"One more thing… And this is a bit of a selfish request, but… About where I want you to teleport me back."
『Send me flying directly above it so I can kick it's goddamn teeth in.』
With a powerful spinning kick, Cobalt could almost feel his knee snapping and buckling under the pressure.
Landing on the ground and almost losing his footing, he felt his body want to fly away from the ground, and yet still, he rushed forward.
Crashing down onto the top of its head, his bones creaked as the Wendigo's neck snapped all the way down its spine.
And pushing off with all the power he had left in his legs, Cobalt could feel a heat hotter than anything he'd ever felt before well up in his arm and thigh, but still, he pushed with everything he had.
Because even if his knees snapped.
And even if he flew away from the ground.
Even if his bones shattered or an unsealable tear shredded what was left of his limbs, he wasn't giving up.
He wouldn't give up on that girl… No matter what happened to him.
But I wonder…
His head slumped to the side as he looked at the teary eyed girl, greeting her for the first time in what felt like forever.
『Since when has this person I'm watching been me…?』
* * * * * * * *
"C… COBALT!!!"
A girl ran towards his slumped body, warm liquid cascading down her stiffened cheeks. And waking himself up from his grandiose entrance, Cobalt opened his right eye to watch her run.
Even though Cobalt was covered in blood, sand, and bruises, that girl bore none of those scars.
However, the tears that streamed down her cheeks showed a Fate not dissimilar to what Cobalt had gone through…
She choked back her words, grabbing ahold of Cobalt's shoulders as the tears streamed further, the pain held within those eyes becoming more visible by the second.
I guess neither of us got lucky, huh Arabelle?
But just as that thought passed…
"A—"
Arabelle pulled tighter against his shoulders, shaking him ruthlessly as his head bobbed up and down like a ragdoll without his input.
"Where did you go?! The lights went out, a-and—I thought I—I mean, I thought it killed you!!!"
Being throttled back and forth, he could almost feel his brain smacking into his skull.
Out of all the attacks he'd been dealt today he wasn't expecting one like this…
But he wasn't even given a chance to respond before the frantic and teary-eyed girl started shaking him even harder, swaying her head from side to side as more tears were sent flying off her cheeks.
Compounded with this brutal reunion, he could feel a pained ow barely escape his lips, muffled by her raised voice.
"I-I had no idea what happened, a-and—!!! Where did you go?! You told me we could win, s-so—!"
Her confusion quickly turned to anger as she shook him harder, her momentum accelerating as he slowly felt his soul leaving his body.
"Yeah—About—That—"
Was the best he could make out having the life shaken out of him.
In response to his mumblings, her grip loosened slightly as her throttling eventually ceased, leaving Cobalt half-conscious as he watched the teary-eyed girl contemplate her illogical greeting.
But as for Cobalt… He simply tilted his head to the side with a wide-mouthed grin, one which raised his bloodied cheeks as he replied:
"There's no need ta be so worried… I just had to do another Trial real quick, then after checking a forum I think I know how to beat this one too."
…
Then seeing her face rise, it twisted into an even heavier frown, one which pulled tight against her lips as she failed to further contain her tears.
"Wh-what the hell?! What's that even supposed to mean?! Did you hit your head or something…?! You need to lie down, or—or something! Come on, let's… Let's leave now, Cobalt… We can leave now."
She choked back her words, tightening the grip on his shoulders as she became wordless, silently kneeling to his left. Easily enraptured by the first sign of hope, she was equally quick to discourage that optimism.
But trying to stand against the sharp pain that had echoed either side of his body, the sudden jolt upwards he had expected to use to offer Arabelle a hand fell short as his footing slipped.
He stumbled a little further, his vision getting blurrier as darkness creeped itself around the edges of his vision.
A cruel awakening he wasn't expecting.
"C'mon hypotension. Not now—not now."
After being the guinea pig for two different trials, it somehow didn't even matter how far he came.
Even in a moment like this, what did all of his bravery amount to if he was still brought down by his own lack of self-care?
—Sure, that was true… But at the very least it was a reminder that he was still human.
He was still Cobalt.
For better or for worse…
Catching himself on two shaky feet, Cobalt rubbed his hands aggressively against his eyes and forehead, even though the urge to fall was still there.
If he stopped paying attention for even a moment, he might just end up blacking out again…
And as that thought came to pass, he was almost certain he would.
That is, until he felt something on his shoulder…
Something almost foreign.
Something that, in that moment, made him feel like he was in a different - a warmer, as well as safer - world entirely.
"…Are—Are you okay…?"
That battle he waged against his own uselessness, for the first time in what felt like forever, wasn't something he had to fight alone.
