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Cass smashed through the silver snakes with rapid speed, leaping from serpent to serpent, fingers in a knife hand as they slipped through the hard scales in rapid sequence. "Ais!" Riveria called out, the words carrying the same cadence as the fruitless wail of a mother for her child. Cass's eyes momentarily moistened as she recalled another mother yelling a similar word, though in that case, the mother was yelling for her child to flee rather than to come back.
Once all the snakes were dead, she spared a glance behind her shoulder - the lead of the caravan was currently occupied, though they seemed confident in their victory, and the middle was cleared. The shattered remnants of the last wagon were strewn about, and some of the lower Level supporters were hurriedly repacking their contents on a different wagon.
Cass didn't have time to wait for them to finish - whether the front of the caravan or the middle. She had to make sure Ais was safe. She ran, boots pounding against the solid floor, and she heard Riveria call out for her. "Gods damn you Cass, slow down," the elven woman cried out, and Cass spared a glance behind her, seeing that Riveria was trying to catch up to her.
They had already made their way out of the eyeline of the rest of the caravan, so Riveria's close following was pushing down Chiropop... was pushing down her speed Skill. It would slow her down more to fight over it. "Close your eyes," Cass said - and Riveria did so. Cass's full speed returned to her, and she sped forward, hurling Riveria over her shoulder and then returning to her run, chasing after the distant sounds of Drake and Revis and everything else. They were yelling about something...
She found Desperate, still skidding along the ground as she caught up to it, pausing momentarily to grab it, prompting Riveria to open her eyes. "Why did you slow down?"
"Desperate," Cass said, waving the sword in front of Riveria's face when the woman didn't immediately understand. "Close your eyes," she repeated.
She arrived as Revis stood among a pile of monster guts, panting for air, fingers shoveling another crystal into her mouth. Revis looked at the pair of them with an exhausted expression on her face, in her body - she didn't want to fight.
"What did you do to Ais?" Riveria demanded.
"Nothing. Got away," Revis said.
"Well then, let me-" Riveria began, arm coming up on her staff, and Cass put her hand on Riveria's wrists, pushing them back down. "Cassandra," Riveria snapped.
"She doesn't want... to fight..." Cass said.
"Well then, that makes one of us!" Riveria said, trying to drag her hands out of Cass's grip. "In fact, I'm glad she's scared!"
"Not scared," Cass told her, and Riveria paused for a moment, glaring over at Revis again. "Why?"
"Had to," Revis said. "Had to. She brought me back, She needs Ais," Revis's voice had a mania to it. It was her... but it wasn't her... this was probably what it was, that was wrong, and different.
"Stop," Cass said. "You don't... have to... I..." she hesitated. "My father, he... he made me do... something bad... I can't... take back," she gently stepped towards Revis, dropping Desperate to the ground behind her, spreading her arms wide in order to show she meant no harm. Revis just stared, covered in monster blood, seeming more disbelieving. "You haven't... yet... that's good," she said, now close to the other woman.
Then she hugged her, gripping her tight, willing for Revis to understand it. "I have to," she whispered.
"You don't," Cass repeated.
"I... I wouldn't... be alive... without Her..."
"I wouldn't be alive... without my father." That was the truth, too.
Revis twitched at that, seeming to consider the logic, trying to find the way that it didn't apply to her - and then something happened, her body slamming into one wall of the Dungeon with terrific force, bruising Cass's arm in the process.
"Cassandra! She's trying to kill you! Let go of her, let me attack her, damnation!"
It wasn't Revis. Revis's legs weren't moving right to do that. The motion came from her chest, like something had grabbed her and hurled her to the side. It repeated the other way, slamming Cass's other arm to the other side of the hall. The dented walls made the whole Dungeon groan. "It's okay," Cass whispered. "Be good. Choose... to be good... that's all... you can do," she explained, as best she could.
"I..." Revis sputtered, then her whole body twitched in Cass's grip, hurling itself upwards, arms snapping outward in some strange upside down spider walk. Her head twisted and jerked on her neck, and Cass could see she was trying to talk, but couldn't, that she was trying to control herself, but something outside her was doing so.
"Harbinger of the end, the white snow-" Riveria began, and then something spewed forth from Revis's mouth, a glittering crystal scarab, moving with lightning speed, just as the floor of the Dungeon cracked open, a big dragon monster bursting into the air to catch it - long-necked, four-legged, almost like a fanged bronta... bronto... like that one dinosaur. Cass tried to move to stop it, but she was too late, and the dragon swallowed up the scarab before collapsing back down to the ground, roaring as its body began to swell and twist. Its maw cracked open - horizontally, and vertically. Riveria readjusted her aim downward as the creature's body deformed from the changes it was undergoing, before it could finish. "Blow with the wind before the twilight." Cass dashed overhead, the creature's tail lashing at her with insane swiftness, but just narrowly missing. She grabbed Revis's inert body, picking it up and hurriedly rounding the corner. "Closing light, the freezing land. Blizzard, the three severe winters - my name is Alf!"
Ice bloomed in the hall, filling it completely, separating Cass and Revis from Riveria, and capturing the creature that had just been created by the Dungeon. Cass heard the ice cracking already, though, and Riveria did too, gauging by the way she started chanting. "The flame will soon be released. Creeping war, unavoidable destruction. The horn of battle sounds aloud, the cruelty of conflict will envelop all. Come, crimson flames, the ruthless inferno. You are the avatar of hellfire. Sweep completely, bring a close to the great war. Burn them through, Sword of Surtr - my name is Alf!"
Riveria managed to finish the chant before the monster had broken out of the ice, but the burst of flame exposed it rather than killing it outright, the fleshy, strange, alien dragon-creature that emerged not the same one that had been entombed in it, roaring at Riveria. Cass laid Revis's unconscious form on the ground, then snapped forward, moving with enhanced Speed as she approached from behind the creature. It heard her at the last moment, and she landed on its neck from behind, her gauntlets gripping tight on its neck, provoking it to roar senselessly, ramming its body this way and that against the walls.
