As he picked up the cutlass.. There was yet another door.. But he froze to the sight of the door..
"This.." He blurted out, which caught her attention. "This is.. The door I saw..."
Her eyes widened to what he said. Wait.. He wasn't just imagining things...?
He suddenly turned the knob and pushed it open, this caught Minerva off-guard, as she did not at all expect him to open the door so suddenly. "H-Hey, wait! Don't leave me here!"
...
Sévir sat beside Minerva, he stared at the food presented in front of him.. Bread, 3 slices of bread. "Hm.. I expected an exquisite hotel meal.." Said Sévir as he observed the bread. It was a long, rectangular slice of bread, it had some sort of yellowish color, and had parsley scattered all around it, like garlic bread. "Is this.. Garlic bread?"
Minerva nodded.* "Yeah." She pointed at the second and third slice. "The other two slices are Magiabread."
Sévir bit the garlic bread, biting off a quarter of it. "Should've just made all of them magiabread."
As he chewed on the garlic bread, he stared at the magiabread.. Its hue was purplish around the center, it had parsley and pink spots all around it.. This food was something Sévir's never seen before.
He ate, and ate, until the garlic bread was gone from his hand.
His gaze was distant, it had no focus on what's in front of him, or what's surrounding him..
...
It was dark, but still visible enough to just barely see.
There was nothing around his sight but a door.. The silence was palpable, the door a plain looking door.. With some sort of brownish and other dark marks around it, and from its gaps, little light could be seen.. What could be behind this plain door?
Sévir slowly walked towards the door, despite much resistance from his own body, which pleaded him not to.
As he stood in front of the door, his hand found itself holding the knob.. But just as he was about to twist it..
"Sévir.." He heard a voice calling his name out.. He tried to ignore it.
"Sévir...?" As the voice called out to him again, he could no longer ignore it. He turned around to the direction of the voice.
...
"Sévir.." She gently tapped his shoulder, but there was no response.
"Sévir...?" She held his arm and slightly shook him, hoping to get him back to his senses.
Sévir blinked and looked at her, Minerva let out a sigh of relief. "I thought you died inside.." Her voice was soft, mixed with relief and worry. "Is anything on that weird mind of yours?" She let go of his arm.
He shook his head. "Can I talk to you privately.. Later?" He asked so suddenly, but I'd say that is indeed so Sévir.
She was taken aback by what he said for a brief moment, her cheeks turned red and she abruptly looked away.
"O-Oh." She cleared her throat, regaining her composure, facing him again. "Are you.. Going to confess your love to me or something?"
She had a sly smile tugged on her face as she slightly leaned closer towards him. "I'm all ears.. I'd love to hear you confess."
He shook his head again. "Keep dreaming. I'll talk to you after dinner." He grabbed one slice of magiabread and chewed on it.
She shrugged and continued to eat her own slice of magiabread.
"This magiabread.." He swallowed the portion of the magiabread, its taste leaving quite the impression on his tongue. "I like the brininess.. It seems like a perfect balance between the saltiness and sourness." A small smile formed in his face, loving the taste of the magiabread, which just refused to leave his tongue for a while.
"You're starting to get it." Yet another smile formed in her face. "Magiabread is the standard bread of Magiaville, you won't see anybody here not eating magiabread in any of their dishes.. Honestly, I can't blame them." She savored every moment, chewing slowly through another portion.
Although Sévir was also enjoying the food.. He couldn't help but think about what he imagined earlier. What was that all about..? I know I can sometimes think of random things, but that door... Too random.
Try as he might, he couldn't shake off the uneasy feeling squeezing his guts.. He had an undesirable look on his face throughout the whole dinner, Minerva took notice, but did not take any action.
After they finished eating, Sévir nudged Minerva's arm, grabbing her attention. "What is it?" She asked.
He leaned in closer. "Meet me outside the entrance in 30 minutes." He stood up and hurriedly walked away.
I guess this might be about what was on his mind.. She stood up and sighed. He looked quite bothered about it ever since he snapped back, this shouldn't be a good one. And so off she went to tidy herself up before meeting Sévir.
...
Minerva had arrived at their meeting spot, hugging herself as the coldness of Magiaville's evening air stuck around.. Sévir had his hands dug deep in his pockets, staring at the lavender moon, which emitted a soft purple glow.