A second sensation placed itself on his other shoulder, and just as the soft words he felt started to process in his mind…
How long has it been…
『Since I felt a hand on my shoulder like this?』
Slowly, he regained control over himself, standing taller and a bit more confidently as he shook off the nerves from almost blacking out.
And when he looked back towards the girl with drying tears on her cheek…
"—What…?"
Those damp eyes, which forced themselves to appear stronger than what they were…
Glimmered in just about every color, refracting against the tears that were filling them.
So many colors…
Seeing them now, in a place like this…
He felt something well up inside. Something that he couldn't possibly contain, no matter how many hands were on his shoulder.
"Pffmmm… Hahahhh… Pfffhahahahahahhahahh!!!"
One of the hands on his shoulder was lifted away as he fell back a bit, erupting in laughter.
So much so that his sides hurt worse than his open cuts.
And letting his mind go absent, it only now started to register as "pain" in his mind.
But even so, Cobalt kept laughing.
Harder than he'd laughed in a long, long time.
"Hahhhahhahhahahhah!!!"
"What's that for?! Stop!! You're hysteric!! Cut it out!!!"
Looking back at the teary eyed girl, more emotions mixed in with the colors of her eyes: confusion, embarrassment, anger.
But the core symbolism he saw in her eyes was still there, regardless of that. Because as mad as the girl's face looked, and as much as she was startled by that outburst—
One of her hands was still gripped firmly on his shoulder, making sure he couldn't fall.
"I just realized something so stupid that I just had to laugh at myself. It shouldn't have taken this much shit to pound that into my brain… Just let me have this, alright?"
Looking back at her, he saw something he'd lost. Something he'd given up on.
Something worth fighting for, even.
"I… I don't know what that means…"
Letting the irony that burned into him start to dissipate, he reached up, gently taking hold of her small fingers as he lowered them off his shoulder. More colors of confusion and tenseness dotted her eyes, but trying his best to put all that at ease:
"I want you to believe me here. It isn't over. If we try to move, that thing's gonna block the exit. I have an idea, so if we just—"
"Shut it!!! L-look, I… I know you feel like this is your fight, and you need to do this, but… I can't just let you keep thinking that! You killed it!! You've done enough, okay?! And even if you didn't, then let's use our time to try to get you out of here! To try to keep you safe…"
She paused, torn between what she's been saying this whole time, and what she was only saying just now. Those words were overdue, but at the same time, they were unpolished. She didn't know what it was she wanted to convince him of.
She didn't know what she was trying to convince them both of.
"Stop looking at the worst case scenario, just… You're done for the day… Just listen to me, I… I don't want—"
He could see what was running amuck in her head. Even if she couldn't see it herself, he could see right through it.
So letting go of her fingers, he smiled. It was a smile that couldn't hide all of its pain, but one that wasn't trying to. A genuine smile, one intended as reassurance, as hope, but…
A gesture that could be interpreted a million different ways.
"Here in a few seconds that thing'll probably jump back up here, so… Best to kill it before it gets us, right?"
Rolling his other sleeves over his elbow, he felt that sense of battle return to him.
Sure, he wasn't used to any of this.
But filled with that much pain, stimulation, and so much of a rush that he couldn't possibly ignore it… The only emotion residing in Cobalt's mind was excitement.
Almost as if he wasn't letting himself even process the Hell around him, only opting to break right through it instead. Mindlessly. Thoughtlessly.
If Bismuth could see this, she'd be worried sick…
He was covered just about everywhere in blood, and yet none of it hurt. Even against all of that, he was filled with much more will and confidence than before.
He left himself with that confidence as he started to walk towards the cliff. Away from the exit, away from the girl he swore to himself he'd protect.
That is, until—
"STOP!!!"
A hand grabbed onto his own. Latching on so tightly it forced him to stop in his tracks.
However, he didn't need to turn around.
He knew who was trying to stop him.
As well as what she was going to say.
"P-please—!!! Just… Just stop."
"I'm sorry Arabelle… But I can't."
Cobalt already knew what she would say to him. It was a conversation he didn't want to have.
In this moment, selfishly, all he wanted to do was find a way to kill the Wendigo. In that moment, selfishly, all he wanted to be was a hero.
Arabelle knew all of that, but…
She tugged harder against his hand, forcing him to turn around.
She knew her eyes were full of tears.
And she knew he'd have to look almost 30 centimeters down just to have eye contact.
She knew she looked pathetic. And she knew Cobalt didn't care about that.
But what she didn't understand was…
"…Why?!"
Forcing him to look away from a battle that meant death, she held his hand tighter, refusing to let go.
And crying out against the absurdity that had led the two of them here…
She needed answers.
