Garrett stepped into ever-growingly familiar darkness and felt the cool wood in front of him. With a simple heave, the coffin opened and Garrett stepped out. The first thing he noticed, after taking a breath of cave air, was the sound of clinking metal. He reached into his backpack and pulled out a small pouch of coins. Inside were 10 small bronze coins. On one side of the coin was a moon symbol and on the other was a sun symbol.
"I guess bronze is their lowest currency," Garrett said as he put the pouch away. "Then those silver coins from last time must be the next currency up. Following the trend, then gold would be their most valuable currency." He reached the exit of the room and looked down the two hallways. Both of them lead around a corner and he couldn't hear any sounds from either direction. "At least I don't have to flip a rock anymore," Garrett said as he pulled out a bronze coin. He flicked it into the air, catching it before it landed. "Sun, I go left. Moon, I go right." He uncovered his palm to look at the result. "Moon. To the left." He tucked the bronze coin into his pocket and headed out.
The path he took continued winding down corners and hallways. Occasionally, a weak monster or two would pop out of the darkness. Garrett slew them with ease, but his concern rose with each kill he accumulated. None of them this time dropped any Helioxene this time. Was he just getting unlucky this time? He went through at least seven monsters and only got a brown God Chest, which had a silver coin and two arrows. He sighed and hoped that he came across something that would give him Helioxene.
As he walked through a large room with a high ceiling, something about the room felt off to him. Garrett tightened the grip on his shield as he looked around the room. His eyes darted left and right, up and down, trying to spy what gave him the uncomfortable feeling. Should he keep moving forward and ignore it? Or, should he try and face whatever the source was? Should he-
*BANG*
Garrett spun around, barely being able to deflect a bullet covered in green energy with his shield. "That was close!" His eyes surveyed the scene, trying to determine where the shot came from. He held up his shield to cover himself and crouched to shrink his size.
*BANG*
Another shot rang out, grazing his shoulder. Garrett groaned in pain as he felt the wound burn. He could hear the sound of someone moving along the ledge on the ceiling. Carefully, he backed himself up against the far wall. There was only one person so far that he knew who used bullets as weapons, but he couldn't be certain. There could always be more, but he had to try.
*BANG*
This time, the shot was centimeters away from his ear, causing a painful ringing sensation. He had to take some sort of action. "Cerezie! Don't shoot!"
*BANG BANG BANG*
That was clearly the wrong action to take. Garrett winced in pain as one of the bullets burrowed itself into his right shoulder. Diplomacy wasn't about to help him here, he needed to retaliate. He stared up near the ceiling, trying to track where the shots were coming from.
Panic began to set in as his wounds flared up. If he died here, that would be it for him. He had to win here, but against a trained magical sniper, how could he win? His focus turned down to his wrist and the bracelet that rested on it. This was his only long-ranged attack right now.
He waited patiently until he saw the glint of the rifle barrel. He ducked behind his shield as another shot rang out, denting his shield. Garrett aimed his wrist and shouted, "Flariseo!" As he said it, one of the jewels in the bracelet glowed red. Fire formed in his hand, burning hot, but not damaging his skin. Quickly, the ball of fire shot out from his hand and towards his attacker.
They dodged out of the way, but barely. "Flariseo!" Garrett fired another fireball at the attacker, this time towards where they were running. This made the attacker stop in their tracks and backtrack a little. "Flaiseo!" Using this third cast, Garrett launched the fireball, hitting the surprised attacker, igniting their clothing. They flailed around, trying to put out the flames, only to end up tumbling from their perch. Garrett rushed over and began to help. As he got closer, he indeed recognized the elf gunwoman. "Hey, I don't want to hurt you."
Cerezie writhed in pain from the flames before Garrett and her managed to put it out. She attempted to reach for her rifle, but Garrett kicked it out of her reach. "What Illima want? How Illima knowing names?" She attempted to stand, but she groaned as her legs gave out on her.
"Just relax," Garrett said, putting down his sword to show he meant no harm. He looked at his bracelet, which had the three jewels dulled in gray, though slowly being filled back up with their red color.
Cerezie took a few deep breaths before stopping her resistance. "So, how Illima being of knowing names?" Cerezie asked again as she began to rest.
"Call it a hunch," Garrett said, taking a breath as well. He pressed against his wounds and rested against the stone walls. The two of them laid there, tending to their wounds until they felt the strength to be able to stand again. Trying to recall how he allied with Cerezie in the first timeline, he made his move. "So, what brings you down into the Darge?"
"Mission," Cerezie said curtly as she dusted herself off. She picked up her rifle and slung it across her back. "Be thanking for no death." She began to walk off deeper into the Darge. "No follow." But, Garrett did indeed, follow. "I saying no follow," Cerezie said, whipping around to face Garrett.
"Come on, you're still injured and so am I. We should at least look out for each other," Garrett said, hoping to appeal to her sense of reason.
She furrowed her brows, but sighed and turned around. "Keeping up. I no hestitation of leave behind you." With that, the two of them took off into the Darge.