"Sévir? What did you want to talk about?" She successfully caught his attention, he turned around and met her gaze.
"It's about when I spaced out."
She leaned in closer, curious as to what it actually was about.
"I uh.. I saw a door, a door with some dark marks and some dim lights behind it."
Her face turned from interest, to indifference. "That's.. All?"
He nodded. "Though.. Something felt off about it... It's as if it's here."
She let out a sigh. "The exhaustion from the march and the tour is starting to take its toll on you, huh?" She gently patted his shoulder. "How about you take a rest already?" She formed a soft smile as she pointed behind them.
His already unsettled heart grew even more agitated as Minerva said that.
His eyes narrowed as he looked her deep in the eye, a frown slowly etching in his face. "If you wanna say you don't believe me, then just spit it out." There was a noticeable edge in his voice that she couldn't ignore.
He shook his head, striding towards the door. "Whatever. I'll be scouting around the inn.." He slid the door open. "..to see if I'm right. Good night."
Before he could walk away though.. "Wait." Minerva suddenly spoke, making him stop and turn around.
"I'll go with you." His face turned to one with confusion when she said that. "To be honest, I still don't believe you.. But what you just said has got me interested."
Is she.. Serious? You don't just say you don't believe someone and go along with their plans, just like that. Their gaze stuck around each other for a few seconds, but Sévir was quick to back down with a sigh.
"Fine. Let's go." He turned around again, taking what seemed to be a scroll on the counter.
Her face lit up with a slight beam of enthusiasm. "Yay, we're going on an adventure." She gave herself a discreet fist pump before following Sévir.
And so they ventured on to the unknowns of this huge inn that held all the 5th years for one night.. Is that actually long enough for Sévir to confirm his suspicions?
The halls were endless, leading to not multiple, but tons of doors, it was like a maze.. It was dark and silent, both those being just as palpable as how lonely it was there.. There was nobody in sight, not even any workers or students.
The wooden floor tapped and creaked as they took one step after another, one of the testaments to the age of this giant inn.
"Damn, can't this floor just shut up?" Sévir clicked his tongue, his blood rising as the floor continued to creak to their footsteps. "The inn I used to live in was old, but at least the floors there weren't as noisy as this."
"Get used to it.. It seems like we'll be in this endless maze for a while." Minerva had been in Magiaville multiple times for years straight, but never had she attempted to go this deep inside the inns.. All of this was new to her.
The air felt denser as they marched deeper, but it could no longer faze them, as the march to Magiaville was even worse for them.
After a few minutes of walking non-stop, they stopped at a door in the corner.. But it was different.
Sévir walked closer as he saw the sight of some sort of.. Brownish marks..? Splattered across the floor. "Is this.. Blood?" He took off his glove and cautiously touched the door's surface. "I can't tell, I can barely see anything."
"It's probably not blood, Sévir.." She walked closer, squinting at the unclear marks.. But it was no good, they couldn't see it clearly.
He put his glove back on and walked away from the door. "Forget it, let's go."
That door wasn't part of Sévir's investigation, so he had no reason to investigate it.
As he walked forward.. His foot could no longer feel the ground, and as it dropped down, so did he.
A quick yelp escaped his mouth, his body dropping to the hidden flight of stairs, rolling down for what felt like forever for him.. The clatter of his movements echoed through the dead silent hallways.
"Sévir!? Are you okay!?" Minerva exclaimed, she was caught off-guard and as she took a step forward, she too, nearly lost her balance.. She looked down, and it was stairs.
His rolling came to a stop, the pain surging through his whole body as if he was pierced a hundred times everywhere.
He tried to stand up, but his body refused to for a good few seconds.
Minerva had her right hand touching the wall as she carefully descended the stairs, she kneeled down and shook Sévir. "Hey! Are you still awake!?" Worry filled her unsettled voice.
He let out a groan he'd been holding in since he stopped descending the stairs. "Y-Yeah.." He slowly stood up but struggled, Minerva stood up and assisted him.
"I thought you'd get knocked out or something.. You could have hit your head from falling."
He shrugged, one of his hands holding onto his flank. "This place is pretty deep..." He turned around and looked at the stairs where he rolled over, it was many steps, hinting at just how deep this place is.
