Eva POV

Eva was on her phone, texting her friends while waiting at the train station.

She looked up from her phone as the speaker in the train station announced the inbound train.

She hopped up and stood on the railing she had been sitting on as she watched the train come to a stop.

Eva smiled as she jumped down and walked over toward the train and stood there as the doors opened letting everyone off.

Among the people walking off the train, she finally noticed (Y/N) as he started walking over. She smiled waiting for him to walk over before she noticed he had actually brought someone else with him.

Eva noticed the cheerful-looking Octoling girl hurrying up alongside him which caused Eva's smirk to falter before she plastered a fake smile on her face.

(Y/N): Hey, Eva. Wait long?

Eva: Heeeeey. What's uh... what's up? What's she doing here?

She said while tilting her head briefly toward Veronica who was still just smiling by.

(Y/N): Oh, well, I told her where I was going and she asked to come with me.

Eva raised an eyebrow.

(Y/N): I was weak... But it's fine. She's cool, I promise.

Eva: You sure?

(Y/N): Yes, I'm sure!

(Y/N) grabbed Veronica's shoulders.

(Y/N): Look at her, she's cool as an ice cube.

Veronica kept smiling.

Eva still didn't look convinced but shook it off as she turned around.

Eva: Fine, whatever. Let's just get going already.

(Y/N) turned to face Veronica and smiled at her, to which she happily reciprocated his look.

Eva: Don't just stand there or else I'll leave you two both behind.

Eva alerted the two as she was already walking off without the two, causing the two to quickly run after her.

~~~

The three were walking through the leaky stone area that Eva had led them to.

Veronica: Are you sure it's safe for us to be down here?

Eva raised an eyebrow.

(Y/N): Of course it's safe, Veronica. She knows what she's doing.

(Y/N) leaned close to Eva and whispered to her.

(Y/N): You know what you're doing, right?

Eva: Yes, we do this all the time.

Veronica: You hang out in the sewer all the time?

Eva: Hey, don't knock it 'til you try it. It's actually pretty cool.

Veronica: If you say so. I'm not the biggest fan of these kinds of underground places.

She said while recalling previous places she has been and crossing her arms due to the chill of the cold air.

Eva: Well, remember, if you want to turn back... it's too late. Because we're already here.

They entered the large open area.

There were large concrete pillars throughout the area. Light shined in from a large hole in the roof of the area, letting light seep in onto a patch of grass and flowers.

Veronica and (Y/N) were in awe of the large-scale area they were in.

(Y/N): Whoa, what is this place?

Veronica: Ooh, wait, Marina told me about this kind of thing. It's called, uh... uh... it's something for flooding.

Eva: Well, at least she got that right. It's an underground bypass to help with flooding.

(Y/N): Look at you, smart ladies.

Eva: Yup, just don't ask me anything more about it. That's all I know.

A butterfly flew past Veronica's face causing her to giggle and try and follow after it.

(Y/N): Veronica, don't go off too far on your own.

Veronica: I'm not, I just wanted to catch the butterfly.

(Y/N): I know, but this place looks like a maze. Stick close to Eva or people who know their way around this place.

Veronica: Aw, okay.

She said disappointedly as she walked back over to the two and Eva led them further into the large area.

Veronica's upset look quickly shifted back to one of excitement as she saw the area in the center.

Veronica: Ooh, what is that?

She asked due to the exciting sounds and music echoing from the center of the cement cavern

Eva: It's a spot in the middle of this place. People like to have Turf Wars here all the time. Actually, it's pretty-

Eva turned to see Veronica was gone before turning to (Y/N) for an answer.

(Y/N): She saw another butterfly.

Eva's shoulders and eyebrows slumped.

Eva: Whatever...

She said disappointedly as she continued to lead the way to the opening where the Turf War was going on for them to watch.

(Y/N): Well, at least if people are doing battles down here, it must be safe enough I guess.

Eva: Someone afraid of being where they're not supposed to be?

(Y/N): What? Of course not. I'm a bad boy.

Veronica: I saw you help a mama duck and her ducklings cross the road on our way to the train station.

Veronica said confusedly.

(Y/N): Not now, Veronica...

Eva chuckled.

Eva: Okay "bad boy". You didn't have a problem when we went into that building construction site either.

Veronica: (Y/N), I thought you told me to be careful about going places I'm not supposed to be going.

(Y/N): Well, yes, it's important to be careful, you shouldn't do it.

Veronica: Then why are you doing reckless things like it?

(Y/N): Whoa, hey, check out this Turf War game, this is pretty intense!

He said trying to shift topics upon realizing that he had no excuse due to his "go with the flow" nature.

Eva: That's not gonna wo-

Veronica: -WHOA! That move the charger made was crazy!

Eva: Or maybe it will...

The match they were watching ended with Judd and Li'l Judd declaring the winner before they all cleared out and the ink dried up and disappeared.

Eva was balancing on the edge of the gap between the center stage and the side they were on.

(Y/N): You know if you fall, you're going straight down into the water down there, right?

Eva: I trust my balancing skills.

She said before a gust of wind blew past and made her lose her composure and she instantly got off the edge.

(Y/N) stared at her with a raised eyebrow.

Eva: Y'know, balancing gets old quickly. Ya balance on one dangerous edge, you've balanced on them all.

(Y/N): Sure. Anyway, this place is kind of cool in a weird way. It's strange to see how flowers like these can still grow down here with all of these.

Eva: I'm surprised no one's come by and messed up the flowers more than anything. People can be jerks 'round here.

(Y/N): You see these pretty flowers, Vero-?

He was cut off as he and Eva were staring at Veronica as she had multiple butterflies landed on her with her arms wide open.

Veronica: They love me.

She said smiling which got a chuckle out of (Y/N) and Eva.

Suddenly, there was a low rumbling sound which caused the butterflies to take flight again and head for the open holes in the ceiling.

Veronica: Come back, friends!

(Y/N): What was that, Eva?

Eva: Uh oh.

(Y/N): Uh oh? Why uh oh?

Eva: We should get out of here.

(Y/N): What? Why?

He saw the jellyfish who were walking around the rail below suddenly running to get to safety as big waves of water started rushing through and filling up higher and higher.

Eva: Time to leave, you two!

Veronica noticed and shifted into focusing as she ran after Eva with (Y/N) beside her.

(Y/N): This was the place you wanted to go to?!

Eva: I said it would be an exciting place, didn't I?!

(Y/N): How do people hold Turf Wars down here?!

Eva: Hey, it's made for dealing with flooding, and that's what it's doing!

The water had passed the height of the crevice they had seen the water originally and was spreading throughout the whole area.

(Y/N): I think the water is coming too fast! I don't think we'll make it back to the tunnel we came in from!

Eva scowled as she knew he was right when she looked back at the water.

She looked around and noticed another hole in the ceiling ahead of them.

Eva: There! Jump through that hole!

She said as she transformed into a squid, to which (Y/N) and Veronica followed along as they transformed into their squid and octopus forms respectively. The three super jumped out through the hole as where they were standing a moment ago was quickly washed away by water.

The three rolled around as they landed on the surface after the super jump.

The three were taking in breaths as Eva looked down the hole and saw the rushing water before turning back to face the other two.

Eva: See? Exciting, wasn't it?

(Y/N) glared at her.

Veronica: Can we do it again?

