Hi, I’m Jake Crafter. I guess you have some questions. Well let's start at the beginning and I will tell you how my friends and I killed a god and freed the Monsters of Mt. Ebott.

It started in my room. It wasn't anything big, just a bed room covered in drawings ranging from simple landscapes to dynamic scenes of battle. I was sitting on my bed, I was always pretty scrawny, and my black hair was always in my sight. I looked at our camping destination: MT. Ebott. Suddenly, I heard a familiar, female, stubborn voice behind me. 

“Hey, Jake, I got you your stuff.” 

“Sorry Jacky, I just got lost in thought again. I really appreciate your and everyone else's help, is there anything else that needs packed?” Jake asked the now identified Jacky.

“Apology accepted and no. Since I am such an amazing sister I already got everything. 1 med kit, 10 protein bars, 10 packs of jerky, 10 packs of instant ramen, 20 bottles of water, 30 ft of rope, a utility hatchet and all your other basic camping supplies.” Jacky listed, seeming rather pleased. Jake blinked, was all that really in there? Who was he kidding, of course she fit it all in there. 

“Wow, you really think I can carry all that with these noodle limbs? I mean, appreciate the vote of confidence but let's think a little more realistic.” Jake joked, Jacky gives him a light slap to the back of the head.

“Cut the sarcasm, I’m sorry I want you to be prepared for whatever you will find in the Underground.” Jacky snapped back at him.

“Right, sorry I will be careful. But if you are so worried you could come with us tonight rather than having to wait until tomorrow.”

“You know I wish I could but Mom won’t let me drop out of the state archery finals with how hard I worked to get there. But I will try and catch up afterwards. Now go, your party and journey awaits!” Jacky exclaimed the last part. Jake wanted to offer to wait for her but they both knew that Justin was NOT going to let them wait. He’d been hyping this up for a while now, after all, they were going to find out what happened to all those kids who disappeared. Including Justin's uncle, Clover. 

The group that Jake hiked up mount Ebott with was certainly a mixed batch. There were four of them in total, each different and bringing something new to the table. There was Bryson Jackson, his best friend and the group's resident idiot, Isabelle Melodious or Izzy for short, who was basically the mom of the friend group and only came to keep the rest of them from getting killed, and the cowboy obsessed Justin, the one who suggested this in the first place. It was honestly SURPRISING how much he looked like his uncle. The only difference was that Justin was 14, while Clover was 11 when he disappeared.

“This looks like a good spot to stop and scout.” Izzy said as the group entered a clearing that could serve as a good rest spot.

“Ok everyone rest if you need to but keep your eyes peeled and don’t write anything off.” Justin said, taking charge of the situation.

“Hey Guys I Found A Big Hole!” Bryson said from a little ways away. While most of the party sighed Jake just chuckled at their friend’s antics as they walked over. The group found Bryson standing next to and looking down into, as he had mentioned; a big hole. 

“Bryson you can’t just go running off like that! What if you got hurt and we couldn’t help you?” Izzy exclaimed in a chastising but worried tone. Bryson just shrugged and went back to investigating the hole he found.

“We can try to break Bryson’s reckless streak later. For now the hole does need to be investigated. But does anyone else have rope? Jacky packed 30ft but I think we will need more than that.” Jake said, bringing everyone back on track as he got the mentioned rope out of his bag. Justin stepped forward holding another coil of rope.

                        “I figured it would be a good Idea to bring some for this purpose, now let's get tying and-”  

                        “BRYSON” everyone's heads snapped towards the mentioned boy to see him falling into the hole with Izzy trying desperately to keep a hold of him. Immediately everyone dove to help, Jake and Justin dropping their respective ropes in the chaos. But this just triggered a domino effect, resulting in the whole team falling down the hole. The last thing the group of teens heard before hitting the ground and blacking out was one of them shouting “Damit Bryson!”

                        It took a while but the party slowly regained consciousness in a large cavern on a bed of golden flowers.

“Is everyone ok?” Izzy asked and was rewarded with affirmative grunts from everyone. After everyone had recovered enough to stand they started lambasting Bryson for his stupidity, all except Jake. Jake could feel it in the air, the residual magic of an ancient barrier, he knew where they were.

“This is the prison of monsters.” Jake said in a quiet voice. Everyone stopped their verbal beatdown of Bryson to stare at Jake.

“I’m sorry, this is WHAT?” Justin asked slightly incredulously. Jake tensed, they didn’t even think it was real, he never took the story as seriously as his sister did. She was convinced that all the missing children ended up in the Underground and her theory was looking more and more likely. Jake took a deep breath and spoke.

“We’re in the home and prison of the monsters.” Jake said with a serious face. Everyone stared at him with varying expressions and emotions.

“Start explaining now.” Izzy demanded in a voice that left no room for argument.

“Come on, he's obviously just joking to lighten the mood.” Bryson said a little unsure but shut up immediately after Izzy and Justin pinned him with a hard look. When every those two were on the same page they were a force to be reckoned with.

“Listen, I didn’t think the human-monster war was real. I thought it was just a story made up to scare kids. But It looks like It is a real place and this is probably where all the missing kids ended up.” Jake explained after Izzy and Justin turned their sights back on him. They did not look impressed.

“Even if it was just a story you should have told us about this incase it did come up like right now.” Justin said, making his disappointment in his friend known.

“I want to know why the story apparently mentions mages, because magic sure as hell ain’t real.” Izzy said incredulously.

“Magic is real, it was just that after a few centuries most humans forgot they were capable of it.” Jake explained and then to prove his point manifested a purple glowing pencil and used it to create some small fireworks. “This pencil is what is called a soul weapon. A human mage casts magic through their soul weapon. A soul weapon often has something to do with a person's hobby or interest like how mine relates to drawing and my sister’s relates to archery.” Jake explained further. Bryson let out a quiet “dude.”

“Again, this all would have been useful before falling down here. It would have helped if we learned magic before going on this journey.” Justin said irritated.

“You can’t actually just learn magic like learning to read. Magic is directly linked to a person's soul and needs a soul tapper to unlock it.” Jake explained quietly. Justin gave Jake yet another unimpressed look and opened his mouth to say something, but Jake cut him off. “I can tap your souls! (sigh) I know I messed up, I know I should have told you all of this before coming to Mt. Ebott, and I know you all probably don’t want anything to do with me now. But please let me help you get out of here. You are all amazing people and the world is a better place with all of you in it, so please let me make this right and then you can ignore me for the rest of your lives if you want.” Jake said the last part quietly and with a deep sorrow. Jake cared about each and everyone of his friends, each of them brought a different light to his life. Bryson…was an idiot, but Jake doesn’t think anyone else has made him laugh so much. Izzy was always honest with you, she would tell you what is up and help you fix it. Justin was a dork who really believed in what was right and if he had to, would fight for what was right. They were all such amazing people and he didn’t want to lose them. Though he might have lost them already. The Families that still practice magic agreed that Mankind as a whole would not have been able to handle magic. Humans had grown to be controlled by vices. But not Jake’s friends, they were special. Jake was certain that if he told them about magic they would have become fantastic mages and would have kept their virtue, but he fucked up. He betrayed their trust and now anything could happen. 

At some point during his internal monologue the rest of the team had asked him for more information before agreeing to anything. Jake ran mostly on autopilot as he told his friends everything he knew about the Underground and the mechanics of soul tapping. After mulling over the information they were given they agreed to let Jake soul tap them. Though Jake could still tell that a rift had formed in the party. Bryson seemed like he was just uncomfortable with the state of everything. Izzy and Justin were making their justifiable annoyance known as they started walking. All Jack could think is that thing had gone bad really fast.