As they continued walking deeper, Minerva held onto his left arm.
Sévir looked at her with an eyebrow raised. "Why are you holding my arm?"
She shrugged. "I don't know.. I think I'd like to..." Minerva held in a slight giggle before she could say what she wanted to say. "..Fall with you the next time we unexpectedly reach another flight of stairs."
He nudged his arm off of hers. "No thanks. I'd prefer someone who can catch me in the nick of time."
She chuckled. "Oh, how demanding.. Okay, I'll try catching you next time."
A smile formed in her face despite the fact they're quite literally in a maze with barely any visibility.
And so the hour passed by with them walking around, Minerva catching Sévir in the nick of time as he nearly fell through multiple flights of stairs.. It sure was getting deeper.. As they descended, the temperature was progressively rising.. The air, heavy and dense.
The wooden hallways creaked and groaned as it continued to hold itself from the weights of the earth surrounding it.. The surroundings felt more and more tighter, as if trying to suffocate our two adventurers like how the Magiaville Forest had done just hours ago.
Suddenly.. They saw dim lights from afar.
Sévir's eyes widened to the sight of the dim lights, he wanted to run to it.. But there was growing uneasiness that was squishing his heart. Lights.. He looked around its surroundings, walking slowly. Minerva tailing behind him. "Careful, Minerva.. There might be a trap here.."
She nodded to his seemingly obvious warning.
And so they took a step forward, stopping at every step, trying to get a feel of the ground as much as possible.. Whether there was a string or a trapdoor, their footsteps were as slow and light as possible.
Sévir and Minerva's heart beated faster as they got closer and closer to the dim lights.. There appeared to be very long torches in the walls, but that's not what was getting them distraught.
Sévir clicked his tongue. This is hard.. Making my footsteps as light and slow as possible just to see whether there's a trap or not.. I've never done this before.. Not even in my assassination missions! Sévir's body was slowly tensing up, a drop of sweat flowed down his face as a testament to how tensed up he was.
They finally walked up to the door, the lights around them getting dimmer with no profound reason.. But it only contributed to the already dense atmosphere around them, the one that would make any normal person stop and turn around.
It's getting closer.. This uneasiness... He bit his lip as he put his hand on the knob. But this door isn't the same door I saw earlier.. He turned the knob around and pushed the door open..
"Minerva." He called her name just before he entered the room.
He turned around to face her. "You can back off from this already while you still can."
She raised an eyebrow as she entered the room with him. "Why? I'm not the type to back down either, you know."
"Well..-" As he was about to explain himself.. The sound of a loud crack formed under him.. They looked down. As he raised his foot.. It was a skull.
"What the..." Before he could continue his reaction, they heard a low, deep grumble in front of them.
The door suddenly slammed itself closed.. There was now 0 visibility.
A pair of red, glowing eyes appeared before them.
Minerva gulped. What.. Is that thing..!? She slowly reached out for her cutlass.. I knew it would be the right call bringing my cutlass everywhere.. I can't see Sévir.. She tried to breathe as silently as she possibly could, Sévir did the same, and reached out for the dagger in his sheathe.. But as he tried to grab it.. He only grabbed air. Wait.. I didn't bring Sanguinex... Where's my other dagger!? He reached for his other dagger.. Only to reach air yet again. Crud.. I left Sanguinex and my dagger behind! His heart began to race.. The mysterious beast looked in his direction as if he could feel his tensed up emotions, Sévir stood there, trying his best not to move as the beast walked up closer to him..
Its glowing red eyes created enough light to light up Sévir's face, although red..
Minerva slowly unsheathed her sword.. Slowly creeping up the beast.. This is my chance.. Just stay still, Sévir! She readied herself, prepared to thrust the beast's neck, but as she did..
The blade only clanked and slid up with some small sparks, Minerva was caught off-guard and the beast faced her. W-What..? Does this beast have armor!? She took a step back, ready to fight the beast as it growled.
Meanwhile, Sévir had his gaze on Minerva and the beast.. I.. I don't have my dagger.. How can I fight against this beast!? Sévir ran up to it and kicked its flank as hard as he possibly could, but to no avail.. The beast only looked at him, and its eyes glowed even brighter as it roared and charged at him.
Sévir backed off as the beast attempted to claw him, a gush of water rushed towards the beast, trying its best to contain its legs.
