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Gemini's Journal- Entry 10
When I was your age, I was forced into things I didn't wanna do all the time, fancy dresses, meaningless dinners, and a bunch of social gatherings that were just forced obligations. This taught me about "masks" . The person you first meet isn't who they say they are, but who they want you to THINK they are. This can be interpreted, multiple ways, a Nice gentleman could turn out to be a Real dick-head behind closed doors, but in turn, an Asshole could just be a gentle soul, who's afraid to open themselves to someone else. Truth be told, I'm not sure which I was.
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We walk through the dense mist. It's so disorientating, we can barely discern which foot we put in front of the other, yet despite the unforgiving environment, we continue.
It's been around thirty minutes since we parted ways with Casa, promising we'd find her lost brother. Despite him leaving next to no trail, I can tell we're closing in. So I'd say the trip was going really well, if not for one thing..
"Are you SURE we're going the right way.." Klive asked one again, in the same doubtful tone...
UGHH! What a pain in the ass!
"How many times are you gonna ask that?! YES! It's been the same answer ever God-damn time!!" I spin on my heel, stopping dead in my tracks, and stare the bastard straight in his eyes.
So far, we've been taking seemingly random twists and turns throughout the maze, (occasionally spotting the random monster, but I've been killing them as soon as they pop up, so they aren't really worth mentioning.) But we've been at this for the entire trip, and every two seconds he questions the validity of my nose…
"I'm simply hunting him down! It's not my fault he went far from the camp!" I retorted!
"Doesn't hunting normally involve a bit more… spotting tracks and what not.. I can't help but feel like you're just winging this.." a dubious edge lingered in his voice, it seems no matter what I say he just wont be satisfied..
"I don't know what to tell you.. He left no tracks.. Or any signs of life for that matter.. (It's pretty impressive, clearly purposeful actually now that I'm thinking about it..) But that's besides the point! My nose is all we need to find him." I reassured him for the hundredth time.
"Hm.. Alright.." Klive says, half-heartly.
And so, we continued walking, talking a sharp right down a vast marble corridor. I figured the conversation was over, but Klive chimes in one last time.
"It's.. just.. We truly don't have time all the time in the world. The Mountaineer said we had 4 days to complete the test, or we'd all fail.. I'd like to secure our route to the golden egg as soon as possible.." Kilve insists.
"Huh.. you didn't mention a time limit… but eh whatever.. four days.. smore days.. We've got plenty of time.." I say boldly.
"...and that attitude right there is exactly WHY I didn't see a point in mentioning it… knowing wouldn't motivate you to take this seriously.." He spits, walking past me.
Ugh.. I'm gonna blow MY STACK!! I really wanna rip this guy's smart mouth off his surprisingly good looking face! I turn to him, stopping once again and give him a piece of my mind!
"Get off my back! Why'd you even come if you were gonna complain the whole time! If you wanna go find the egg so bad, why didn't you look for it yourself! I bet you'd find it no problem Mr. I'm perfect! And everyone else is ass!" I say mocking his edgy tone.
He winces at my teasing voice, and a vein seems to bulge on his fore-head. For a second it seems he's finally gonna lose his cool, but no, he keeps that same calm and collected composure.
"I have no idea what's waiting for me when we find that egg, I doubt it's nearly as simple as they say.. This wouldn't be a collaborative floor if finding it was the hardest part of the challenge, it always pays to be cautious.." He explained. but something doesn't add up to me.
"Alright I can get that I guess.. But then why didn't you go with the pilgrims? There's like 200 of them right? That's more man-power than you could ever ask for!" I pointed out, but Klive just face palms and shook his head..
Ugh now what? I cross my arms waiting for him to share with the class…
"Surely with a glance you can tell, right? That motley crew of hikers are no better than dead weight.." He says without a hint of hesitation or guilt.
"Ehh? Ain't that a bit much? There's 200 of them! With that much man-power, if even half of them picked up a sword, they could go anywhere they wanted in the dense fog!" I Argue.
"You're expecting the best case scenario, These people aren't like you and me, they're "normal" and normal doesn't belong in the tower, when push comes to shove, they will flinch– when they are faced with a monster, they'll be no better than lambs to the slauther…" Despite his harsh words, there's no malice in them. This isn't the admonishment of someone weak, but to him. An inevitable warning.
