A small drop of inky liquid gathered in a stalactite before falling down on the floor. The stalactite soon disappeared, and from the liquid formed a small doll.
The doll looked around for a moment before it turned into a little girl.
Then she grabbed her own dress and turned it into something simpler.
[What is it?]
A voice sounded in her head. She turned her head up before shaking her head.
"Nothing, Mother."
Silence ensued before the voice answered.
[Your Past Self has reappeared.]
Hershey nodded her head.
[Leave the outsiders alone, leave it to me.]
"...Yes Mother."
Her face twisted in rage.
***
Axerilites formed from the walls as it slowly grew while a small liquid fell down from it. Rueben stared at the wall that had Axerilites around it and turned to Gwynne, who was on his back.
Gwynne urged Rueben to get near one of the Axerilites and softly touched it, making it grow a little.
"...Its fresh." She says before turning to the other Axerilites that were continuously growing.
"Everything is new here."
Rueben stared into the distance and focused on one large Axerilite.
The large chunk of Axerilite stood on the middle, growing from the ground as drops of black liquid fell from a stalactite and hit the Axerilites, in turn, making them grow big.
But what was different from this chunk of Axerilites was that this one's size was at least twice or thrice times bigger than normal.
"...If every chunk of Axerilite is newly grown...."
Then how did that even happen?
"Then that must mean someone is harvesting them...?" Gwynne muttered softly.
This entire labyrinth itself was old, dilapidated. Destroyed in many places. If someone were growing these Axerilites here, then they must have a use for them other than killing.
Just as the two of them were about to continue moving forward, the largest chunk suddenly shook. Turning their eyes towards it, they saw the air around the chunk spasm and tremble.
They watched as the trembling air suddenly increased in intensity before the entire upper half of the Axerilites dissappeared in an instant.
Gwynne stared at it in shock as she watched the air slowly calm down, and the entire place turned normal as if nothing had happened. As if what they had seen hadn't happened.
Rueben silently looked at the cut of half of the Axerilites before turning to Gwynne.
Gwynne stared at the Axerilite for a moment before speaking, "...The air, trembled? Or rather disturbed? No, not the air. The space itself was disturbed, and that distorted the reality? How does that.. Concept? Is it that supernatural power about Concepts again? But what Concept is it?"
Then she turned to Rueben, "Put me down, please."
Rueben softly grabbed her from behind and put her down on the ground as she ruffled around her robe and took out a small notebook the size of her palm as well as a stick.
"Cut me." She asked and Rueben complied by taking out a dagger and cut right hand.
Gwynne flinched at the pain before waiting for the blood to sip from her wound. Then she placed the tip of the stick into the pool of blood and used it as an ink to write on the notebook.
"What do you think?" She asked Rueben while writing.
Rueben softly turned to the now growing Axerilite before answering, "Distortion?"
"...Possibly." Gwynne nodded her head.
"It can't be 'Air' itself because it wouldn't make sense for 'Air' to distort itself, it shouldn't be 'Disturbance' too. Portals? Unlikely."
She then closed her notebook and drank her own blood and saw her wound slowly close.
"So it's either Distortion..."
Then she looked at him in the eyes, "Or Space."
"..."
It would be better if it was Distortion because even if it was a powerful Concept, it was somewhat predictable and they could probably fight against someone who use the Concept of Distortion.
*This doesn't really mean that distortion is weak, but its just weak infront of Space itself that is why Gwynne made this comparison.*
But Space?
If it was the Concept of Space...
Distance, Length, Width, Gravity, Speed... All of these are encompassed by Space.
That would mean they have an infinite amount of arsenal in their hands to use anytime they want. Gwynne wasn't sure if there would be cooldown on the Concepts or if how they power these Concepts so she really can't find any flaws in anything.
The only Concept user they fought was that doll, Hershey, who also had a lot of skills she used against them with her Compelling Concept.
Even then, it seemed that she didn't have any cooldowns on her skills.
"If it were Space..."
Then, their opponent would be someone they would have to rely on luck to beat. Rueben muttered as the three wisps gathered on his shoulder.
"What should we do?" Gwynne tried to stand before falling down.
"Im crippled."
Rueben gave her a soft sigh, "I know."
"..."
"..."
The two of them went silent.
"You didn't have to immediately agree."
"I apologize, i did it instinctively."
"No, you did it to make fun of me, right?"
Rueben turned his eyes to the side and coughed, "....No?"
"..." Gwynne brightly smiled at him before grabbing his thigh and pinched it hard.
Rueben turned down before slapping her hand away. Then he bent down and softly said, "I'll do the fighting. Just help me out with your weapons."
"..." She raised her chin up.
"You want me to throw weapons at them?"
Rueben nodded his head.
"...You do know i won't be able to injure them immensely? I can't even move too much before i start coughing up blood again."
She grumbled in a frown while Rueben grabbed her, and princess carried her.
"Then just shut up and hide somewhere then."
To which it earned him a slap on the forehead.