"Whoa!" It was Tiona's voice, the short-haired Amazon having just rounded the corner. "That thing's lookin' nasty," she continued, leaping up towards it and trying to slam into its nose. It opened its mouth, and Cass desperately twisted the head downward as Tiona approached, but the creature was strong enough that it resisted.
"Aria..." the creature groaned out, a torso bursting forward from behind Cass, a second head located there. She tried to lash out with a kick, but the monster's neck was too long. "Aria! Where's Aria?!" It demanded, even as it bit down on Tiona's arm, prompting the Amazon to smash her fist into its nose over and over.
"Let go of my sister!" Roared Tione, leaping forward at maximum speed and strength, and the monster tossed Tiona at her, sending the pair of them thumping to the ground as their momentum canceled each other out.
"Hm. That is not an ordinary Cadmus," Finn said as he saw the scene playing out. "What happened to Alise?"
"The redhead?" Riveria asked, and Finn nodded. "She spat out something, and then a Cadmus ate it, and now it's like this."
"Aria! Ariaaaa! Give me Aria," the creature roared out, twisting around, and Cass felt a powerful pair of hands grab her by the ankles, yanking her down, gauntlets digging into the flesh of the neck as she tried to resist the movement.
Finn rushed forward, but he didn't jump - when the monster tried to bite down on him with its four-hinged jaw, he thrust his spear upwards, the shared momentum dragging it deep into where the creature's brain should have been, thrusting out through the top of its head.
"That's the General! You're so amazing!" Tione said, love overflowing from her every movement.
The monster then snapped its jaw down on Finn's spear and arm, gripping his hand tight, and his eyes had a moment to widen before it slammed him into a wall.
"General!!!" Tione's wail was inconsolate, but Cass was rapidly distracted by the dragging hands of the weird, deformed, centaur-like upper body bursting free of the dragon's form.
"Give me Aria! Aria!" The human-looking face split open, hundreds of daggerlike teeth exposed. "Give me Aria!" Cass kicked at the face, and it bit down on her foot - hard, making her squeal in agony, feeling as if her foot was being lacerated a hundred times over.
"Cassandra!" Riveria shouted out.
"Oy, fucking stupid monster," came the voice of Bete, leaping forward and managing to bounce off the wall, then slam his foot into the creature's head. Its razor-sharp teeth raced across the bare flesh of Cass's foot, and blood and flesh and muscle all were left exposed by the brutal movement - but her foot was free, even if she was dizzy with pain. "C'mon. Stop wasting time with that pipsqueak," he said.
"Aria?" It asked, stupid innocence on its face. Cass looked around for a weapon, seeing where Finn was fighting the front mouth, his spear still thrust through its skull.
"No, I'm not fucking Aria," Bete said, trying to stamp on its head, managing to stop himself when the thing opened its toothy maw to grab his foot. Cass decided to tumble off the creature to one side, rolling, agony lacing up her bitten side as she moved.
"Weapon?" Cass asked - and somebody hurled a sword her way, the weapon spinning through the air. She couldn't stand... well, she could stand, if she ignored the pain, but she wouldn't be able to properly balance her body.
"Fucking let go of the General, you beast!!" Tione roared, having clambered up just behind the jaw of the dragon's head, her hands smashing into its skull and eyes with ruthless strength. Bete was dancing around the rear head, and Tiona seemed to have grabbed one of the legs with the aim of breaking it, or at least knocking the creature off balance.
Cass watched as Bete baited the head he was dealing with, its maw snapping out in between requests for Aria. That part of it moved just like a person - and not a person who was good at fighting. From her position on the ground, leaning onto her good leg, she aimed carefully, watching Bete and the creature's dance, predicting their next five moves... and then she hurled the sword forward. As it whistled through the air, the creature turned around in surprise, confusion, interest - and then the sword guillotined its head off, the whole creature collapsing to the ground a moment later, falling entirely inert.
Tione was still bashing open its head as Finn simply pulled his hand out, idly popping open a health potion and pouring it over the bite marks. "Die! Die! Die! How dare you bite the General?! HOW DARE YOU?!?" Its skull was starting to get pulped inward by her hard work.
"Tione," Finn said. "Thank you. You've done well. It's dead."
"It is?" Tione asked, stunned, looking down at the creature again, then blinking a few more times. "It is! I killed it!"
"I believe that was Cassandra, but your effort is certainly appreciated."
Tione just smiled at that, radiating glee at having been complimented. "Thank you, General."
"Hey, here's the bitch," Bete's voice called out. "She looks dead."
"Don't-" Cass started, hissing as she struggled to her feet.
"Ah, Cassandra, you may want to wait for a healer-" Finn said, and pretty much everyone was looking at her bad leg
She heard Bete kick Revis. "Don't- don't," Cass sputtered.
"Please, sit back down, Cassandra," Finn said. Every step Cass took was agony, but she ignored him. "Bete! Please stop beating up the unconscious enemy!"
"Fuck's sake, why I gotta do-" Bete said, coming around the corner, coming face to face with Cass. His eyes widened, his gaze going to the trail of blood and the injury on her leg. "The fuck're you doing?"
Cass didn't have any particularly good answer for that. Instead, she just collapsed into him, unconsciousness from blood loss claiming her a moment later.
* * *
Ais laid on the cool ground, staring up at the glowing light of the ceiling. Drake was still glowing a soft blue, though he'd turned off his magic thing that made him look like her mother. She glanced over at him; he was seated next to her. The pair of them had found a spot in the middle of the forest on the Fiftieth Floor, somewhere that hopefully they could hide in. Drake had walked without touching the ground all the way over here, princess carrying her along, and that thought made her heart beat faster for a moment, her hand going to her chest in confusion.
"Are you hurt?" Drake asked. His voice was soft and sweet. Thoughtful, as he leaned over her, wanting to make sure she was okay.
"No. Well. Yes," she said, reaching up to her throat, where Revis had choked her unconscious. "Not there... my heartbeat." He gently pressed the back of his hand against her neck, softly brushing the bruises, but with such a feather light touch that it didn't hurt. Her heart beat faster again in response to that.
