I braced myself against the barrier as Book cut me once. It stung and I tried my hardest to keep from letting it spill out. "Fffuck that hurt," I said.
"It's only the first cut," he said.
"I know," and turned back around. Part of it was easier not looking—but part of it was also harder because you never—"Ghhk!" The second cut hurt so much more than the first—only because it wasn't a cut per se, but a full gash.
"Hang in there," Book said.
"Are you okay?" Aria asked.
"Yeah, I'm fine," my voice cracked and I could tell it was plainly not fine. But that had to be fine for a bit.
He picked up the speed hoping that it'd shut me up. I guess he was hoping we'd be all as stone-faced as Jax was. I knew that he was just trying to put on a brave face to fill the leader role he so desperately needed to for whatever reason. Part of me felt guilty that Aria and I had intruded on their little dynamic—we'd never see him as anything like that. That part of me stopped feeling anything but the gashes on my backside and I screamed out as one cut really deep into the back-end of my thigh. "FFFFFUCK!"
And then at once he drove the sword into the wound and an immense white pain burned through my body, but before it could get used to the pain it was dealing with the weight that had been shifted against the barrier no longer being held up. I fell on my face and felt the sword exit as Book held on. My vision was hazy and my breathing was heavy. I could feel the burning in my leg brighter than the sun. That doesn't make sense I shouldn't be able to feel light. But then all of a sudden my head started to pound. Weirdly, it took over the pain in my leg and yanked my head forward. I felt woozy, the world was spinning. My brain kept pounding on its cage like a caged animal.
Then all at once I was back. The pain returned and I looked up to see Jax extending his arm out. I grabbed and he helped yank me over the crossing. He still hadn't stood up—his pulling was coupled with grunts and whimpers of his own.
"Still think this is a good idea?" He asked.
"No, but I can't wait." I said, breathing heavy as I made it through.
He grinned. "I like you."
I couldn't say it back. I didn't really like him all that much—especially considering he used one of his friends as a lab rat. But I would be lying if I said that if it wasn't for what happened...well, I don't know. We could all be headed to our deaths. Or…
Aria's scream chilled me to my core. I turned to see Book had impaled the sword into her thigh. It ripped the seam of her pants and the rainbow light seeped through. Book must have seen my reaction, because he looked nervous and started to stammer, "S-she said to get it over quickly so I—"
"Again!" She yelled and slammed a fist against the barrier, gritting her teeth. "And stop staring at my ass."
Book raised his head in a flash and did it again. She fell through and landed on the ground. I reached up to try and catch her, but I was still too weak and too far away. Trying only hurt more. I was able to sit up on my elbows with some steadied breathing. I turned myself around and offered my hand to Aria like Jax had done to me.
She looked at me and tried to smile through her pained expression. It wasn't easy, but I saw a glimpse of it. She took my hand and I yanked her across. "Thank you."
Pella came next, and Aria helped pull her across when she was right and able. Finally, Book held the sword against himself—his arm was shaking madly.
"Come on, Bookie! You're the last one!"
"I….I don't know if I can..."
"Come on! You've got it!" Jax said.
"It's...not...that bad," Pella managed out. I could tell it had hit her hard. It hit us all hard, but her especially.
"I...I can't." He was shaking his head. I think subconsciously he was thinking that there would always be someone else to have a next turn, that he'd never have to step up to the plate. "I...I can't. I can't do it. I'm sorry," he was shaking his head faster now.
He mumbled bits and pieces to himself that I couldn't hear, but it ended in another apology and then he started to run away. Jax yelled after him. I'm not sure that Pella could even yell, but even if she didn't try. I think part of her knew of her friend's nature.
"He'll be safe," I said.
"Well that's just great," Jax said, and then groaning out in pain once more. "What the hell does that make us?"
We couldn't move faster than a crawling speed. Each of us felt like we were dying. I started by digging my elbows into the dirt and pulling myself forward. Aria was right behind me, but I could tell it was just as hard on her as it was on me. It felt like our muscles were on fire with each movement we made.
I hadn't ever been that low of health since I passed out back in town. I realized then how fragile our lives here really were, but I haven't felt anything this prolonged...ever. We had to stop several times to catch our breath.
"You good back there?" I called back, turning my head and gritting my teeth as I did so.
