroom, kitchen, bathroom. All were very standard living quarters. Then Crow saw the laboratory.
There were many body parts of all kinds of sea animals being placed in glass boxes. Many syringes and unknown chemicals. It also had a giant monitor and keyboard.
"Computer? Do you know how to operate them, Crow?" Mater's voice echoed in the Abomination's head.
"I have some ideas, Master."
Crow got his hands on the panel and started digging around.
"Project Poseidon.
The goal was to create a perfect being that is the best of both worlds. Humans and wraiths have been at war for centuries. Why can't we bridge this gap and erase the differences between the two species?
People called me mad. But I'll show them the future.
The future isn't eradication or enslavement of the wraiths. No! We should be able to live peacefully with them."
There was no security protection to the computer at all. The owner must have thought no one would find this place. Crow easily managed to check the content inside the computer.
A man showed up on the monitor. A middle-aged frail man wearing a lab coat spoke into the camera.
At the start, he seemed pretty normal. Although his ideology was problematic at best, and realistically speaking was mad.
The computer showed his progress of how he slowly transformed himself from a living breathing person to an abomination of the two worlds. Part wraith, part human.
He slowly gained gills. And then the jaw of an anglerfish. Then the ability to morph his legs into one single fish tail. He allowed an NCE to affect him and live inside his body, creating a type of host and parasite.
"As you can see, me and Valerie are completely compatible with each other. She won't harm me and allow me to live peacefully. In exchange, I can gain her power and even take control of her NES."
Everything seemed perfectly fine in the beginning. But then, things started to change.
Crow clicked on the last video on the computer. The scientist stumbled around in darkness as his body contorted unnaturally and his fish traits started to go out of control.
From the scientist's mouth, a girl's voice emerged.
"Daddy don't love me no more. Daddy don't allow me to eat."
The scientist's head twisted unnaturally as he drooled over the floor.
"No, Valerie. Daddy would never hurt you. Daddy would never!"
Then the scientist fell to the ground. His body enlarged into a questionable creature. The video cut off at that moment. Its timestamp was December 24th, 1998, Christmas of that year.
Crow snapped his head back when he felt a presence in the room.
At the entrance, a hand grabbed at the door frame. A head slowly emerged from the hallway. Its eyes were glowing like two yellow stars.
"Food comes to me… Daddy… Valerie will eat…"