The beast resisted as much as it could, growling out its struggle, Minerva resisted and pulled the beast as much as she could, also growling out her struggles.
"D-Damnit Sévir! Where's your dagger!?"
He threw the strongest punch he could throw on the beast's face. "I left it!" He punched the eye of the beast, the beast roared and went ballistic, throwing Minerva and her water leash to a corner, and as it turned around, its tail swung by and hit Sévir, throwing him to another corner.
GAH! He has a tail!? Sévir clicked his tongue in frustration. This is hard.. The only source of light are his eyes! I can't even see his whole body!
Sévir stood up, his hand on his back, whereas Minerva slowly stood up with the help of her cutlass. It seems like Sévir can't do much right now.. And here I thought he was always the prepared prince charming that would always save a damsel in distress.. She chuckled to that thought while she wiped dust off her face.
It seems like tonight, the damsel will be the one saving the prince! She swung her cutlass right across, shards of ice speeding towards the beast, but it either just shattered or deflected upon contact.
"Oh, you really are a tough one, huh?" Her gaze was stuck on the beast's eyes, Minerva gracefully assumed a defensive stance with her cutlass, raising it in a slow but firm motion. Her arm extended elegantly, the blade poised and pointed as like an extension of her intent, ready to parry or thrust with precision.. If it can even work against the beast.
Sévir stood there across the room.. Unable to move. What can I do right now..? I can't reveal to her what I'm hiding!
He was conflicted down to the bone, wondering what he can do without revealing anything he's been hiding so far.
The beast charged up to Minerva, a gush of water from the ground rising up and forming a hard shield between them just as it was about to claw her.
The beast, however, was to not be underestimated.. Its blows were strong, its claws were sharp and deep enough to reach and even pull out your organs. Minerva struggled to hold the claw off with her water shield, trying her very best to hold her ground.
Sévir shook his head. What the hell am I doing..!? This is one of the close friends of Zephyr.. I have to help her! He sprinted towards the beast, leaping and pushing the beast down to the ground.
Sévir struggled to keep the beast contained, trying his best to pin its legs away from him.
MInerva slashed down the neck of the beast with a razor sharp gush of water, but it was no good either. Its long tail wrapped around Sévir's waist and threw him off, it slammed him off to the wall across the room.. It was as if all his breath escaped his lungs from the impact.. It stung so hard, he wasn't able to stand up for a moment.
This is bad.. This beast is a literal tank! Minerva backed off as fast as she could, not wanting to get caught up in its claws or tail.
I have no more doubts about it.. This beast is armored.. But with what material!? Not even my magic can pierce it! She slowed down her erratic breathing. Don't freak out.. That is not how I..–The Second Undefeated handles a dead end.
She swung her cutlass up, multiple disks of spinning water and ice formed around her, charging towards the beast at full speed, it may not have done damage, but it pushed the beast back enough.
In one swift motion, she dashed forward, elegantly, but just barely dodging its claws and tail. I can't block nor parry this guy.. That will just be the end of me! As she closed the distance, Minerva deftly ascended the wall with a swift run, her free hand gripping the beast for support before seamlessly landing on its exposed back.
She raised her cutlass and went in for the thrust.. It went in.. The blade stabbed the exposed, narrow nape of the beast, it cried in agony, and as it did, Minerva leaped off with her cutlass as she felt something on her shoes..
She made the right move, as when she jumped off, the beast balled up and its spikes popped up from its back like a hedgehog.. But it was metal.
She cautiously eyed the beast, observing its movements as it slowly stood back up with its four legs.
Does it only ball up when it's injured..? Because my strikes should've been enough for it to be sensed as danger.. Right? She extended her arm in yet another defensive stance, the cutlass, poised and pointed at the beast. Moreover.. I haven't heard from Sévir.. Did that throw render him unconscious..?
"Sévir! You still alive!?" She shouted out his name to grab his attention.
"Yeah..! Just struggling to stand up right now.." There was a hint of pain in his voice, the pain still hasn't subdued enough.
"Heads up! Don't you dare charge on the beast again.. It has spikes all around its back and flanks.."
"What the hell are we up against..? A metallic hedgehog!?" He exclaimed in disbelief.