"I'm still here," Aria said.
"H-Here," Pella said.
"Yeah yeah," Jax said. "Just give me a minute. I need to catch my breath."
"Oh this was such a bad idea," Pella said and moaned out in pain. "It's like I can't stop feeling it again and again."
"Well you probably can't go back," Jax said. "Unless you want to test that out for us?" he asked.
"I'm not testing anything for you," she said.
"Oh how charming."
"I don't think we'll be able to go back the way we came either," I said. "Probably have to give up as much as we did to cross the first time and we don't have anymore left to give."
"Maybe there'll be another route to make it back below if we keep searching," Pella said.
"I'm not really interested in going back," Aria said. "We've come this far."
"I'm with blondie," Jax said, hoarser.
"Your vision must be failing," Aria said, and turned back to him, and her eyes widened. "You okay?"
Those were the two words that got me to turn my head back farther than I did before. The pain was immense and it coursed through like a vein in my body was pumping pure fire through my body. I was able to get a glimpse of Jax who looked like he was struggling to breathe. His face was turning purplish.
"I...I can't...I'm not strong...enough." He said, more as a realization than an explanation. Something inside him broke and he looked up to us. "I'm sorry." And something that wouldn't leave my memory anytime soon happened. His eyes ballooned up and popped in his head. The sockets started to leak a dark liquid and his body made a wretched noise.
I had to turn back around because my own stomach started to heave. I was suddenly aware that my stomach was empty—and yet it wouldn't accept anything else but heaving. I started to scream and noticed I wasn't the only one. We all screamed. I tried throughout everything to crawl further. I was nearing the edge of a skinny tree, so I wrapped my arms around the trunk and pulled myself up to it.
"We have to keep on going," I called back to the others.
We kept moving and slowly the pain started to subside. We still didn't have enough energy to stand and walk, but we were moving at a much faster pace through the forest. I saw a mountain in the distance and suggested that we headed toward it.
Aria wasn't much for it at first, saying that we'd better stick to softer ground to crawl along, but it was Pella who decided the vote.
"Normally I'd agree with you, Aria," she began. "But we don't know anything else about this place. The mountain is the first thing different that we've seen on this side. I don't want to crawl around here all day."
After some consideration we decided to head toward the mountains. We didn't know what we would do if we reached a point where we could move no further, but decided that we would have to cross that bridge when we came upon it. I was aware of the risk involved—just because it was different did not mean that it was safe. I was staking a lot on my hunch toward the mountain. Whether I liked it or not I was in the lead crawling here—I was the de facto leader. I wasn't anywhere close to that maturity I don't pretend to be—Aria has me beat in that by a mile, but I think the wall affected her more than it did me.
Whatever the reason—whatever the case, I was leading us. I had to step up and take it seriously, and so I tried to stand first when we reached the edge of the grass and dirt—where stone jutted out from the ground like a harsh lesson.
I pushed myself up to my knees and my breath caught in my throat as my head started to get foggy. I gritted my teeth and stabilized myself as I got one foot upright. Shifting all my weight onto it I felt like a hundred extra pounds were thrown onto my back. I shifted and got momentum under me and threw my head up high—and felt the weight roll off me like it was never there in the first place. I was still tired—irrevocably so—and I started to feel the beginning pangs of hunger how in the world...but I was up, and I felt a million times better than before.
I turned to the others, who looked at me with aghast horror at the thought of doing the same.
"There must be something about the atmosphere here on this side—if you're down it's ten times worse."
"I don't know if I can do that..." Pella said.
Aria looked like she was working it through in her head, "It's...kind of like a pitcher plant, you think?" she asked.
"Pitcher plant?" I asked.
She shook her head. "It's not important. Basically it's meant to trap you. Just reminded me of the shape is all."
"Oh, like a venus fly trap," I said, imagining it.
"Yes, now cut it with the plant talk and help me up." She said, breathing heavy.
I nodded and bent down to her and grabbed her hand. As soon as I bent I could feel my legs start to feel heavy and mentally agreed with her plant analogy. She clasped her right hand tight around mine and began to pull as I yanked backward. She caught herself up on one knee and instantly I saw some color return to her face. She was looking at me and biting her lip—her eyes were begging for the warmth they previously shined. I got her up and she let out a deep breath and started to laugh.
