"Did it work?" Talisa asked after Darius stopped transferring his energy into Michael's body.
"At least he won't die," Darius said, wiping a bead of sweat off his forehead. Michael was still unconscious, but his face was less pale than before.
"We have to get out of here," he said again.
Talisa couldn't agree more with Darius. The stench in the sewers made her also want to get out of here immediately. Darius immediately moved towards the iron ladder whose steps were mostly broken. Without the giant thorns and also the ground that had been rising because of Talisa's power, Darius easily jumped and grabbed one of the iron ladders which was still intact. Darius then try to reach the iron door of the sewer that was above his head. But suddenly, a light and strong energy made Darius fall to the ground.
"Darius!" Talisa exclaimed in surprise.
Darius' injured leg was still bleeding from under his torn shoe. Now he groaned in pain because he fall to the ground so hard. Talisa just hopes Darius' bones are still okay.
Talisa then helped Darius to sit down. The man did not appear to be in pain when he was sitting.
"Nothing seems broken," said Talisa.
"I'm fine," Darius replied.
"But I guess we're locked in here. The fake portal that Michael activates not only makes the giant thorns emerge from the ground, but also locks us in. My guess is that our entrance was also locked," he continued.
"Then what should we do?" Talisa asked.
"I don't know."
Darius took a deep breath and then massaged his temples. They can't stay here forever.
"Seeing this trap, they must have locked every gap so that no one can enter or leave this place until they find our bodies. They wouldn't let humans find their place let alone try to open a magic portal. It's only a matter of time, the sorcerers will come to get our corpses," said Darius.
Talisa glanced at the blood still coming out of Darius' soles. Not only that, it turned out that his palm was bleeding when he was hanging to the rusty iron.
"We'll think about that later. Now, you won't be able to do anything with a wound like that," said Talisa while looking at Darius' wounds.
Darius looked at Michael who was still unconscious. They can't go anywhere right now. If Michael is still unconscious later, Darius will have to support him when they find a way out. So Darius nodded as if allowing Talisa to treat him.
"What are you going to treat me with? You definitely didn't bring a first aid kit, did you?" asked Darius. It was so cold, that Darius' tone was almost a sneer.
"I didn't bring bandages or alcohol with me, but I'm sure I can do something," said Talisa.
Darius looked at Talisa questioningly but was so arrogant it almost looked like he was challenging her. Talisa snorted softly then crouched down.
"Since childhood, I've always wanted to try this," said Talisa.
She crouched down in front of Darius and closed her eyes. Talisa tried to concentrate and bring out her strength. What she wanted to do should not require too much energy. Talisa was sure she could do it without Darius' touch. Slowly, Talisa reached her hand over the mound of earth.
Darius is a little surprised when Talisa grows something from a mound of earth. Something begins to emerge and sprout. Talisa exerted more energy than she thought before until she was sweating profusely. However, when she opened her eyes, how happy Talisa was when she found that she had managed to grow something that would be very useful.
"I did it!" Talisa exclaimed almost in disbelief.
Darius was silent. However, Talisa was almost sure that Darius' lips were almost curled into a smile. An expression that Talisa rarely saw on his expressionless face.
"Betel tree?" asked Darius.
"Right. The leaves can be a natural antiseptic," said Talisa.
Talisa then reached into her handbag, where she always carried a water bottle with her wherever she went. With water in it, Talisa cleans Darius' wounds. Silently, Talisa watched Darius' cold, expressionless face. The man was truly like a robot in that he didn't show the slightest bit of pain when the wound was being cleaned. But the robot man made Talisa feel warm. Talisa immediately shook her head, she couldn't fall just because of one kiss from Darius.
Talisa then took some stones and cleaned them with water. Using the stones, Talisa crushed the betel leaves that she had just picked from the tree. She then attached it to Darius' wounds.
"Give me your shirt," Talisa said to Darius.
"What?"
"We need something to bandage your wound. Give me your shirt," Talisa said again.
Darius took a deep breath before he finally took off the shirt he was wearing and handed it to Talisa. Talisa couldn't stop herself from looking at Darius' muscular body. When Darius' sharp eyes caught hers, Talisa hastily turned her gaze to his shirt. Quickly, Talisa tried to tear it into pieces, but it wasn't as easy as she thought.
"Give it to me," Darius said, holding out his hand.
Talisa then handed the shirt to Darius. Now, Talisa became shy, because she did not know where to turn her gaze. Her eyes seemed to have a mind of their own and kept staring at Darius' body.
Quickly, Darius tore the T-shirt into several pieces.
"Is this enough?" asked Darius.
"Enough."
Talisa immediately bandaged Darius' feet which had been spiked with betel leaves. Most importantly, the bleeding had stopped. After that, Talisa inched closer to bandage the wound on Darius' palm. Talisa immediately regretted that she was inching too close to Darius, now her heart was beating fast because of it. Her brain seemed to betray her by replaying the incident earlier. A kiss from Darius' lips landed on her lips. Even though it was nothing, there was no feeling from Darius in it, but Talisa couldn't stop thinking about it. This made Talisa's heart beat faster.
"What?"
"Uh?" Talisa was surprised because Darius' question interrupted her thoughts.
"You look weird," Darius replied.
"Darius…"
Darius looked at Talisa as if telling her to continue her sentence.
"Is that true? Did you really love my mother?" Talisa asked. She couldn't help but ask.
Darius looked at Talisa with a look that was hard to decipher. Talisa was almost certain that his eyes had a hint of sadness. Talisa's heart was beating fast. If Darius had ever loved her mother, things would have gotten even stranger between them. Talisa also cannot understand why her body always betrays her logic when she's close to Darius. What if she really fell in love with him? Talisa couldn't imagine it.