She shrugged, she was talking to Sévir while keeping her gaze carefully on the beast. "Beats me.. You're powerless without your dagger and Sanguinex, right?"
Sévir went silent as she said that.
"With its spikes up, you can't really do anything anymore with your physical attacks.. So don't bother!" Her tone was loud and harsh, it's uncertain whether it was intentional or not.
Sévir's eyes squinted for a brief moment. Hey now.. Don't you dare start calling me useless...
A frown masked his face, slowly pushing himself up with his hands.
At that same time, the beast swung its tail at full force and Minerva was set to block it.
But much to her dismay, the force was stronger than she anticipated, it sent her cutlass flying.
The beast roared and attempted to claw her non-stop, she was just barely dodging all of them.
Dammit, this guy is getting more aggressive! She kept backing off, only realizing then that she had reached a wall.
Without a second thought, she ducked and rolled to the left as the beast tried to claw her yet again. This is the first time I've been disarmed since my last defeat.. How can we defeat this beast...?
Sévir had stood up, leaning on the wall, his hand on his back. That beast actually roughed me up.. As the beast had its eyes on Minerva, he also took a glance at Minerva, noticing she had no cutlass. Seems like she got disarmed.. Serves you right for indirectly calling me useless. He took a deep breath and aimed his hand on the beast.
Screw you for making me use this..
"Globus.." He whispered to himself.. Sparks of fire formed around his hand, rotating faster and faster as it grew.
"Globus..." He curled his fingers as he whispered it again.. The ball of fire formed in his hand, wanting him to let go so badly.
Minerva noticed the ball of fire. What..? Why's there fire over there..?
The fireball grew large enough to reveal Sévir's face.. Minerva's eyes widened, she froze like a statue to this sight. He.. He can use fire magic!?
The beast looked at the fireball and growled, cautiously taking a step back.
"Minerva! I think you'd want to step back..." As he called her, she snapped back out of it and took a few steps back.
The beast slowly shrunk as the fireball got larger, and eventually, it balled up.
Sévir inhaled sharply and briefly. "GLOBUS AHI!!"
As he yelled the spell, he relaxed his hand, a huge ball of fire speeding towards the balled up beast.. Its body was visible now.. It was a huge, wolf-like, hedgehog-like, beast with metallic skin, its elbows and such being the only ones with soft skin.. And its long, soft, curly tail.. You wouldn't usually imagine a morph of a wolf and a hedgehog, as they're so far from each other.
The force of the fireball pushed it back to the ground, Sévir still had his arm extended.. He still had control over the fireball.
Its power was getting weaker and weaker, but at the same time, it was boiling up the beasts' metallic skin.. It cried in agony as the fireball heated its metallic skin up more and more.
It could feel its organs burning up, as if its own tons of spikes pierced its own organs non-stop.. The beast got out of its balled up form, and it lay down on the ground, presumably dead.. No cries, no movements, nothing.
Sévir put his arm down and let out a sigh. He used his other hand and snapped, forming a torch which was bright enough.
Minerva walked up to Sévir. "The beast roughed you up earlier.. You okay?" Her voice was soft and filled with worry, she held Sévir's other arm.
"Also.. You never told me you can use fire magic.. And mixed style.." She narrowed her eyes with suspicion. "Just what else are you hiding from me.. Mr. Sévir?"
She couldn't help but let out a short sigh. "Well.. That doesn't matter now.. Shall we get back to our adventure?"
"Yeah, sure.. Can you check if we can open the door?" Sévir pointed at the door as he walked to get her cutlass.
"Sure." Minerva walked towards the door, and as she turned the knob and pulled it.. It opened, much to her surprise. "Oh, hey! The door's opened!"
As he picked up the cutlass.. There was yet another door.. But he froze to the sight of the door, which was clearly visible because of his fire spell..
Minerva noticed his silence and walked up to him. "Sévir? What's gotten you so frozen up?" She looked at the door.. It was another wooden door.. But this one.. It had dried up splatters of blood and claw marks, most definitely from the skeletons behind them and the beast.
"This.." He blurted out, which caught her attention. "This is.. The door I saw..."
Her eyes widened to what he said. Wait.. He wasn't just imagining things...?
He suddenly turned the knob and pushed it open, this caught Minerva off-guard, as she did not at all expect him to open the door so suddenly. "H-Hey, wait! Don't leave me here!"
