Chapter 48
A Heart Astray
Maki
"Let's start by figuring out where we are," I say.
"Shouldn't we wait for them to rescue us first?" Uni asks.
"It's possible, but look up."
What should have been the hole we fell from is nothing but stalactites and rocks often seen in other common caves. Uni hangs her mouth open, her eyebrows raising.
"It's gone . . . Didn't we come from above? Why is it . . .?"
"It's possible we got deeper into the cave or slid to a different part. Either way, we can't sit here and do nothing." I get up, stretching my body. So far, there's no pain. Though my limbs have this unpleasant numbness to it. Sylvie's potion works wonders, but how long will it last is the next question.
I extend a hand to Uni, who in turn looks at it like it'll explode if she makes contact with it.
"What's the matter?" I ask. We should get moving before it becomes night. It's not the worst thing in the world, but most animals (or monsters), if not all, always find shelter when the sun disappears.
"I—I'll be fine. I'm not a kid."
It takes me a bit of staring at my hand to realize what she was talking about. I pull my hand and take a few steps forward, making sure our eyes don't meet. "Of—of course you are." I want to mention more to explain myself, but I don't want to make this more awkward than it already is. Or in other words, adding more fuel to the fire. Whatever that passage I read in the library Sylvie showed me. Anyway. "Just follow behind me."
"Why should I be at the back? I told you I'm not a kid."
Maybe I can convince her this way?
"No, that's not what I meant." I wave my hand in the air. "You're using a ranged weapon, aren't you? Wouldn't it make sense you'd be in the back? If monsters show up, we'll be in a good position."
"That's true, but what if they attack us from behind?"
"That's . . . a good point."
"See? Why don't we just walk beside each other instead? That way, we can prepare for a head-on fight, a back attack, and maybe even a pincer attack."
I don't have any remarks on that. Honestly, the reason I suggested the idea is to avoid walking side-by-side. Uni's not getting my point here. What can you do, I guess?
"Alright. Let's get going, then," she says as she gets beside me. There's no avoiding this, huh?
The area we landed on doesn't have any other paths other than the straight path in front of us. So far, no monsters are popping out of nowhere at us yet. It might change later on if we're not careful. The last thing I want to happen to the both of us is getting ambushed. Preparation is key, as my father always said.
As Uni complains about how long the path is taking us before reaching the end, we come across an intersection leading to two different directions.
"It doesn't seem like this path's been altered for people to go around in," I say. Also, there would've been signs of torches or something similar around at some point. But that's out of the picture.
"Well, duh. No one stepped foot into this far into the island except for us."
"Who knows? Maybe there were people here before, maybe there weren't. In any case, it's not a good idea to split paths."
"Why not? It should be fine. I'm not weak, you know."
"I know, I know. I'm not questioning your strength, but what if the path gets blocked and separated us? There might be traps around here we don't know about. I'm not taking that chance." Noire will kill me if anything happens to her. And I've got my own reasons as well. "Let's head right first."
"Wait, isn't that choice too obvious? I say we head left first."
I want to make an argument, but she's not wrong about it. Choosing the left path helped me get to IF faster the night she got attacked. And also, after that great fall earlier, I don't have the strength to even argue about it.
We're not in a hurry, and it's not like it's unnatural, but the walls around us, as well as the stalactites above, increases their distances from us the further we move. It might mean we're almost at the exit; but then again, I'm not picking up any sound of wind anywhere.
"Did we go the wrong way?" she sighs.
"No use complaining now. We've already moved this far. We should at least check what's on the far end of this path."
She nods, moving her gaze to our surroundings. I sigh as well and continue to check ahead of us.
I freeze.
Uni notices this and stops in her tracks as well.
"Something wrong?" she asks.
Ignoring her (she pouts and groans from this), I put all my focus on my ears. Something is going on causing a sound. It's not the wind, however. I wish it is. The sound is faint, and it's hard to grasp what it is.
"What are you doing?" she asks again.
"Either I'm crazy or delusional, but I'm hearing something. And it's getting louder."
