Sage apologized as she dumped her disorganized bundle of clothes into Dawn's bag. Across the room, Avery unwound most of her things back into Daya, which she stored in the canister under her arm. Evan said good-bye to Astrid and watched the others gather up their things. He didn't have anything to pack.
Izzy was quick to pack up everything, literally. Just a short spin around the room and Winifred was completely packed up. She even brought her toys down into the sewers. Maybe she'd start playing with them again.
Thankfully, nightfall was near and they could easily sneak out. Dawn stood closely by Avery's side, giving a worried glance. "Well, um, hopefully you can make use some bedding, or sleeping bags. We can just think of this as a camping trip!" she chuckled sheepishly, "A dirty, grimy, stressful, life-or-death camping trip."
Izzy made it down to the group easily, the wind taking a moment to catch up to her. She lowered Winifred off her back and, without saying a word, went to lift the pothole. There was a rusty old ladder and a bad smell, but it was better than staying. Izzy stared down it with a bored expression. "I already have a little tent set up, plus a few other things. So, welcome to Izzy's garbage hole."
Dawn swallowed hard. It was pretty dark down there. Very dark, actually. She assumed there'd be light eventually, but the dark petrified her. It made her feel weak, too, but that could come from her plant-like behavior. Either way, she hoped someone had brought a flashlight and that Avery wouldn't mind being clung to.
Evan blinked at the darkness and raised a hand. After a moment's concentration, his fingertips began to glow a faint green-white, like those glow-in-the-dark stars that people used to put on their ceilings. Sage stared at him.
"When did you realize you could do that?" she asked.
"After the color bomb," Evan shrugged. "There was light in it, too, and so I just figured that was something I can do now. And I was right."
"Well, that solves one of our problems," Sage muttered, staring into the abyss. "Now we just have to figure out who's going down first."
Dawn sighed loudly. Thank the heavens Evan could become a human glowstick. A part of her wondered if it could trigger when he popped his joints. It'd be funny, at least.
Unfortunately, nobody moved. Even Izzy was a bit shy about climbing down, and she'd spent a majority of her time there! So, she glanced around. Her eyes landed on a trembling redhead practically clinging to Avery's side.
"Well, I would say Evan, but this might be the only way to get that one in," Izzy grumbled. She grabbed Dawn's arm and brought her up to the open manhole. Dawn flinched violently when she was touched on her scarred arm, but Izzy didn't seem to care nor notice. Dawn looked around as fast as she could, only to feel a foot on her back that lightly pushed her forward.
Just like that, she lost her footing and fell into the endless void. She shrieked... only to realize there was barely a drop at all. It was barely ten feet down and she was lucky enoughed to land on her knees. She slowly stood up and rubbed her kneecaps. "U-Um," she stuttered, her voice cracking as she looked the ladder. It was the only piece of light there was down there. "Okay, um, Evan? Can you come down? Now? Please?" she pleaded, "It's, uh, really really dark and... kind of smelly, to be honest." She could barely hold herself together in the pitch black sewers.
Izzy shrugged and stepped back. "You're all welcome."
"Hey!" Avery let out a cry of protest as Dawn was wrenched away from her, but she was unable to make a move before Izzy pushed the redhead down into the sewers. Upon hearing that Dawn was okay, Avery rounded on the speedster. "What the hell?!"
Evan, who was extremely tired of all the fighting and drama, sidled around his sister and followed Dawn into the man-hole, glowing fingers and all. They weren't exactly industrial-grade floodlights, but they gave off enough dim shimmer to illuminate their surroundings pretty well.
"Ugh," Evan grunted, staring around. "It's not exactly pleasant down here."
"What? Oh, you were gonna coax her down? Well, I beat you to it. I'm just more... direct," Izzy said, her hands on her hips. "We gotta be quick with this anyways. So," Izzy gestured to the manhole. "Let's speed this up, shall we?" Just like that, little Winifred had started climbing down the ladder. She made it down safely and even gave a thumbs-up.
Dawn examimed the dark and grimey walls nervously. "What was this place before my mom bought it?" she whispered. "I'm starting to think this place was a mental asylum before..."
"Wait! Wait up for me!" Izzy wanted to keep a low profile. It seemed the universe didn't like her wishes. Astrid came sprinting out, holding nothing but a hoodie, blanket, and handheld console in their arms. "I'm here!" they panted, holding onto their knees. Quickly, she regained her composure. "I was thinking about it, and I thought: why would I stay while ALL of my friends being forced into some dirty sewers!? I can't just leave them! And now here I am! I know, I know, you all must've missed me so much."
