I wake up after what seemed to be a few hours. I feel hot. Unbearably hot. This is worse than the time when I got burned alive back at Rusar's. It's like laying naked in the sand on a summer day. At the desert. And you're getting doused in hot water. Something warm fills my mouth. Talk about perfect timing. Its texture is soft, its taste having a hint of sweetness to it. Kind of like a mix between apple and strawberry. Is this Jean's doing?... Who am I kidding. Of course, it is. Only he makes weird good food... Wait.
Isn't this a mouth?
Realizing that Jean is planting his lips on mine, I shove him with all my might. Forget about the lilies. What was THAT all about?! I open my eyes and see him staring right back. He looms over me with his black armor and stupidly pale complexion.
" How long was I out? What are you doing? And why do you taste sweet? "
"A few minutes. I used an item that makes it bearable. All I can say is that it's sweet and feels like a kiss." he raises his thumbs with a serious look.
"What about the two?"
"They're fine... I think. I prioritized them. Wear this." Jean hands me a weird, black, face mask. The sweet smell instantly got replaced with the scent of fresh air as soon as I put it on. I look over his back, seeing Nelen help Esmeralda put her mask on. Several of Jean's clones were also helping the others get up, and the guards are escorting them to the exit. He's right. His clones really are casting spells over people.
"Get them out of here!" Platinum shouts. The Gold Gang were also with him, following his orders. There's someone new in the group.
"Get out! NOW!" he points towards us, but Jean didn't listen to him. Instead, he ordered the two girls to continue on helping.
"Don't just stand there. Go help." Jean instructs in a firm voice, and I strangely felt compelled to do it. I look at the man near me. He's old and thin. He should be easy to carry.
"C'mon. Let's get you out." I say as I carry him on my back. "You're gonna be okay."
"No... Please..." he whispers. He points to the twins sitting next to him. "My kids..."
He looks at me with pleading eyes. He wants me to take the kids first.
"Don't talk. I'll get to them later." I say as I sprint my way to the exit.
Wheezing. A lot of wheezing. Frustrated screams of people greeted us at the door as the smog follows us outside. The medics, clad in blue uniforms, stood over their patients while casting a yellow spell circle. Probably healing magic. I sit the old man to the nearest seat I could find and rush back inside, hoping to save the other two. I bump into Nelen and Esmeralda helping two people out. A man too heavy to be carried, and a kid. It's one of the twins.
"Hurry." Esmeralda panted. "There's another one there."
No words were needed. I was already rushing inside the theatre, despite the protests from the guards. Blue mist envelops me as I enter back into the room. The kid should be near here...
"HEY! YOU!" a familiar voice calls. It was Platinum, and he's pissed. "GET THE FUCK OUTTA HERE! ARE YOU STUPID?!"
"SHUT THE FUCK UP!" I retaliate and ignore him as I look for the boy. I go back to my seat - He's a row away from me. Yes. Focus. Time is everything. I get to where the old man was sitting. On the floor laid the boy, eyes closed in a fetal position. I was about to reach him when a voice stops me.
Jean. He's still standing on the same place, but his clones are gone now. I switch my glance between the two of them, my hands shaking as Jean's words repeated itself in my head.
"It's no use."
Aldwynn and his group remain inside, weapons drawn. A limelight shines a dim glare in the center of the stage as I stare at the kid's lifeless body.
"My kids..."
I grit my teeth, frustrated at the fact that I failed to do what the old man told. I didn't even save the other one. The boy slept there, eyes closed, clothes looking like they'd just been worn. I feel a sharp prickle in my chest. I didn't know letting someone down would feel this bad. I look at Jean, but he seems to be staring at something. The guards were also doing the same.
...
The mist suddenly turned into a fog and thickened around the stage, blocking the source of boots shuffling slowly on the stage. Aldwynn only looks onward as the guards prepare themselves, gripping their swords and readying their spell circles. Jean does the same, and I couldn't help but wonder how he could stay calm at a time like this. The occasional clang of armor and the sound of footsteps are the only noises in the room, the tension rising faster than the carriages I saw when I first got here. For some reason, the guards don't seem to be affected.
" MOVE! "
There were no battle cries. No motivational speeches. All it took was one word from Platinum to release the hounds of justice. Or in this case, lions. As instantly and as anti-climactic as it was, the guards rushed like a pack of ravenous wolves on a dark night. Smoke emanated from the knights as Aldwynn joined them, leading on as they enter the fog with sharp eyes. The mages in the back fired minor spells in advance, hitting random objects inside the fog as the four guards enter the smog.
" Should we help? " I ask Jean. He doesn't respond.
" AAAAAAAARGH! "
A familiar voice. It sounds like Knucklehead. What the hell happened there?
" Carron! "
" Brother! Help! "
" GET BACK!!! ALL OF YOU! "
Aldwynn shouts with all his strength as his squad emerges from the fog, but something's wrong. The brothers from the guild are missing. Aldwynn shouts again.
" Carron! Carleigh!! "
No response. He tries to scream again, but to no avail. What the fuck is going on right now?
" Bad move, Chimerians. "
The fog parts, its blue hue swaying like ghosts dancing in an open field. Ever so slowly, it shifts, the limelight slowly but surely exposing the perpetrators. Pretty bold of them to show themselves. In the middle stood two figures, the large one grabbing the brothers by the neck. One was clad in a bandages and scrolls. He wore a brown cloak and a belt full of bottles containing the familiar blue smoke. The other one... was the same as the last time I saw him. Blue inanimate eyes stare at me before returning his gaze to the guards. It's the guy back at the pub. So they're the ones behind this.
Something appears on the wall of the stage. The constellations on the background seem to open as a portal appears, and the one wrapped in bandages starts to walk towards it. Aldwynn leaps and tries to lunge a punch at the one holding the brothers, but the other one attacks him by throwing a bottle of blue smoke before getting in. The man then uses the confusion and throws Carron at Aldwynn, the two of them crashing as he looks at Carleigh, still in his hands. He then slams Carleigh into the ground, hard enough to shatter hardwood.
" YOU... FUCKING BASTARD! "
Aldwynn screams and coughs as he gets up. The unnamed attacker starts to slowly pummel Carleigh. One. The mages in the back start to channel a spell, but another fist hits Carleigh on the face. Two. Aldwynn charges and screams at him, but a perfectly timed right hook sends him flying again. Three. Four. The mages start to combine their spells, conjuring a huge ball of ice and launching it straight into the enemy. It did nothing. Five. Six. Seven. Eight. His punches are starting to go faster and stronger. Carleigh's face is starting to become disfigured as the fight continues, but I couldn't do anything about it. I was afraid. Confused, even. Nine. I look at Jean. He doesn't move an inch. Ten. Eleven. Twelve. Thirteen...
He stops. Silence. A pant and a gulp from the mages in the back. There he was, in the middle of the limelight, arms raised while a dead man laid on his feet. Like he'd just won. Fucking lunatic. All people here have screws loose in their heads. Is this God's doing?... Probably not. I'm just as mad as them. At least, that's what I think. Okay, Sol. You're not afraid. Right? You're just surprised and confused. Yes. That must be it.
" Jean. "
" What? "
" Do you know who these guys are? "
" I have no idea about the one in the bandages. "
" Should we fight them? "
" ... No. We'll just waste our time here. The fight would probably end shortly. "
" Are you really okay with this? They just killed like thirty people. "
Jean looks into the distance, puts his hands on his face, and stays there. What the fuck is this guy doing? The blue-eyed man, whatever his name is, leaves through the portal, but before doing so, he looks at Jean and, with a voice cold enough to freeze all of Hell, he says:
" Scourge... "