~~~

The three were eating at a restaurant they were passing by that Veronica said she wanted to try.

They were talking as the waitress brought out their food and set it down in front of each of them.

Eva took a bite of her bread as the other two watched.

Eva: What?

Veronica: Are you only gonna eat bread?

Eva: What's wrong with bread?

(Y/N): Nothing, just... only bread?

Eva: Bread is great. I've probably eaten it more than anything else in my life. When I was young, we couldn't afford much and mostly ate just plain bread.

Veronica gave a sad face as she and (Y/N) stared at Eva.

Eva: What's with that look?

(Y/N) slid over his plate of pasta for her to have some, along with Veronica sliding over her bowl of rice.

(Y/N): Just have some of ours.

Eva looked at him and over at Veronica who was smiling at her.

Eva looked down embarrassedly as she happily took her fork and used it to eat some of their food.

Eva: Thanks...

(Y/N): Oh? What was that? I didn't hear you well enough.

Eva was blushing and had an upset look on her face as he tried to tease her.

Eva: I said tonight we're gonna go someplace even more exciting and cool in the Splatlands.

(Y/N) looked uneasy upon hearing that after how Eva described the last place. Meanwhile, Veronica was happy to hear it.

Veronica: Hurray!

She exclaimed as she ate more of her rice.

(Y/N): Why do we have to wait for tonight though?

Eva: Cause I think it's cooler at night.

(Y/N): Of course you do.

