The Secrets of Caduceus

Apart from the pulsating red glow, darkness surrounds me and Misaki. The white light slowly peeks from the slowly opening elevator doors. This is it, the reason we haven't seen anypony around could possibly be because they were taking an alternate route through the elevator. Finally, the blinding white light envelops our eyesight. As things start to clear, all we see is an empty lift. Before I can let out a sigh of relief, Misaki pulls me into the lift and slams the button labeled 'G'.

"We're going to the ground floor. Hopefully nopony will notice us, and just go straight for the cell block you were on." She says, sliding down the elevator wall and onto the floor.

Already on the floor, I sit my back up against the wall, "After we get out of this… Whatever this is. We need to get back to Asclepius."

"I've heard of that place. The unicorn you were talking to earlier, he told me about it. It's a resistance group, yeah?"

I think back to when I was staying in that small village outside the outskirts of Caduceus. The kids constantly bugging me to play with them, the pleasant chatter of the mothers, and the military dedication of the fathers.

"That place. It's not a resistance group. It's a community. A village just looking to survive on their own, instead of submitting under two tyrants." I say, unintentionally in an angry tone.

"Martha and George? The two snakes of Caduceus." She says, getting quieter towards the end of her sentence.

I raise an eyebrow at her, "Snakes? They're not actually… Snakes, are they?"

She turns to me, and giggles, "Ha… No of course not. They're ponies, unicorns. The unicorn who took care of me, the one you spoke to earlier, he told me they have the most powerful magic in this world."

"That's reassuring. I wouldn't want to live under those two either. I'd rather take my chances in the wild like Asclepius."

*DING*

The elevator stops, and the previously illuminated 'G' button returns to it's originally unlit state. Then, the doors slowly open again. Jumping to our hooves, we press our backs against the walls closest to the door, so that nopony could see us, should they be waiting outside. Holding my breath, I slowly lean into the doorway. In front of me is a giant lobby. White marble flooring and white marble walls make up the giant room, as it's decorated with couches, coffee tables, and a circular information desk sits in the centre of the lobby.

"Where are we?" My voice echoes, and I realize just how loud I accidentally spoke.

"Clef Industries. For all of your miscellaneous needs." She replies quietly, as she steps out of the elevator.

"Don't worry." She continues, "If anypony is here, they'll be working on the upper floors. Either investigating the alarm or working quietly and letting others check out the alarm."

I step out, relieved completely.

"We should be fine, as long as--"

*WHOOSH*

I blinked. Now, Misaki has just up and vanished.

"M-Misaki?! Where did you--"

I'm soon cut off by laughter, a deep voice coming from… All directions.

"Haha… Haha!" The sound echoes back and forth in the giant lobby room.

I glance up, and about ten meters in the air sits a giant crystal chandelier. I would say that it's about 5 meters wide, and blocks most of my view of the ceiling. It's possible the littler chuckler is up there, throwing his voice around the lobby.

"Where's Misaki!?" I shout.

No response. The laughter has stopped at least. Then, within a split second, I find my self lying face down in the floor.

*THWOMP*

I swore I felt something pushing my head for a split second! But how did I end up on the floor so quickly?! Jumping to my hooves, I look around frantically. Nopony in sight.

What is going on?!

"Having fun Apollo?"

My ears perk up, and I begin to look around again.

The voice continues, "Ahah! You're really one of my more favourite toys you know? Normally, anypony I hit would be dead by now! Ahah!"

"Who the hell are you?! Come out! Where's Misaki!?" I shout at the ceiling, assuming that's where he is.

"Tch. Hell huh? A concept made up by a bunch of creatures who wondered where they went after they died."

"What… Yeah, I guess."

The voice continues, "Here's a fun fact! Some people think that Hell is place of eternal torture! Experiencing the most painful of pains, and not being to do anything about it!"

Suddenly, I hear the sound of the chandelier above me moving. Without hesitation, I jump to the side and roll perfectly back into a standing position. Looking up, I see a small indentation in the floor where I was previously standing.