"Hm. I'll have one of my bodies on the surface talk to Airmid." She smiled at him. He was so nice. "We could try making our way back to the surface," he suggested, glancing off into the distance.
"No. Too far. We should wait for Finn to come back."
"I'll trust you on that," he told her. "This is my first deep expedition... really wish I'd brought a second body," he added.
She just nodded. He shifted in place, clearly anxious, glancing towards the entrance to the Fiftieth Floor, even though they couldn't see it through the forest here. The way his face was framed made her want to...
She leaned up, moving to sit in front of him, getting eye to eye. He gave her a soft smile, and her heart beat a little faster at that. "Thank you for saving me." That wasn't what she wanted to say, though she liked the way he smiled in response to it, soft and gentle and- "I love you," she said, half on instinct, but it felt different from how it normally did, her heart racing even faster.
Drake smiled at that, and it wasn't his normal half-pitying smile. "I'm glad to hear that, Ais," he said, gently placing his hand on her cheek. He leaned into her, kissing her on the lips, and he tasted even more delicious than normal. His fingers softly ran through her hair, so sweet and kind - did that mean that it had worked? He broke off the kiss.
"Did it count?"
"It did," he told her. She felt her lips curl into a smile at that, then she leaned into him, being the one to do the kissing. Kissing him now was even nicer than in the past when he'd done his magic trick to make the sex really good. She wanted to try sex now that she was in love with him. Sex was better when you loved the person, wasn't it? Riveria had said that to her when she was trying to make her stop having sex with Drake. And right now, it was just the two of them, alone, in the forest...
There was a loud roar, and not of a monster that Ais recognized. She turned her gaze to its direction - it was coming up from the Fifty-First Floor. She reached for her waist, but there was no weapon there. Drake pulled one of his throwing knives out, handing it to her. She took it, frowning.
"Better than nothing," he said, and she nodded. He pushed his tongue against his cheek. "If it heads towards us, I'll duplicate," he said. "I doubt it's something easy, given that it's come all this way."
"It sounds weird," Ais said, by way of agreement, and the pair remained still as they listened for it.
It was weird sounding. Like a gigantic caterpillar or something, thousands of soft feet plopping against the ground one after the other, flowing together like raindrops. But then a sing-songy voice chimed in. "Aria~a, Aria! I know you're here, Aria! I saw you, Aria!"
It was getting closer. "It might be able to see my glow," Drake said, standing up, taking a half step into the air. "I should separate."
She clutched at his sleeve, arresting his movement. He looked at her, his expression soft, but looking at her like a child. "It's here for me," she said. At that, he nodded, and they waited.
The creature was definitely coming for them. She heard trees shake under its power, and Drake split his body in two, both apparently getting lots of knives. Why did it copy his knives but not her Desperate? That wasn't fair. If she had two Desperates, she would still have one Desperate right now.
It burst into vision from the treeline, a titanic caterpillar colored in green, a young woman's body emerging from its top, slender and beautiful, green skin and green hair complimented by vivid yellow eyes. It didn't have time to speak or do anything much, though, because Drake immediately hurled ten knives from two bodies at it, each one slicing through air to strike at the creature's body. "Aria-!?" It squeaked as it tried to dodge, its titanic bulk sashaying to one side, and Drake made a hurried yank with his arms, the knives shifting their course to the figure's new position. The strength of the blows wasn't as swift as it otherwise might have been, but they lacerated the creature, purple blood spilling out as it let out a wail of agony that sounded deeply human.
"Tempest," Ais said, snapping forward through the air, knife in hand, aimed straight for the creature's body. It had tried to dodge when Drake had aimed there, so that was probably a weak part. It also was the only place with eyes.
"Aria!" Its arms opened wide, inviting her forward, and Ais slammed the knife into its chest, carried forward by her earlier momentum, making the creature rear up and bend backwards from the force, threatening to fall over. It moved to hug her, and she tried to pull back, but its hands were swifter, grabbing her by the wrists. Slender, feminine, girlish green fingers held her tight, no doubt leaving bruises. "Aria, we can finally be together, just like we wanted to, we can be together, we can be one," it said, its voice manic and needy.
Drake tugged on her from behind - she could feel the way that his invisible strands pulled on her, and she kicked at the creature's face, boot slamming against its cheek, but it just kept up its deranged muttering. Even as she got tugged on, she saw Drake leap up on the creature's back, slamming a knife full force into the back of its neck while it was distracted, the blade bursting free from her side.
She heard a hissing, boiling noise, and the creature's grip laxened enough for her to get free, trying to leap away, but the burst of purple blood was moving fast enough to impact her bare skin, boiling at her flesh and making her scream as she hit the ground. Drake made a corkscrew movement with the knife, popping the creature's head clean off, and leapt away as blood just spurted forth like a fountain. It writhed in agony, moving in a manner like it was undergoing death throes - then it reared up suddenly, towering over her, seemingly planning to just crush her beneath its bulk.
Drake yanked her out from under it by the invisible thread, burning skin scraping across the cool forest floor in a way that made her gasp in pain, but it saved her from its crushing attack. The body kept moving, acting like it was alive despite everything else, and Drake uncorked a potion and poured it over her thighs where the creature's acidic blood had eaten through flesh, quieting the pain down there sharply.
"It's still fighting." Ais rose to her feet.
"I know," Drake said, glancing back up towards the creature as it writhed around in confusion.
"Knife," she said, and he handed her one. She stared up at the creature, contemplating how best to handle it. It paused in its movements for a moment, then started regrowing its head, flesh shaping together. "Tempest."
She darted forward as the creatures face came into being, first jaw then nose then brilliant yellow eyes, which widened as she landed behind her. "Aria? Ah! Aria, I knew you-"
She stabbed her knife into the creature's flesh, deep as she could get it. "Tempest," she said, rushing along the creature's back in the process, the knife carving away at flesh, her arm feeling like it would get wrenched out of her socket from the force. She managed to keep her grip, only stopping the cutting as the knife disintegrated in her hands. "Tempest," she said, leaping off the creature as quick as she could. Purple blood burst free from the wounds, raining down on the monster's own body, making it wail in agony, twisting, writhing around.
