Walking up in complete darkness was a surreal experience. Eric again found himself unable to judge how much time was passing by, and considering the conversation he had just had with Olivia, he didn't want to bother her now.
Aria was probably the same as Eric, she wouldn't be able to judge exactly how much time had passed either, so there was no point in asking her.
To be honest, the darkness wasn't the most disturbing part. It was the quietness around them.
It was almost as if there weren't any living organisms in the mountain. The question was, why? Maybe the conditions weren't suitable for life… or maybe there was something dangerous in the darkness that killed anything that entered its territory.
Without much choice, Eric continued to climb, using Aria as his only source of light.
"Stop," Olivia commanded. Eric and Aria froze, heightening their senses, ready for a possible ambush.
Eric summoned his sword. As he did, he felt his desires amplify. It wasn't just the usual desires a person would expect.
For instance, the desire to breathe, the desire to run, to pick something up from the ground, to scream, to fight, to cry. Everything was amplified, causing Eric's mind to be overloaded with information.
He had some experience resisting the impulses, so as long as he didn't keep his sword summoned for too long, it wasn't going to be a problem… hopefully.
Due to the darkness, his eyesight was useless, so he closed his eyes, trying to heighten his other senses.
"Whatever happens, do not make a sound," Olivia whispered, though it wasn't necessary, as Eric wasn't planning on making any noise.
There was a period of silence, until he heard the tapping noise of bare feet walking on stone.
Tap, tap...
The sound initially distant started getting closer. With each step, the echo it produced grew louder and louder.
Tap, tap...
Eric held his breath, staying as still as humanly possible.
TAP, TAP!
Suddenly, the sound stopped. Eric cautiously opened his eyes and regretted his decision immediately.
In front of him stood a tall figure about four meters high, with unnaturally long arms.
Raising his head, he saw that the creature didn't have eyes—just a giant mouth and incredibly large ears, as big as its entire head.
The whole creature was covered in short white fur.
The creature made a low grunt noise and then...
"Huh... that's weird... I thought I heard something."
The creature's voice was low and menacing, and then it opened its mouth, saliva falling to the ground as its tongue twisted violently, changing shape.
After the gruesome process was done, the creature spoke again... but this time in a little girl's voice.
"Hello? I'm lost, would you please help me?"
'Is that thing able to use human voices to lure them into a trap?!' Eric's eyes widened as he realized he was right.
After the creature spoke, imitating a little girl's voice, it rotated its head around as if trying to hear if some unfortunate soul had fallen for the trap.
Hearing that there was no one, the creature began to walk away from the group. Its sharp, giant nails at the ends of its hands scraped against the ground from time to time.
Once the creature left, everyone stayed motionless, not daring to make a sound.
Finally, after an eternity of suffocating silence, Olivia spoke quietly, "That thing can't see, so it relies solely on its hearing. From now on, be dead silent."
Eric and Aria nodded, and they continued their slow climb.
Due to the uneven terrain, Eric's feet started to hurt. He was becoming hungrier, and the quiet darkness around him wasn't helping with his mental state one bit.
Truthfully, he might have lost his mind already if it weren't for Aria and her glowing armor, which helped him maintain some sense of sight.
Trying to distract himself, he shifted his thoughts to the tower and their bizarre experience there. Why was there a tower in the middle of the death zone?
Why was there a door that didn't budge when they tried to open it? Who was the person who had written all those messages on the floors, walls, and ceiling, and what was the purpose?
What did that person want to achieve… or maybe more importantly, what did he want to not forget?
"I think it's time we have a little rest," Olivia advised, and no one objected.
This time, considering the situation, one person would stay awake on lookout for danger while the other two would sleep.
Eric was the first one to keep watch.
Due to the nature of the place, he couldn't see anything except for Aria and her glowing armor, so he stared at her as she slept. Of course, he told himself it was just to give his senses something to focus on—there was no ulterior motive whatsoever!
At least that's how Eric convinced himself he wasn't doing anything wrong.
He wasn't just looking at Aria, but also Olivia, because both of them were sleeping close to each other. Aria's glowing armor illuminated Olivia's body, allowing Eric to see her.
It was hard to tell, but considering how keen he was on noticing little things in people, he could see that Olivia had cried, and recently at that.
His thoughts shifted to the story Olivia had shared earlier. With a sigh, he rotated his body so his back was now turned toward the girls, muttering under his breath.
"I'll have to apologize to her uncle once I see him."
*****
'How much time have we wasted here?!' Eric wondered as they continued their ascent. They had now spent three times resting, and they still hadn't reached the top of the mountain. The air was becoming harder to breathe, probably because they were getting closer to the sky.
"How much longer?" he muttered under his breath, checking the map. It showed that they were roughly a kilometer away from the cathedral.
"Where the hell is that cathedral?!" he was becoming irritated, until he saw that Aria, who was ahead of him, had stopped moving.
"What is it?" he whispered, glancing forward, his eyes narrowing as he saw light in front of them.
"Did we finally reach the peak of the mountain?!" he said happily, increasing his speed.
There was some kind of purple light, so Eric made his way toward it.
"I don't care if it's a monster, I just want to get out of here!" he proclaimed as he finally reached the peak of the mountain.
His face lost color as he looked down, realizing that this wasn't a mountain they had just climbed.
"Holy fuck…" he said, staring in awe.
They didn't climb a mountain… they climbed a volcano.