Damian and Aurora had their mouths wide open, staring at the main room after it opened. The big furniture and the whole layout made them more curious, wondering who exactly was the person in charge of that ancient civilization.
"The entire palace looks huge, but the furniture in all other rooms is normal-sized, meaning anyone could use. But this place is a giant throne room!" Damian said.
The rest of the palace and all the other houses outside that they explored were places humans could live without problems, but the throne room was meant for a giant!
"Let's try to find out more about this," Aurora said.
They walked inside the room, looking all over the place, trying to find anything useful, aka information. For Damian, the sight of a bookshelf would be like his savior coming to rescue him.
There was a carpet in the middle of the room in front of the massive throne, a few pillars sustaining the building, and that was it. A throne room was a place where the ruler would sit for a few moments to meet up with important people and then leave.
Damian knew that, and he knew they had explored most of the palace, at least glancing at it, so the room where the ruler of that palace actually lived had to be nearby.
He walked around the room, placing his hands at any odd spot on the wall, trying to somehow open a secret passage or something useful, yet nothing happened.
They were losing hope, but then as Damian walked near the throne, he noticed a door behind the throne! It had the same golden key symbol as all the others, and that had to be the place where the giant ruler lived!
"Aurora, I found it!" Damian said, yet no response.
"Aurora?"
Damian couldn't see the rest of the room because he was behind the throne, which was massive, covering all of his sight, so he moved away from it, and then he saw it!
Two men wearing black clothing had Aurora locked in what looked like a stretched cloak!
"Stop right there or we will kill the lady," one of them said.
Out of all things that could happen inside the ancient ruin — traps or beasts — finding humans was not something Damian thought it would happen.
"Calm down. Don't hurt her, please," Damian said.
He tried to find something, a way to save Aurora from that, but it was impossible! Damian did not know who those people were or their abilities.
"One mistake here can cost her life. I? need to remain calm," Damian thought.
"What you want for her safety?" Damian asked.
"We have come here before, but no one could open those doors. How did you do it?"
It was not the first time the two members of The Fingers organization went to check the ancient ruins. But they did not have a way to open the massive doors with the golden key symbol, so they stopped going there for a while.
But those two were near the ruins on another mission on that island, so they thought, 'why not go there to check one more time?'
They felt like their chances of opening the doors were low, but trying it would not lose that much of their time.
"I don't know. I just touched them and they were open," Damian said, with his body shaking.
He tried his best to act like a scared puppy, as that would make them see him as harmless, which would be crucial if he wanted to escape in the future.
"Do you believe in him?" the man grabbing Aurora asked.
"Uh, don't know, but he seems scared to me. Maybe he's like a descendant of this ancient people and does not know."
"Right! So we can use him to open all the doors for us?"
"Hehehehe."
The two men laughed like maniacs after realizing the good fortune that was on their way. If Damian opened all the doors, all the treasures would belong to them!
They did not think Damian, who was shaking like a scared rat, would have any battle power, and Aurora also did not look that skilled, so they were not concerned about it at all!
"I will handcuff this lady, and you will go with us, opening the doors. If you try anything stupid, we will kill both of you."
Damian and Aurora exchanged glances, and without a single word, the two understood each other. Aurora then placed her hands up front, and one man handcuffed her.
"Let's move. Do you know where to go?"
"Yes. Follow me," Damian said, returning to the place where he found the door.
The handcuff Aurora had was made of special materials, so it was difficult to break free. One of them could stretch things, his own body and the special cloak he had. It was his superhuman ability, and he kept a close distance to Aurora in case she tried anything.
As for the other guy, he stood close to Damian, but was not too focused on him, and more on the surrounding area. For him, the dangers that could be inside were the things he should focus on, not a scared youth like Damian.
Once they were before the massive door behind the throne, Damian placed his hand on it, and it opened, revealing a gigantic spiral staircase leading downwards.
Everything was just huge, and the two men from The Fingers had the same guess as Damian, thinking that whoever ruled that place was once a giant.
"You go first," the man said, pushing Damian down the stairs.
Damian was about to go when the man held him. "You are the only one that can open the door, so stay behind me but close."
The man realized how important Damian was. If there were other doors to open without him, it would be impossible. So Damian had to remain safe, and no one knew the dangers underneath.
"This is a suitable position, but I need to find the right timing," Damian thought as he looked back, gazing at the man beside Aurora.
They kept moving downwards, and that lasted for one hour! For them, who were small, looking like ants near the staircase, it took a lot of time, but for the giant who lived there? Less than five minutes.
The spiral staircase led them to a corridor with two massive doors. One on the left and one on the right. It was not like they could not explore the two rooms, but they had to choose one to go first.
"Let's go with the right one. Please, open the door," the man said.
Damian did as he told him, placing his palm on the door, opening it. The door creak sound was loud, hurting their ears! When the door was completely opened, what waited for them was a massive garden!
They could still see the sky and the sun, just like in the underground city, and there were even some insects flying around.
"A garden?"
The two men from The Fingers thought about returning to explore the other room first, as a garden did not look like a place with treasures, but when they turned around, the door had closed!
It took a while for the door to open, but closing it happened in a split second! That meant danger! None of the other doors had closed after Damian opened them. That one was the first, and it did not show a good thing.
"Watch out, Rubber!" the man near Damian said.
Rubber was the one with the stretching ability. It was his nickname.
All of them stayed close to each other, looking around, trying to spot any danger. Damian was also tense, and Aurora too!? Sure, those two were holding their captive, but if danger was coming to get them, they would work together.
Despite the uneasy feeling, nothing came their way. "You, open the door again."
They wanted Damian to open the door they had just used, the one that closed. But when Damian tried it, nothing happened.
"Are you joking with me?" the man said, grabbing Damian by the collar.
"It's not working! Look, I am in the same danger as all of you!? We need to work together to leave this place!" Damian said.
He was not faking it. The door was fully locked, and that made Damian uneasy too!? Aurora was already handcuffed, and they had to deal with those two thugs.
The situation was shit, and it became even shitter.
"Fine. You are right. Rubber, take her handcuffs off."
"Salamander, why? They could betray us!"
"Why would they? We are in this shit position together, and this little rat here cannot do a thing against us," Salamander said.
They were confident with their skills, so having Damian and Aurora free was not a problem. Also, they had other things to think about, like being locked inside a garden with no apparent way out.
Rubber freed Aurora, who ran toward Damian to stay close to him.
"Let's move while they are no enemies near us," Salamander said.
Damian gazed at one tree and noticed a massive mosquito gazing at them. It was bigger than a human!
"What about that thing?" Damian said, pointing at the mosquito, which was not still anymore but flying toward them!
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