"Aria, Aria, why would you do this, Aria?! I just wanted to join with you! We should be-" A knife slammed into its skull from behind, and the upper body twisted backwards as Drake dragged on the fresh injury. "Please, Aria, play with, with me," it panted out, finally seeming to properly slow from the injuries it had taken. "Aria..." The tail swished out, sending a fresh volley of acidic blood her way.
"Tempest," Ais said, bolting backwards as the acid hit where she had been, hot steam rolling off the grass that was currently being disintegrated.
"Aria! Aria~a!" It was wailing, now, whole body thrashing as it struggled to come her way. The knife that had been embedded in the human face had by this point disintegrated, the face reforming around the gash. "Aria, Aria, you can come to me, Aria, come to me, we'll be togethe~er," it whined, twisting, writhing, and scurrying forward towards her.
"Tempest," she said, snapping off to one side. Drake hurriedly run up an invisible set of stairs, managing to get above the creature and off to one side. It look to him, then to Ais, and then-
"Burn them through, Sword of Surtr - my name is Alf!" Flame burst out of the treeline, scouring through a large portion of the creature's main caterpillar body, making it scream, thrashing and wailing.
"Acid for blood," Drake said, hurriedly landing near the group as a whole. "Stay away."
"Understood," Riveria's voice replied. "Ais? Are you alright?" She started up another cast, clearly visibly straining.
"Yes," Ais said.
Given the creature was already injured, they managed to kill it fairly easily, scouring it with repeated flashes of fire from a great distance fired off by Riveria and Lefiya, until at last it fell down, inert, some of its blood spilling out and releasing long, hissing noises as it slowly disintegrated the grass and ground that surrounded it.
"Mm. The magic stone would be good to get, but quite difficult, I think," Finn noted, glancing at the corpse. "The other one didn't have that particular trait."
"Other one?" Drake asked. Riveria wrapped Ais in a big hug, pulling her into her bosom and gently running her fingers through her hair.
"Revis spat up some type of crystal," Finn explained. "When a Cadmus ate it... well, it became a quite obnoxious monster to fight."
As Riveria tightened her grip on Ais, she winced as her thighs inadvertently came into contact - and Riveria noticed, pushing her away. "You-" she sputtered, then wheeled around on Drake. "You cad! She was with you for not even an hour! A monster attacked! And you!"
Drake just frowned, not seeming to understand. "What? Wait, are you talking about her genuine love confession?"
"Love confession?!?" Riveria's voice was a roar.
"Ahem," Finn cleared his throat. "Riveria?"
"He- he was fucking Ais while we were gone!" Riveria said. "She can't push her legs together, that's how hard this brute went at it!"
"No, she got some of the monster's blood on her when it grabbed her and I stabbed it from behind," Drake said. "I poured a healing potion on it, that's why it's not that bad."
Riveria's whole face turned scarlet in response, sputtering angrily, then muttering to herself, the words a jumble and not in Koine.
"Drake," Finn said. "Cassandra... was quite severely injured. She bled quite a lot, and while we staunched it, she's still unconscious."
"Where?" Drake asked, and Finn made a small gesture with his free hand, Drake darting off - and then the other Drake descended from the sky, landing next to her.
Finn let out a chuckle at that. "Another one, eh? Well, I can't deny I also wish you'd brought two bodies."
"In the future, I definitely will," Drake said.
"I think we'll have to turn back - Revis's attack has disrupted things far too much, and these two powerful monsters in quick succession..." Finn shook his head. "The risk is too great. I don't trust any of it."
"It's that bitch's fault," Bete chimed in. His legs were pretty soaked in blood, red staining him from the thighs on down, but he didn't seem to be injured. "I don't see why we don't fucking kill her while she's down."
"Who?" Ais asked.
"Revis! Fucking Cass bleeds all over me, and Finn's like, Oh, Bete, stop killing the bitch. Fucking psycho kidnapped you."
"From what Riveria said, she may have not been in her full faculties, and given Cassandra's abilities, I'm inclined to trust her judgment." Finn's gaze flicked to Drake, having noticed something that Ais didn't. "Do you disagree? You are her husband." Drake definitely winced there, then let out a long sigh.
"Cass tends to... she did something very bad in her past, so she looks at other people who do bad things, and sees herself in them. I don't know if Revis is really saveable, just because Cass thinks so."
"Mm." Finn hummed, contemplating the matter.
"Can I kill the bitch then?" Bete asked.
"We already cut off her legs and bound her," Finn said, dismissing Bete's demand. "She cut off her own legs to escape Riveria's Wynn Fimbulvetr, so I can't imagine the loss will really disrupt her too much, but if she wakes up angry, it'll buy us at least a little time. Tione's watching over her, ready to kill her if she tries to get free."
"She's unconscious?" Drake asked.
"Yes. Very. No pulse, no breath. She might be dead. I couldn't say." Drake's jaw clenched at that.
"I could probably help keep watch on her," Drake said. "You and Yours Stance is very effective on her, but, ah, it also has an impact on anyone else who can see me."
"It certainly does," Finn agreed. He tilted his head. "Right. One of your bodies will stay with her, too. Better able to calm her if she wakes up in a panic. I would hate to unnecessarily kill her - she is very powerful, and even from Riveria's description, there's at least the possibility she was being controlled. Of course, there's also the possibility that we're wasting our time, and she's dead already."
"Yeah," Drake agreed. "But better safe than sorry." He headed towards the caravan.
"How are you feeling, Ais?" Finn asked. "Revis was roughest with you."
"I'm fine." Ais said.
"That's all? No other feelings on the situation at all?" Finn prompted.
Ais paused, thinking about it hard. Were there any new feelings she had? Well, now she was in love with Drake, but Drake had already mentioned that. Actually, there was one feeling she had about the whole situation. "I want to try lovey-dovey sex with Drake now that we're in love."
"AIS!!!" Riveria screeched.