"No way! I refuse to be a baggage to someone as stupid as you!" To which Rueben rolled his eyes at her.
The two soon regathered their composure. They readied themselves for a moment, checking each and every piece of equipment to make sure that they were prepared for a fight.
They eased each other up by talking to each other. Bickering to relax their nerves and be in optimal state.
After a while, they finished everything and prepared as they could.
Rueben turned to the dark corridor at the end of the Axerilites before looking at Gwynne.
"It's time."
"...Yes."
"Remember what we planned?"
Gwynne looked up and gave him a smile, "Hide from the side and assist you while you fight against someone."
He nodded his head and kneeled beside her. Then Gwynne grabbed his shoulders and propped herself on his back, making sure she wouldn't fall.
Rueben then stood up and touched the dagger on his waist before grabbing her thigh and propped Gwynne higher.
The two then walked while the three wisps flew around them.
"Hey." Gwynne called out while they were walking.
Rueben grunted softly, telling her that he heard her.
"What is your full name?"
"...My full name?" Rueben looked to his back and stared at her eyes.
"Yeah, your full name."
He moved his mouth to the side before mouthing, "Rueben Vans Luton Mortimer. That's my full name."
"Vans Luton?"
"Yeah." He nodded his head.
Gwynne looked at his head for a moment, before chuckling, "That's a long name."
To which Rueben responded by grunting, "Yes, i suppose so."
Then he turned to her and asked, "What is yours?"
"Hmm?"
"Your full name. Can't just force me to tell mine without telling yours."
Gwynne stared at him, then smiled, "Since when did i force you to do anything?"
"...This."
"This?"
"Yes, this." Rueben grunted before looking forward.
Gwynne chuckled and ruffled his hair.
Silence soon descended on them as Rueben walked, his footsteps echoing endlessly as the hall stretched into the darkness.
"Gwynnevere Estas Villanos." She promptly said.
Rueben stiffened for moment, before continuing.
"That's also a long name."
Gwynne stared at him before bursting into laughter, "Not as long as yours!"
The two looked at each other, before bursting into giggles and chuckles.
Rueben soon stopped and looked forward as he spoke, "Hey, its been a pleasure meeting someone as quirky as you."
"Quirky? Excuse me, that is not how gentlemen speak to ladies." Gwynne placed her hand over her heart and gasped loudly as if she was shocked.
Rueben chuckled.
"Still, once we get out of here, i hope we can meet each other out there."
Gwynne smiled and ruffled his hair once more, "Of course. You're stuck with me!"
She then hugged his head, "My dear little Rueben already missing me–"
Rueben stopped, before chuckling.
"No way—"
But when he turned back, he saw Gwynne's throat get pierced by a stalactite. Rueben looked at her in shock and hurriedly put her down before stabbing his hand and placed it near her mouth while his other hand grabbed the stalactite that stabbed on her throat and pulled it out.
"Huh?" He looked around while sweating.
"..." Rueben gritted his teeth and turned to look up at the ceiling and saw the space distort.
Gwynne soon finished healing but she was still unconscious. Rueben grabbed her and hugged her tightly before running forward.
Then the space around them suddenly distorted around his feet, before Rueben fell down as his two legs was brutally cut off by something.
As if someone butchered his legs roughly and unprofessionally, his flesh all over the bones.
"What?" He turned to look at his legs and found nothing, then he hurriedly looked at Gwynne and saw that she was safe, but still unconscious.
He then moved his hand over his cut off legs and tried to scoop up some blood to regenerate his legs, but the air distorted once more, and his left hand dissappeared.
He flinched from the pain and then moved his head to his cut-off hand and sucked some blood from it. But before he could do so, the air around his mouth distorted and also took his mouth off with it.
"..." Rueben touched his mouth with his left over hand before it, too, dissappeared.
Footsteps sounded out at the end of the halls, along with a mechanical noise as the entire labyrinth trembled in each footstep that rang.
[Oh.]
Rueben heard that voice and he immediately coughed blood as his entire body slowly started distorting.
[You're Tainted beyond saving. It seems your path is already paved.]
Small hands covered Rueben's ears as a boy slowly materialized from existence.
—Cover your ears, don't let any sound come inside.
Rueben looked up from his bloodied eyes and saw a boy, a familiar boy.
-...Doll?
The boy looked at him before turning forward as the other two girls materialized near Gwynne.
The two looked at each other before grabbing Gwynne and running away from the scene.
From the darkness was a woman with worm like tail, squirming forward as the legs of the tail, like a humans, walked forward.
She wore an oversized cloak like robe that she let dangled on the floor.
[Misbehaving again?] She asked.
Staring at him with a goat like eyes, [Frotus?]
Frotus stared at her, before moving his chin up. —He is our hope.
[Hope?] The woman smiled as her skin cracked.
She turned to look at her skin, then grabbed it before it returned to normal.
[Are you really talking about hope when Im here?]
—....
The woman then smiled and pushed her worms like hair.
[Fuckin' brat.]