In my gut, I knew he had some sort of point... But his words couldn't help but piss me off.
"Humans tend to be persistent, Klive, These people survived whatever the floor before this put them through, I'm sure they're not just gonna roll over and die!" I say Attempting to defend my new friends.
"Survived..? These people happened upon a miracle, the Donaquestia aren't a fan of losing valuable assets, if whatever happened the other night didn't happen. They'd still be wasting away on their farm…" Klive stated, reinforcing his point.
I still had stuff to argue, but I couldn't help but latch onto a certain name he mentioned. "Donaquestia, What's that? Some big shots who go around gathering slaves?" I inquired, suddenly completely changing the topic.
For a second he hesitated– then said,"..Not particularly.. At least it's not public knowledge, They're known for being "Mages, Witches and Warlocks" and have changed Ichor into an entirely new substance, "Mana." He explains briefly seemingly purposely holding back details.
"Is that all? I feel like you're holding out on me," I asked with good intentions, but he seems to dread the idea of continuing, however he doesn't complain.
"Fine, but lets keep walking, we're wasting time," He then continues his march down the Stone Corridor, and without a word I follow, (Even though I'm the one that's supposed to lead..)
"If I had to describe them in one word.. I'd call them Obsessive freaks.." he spits.
"...Wait, that's two words though?" I corrected him.
"They've simply created a brand-new definition to describe their madness.. They are so obsessed with "magic" that no Atrocity they could pull off could be called inhumane for the sake of their experiments." He clarifies, seemingly annoyed just thinking about it.
"Daaamn…These sound like some real bad neighbors… Did you live next to them when you were a kid?" I Asked
"???" But he just looked at me puzzled, seemingly stunned into silence and for the first time, genuinely confused, "What do you mean?" he responded.
"You said this group of freaks is a family, You seem pretty knowledgeable about them.. Did you live with them back on the past floor?" I Say, but he just sighs once again.
??? Huh? What's the problem now..
Klive then collects himself and asks, "Orion. Right? How much do you know about the tower exactly anyway?" he said, while wearing a mix between a skeptical, and exhausted expression.
"Oh! Nothing whatsoever!" I yell confidently, pulling ahead of him as we walk.
"....You wear ignorance with a baffling amount of pride.." He sighs wearily.
"No point in hiding it, right now, everything in the world is brand new to me! And I can't wait to discover it!" I say Skipping Along with a surprising spring in my step.
As I take the lead, I demand, "Since now you know, I don't know anything, answer me this! If we all came from floor one, why haven't I ever seen you guys whatsoever?" I say as we take our 50th left though the misty Maze.
He sighs once again, clearly not interested in giving this spiel, but he still explains for both our best interests, "That's because we all live in different sectors, Each floor is not as simple as one room on top of each other. But more along the lines of a storied house, multiple rooms– or dimensions right next to each other, so it's still counted as one floor.
It's almost certain you, me, and those Pilgrims came from entirely different sectors."
"Wooooooah! Dude! The world is HUGE!!" I Squeak, a child-like glee spilling from my lips.
That's insane! We came from the same place, but live worlds apart! Although, even if they did live in my "Sector" it's not like i'd have met them anyway though, Still, its cool to think about.
"How many sectors are on Floor One?" I asked, my voice still drenched in glee.
"Mmm… Now that I can't tell you, there could be tens, or more likely Hundreds. This is the first floor, so it definitely receives the most traffic. Likely thousands of fools take on the challenges of the tower, expecting to reach the top." Klive says.
"Mmmm..I see." I nod.
Klive then chimes in once again "And I think you're confused, the floor we were one wasn't considered Floor One, but Floor Uno, one of the residential Floors."
I Nod again, listening with intense interest as he spoke, when once again a certain word infects me like an ear worm.
"So, Floor Uno right? Then do you know how I could get to floor Dos"
He then goes wide eyed, genuinely surprised, "Floor Dos.. is that really where you want to go? I figured you 're the type to Charge straight for the top." he says shocked, just how low is this guy's opinion of me..
"Hey.. even I know my limits, I'm not strong enough to climb the tower without preparation. There's a task I cannot possibly afford to fail to do.. So I will take any measure to make my wish come true." I stated, crystal clear.