Next Chapter
Cass smashed through the silver snakes with rapid speed, leaping from serpent to serpent, fingers in a knife hand as they slipped through the hard scales in rapid sequence. "Ais!" Riveria called out, the words carrying the same cadence as the fruitless wail of a mother for her child. Cass's eyes momentarily moistened as she recalled another mother yelling a similar word, though in that case, the mother was yelling for her child to flee rather than to come back.
Once all the snakes were dead, she spared a glance behind her shoulder - the lead of the caravan was currently occupied, though they seemed confident in their victory, and the middle was cleared. The shattered remnants of the last wagon were strewn about, and some of the lower Level supporters were hurriedly repacking their contents on a different wagon.
Cass didn't have time to wait for them to finish - whether the front of the caravan or the middle. She had to make sure Ais was safe. She ran, boots pounding against the solid floor, and she heard Riveria call out for her. "Gods damn you Cass, slow down," the elven woman cried out, and Cass spared a glance behind her, seeing that Riveria was trying to catch up to her.
They had already made their way out of the eyeline of the rest of the caravan, so Riveria's close following was pushing down Chiropop... was pushing down her speed Skill. It would slow her down more to fight over it. "Close your eyes," Cass said - and Riveria did so. Cass's full speed returned to her, and she sped forward, hurling Riveria over her shoulder and then returning to her run, chasing after the distant sounds of Drake and Revis and everything else. They were yelling about something...
She found Desperate, still skidding along the ground as she caught up to it, pausing momentarily to grab it, prompting Riveria to open her eyes. "Why did you slow down?"
"Desperate," Cass said, waving the sword in front of Riveria's face when the woman didn't immediately understand. "Close your eyes," she repeated.
She arrived as Revis stood among a pile of monster guts, panting for air, fingers shoveling another crystal into her mouth. Revis looked at the pair of them with an exhausted expression on her face, in her body - she didn't want to fight.
"What did you do to Ais?" Riveria demanded.
"Nothing. Got away," Revis said.
"Well then, let me-" Riveria began, arm coming up on her staff, and Cass put her hand on Riveria's wrists, pushing them back down. "Cassandra," Riveria snapped.
"She doesn't want... to fight..." Cass said.
"Well then, that makes one of us!" Riveria said, trying to drag her hands out of Cass's grip. "In fact, I'm glad she's scared!"
"Not scared," Cass told her, and Riveria paused for a moment, glaring over at Revis again. "Why?"
"Had to," Revis said. "Had to. She brought me back, She needs Ais," Revis's voice had a mania to it. It was her... but it wasn't her... this was probably what it was, that was wrong, and different.
"Stop," Cass said. "You don't... have to... I..." she hesitated. "My father, he... he made me do... something bad... I can't... take back," she gently stepped towards Revis, dropping Desperate to the ground behind her, spreading her arms wide in order to show she meant no harm. Revis just stared, covered in monster blood, seeming more disbelieving. "You haven't... yet... that's good," she said, now close to the other woman.
Then she hugged her, gripping her tight, willing for Revis to understand it. "I have to," she whispered.
"You don't," Cass repeated.
"I... I wouldn't... be alive... without Her..."
"I wouldn't be alive... without my father." That was the truth, too.
Revis twitched at that, seeming to consider the logic, trying to find the way that it didn't apply to her - and then something happened, her body slamming into one wall of the Dungeon with terrific force, bruising Cass's arm in the process.
"Cassandra! She's trying to kill you! Let go of her, let me attack her, damnation!"
It wasn't Revis. Revis's legs weren't moving right to do that. The motion came from her chest, like something had grabbed her and hurled her to the side. It repeated the other way, slamming Cass's other arm to the other side of the hall. The dented walls made the whole Dungeon groan. "It's okay," Cass whispered. "Be good. Choose... to be good... that's all... you can do," she explained, as best she could.
"I..." Revis sputtered, then her whole body twitched in Cass's grip, hurling itself upwards, arms snapping outward in some strange upside down spider walk. Her head twisted and jerked on her neck, and Cass could see she was trying to talk, but couldn't, that she was trying to control herself, but something outside her was doing so.
"Harbinger of the end, the white snow-" Riveria began, and then something spewed forth from Revis's mouth, a glittering crystal scarab, moving with lightning speed, just as the floor of the Dungeon cracked open, a big dragon monster bursting into the air to catch it - long-necked, four-legged, almost like a fanged bronta... bronto... like that one dinosaur. Cass tried to move to stop it, but she was too late, and the dragon swallowed up the scarab before collapsing back down to the ground, roaring as its body began to swell and twist. Its maw cracked open - horizontally, and vertically. Riveria readjusted her aim downward as the creature's body deformed from the changes it was undergoing, before it could finish. "Blow with the wind before the twilight." Cass dashed overhead, the creature's tail lashing at her with insane swiftness, but just narrowly missing. She grabbed Revis's inert body, picking it up and hurriedly rounding the corner. "Closing light, the freezing land. Blizzard, the three severe winters - my name is Alf!"
Ice bloomed in the hall, filling it completely, separating Cass and Revis from Riveria, and capturing the creature that had just been created by the Dungeon. Cass heard the ice cracking already, though, and Riveria did too, gauging by the way she started chanting. "The flame will soon be released. Creeping war, unavoidable destruction. The horn of battle sounds aloud, the cruelty of conflict will envelop all. Come, crimson flames, the ruthless inferno. You are the avatar of hellfire. Sweep completely, bring a close to the great war. Burn them through, Sword of Surtr - my name is Alf!"
Riveria managed to finish the chant before the monster had broken out of the ice, but the burst of flame exposed it rather than killing it outright, the fleshy, strange, alien dragon-creature that emerged not the same one that had been entombed in it, roaring at Riveria. Cass laid Revis's unconscious form on the ground, then snapped forward, moving with enhanced Speed as she approached from behind the creature. It heard her at the last moment, and she landed on its neck from behind, her gauntlets gripping tight on its neck, provoking it to roar senselessly, ramming its body this way and that against the walls.
