The Butterfly Effect

The Snake Pit

The Snake Pit is exactly how I remember it. It's the same absurd route to get there, with the zipline and the forest wildlife. It seems like nature itself is trying to warn me that this is a bad idea, that I'm going to regret everything the second I set foot inside.

It's disguised as a temple, so that planes flying overhead and people exploring the forest won't think anything of it. Considering it's situated in the middle of a forest in Mexico, it's a brilliant disguise. There's temples all over this area. Nobody would ever suspect a thing.

Wakiya, Daina, and Rantaro are with me. Kensuke's parents refused to let him go, and he's not the kind of person who would sneak out. The lack of cell service out in the middle of nowhere makes it impossible to call him, but we managed to contact him on Wakiya's private jet. He was by our side the whole way there, and according to him, he'll be worrying about us the entire time.

The other person who came along is Silver Eye, who apparently goes by Sammy when he's not in the Snake Pit. The name is oddly befitting of someone like him.

He ordered us to stay back, behind the trees, while he got the door open. I force myself to be patient. When I glance at Rantaro, I see his entire body is tense and trembling. It's probably taking all of his strength to not run up to the door and demand they release Valt. Wakiya is in a similar state, though his might just be out of fear of what awaits us inside.

"Boss, calm down," Daina whispers furiously.

"I can't!" Rantaro whispers back. "My little buddy's in there! Who knows what could be happening to him!"

"He's our friend, too!"

"We're just as worried as you are," I assure him. "Try to be patient. If you run up there without thinking, you could put everyone in danger."

"You're right." Rantaro forces himself to take a deep breath. "Sammy better hurry up and get the door open."

Wakiya glances over. "Yo, be glad Sisco Karlisle didn't come with us. If he'd've been here, that door would've been busted off by now."

There's another name I don't recognize to add to my list. Valt met so many people in Spain, people that I didn't get to hear about in this timeline. My memory of all of them is foggy, and I can't place their faces to their names, since I never met them myself.

Suddenly, the door to the temple slides open.

Everyone silences, rendered speechless. I myself can barely breathe, and my heart hammers in my chest. It isn't beating fast, but it's beating hard, which means there's less of an adrenaline rush going on and more of pure fear. As slowly and cautiously as I can, I peer out from around the trunk of the tree I'm hiding behind.

Sammy is standing there, in his Snake Pit attire with the mask covering most of his face. However, someone else is standing with him, someone I can't quite make out. The dark shadows of the interior of the building obscure him from view, but I doubt Sammy is talking to thin air.

Sure enough, the person steps out into the light a few moments later. He's another Snake Pit Blader, dressed similarly to Silver Eye, with a mask obscuring most of his face. His hair spills out from over the straps of the mask, and his mouth is in a grimace, as if he's angry about something.

"Who is that?" Rantaro whispers.

"I have no idea," Daina responds.

Wakiya doesn't say anything. I can tell by the way his eyes are narrowed that he's trying to figure out who exactly he's looking at, just like I am.

Something catches my attention about this person. He's not tall, at least, not as tall as Silver Eye, and his hair... that shade of blue is so familiar. I can't quite tell what the color of the eyes of his mask are, but I know it's a dark color, like brown or black.