Knowing of The Chasm

Corpse Carrier - Act 1 | Chapter 14 - Knowing of The Chasm
Two Hours and Nine Minutes After Juna Died

Juna batted her eyes and peeked out from under the table. She glanced at Radu who kept his gaze on Theo trotting down the bar stairs. Radu sighed, then shared a look with Juna.

“That’s a problematic partner to have down in the Chasm,” Radu grumbled. “Does he always act like this?”

Juna laughed uncomfortably. Something she hadn’t forced herself to do in some while. “I'm not too sure. This is kind of my first time meeting him, haha.”

She raised to her feet with Specks in hand, using one arm to leverage herself against the table and stand. Her legs lightly shook from the previous tremor as if it was still ongoing. Radu had said a creature had caused the tremors, hadn't he? Coloana-Vie, or something or another. Juna picked up the fallen chair and lowered herself back into the seat. She held Specks by the armpits and dangled him in front of her eyes. His fluffy fur was soft against her palms, his beady eyes looked clueless, and his pudgy tail that swooped from side to side.

Could Coloana-Vie just be a bigger version of you? Juna thought.

“Your first time meeting him?” Radu asked, getting back onto the topic of Theo. “Did the two of you depart from different worlds, then?”

“Ah, not really,” Juna said, resting Specks on her lap. “We’ve both always been in the same class…or world. Yeah, the same world I guess. Though we never spoke much. I guess we never really had a reason too.” She lowered her head, catching sight of Specks curling into a ball onto her thighs and covering his eyes with the brush-like tail. Juna smiled softly. “It's kind of my fault Theo ended up here. So…I can't really blame him.”

Radu didn't respond immediately. Similar to when Theo told the man that they had come from above the cavern, or well, what they now know to be another world, Radu waited in thought. Patiently, his eyes gently drifted to the side as the information seemed to pound in his head.

“Do you wish to return home as well?” Radu finally asked.

“Me? No, not at all.”

Radu raised an eyebrow. “Mighty fast reply you had there.” He grinned.

“The world we came from wasn’t colorful. Everything was dark and bleak and all the people there all only thought of themselves. There was nothing to love back there. But here everything seems so fun. I’ve met Specks, I’ve seen houses I never would have seen, and a pretty scary Chasm in the ground. I’ve also learned so many fun terms like Fossils and all. I'd actually really like to hear more about them, Gritborn and all these Stone names if you don't mind. I'm quite interested.”

Radu laughed. “You're quite an interesting specimen yourself. Even if I were taken to another world, I wouldn’t think I could hold my cool as well as you do.” He leaned in. “Later on I'll have to ask you an array of questions once I get my thoughts in order. But for now…”

Radu stood from his chair and held up a hand for Juna to wait. He walked down the stairs and around half a minute later returned with two large men. Both were a tad darker than Radu himself. Each one wore a similar patchwork breastplate with slim white crystals decorating their belts and the hide pads on their shoulders.

The burlier of the two had shaggy brown hair that attempted to cover his missing left eyebrow, though the curly bangs didn’t do too well of a job. The other man had a much scrawny frame with a soot-stained bandana wrapped around his head. He wore fingerless gloves, though one of his hands really put the finger-less in the name. On the man’s right hand both his pinky, index, and middle finger were completely severed at the knuckle.

“Gritborns,” Radu said, gesturing towards the two men. “Those born from the Chasms depths. Or in simpler terms, those that choose to descend into the Chasm.”

Juna could feel her own eyes start to gleam. “So like adventures, right?”

The burly Gritborn chuckled. “I wouldn't give it such a romantic title, miss. It's more like work than adventuring.”

“But still! You both go down into that crack in the ground and explore, right?”

“Well,” the burly Gritborn said, “I guess that is true.”

Juna basically stood from her chair. How exciting was it to have a real life adventurer in front of her? Someone that's traversed the unknown, explored things she could only dream of. and probably, hopefully, had fought off dangerous monsters and lived to tell the tale.

Finally Juna had found herself right where she wanted to be. Though Theo’s constant nagging had disrupted her own start to this brand new world, now she was here. Now Juna was in a new place where no one knew her name. Where no one would pick at her eye color. Where no one would paint her face with a sharpie to fix her pale skin. Where she wouldn't be afraid to talk, or to laugh, or to smile.

Where Juna could finally live. A new world. How exciting.

