Ship In A Bottle (A Monkie Kid Reader Insert)

Chapter 20: Arm Grabbing

(A/n): Okay, so I know you guys said to keep the title, but it was a huge facepalm moment that I didn't name this damn fic after the song that inspired Bell's creation in the first place. I think there's also this cool animatic that uses Ship In A Bottle with an oc that also has water powers, so that's cool :3

Oh, and here's a little tip for theorizing. You'll catch up a lot quicker if you know the parts of JTTW that LMK hasn't shown, at least yet. Happy reading!

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'What was with her and grabbing your arm?' You previously thought.

Now, you realized it might've been a habit she developed. This definitely wasn't the first time she teleported with someone else, since Rasmus did describe her as a backup. And common sense told you she had to hold onto someone, if she wanted them to teleport with her.

Which brings you to some sort of underground research facility. Your presence disturbed the surrounding butterflies that swarmed the place, while also triggering the sensors and causing the place to light up.

This facility seemed to share some similarities with the doc's office, with devices and gadgets neatly arranged, occupying the workspaces. It was a contradicting area you found yourself in. The vines that sprouted from places that they shouldn't suggested that this place was abandoned, but you've been to enough abandoned places yo know that this isn't one of them. Because other than the items being neatly placed...

Nothing looked dusty.

Your footsteps echoed through the otherwise soundless space, unreachable to the outside world that resides past the closed off entrance that you both distanced from, the farther you ventured. You had no doubt you were in the right place, as time and time again, you saw the familiar logo. Stopping by to look at a centrifuge, you took a closer look of the symbol.

A deer head.

"So...where are we, exactly?" You finally spoke, breaking the silence as you took a quick snap on one of the papers, saving it to read on your phone for later.

"I-I don't know either." Alix admitted, fidgeting on her collar. "I know, that doesn't make sense, but let me explain!"

You nodded, giving her time to form her words.

"It's that, the more butterflies are in a place, the easier it is for me to teleport there." The lights above the both of you hummed as she explained herself. "Y-you saw the milkweeds back at the Bai's place, right? Miss Xue planted them there to make it easier for me. Weirdly enough, Mr. Bai has a lot of milkweed seeds in handy."

"Yeah, that tracks." You commented, recalling said plants, and the amount of butterflies they attracted. Similarly, you both passed by a nursery of plants, shielded by windows. Trapped inside were more butterflies, fluttering about. 

The plants seemed to be the source of the vines as well, snaking their way on the glass pane before digging into the ceiling and sprouting to the rest of this area of the lab. Turning your attention back to Alix, you continued to question. "So you just randomly found this place?"

"Yeah..." The huli-jing murmured, before leading you further into the facility. You passed by a storage rack full of masks and anti-contamination suits on your left, while spotting a shelf of empty beakers, flasks, and vials on your right. The blue tint of the lights itself gave the place a hospital-like aura. Fitting for an underground research facility.

"Try not to make too much noise." Alix warned you as she took a pair of touchscreen gloves from the storage rack, before grabbing a tablet and activating its flashlight mode. She lead you into an area where the light refused to work, darkness taking its place instead. "I never tried to see what's outside, and I don't think the people that still come here will be happy to see us."