"Why keep pushing yourself?! This isn't your fight at all, I—I dragged you down here myself!!! I… I forced you into all of this, and-and… I didn't even tell you what you were getting into! I… I even said you were my dog…! You're just some guy I found, and… And I made you feel indebted to me!! You don't owe me anything! I know you aren't stupid… I know you didn't actually feel like you owed me… You had no reason to do any of this, b-but… But why?! Even after seeing all of this!! Even after I treated you like a dog!! So why…? Why the hell are you still trying?! Why are you still fighting?! I don't understand!!!!!!"
From across the great distance that separated the two of them, all the things they didn't know about each other, all the answers the two of them didn't have, she couldn't understand any of this. She couldn't understand how he treated a stupid game she made up this seriously. She couldn't understand why he cared about any of this. She couldn't understand—
"I don't really know what you mean…"
But his answer, to all of what she didn't understand…
"Wh—?"
"You made up all those excuses back then 'cause you were lonely, and you didn't have anywhere else to turn. And when you said all that to me, I went along with all of it 'cause I didn't have anywhere else either, and because it was fun. We're Professional Tomb Raiders, aren't we? And since we're probably the only two in the world, and since we're all we have, that… That makes us, friends, doesn't it?"
Silence filled the air between them as Arabelle processed his answer to everything she didn't understand. But it was something she understood. It was the answer she clung to, throughout all of this.
Something she told herself even though she knew she was lying, but…
Could someone out there genuinely feel that towards her?
Could someone seriously be as recklessly nonsensical as she was?
But as if to stop that line of questioning entirely, that silence got louder, being filled with the eerie and echoing clicks from the abyssal depths below.
Stretching, Cobalt walked forwards, rather than backwards - abandoning any chance to escape, in favor of showing that girl firsthand what he meant, regardless of the cost.
Because down those slowly greying depths a figure emerged, clicking with its arrival nonsensical words of insanity that filled Cobalt's head.
After all of this, Cobalt was back. The same Trial. The same parameters as before.
But this time, he had everything he needed to win.
Over the years, Cobalt had seen Hell. It wasn't just a place he visited - it was a place he was confined to. It was in that confinement that he truly experienced Hell. And put simply, compared to that—
"…This isn't anything at all."
He cracked his neck, replacing the forced smile with a solemn, much more serious expression. And shaking his nerves, and pushing the paranormal hunger he felt as far down as he was able to bury it, those eyes reopened themselves, staring into a new world, almost entirely grey…
As well as directly meeting freshly-emerged eyes, ones which glowed alongside this false representative of Hell.
Those yellow eyes met him at an incline - and beneath that growing distance, a silhouette rose further, almost as if lifting those eyes up on stilts.
Then another feature grew - a slit which rose on both corners, stretching across the blackness that could barely be referred to as a "face". A feature of utter joy.
"With me keepin' this thing at bay, there's always a second option for y-"
"I wouldn't dream of it."
Hit with the chilling wisps of the Horror's return, Arabelle's cheeks have almost entirely dried on their own. Those tears were instead replaced with a solemn grin, one which stood as a declaration to her will to fight her way out of this.
Of course Cobalt couldn't see any of that—but he could tell, all of that, just by the sound of her voice.
"Didn't think you would… But while I'm stallin' this thing, I might as well let ya know…"
He lowered himself, shaking off his nerves for a final time in hasty preparation for the charge he knew would come.
But while he still had time…
"The nightmare you're lookin at's called the Wendigo, and its only realistic weakness is silver. So if you can rip off the handle to the lantern, I'll try to get it to lower its guard… Got it?"
Arabelle paused, taken aback by his sudden deduction.
Before the words could form in her head, questioning if Cobalt really wasn't joking when he'd admitted to clearing another Trial to get that information, her eyes turned to the lantern, still sitting calmly on the ground as if nothing had happened.
Coming up the base of the frame, a roofed structure contained a rounded handle, one which almost sparkled in the light of the notpixies.
…Just how many convenient things did Cobalt figure out while in the Tomb?
The thought couldn't help but make Arabelle feel uneasy.
"That's the plan I came up with, so… If both of us are givin' it our all, it shouldn't be a problem."
He almost sounded like an entirely different person. That's what Cobalt almost wanted to believe, but knew he wasn't so weak just to be bent by his first real struggle in this new world.
Standing his ground like this, and facing off against death and decay itself…
Was a complete testament to the fact that he wouldn't be bent or broken nearly so easily.
And as if accepting that testament, a silhouetted figure rose…
And as its lanky figure blurred itself against a movement almost faster than the eye…
…A war begun.
『Guess this makes this Level Three then…
…Let's Start.』