He said with a smirk to which she returned with a bit more mischievousness.

~~~

Veronica was looking around at the place they had ridden out to see.

Veronica: Whoa, what is this place?

Eva: This is Um'ami Ruins.

(Y/N): How'd you learn about this place?

Eva: Turf War of course. People come out here to play.

(Y/N): With all the ruins around? Won't they break things?

Eva: People are careful.

(Y/N) nodded in understanding.

Eva: -enough.

He snapped his look back over at her.

Eva: But that's not why we're here tonight.

(Y/N): Then why are we here?

Eva: Well...

She looks around and checks to see if anyone else is close, which causes Veronica to lean in with interest alongside (Y/N).

Eva: Legends say that when the moon is full like it is tonight-

Veronica: I think tonight's actually a waning gibbous.

She said while looking straight up and casually pointing her finger to it.

Eva: That's what I meant. On a waiting give bus moon, the dead who were entombed within these ruins thousands of years ago will rise once again, and any they find lurking in their tomb hoping to steal the possessions they were buried with will be brought back to the underworld with them!

Eva said with a spooky voice.

Veronica looked startled upon hearing this rumor, but also intrigued at such a curse being real.

(Y/N) meanwhile just gave Eva a neutral expression.

(Y/N): And you want us to break into this tomb tonight to see this "curse" in action?

Eva: No, I brought us here to check out the curse on the night tours they happily do here.

She said pointing over to the place where you can pay to go on the night tour.

(Y/N) glared at such a thing he had missed before with the tour guide lining up people.

Veronica: I can't believe they would risk getting on the tour when the curse is happening. Can we go?!

She asked happily looking to (Y/N) which caused Eva to eye roll at how childish Veronica's reactions were, but she thought that meant that hopefully she could at least get a good scare out of Veronica thanks to it.

(Y/N): Yeah, we can. I'm interested to see what the place is like too.

Veronica got excited at the confirmation.

Eva: Okay, follow me and prepare for your doom, you two.

She said, following it up with an evil laugh, which (Y/N) just ignored while Veronica got a bit closer to (Y/N), worried about the curse.

~~~

Tour Guide: And here in this room over here, we have the real, mummified remains of the squids from roughly two thousand years ago.

The people all gave "Ooh"s and "Ah"s at the tour guide's explanation as people took photos.

Eva stood as the tour group started to walk off, but she smirked as she got an idea.

She grabbed Veronica's shoulder to stop her from walking on with (Y/N) and the rest of the group.

Veronica: Huh? What's up? Do you need to use the bathroom?

Eva: What? No! I just thought you'd want to see something really cool is all.

Veronica: Huh? How cool?

Eva: SUPER cool.

Veronica gasped.

Veronica: That's like my favorite level of cool.

Her excited face went away for a moment though.

Veronica: What about (Y/N) and the rest of the tour group though? Isn't it dangerous to split up from them?

Eva: Everyone will be fine. Just us girls get to see this cool thing, huh? And then we'll meet back up with the tour group, and everything will be all right.

Veronica: Hmm... okaaay.

Eva: Great! Come with me.

She said while leading her to the room with the mummy.

Eva: The mummy casket-

Veronica: -I think it's called a sarcophagus.

Eva: Ugh, yeah, that, whatever. It's pretty cool.

Veronica: Oh, I agree! I'm glad the mummies don't seem to be waking up from the curse though. It'd have been scary.

Eva: Well, you know why that is, right?

Veronica looked over confused as to the answer.

Eva: This place is very echoey, which is why you're not supposed to make too much noise or else they'll wake up. They don't know people are walking around their tombs like this if they don't hear anything wrong.

Veronica: Oooh! That makes so much sense.

Eva: There's always a chance too that this one is actually fake since they don't want us to get close enough to the real ones to actually wake them up.

Veronica: Well, that makes me feel a lot better if that's the case, although I wish I could see what the real ones looked like.

Eva: This might still be a real one, but there's only one way to know for sure.

Veronica: What is it?

Eva smirked as she started walking up to the sarcophagus.

Veronica: What're you doing?

Eva: I'm going to knock on it and see if anyone's home.

Veronica: Wha-?! B-But what if it is a real one?

Eva: Then we'll have to run back over to the tour group quickly.

Veronica: Isn't that dangerous though?!

Eva: Nooo, it's exciting.

Eva was now in front of the sarcophagus and looked back to see how worried Veronica looked.

Veronica: I-I don't think you should do it.

Eva: What? Are you scared?

Veronica: A little...

Eva smirked and turned back to the sarcophagus as she knocked on the sarcophagus with a little rhythm.

Knock knock kn-knock knock

Veronica stood back a bit but then after a few moments of nothing, Eva turned back to see the scared face Veronica was making.