"Ho. Ly. FUCK." She called out and stretched out her back. "Sorry for the language but jesus..."
"I don't think we care much," I said, and then nodded over to Pella. "Let's help her up."
"Does it hurt coming up?" She asked.
"A bit," Aria said. "But it gets relieved almost immediately when you are up."
She thought about it for a moment and then nodded, holding up her hands. "Okay."
With the both of us helping her up Pella was up quicker than either of us separately. She looked like she was about to cry out, but she, too, let out a breath of relief when she stood tall. Both of them echoed my sentiments about still feeling low in energy, but it was a net win all around.
"Why...am I hungry?" Aria asked, looking at the both of us. "I haven't been hungry since I've come here."
"I don't know...maybe that barrier did more to us than we thought."
"Maybe...it made us more...real?" Aria said, and then immediately turned around to look at her backside. Where her pants were cut I saw blood dried on the backs of her legs.
Blood. Not the pixelated light we've come to know thus far.
"We cannot afford to take anything for granted," Pella said.
"What little we could, that is," Aria said.
"Well, blood or no blood our goal remains the same—to survive." I looked out toward the mountain. From a standing perspective I could see on the face there was an opening for a cave—confirming that there would be someplace for us to go.
"It all depends if that cave is a blessing or a bane," Aria said, reading my mind.
"You noticed too?" I looked to her.
"I saw it on your face first," she nodded to me. "Your face was all hopeful and then instantly grew more grave."
"Yeah," I sighed. "I'm just—"
"You're only responsible for yourself."
"Huh?" I asked.
"Don't take us on your shoulders," Aria said, pointing to herself and Pella. "We're two capable human beings traveling with a third, capable human being. We're all here—all made the decision to cross, and all made it this way. At this point we're all going to do our best to survive, but what happens happens."
I looked to her, and I started to see her in a new light—how quickly must she have seen my worry. Or maybe she's known about it for a while. Either way, I nodded slowly to her. "You're right. I'm sorry for assuming."
"Don't get me wrong," she said. "I was able to keep crawling because I saw you ahead of me—I was thinking that if you could do it then so could I. But in the end it was a choice that each of us made. So thank you, for helping me make my choice." She smiled at me.
Pella nodded and closed her eyes. "I wouldn't have done this if I were by myself. I am here because I'm not as strong as I would like to be, but overcoming that feeling is..." she looked at Aria, and then to me. "It's great."
"Well, I'm glad to hear you both say so. I was...scared of leading you both to your deaths. Of not being able to turn back and to be the one on the line. I kept crawling because I had to find us the way. So I guess in the end we all did end up helping each other through.
Aria readied her bow at her side, "Well let's not get stupid now. we've been lucky not to run into anything thus far. I doubt our luck will continue through there."
I nodded with a hand on Elcor. Pella's hands faintly glowed with a yellow hum. Together we formed a triangle to cover all of our directions as we neared the cave. When we reached the mountain's base I realized another big change from the rest of what we had seen before—there wasn't any prompt or window to stop us from walking into the cave directly. I took a step in and instantly felt the darkness surround.
"I can help with this a bit," she held her hands up, "Electric mage here, but it helps with things like this. First time I've gotten to use it this way though so bare with me," she said.
"Of course," I said. "Thank you so much. I can't imagine going through this place in the dark."
She nodded her head in response and the glow of her hands brightened up the innards of the cave—we saw the narrow path that curved forward with the high-risen walls surrounding us. It looked like we'd have to move through one person at a time.
"I'll move through first so we have a sense of where we're going," Pella said.
"Okay, let us know if you need backup," I said.
"Got it," she nodded.
Pella stepped ahead of me and continued walking forward—the light from her hands illuminating the ground all around her as she continued. Aria and I followed behind closely with our weapons fully drawn.
A sort of snake creature lunged out from the darkness and I quickly cut it down in two—stopping its advance. I would have liked to say it was because of my growing reflexes, but in truth it just scared me so bad I panicked.
"That was an...interesting war cry," Aria teased.
"Oh come off it if you were in my place you would have screamed too."
The both of them chuckled. "An interesting theory, but I suppose we shall never find out," Aria mused.
"I reacted, so sue me," I stuck out my tongue at her.
"Gladly, point me to the nearest lawyer and I'll get this mess sorted through right quick."
