Chapter 663: Fear worth
Nixie had never looked up at anything. Ever. She always had that absent-minded look that seemed to stare out into nothingness.
Yet now, Reed could see a hint of clarity in her eyes as she gazed upon the gigantic statue of Cthulhu.
"Nixie...my daughter...she’s..."
Welling up with emotions, Reed couldn’t quite bring out the words to describe his joy upon seeing a hint of his daughter coming back to normal.
"She’s reacting to the Cthulhu," Juniper muttered. "It makes sense. This entire thing looks like it was ripped straight out from her subconscious void. For the first time in her life, she is feeling as if she belongs in the real world!"
Juniper looked at Michael, surprised at his ingenuity. Just like he said, he found a way to help stimulate Nixie’s heart! He brought her subconsciousness into reality, tempting her to finally face the world!
"This can help her," she said. "Close proximity with the Cthulhu will allow her to slowly warm up to the world."
"There’s a better way to do that," Michael interjected. "We can have her ride the rollercoaster."
His suggestion seemed insane at first, given how scary the ride seemed to look. Then, Juniper realized something. This may be the way to help Nixie strengthen her Dao Heart without exerting her body! She could experience great emotions without having to physically strain herself.
That was one of the problems of her Dao Heart!
They couldn’t strengthen it because she was far too weak to stimulate it through normal means like fighting or sparring.
But now, this rollercoaster offered Nixie a way to solve that, circumventing the physicality of it all entirely!
Reed approached his daughter. "Nixie. Do you want to ride the rollercoaster?" he asked her.
Nixie turned towards him and gave a subtle nod.
Reed and his wife stifled their gasp. They had never seen Nixie respond to them before!
In just a few seconds of being close to the rollercoaster, Nixie had progressed far more than what they achieved through years and years of effort.
"We’ll go! I’ll accompany my daughter," Reed said, gulping down his fears.
He then picked up his daughter and placed her on the rollercoaster before taking the seat right next to hers. Behind them were Juniper and the others, who wanted to try out this rollercoaster to see what was so special about it.
Michael personally locked their seatbelts, adjusting Nixie’s seat to accommodate her small stature.
Once that was done, he gestured to the operator on the back, and the ride soon went off.
And even though they were just spiraling up through Cthulhu’s body, Reed was already grabbing onto the steel railings as if his life depended on it.
In comparison, Nixie just sat in her seat with no expression, except with the tiniest bit of a smile forming at the edges of her mouth.
The rollercoaster ride creaked CLINK, CLINK, CLINK, as they reached the apex of their height.
They were now face to face with Cthulhu’s mouth, with its tentacle tendrils moving erratically.
"You dare enter into the void? Be very well prepared..."
Everyone jolted in their seats, not expecting to hear Cthulhu’s statue speak as if it was a real living being!
Juniper was the most surprised, as she realized that it sounded exactly the same as the Cthulhu they met in the subconscious void.
"How did he replicate it with such accuracy?" she asked herself.
However, this was not the time to think. Their ride entered Cthulhu’s mouth, with mist spraying around them.
Just then, their ride seemingly dropped out of the railings and into the water, creating a splash.
This surprised them as they couldn’t see anything inside Cthulhu’s mouth. It was pure darkness, adding only to the dread of what’s to come.
They continued to float in the water, which seemed to be slowly picking up in speed as they continued onwards.
Then, they heard the sound of water rustling like a river. Its intensity gave them a hint about its speed, making them realize that this wasn’t a gentle stream, but a waterfall instead.
Everyone held onto their seats as their ride plunged into the darkness. They screamed out their lungs at this unexpected descent.
It wasn’t long before they crashed into the water, submerging them for a few seconds before their ride floated back up.
"That’s ocean water," Reed realized. That water came straight from the sea!
Then, they saw lights emerge around them.
Everywhere they looked, they saw an entire ecosystem of marine animals living in the deepest depths of the ocean. They saw bioluminescent fishes glowing with prismatic colors. There were corals pulsating with lights. This made Reed feel like he was back home.
He looked to his side and saw Nixie’s eyes wander around the room. The cloudiness in her gaze was starting to fade, becoming replaced by an iridescent green.
"Woah..."
"Amazing..."
Juniper and the others had never experienced such a sight. They were seeing what a mermen would see in Atlantis!
Just then, the entire ocean started to shake. They felt their ride start to sway side to side, with the possibility of it tipping over becoming ever so clear.
While everyone was wondering about what was happening, Nixie looked forward and pointed at the darkness in front of them.
Reed followed her hand and eventually saw two red lights surrounded by blackness.
And as they got closer, they eventually saw the outlines of black and white scales around those two red lights.
"That’s! That’s!"
The Leviathan emerged from the darkness, occupying the entire tunnel. It opened its jaws, with the gills on its side flaring up to increase its size even more.
"AAHHHHH!" Reed screamed, utterly terrified.
The fact that he had absolutely no control over the ride made him feel like he was being served up on a platter for the Leviathan to eat!
Finally, the Leviathan lunged at their ride.
But thankfully, the ride somehow stopped in place just a meter away from the Leviathan’s terrifying jaws.
Angry at its failed attempt, the Leviathan opened its jaws again and pounced on them again.
This time, their ride reversed backwards as it tried to escape from the monster.
The Leviathan chased after them, using its jaws to chomp down at Reed and Nixie, the two closest to the monster.
Still, their ride was able to just barely escape out of the Leviathan’s jaws each time.
However, that didn’t seem to have mattered as Reed felt like his soul was going to emerge out of his body due to pure horror.
He was starting to regret going into the ride in the first place.
"Hihi!"
Reed turned towards Nixie and saw her with a full smile. She was grinning each time that the Leviathan tried to chomp at them.
"Nixie..." he said, starting to smile. Seeing her like this made all the fear and horror become worth it.
However, as if testing his words, the ride suddenly came to a stop as they hit the very back wall.
They had nowhere else to go.
Yet, the Leviathan was still in front of them, with its jaws opening with triumph.
It lunged at them, making Reed almost pass out due to pure shock.