"Whoa!" It was Tiona's voice, the short-haired Amazon having just rounded the corner. "That thing's lookin' nasty," she continued, leaping up towards it and trying to slam into its nose. It opened its mouth, and Cass desperately twisted the head downward as Tiona approached, but the creature was strong enough that it resisted.
"Aria..." the creature groaned out, a torso bursting forward from behind Cass, a second head located there. She tried to lash out with a kick, but the monster's neck was too long. "Aria! Where's Aria?!" It demanded, even as it bit down on Tiona's arm, prompting the Amazon to smash her fist into its nose over and over.
"Let go of my sister!" Roared Tione, leaping forward at maximum speed and strength, and the monster tossed Tiona at her, sending the pair of them thumping to the ground as their momentum canceled each other out.
"Hm. That is not an ordinary Cadmus," Finn said as he saw the scene playing out. "What happened to Alise?"
"The redhead?" Riveria asked, and Finn nodded. "She spat out something, and then a Cadmus ate it, and now it's like this."
"Aria! Ariaaaa! Give me Aria," the creature roared out, twisting around, and Cass felt a powerful pair of hands grab her by the ankles, yanking her down, gauntlets digging into the flesh of the neck as she tried to resist the movement.
Finn rushed forward, but he didn't jump - when the monster tried to bite down on him with its four-hinged jaw, he thrust his spear upwards, the shared momentum dragging it deep into where the creature's brain should have been, thrusting out through the top of its head.
"That's the General! You're so amazing!" Tione said, love overflowing from her every movement.
The monster then snapped its jaw down on Finn's spear and arm, gripping his hand tight, and his eyes had a moment to widen before it slammed him into a wall.
"General!!!" Tione's wail was inconsolate, but Cass was rapidly distracted by the dragging hands of the weird, deformed, centaur-like upper body bursting free of the dragon's form.
"Give me Aria! Aria!" The human-looking face split open, hundreds of daggerlike teeth exposed. "Give me Aria!" Cass kicked at the face, and it bit down on her foot - hard, making her squeal in agony, feeling as if her foot was being lacerated a hundred times over.
"Cassandra!" Riveria shouted out.
"Oy, fucking stupid monster," came the voice of Bete, leaping forward and managing to bounce off the wall, then slam his foot into the creature's head. Its razor-sharp teeth raced across the bare flesh of Cass's foot, and blood and flesh and muscle all were left exposed by the brutal movement - but her foot was free, even if she was dizzy with pain. "C'mon. Stop wasting time with that pipsqueak," he said.
"Aria?" It asked, stupid innocence on its face. Cass looked around for a weapon, seeing where Finn was fighting the front mouth, his spear still thrust through its skull.
"No, I'm not fucking Aria," Bete said, trying to stamp on its head, managing to stop himself when the thing opened its toothy maw to grab his foot. Cass decided to tumble off the creature to one side, rolling, agony lacing up her bitten side as she moved.
"Weapon?" Cass asked - and somebody hurled a sword her way, the weapon spinning through the air. She couldn't stand... well, she could stand, if she ignored the pain, but she wouldn't be able to properly balance her body.
"Fucking let go of the General, you beast!!" Tione roared, having clambered up just behind the jaw of the dragon's head, her hands smashing into its skull and eyes with ruthless strength. Bete was dancing around the rear head, and Tiona seemed to have grabbed one of the legs with the aim of breaking it, or at least knocking the creature off balance.
Cass watched as Bete baited the head he was dealing with, its maw snapping out in between requests for Aria. That part of it moved just like a person - and not a person who was good at fighting. From her position on the ground, leaning onto her good leg, she aimed carefully, watching Bete and the creature's dance, predicting their next five moves... and then she hurled the sword forward. As it whistled through the air, the creature turned around in surprise, confusion, interest - and then the sword guillotined its head off, the whole creature collapsing to the ground a moment later, falling entirely inert.
Tione was still bashing open its head as Finn simply pulled his hand out, idly popping open a health potion and pouring it over the bite marks. "Die! Die! Die! How dare you bite the General?! HOW DARE YOU?!?" Its skull was starting to get pulped inward by her hard work.
"Tione," Finn said. "Thank you. You've done well. It's dead."
"It is?" Tione asked, stunned, looking down at the creature again, then blinking a few more times. "It is! I killed it!"
"I believe that was Cassandra, but your effort is certainly appreciated."
Tione just smiled at that, radiating glee at having been complimented. "Thank you, General."
"Hey, here's the bitch," Bete's voice called out. "She looks dead."
"Don't-" Cass started, hissing as she struggled to her feet.
"Ah, Cassandra, you may want to wait for a healer-" Finn said, and pretty much everyone was looking at her bad leg
She heard Bete kick Revis. "Don't- don't," Cass sputtered.
"Please, sit back down, Cassandra," Finn said. Every step Cass took was agony, but she ignored him. "Bete! Please stop beating up the unconscious enemy!"
"Fuck's sake, why I gotta do-" Bete said, coming around the corner, coming face to face with Cass. His eyes widened, his gaze going to the trail of blood and the injury on her leg. "The fuck're you doing?"
Cass didn't have any particularly good answer for that. Instead, she just collapsed into him, unconsciousness from blood loss claiming her a moment later.
* * *
Ais laid on the cool ground, staring up at the glowing light of the ceiling. Drake was still glowing a soft blue, though he'd turned off his magic thing that made him look like her mother. She glanced over at him; he was seated next to her. The pair of them had found a spot in the middle of the forest on the Fiftieth Floor, somewhere that hopefully they could hide in. Drake had walked without touching the ground all the way over here, princess carrying her along, and that thought made her heart beat faster for a moment, her hand going to her chest in confusion.
"Are you hurt?" Drake asked. His voice was soft and sweet. Thoughtful, as he leaned over her, wanting to make sure she was okay.
"No. Well. Yes," she said, reaching up to her throat, where Revis had choked her unconscious. "Not there... my heartbeat." He gently pressed the back of his hand against her neck, softly brushing the bruises, but with such a feather light touch that it didn't hurt. Her heart beat faster again in response to that.
