Dododex

ARK: Survival Evolved & Ascended Companion

The Arks: Over Heaven (by Ben)

Chapter 79: The Cure

Original Post Date: Jul 5, 2024

Note: Story starts in Wyvern, Aerial ABC backwards filter and has a Prologue. Last chapter in Therizinosaurus, next chapter in Tek Stryder.

~

And so, Sunny, Gary, and Paige were treading through the murky swamp, trying to find the leeches to make the cure for Skyler’s sickness. It was damp, hot, and overall unbearable considering they also had to wear the repugnant bug repellant that Rick made.

“When are we gonna find these damn leeches?” Paige asked, looking around. There were a lot of creatures running around and tussling about. Baryonyx, Sarcosuchus, and the strange Paraceratherium. But there seemed to be no leeches, even though this was where they typically come from.

“Maybe they’re leaving us alone because we have the bug repellent on,” Sunny suggested, “Not like I’m complaining though. I’d rather not get leeched.”

Gary seemed awfully quiet this time around, even in the presence of her sister. Something happened on his expedition with Skyler and Rick that made him this way. Sunny looked over at him and nudged him with her elbow.

“Hey! Brighten up!” Sunny told him, “Why the long face?”

Gary’s eyes darted up to a dry piece of land.

“Skyler got sick because of me. It’s my fault we’re here.”

“Wha-? What are you talkin’ about?” Paige said with a raised eyebrow, “You tried your hardest on that expedition. There was no changing Skyler getting sick.”

Rick put his hands in his pockets and looked down at the algae-filled waters.

“Hey. At least she’s only sick, okay?” Paige remarked, “At least she isn’t… dead.”

Paige’s expression fell at that. Sunny looked at both of them in worry. It seemed as if landing on this island only made their troubles worse and worse. Heartache was inevitable, but to this extent?

“Is this how… they felt?” Sunny thought as her mind wandered to those characters of her world. Voices and screams ran through her head as they trudged toward the dry land. It was almost as if she was there herself. The explosions, the cries, and the bloodshed filled her senses.

And then she began to weep.

“Why are we here?” Sunny sobbed. Tears welled up in her eyes as her mind ran wild, “Who put us here? Why would they put us here? How did they put us here-”

Paige grabbed Sunny, and gently wrapped her arms around her body. Sunny let out a sniffle, as she buried her face into Paige’s shoulder. Paige closed her eyes gently as she embraced her friend.

“I know you’re worried about us. We’ll be alright, Sunny. We’ll all make it out together. All of us.”

“T-thank you,” Sunny muttered. She pulled away from the hugs and looked into Paige’s eyes with a smile. Paige grinned back.

“Hey, anything to make a friend better. I always hug my friends if they’re feeling down in the dumps.”

Sunny looked into Paige’s eyes. For a moment, Sunny could see paint blobs in her reflection. They were blue and covering her eyes and face. But as Paige’s implant dimmed down, the blobs disappeared.

“Thanks, again,” Sunny said. Paige nodded.

“Of course, Sunny.”

“Hey. You two, look what I found!”

The two looked at the dry piece of land to see Gary holding a thick, big leech in his hand. But he didn’t seem to be calling them over because of the leech. Sunny and Paige walked over to Gary, and then Gary began to continue walking, until eventually they reached a large cliff that they couldn’t reach. They could see the remnants of a campfire atop. It would definitely be a beautiful spot to look at the stars.

“Look here,” Gary said. He pointed at a small crevice in the cliff. It was a cave. Both of their eyes widened at the sight.

“A cave? This is where that artifact was found, right?” Paige asked.

Gary nodded. He held the leech up.

“We got the leech already. So why don’t we go in and collect the artifact?”

“Hmm,” Sunny muttered, “It could be dangerous in there. We didn’t bring any tames to mask our scent from the creatures. What if there’s something in there we can’t kill?”

Paige slammed her club into the palm of her hand.

“I wouldn’t worry about it. We’re all strong enough to take anything down. Well, probably not a Tyrannosaurus, but those definitely don’t live in caves. Even if things get bad… We can always run and tell the others about it. But if we get the artifact now it’ll be a win-win for us, right?”

“I guess so,” Sunny whispered. The three looked into the cave. They didn’t hear anything except the buzzing of electricity.

“Let’s go in,” Gary said.

The three stepped into the cave, and they were shrouded in darkness again. All of them looked on in awe. It was less of a cave and more of a huge metal platform that rose out of a lake of underground water. Giant metal “fingers” curved out of the platform and toward the roof. And resting in the middle of the platform was an artifact.