Eva: See? I told you it was-

Knock knock

Eva turned back toward the sarcophagus quickly with wide eyes as the rhythm she knocked was finished by something from within the sarcophagus.

She was confused but then she was frozen in fear as the sarcophagus slowly started opening.

Luckily, before she even noticed, she felt someone grab her arm and was running to get them away from there.

Once the daze had worn off, Eva noticed it was Veronica who had quickly grabbed her and got her out of there.

After a minute of running, Veronica stopped so the two of them could catch their breath.

Veronica: I don't think it's following us anymore. At least, not very fast.

Eva: It woke up... the mummy really woke up...

Veronica: We have a bigger issue right now.

Eva: What's worse than real mummies trying to get us?

Veronica: I don't know where we are or how to get out of here.

Eva: You just randomly ran us deeper into the ruins?!

Veronica: I just wanted us to get away from the mummy quickly!

Eva: S-So we're lost in here with a mummy trying to get us?

Veronica: I'm afraid so...

Eva: L-L-Let's just look for the way out.

Eva said standing back up and leading the way while Veronica stopped leaning on the wall to follow her.

They walked for a minute and looked down a dark path.

Eva: Tell me if you see anything that looks familiar from when you ran away from the mummy.

Veronica: Okay... sheesh, this stuff is so old and dirty.

She said while picking up something from the side of the hall.

Veronica: I wonder what they were like when they were new.

Suddenly a low roar sound echoed from down the hall they were moving down causing a shiver to run over Veronica and Eva.

Eva turned back to Veronica upset upon looking at the item Veronica had picked up. Veronica looked down at it, then back at Eva.

Veronica set the item back down where she picked it up from carefully.

Veronica: Do you think they're still mad?

Suddenly from the end of the corridor they were walking down, things started falling over and collapsing down toward them causing the two to retrace their steps back out of the corridor out of fear of being squashed by the falling debris.

Once they had made it out of the range of the collapsing corridor, Eva collapsed and rested her head atop her knees.

Veronica: Are you okay?

Eva didn't respond, she just stood up and rubbed her face.

Eva: Let's try another way.

Veronica just nodded and followed along.

Upon doing so, Eva led them to a large open room with many pillars.

Eva: I don't mean to jinx us, but I've got a good feeling about this room.

She said while smirking back at Veronica who gave a happy nod in response.

Unfortunately, almost immediately after, a loud, evil cackle seemed to hit them from all around due to the echoey nature of the ruins.

Eva turned around quickly as a large shadow was looming over the two on the entire back wall of the room. It was posed with its arms wide open as the evil cackle continued as if the flames were shining its figure onto the wall.

Veronica and Eva both screamed in fear at the large shadow looming over the two, which caused the cackling to cease. The figure being plastered onto the wall clearly heard them and changed its direction to face their direction as it started to approach, causing the shadow to grow larger. As it approached, a large scraping sound was heard with every step the figure took to get closer, which only added to the fear.

Once again, Eva was struck with fear and couldn't move. However, this time Veronica wasn't able to drag her away to save her as her feet were firmly planted in the ground.

Even though she was scared, Veronica gulped and stood in front of Eva with her arms wide open to protect her from the mummy that was coming for them.

Eva's eyes noticed this as they turned to look at Veronica who firmly stood her ground and wasn't going to let the monster get to Eva.

Veronica: We're sorry for waking you up, monster! Please go back to sleep and let us leave! And if you have a map to show us the exit, that would be well appreciated as well, Mr. Mummy Monster!

???: Monster?! I should be offended!

Eva and Veronica's expressions both relaxed into a confused face.

The evil monster walked out from around the corner that was projecting the shadow as it shrunk into a familiar figure walked out from around the corner.

It turns out the evil monster wasn't a monster at all, and in fact only slightly evil.

Shiver: Who do you think you are calling me a monster?!

Eva & Veronica: Shiver?!

Eva: You're not an undead mummy.

Shiver: Of course I'm not! What would make you think something that childish?

Eva blushed realizing the trick she made up to try and scare the childish Veronica actually got herself.

Eva: W-Well, what was that loud scraping sound coming from?

Shiver turned around to see just as the scraping sound continued as Big Man was carrying a large sack of items that made the scraping sound as it went across the floor.

Shiver: Someone here is too weak to lift with his legs.

Big Man: Ay! Ay! (I'm trying my best! I don't even want to be here doing this!)

Eva: What about the loud roaring sound that caused the corridor we were in to collapse?

