CHAPTER 69: SODALISTIC

"What the..." Soda cursed under her breath, jerking her foot back.

A sharp glow pulsed beneath her boot, flooding the dark forest floor with waves of eerie green light. The ground seemed to hum— low, steady and alive. She crouched slowly, her heart hammering against her ribs, She brushed away the loose dirt with her fingers until her breath caught in her throat.

The relic.

It wasn’t what she expected. It looked alive— like it was breathing, each pulse of light syncing faintly with her heartbeat. The emerald hue danced across her pale face, reflecting in her eyes like fire in a mirror.

Soda’s lips parted in disbelief. "You’ve got to be kidding me..." she muttered, blinking rapidly as if the relic might disappear if she stared too long.

For a moment, she just knelt there, staring at it in silence. The forest was unsettlingly still. Not even the crickets dared to sing. Only the relic’s pulse, soft and hypnotic, filled the air.

"That vulture Stephanie..." Soda hissed the name through clenched teeth, anger flashing in her eyes. "Thought I needed you? Guess who found it all by herself." Her voice dripped with mockery, though it quivered faintly from exhaustion.

She reached down, hesitating for half a second before wrapping her fingers around the relic. It was warm. no, hot...as if it had been waiting for her touch all along. The light swelled once, then dimmed, like it had accepted her.

"Alright, shiny...relic thing," she exhaled, wiping the sweat from her forehead. "You and I are getting out of here before this place decides to eat me too."

She slipped it into the inner pocket of her Skirt, feeling the faint vibration against her chest. Then she stood up, brushing the dirt off her knees, and glanced around. The forest looked different now. The air felt heavier, And the shadows even longer. Every step she took made the leaves whisper like warning voices.

"C’mon, Soda," she muttered to herself, her wings twitching slightly as if ready to burst open at the first sign of trouble. "Just find the path and get the heck back before nightfall."

A faint wind blew past her, carrying the smell of burnt wood and something else— something metallic and sharp, it almost felt like blood.

She froze...The trees creaked in a weird way.

Her hand moved instinctively to the dagger strapped under her thigh she had used for combat. "Don’t even try it," she whispered, her voice steady despite the chill crawling up her spine.

Then came another sound—

Soda’s pulse raced, her instincts flaring like alarms. The relic inside her pocket began to hum again, brighter this time. She didn’t wait to see what was coming. Her wings burst open in a gust of air, scattering leaves into the night as she flew her way out of there.

As she soared higher, the glow from the relic cast faint light through her skirt, cutting a bright line across her tigh. The sky above was black velvet, and somewhere behind the horizon, the last shimmer of sunlight was dying.

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[Valkyrie and Bulb—]

Cold air rushed through the torn mouth of the tunnel as Valkyrie and Bulb stumbled out, gasping, their wings dragging faint streaks of dust through the fading light. The sound of falling rocks echoed behind them, it was a final growl from the collapsing underground. She was still looking confused at what just conspired with the mysterious necklace she picked from the tunnel. And the symbols it absorbed into her body.

Valkyrie bent forward, one hand braced on her knee, "That..." she exhaled, "was way too close..."

Bulb coughed, brushing stone grit off his shoulder. His once-pristine dark jacket was torn, streaked with soot and earth. "Holy shit..." he rasped, a half-smile tugging his lips despite the tension. "Next time you decide to pick up mysterious necklaces, watch out."

For a moment, silence filled the open air— just the sound of wind whistling faintly over the dunes. The sun hung low, bleeding gold across the horizon, turning the sand into waves of amber and fire. Both of them stood there, their shadows long and trembling, like survivors crawling back from the underworld.

She finally straightened, dusting her skirt, her hair catching the dying sunlight in streaks of silver-gold. "Where even are we?" she murmured, scanning the barren expanse.

Bulb squinted. "Still in the outer ring of Euphoria, I think. Judging by the terrain..." He gestured at the dunes stretching endlessly around them. "We’re not far from the main ridge. The camp’s probably an hour east from here."

"Good," Valkyrie said softly. Then she knelt, drawing slow circles in the sand with her finger. "We should at least get our bearings before we move."

Bulb watched her hands for a moment— the same hands that had conjured light in the blackest dark just minutes ago. "You okay?" he asked, his voice softer now.

She paused, then nodded. "Yeah. Just... thinking."

Her fingers moved idly, tracing patterns, when suddenly her magic flickered again— light blue this time, faint but steady. The sand beneath her hand shimmered and Bulb’s eyes widened.

"Val, wait..."

Too late. The ground pulsed once, then a circular glyph appeared where her palm rested, humming faintly. She slowly pulled her hand back as the sand parted in smooth spirals, revealing a small stone tablet buried beneath the surface.

The relic.

This one was different— it was sleeker, carved with delicate markings, its edges lined with faint blue light that pulsed like veins. The air seemed to tighten around it.

Valkyrie’s eyes widened, disbelief rippling across her face.

"It can’t be..." she breathed.

Bulb crouched beside her, sweeping sand away from the artifact with careful, slow motions. The faint glow bled through the grains, pulsing like a heartbeat.

"You found it," he said, voice low with awe. "The relic. I can’t believe it...we actually found one."

She shook her head, her expression unreadable. "No... it found us."

Valkyrie’s hand hovered over the relic, the faint blue light flickering across her skin. "The mark on my body... the necklace I touched... none of this feels random. It’s like something’s pulling me toward them."

Bulb’s fiery eyes reflected the relic’s light as he studied her.

For a moment, neither spoke. The desert wind hissed across the dunes, carrying dry sand that clung to their boots. The silence pressed close until Valkyrie forced a brittle laugh. "At least we finally found our’s."

Bulb let out a low chuckle. "Now we need to find our way outta here before sun completely fades out"

He rose and offered his hand. She took it, her touch lingering a heartbeat longer than she meant before she pulled away, tucking the relic gently into her pocket.

She felt a faint pulse deep in her chest. The same dark rhythm from before, like a cold whisper threading through her veins. Her stomach tightened, but she ignored it, wiping dust away from her clothes with her hands.

"Let’s move," she said, her tone sharper than she intended. "Before something decides to crawl out of the sand."

Bulb spread his wings, dark and broad against the dimming sky. Just then as Valkyrie tried to take a step further, she felt an ache and drawed back a little— clutching to her forehead.

"Jeez" she yelled.

"You sure you’re good to fly?" Bulb asked.

She smirked faintly, though the unease lingered in her eyes. "Yeah, I’m...good, just a little ache"

They took off together, wings slicing through the cooling air. Below them, the desert stretched in endless bronze shadows, the light from the relic flickering faintly through her pocket like a trapped star.