"Hm. I'll have one of my bodies on the surface talk to Airmid." She smiled at him. He was so nice. "We could try making our way back to the surface," he suggested, glancing off into the distance.
"No. Too far. We should wait for Finn to come back."
"I'll trust you on that," he told her. "This is my first deep expedition... really wish I'd brought a second body," he added.
She just nodded. He shifted in place, clearly anxious, glancing towards the entrance to the Fiftieth Floor, even though they couldn't see it through the forest here. The way his face was framed made her want to...
She leaned up, moving to sit in front of him, getting eye to eye. He gave her a soft smile, and her heart beat a little faster at that. "Thank you for saving me." That wasn't what she wanted to say, though she liked the way he smiled in response to it, soft and gentle and- "I love you," she said, half on instinct, but it felt different from how it normally did, her heart racing even faster.
Drake smiled at that, and it wasn't his normal half-pitying smile. "I'm glad to hear that, Ais," he said, gently placing his hand on her cheek. He leaned into her, kissing her on the lips, and he tasted even more delicious than normal. His fingers softly ran through her hair, so sweet and kind - did that mean that it had worked? He broke off the kiss.
"Did it count?"
"It did," he told her. She felt her lips curl into a smile at that, then she leaned into him, being the one to do the kissing. Kissing him now was even nicer than in the past when he'd done his magic trick to make the sex really good. She wanted to try sex now that she was in love with him. Sex was better when you loved the person, wasn't it? Riveria had said that to her when she was trying to make her stop having sex with Drake. And right now, it was just the two of them, alone, in the forest...
There was a loud roar, and not of a monster that Ais recognized. She turned her gaze to its direction - it was coming up from the Fifty-First Floor. She reached for her waist, but there was no weapon there. Drake pulled one of his throwing knives out, handing it to her. She took it, frowning.
"Better than nothing," he said, and she nodded. He pushed his tongue against his cheek. "If it heads towards us, I'll duplicate," he said. "I doubt it's something easy, given that it's come all this way."
"It sounds weird," Ais said, by way of agreement, and the pair remained still as they listened for it.
It was weird sounding. Like a gigantic caterpillar or something, thousands of soft feet plopping against the ground one after the other, flowing together like raindrops. But then a sing-songy voice chimed in. "Aria~a, Aria! I know you're here, Aria! I saw you, Aria!"
It was getting closer. "It might be able to see my glow," Drake said, standing up, taking a half step into the air. "I should separate."
She clutched at his sleeve, arresting his movement. He looked at her, his expression soft, but looking at her like a child. "It's here for me," she said. At that, he nodded, and they waited.
The creature was definitely coming for them. She heard trees shake under its power, and Drake split his body in two, both apparently getting lots of knives. Why did it copy his knives but not her Desperate? That wasn't fair. If she had two Desperates, she would still have one Desperate right now.
It burst into vision from the treeline, a titanic caterpillar colored in green, a young woman's body emerging from its top, slender and beautiful, green skin and green hair complimented by vivid yellow eyes. It didn't have time to speak or do anything much, though, because Drake immediately hurled ten knives from two bodies at it, each one slicing through air to strike at the creature's body. "Aria-!?" It squeaked as it tried to dodge, its titanic bulk sashaying to one side, and Drake made a hurried yank with his arms, the knives shifting their course to the figure's new position. The strength of the blows wasn't as swift as it otherwise might have been, but they lacerated the creature, purple blood spilling out as it let out a wail of agony that sounded deeply human.
"Tempest," Ais said, snapping forward through the air, knife in hand, aimed straight for the creature's body. It had tried to dodge when Drake had aimed there, so that was probably a weak part. It also was the only place with eyes.
"Aria!" Its arms opened wide, inviting her forward, and Ais slammed the knife into its chest, carried forward by her earlier momentum, making the creature rear up and bend backwards from the force, threatening to fall over. It moved to hug her, and she tried to pull back, but its hands were swifter, grabbing her by the wrists. Slender, feminine, girlish green fingers held her tight, no doubt leaving bruises. "Aria, we can finally be together, just like we wanted to, we can be together, we can be one," it said, its voice manic and needy.
Drake tugged on her from behind - she could feel the way that his invisible strands pulled on her, and she kicked at the creature's face, boot slamming against its cheek, but it just kept up its deranged muttering. Even as she got tugged on, she saw Drake leap up on the creature's back, slamming a knife full force into the back of its neck while it was distracted, the blade bursting free from her side.
She heard a hissing, boiling noise, and the creature's grip laxened enough for her to get free, trying to leap away, but the burst of purple blood was moving fast enough to impact her bare skin, boiling at her flesh and making her scream as she hit the ground. Drake made a corkscrew movement with the knife, popping the creature's head clean off, and leapt away as blood just spurted forth like a fountain. It writhed in agony, moving in a manner like it was undergoing death throes - then it reared up suddenly, towering over her, seemingly planning to just crush her beneath its bulk.
Drake yanked her out from under it by the invisible thread, burning skin scraping across the cool forest floor in a way that made her gasp in pain, but it saved her from its crushing attack. The body kept moving, acting like it was alive despite everything else, and Drake uncorked a potion and poured it over her thighs where the creature's acidic blood had eaten through flesh, quieting the pain down there sharply.
"It's still fighting." Ais rose to her feet.
"I know," Drake said, glancing back up towards the creature as it writhed around in confusion.
"Knife," she said, and he handed her one. She stared up at the creature, contemplating how best to handle it. It paused in its movements for a moment, then started regrowing its head, flesh shaping together. "Tempest."
She darted forward as the creatures face came into being, first jaw then nose then brilliant yellow eyes, which widened as she landed behind her. "Aria? Ah! Aria, I knew you-"
She stabbed her knife into the creature's flesh, deep as she could get it. "Tempest," she said, rushing along the creature's back in the process, the knife carving away at flesh, her arm feeling like it would get wrenched out of her socket from the force. She managed to keep her grip, only stopping the cutting as the knife disintegrated in her hands. "Tempest," she said, leaping off the creature as quick as she could. Purple blood burst free from the wounds, raining down on the monster's own body, making it wail in agony, twisting, writhing around.
