CHAPTER 104: I HAVE A PLAN SERAPHINA!

Seraphina and Finn just stared down at the city, unsure of what could possibly be down there or if there was anyone at all.

Seraphina tugged gently at Finn’s wrist. "Do you think it’s safe down there?"

Finn swallowed, his eyes never leaving the silent city below. "I don’t know...why are you asking me? I don’t know crap! But... we should probably check it out..."

Seraphina looked at him again, shaking her legs slightly. "Are you sure we have to go down there?"

Finn glanced at her. "What do you mean? Of course we have to go down there. There might be a way out—hopefully." He shrugged. "It’s all we got."

She looked back down at the city. "Even you seem unsure... this place creeps me out. It reminds me of the time after Father Meln showed me his special puppet show and decided to give everyone the full performance. He said the puppet show this time was ’hands-on.’"

Finn sighed, both inside and out. "What’s with you and puppets? And why is this ’Father Meln’ guy keep showing you his puppets?!" Finn sighed. "Please tell me you got to operate the puppets."

Seraphina just stared ahead. "That’s not what I meant."

***

Some time passed as they made their way down into the city. Finn had heard enough of Seraphina’s puppet stories and had officially banned her from mentioning puppets or any weird callbacks.

He had definitely heard enough of it all.

They now walked through the city, which again was completely a ghost town. Like Walking Hills, except there was no fog or monsters this time.

As they walked, Finn’s irritation grew with every cracked window and shuttered door. The city felt like a forgotten relic, a museum where time itself had taken a long lunch break. ’I thought this was supposed to be an adventure, not some boring-ass history lesson,’ he muttered, kicking at a pile of

utensils that scattered like pile of rocks being thrown

There were no signs, no clues—nothing. Just an empty, abandoned city or civilization with no sign of life except for that one rotting corpse they had seen earlier.

Finn understood that people probably left in a hurry, but it would be nice if they could find at least something to explain what the hell happened. The only thing he had to go on was that dead body, so his only guess was some kind of outbreak. But only one body? That didn’t make sense.

Seraphina walked quietly beside him, sensing his frustration but saying nothing. The eerie silence of the city—and the dead stillness of the glowing river—only made Finn more irritated than scared.

He kicked yet another thing—this time being a loose stone, sending it skittering across the empty street. "I mean, seriously... there’s gotta be something here. A clue. A diary. A creepy note. A cursed artifact. Or hell, even a weird symbol. I don’t know... I just want to get out of here and see the sun again."

Seraphina gave him a half-smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes. "Have you tried praying? It helps people who are upset."

"Oh wow, how come I never thought of that? Yeah, sure—let me just pray to a god while I’m on the brink of losing my mind. That’ll definitely fix everything."

Silence fell again, broken only by the echo of their footsteps.

’Damn it.’

Finn sighed. "Sorry... I shouldn’t have—"

"It’s fine."

"If you say so..."

Finn glanced around the place again, still trying to make sense of it all. The one thing he hated about himself was that whenever he couldn’t figure something out, he got mad—and then obsessed with finding an answer.

If he were in a Lovecraftian world he probably would be dead or have completely lost his mind by now.

Finn rubbed his temples. "Man, why am I thinking so hard about this? I’m a deadbeat college student, not some high-level detective."

He glanced over at Seraphina, who was also now studying the place with more curiosity than anything else.

"Do you know anything about this place?" Finn asked, stuffing his hands into his pockets.

She shook her head. "No. There’s nothing about a place like this in the history books or the Church."

"Of course there isn’t," Finn mumbled, sounding more like a grumpy old man than a nineteen-year-old.

Suddenly—

UUUWAGHHH!

A loud, distorted scream echoed through the chamber, followed by a rumble shaking the cave.

That roar they had heard before was now much closer.

Finn and Seraphina both froze, their nerves spiking as they tensed like cornered cats.

They exchanged a look that said it all: Oh shit, we’re so screwed. Both absolutely terrified out of their minds.

Seraphina’s legs were shaking violently—she was practically trembling with fear.

Finn, on the other hand, stood frozen like a soldier who’d just survived an artillery barrage—the last one left standing.

’What the hell is down here?!’

His mind was racing so fast he couldn’t think straight. Before long, he started pacing in tight circles, muttering to himself.

’I did not sign up for some giant boss fight. I came here for beans. Not to slug it out with a colossal monster.’

He wished there was a sniper somewhere ready to take him out on the spot—because he absolutely could not handle this.

"What do we do...?" Seraphina’s voice shook like a rattlesnake’s hiss, eyes wide and terrified.

Finn snapped back to reality, realizing he wasn’t alone. He slapped his own face—like he wanted to smack a wobbly piece of jiggly dough—and forced himself to focus.

Then, suddenly confident, Finn came up with a plan. One he was sure was flawless. Like his last.

He stepped closer to Seraphina, took her hands firmly in his, and locked eyes with her.

"W-What are you doing...?"

"I have a plan... it is flawless plan two."

"And what exactly is this plan."

Finn muttered the words to her, watching as her eyes widened in disbelief. She stared at him like he’d just suggested they jump off a cliff for fun or wrestle a bear blindfolded.

"Are you serious?" she whispered, voice trembling between hope and horror.

To Finn, it was an absolute genius move—the kind of brilliant plan that only made sense to a deadbeat college student with a knack for surviving dumb situations.

He grinned, already imagining how flawlessly it would play out, because hey, if it didn’t work, there was always plan three... or four... or nevermind.