"You two are cute," Pella said, keeping her face forward, but I could tell she was trying to glance out back toward us. "I...I'm kind of jealous," and then immediately she went to correct herself. "Oh, not of you specifically...I...just mean having someone."
This turned our laughter into deep red crimson on both of our faces. "I...I'm sorry if it's much, I think it's a reaction to keep things light I do," I said.
Pella shook her head. "No, don't apologize. Like I said, it's cute. I liked a girl back home, but I never really had the courage to go speak to her more than the basics."
"Well, you should definitely chalk that up for a motivation to get out of this mess then, right?" Aria said. "Because if we do make it out of here I'm finding you personally and I'm coaching you until you make your feelings known."
Pella was the one to blush now. "S-Stop," she said. "You don't mean that."
"I'm not anybody of any authority, but I am serious. I've already got this one tagged for the outside, what's one more name on the list to track down?" She laughed.
"What's in a name but a pending lawsuit?" I winked.
"Well...law stuff aside, I think that would be very nice," Pella said. "I think she'd actually like you—you're a lot alike. Outgoing, and able to be so...on the spot."
"Well, that's what the coaching will be for. Wit isn't something always born. At least that's what I've learned. And—"
"Hey, not to interrupt," I said, "...but what are those?" I pointed up in the air there were small purple orbs floating around and bouncing as if buoyant. They looked to be small sources of light. Some of the light—not nearly as luminescent as the light covering Pella's hands—revealed that they belonged to bat-like creatures that housed a bright crystal in their backsides.
The bats I noticed, had been zipping around the room a little too fast for their own bodies to physically move. It came to me then. "Teleport Bats?"
"Oh shit," Aria began. "We need some crystals to get to the next floor how could I have been so stupid?"
"Well I'm going to say that it cancels out since we have some right here..." I said. "Do you think you can shoot a few of them down?" I asked.
"I can try, I don't know how good of a shot I'll be in the dark."
"Oh! Let me help with that!" Pella brightened. She raised her hand and light spilled upward above us. The bats all screeched and looked down at us.
"Uh..." I said.
"Crap," Pella finished, lowering her hand slightly.
"RUN!" Aria yelled with her bow drawn. She let loose two arrows that were able to knock down some bats. She quickly followed behind us as we dashed through the cave. I looked around and saw that they were gaining on us—they could fly faster than we could run. They weren't flying to catch up, they were able to warp to wherever they wanted to. It would be impossible to take them down if they could vanish without a single thought. I had to think fast or else we would all be dead. And then it hit me. I turned invisible and stopped running—both of them continued past me. I grazed Aria's hand as she ran passed and for a second all time stopped.
I smiled as I darted past and whipped out my blade in a deadly arc, catching four bats in one slice. Out of the corner of my eye I saw the purplish haze of one of them nearing. An arrow felled it before it ever came close. I knew Aria had my back and a grin stole on my face. I caught two more bats as they tried to escape back up, Aria covered my backside.
"Now!" I called and stepped back, charging up my sword while she went in close with her daggers. Two bats flew down from above—dive bombing in an attempt to surprise her. It was too late as the energy from my sword cut them to pieces. The whole affair only lasted a few moments, and then it was deadly quiet in the cave once more.
"Wow..." Pella said. "I've never seen anything like that before."
"We've been training the last few days straight," I said.
"As soon as I felt you brush past me I had this feeling of where I needed to be," Aria smiled, looking at me.
I nodded, "Same here."
"Well, I'm sorry I wasn't much help there...I guess it is my fault that they came on us all at once."
I shook my head, "Don't worry about it. We're all okay. And we managed to snag some of these while we were at it," I said, bending over to pick up the shattered crystals on the ground that glowed their faint purple way.
"Well, thank you for the kind words, but I can't sit behind and act like a scared little girl from now on," she said. "I'm here, I promise."
"It's good to have you here," Aria said. "Shall we continue on?"
"Most definitely," Pella smiled.
She started on ahead and Aria looked toward me, leaned close and kissed my cheek. I blushed and looked at her in surprise.
"You learned," she smiled and followed after Pella. I smiled and chased after the both of them.
The path opened up to a large room that scaled up at the back—almost looking like stone stairs toward an obvious exit—the black sky was lit with all kinds of stars. We all looked at one another and booked it to the exit. We entered a clearing that was secluded in its own little valley—ten trees stood in a circle around the pedestal to the next floor.
