"Agh!"
Zenon lifted his body in a panic state. It's a usual occasion when he wakes up in the midst of pure distress, consumed by fear while sleeping. The last thing he remembers is falling.
Falling so deep that his instincts started screaming danger the second the darkness engulfed him.
Cleaning his eyes, Zenon tried to get up but - instead - he smashed his head against the ceiling and sat again. Suddenly, the hotness inside his chest began twisting his insides, forcing him to lie down.
'Fucking hell… what's going on?!'
Zenon opened his eyes and couldn't help but gasp at the slim fog surrounding him as well as the pinkish light coloring the walls and his body.
Not only that, but the ground felt sticky and soft, which was later revealed to be moist and small mushrooms coming from the cracks of the rock. The panic slowly turned into confusion as he looked around the cave before his sight landed on the sleeping girl in front of him.
Staring at her for a while, Zenon crawled until reaching the lifted edge of the cave and leaned to take a peek outside.
"Don't."
Zenon got startled by the sudden voice and smashed his head again against the ceiling. Gritting his teeth, he looked to the side and found Aurea trying to contain her laughter.
"I suggest you lie down, there are Layer Beasts roaming around."
His pain seemingly disappeared when Zenon heard those words and quickly lied down next to Aurea, hiding his entire body. He turned around to face Aurea and muttered,
"What's this place?"
"I'm still trying to figure that out… the only thing I know is that we are under the canyon."
Zenon widened his eyes, trying to comprehend what Aurea just said.
'Under the canyon? Like… right under it?' Blinking multiple times, Zenon frowned his forehead while looking around the place.
When he looked at Aurea again she just chuckled and shrugged.
"We aren't going anywhere for a while… your ribs are still broken and my back it's almost pulverized."
"Didn't Phoenix heal us?"
"He did but it'll take a while. Too many tissues and bones to repair tend to take a longer time than just a cut or a wound. Your knuckles holding themselves together is a miracle, for example."
Aurea shifted her body in an attempt to relieve the pain that gradually increased.
Yet, no matter what she did for the past hour worked and wasn't able to get a single minute of proper rest. So, she stayed in that state of fake sleep in an attempt to achieve it.
After spending some minutes in complete silence - and waiting for a Layer Beast to go past - Zenon asked with a low tone,
"Want to talk about anything? It's not like we'll do anything for the next hour or two, right?"
Aurea peeked at Zenon and replied,
"I lost my sword."
"You what?" Zenon raised an eyebrow.
"The golem snapped the blade in half and the Carapace got destroyed… meaning I don't have a weapon anymore. And since you don't have a spare Carapace, I guess I'll try to fight with my Ability. I hope I can find whatever weapon fits Phoenix."
Aurea sighed before gritting her teeth in pain. She sometimes tried to scratch her back but that'd only lead to more pain, so the only option left is to wait and endure.
Zenon stayed silent for a while and mumbled,
"Are you willing to rip your throat?"
"If that gets us out of here, then yes. I'm willing to." A spark ignited in Aurea's eyes for a moment before returning to her original look.
They stayed silent for a while, both of them enduring the piercing pain that came with fixing broken bones. Zenon sent Leviathan to scout around and try to find the exit since the void stayed immobile inside the vast cave.
Not only that, but the number of fungi and living plants inside the tunnels were far more than what Zenon expected. Everything seemed to be alive in this damned place.
"Hey… can you look at my armor for a moment? The back in particular." Aurea muttered.
Zenon blinked twice, "Come again?"
Aurea looked at him with cold eyes before sighing and saying,
"I think the armor is completely broken. I smashed twice against rocks at the speed of sound and I need someone to tell me how scraped it is."
Zenon nodded quickly and shifted to properly see the armor. When he did though, he couldn't help but draw a breath that Aurea clearly heard.
"Is it that bad?"
"Well… let's say that your back is pretty much completely exposed. Your spine is completely in the open and most of the plates are bent or really scratched."
Aurea muttered a "Fuck…" before letting her head drop on the cold rock.
Bringing broken armor to a fight is like bringing a knife to a gunfight. The Layer Beasts can hit you everywhere and start peeling metal plates until you are left without any defense whatsoever.
Zenon continued looking at her back and was surprised to see how pale her skin was. It was similar to a vampire, someone that has never seen the sunlight.
Suddenly, Aurea grabbed him by the arm and threw him toward the ground.
"Enough staring. I know I'm as white as my Familiar, but there's no need to be rude."
"My bad." Zenon quickly apologized. "Isn't there any way to repair it?"
"Store it back inside your Soul then it'll automatically regenerate after some hours. Sadly, it's not like I have any other armor to use and I don't plan on staying without any clothing for five hours or more."
Zenon subconsciously blushed. He completely forgot that they appeared inside the Layers without any clothing.
'Wait a moment.'
Looking to the ceiling, Zenon realized that this time they weren't inside a plantless environment such as the canyon. A small smile formed as he looked toward Aurea.
"I think I can make some basic clothing with these vines. We can find another safe spot and I'll make something to cover us up. That way we can regenerate our armor. My vines are asking for a breather as well."
The girl looked at Zenon for a while before muttering, "You do you, I guess."
Out of the blue, Phoenix appeared in front of Aurea and nodded at her, making Aurea's eyes light up. She then shifted a little bit, pressing her chest to the ground.
Phoenix stretched his wings and began healing her yet again. Since he used all of his essence to heal her once, he was left with no more healing. And after two hours went by, he felt replenished enough to do it again.
Aurea's body subconsciously relaxed because of the comforting sensation of having her entire being mended by a gentle feeling. It was so good that she'd deliberately be more reckless in fights just to feel it again.
But she wasn't that greedy.
After some minutes Phoenix stopped and flew toward Zenon's stomach, where he stretched his wings once again and began healing the boy as well.
—
Half an hour went by, and Zenon and Aurea were still chatting casually about whatever came to mind. Their bones healed faster than they expected but were still too weak to put pressure on them.
Leviathan also returned from scouting and gave Zenon a good path for them to move.
"Hey, Aurea. Avoid the question if you want but… who is that Fists of Hell? Or the Hellish Faction?"
Aurea's smile instantly went away and in exchange, a suffocating aura wrapped the ambiance. Zenon realized how intense the question was and wanted to take it back but Aurea said,
"Don't worry, just a natural reaction… And it was also time to properly explain what happened with them."
They remained in silence for a while. Aurea looked to the ground with deadpan eyes as her mouth opened only to close again. It didn't take long for Aurea to move a little bit to properly see Zenon and said,
"The Hellish Faction… let's just say it wasn't the most popular amongst them."