The Figurine Statue and The Consequences of Actions

Moving with the group of gray figures was a silent but interesting walk. Luca and his followers, with the exception of Val, weren’t very keen on talking with the expedition, so there was little to do there. On the other side, though, following their young guide was a good way to see how complex were the ruins. Just the number of hidden ‘paths’ made by the dilapidated buildings and the natural caves were enough to avail a map on their own.

And Luca seemed to know his way through most of them.

It also explained very well how they managed to stay out of sight from Amy’s scouting all this while. No amount of scrambling would be able to keep them hidden if all they had were the same paths the surface group was exploring earlier.

Still, nothing they saw was too beyond what could be expected. Half-buried alleys and caves that connected two different parts of the city were nothing special no matter how they saw it. What they all saw the moment they arrived at their destination was very different, though.

“Now I get why this kid was calling Amy their goddess...” Lily commented as they entered the small plaza-like area surrounded by buildings that seemed to be in working condition with a single statue set in the middle of it. A statue that, even without coming close to it, was surely not made of stone and was clearly repaired with different materials. And more importantly, a statue that looked very much like an idol. A pink-clothed one even.

Other than that, the houses were simply the same type of ruined building that was around the other areas but repaired to a point. All but one of the buildings lacked any glass and some were full of patches of mismatched materials, but they were good enough to live at.

Some even had small decorations peppered around. Nothing more than some colorful cloth or a vase with somewhat good-looking fungi, but decorations still.

The only exception was the sole building that had glass in its construction. And unless Amy was very confused about it, this one was sure to be a somewhat beaten-down greenhouse. One that seemed to be working and had people inside of it too.

People that, included with everyone that wasn’t inside, stopped all they were doing to look at the newcomers. So, without even stopping to think as usual, Amy took the attention head-on and called even more of it.

“Good morning, subterranean!” She shouted out to the confused underground dwellers, which only furthered their confusion, and she wasn’t even done yet. “And by the way, which one of you sent a flamethrower robot to attack that guy over there? I would also like to talk with your leader.”

“Goddess…” A little hand pulled on the silky pink hair right in front of her and successfully drew its owner’s attention. Val was still being carried on the idol’s shoulders, by the way.

“Oh, that is right… Sorry about it, everyone, I shall ignore you for now and got deal with the problem this little lady brought to us. We can talk about the attack later… Show me the way, Val!”

Then, under the scrutiny of the confused locals and her own shocked companions, Amy started to follow the directions of her small friend.

Or, to be more specific, she tried to do so but was forced to stop by a hurried group of people blocking her way with an assortment of tools in hand. They all had some pieces of stealth clothing too, but they weren’t using a full set, so she could somewhat see the confused villagers in front of her.

There wasn’t much to say about them, though. Their ages varied a lot and the closest to a proper weapon they had were some antique shotguns, which made them look like a piece of fiction.

Amy was feeling as if she was faced by a group of villagers from some medieval movie right now... and it was quite a bother since it wasn’t as if they could do much to her.

How they acted made Lily and the two overexcited twins also get ready for a fight. It was doubtful if these people could do anything to them with such outdated weapons, but they didn’t seem to mind. Even Henrique and Benjamin seemed ready to fight back if needed right now.

Still, solving it with violence wasn’t really the pink girl’s style. She was, as usual, very against fighting humans if she could avoid doing so. And luckily for her, after she stopped, a much older villager walked to the front of his group and started to talk.

“Would you mind explaining yourself, IDOL?” He asked in a harsh tone and with his wrinkled eyes moving between Amy and the two groups of kids close to her. “Especially about what you’re doing with our kids.”

It was a small detail, but Amy wouldn’t let such a thing pass. It was also easy for her to notice that this old man was only staring at her even though she was the only one not showing a sign of wanting to fight. All the others, with two exceptions, couldn’t understand exactly what was happening, but that didn’t matter right now.

“An explanation, is it? Can you take over, Professor?” Amy called out without even turning her body to the buff professor, and then turning to Val by her side. “I have a promise to follow…”

She then patted the kid’s head and went back to walking towards the house pointed out earlier, but was again stopped by the villagers.

