Miracula Luxia C5, P5- "Secrets Of The Depths"

"Secrets Of The Depths" is the fifth Part of "Miracula Luxia" 's fifth Chapter- "The Forgotten". It was released on 11.11.2019
== Plot ==
The cave which our heroes are forced to cross is filled with secrets beyond imagination.
Food. Monetary loot. As well a strange item, never discovered before.
However, in order to get to those secrets our heroes have to defeat a big amount of enemies and evade an even bigger amount of deadly traps.
It is up to them whether they will reach the treasures or end up dead and forever rest in the secluded cave.
== Story ==
The five brave adventurers approached the cave and noticed that it was much bigger than what it looked on the outside.
Jason was in awe.
"This cave is so well preserved."- He said- "So many stalagmites. So many little pools of water. So many... "
Suddenly, something made him jump in fear.
"BATS!!!"
Jared and Annie looked ahead. Indeed, there were bats swooping towards them with their tiny wings.
"Aww. Look, Jared! A bunch of cute, fluffy bats are coming towards us."- Annie said to her friend, thinking that the bats were just coming for a few hugs.
Jared knew better. He aimed his bow at the closest one and shot it before it could harm a distracted Annie.
Annie was shocked.
"Why did you kill it?!"- She screamed.
Jared bent down to look at the dead bat.
So did Aleks.
"His ears are pointier than the friendlier varieties. It must be a Supersonic-- "
But before he could finish his explanation, another bat screeched at them, temporarily deafening and stunning the four of them.
Bucky was unaffected by this. He grabbed Aleks's sword and swinged at the incoming bat, killing it and another bat that tried to come in the way.
"Bucky saves the day again!"- He proudly said, before he was attacked by a larger specimen.
This bat was twice as big as the others and it had very sharp teeth, almost as sharp as a human's.
As Bucky tried to get it off of him, the huge creature tried to sink its teeth into his stomach.
However, it was pulled away in time by a barely recovered Jared who was still slightly dizzy from the screech.
He grabbed his sword and attacked the temporarily immobilized creature. It tried to fight back, causing the boy to drop its weapon.
It screeched and soon most of the bats were concentrating their attacks on Jared instead of the others.
The others watched in confusion, surprised at the fact that the creatures simply ignored them.
Fortunately, Jared infused his sword with fire just in time. He swinged it at the approaching creatures, managing to kill three and set three on fire.
The creatures tried to share the pain by bumping into Jared, but Jason shot them down with his weapon before they could do so.
Soon, the huge bat was left with no backup. It screeched at the group and tried to escape from the cavern in a most cowardly way.
However, Jared managed to cover his ears during the screech and was not affected by it.
Jason handed him his bow and he aimed it at the fleeing beast.
It was close to the exit, but also close enough for Jared to score a shot.
He aimed his bow. And...
*PTING*!
An arrow flew right into the creature's skull.
A well-aimed shot in the head! The creature fell to the ground, dead, but not before fruitlessly trying to escape once again.
It fell right on the edge of the cavern which separated it from the other part of the island.
Jared looked at it and found a strange white gem.
"It's a Pearl!"- Aleks noted the white color of the gem- "I'm amazed that this creature had managed to find one, but I probably should not be! An unfortunate survivor must have dropped it."
"Or... the bat killed them for it."- Annie added grimly.
"Whatever the reason, one man's loss is another's gain."- Jared concluded.
He bent down to pick up the gem.
"This will sell well if we manage to find an actual shopkeeper up ahead."- He grinned.
Aleks shaked his head.
"If only. If only it were that easy."
"Yes. If only."- Jason added.
Jared looked at them.
"Oh, come on! There must be something ahead!"
"Look Nephew, right now we're in the middle of an unknown cavern, soaked to the bone and hungry as heck with no salvation in sight. How do you know we will ever find it?!"- Jason muttered angrily.
Aleks looked at him.
"Jared is right, brother. We must not lost hope. From all of my adventures, I have learned that there is always a way out of a sticky situation like the one we are currently in. So we must stand up and fight for our salvation, even if it costs us our lives."
"So what are you doing now, muttering to yourself and thinking we won't be saved. Nobody will save us until we move our butts and show them that we can do this ourselves! So stand up! Right now... before me I see a weak brother, not the one I've always wished to have."
"But... but Brother... "
"No "Brother"! He is your nephew and you must believe him. And if you don't believe in him, you don't believe in me."