Shiver once again turned to Big Man with a raised eyebrow.

Big Man: A-Ay! Ay! Ayy... (Sh-She had me out here doing this all afternoon! I didn't have time to have a snack! A-And I may have accidentally knocked over a pillar when I was turning away embarrassed...)

Eva: And the sarcophagus that we heard knocking from the inside of before it opened up?

Frye POV

Frye sat up from the now-opened sarcophagus and yawned loudly before blinking a couple of times and looking around to adjust her eyes.

Frye: Guys? You two still here?

Eva POV

Eva: And why were you giving off such an evil laugh when we came in here?

Shiver: Evil? Excuse you, that's just how I laugh.

Shiver gave off her iconic evil laugh to show them.

Shiver: See?

Eva: Well, that answers just about everything... Except for why you three are even here at night anyway all on your own without the tour group?

Shiver looked over at the bag Big Man was carrying that was DEFINITELY NOT full of stolen relics.

Shiver: Same as you two.

Shiver said with a slightly nervous look and tone before Eva just raised an eyebrow at her.

Eva turned to Veronica who was looking a lot more calm after this whole situation and smiling again.

Eva felt bad for what she had tried to do to Veronica.

Eva: Hey, um...

Veronica looked at Eva with a smile.

Eva: I'm... ˢᵒʳʳʸ... I shouldn't have tried to scare you with a fake scary story and mess with you afterward too...

Veronica tilted her head.

Eva: I know you probably think I'm a jerk, and... yeah, I guess I am. But I wanted to thank you. You risking yourself to save me, twice, was really cool. I'm sorry for thinking you couldn't hang with us today...

Veronica: I don't think you're a jerk.

Eva: You don't? Why not?

Veronica: I had a fun time today. Your story and your prank scared me, but it was also really fun afterward dealing with the whole thing. Besides, you also remind me of an old friend of mine.

Eva: Who?

Veronica just shook her head.

Veronica: It's not important.

Veronica said happily while holding onto Eva's hands.

~~~

Shiver was laughing as she, Big Man, Eva, and Veronica were walking down the corridors of the ruins.

Shiver: So, you actually thought that undead mummies were real in there?

Eva: Yes...

Eva was getting annoyed at Shiver laughing at her, making her feel dumb about falling for her own fake story.

Shiver: What? So you think some old dead guy wrapped in toilet paper is terrifying and that's all it takes to come back to life? Make sure to bury me with a couple of rolls then!

Eva looked over at Shiver annoyedly again but stopped as her eyes went wide.

Shiver: Make sure it's two-ply so it's at least comfortable if that's all I'll have!

Shiver laughed more as now Big Man and Veronica had also stopped and were staring wide-eyed past Shiver.

Big Man: Ay..? (Um... Shiver?)

Shiver: Ugh, don't tell me to cool it, Big Man. It's just a joke.

Big Man: A-Ay. (N-No, not that.)

Shiver: Then what is it?

Big Man: A-A-Ay... (B-B-Behind you...)

Shiver turned around to see a mummy wrapped in bandages looming over her, but her expression was unchanged before she turned back to the others.

Shiver: Yeah, sorry, I'm not falling for it. If you actually think that is enough to trick me? You're gonna need to put in more effort.

Veronica: I-It looks pretty real to me...

Shiver: It's clearly just Frye. We lost track of her a while ago and haven't seen her since. So, clearly, it's Frye trying to trick us after overhearing us.

Frye: OOOOoooh, that makes a lot of sense.

Shiver's eyes went wide as she saw Frye now casually standing amongst the other three, smiling and looking at Shiver.

Shiver looked back and forth between Frye and the mummy.

Shiver: Okay, clearly it's just-

Shiver shoved past Big Man, knocking him to the ground.

Shiver: -Everyone for themselves!

Shiver, Eva, and Veronica ran off screaming, shortly followed by Big Man after he stood back up and yelled at Shiver for leaving him for dead.

The mummy looked at Frye who was still just standing there smiling at the mummy, unfazed.

Mummy: Hey. Why ain't you running?

Frye: Why I've got a good sniffer so it lets me easily tell what things are based on smell.

The mummy stood there staring at her for a moment.

Mummy: Get out of here!

Frye ran off after the others, screaming as well but in a more fun and hearty tone.

The mummy figure took off the Undead Head mask it was wearing to reveal it was actually (Y/N).

(Y/N): Four out of five ain't bad.

4119 Words

August 19, 2024 - 11:00 P.M.