"We are more than halfway up already!" Marceline chuckled, her smile was bright and innocent.
Yvonne looked around, making sure not to let her guard down. But she knew that Marceline was right, they would get to the top soon.
"I can't help but feel relieved. We encountered no monsters at all. I can't wait to tell Percy! I hope he's okay…"
"If there's one thing you can always gamble on, it's that Percy never loses." Yvonne said,
"But he did lose though, to that pretty faced bully!" Marceline pouted, her fist clenched.
Yvonne looked at her with fondness, before she replied,
"That's because the fight didn't go on long enough. Ichor has way more experience, it's already amazing that Percy could keep up with him."
"But you know that's not true. He wasn't even going all out."
Yvonne paused for a moment, she knew that Marceline was right.
Nothing ever gets past her senses. It's amazing how talented she is, if only she put in more effort…. But Marceline hates conflict.
Both lady's continued their walk up the mountain path, soaked to the bone. But surprisingly, neither of them seemed to mind the heavy rain or the billowing wind. They walked in a way that was neither slow so that they got to the top in time nor fast so they would be able to react to whatever comes at them.
That being said, I can't help but feel unsettled. This is a grade two danger zone, at least one monster should have attacked us.
Yvonne looked back, even from where she was she could see the billowing flames which had only just begun to die down. The black smoke remained towering, reaching into the sky like fumes from a broken locomotive.
Is it because of that?" She wondered.
"Do you think this will be the last phase of the exam?" Marceline asked, drawing back Yvonne's attention.
"Maybe, I'm not sure."
"Wow, that's a first."
Yvonne smiled at the indirect compliment, but her brows soon furrowed as she sighed,
"For some reason things are different this year. The test of last year, while I don't know the details, I'm sure wasn't even as hard as this year's."
Marceline looked at Yvonne, a rare look of seriousness on her face. She still had her smile as she spoke,
"Why do you think that is?"
"I can't be too sure. My parents have been whispering even more recently and they have been attending more meetings. I think the war with the southern continent is reaching a tipping point."
Marceline's smile finally vanished, a frown gracing her features. Yvonne reached out and held her hand, her expression which was always one of seriousness softening.
"Don't worry, everything will be okay." She comforted Marceline but the latter laughed,
"I'm not a child anymore, Yvonne. While I hate war, that doesn't mean I can't handle the idea of it."
Yvonne nodded her head with a helpless smile, her face returning to one of seriousness. She was about to let go of Marceline's hand when she realized that the latter was trembling.
"What's wrong?" She asked and Marceline furrowed her brows.
"eh?" Marceline asked,
"Your hand, it's shaking. It's very slight but it's shaking."
Marceline raised her hand to her face and watched closely, only then did she notice that she was really shaking. She looked at Yvonne with a surprise look, she seemed to be confused,
"I don't know why. I feel perfectly fine."
Yvonne's eyes narrowed immediately, her brain running at miles per hour as she began to calculate.
It can't be something physical, we've gone through training that is worse than this, it has to be mental. But if it's mental what could it be? I can see it in her eyes, she's fine, no anger or anything else…. The subconscious?
Yvonne suddenly pulled Marceline close, her face leaning into the other. Their noses were touching and Marceline almost blushed at the proximity.
"Look at me," Yvonne said and Marceline complied, they both stood there, in the rain, looking into eachothers eyes.
That was when she saw it, it was slow at first and undetectable, but soon, she began to see it, signs of emotions that lay deep beneath the eyes. Emotions that normally wouldn't appear and even the person themselves wouldn't know such a thing existed.
Fear… primal fear. Marceline has the sharpest instincts I know off, it's impossible this is false. Something's wrong and her instincts are calling out to her. What could it be?
"Marceline…. Something's wrong. On my count, we both run full speed towards the beacon."
Marceline's brows furrowed but only for a moment, she had a great amount of trust in Yvonne. She nodded her head.
"One…. Tw—" Yvonne's voice suddenly paused as all the hairs on her body rose. Before her, she could see a similar look in Marceline's eyes.
Oh no! It's here. It had been here all this while!
Yvonne slowly looked up, her gaze obscured by thick black fur that was so long, they looked like dried seaweeds. It was only then that she realized that the monster had cast a huge shadow on them.
The beast towered at almost four meters, its hands were long, its legs short making its humanoid statue look more bestial. Nothing else could be discerned from the beast except from its eyes.
Two large orbs of white, not milky white but one that reminded Yvonne of bones.
When! How! Where!! How long has it been standing there? How long has Marceline's instincts been crying out? Don't tell me… it's always been there!
The monster stood there, staring at them, its figure looming. A thick pungent smell filled the air,...
It was the smell of death.
Even now, with the monster right beside them, both Yvonne and Marceline could see it but not sense its presence.
This… It's a named mutant!
"Run!" Yvonne finally managed to mutter.
Yvonne and Marceline took off running, heading towards the beacon as fast as possible. When with their dress style, it was shocking how fast they ran. They seemed to be even faster than Percy.
As they ran, Yvonne looked behind her, expecting to see the monster chasing behind them. But instead, she saw that the beast was still where it was.
Then, the seaweed like fur parted and the monster revealed a smile, one that seemed so humane and yet so devilish.
Yvonne felt goosebumps rise all over her body, her eyes widened and her face went pale with horror.
The monster took a step forward and vanished!