“Is it fun?” Juna asked, squeezing Specks against her chest.

“Well…” the burly Gritborn glanced at his buddy. They shared a look. “I guess.”

Radu laughed. “Don’t be shy now. Though it is a dangerous occupation, miss, don't let yourselves be misled by these numbskulls. Over half of those born in Ground Zero chose to descend into the Chasm. These two are similar cases, both of them descended even before their twentieth birthday.”

“Of course we did,” the fingerless Gritborn chimed in. “There’s nothing up here at Ground Zero. This place is a living prison.”

“And yet you two came back,” Radu said with a hint of smugness.

The burly Gritborn chuckled, then looked at Juna. “I assume you'd like to talk about going into the Chasm young lady?”

Juna nodded. She nodded as much as she could. Almost causing a second earthquake from her nodding.

Radu walked back to the table and sat, gesturing for the others to follow. The burly Gritborn who seemed to be in his late thirties, sat beside Juna on her right. While the other Gritborn positioned himself between both Radu and the burly man.

“Let’s begin with Gritborns then. Specifically how to identify them," Radu said. He pointed to a black threaded necklace dangling from the burly Gritborn’s neck. At the end, an inch wide silver and lime mixed stone was nailed through and tied to the thread. “That is what we call a DepthStone—all Gritborns adorn themselves with one.”

A rigid stone wasn’t as fantasy-like as Juna had hoped, but still it was something different. Something new. Something—that could be anything!

“Got it, a DepthStone,” she said. “So, what does it do? Does it ward off monsters like those gasoline rocks outside?”

“No,” Radu said. “DepthStones are just decorations. Nothing more.”

Well…that was a bummer.

“Come on Radu,” the burly man grunted, “don’t go underselling a Gritborn’s DepthStone.” The Gritborn carefully removed the necklace and placed it into Juna’s hands.

Accepting the Stone, she rubbed her index finger over its silver-lime surface as the texture pricked against her skin.

“DepthStones are the adornment of the Chasm,” the burly Gritborn said. “Proof of our status as Gritborn’s and a trophy from the Layers. Mining a small chunk from each Layer to wear around your neck is ritualistic for Gritborns. Specifically, me and the other bozo are Gritborns who have descended into the First Layer. That Stone you’re holding there, miss.” The man pointed down below the table. “That’s from the Chasm’s First Layer.”

Mining rocks from the Layers, Juna thought, spinning the Stone in hand, admiring how it shined under the orange light producing stone hanging from the ceiling. I guess that's pretty cool.

“So,” she said, handing the Stone back over. “The First Layer, I want to hear about that. What's down there in the Chasm? And if it's called the First Layer, then how many Layers are there?”

“They wouldn't know anything about that,” a soothing voice said approaching the table. The lady gave a slight giggle as she sat two new tankards in front of the Gritborns. “After all, these two have only descended into the Chasm once, and with a hefty group at that.”

“Ah come on Ilinca,” the burly Gritborn said, lifting the newly placed tankard to his mouth, “you'd be a lot cuter if you kept that mouth closed.”

Ilinca smiled. “Then who would keep you both in check?”

“Oh brother,” the Gritborn mumbled.

Ilinca was the same lady with pearl-white hair that could have been pulled from a pillow cover. How beautiful. Juna picked at her own mercury-white hair and twirled a finger around one of her locks.

No one's mentioned it. Unlike back there.

The two Gritborns and Radu laughed along with Ilinca as they talked about some new recipe the shopkeeper cooked up. Though the details of their conversation were unnecessary to Juna, what mattered to her—were the bright smiles.

Ilinca was a beautiful lady with a slim figure and a way of speaking that drew respect her way. All things Juna differed from. However, the one thing they had in common was the color of their hair. How different it was from the rest.

Juna looked around the table. Radu propped an arm on the back of his chair and teetered back while chatting with Ilinca. Even the Gritborns met the lady eye to eye with smiles and friendly banter.

Why? Juna thought.

Pearl-hair that shimmered and floated as Ilinca swayed back and forth with laughter. Why was such a sight not unusual for the men gathered at the table? They acted as though Ilinca's hair was perfectly normal. No—it wasn't just that. Even when Radu and the Gritborns had met Juna herself, neither one ever mentioned her mercury-colored hair. They had treated Juna like she was normal, just like they were treating Ilinca.

Like Juna belonged. Like she could belong. Could she?