It was a cave.. A ravine stood in front of them, and in-between where they stand and the surface on the other side, was a stone bridge, there were torches everywhere.. The cave let off a colder air, it was much, much colder than the hallways from earlier.. But that's not what caught their attention..
Both of them can hear grunts from the other side.. Whooshes and snaps here and there..
They saw houses and other structures, all lit up by the orange light of torches, mixed with some soft purple hue from the moonlight.. It was an underground city...
"What.. What the hell is this...?" Sévir was too stunned.. But was it in a good way..?
As they observed more intently.. They saw disturbing sights that they should never have seen...
The atmosphere had been tightening not just their necks, but their entire body.. It was oppressive.. Gruelling.. All this was palpable, all this was illuminated by the soft purple glow of the moonlight above them, which shouldn't even be there, as they've never seen a hole in Magiaville..
Carts rolled along the roads, pulled with all willpower that remained in the weary figures, controlled by the gruelling and menacing snap of leashes behind them..
Their necks were chained like slaves.. Because that's what they presumably are, toiling under harsh conditions, the cart pulling being one of them.. Carts all across the roads were carrying all sorts of things.. People, cargo boxes, food, just to name a few.
Many men assaulted vulnerable women of different ages here and there in multiple corners, which nobody came to help even if they passed by, even when the women screamed for help..
Shady people suddenly throwing people in a cage cart, some with assistance, and then drawing it away, akin to kidnapping.. And brutal street fights fueled by rage and alcohol.. Clearly bleeding, clearly badly injured.. Yet they still fight each other like wild bears–all these laid before Sévir and Minerva's eyes.
I..I've never seen.. A sight this horrific since... The coup d'état.. His hands were shaking, his heart was beating faster.. His lips were trembling..
You and I know Sévir is a tough guy, who doesn't like showing his emotions.. Like 99% of the time.. But this.. This sight was enough to crush his defenses..
Minerva stood there, sharing the same feelings as Sévir.. She had been in Magiaville a lot of times, so much so to the point where she's completely in love with the town.. But this..
What.. What.. Is this... Really Magiaville...!? The thought of this being the true Magiaville, crushed her heart.. It was unacceptable.. Too unacceptable.
"This.. Isn't Magiaville, right..?" She looked at Sévir, desperately hoping for him to say it indeed, isn't Magiaville.
"This.. Is Magiaville.." His voice hung low and depressing as he admitted it.. Plunging Minerva into a void that shattered all her earlier opinions of Magiaville.. A place she considered a home to her.. Reality was brutal, unyielding and completely merciless, and it stabbed Minerva again and again in the heart until she dropped to her knees. Try as she might, she couldn't contain the tears desperately wanting to escape her sad eyes.
Sévir stood there, he regained most of his composure, and so he crouched and patted Minerva's back..
This was a first for them, Minerva had never been this vulnerable to everyone's eyes.. And their current case is messed up, making it harder for Sévir to try comforting her, who already sucks at comforting.
As she continued to weep, Sévir's face said at all, he was getting annoyed, and so he let out a deep sigh and stood up. "Stand up, Minerva. Stop crying." His voice hinted at coldness and annoyance.
Minerva wiped her tears off and looked at him with a confused face. "W-What's your problem..?"
"My problem is you just sitting here, crying. What happened to Minerva Grosvenor?" He narrowed his eyes, and so did Minerva as she stood up with a frown.
"I mean, now that we know this.. What can we do?" He dug his hands deep in his pockets as he shrugged.
Minerva's annoyed frown eventually faded away. "I.. Don't know." She turned around and looked at the door. "Do you think the skeletons in that room were people that tried to escape or enter..?"
"Beats me. There's definitely no Stepan students here.." He pointed at the town.
"We can risk it and explore the town." He gestured behind him. "Or we could go back. It's only like, 9 in the evening anyways."
His tone and gestures were laid back, it indeed seemed like he'll go with whatever she chooses.
After thinking, she decided to walk to the door. "Let's go... Back here after the tournament." She twisted the knob and pulled it open, gesturing to him to go with her.
"Wise decision, Minerva." He tailed behind her.. The night is still young, and they could explore as much as they want to.. But what just happened.. Was enough.