“Is that it? Didn’t think it’d be that easy,” Sunny said.

They walked toward the artifact, but as they did, a forcefield of hexagons manifested around it. Goosebumps began to ruffle on Gary’s skin.

“Oh great. Here we go again.”

Gary began to look around, as if something was going to come out for them, but nothing did. Paige’s eyes darted along the floor, and they pinned on a strange lever mechanism. Paige reached her hand out to grab it, but as she touched it, a zap of electricity pierced her heart.

BUZZ!

Paige let out a shriek as she placed her hand over her chest.

Sunny reached out to touch it too, and she experienced the same feeling.

BUZZ!

“Hmm,” Sunny said, scratching her head. She looked at the artifact, “The lever probably makes the forcefield disappear. But it’s charged with electricity, preventing us from doing so-”

Gary suddenly grabbed the lever, and a wave of electricity flowed into his heart. Gary let out a cough of pain, as he placed his other hand on the lever and pulled as hard as he could.

“AHHHHHH!” Gary howled in pain as his heart began to burn away. Blood spilled from his lips, as his consciousness began to fade away. His vision began to blur, and he smiled as he looked at the two again.

“Grab the artifact and leave.”

“But what about you?” Sunny asked. Gary shut his eyes.

“I lived a good life. You two just need to make it out safely and that’s all that matters-”

Sunny rolled her eyes and grabbed the lever. Paige followed suit.

“We’re in this together bro,” Sunny said, “This isn’t some dumb story… You aren’t dying on my watch.”

With both Paige and Sunny pulling the lever at the same time as Gary. Both of them felt sharp electricity puncture their heart, but Gary could feel the burden on his shoulders lessen. With a final pull, they all let out a scream of triumph as the lever stopped zapping them and the forcefield disappeared.

They all cheered and Gary let out a sigh of relief. Sunny patted him on the back and showed him the artifact.

“Why don’t you have it? You basically did the heavy lifting.”

Gary smiled, reached out, and touched the artifact. The artifact disintegrated and entered his implant. Gary’s implant began to glow, and suddenly two clones of himself appeared beside him. The others looked on in awe as the clones looked around, dumbfounded.

“Wow! There’s three of you now! I can’t believe I had two long lost brothers…” Sunny joked with a laugh. Paige looked one of the clones in the eyes, scratching her head and squinting.

“I don’t think they have emotions or know how to think.”

“Yeah, me neither, they’d be chattering nonstop if they did,” Gary realized, “Well I’m tired of this. Let’s just go back to camp, we got what we need and the artifact.”

So with that, they left the cave and headed back home with their finds.

~

“Alright drink up!” Sunny told Skyler as she held a glass vial to her lips. Skyler groaned and opened her mouth weakly. Sunny began to pour it down Skyler’s throat like it was water. Skyler began to choke, and Sunny withdrew the vial.

“Oh, my bad.”

With only a drop left to spare, Skyler swallowed it down, and sat up, rubbing her head.

“Thanks a lot dude,” Skyler commented, rolling her eyes. The redness in her face was already beginning to fade. She already seemed to be getting better. She held her wrist out, and her implant began to glow. The artifact of the hunter manifested in her hand.

“So I heard you managed to collect two more artifacts,” Skyler said.

“Yeah. You were right all along,” Paige apologized by bowing her head, “I’m sorry for not believing you.”

Skyler looked at her with a smirk.

“Oh don’t worry. It’s not personal. But now that we have three…”

She looked off into the distance of the green Obelisk, which seemed to be pulsating more intensely than usual.

“We have a trip to make. And all of us are going. Including our tames. Because something tells me isn’t gonna be that easy.”

“But what about the recruits? What about Ben and Chris?” Sunny asked, “Why don’t we just raid June’s castle with these artifacts and save them?”

“We can’t afford to wait for them. I have a good feeling about this obelisk now. And I think all of you do too.”

Gary spoke, “Skyler is right. I have a good feeling Ben has it handled. He has always been smart with his ideas. If we get to the obelisk and it really is the key to survival-”

“Key to escape,” Rick corrected him. Gary looked at him weirdly. Rick looked up.

“We’re gonna need to come in hot. Literally. So we need to start preparing before we go. We’re gonna need to brew some cold drinks, collect a lot of cool water, and start collecting armor around from the beacons so we can prepare for what that obelisk will throw at us,” Rick explained.

“And what’s so dangerous about this obelisk that we need to prepare so hard?” Simon asked.

“You don’t wanna know.”

Bobby began to get nervous at the thought.

“Well if that’s the case… We should get moving.”

And so they did.