589... 599... 600
'Ready or not, here I come!' the sprite screeched.
Gia was unconcerned; humans were so predictable. They were probably trying to distance each other so I couldn't make it to both of them in 5 minutes. Or if they were more stupid than they seemed, they would be trying to escape through the barrier.
Gia flitted over to the little forest. Hmm, this foliage won't protect you one bit. Then Gia caught a glimpse of a dark figure sprinting to the left, and another sprinting to the right. The one going left seemed faster. 'Probably that bratty boy, I'll deal with him first. I'll easily catch up to the girl.'
Sweating and panting, I ran to the east edge of the forest. Maybe Ms Brosnan hadn't been wrong to say cross-country was a life skill. Well too bad she was probably dead now.
I just had to give Yuri 3 minutes. Surely I could run for that long.
'What you doing here, boy? You really are quite slow, even for a human. It seems I overestimated you; you seemed pretty athletic when you started.' the sprite rolled its eyes and tapped my shoulder blade.
It had only been a minute; seems I over-estimated my athletic ability. Hopefully, I hadn't overestimated hers.
'Well, time to get this over with. I was hoping you'd entertain me more, but you've proved to be a disappointment.' Gia let out a cold chuckle.
Disappointment. I'd heard it so many times that it no longer affected me.
'Let's make a deal,' I blurted out.
'No can do. I've already fallen for countless deals with Hydra. I now have a code not to make deals,' Gia shuddered, 'unless... only I benefit.' A chance!
'What if I pay off all your drips owed to Hydra on the premise that you let me go.'
'You, get 1000 drips? Impossible. Ludicrous... But it will be fun to look at your struggle. And I can do whatever I want with you if you lose. Do you even know how you earn drips?'
'I'm assuming they're linked to the blood you spilt tonight.'
'Indeed. A human has just enough blood in their body to create one drip. You'd think a child would have less, but they're actually worth 2 drips each because their blood is so fine and pure. That's why I came to the school, unfortunate that all I got were some filthy adults.'
There was a rustling in the tree above; if the sprite turned now, we were doomed. I had to keep it focused on me...
'AHAHAHA!' I laughed raucously, 'Then I'll go after children to finish the job quicker. How hard could it be.'
Gia chuckled mischievously, 'I heard the average human has 'moral issues' with killing. Do you really think taking a life is easy? For me, a great powerful Disaster, I can slaughter your kind with a click of my fingers; it'll be easy. But even us sprites frown upon killing a being of the same species. You, humans, are the only species who do that you know. You are just SO. DESPICABLE.'
I forced a smile. 'So is the deal on?'
The sprite grasped my hand. 'Of course, but it's a losing deal. You can't win. You cant even win this game!'
'I know,' I said with a sly grin, 'But she can.'
It all happened in an instance. Yuri jumped down from the tree above, knocking Gia down, and grabbed a wing. I then reached over the sprite's bony elbows and grasped another wing.
The sprite coughed. It looked disgruntled. 'You humans with your cheats and unfair tactics. You ganged up on me!' It wailed and beat the ground.
'So... we can go now? Welp, it was nice meeting you.' I trudged off.
'What about the reward?' Yuri asked, pulling me back, 'Weren't you the one who demanded it?'
I shrugged. I didn't care much for prizes.
'Wait!' The sprite shot up furiously. 'You won this game, so I'll let you live. However! You still made a deal with me.'
Ah. I had wanted to run away before the sprite had collected itself. Maybe I could still get away with it now...
'As much as I hate to oppose you, you DID make a deal with Gia. Gia held up her side of the game rules, which means we should stick to our word too.' Yuri said, looking determined.
'Yuri, please. I can't possibly kill 1000 people-' I started.
'Yh, we shouldn't kill people,' Yuri interrupted.
'It would take too long.' I finished.
'What?' Yuri stuttered.
'I mean, yeah, killing's bad, uhu totally. I meant that...' I trailed off.
Yuri stared at me. I looked away from those piercing eyes. Then, she shook her head curtly as if she understood.
'Oho?' Gia raised an eyebrow, 'I guess I'll give you two some good news after all you've been through. You don't necessarily have to kill people for drips. Monsters above D rank will do. And lucky for you, there's going to be a huge monster surge in the neighbouring city in two weeks! Oh, we've got such EXCITING things planned for the Earth!'
I shrugged, not meeting Yuri's eyes.
'We'll do it.' Yuri said to the sprite, 'What about your 'meteor blessing'?'
'Just call on me, Gia the generous and kind sprite, and it will come to you when you most need it.'
And with that, Gia burst into peals of laughter and vanished, bursting into flames.
'Huh, if I didn't know better, I'd say you managed to make a friend today,' Yuri joked, shoving me playfully.
'About what I said earlier-' I began.
'It's fine; I'm guessing the apocalypse has finally happened. Everyone's going to show their dark side soon at some point. I'm sure we're going to change plenty in the next year- if we survive that long.' Yuri admitted, 'Plus if you ever stray too far, I'll be sure to bring you back on track.'
Then she smiled her dazzling smile; the one which dispelled all my worries, the one I'd travel to the ends of the world for.
Thank goodness for Yuri.