"There it is," I said, visibly relaxing at the sight of it.
Aria opened up her menu and scanned for Klein's whereabouts—the arrow pointed straight for the teleporter. "Excellent, we are headed in the right direction."
"The right direction?" Pella asked.
"Yeah, we were ambushed before we discovered the wall and our friend was taken by a Python admin."
"Oh god," she said, "I didn't know."
"He's still alive though, going by this," Aria said.
"There's a kid with him named Sam that the admin was after."
"How old?"
"Couldn't be more than ten."
"Jesus."
I nodded. "Yeah, he wasn't in our party so we don't..." I stopped, and looked down to the ground. "We don't know if he's still alive."
"Well we have to hope, right?" Pella asked. "Come on, what are we waiting for?"
We ran over to the pedestal and I handed each of them a teleport crystal. I felt the world shifting around me—large stone walls rose up on either side of me and a dark blue marble hallway filled out in front of me. Beside me Aria and Pella filled in completely and we looked at our surroundings. The hall was barely lit by torches placed too high for us to reach. Behind us was a large wall with seven markings indented circling an eight, larger indent. In front of us at the edge of the hallway is what comprised most of the room—a large structure almost a hundred feet tall—circular and made of the same kind of stone as the walls. I couldn't see what rested on the top, but a brilliant blue fire peeked out over the edge.
The structure looked to have a spiral staircase around the edges of it.
"Hey guys, what...exactly is this?" Aria asked. "This doesn't look like anything I saw in beta."
"Look over here," Pella called us over—her menu was open. "We're not on the third floor?" She asked.
I turned to her and saw that the floor display wasn't acting right—only showing question marks instead of a number. "What's...going on?" I asked.
The arrow guiding toward Klein shot out from Aria as she searched out for him, and it extended out straight toward the altar. "That's our destination," Aria said.
"Okay, you don't have to tell me twice," I said, nodding.
We started running toward the structure and I picked up my pace when I saw the figure slumped over by the edge—just before the stairs started. His back was up against it and a trail of blood trickled from his lips.
"Klein!" I ran to his side and held his shoulder. "Hey, come on, wake up!" He wasn't moving so I slapped his face. His eyes fluttered and then opened. "Dex…?" His eyes opened wide and he coughed, spitting out blood to his side. "You made it. Agh, fuck that hurts. Do you have a potion on you by any chance?"
I shook my head, "No, that won't do you any good—unfortunately. I think once we crossed the barrier we lost the ability to heal."
His face turned downcast. "Oh…"
"Come on, let me help you up," I turned back toward Aria, "Hey, can you get his other side?"
She nodded. "Hello Klein, it's good to see you again."
"Luna, right?"
Her eyes darted to me and then back to him, "Yeah."
"This is Pella," I cocked my head in her direction, "We met up with her at the barrier.
"Hello, it's nice to meet you," she smiled.
Aria and I helped Klein to his feet. He almost stumbled over, but we stabilized him steady. He leaned back up against the structure and took in a deep breath. "I don't know how you all are standing after that dumb wall."
"It gets easier as you go on," I said. "Speaking of, what the hell happened? Where are the others?"
He nodded his head upward. "They're up there. Rose had a magic spell up her sleeve I couldn't prepare for—she's a druid."
"Druid?"
"Type of classification I have only seen boss monsters wield in beta. Don't know how she got it, but it overpowered me—turned her into some big plant monster...huh, now that I think of it, she turned almost into a literal rose." He grinned slightly at the thought and continued. "I was knocked out and I woke up here where you found me."
"You mean you never woke up at any point in between?" Aria asked. "You've been gone for almost five days."
"What?" He looked surprised. "It...it felt like only a few hours at most."
"No, we managed to get across the barrier before the timer on it ran out—I think it was a trap all along."
He scratched his head and thought on it, "I think she must have used some sort of toxin to knock me out. Being a plant monster and all—that's the only thing I can think of."
"Why wouldn't she just have killed you?"
"I...I can't answer that. Maybe I was bait?" he said. "Maybe she wanted to be sure that you came since we stopped their ambush to start with."
"Whatever the reason is, it isn't important now," Aria said. "We should head up there."