"Is it the exit?"
"I doubt it. It's not coming from the front. It's . . . coming from below!"
A hole opens up in front of us, revealing a large body of mechanical parts covered in rusts with the head of a lion on its chest. On its right hand, a large sword roaring with flames makes the area brighter. The flames aren't flicking or anything. It might not be real fire, but a sword's still a weapon.
Coughing from the clouds of dust, I ask Uni, "Are you alright?"
"No way . . . Brave . . .?"
I call out to her again, but she remains unresponsive. The robot swings its sword. Grabbing Uni's wrist, I yank her away from danger. "Snap out of it!" Another swing. It misses, that's good. Still, that's too close for comfort, damn it!
When the robot strikes again, I parry it with a dagger. I shouldn't be using this. I know I shouldn't. But why let the robot hit us for free? This thing's not human or anything. It should be fine if I make an exception.
Clang!
Another parry. And another. When the third comes, it swings from a different angle, forcing me to grip my dagger with both hands to block. The force is pushing me back. "Uni? Uni!" This thing's insane. How much stronger can it get?
The robot switches target. I manage to push Uni out of the way at the cost of my left arm getting struck. The pain forces me on my knees, and the robot switches target to me again.
Instead of attacking again, the robot flinches from a blast, smoke forming around its face.
"Just in the nick of time, huh?" Uni says, resting her gun on her shoulder.
"I would've appreciated it more if you did that earlier."
"Sh-shut up! I was thinking about something."
What could she possibly be thinking that's more important than a crazed piece of machinery set out to murder us both? "Get ready. It's about to attack again."
"Already on it!" She fiddles with her gun before firing at the robot again.
I parry another strike. It does a dirty move of punching me in the middle of our clash, sending me to the nearby wall. A small crater in the shape of my body forms on the wall once I peel off it. The impact almost broke every bone in my body. Such a dirty trick, ow.
The robot charges at me, cutting a few strands of my hair, and getting its sword stuck inside the wall I landed.
"Uni, this is your chance. Shoot it—huh?"
Another one of Uni's shots forces the robot to kneel. However, it recovers and pulls the sword out to attack me again. I dodge before it hits and retreat to where Uni is.
"What happened?" she asks.
"A Mark."
"A what?"
"Another Mark!" This Brave or whatever Uni calls it has an Ethereal Mark on its back. There's no mistaking it. Three overlapping circles forming a pyramid—why is it on another robot? How is it possible on a robot in the first place?
I rip the eyepatch off my left eye. It causes my world to spin, but I ignore the feeling as I activate 'it'. "Uni, hit it with your best shot, why don't you?"
She pulls something on her gun but stumbles while doing it, almost letting the gun drop.
"You okay there?" I face her.
Her body flinches but she manages to get her gun ready. "I'm—I'm fine." She gets her stance ready. "Tell me when to shoot."
I stomp one foot on the ground. The cave grows dimmer as a deep bell resonates throughout the entire area. "Noctrum Limuli Screos!" A magic circle in the color of scarlet spins beneath my feet.
All at once, yellow sparkles rise behind Brave. "Shoot it, now!"
Brave leaps high in the air and swings his sword, aiming for my head. I dodge it again. Though the impact throws me off guard and sends me flying a fair distance.
"Uni, what are you doing? Shoot it now!"
Uni's gun builds up a ball of light on the tip, filling the air with whirring sounds. Noticing this, Brave goes for her. I throw daggers to the robot's feet and sends out bolts of electricity. Although it hits, the strange part about it? Brave passes through the lightning like it's nothing.
Nepgear told me robots can break down from having too much electricity. Why isn't it working now?
"Uni!"
As though realizing, Uni fires off the stored-up blast. It connects and shatters Brave's body into multiple pieces.
It's over, finally. I'm certain we would've finished a lot earlier if Uni didn't hesitate. She's been in deep thoughts for a while now. It's not in my position to ask, but I'm worried what terrible things will happen if I ignore this.
