Marco searched a little longer, before finally spotting something, an old footprint at the edge of the cavern, leading off into a narrow tunnel, one that wasn't marked by the glowing markings that lit the cavern, thus hiding it from the view of anyone who did not know where to look.
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Oci twisted his fingers in the air, making shapes in the air with the shadows. He watched Marco search for clues out of the corner of his eye, silently hoping he found something. "Ah, did you find something?" Oci asked, dropping his hands and looking over at Marco expectantly.
Marco nodded, creeping over to the narrow, shadow encrusted tunnel. "Here… I think they went this way.."
"That's good news, right?" Oci walked over to Marco and peeked down the tunnel. "That doesn't look like it's lit up, does it?" He looked at Marco. "Do you think we need some light now?"
"I don't know" said Marco in answer to the first question. "And yes, that would be helpful." He said softly.
"Alright. Ignis." A small ball of fire appeared in Oci's hand, lighting up the tunnel with a warm, flickering light. "Well, into the creepy, dark, side tunnel we go."
Marco nodded nervously, leading the way into the tunnel, searching for any signs of his family as they went.
Oci stayed quiet, not wanting to distract Marco from finding anything that might help find his family. Instead, he held the ball of fire up high to light up the tunnel even more.
Marco kept going, feeling the hopelessness from earlier set in again as he continued to find nothing as they went further and further into the tunnel.
Oci kept glancing over his shoulder as they went. He didn't want anyone sneaking up behind them– they might distract Marco and he might miss something. Oh, gods, here he was again, thinking about Marco. It really had to stop. Oci looked forward again and made the fireball grow a bit larger. "Any luck?"
(Sorry!! I didn't mean to abandon you!)
Maro sighed softly, "No I haven't yet.." he said softly, an air of hopelessness about him as he kept looking.
(You're good!)
"Oh. Well… I'm sure you'll find something soon," Oci said, his voice soft and comforting. "They can't have just disappeared into thin air, right?"
"Y-You're right.. but what if…." he trailed off, crouching near the wall. "Shine the light here please…" he whispered.
"No 'what if', okay? You'll drive yourself crazy, thinking like that." Oci knelt down next to Marco and moved the fire towards where Marco indicated.
Marco nodded,studying the disturbance in the dust,running his fingers over it, before pressing down in a hidden switch and stepping back as a new passage opened up.
Oci watched Marco intently, awed at his ability to find all of this stuff. His mouth lifted into a slight smile when the new passage appeared. "Wow, you're good at this. Do you think they'll be down there?"
"I don't know…" said Marco, starting down the new passageway.
"I hope they are," Oci said, half to himself and half to Marco. He shifted the ball of fire to his other hand, since his arm had been getting a bit tired.
Marco nodded, moving down the tunnel at a faster pace than before, speeding up when he saw a light. When they finally reached it, they broke out into a seacave. Marco looked around, before seeming to both crumble and relax at the same time, his eyes locked on an old dock, and a scrap of paper.
Oci picked up his pace to stay with Marco, not wanting to leave him in the dark. When they broke into the sea cave, Oci extinguished the fire. "Are you okay?" He asked, looking first at Marco and then at where he was looking. "Ooh, that looks promising!"
"Not exactly…." murmured Marco quietly, his tone filled with a mix of pain and hope as he slowly walked over to the dock, taking the note from where it was hung.
"Oh. Okay." Oci followed Marco for a few steps, then stopped. He didn't want to invade Marco's privacy , but he was still quite curious about the note. "Is that a clue?" He asked, looking at the note in Marco's hand.
Marco looked through it for a moment, seeming to crumble further. "They're gone…. they're safe… but there's no way we'll ever find them…." he said softly, seeming both crushed, and at peace.`
Oci winced and hurried over to Marco. "Oh, gods, I'm so sorry. There's really no way we'll be able to find them?" He looked at Marco, torn between comforting him and giving him some space.
Marco simply nodded in response, feeling smaller than he had in awhile as he forced himself not to cry.
"I… uh…" Oci ran a hand through his hair and took a step closer to Marco. "Do you… want a hug? Or some time alone?" He glanced around the cave, then peeked back at Marco, wondering what he would do.
"A-A hug would be nice…." he whispered, trying to hide the fact that he was literally falling apart.
"Alright, then." Oci took one last step over to Marco and wrapped his arms around him. "Are you going to be okay?" He said softly.
Marco leaned into his grasp a little, trying not to crumble any further. "I.. I don't know…" he whispered.
"Well, I can understand that," Oci said, his voice soft and warm. He pulled Marco a little closer unconsciously, wanting to comfort him as much as he could. It was hurting him to see Marco so sad.