I nodded to her and then looked to Klein. "You good to stand on your own?"
"Yeah, just give me a second. You definitely weren't lying...I do feel a bit better."
"Be careful," I added. "You may feel better but that barrier did more than just bring us to our last legs. The game has changed—and I believe for the worse."
"You mean the blood, right?" He had wiped away the trail from his mouth, but I could tell he didn't let it slip past him. "How we bleed now?"
"Yeah," I said.
"Noted. Okay, I think I'm good. You good? I'm ready to kick some ass." He nodded. "YEAH! I AM READY TO KICK. SOME. PYTHON. ASS."
"There he goes," I said. "There's the high octane fool I missed," I said.
We ran up the stairs and came to the conclusion of the spiral. The first thing I saw was the twenty foot tall flower that looked to be in full bloom—white petals extended on each end and a long, thorny stem curled around itself like a serpent. In the middle was the torso of what looked to be Rose—her lower body was grafted onto the giant flower head. Her arms were crossed and a small smirk crossed her face as she saw us.
The next thing I noticed was our surroundings—it looked to be an altar—with a pit in the center with the cobalt flame burning above it. And finally, above the flame...Sam hung above—his little feet dangling above the tip of the flame. He was being held up by chains linked at his arms connected by two pillars on either side of the pit. His head was dipped downward—he seemed to be unconscious.
"So, you've managed to survive," Rose said as we approached. "I must admit a part of me hoped you would. I have been forced to wait here for you and I would have been furious if it were a waste."
"Wait here for us?" Aria asked. "What are you talking about?"
"You're all currently wanted by the Pythons for your crimes against its people," she said. "We don't take those attacks quietly, so my boss bade me to take care of you personally should you find your way across the barrier. If you hadn't, well it would have been the lesser of two excitements, but an excitement all the same."
"Well, we're here." I held my arms up. "And I don't give a damn what you or your boss thinks. We're getting Sam back and that's just the truth of the matter. What's yet to be seen is if you want to waste the effort in being restrained a second time or to scurry out of here."
"Cockiness doesn't suit you, you little rat." She said. She raised an arm and around us the spire began to shake. "I hope you've enjoyed what little strength you've gotten back. Because it's time to end this."
She spun her hips back and forth and the petals began shaking as well.
Klein's face went wide in terror, "Oh shit, you guys we gotta get out of the way! This is how she got me last time!"
But it was too late. Spores filled the area faster than we could react. She was laughing as they continued to pour from the petals endlessly. My heart started to jump and thought that this was the end until I saw a glowing green light from behind me. Aria stepped up next to me and stood tall. The keystone around her neck was glowing brilliantly—dispelling the spores as they came close.
"Oh fuck, I forgot about that!" I said, a wild smile forming on my face. I could see Klein's face was riddled with surprise, and Pella off to the side was shielding her face with her hands, but looked up when the spores started to vanish.
"No, sorry dear." Aria said. "I don't know what kind of deal you took to turn into this monster, but it doesn't suit you very well. You never worked for anything—only as high as you are because of the work I did for you."
"Shut it," Rose warned.
Aria made a face back at her, "Or what? Someone will let slip that you bought your way in as an admin? That you're nothing more than a fetch dog who only has one trick up their sleeve? Or are you just contending with the fact that you weren't told to wait here by Orochi. You're here because you're too scared to approach him with word of your defeat spreading around. It must be scary to tarnish the reputation of the Pythons."
Rose screamed into the air and lashed out her tail like a whip. Aria jumped out of the way and I caught a grin on her face as she did. Rose swiped toward her to try to catch her up, but screamed when the energy from my sword managed to cut the tip of her tail off. I was a little off due to how quick everything came out, but the reaction on Rose's end was visceral. "You garbage. You infinitely swirling mounds of trash."
I ran ahead and hoped that she'd turn her focus to me. When I ducked and felt the wind pass over my head as she tried to swipe her tail again and I smiled right as she roared out again. I turned to see three of Aria's arrows had torn a hole through one of her petals. Her scream was interrupted as Pella fired a bolt of lightning that nailed her right in the face. The accuracy I had hoped for. She made a disgusting gurgling sound and her gaze flew to Pella. There was a second of attempted recognition, but it didn't lead anywhere, and she shoved off the ground with tremendous force.