"Is something bothering you?" I ask Uni.
"It's nothing." She dissolves her gun into particles. Where do those go when she's not using it?
"It's nothing, huh? You were hesitating."
She looks away.
"That wasn't the Brave you know, right? It shouldn't be a problem to get it out of way. Yet you still hesitate."
"I already know that."
"But I've got to say." I pick up the lion head part on top of some other pieces of Brave. "This thing's got power. Hey, the real Brave is much stronger than the one we destroyed, isn't it?"
Uni slaps the lion head off my hand and crosses her arms. "Can you not call him like he's some kind of tool?"
"He? Robots have genders? Hey, Uni, wait! Where do you think you're going?"
She quickens her pace.
"Are you mad?"
"No, I—" She shakes her head. "Brave isn't just a robot."
"He's more than that?"
"I made a promise with him. He wanted to make sure the children's smile is protected."
"But how do children find a reason to smile?"
"Are you an idiot? What kind of question is that?"
"Just curious. Do you believe in Brave's ideals?"
"He's not wrong, and I made a promise with him. It's something even a CPU Candidate should do. I guess you could say I do understand his ideals. Our methods are the only thing different from us."
"And you're certain you can keep that promise?"
"Of course I can. What do you think I am?"
"It's a tall order. If you come across a child who could never smile, can you still say you can protect that child's smile if it's nonexistent in the first place?"
"That's . . . I . . ."
"Okay, stop thinking."
"What?"
"I didn't ask you to get an answer. I was trying to see if you're taking your promise seriously. If you can't answer it now, you have enough opportunities to find out and maybe then you can answer."
"What about you? What do you think about Brave's ideals?"
I shrug. "Personally, I think it's overly-ambitious. But that's just my opinion."
Still, it's a promise she made. It would be unforgivable if she didn't take it seriously. Just like the oaths I made . . . No, I can't compare her promise to my oaths. It's not like anything bad will happen if she ignored it.
~0~0~0~
"I found something on the wall," Uni says.
"Is it the way out?"
Please let it be the way out. I'm getting sick and tired of seeing the same walls over and over again with no end. Sure, it's nice to explore a cave and all. It's nothing bad. I'm more of a forest guy, you see. Throw me in a sea of trees and it won't bother me one bit.
Of course, if I'm thrown in a cave like this by myself, things will be different. But I've got Uni with me, and the more I think about it, the less I bother about getting out of here in a rush.
What's the rush anyway? The question keeps popping back in my head. I shouldn't be thinking about this. Nepgear and the others might get worried. The last two people who saw us was Neptune and Vert. They might be trying to look for us as well. But I can't sit around and do nothing. My system won't allow it.
"So . . . you reckon we oughta get movin'?" I ask.
"What's with the accent?" Uni asks as well.
"I saw a movie once. It reminded me of a certain village in Lluna. They had a funny accent like that one. And I thought, you know, I could try it out myself."
"Which movie was it?"
Good question. I've seen the movie but not the title. What was the name again?
"Don't remember. Guess I forgot to ask after the movie."
"Ask who?"
"Sylvie. Remember when I bought that laptop? I asked her what I could do with that thing and she said I could watch a movie or something. She took it and did something and all of a sudden it was already playing a movie.
"Could you imagine? I thought the laptop was impressive enough, but Sylvie showed me something more spectacular. We watched it together and it was great. Hey, is something wrong?"
Uni's feet move faster than mine, ending up with me having to catch up to her.
"Think the exit is up ahead?" I ask.
I know she wants to get out of here and all, and I feel the same way. Still, she could at least listen to what I have to say. I haven't even started on the next movie I watched.
"Who knows!" There was a harsh tone when she said that.
"Something the matter?"
"I told you, it's nothing." Her feet say otherwise, though. Whenever I catch up, and before I can catch a breather, she keeps going ahead of me. If you ask me, I'm most certain this is not nothing.
