Skully was still placed on the couch when Ellie arrived home later that afternoon. She let herself fall onto the couch next to him as she let out a sigh.

“Who knew Dawn had this many streets? I’ve spent all day tagging along with this old man, doing mail delivery all over Dawn. I think I didn’t realize how big this city actually is until now,” Ellie smiled and picked up the skull.

“Fudge. At least you got to see the city, right? Like you wanted…” Skully grumbled, he didn’t want to tell her about talking to Artemis just yet.

“I think we have some time to go check out that first crypt though. What do you say?” Ellie exclaimed and sprang up from the couch.

“How do you still have energy? Fudge. I can say no, it’s not safe and you’ll still go, right?” Skully grunted in annoyance. 

Ellie giggled, “Maybe… I think we should go for it though. I’ll get the map.”

She jolted into her room and dug around inside her backpack before she pulled out the map. Ellie seemed invigorated by her first day at work, Skully wasn’t sure whether to be annoyed or happy for her. What he did know was that whatever they were getting themselves into could be trouble. No. He was very sure that it would be trouble.

Ellie spread out the map on the dining table as it seemed like no one was home. Her eyes were set on the marks Mr. Fitz had made on the map, she searched for the one nearest to them. She felt a sense of excitement, itching for adventure. She had always wanted to explore the underground of Dawn, an intricate set of tunnels in layers under the city. 

“Let’s check out this one today. I’m gonna get changed and we can go,” Ellie remarked and placed Skully on the map before going back to her room.  

Skully groaned as she walked off, he had an uneasy feeling. He always had an uneasy feeling, but this one was more uneasy than normal. The room seemed to darken slightly around him as a shadow grew on the map. 

“What’s this? A map of the tunnels? What are these markings?” Luke suddenly appeared, glaring down at the map before noticing Skully. His face was as monotonous as his voice, “That strange skull… Perhaps I should take a better look…”

“Fudge. This creep…” Skully grumbled. 

Luke grabbed the skull and lifted him up. Turning the skull around a few times to investigate it. Skully felt even more uneasy, what was this feeling? He didn’t like it one bit, something was off with this person, not right at all. 

“You seem so life-like, little skull…” Luke mumbled, “Perhaps I should check if there is any life in you.” He glared menacingly at Skully with his dull golden eyes. 

“Fudge. Ellie? This creepy dude is being even creepier,” Skully could only shout. 

Ellie popped out of the room, “Oh, Luke. H-hi,” she muttered. 

Luke turned his head towards Ellie, “Is this your map?” he asked. 

“Y-yes, I’m just super into the Dawn underground, ever since I was a small child. I- I’m trying to learn more about it,” Ellie stuttered as she came over to the table. 

“There is nothing much there… Silly myths and tales,” Luke remarked before handing the skull to Ellie.

“He was going to check if there was life in me, I’m telling you he’s fudging creepy, Ellie,” Skully groaned. 

Ellie smiled awkwardly as she started folding the map back, “I’m going out for a while, I just want to explore the city a bit.”

Luke clicked his tongue, “Don’t stay out too late, Dawn is not a safe city.” He glared down at Ellie, he wanted to be mean, say something to make her dislike staying there. But he couldn’t. There was something about her. Something that made him feel shy around her. 

“Thanks, I won’t,” Ellie smiled wide as she felt her cheeks turn bright red, “You and Artemis are so nice, I feel lucky to stay here.” 

Luke scowled at Ellie, this was not what he wanted to hear, “Whatever.” He turned around and wandered right into his room. 

“Fudge that guy. Let’s get out of here,” Skully hissed. 

“I think he seems nice,” Ellie mumbled and stuffed the map into her faded yellow backpack. 

 “You have terrible judgment when it comes to anything,” Skully grunted as he too was pushed into the backpack. 

“I picked you up, didn’t I?” Ellie giggled and skipped to the elevator. 

“Fudge. You had to pull that card.” Skully sighed inside the backpack. 