Izzy rolled her eyes. "Fine, whatever. Just get in and stop making so much noise."
"Astrid?" Evan called, recognizing their voice. "Is that you?"
Avery descended after the small Prodigy, giving a small sigh. After the whole Shiloh incident, she couldn't exactly argue with Izzy's logic. Sometimes it was just better to rip the band-aid off, especially when it came to Dawn. Still, she didn't appreciate watching her...friend? girlfriend? Get pushed down the ladder.
Dawn quickly went to Avery's side, taking her hand so tightly it turned her knuckles white. "Hey," she whispered. The fear on her face was rather clear. Something about the dark horrified her. She could never see what was going on, and her powers barely worked. All the plants that grew died in the dark. She felt so weak down there.
Astrid leapt down the hole, landing on their feet dramatically. "Ta-da!" she exclaimed. She ran up to Evan and wrapped their arms around him, almost knocking him over. "I couldn't just leave you in the dust! Or sewage, I guess," they said, loosening slightly before they grabbed Evan's fingers. "Wah! Are those glowstick hands? Weird! What if I-" Then, Astrid forcefully cracked his thumb joint.
It was just Izzy and Sage left. Izzy looked at Sage with melancholy in her eyes. "Powder..." she sniffled, wiping a tear from her burned and scarred eye. The pupil had gone completely white. She could only see fuzzes of color through it. "Powder said he was gonna confront the Adjudicator." Slowly she started making her way on the ladder. "Damn, I hope he's alright."
Sage shifted from foot to foot as Izzy descended the ladder, popping one of her newly rediscovered lollipops in her mouth. The sugar had gone soft with time, making it easy for her to press the imprints of her teeth into it. With a bit more pressure the lollipop cracked, shattering to pieces in her mouth. Sage spit the loosened stick into the grass before following her friends, closing the manhole behind her.
"Ow!" Evan yanked his hand away from Astrid, shaking it like he'd been burned. A second later a circle of fresh light appeared above the joint. Evan held it to his face, the greenish glow illuminating his bewildered features. "Oh, huh. I guess I am like a human glowstick. Would you look at that."
Avery ignored her brother, turning to Dawn instead.
"Hey," she returned, squeezing the redhead's hand back, though not quite as forcefully. "Do you need anything? Obviously I'm making sleeping bags for everyone, but is there something else you need? Like a game, perhaps? It might help to take your mind off everything."
"Speaking of sleeping bags," Sage interjected as she came down the ladder, one hand outstretched toward the Semavry curling around the manhole. It looped into the crevices in the metal, sealing it tightly shut. Unlike Dawn, her plants didn't seem to mind the dark. "Are we going to sleep right here under the manhole, or somewhere more up-pipe? Because I think it'd be a good idea to hide in a spot that's a bit less obvious, in case someone comes looking for us."
"I've got a place," Izzy said as Winifred climbed up her back. "It's just a little campsite sorta thing, but it'll keep us hidden, plus I hid some food there. More pressingly, we could get a campfire when we get there." Izzy held Winifred snuggly, making sure she was safe for the ride. "I always forget it's freezing down here," she mumbled. She didn't spare a glance to the others and she started to trek to their new base of operations.
Astrid grinned awkwardly. "Sorry! I'm a little excited. I kinda came down here on a whim, so let's hope I don't regret it!" they beamed. Then, a small chuckle escaped her. "I hope none of us regret it." They began skipping along, right beside Evan. It was sort of peaceful, though it was sort of creepy. Especially whenever a spider or cockroach went by, but they were sewers! They were invading on the bug's terroritory, if anything. "Hey, Evan?" they asked, speaking quietly to make sure no one else heard. "I don't think you ever told us what happened while Dawn and Avery were in the broom closet. You looked pretty torn up about it. So, um, do you wanna talk about it? Or not? That's chill, too."
Dawn quickly took the pressure off of Avery's hand, only slightly embarrassed. "I... I dunno," she whispered. Her heart felt heavy in her chest and she simply didn't know why. Too much was happening all at once. Life used to be simple, but then Sage and Avery showed up and now they were in some deep... sewage.