"So you can predict my movements now? My, you're a smart unicorn ain'tcha?" The voice continues.

Think Apollo, you need to find a way to get out of here alive and find Misaki… Wait, did he call me a… Unicorn?

I remain silent, and try to remain perfectly still.

Then, I realize that the voice has also muted itself. Why did he decide to shut up all of a sudden? Could it be, the only reason he could find me was because I was making so much noise? Also, why did he call me a unicorn? Is he… Blind?

"You found it out huh? I can tell by the way you're not making any noise. But you'll have to breath sometime! And when you do, I'll hear it."

Is his hearing that perfect? I feel myself about to let out a breath. Quick, what can I do? I'm sure he won't miss next time, so I have to think fast. Looking to my left, I notice that I'm standing next to a desk beside a couch. On the desk, a flower vase sits pristinely and elegantly. Knocking it over, I get ready to slowly shift to the side when it hits the ground.

*CRASH*

Stiff as a stick, I robotically move my hooves to the right. Then, I see something blurry move from above me. I blink again on habit, and it's gone once again. The only thing that remains in its place is the broken table legs and the shattered vase pieces, as well as another small crater in the floor.

"You're smart kid! I like that in an enemy of Caduceus."

I don't have time to ask questions about what he's talking about.

Still silent, I listen for any clues on his whereabouts.

"Tch. I'm as quiet as a cloud kid, don't even try to listen for me. Also, the acoustics of this room prevent you from finding me. It's impossible! So just give up and take your last breath!"

I can't believe I'm going to do this, but it seems like my only option right now.

"Ahem." I clear my throat for him to hear.

"Mistake!" I hear him shout.

Quickly stand up on my hind legs, I open out my forehooves like I'm about to hug somepony. And in a way, I suppose I am.

I wait for the moment I feel him making contact with me… A breeze. Now!

Shutting my eyes, I close my forelegs and feel the body of another pony wrapped inside them.

"Gotcha!" I shout.

But as I shut my mouth, I feel something on my tongue. Feathers? I accidentally chomp down, and hear the sound of my victim screaming in pain.

"AGH! You little--"

Before he calls me out in a vulgar fashion, we both hit the floor in a crashing fashion. As we crash into one of the nearby vases and desks, I feel my teeth sinking further into the wings of what I'm assuming is a pegasus.

He cries louder than before, "AGH! I'll… No! Stop!"

Releasing my bite, I spit to the side. Only then I realize that I had complete bitten through his wing. Blood on the floor, I back away slowly, eyes shot open in shock.

"I-I… I'm s-sorry…" I stutter.

Sure I've shot a gun before, and I've even killed a creature! But the pain back then was only for an instant! Never before have I made somepony suffer this way!

He groans in pain, grunting and breathing heavily, "You… YOU! You took… My gift… Away from me! I'LL KILL YOU!" He shouts, crawling towards me.

But before his hoof can reach me, a grey hoof stomps down on the joint in his right foreleg.

Again, the pegasus cries out in pain.

"Misaki!" I cry out, as I look up to see my companion.

"Don't. Touch. Me. Again." She says, as she twists her hoof into his leg after every enunciated word.

"AGH! STOP! STOP PLEASE!"

"Hey! He's had enough!" I shout, pulling her away from the bloodied pegasus.

I finally catch a full image of our assailant. A pegasus with a midnight purple coat, striped with a darker shade of purple on his legs and face. His mane is also striped, but black and dark purple. His tail matches his mane. His eyes are a venomous violet, and I noticed that he's wearing two sort of bracelets or anklets on each of his legs. One on each of his lower hooves, and one on each of his high legs.

Misaki releases her hoof, steps away and turns around. She then turns her head slightly backwards, to almost face the corpse.

She speaks in an aggravated voice, a tone that I've never heard her speak in before.

"Blinker. Tell them to stop following us. Or your sister gets it."

Before I follow Misaki out of the building's lobby, I turn around and see the almost-lifeless corpse writhing in pain.

I cringe, shudder, and then turn around to leave.