Despite running down the gargantuan cavern for the last five minutes, following the Monkey Titan as it continually bounded from its hands, Mav was still reeling from their conversation. 

Maren had been so irritable lately due to lack of sleep? Because he woke her up. 

But who goes to sleep at four in the morning? Mav shook his head. That wasn’t the issue. He was used to a Peace Keeper’s sleep schedule. Maren had been free to choose her own schedule her entire life. The issue wasn’t when she went to bed. 

The real problem, however, was communication. They’d had a nice talk just then, but if they couldn’t openly communicate with each other, then more misunderstandings and frustrations would be inevitable. 

Mav didn’t want to voice those thoughts during their talk – it would’ve ruined the mood. He also didn’t think now was the best time to mention it, with Maren huffing and puffing a little behind him, trying to keep up with the Monkey Titan. 

“You make this look easy!” Maren breathed. 

“I run five miles every morning,” Mav said. “Except my rest day, of course. Then I only run three.” 

Maren’s heavy breathing was her only response, her footfalls mingling with his and the slaps of the bounding Titan’s hands filling the silence. The cavern didn’t change shape or size, but eventually large pieces of stone in the distance grew more detailed the closer they drew. Tall structures dotted with smaller openings stood alongside the unnaturally smooth path, surrounded by bushes and flowers that glowed various shades of purple and red. And the wall... 

The green and blue veins abruptly ceased flowing along the wall and floor in an entangled web. Instead, dozens, if not hundreds, of glowing depictions painted the wall. Gargantuan Titans flew over smaller, less divine animals leaping upon and grazing the glowing grass. Strange figures performed various acts: building houses, planting crops, feeding animals, riding Titans, battling smaller figures, and more. 

No two bodies were the same. Some had larger heads with bushy hair; others had broad, bulky bodies that were almost as wide as they were tall; still others had bodies that waved and twisted about. Their only commonality was that each had two arms, two legs, and a head. 

What was this place? Who made these depictions? And how did the artists make such clear images without the lines’ glows overlapping other portraits? 

Before Mav realized, he was standing by a waterfall, which shimmered blue and green. The Monkey Titan had halted, then leaned closer to the base of the rushing water. Maren joined them a few seconds later, bent down, resting her hands on her knees, and panted. 

“This... is... incredible,” Maren breathed. 

“Yeah.” Mav could get lost in those pictures for hours, maybe days. If only he had a sketch pad to copy them! “Some of the most unique art I’ve ever seen.” 

“What?” Maren said, standing straight. “Oh, yeah, it’s cool. But look at that!” 

She pointed at something below the art. Many constructions made of squiggly lines ran along the bottom of the pictures. 

“Uh,” Mav said, holding his chin. “The linework–” 

“It’s not art,” Maren said. Her head cocked to the side. “Well, it kinda is. Interesting! But it looks so much more than that.” 

“I mean,” Mav said, scratching the back of his head, “yeah, of course I–”

“That’s the language I saw in the cave, but it’s so much easier to read now because of the light,” Maren said, narrowing her eyes. They then popped open. “I have seen that writing before! That’s the language of Chimeras!”

Maren beamed, stepping closer to Mav, her wide sparkling eyes inches from his face. 

Mav’s cheeks grew warm. He stepped back and looked away. “Chimeras... yeah. Wait, what?” 

Chimeras were a unique form of Titan. A type of Titan no one really knew about. Some church scholars argued they were peaceful creatures that only wanted to be left alone – which was why no one could find them. Others claimed they were savage and bloodthirsty and thus were hunted to extinction. Many scholars argued Chimeras never existed, stating that old stories of Chimeras came from ignorant people meeting regular Titans. 

Not much evidence had been provided to prove the existence of Chimeras. But this cave, these depictions, could very well be added to the sparse supply of physical documentation regarding Chimeras. 

Mav fell to his knees and lowered his head. This truly was a holy place. 

But didn’t that mean Colton wouldn’t be able to mine here? All those people, hoping to provide for their families, would be out of work. 

Mav wanted to ask Maren about it, but his question died on his lips. Maren leaned forward, eyes narrow, her tongue sticking out the corner of her mouth. 

“Um...” Mav began. “What are you doing?” 

“Memorizing,” Maren said. 

“Memorizing?” 

“I don’t have my tablet. I need to remember the characters so I can try to figure out what it might be saying when I get back to my… I’m so stupid!”

“What?”

“My tablet! I saw the letters in the cave and I didn’t take a picture! I even pinned the spot. I’m so stupid!” 

Maren shook her head, then unblinkingly scanned the text, face scrunched a bit as she devoured the information. A slight fluttering in his stomach made Mav smile. 

Then, the Titan Monkey howled. He was on his little feet, now, and spread his long arms. The waterfall split, presenting a cave lit by green and blue light. The Monkey gestured for them to follow again. 

“That’ll bring us outside, most likely,” Maren said, tearing away from the script. 

“It’ll be a long uphill run,” Mav said. 

“Great,” Maren said, voice deadpan. 

“I can carry you, if you want.” 

Maren puffed out her chest and placed a hand on it. “I will not need any assistance from you, sir! I can easily run a mile uphill. In fact, I can even do it faster than you.” 

“Oh really? Just try it.” 

Without another word, Mav charged into the cave.