Xinyu and Musique searched around the endless desert for days, but to no avail. The ancient map Kitsune had given Musique should have led them straight to the city, but where the lost ruins supposedly should lie, whirlpools of sand covered the ground. If one were to jump into those deadly pits, they would surely be ripped from the surface and plummeted into a dark, grainy tomb deep beneath the earth, suffocating in their endless pull.
"Perhaps the city sank beneath the earth," Xinyu suggested.
"If that's the case, then I guess there's nothing more we can do," Musique mumbled. "But Kitsune's prophecies…"
"Prophecy this, prophecy that! I am sick of them!" Xinyu said. "If there is no path before us, then we shall create one ourselves."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Musiqued asked. "You're talking kinda like Kitsune. You know, all cryptic and stuff."
"It is not cryptic at all," Xinyu said. "If the lost city has sunk, then so must we!"
"You couldn't mean…"
In that moment, Musique's survival instincts activated, and his brain commanded him to run. Every inch of muscle in his body tensed at once as his legs pivoted, but it was too late. Xinyu already had a tight grasp on his wrist. He tried to pull away from the woman's grasp, but it was much too strong for him. He couldn't sense an ounce of magic coming from her, and he wondered how someone could be so physically strong. At least, someone so small, just like him. Perhaps he would've attacked and fought back if he weren't panicking for his life, but at that moment, he froze.
Before he knew it, Musique was thrown into the pit, followed by Xinyu, who jumped in after him. As he sank into the earth, all he could do was take a deep breath and hope the pressure killed him quickly, lest he suffer a painful and suffocating death. With tears in his eyes and a shuddering river of despair flowing through his veins, the dainty boy vanished into the earth towards the River Styx.
…
Grains of sand poured in from the ceiling atop the bodies of Xinyu and Musique. It was the damndest, most unhinged idea one could have come up with, but it was for that very reason that the lost city had never been found before. No records existed of it, not among humans nor gods, and Kitsunes was one of the few, or perhaps the only one, who had any idea of its existence. The map was her own, but the knowledge was something that should have been wiped away thousands of years before.
"See, the city was beneath your eyes the whole time!" Xinyu exclaimed, brushing herself off. Musique was gasping for air, unable to breathe from the pure panic that had just overcame his body. He had thought that the girl before him had brought about his end.
"Well!" Xinyu said. "Shall we explore this incredible underground wonder! Surely that treasure you seek is just upon us!"
Musique was shaken, but he clenched his fist. He had a duty to fulfil, and he could not let the prospect of death hinder him. The fate of humanity was in his hands, and for some reason, the girl's presence filled him with determination.