Voyage Of The Villainess

After following the strange creature, Malaya found herself two meters away at the end of a cliff. She could no longer hear the waves of laughter.

Malaya narrowed her eyes. She couldn\'t feel any wind nor hear any sound. There were no birds chirping nor another usual rustling of leaves. This is entirely different than before she can hear even her own pulse because of the sudden change of the environment.  It was like everything became extremely quiet and came to a standstill where it felt like time stopped. 

The sun was already at its peak. And Malaya could feel the heat of her surroundings.

\'Hmm interesting and strange at the same time, huh. For a forest in the middle of the day to be this quiet.\' Malaya observed more of her surroundings. \'This place. I know  there is something that is not right.\'

Malaya decided to walk towards the end of the cliff. As she glanced down, all she could see was complete endless darkness beneath the cliff. \'Wait, did that strange creature jump here? Is this some sort of way to hell for this to be this dark?\'

Malaya glanced around once more. \'There is no other place that creature could go through aside from down this cliff. They will probably jump here..\'

"Eep." Malaya let out a small yelp when she felt a burning sensation down her left wrist. \'This again. If only I could remove this!\' She tried removing the silver bracelet and as expected she could do so no matter how hard she tried.

{It\'s down there. Go down there.}

Malaya heard the priestess\' voice inside her head once more that making her blood boil. And the burning sensation she was feeling in her left wrist subsided now as well.

\'Ugh! Here we go again. Down there? Are you kidding me? I can\'t even see the depth of this cliff and there is that creature lurking down there. And you want me to go in there? Do you really want me to complete my mission or do you just want to end my life here?\' Malaya remembered the priestess\' hands. \'Ah. Of course, you don\'t want me to die. Then in case, if something happened to me down there, maybe she has ways to save me?\'

She picked up one stone and threw it downwards. She listened carefully if she would be able to hear any sound but to her dismay, the rock, she threw, didn\'t make any sounds. \'As my observation, it seems this is too deep. Just how deep is this cliff that it takes a very long time for me to hear any sounds? If I fall there will I reach hell or another world or maybe the center of the world? Journey to the Center of Earth, at Illahayah?\'

\'That was not even funny.\' Malaya rubbed her aching forehead due to the problem and to the strange thoughts, she was thinking. \'This is making me nuts. This is not really funny. No, since I came to this island, there is nothing funny here.\'

Malaya took a seat just a three-inch away at the end of the cliff. In the end, she decided to just think of the ways she could go down there. 

\'Hmm. For me to be still breathing and successfully go down there, I will need some basic material tools just like a long rope. Or something of the same kind.\' She grabbed her Trinity and looked at it. Then she played it with her hands. \'If only the grappling rope on this didn\'t get destroyed. This would be a breeze to climb down. Now that I remember, Trinity needs a serious repair now. If I manage to go back, I should pay Seraphina a visit.\'

She put the Trinity back on the ground.

Malaya caressed the blue bracelet on her right wrist. The blue bracelet that Dorris gave her. \'I really wish to go back now. I Want to be there, not here on the Island. That really made me crazy. \' she took a deep breath while closing her eyes, \'I\'m meant to be in the water not here in the land.\'

Malaya slapped both her cheeks. \'Alright. I need to focus, Malaya, wake up! This is not the time to get depressed. Stop complaining and start surviving. Don\'t let your mind trick you, okay? Focus, Focus, Focus if you want the outcome will be in your favor, Malaya.\' She stood up as she looked around. Then she walked towards a certain tree with lots of vines hanging on it. She touched one of the vines. "Strong vines will do for the rope."

For two hours, Malaya looked for strong vines, cut them then bind them together. Another hour had passed until she was finally satisfied with what she created. 

\'Perfect. Now I just need to use it there huh.\' Malaya glanced towards the cliff and steeled herself. She then tied the other end of the vine to the nearest and strongest tree. After that, she started pulling the other end of the vines to her as she walked toward the end of the cliff.

The sun was already setting, painting the skies with red and orange. 

\'Should I just do this tomorrow?\'

Malaya shook her head. \'No. I\'ve wasted too much time now. If not now when? I will do this now. Be the answer, not a problem.\'

Malaya pulled the vine first to test its strength. When she saw no problems, she threw the rest of the vines beneath the cliff. Then she tied her waist with another vine towards the main vine she would use for climbing. She then carefully started climbing downwards. 

\'Will that monster resurface while I\'m going downwards?\' Malaya thought as she finally set her foot at the walls of the rocky cliff. \'It\'s too late to think like that. And besides, that priestess insisted on me to follow that creepy creature. Maybe it is a kind and misunderstood monster.\' Malaya shook her head. \' Tss whatever happens to me after this action it was either a failure or success. Either way, I take the risk since through that risk I will grow.\' She smiled. \'That\'s a nice line.\'

\'I\'m really thinking of some silly things.\' She continued to climb down. She was now a meter away from the above surface of the cliff. \'I can still go back there, right?\' Malaya thought as she took another step downwards the cliff. 

\'Whatever. This is always like this. Since I started this already, I should go down completely. No more excuses just doing it!!\'

Malaya continued downwards and another hour had passed. She could no longer see the surface and it was now completely dark. With her right hand, Malaya picked up a small bottle in her bag with a green liquid then shook it. It instantly created a faint light. She could see the rocks she was climbing down. She bit the bottle in her mouth and continued to descend down.

There was no noise aside from her breathing and the frequent sounds of the falling rocks. Another hour passed and Malaya started to get filled with dread. \'There is still no ground. Am I now going to hell or what?\'\' She continued to climb down and what she feared finally occurred.

She reached the end of the vine rope she created. \'This is both expected and unexpected.\' Malaya wiped off the sweat forming in her head. \'Should I just climb up again?\' She looked at her hands that were numb already from climbing down for hours. 

She released both her hands and let herself be hung on the vine that was tied to her waist. Then ate the berries that were in her bag. She also drank some recovery potion. \'I don\'t have a choice right now, but to climb up again.\'

When she decided to climb again, a chilly wind blew all of a sudden. It sent both shivers and wariness to Malaya. \'This wind!\' 

And the next thing that happened was multiple waves of laughter echoed within the darkness. Malaya brought out the light bottle and tried to look for the source of the sound but there was nothing but just another sight of infinite darkness.

*Snap!*

Malaya stiffened when she heard a snap sound. Then it was followed by another one. \'Don\'t tell me.\' The vines she used for climbing snapped.

"Ahhh!" Malaya found herself falling. The light bottle she was holding fell first to her. \'This is not good!\' She immediately brought a teleportation talisman. 

With the light bottle in front of her, she could completely see the place she was falling into. She was falling at a rapid speed until she finally saw the ground, the end of this cliff. Six feet away, before she completely dropped to the ground, Malaya tore her talisman. 

*Thud!*

She winced when her butt hit the hard ground. \'Hah, I\'m alive.\' but she recovered quickly and let out a wry chuckle. "I\'m still freaking alive! I should have jumped from the start! Hahaha!"

"Hahaha!" Malaya stopped laughing when multiple laughs accompanied her laughing. 

\'Oh crap, I\'m dead.\'