"Uni, wait—"
She continues to stride away but now with larger steps. Something's definitely bothering her, and I'm not going to let her go without telling me. Quickening my own pace, I reach for her arm as our distance becomes smaller. The moment I touch her, she slaps my hand away and breaks into a sprint. It catches me off guard for sure.
I chase her down until the path leads to a dead-end. Uni stands there, her back facing towards me.
"You're a fast runner, you know that?" This is obviously the wrong way at this point. Unlike the pathway, this area is in a large dome shape with nothing but the same walls. Except for a sword, its thin blade colored in deep purple, with a golden hilt with a ticking clock hovering and rotating in the center of the room, illuminating with a glittering spotlight with the color of the ocean.
Uni stands still gazing at the sword. When I try to grab her shoulder, however, she shakes it off her.
"Don't lie to me," I say. "What's bothering you? Please, I want to know."
"Just drop it, okay? I said I'm fine."
"But you're not even looking at me. Do you think I'll let it go like that?" I grab both her shoulders and twist her body around to face me. She puts up a struggle, but I overpower her. She still doesn't look at me. "I know my eye is hideous. I thought you'd be okay with it, but I guess I was wrong. If it's bothering you too much, I won't show it to you again." Or to anyone else. Not like I was going to, anyway.
Uni shakes her head. "That's not it. And what do you mean hideous? Are you trying to make me pity you?"
"I prefer you tell me it's disgusting and I'm a monster. What's bothering you matters more tome. Noire asked me to look after you if something happened—"
She shoved me away. "Can't you tell? Isn't it obvious?"
What? What's so obvious? Is it obvious to Noire? To Nepgear? To Blanc, Vert, Neptune, or anyone? Maybe Sylvie, Nana, or even Kyle can get what obvious thing Uni's trying to say. Whatever it is, I have no clue.
"No, I don't know what's obvious. I'm an idiot. I was thrown out of school. How am I supposed to know?"
"Oh, c'mon. Even an idiot would know."
"Then I'm dumber than an idiot." Things become easier if you tell me already instead of playing these mind games on me. Why can't you tell me? It's because I'm here, isn't it? "It's because of my eye, isn't it?"
She shakes her head again. "Wrong answer."
"You're getting sick of me, I know. You don't have to worry. I'm about to leave Lastation before long. It's only a bit of struggling left. I'll disappear and you won't notice that I'm gone at all." My next stop will be Lowee. I've seen a bit in Leanbox during our picnic. I wanted to give Lowee a chance before going for Leanbox.
Pulling on her twin-tails, Uni growls. "Why do you keep talking like that? You just don't get it, do you?"
"Not a clue in the slightest." Letting her go, I walk closer to the sword in the middle of the room. The sword looks familiar. Although I'm not really giving it attention. "If it makes you feel better, I'll let you on a secret."
"Don't wanna hear it."
"I made an oath long ago. There were seven, but I'll tell you two of them." I gaze up the ceiling. This part of the cave has a flat ceiling than the earlier ones which has stalactites hanging and a hole where the light is coming from. It could be the way out. Whether it is or not doesn't matter to me right now.
"When I arrived in Gamindustri—to your world—I made an oath to myself. And I took it seriously after talking with someone I know from Lluna." I close my eyes. "It was to never let any of you get involved with me. Not you, not Noire, not Nepgear, not anyone.
"But Compa dragged me to you more. I'm not sure why I did, but I don't regret the choice. You weren't from Lluna, and that's all that mattered to me. Urk . . ."
My legs give out. A burning sensation courses through my left eye, making it beat harder and harder with each passing moment. My hands want to squeeze the area of my left eye to mitigate the pain, but I endure it. The last thing I want to do is touch 'it'.
"What's wrong?" Uni's voice sounds close but still has a bit of distance.
"The second oath goes further back," I say through pained grunts. "It was when I met princess Minerva. I made her vow and make an oath with me to 'it'."
"Oh? And what could that be?" Her tone goes mockery.
I slam my forehead on the ground. The pain is becoming more and more unbearable.