"Aria, Aria, why would you do this, Aria?! I just wanted to join with you! We should be-" A knife slammed into its skull from behind, and the upper body twisted backwards as Drake dragged on the fresh injury. "Please, Aria, play with, with me," it panted out, finally seeming to properly slow from the injuries it had taken. "Aria..." The tail swished out, sending a fresh volley of acidic blood her way.
"Tempest," Ais said, bolting backwards as the acid hit where she had been, hot steam rolling off the grass that was currently being disintegrated.
"Aria! Aria~a!" It was wailing, now, whole body thrashing as it struggled to come her way. The knife that had been embedded in the human face had by this point disintegrated, the face reforming around the gash. "Aria, Aria, you can come to me, Aria, come to me, we'll be togethe~er," it whined, twisting, writhing, and scurrying forward towards her.
"Tempest," she said, snapping off to one side. Drake hurriedly run up an invisible set of stairs, managing to get above the creature and off to one side. It look to him, then to Ais, and then-
"Burn them through, Sword of Surtr - my name is Alf!" Flame burst out of the treeline, scouring through a large portion of the creature's main caterpillar body, making it scream, thrashing and wailing.
"Acid for blood," Drake said, hurriedly landing near the group as a whole. "Stay away."
"Understood," Riveria's voice replied. "Ais? Are you alright?" She started up another cast, clearly visibly straining.
"Yes," Ais said.
Given the creature was already injured, they managed to kill it fairly easily, scouring it with repeated flashes of fire from a great distance fired off by Riveria and Lefiya, until at last it fell down, inert, some of its blood spilling out and releasing long, hissing noises as it slowly disintegrated the grass and ground that surrounded it.
"Mm. The magic stone would be good to get, but quite difficult, I think," Finn noted, glancing at the corpse. "The other one didn't have that particular trait."
"Other one?" Drake asked. Riveria wrapped Ais in a big hug, pulling her into her bosom and gently running her fingers through her hair.
"Revis spat up some type of crystal," Finn explained. "When a Cadmus ate it... well, it became a quite obnoxious monster to fight."
As Riveria tightened her grip on Ais, she winced as her thighs inadvertently came into contact - and Riveria noticed, pushing her away. "You-" she sputtered, then wheeled around on Drake. "You cad! She was with you for not even an hour! A monster attacked! And you!"
Drake just frowned, not seeming to understand. "What? Wait, are you talking about her genuine love confession?"
"Love confession?!?" Riveria's voice was a roar.
"Ahem," Finn cleared his throat. "Riveria?"
"He- he was fucking Ais while we were gone!" Riveria said. "She can't push her legs together, that's how hard this brute went at it!"
"No, she got some of the monster's blood on her when it grabbed her and I stabbed it from behind," Drake said. "I poured a healing potion on it, that's why it's not that bad."
Riveria's whole face turned scarlet in response, sputtering angrily, then muttering to herself, the words a jumble and not in Koine.
"Drake," Finn said. "Cassandra... was quite severely injured. She bled quite a lot, and while we staunched it, she's still unconscious."
"Where?" Drake asked, and Finn made a small gesture with his free hand, Drake darting off - and then the other Drake descended from the sky, landing next to her.
Finn let out a chuckle at that. "Another one, eh? Well, I can't deny I also wish you'd brought two bodies."
"In the future, I definitely will," Drake said.
"I think we'll have to turn back - Revis's attack has disrupted things far too much, and these two powerful monsters in quick succession..." Finn shook his head. "The risk is too great. I don't trust any of it."
"It's that bitch's fault," Bete chimed in. His legs were pretty soaked in blood, red staining him from the thighs on down, but he didn't seem to be injured. "I don't see why we don't fucking kill her while she's down."
"Who?" Ais asked.
"Revis! Fucking Cass bleeds all over me, and Finn's like, Oh, Bete, stop killing the bitch. Fucking psycho kidnapped you."
"From what Riveria said, she may have not been in her full faculties, and given Cassandra's abilities, I'm inclined to trust her judgment." Finn's gaze flicked to Drake, having noticed something that Ais didn't. "Do you disagree? You are her husband." Drake definitely winced there, then let out a long sigh.
"Cass tends to... she did something very bad in her past, so she looks at other people who do bad things, and sees herself in them. I don't know if Revis is really saveable, just because Cass thinks so."
"Mm." Finn hummed, contemplating the matter.
"Can I kill the bitch then?" Bete asked.
"We already cut off her legs and bound her," Finn said, dismissing Bete's demand. "She cut off her own legs to escape Riveria's Wynn Fimbulvetr, so I can't imagine the loss will really disrupt her too much, but if she wakes up angry, it'll buy us at least a little time. Tione's watching over her, ready to kill her if she tries to get free."
"She's unconscious?" Drake asked.
"Yes. Very. No pulse, no breath. She might be dead. I couldn't say." Drake's jaw clenched at that.
"I could probably help keep watch on her," Drake said. "You and Yours Stance is very effective on her, but, ah, it also has an impact on anyone else who can see me."
"It certainly does," Finn agreed. He tilted his head. "Right. One of your bodies will stay with her, too. Better able to calm her if she wakes up in a panic. I would hate to unnecessarily kill her - she is very powerful, and even from Riveria's description, there's at least the possibility she was being controlled. Of course, there's also the possibility that we're wasting our time, and she's dead already."
"Yeah," Drake agreed. "But better safe than sorry." He headed towards the caravan.
"How are you feeling, Ais?" Finn asked. "Revis was roughest with you."
"I'm fine." Ais said.
"That's all? No other feelings on the situation at all?" Finn prompted.
Ais paused, thinking about it hard. Were there any new feelings she had? Well, now she was in love with Drake, but Drake had already mentioned that. Actually, there was one feeling she had about the whole situation. "I want to try lovey-dovey sex with Drake now that we're in love."
"AIS!!!" Riveria screeched.
Next Chapter
Lol Finn saw it! I wonder what he saw.
His dead parents.
His dead parents.