"I need... a break," she started, running her hand through her scalp nervously. Her lighter hair was so strange. The weight lifted off of her was new. Not unwelcome, but new, and she was bad at new things. "I also need a hot chocolate, a nap, a home, some food, definitely a better mother, a blanket, some headache medicine, something to take off all this stress and-!" Dawn cut herself off, giving a pathetic chuckle as she did. "I dunno if you can make any of that. I shouldn't ask for any of that, really. It's a bit much, and kind of unfair, I think. Maybe I can just... we can have our sleeping bags next to each other? I don't wanna be alone down here." She leaned her head on Avery, tangling her finger's in her... friend? girlfriend's? Her face went red when she tried thinking of the right term. "Also... I kind of need a hug, if that's okay. Y-You don't have to."
"Of course," Avery wrapped her arms around Dawn, and they walked in a sort of tangled hug-march, like those three-legged races that people would do at lame parties. It wasn't particularly organized-looking, but Avery hoped it was comforting, at least. "And I can totally make you some headache medication. And some hot chocolate. But it might taste a little weird in the sewer air. I dunno."
Evan glanced at Astrid. Their features were difficult to make out in the dim light; the bandages around her head kind of made her look like some sort of half-mummified corpse. It didn't help the prickling feeling that was slowly creeping up the back of Evan's neck. Sewers were freaky.
"I told you exactly what happened," he told them. His voice trembled a little in the frosty air. Why was it so cold down here? Was there wind in the pipes? "Izzy came to talk to us and I yelled at her and Avery yelled at me and I went running off like a whimpering baby. There's...not much else to talk about."
"Despite his perceived turmoil, Evan's pretty straightforward," Sage called from the front of the group, her smirky half-smile returning.
" 'You tend to work in patterns,' " he muttered, looking up at her shadowy face. "That's what you said when you came back to the dorms."
"It's true," Sage chewed on the remains of her broken lollipop. "You're predictable."
Dawn smiled when they had to hobble around. It was comforting, if a bit silly. When they let go, she kept a hold of her arm. "You can do that?" she asked, eyes with with surprise. I had no clue Daya could do that... that's awesome! Thank you."
Astrid almost chuckled. "I mean... I'd be a whimpering baby if I got yelled at," they said, slowly removing the wraps across her face. "Man, am I glad it's dark. These things kinda itch, if I'm being honest." When Astrid's face was revealed, it was mostly ordinary. The skin was slightly paler from being hidden from light, but her tan was still prominent. The biggest strange feature were her eyes. Instead of having them, it was just water molded into the shape of eyes. No whites, no pupils, just blue water. If you looked hard enough, you could see parts from the back of their head. They didn't try to see much through these glossy, watery eyes. They could, but they didn't like it. It was always so bright and harsh and it was just easy to turn her vision on and off on a dime. "I always wanted to take these off st night, but moonlight is kind of bright for me, too," they said, rubbing their eyes and yawning, "Maybe I'll actually like it down here."
After 5 minutes, Izzy dropped Winifred off at her little station. "Here she is," Izzy said. It was nothing more than a blanket fort with a few extra things. "I'd been moving stuff down here for a while. It's really just stuff, but it's cleaner over here. I put a blanket down so, uh, if you wanna sit, I can start a fire." Winifred easily went to one of the blanket tents, holding her teddy as she made herself cozy. Izzy pat her head, but she was clearly still scared of this dark, grimey hole.
"Whoa," Evan blurted when Astrid revealed their water-orb-eyes. "You've had those under your blindfold this whole time?"
"Damn," Sage leaned forward, peering at Astrid's face with new interest. "That's so cool! Do you have an ocular nerve? You know, the little stringy thing that sends the messages from your eyes to your brain. Or is it all water? Ooh, is your brain water, too?"
"Oh! Uh," Astrid stuttered, "I guess? I don't really think of it much." They felt a bit shy under the attention, though flattered nonetheless. "I mean, probably not? I don't have eyes to take information in. When I was born I had eyes, but I was still born blind. Then I... uh, got my powers, and I guess my eyes are gone. Not like I used 'em, anyhows."
Astrid fiddled with her shoulder strap, struggling to keep part of their loose-fitting shirt on. They let it win and sit on the side of their shoulder. "I doubt my brain is water, though."
“A fire sounds good,” Avery told Izzy as she and Dawn moved into the campsite. Avery looked around. “Do we have pans? I can make pans.”
Sage was still enamored with Astrid’s eyes. “What happens if you’re in the sunlight for too long? Will your eyes act like a magnifying glass and light your head on fire?”
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