The entire bulk of her body leaped into the air like a frog and she slammed down behind us, grabbing Pella up in her tail, the thorns drilling themselves into her body. Pella screamed and her blood began to spray around the room as the thorns stopped drilling. She squeezed tight and the sickening sound of her bones cracking dropped my stomach. Rose screamed—first of triumph, then of pain when Klein rushed in and sliced at the base of her tail, cutting it clean off. It slithered crazily along the ground and tightened once on Pella's body before letting go and finally stopping.
"You deserve worse," Klein said, short of breath.
"And you deserve nothing," Rose retorted. screamed, even louder than before.
She was too busy staring at him to notice me when I jumped onto the petal behind her. She started to flail around when she did and I had to dig my fingernails into the petal—the substance felt more like flesh than I ever wanted to imagine. "Someone, please stabilize her! Cut the roots, do anything!" I said, holding on for dear life.
"Got it buddy!" Klein called back, but Aria was already moving when he said.
"You go grab Sam. I've got this." She said.
"Uh, right. Good call." He said.
I felt like I was going to be sick, but I kept my grip. I dug in with my left hand even harder and let go with my right to grab toward Elcor. I got my hand around the hilt and brought it up closer. We were both toppling over—Aria was below us both and cut the head from the stem.
I let go and flipped over, landing on the petal on the opposite side. Rose was bent over and unable to move.
I looked around and saw that Klein had Sam in his arms. He must have cut the chain and jumped for him before he landed through the fire into the pit. He kept his distance from Rose, fearing another sneak attack. I remained where I was—I had a feeling she was out of tricks.
Aria walked up beside me and reconnected her daggers. "Looks like I was right," she said. "Couldn't even put up a proper fight when you don't have your goons to outnumber us."
She made a groaning sound that almost sounded pitiful. Her skin had taken a light greenish tint—and I saw that her upper body was connected to the flower alongside her lower half by thick fleshy cords. One on each hand and three protruding from the back of her neck.
She tried to manipulate the flower to rise, but I shook my head and cut the cords from her body. A white liquid spat from each of the cords as they were cut. Rose screamed again—a monstrous growl, but it lost a lot of its harshness as she slinked to the floor.
"Agk!" She muttered out, coughing up the liquid. "Go ahead, kill me. I…I don't want this anymore. You've won." She said.
"Why did you bring Sam here? Why did you need him?" I asked. Rose looked at me like I'd asked her something in a foreign language.
"This goes so much deeper than you…and I don't want anything of it anymore, I just want-"
I shook my head. "No."
"Wh-what?"
"I'm not stooping to your level anymore. You don't deserve to get off that easy." I said, and then I looked at the others. "We're leaving."
"Seriously?" Klein asked. "We're going to just leave her here? What if she comes back for us?"
"You know I will," she coughed hoarsely. "I have no other choice."
I looked from him to her. "No, that's just an excuse. Sure, if you go back to your guild master, this Orochi," my eyes flashed over to Aria, "...then yeah. I'd bet you're as good as dead for failing. But you don't have to do that. You don't have to do anything but survive. Survive and know that I warned you about this." I got up close in her face. "You and the rest of your guild ambushed us from the very start. And it's because of you that I had to take my first life. Those people you took into battle with you—they're dead. They're not nameless mooks who do anything you say. They were people. Who am I to treat you the same?" I asked, and stood back up, looking to Aria and Klein. "Come on."
Aria nodded, and set Failnot back on her back. Klein was looking at me with a look of pride and nodded. "Man, that was some heavy shit. I agree with you." He turned to spit on Rose, "But fuck you."
She made a pathetic sound, and remained where she lie, even after we continued moving past her on the altar. There were steps that led upward toward a similar looking teleporter pad that led us into this place. I breathed heavily and put my hands on my side. "I needed to be away from her before I...before...fuck," I slammed my fist against my side. "God damn it...Pella..."
Aria put a hand on my shoulder and pulled me into a hug. "We weren't total failures today. We saved Sam," she said. We turned to look at him in Klein's arms. He was still out, but he looked to be at peace. His chest was rising and falling slowly.
"We saved someone. Don't forget that." She said, and kissed me softly on the lips. I rested my head on hers and nodded. We were safe. We were still alive. We could still escape.