He then smiles to himself, seemingly impressed, "I know the bars on the ground.. But maybe you're a bit smarter than I anticipated." he hums, seemingly a bit more at ease.
….
"How about I spill your guts on the ground.." I snarl.
In response, he just chuckles, seemingly smiling for the first time all night, "You sure are a violent kid, though I suppose it's not the worst thing to have in a place like this."
Crack–
I stopped dead in my tracks, and grab KIive by the arm, causing him to cease his movement– and just listen.
…
He stops and looks around, he doesn't seem to have noticed the sound, but raises no questions, adapting to the situation on the fly.
Multiple monsters have attacked us, but their tactics have all been the same, a sudden assault from the front, or back. Whatever this is, had something those all lacked–Caution.
…
We wait, neither of us shows any sign of unease, or fear. just unwavering patience.
…
Tap- tap- tap-
"Over there!" Far off in the distance, in front of us, I hear the distinct pitter-patter of foot steps.
My body takes off before my mind can catch up, plowing through the fog with all the strength I have.
"Orio-" Klive yelled out at my shrinking back as I took off, he moved too, but there's no way he could have possibly kept up, so I blaze a path for the both of us.
The Fog is impossible to navigate while running, if not for the sounds of my targets fleeing foot steps, it'd be impossible to home in on them.
As I round the corner, the footsteps stop, but I don't– It should be a matter of time till–
WOOOSH– From above, out of the corner of my eye, a silver streak of gleaming steel lashes out at my neck, I dash to the side in the nick of time, and greet the stranger, their body obscured by the heavy fog.
The Figure seems to look me up and down, observing me "Hmm.. I missed, Heh, Do you have a little intelligence beastie?" the man mocked.
He kept his distance, though he was enshrouded by the fog, one detail stood out about him crystal clear– Long silver sickles, firmly gripped in each of his hands, primed to gut their foe.
"Wel-," As I open my mouth, the figures arms, snake out, hurling a multitude of slashes at my vitals,
Heart.
Liver.
Brains.
Lungs.
All are almost simultaneously attacked.. But I feel threatened by them.
So.. I dodge, I slip past all of his attacks and circle behind him.
"!?" Despite the ferocity of his attacks, he over commits, and leaves himself winded, he's open– but I don't follow up.
Because when I get behind him his figure comes into full view.
He stands, two heads over me, his sculpted back flexed, still reeling from his whiffed attack, he's shirtless, brown rags wrapped around his waist, along with black trousers.
But his most striking feature is his shimmering silver hair, radiating in the mist obscured moon-light.
SWISH-
In response to my appraisal, he slashed at me again, but I dodge before he even gets close.
As I skid back, He takes a knee, clearly worn out, I try to take the moment to reason with him, "...Hey hold on a sec, I think I know-" but steel flies out at me again before I can finish.
"Hey watch out!" I wailed, he of course misses again, but clearly he has more in the tank then I figured.
It was a desperate attack, but it doesn't lack any of that previous veracity.
I back up and raise my hands in surrender "Hey! Im trying to talk to-" but Every time I try to stop and open my mouth, his natural response is to remove my head.
Ugh! This is pissing me off! I just need this guy to sit down and LISTEN!
As he goes in to attack, I slip between his arms, and softly push him into the ground.
"I. Said. STOP!" I demand, as I softly shove him to the ground, while he's unbalanced.
*Crack* But as I push on his chest, I feel a familiar sharp snapping sensation.
…Huh…?
…
*Wham!*
It's so sudden I didn't even realize what happened. The Man went soaring, as I pushed him, and slammed into the stone wall, parallel to me.
…
His chest is caved in, and his body crumples against the wall, as the light in his eyes dim.
…
His breath grows labored, grasping for air, as if he's suffocating…
… Wait, I'm confused, I pushed him gently, I know I did, I wasn't rough or anything.. REALLY! So why is he dying…
It's like I'm in a bad dream, nothing makes sense, I just want to close my eyes, wake up, and have everything be fine, but whenever I open them again, the reality of a dying man sits in front of me.
"Shit, Shit SHIT." all of a sudden I'm the most alert I've been all night! The reality of the situation finally dawns on me.
I wanna do something, but I'm blanking, nothing useful comes to mind.
So, I stood there, watching.