He started to make his way further into the cavern, followed by Annie.
Jared looked at his uncle one last time.
"Uncle, you've always been my role model. You've always shown me the right path, you've always motivated me to believe in myself. But now I see. I see that my own Uncle does not believe in himself. And I do not like it."
Aleks and Annie looked at Jared, hoping that he would just abandon him.
Instead, the boy grabbed his uncle's arm.
"But I will not leave you here. I still believe in you, Uncle! Please, come with us! We still need your help, as much as you need ours. We're a family and a family must always stay united!"
Jason looked down for a few moments. Then he looked up at his nephew again.
"Okay, Nephew. I won't leave you. But promise be that you will try your best to find a way out for us."
"From now on, you shall be the moral compass of our team. A man such as myself definitely mustn't be."
Jared was surprised by his uncle's words.
"Uncle! I... I've never been a moral compass for anything."
"You'll learn to be. I saw the future not long before I saw you and your father again."
"The stars told me that you will become a kind and caring leader one day. A leader of a determined team of survivors who fight for the good of everyone."
"I... I just don't want that future to fall apart, because of your self-doubt to be a leader."
"Yes. You do believe in yourself, Nephew, but you don't believe that you can be a leader. To be someone who can make decisions for his allies. And that... is what you must do!"
With that said he walked up to his brother.
"Big Brother, I am very sorry for what I said. I want to show you that I have changed. That I'm not the weak brother I've been many years ago."
"Show it to me, dear brother. I want to trust you."
"And you will. Watch!"
Jason walked up towards an obvious trap.
A boulder trap, set up to hinder the progress of anyone who tried to go ahead.
Fortunately, Jason passed through the traps without much difficulty thanks to his great skill in Evasion.
The two boulder traps were a joke for him, but the third managed to slightly hurt his right leg.
He brushed it off and walked towards a wall, followed by the others.
"A dead end."- Aleks muttered.
"Uh. This is annoying. Well, see ya friends outside."- Annie grumbled and started to walk towards the exit.
Jared was not conviced that this was a dead end. His keen adventurer skills were telling him otherwise.
He pressed his palm on the rough cavern wall and started searching for something hidden.
"What are you doing, son?"- Aleks questioned his son's sudden actions.
"I'm searching for a secret, Dad. I know that there is one around here."
Aleks tried to pull his hand away, but Jason stopped him, knowing that he could find something worth their time.
"Leave the child alone, Brother! He might actually find something interesting!"
"There's only one way to find that out."- Jared responded as he continued searching.
After a few seconds, Jared's palm touched something.
It was a rock.
The "rock" pushed deeper in, revealing that it was actually a hidden button.
Success! A new passage opened in front of the four adventurers.
"Master is amazing! Bucky would never find this!"- Bucky complimented his master's actions.
"Yes, I knew it! After all these years, believing in someone to do something has actually worked!"- Jason exclaimed and hugged his nephew.
"I'm so proud of you.
Aleks hugged them as well.
"So am I. Good job, my child."
"Now we just need to get through. Hey Annie! We found a passage! Come, let's-- "
But before Jared could finish his sentence, he heard a scream.
"Wait, a scream! It sounded like... "
"Annie!"- Aleks recognized the girl standing in front of them. 
However, she was not alone. A hooded man was holding her hostage.
He ran towards Jared, trying to take him hostage as well.
However, he managed to shoot the man in the knee, temporarily immobilizing his tendons.
Jared tried to rescue his friend from the man, but he managed to push the boy to the ground.
After recovering, the hooded man (Still firmly holding Annie hostage) reached for his pocket and revealed a wicked knife.
He almost stabbed a confused Jared with it, were it not for a brave Jason who pulled him away from his nephew and landed a few solid punches to stun him.
Seeing that he cannot capture Jared (at least for now) the hooded man decided to use a smoke to temporarily make the others unable to follow him and Annie.
While escaping through the secret passage, the man was shot again by Jared- this time in the arm.
Bleeding from two spots, the man cursed his involvement in the current situation while Annie screamed for help.
"Annie!"- Aleks yelled, still coughing from the smoke.
"COME BACK HERE AND FIGHT US LIKE A MAN, COWARD!"- Jason beckoned him to come back and fight, but to no avail.
Jared ran after him, along with Bucky.
"LET MY FRIEND GO, YOU JERK! DO YOU HEAR ME?!"- He screamed at the top of his lungs.
"Don't worry, Annie. I'm coming! I will save you!"
