I woke up feeling sore all over. It is not much of a bother to me but it's still a little uncomfortable. When I looked around, I found myself in a room that was completely dark, however not as in the absence of light, more like the walls, floor and roof were made of darkness. To my left, I found Touji sleeping with a pained expression. His abdomen was covered in bandages and his shirt was gone. When I looked at myself I was pretty much the same. My clothes were still on me but I could still see my left side covered in bandages. That part of my uniform was torn apart when I got hit after all.
"Oh you're awake."
Suddenly Haruto spoke to me. I turned around to see him cooking something in the cooking pot we found some days ago on top of a small fire. Sophia was sleeping beside him with a troubled expression on her face.
"What happened...where are we?"
"You two were too injured and fell unconscious. Sophia and I patched both of you. We found this place in the room that the monster came from."
He pointed somewhere and when I followed his finger I saw the exact same door we crossed when we first got here. The red gate of the tower.
"When we entered the door closed itself so we can't get out, however there is that thing over there."
Haruto then pointed to a stone slab in the middle of the room. It's practically the same that got us here but the letters in it seem to be different. Not that it matters though since we can't read it.
"I see...so if we touch it we could get out of this place...the problem is that we don't know if it will take us out of this weird tower or just to another weird place."
I stood up and approached Haruto, then I noticed something weird. Even though he was clearly full of bruises before he was now completely fine, the only signs that he was ever hurt were his torn clothes.
Of course, he being fine is the best but it seems weird no matter how you look at it. So naturally, I asked him about it.
"Well you see, apparently while we are in this room our wounds heal faster. Touji was on the verge of death before and we were panicking but when we got him here it didn't take long for him to stabilize."
I looked at Touji when he said that. He looks pretty bad but considering his insides were spilling out before it doesn't look that bad. I took the bandages off my wound to see a nasty looking black mark. Touching it hurts a little but it doesn't feel like anything was broken even though I could swear I broke a rib before.
This weird room was like a miracle. The problem was that we needed to leave sooner or later.
"For now let's just relax. I'm tired after fighting that monster."
I went back to Touji and used my lap as a pillow for him. He was in really bad condition so I felt the need to take care of him even more than I usually do with my friends. He was shivering and moaning in pain while sleeping but he calmed down quickly after I covered him with the sheet I had in my bag and started caressing his head.
"So...what are you cooking?"
Haruto isn't good at cooking. He is not awful but most people would refuse to eat anything he makes. I have been cooking simple meals for the group ever since we got here because I am good at it and I like cooking but it is not the same for Haruto who hates it, so I was curious about this sudden change.
"Sophia found some vegetables and milk before we got in here. Theyre all edible but it probably won't be for long so I decided to make something before y'all wake up...sorry if it's not very good though."
He took a bowl out of his bag and poured in the soup. He probably grabbed it from the house before we left. He passed the bowl to me alongside a wooden spoon which I immediately used to scoop some of the soup and eat it. As expected it wasn't good, but I'm not picky with my food.
I kept on eating while also giving some to the sleeping. He lost a lot of blood before so he needed to eat to recover. He didn't enjoy the food though as he was making funny faces in his sleep every time I gave him some.
I started singing a lullaby. I used to do this a lot when we were younger and everyone enjoyed it, especially Sophia since it helped her to sleep when she had nightmares. When she got a phone she even started calling me every night and asking me to sing for her.
While I was singing, I looked at Haruto and Sophia. Haruto was enjoying the lullaby with his eyes closed. I could see his broken bat in his hands as well as the shield and the mace the monster was using beside him. That bat had a special meaning for him since it was a present from his deceased brother. I didnt get to know him since i became friends with Haruto right after he died but i know that he was a nice person, so i guess that seeing the present he gave him broken must hurt a lot.
Sophia calmed down as soon as she heard my song and a smile appeared on her face. She was probably feeling anxious after seeing me and Touji in a bad condition and eventually fell asleep. Unlike Touji who is always practical and logical or Haruto who is reliable and confident, Sophia is overly emotional, easily scared and a little dumb. She always tries to keep a smile on her face even if she is sad or angry, but her emotions often betray her attempts and it is quite easy to see through that fake smile. Most of the time she is genuinely happy and she shines because of it, but ever since we got here she has been putting that mask on, so seeing her smiling like that was a great relief for me.
I don't know what will happen after we leave this room. Hopefully we will return to our home but if we don't...well probably just end up in another hellscape. It doesn't matter, whatever happens I will make sure to protect my friends, no matter what.