As Ellie stepped into the streets of Dawn the sky shifted from blue to grey and the scent of rain filled the air. The skyscrapers of Downtown twinkled in the absence of the sun, Ellie tilted her head towards the sky, taking in the city she had always seen from the top of the old oak tree before heading into Old Dawn yet again. 

She wandered across the river, taking a few turns as she kept her eyes on the map, when suddenly she stopped. The entrance to the underground was well-hidden in an alley, covered by a heavy metal lid. Mr. Fitz had written it all down in great detail; how to get to each crypt. 

Ellie strained to push the cover away, “That was incredibly heavy, I think my arms died a bit,” she muttered and glanced down the deep hole. 

“I’m not sure we should go down there, seems dangerous,” Skully grunted as Ellie lifted him out of her backpack. 

“This will be a proper adventure. I wonder what we’ll find down here,” Ellie squealed before she started climbing down the ladder. 

She had a flashlight ready in her pocket and Skully under her arm, her face beamed as she descended into the darkness. With a splash she reached the bottom, the darkness seemed endless until she turned on her flashlight. 

“Great, it looks like sewers. For once I’m happy to not be able to smell anything,” Skully grumbled.

Ellie giggled, “It doesn’t actually smell that bad, it’s only a little bit of water anyway, this can’t possibly be the main sewer line.” 

Skully was more concerned about Ellie running into vampires, or something else. He had a bad feeling about this whole thing, but there was no talking Ellie out of adventure. 

Ellie glanced down at the map again and wandered in the direction Mr. Fitz had noted down. Soon she stopped next to a wall with a full moon symbol etched into it. She marveled at it for a while before she lifted her index finger and nudged the center ever so slightly. 

“This is it, the secret door is supposed to be here,” Ellie explained and stared in awe as the center of the moon disappeared into the wall. 

“Fudge. That’s kind of cool, I’ll admit it,” Skully huffed. 

They heard a small rumble before the whole wall gave way and opened up to them. Ellie’s smile grew even wider, she was overjoyed; this was just the kind of adventure she had always dreamed of. This was just like the adventures Nova Blackheart, her favorite fictional hero. She sighed happily and wandered inside.

“If I had eyeballs I would be rolling them right now,” Skully muttered sarcastically. 

Ellie giggled, her smile not fading. Abruptly they reached a large set of doors with huge metal handles that looked like crescent moons. The doors had black markings going along the middle part, like dark rose vines. Ellie pushed the doors open and an enormous space emerged before them. There were four pillars, one at each corner of the room, and at the center, neatly placed, was a humble stone sarcophagus.  

“This must be it,” Ellie mumbled as if she was afraid to make too much noise. 

Skully felt uneasy, like they shouldn’t be there. The air itself felt thick with darkness, the room was full of dark markings, black rose vines running across the floor to the sarcophagus. Ellie was too busy looking for clues, too busy to see the shadow that passed by the doors. 

All of a sudden the doors swung shut and Ellie jumped, she glanced down at Skully and clenched onto him a bit harder, “Did the doors just…?” She stuttered, her heart raced faster as her eyes shifted around the room. 

“I think we should get out of here,” Skully grunted anxiously, he felt it, the air became even thicker, darker.

“Look at this,” Ellie exclaimed, “These black markings on the sarcophagus kind of look like rose vines, don’t they?” 

She didn’t see the tall dark shadow that grew closer and closer until it covered the whole sarcophagus. 

“Ellie. Fudge this. I have a really bad feeling, it’s getting darker here,” Skully warned her. 

Ellie turned around and noticed the shadow, “Rose vines…” she stammered. 

There were more of them; they stretched all along the floor, Ellie felt them grabbing at her legs, and she felt it, pure fear. Her heart beat so fast she thought her chest was going to break, her breath felt like it was stuck inside her. The vines seemed to be made of darkness itself, Ellie felt them reach inside her soul, inside her mind, rummaging around for her darkest memories, for what she feared the most. She felt helpless, she was drowning in the Sea of Darkness.