However, the tunnel was winding up into darkness. Soon, the man was gone. And so was Annie.
Her screams ceased after a while.
Jared fell to his knees. He knew that he had just failed to save a friend from the jaws of darkness.
He began to cry.
"Annie... no... "
"ANNIE!"
He was in complete despair.
Until his father approached him.
The man comforted his son as best as he could. He told him that everything would be alright and that they will find Annie as soon as possible.
"But first, the mission. We must get out of here. Come on!"- He added.
Jared stared at him, anger raging in his eyes.
"How can you even care about this stupid mission when Annie is still with those freaks. First we find her, then we complete the "mission". You hear me?!"
Aleks nodded.
"Fine. Fine. Let's go."
"Let's just find the way out for now. I'm sure that this won't be our only encounter with this hooded freak."- Jason told his nephew to comfort him further."
Jason's words were truly the voice of reason. Soon, Jared was ready to go.
"We believe that we can find her. Don't we, Uncle?"
"Yes. Yes we do. I know how special she is to you and we will find her."
"I won't leave a friend of my nephew stay with those freaks even for a single moment. Here we go!"
The four of them bravely entered the tunnel.
Soon, they found themselves in a barely lit room.
They found lots of treasures. Coins. Golden weapons. Even a nice-looking banner.
But the most interesting item was in the end of the room- A strange gem, shaped like a sword.
Jared looked at it.
"How interesting. It shines in a beautiful white light."
"Now that's a great find. But first, let's take everything else."- His father said and tried to take some of the stuff.
However, curiosity made Jared pry out the strange gem from the wall with his sword.
The four of them heard a rumble and soon all of the treasure was gone!
"It seems like the treasure was just an illusion to trap us in here."
He looked at the passage behind them.
Lava was pouring out of the ceiling.
"Lava!"- Jared pointed out the red substance slowly reaching them.
"We have to run!"
Jared looked ahead and found out that they were not doomed to die after all. The removal of the gem had triggered the opening of a new passage for our heroes to escape from this mess.
They ran up ahead at maximum speed, hoping for the best.
However, the lava was still after them. Slowly, at first, going faster and faster with every second.
Soon almost all of the cave was filled with lava.
Jared noticed something.
"Sunlight!"- He yelled- "At last!"
"Son, wait!"- His father tried to stop him.
However, Jared was determined to escape.
Seeing no other way out of this, his father and his uncle followed him.
The lava reached its maximum speed, incinerating anything it came in contact with.
Jared tried out one last, desperate move- to reach the exit through jumping.
He heard a strange rumble from the ceiling. There wasn't much time left.
Jared jumped out of the cave along with his family and Bucky.
Success! The jump saved them from certain demise.
Mainly because a huge rock blocked the exit not long afterwards. 
And the lava was stopped.
Phew! That was a close one for our brave heroes, but they still managed to make it out.
Jared was almost out of breath. Such adventures were not for a young man such as himself.
But he was still fighting well. A normal 16 year old boy would have died in that cave, unable to run away.
"That was a close one!"- Aleks noted- "Are you okay, my child?"
Jared nodded, still angry from what happened to Annie.
"Still thinking about her, eh? Don't worry. I'm sure this weirdo didn't go very far."
"I think I can see some lights over there!"- Jason noticed another building up ahead.
The spirit of a Vahnatai appeared before them.
"I, Galantis-Bok, have been neglected for so long. But no more! Come and visit me in my home and pay your respects or suffer from a horrible curse that will plague your body forever."
"Heed my warning, Humans! If you flee now, you will be deemed unworthy by me. But I cannot be the one who makes your choices."
"So make your choice and I hope that it is the good one. Farewell, Humans."
Having said his piece, the spirit disappeared leaving Jared, Aleks, Jason and Bucky alone.
They looked at the building ahead. They knew what to do. They just had to go ahead... and do what they must do.
== Trivia ==
* This Part is named "Secrets Of The Depths", because of the secrets which the cave held- monetary and otherwise and how they all disappeared after the simple removal of a small gem.
* After the conclusion of this Part, it is unknown what happened to Annie. There's a possibility is that the man may have taken her somewhere and killed her away from her allies. Or, he may have taken her hostage and she is, in fact still alive. Either way, her status remains unknown until she is seen again.
* Two of the numbers of the release date of this Part match (11.11). This is the second part which is released on a day which has a matching month, the other being on 09.09.2019.