Chapter 3 – The Abyss’s Compass

[Abyss – 3rd Floor Entrance – 151m Underground]

The moment I plunged into the hole, all sensation vanished, swallowed by the consuming darkness. The wind roared past my ears, tearing at me. My sense of direction dissolved, my body spinning wildly in the freefall.

“Noah!”Yuri’s distant cry was laced with terror.

I reached out, my fingers grasping at empty air.

The endless descent pressed down on me, stealing my breath. Then, a jarring impact.

Crash!

Pain exploded through my back as I slammed into the ground. The air was driven from my lungs. For a moment, I lay there, stunned, my body screaming in protest.

My head swam, but thankfully, nothing felt broken. I gasped for breath, pushing myself up.

“Yuri!”I croaked, my voice raw.

A faint groan reached my ears.
Thank god.

“Here…”she whispered.

I turned, spotting her a short distance away, slowly rising to her feet. Dust and grime coated her clothes, her hair a tangled mess, but she seemed relatively unharmed.

She sat down heavily, taking deep breaths.

“You okay?”I asked, rushing to her side.

“Alive. That’s enough for now.”Her voice was light, but a tremor betrayed her fear.

“Thank god.”

I sat beside her, catching my breath, taking in our surroundings.

This layer was unlike anything we’d seen before. A vast chamber stretched before us, resembling an ancient ruin. The floor was a mosaic of cracked stone slabs, pulsing with a faint, ethereal blue light. The light shifted and shimmered with our every move, as if the very ground were alive.

Above us, a massive ceiling loomed, its surface covered in intricate, slowly rotating geometric patterns that emitted a strange, otherworldly luminescence. Whether natural or artificial, I couldn’t tell.

“What… is this place?”Yuri whispered, her voice hushed with awe.

“A ruin of some kind,”I said, rising to my feet. “But not like anything I’ve ever seen. It’s part of the Abyss.”

“But it feels… strange. Like it’s reacting to us.”

“Maybe it’s alive. Maybe it’s trying to show us something.”

In the center of the chamber stood a large, altar-like structure made of dark stone. Atop it rested a grotesque statue, vaguely humanoid, its head twisted into an unnatural shape, its body covered in faintly glowing, indecipherable symbols.

Surrounding the altar were several stone tablets, etched with more unfamiliar symbols and the now-familiar eye motif. The sight of it sent a shiver down my spine.

“That symbol…”

“Noah,”Yuri said, peering at a nearby tablet, “isn’t that the same symbol we saw before? The one on the wall?”

“Similar, but different,” I said. “It’s everywhere in the Abyss. I think it’s connected to… its essence.”

“Essence? What do you mean?”

“I don’t know exactly. But I think it’s… watching. There are records of others seeing it, in different layers. It’s not just a symbol; it’s a… a focal point.”

“Look at this.” Yuri pointed to one of the tablets. Etched alongside the eye symbol were lines of ancient text, unlike any language I recognized.

I pulled out my notebook, quickly sketching the symbols and the text. “I don’t know what it means, but we need to document it. This place is hiding something.”

Yuri turned, pointing towards the altar. “Shouldn’t we take that?”

Resting on the altar, nestled amongst the swirling blue light, was a spherical object, shimmering like mist, almost translucent. It resembled an ancient compass, encased in glass, its needle spinning erratically, yet always pointing down.

“What is it?”

I cautiously approached the altar, examining the strange compass. “It looks like a compass, but… it’s not pointing north. It’s pointing down.”

I picked it up. The needle remained fixed, pointing downwards, no matter how I turned it.

“What does it mean?”I murmured. “A compass that points down?”

The surface of the compass was etched with faint symbols, similar to the eye motif, but more intricate, more complex.

“This isn’t an ordinary compass.”

“What is it then? Another clue?”

“Maybe… Maybe it’s a guide, leading us deeper into the Abyss. Towards its heart.”

“Can we trust it?”

I didn’t answer, clutching the compass tightly. This wasn’t just a tool; it felt like a message, a directive from the Abyss itself.

A faint whisper brushed against my ears.
“Down. Further down. To the heart of the Abyss.”

I shook my head, trying to dispel the unsettling voice. It was just my imagination.

“Noah? Are you alright?”

“Yeah, fine. I think this compass… it’ll guide us. But I’m not sure where.”

We moved away from the altar, continuing our exploration. The air grew heavy, the rotating patterns on the ceiling spinning faster, the blue light pulsating with a growing intensity. A low hum filled the air, morphing into a faint whisper, beckoning us forward.

“Noah,”Yuri whispered, “I don’t like this place. We should leave.”

“Agreed. We’re not welcome here.”

The compass needle trembled, pointing downwards with unwavering certainty. The vibrations beneath our feet intensified, the blue light swirling around us like a living entity.

“What is it doing? Why is the needle shaking like that?” Yuri asked, her voice tight with apprehension. She tapped the floor with her foot, but the vibrations only intensified.

“I think it’s telling us to go down,” I said, my gaze fixed on the compass. This wasn’t just a tool; it was a directive, a pull from the Abyss itself.

A few steps further, and the floor shifted. A section of the stone slabs had sunk inwards, the blue light emanating from the crevice brighter, more intense.

“Noah, that’s not just a crack. It’s something more.”

“There’s something underneath. A hidden passage.”

We peered into the crevice. A rough, narrow staircase descended into the darkness below.

“Did the Abyss create this? Or was it built by someone, long ago?”Yuri asked.

“Either way,” I said, studying the geometric patterns etched into the walls of the staircase, “it’s not natural. It’s a part of the Abyss’s design.”

We descended the stairs, the compass needle our only guide. The air grew colder, damper, the faint whispers growing louder, more insistent.

“Noah, this place is creepy,” Yuri whispered, glancing nervously around.

“I think the Abyss is trying to show us something.” I tapped a stone slab with my foot. A faint, rhythmic pulse resonated from below, like a heartbeat.

“That light… it’s not just light. Can you see it moving? It’s unsettling.”

“Yes. It’s like… something’s inside.”Yuri reached out hesitantly. “If the Abyss is alive… would it move like this? Or is it just… decaying?”

“The Abyss isn’t just decaying. It has a purpose. This is different from any ruin I’ve ever seen.”

As I spoke, a wave of light pulsed beneath the stone slabs.

“Did you see that? Some kind of reaction!”

“It’s watching us. Responding to our every move.”

We reached the bottom of the stairs and stopped dead. Before us stood a massive door, easily tens of meters high, its surface covered in the familiar geometric patterns and the ever-present eye motif, pulsing with a faint, ethereal light.

“Is that… what the Abyss wants us to see?”

I checked the compass. The needle pointed directly at the door.

As we approached, the light intensified, my heartbeat echoing the pulsing glow.

“Noah,” Yuri whispered, stepping back, “should we really open this?”

I stared at the door, unable to answer. It wasn’t just a structure; it felt like an entity, waiting, watching.

A deep voice resonated from the door, shaking the very ground beneath our feet.

“Is this the end, or the beginning?”

It wasn’t just an echo; it was a question, posed by the Abyss itself.

[Abyss – 3rd Floor Terminus – 200m Underground]

‘Ancient ruins and silence. Forgotten patterns fade, and the compass stirs.”

Pattern: Intersecting lines.

Description: Composed of multiple intersecting lines.