This time though, she only glared at them and at their elder for a moment, which made the old man signal to calm down before nodding to the idol. And with several whispering noises and confused eyes at her back, the frilly-dressed girl moved on to her current goal.

As long as she could do something, she would help this girl’s mother. And since there was very little she could not cure as she was, it was almost a solved problem already.

In the meanwhile, the village’s elder and the huge professor were locked in a staring contest for a moment with Lily only waiting in watch for now. Henrique wasn’t exactly sure of what to say here even if he seemed to have a hint of what had happened from how Amy spoke, but that was hard to deal with. It was always troublesome when her partner would decide to do something like this, but the ex-cop could pardon her this time.

She was also more worried about saving a kid’s mother than about dealing with a group that, at worst, could somehow hurt one of them a little.

“Could the guests follow me then?” The village’s leader called out after everyone saw Amy move away. “Everyone else can go back to their work now. It’s not ideal, but these people are unlikely to be hostile for now…”

“Talking at a calmer pace works for me… Do any of the ladies have something against it?” The professor agreed with the new proposal and turned to his students and the remaining idol, ignoring Benjamin while at it.

“I don’t think there’s a reason to be against it. They don’t seem to be a threat anyway, so the choice is yours, professor.”

The twins nodded in agreement to Lily’s view of the situation and even the lawyer on the back seemed not against it. They couldn’t see much in the realm of weaponry or anything that could put them at risk anyway.

Most were taking this situation as if they had found a small group of slum dwellers as is. Nothing as interesting as it could be, but nothing to worry about.

How calm the old man was confused Lily a little, but she turned to move on still. The androids holding most of their baggage seemed to be following her too, so there wasn’t much more to do anyway.

It also wasn’t as if any of the people that lived here seemed to wish to stay around too. After they were told to back away, even Luca’s group was fast to leave the area and go back to what seemed to be their workplaces.

And so, Henrique confirmed that everyone was up to it and followed the old man from earlier to one of the more well-repaired houses of the village.

There, they could see that most of the inner walls were taken down and that the whole inside of the house was a huge open room filled with tables and chairs. Most of these were makeshift in materials and made with amateur methods, but some seemed like proper and well-cared antiques.

Other than that, the room had two doors at the back without any markings on them and two other openings that were covered by cloth. But before they could say anything, the old man went to one of those doors at the back and, after a few moments, came back with a tea set and a massive book.

“Any chance of leaving us alone?” He asked right away while pouring tea into some cups with a dejected expression on his face. “I’m not sure what you people do up there anymore, but you wouldn’t send this much if it was a peaceful incursion…”

The elder’s words got everyone else in the room by surprise to some degree. Most of them weren’t convinced that this was some old underground civilization, but they also didn’t expect to be seen as invaders. Or at least, by a group with a leader who knew what was happening.

The most surprising in his words, though, was the fact that he saw the group of weirdos that this expedition was as some overwhelming force. Even Lily who had a better idea of the reason for such couldn’t grasp how it was possible.

“Please wait a moment, sir…” The professor was the first to try and get a better explanation of the situation. “We are but an archeological expedition. Our only aim was to explore these ruins, and we weren’t aware of your village’s existence before one of yours made contact...”

“I also want to add again that we have no reason to fight you. We aren’t a military group or anything of the kind…” Lily also added from her side, although the old man didn’t seem to react much. He only kept pouring his tea and, after he had enough cups for everyone in the room, he finally took a seat.

“I see…” He said while sipping on his tea in a pensive mood before glancing at Lily herself. “Then maybe I was too hurried in my remarks... But still, if what you claim is true, then how do you explain you, and your pink friend, being here? From what I know, it seems excessive for archeologists.”

“That is because you do not know what a true idol is, old man.” The bubbly voice of the missing member of the group rang at the entrance of the building as she headed to the table with the others. “Or do I seem to be a bad-sounding acronym to you? I even think you should be worshipping me instead of some old relic you saw in a book.”

The smiling Amy put the whole conversation to a halt right away. She was ready to spill all she knew here, but before anyone could answer her, an explosion outside called everyone's attention. One that seemed similar to the one Amy heard a while ago too... And then, hurried steps filled in the area surrounding their building while all inside got up in a hurry.

And all Amy could think was that she should have, maybe and only maybe, looked around a little better when she was at the power plant…