"Stop it! What are you doing?" Something touches my shoulder. "What's gotten into you?" Her tone grows into panic. "Is it that eye of yours?"
"It's exactly my eye that I'm feeling this way."
"Isn't there any way to relieve it?"
"This is the second time I experienced this pain. Though I can't say I'm happy or used to it. It hurts as much as being roasted alive."
"When was the first time, then?" Her voice sounds uncertain. Having a slight shake to it, even.
I take a few deep breaths before speaking. "The oath I told you second. The one with the princess."
"You mean . . .?"
"The oath broke. Shattered, smashed, struck—anything you could think of. It was easy to tell if the oath turned into nothing. Only it wasn't nothing to me. The princess may have broken our oath, but it didn't matter even if she did. Only I and I alone will face repercussions of the damage."
"But what about now?" She jerks me up and stares into my eye. The one giving me pain. For a moment, she flinches. "Why is it happening again?"
"You ask a lot of questions." I'm being unfair to her right now. It's just ironic to me that I'm being interrogated of my pathetic state and that I'm not supposed to tell her anything about it. "It's not because you got involved with me. It was a silent oath, so it had little repercussions." Not that I'll tell her what those repercussions are, though.
"There's the third oath, you see. I wasn't supposed to reveal 'it' and my daggers. I was careless and made too many exceptions." The pain becoming unbearable again, I squeeze my head. "And now I have to pay for it."
"You take oaths and promises or whatever way too seriously," Uni says.
"My oath is everything to me. Without them, you never would've met me."
"But you're suffering because of it."
"Not unless we do something about it. Urgh . . ."
"What can we do?"
"Make another oath. An oath as or stronger than the one I made with the princess." Although, I'm hoping she'd disagree. She can choose not to do it and I won't hold against her. I prefer her not to get involved with me.
"Let's do it. What do we need to do?"
What?
"Are you sure? There's no turning back once we do it."
"Can't you tell? Isn't it obvious?" Not this again.
"It has to be a full moon for it to work." The pain is subsiding at this point. I stand up. "I checked the supposed date of the Gamindustri Ball. It can work during the event."
"Alright. But let's do it without anyone looking."
"That depends if the people decide to leave the venue early."
"Wait, you can't be serious?"
"I don't joke around when it comes to my oaths. Are you reconsidering? You can back out anytime you want." This is her last chance to back out.
"I'm not. Mark my word."
Our eyes meet at last. Both mine and hers. This is a rare chance for me to see her eyes shine with great confidence. I mentioned before that I was glad she was here with me. Scratch that. I couldn't be even more thankful for the fact that she's here.
Even though we're supposed to find a way out of here, that goal is meaningless right now. This moment—I want it to last as long as possible. I don't know why I'm feeling this way. It just feels right.
"Ugh . . ."
A grunt snaps me out of my trance. Someone else is in here.
"What was that?" I ask.
"Behind you. Look." Uni points behind me. There, a lone figure with green hair lies on the ground. When Uni flips the body over, the figure turns out to be a girl with pointy ears. A sharper ear than Sylvie's. "Could she be an elf?"
"A pureblood as well. We should bring her back with us."
Uni grumbles.
"We can't leave her here, can we?"
"If we can find a way out of here first."
"Uni! Maki! Thank goodness we found you." Nepgear's voice. Standing at the entrance before Uni and I came in, Nepgear and the others are waiting right there. They found us at last.
"Man, you got us worried when you two disappeared," Neptune says. Then she yells when she spots and points a finger on the unconscious elf. "What do you have right there?!"
"About that," I say. "We need to take her back with us. It's not a problem, is it?"
"It's not a big deal," Noire says, standing right next to Neptune. "I never expected to meet someone who lives here. Maybe we can find more people like her if she wakes up."
"It makes sense you think that, I guess. I'll tell you one thing, though. She doesn't live on this island."
"How would you know?"
"It's simple."
It was during the season of the Eclipse in Lluna. The season right before I met princess Minerva. This elf is a companion I used to journey around Lluna with.