…
…
…
"HEY, KID! YOU around there?" as if parting the dense fog, an exhausted voice reached me.
"...Klive?" I try to speak up, but as if fearful to reveal my mistake, I instinctively whisper.
Despite that, The Stoic man manages to catch up to me, the rebounding footsteps of a light jog grow louder as he comes into view.
"God.. The hell do you think you're-" He stops as he notices the dying man on the floor.
He stares straight at him, unconcerned, "Well, I see you found Nova.." not a hint of worry lingering in his voice.
Klive catches his breath and just stands up straight, "Seems recent, what happened?"
I get choked up, and stumble on my words, "I.. He.. We.." I can hardly say it, The image of Casa's face just flashes though my mind. I can't imagine the expression she'd make if she heard me say these words..
But I Managed to force them out anyway, "I.. he attacked me.. So.. I pushed him.." I squeeze out, my voice dry and rough like sand paper.
I expected a bigger reaction, but Klive just looked at me and said "Oh, that's so."
I'm bewildered, "Is that so? W-what do you mean? I- He's dead because of me!" I Yell.
He then Strolls Over, and squats and starts examining him, "To be honest, I figured he was either monster food, or somewhere around here in pieces, him only "about dead", is a much better result than I anticipated" Klives says, as his fingers ghost along Nova's upper chest.
"The hell?! W-Who cares about that! Can't you do something about it, he's still breathing right!" I yell seething with rage!
But suddenly he stands, turns to me and Glares daggers, piercing right through me, "Oh get off your high horse! You couldn't give any more a shit about this idiot than me! You're just afraid of the consequences of your empty promise!" he Yells, for the first time he genuinely raises his voice, furious.
!!!
…His words sink deep, so unexpected… Yet I can't prove him wrong. So I just stay quiet and bow my head.
And as I do, he calms down, "But yes.. I can help him.. I probably can't save his life, but I can preserve it.."
And with those words, "IT" flares.
Shoo–
A Transparent Aura encompasses his body– it's like a transformation, in comparison, his previous self was un-remarkable, but his air shifts into one of a star character, belonging center stage.
His now exceptional vitality is so overflowing, it's like you could taste it, but he pays me no mind, not even mentioning his transformation, and just turns to the man crumpled on the floor.
"Lucky for you, I've learned a thing or two about healing. I can't save his life, but I can give him a bit more time.
He bends down, and places a hand on his chest, and the aura shrouding him flows from his shoulder, down his arm, and pools atop the man's torso.
It sits there, resembling a gelatinous liquid— then starts bubbling.
It somehow Stirs, twists, and turns all at once atop his mangled chest, then seeps into it, slowly as if being carefully drip-feed.
Klive is hypnotically immersed in his task, I don't think being shot by a cannon could break his concentration, the entire world besides the man may as well be invisible to him now.
And shortly after that, his Aura rises from the man, and his chest fills back out, as if he beat the dent of it!
Klive then stands to his feet, and signs, seemingly unimpressed with his own sorcery.
"Tch- I figured I could do better than that, every rib is broken in his chest, but I managed to forcibly fuse some of them back, but a third of them are shattered beyond basic repair, and fragmented in his torso." he says dissatisfied.
"T-That.. Was that your Ichor? "I ask, marveling at what he said.
"Of course, I've extensively studied healing techniques, mostly for me. But they can be used on others as well." He says, "Now's, not that time for that though, he's got an hour–no.. Probably 43 minutes left before he bleeds out internally, clearly you're fast, so get us back so they can make their good byes."
Oh.. I guess he did say he couldn't save him..
After all that spectacle, he only bought him time.. Though I'm the reason he's dying, so it's not like I can complain..
I walk over, and gingerly pick up Nova, holding him in a princess hold, and then turn the Klive, "Grab onto my back, we'll run.. We don't have any time to waste.." I sigh
He doesn't waste time, though it's awkward for a man twice my size to hop on my back, we somehow manage, and try to find our way back as quickly as possible, but it's far easier said than done, even if I retrace my steps, this fog makes it impossible to keep landmarks, so we're just half hoping on good luck, and half on my memory.
But the fog isn't even my biggest worry, all I'm thinking about is what I'm gonna say when I get back.
And only one word reverberates though my head..
I'm.. Sorry..
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Chapter 3- END