Floor 13 - Chapter 2 - Journey to the Centre of the Volcano

With what seemed to be an alarming nonchalance demonstrated by a complete lack of screaming, Jet found himself sailing through the air, much like his namesake... and then into a rock formation. In a brief moment of lucidity, he wondered whether he'd have had a better morning if he'd just stayed in bed, before the thoughts in his head changed station rapidly, the monkeys in there revolting against their overlord, and flinging the typewriters about in a display of sheer carnage...

Externally however, he seemed fine, albeit a bit dazed.

Shaking his head in annoyance and pulling himself back onto his feet, Jet got up and pulled the blade that had once been Hope from his inventory. After the battle against Kagachi which had left the weapon badly damaged and nearly ripped in half, he'd asked Liz to reforge it... and what a job she'd done on it, he thought! The golden hand guard glistened still, even after three floors, and the blade had been lengthened slightly to give him a slightly greater reach in a fight. With his head now back in the fight, rather than gawping at his sword, he looked around - the cave they were in was far too narrow to maintain any form of advantage for too long, especially against a for larger than they were, and given that all that was visible was a hand and arm that was almost as tall as he was... it was a dead cert that it was considerably larger than any of them were.

All of which led to one option coming to everyone simultaneously... ''Run!''

/-/

With their tactical withdrawal to a slightly more spacious area in progress, Rain felt a twinge of guilt in her head. It really was their luck to, not only get stuck in a channel in the core of a volcano due to a rock fall, but to also discover the field boss too, whilst split up and have to fight alongside two players who were a complete unknown in a fight. Still though, she had some level of hope in their abilities, and if push really did come to shove, it'd fall to them to ensure that Nautilus and Yuna escaped alive. She really hoped that wouldn't happen, but nothing was explicitly guaranteed in Aincrad...

The path through the caverns was treacherous, and hindered further by the fact that they were all running as fast as their legs would carry them, but before too long they'd found themselves in an equally perilous position...

The boss's hand was preparing to attack.

Without hesitation, Rain turned back to face it, and readied both blades for a sword skill. If she'd not wasted her time over the last few nights, she reckoned she could parry the boss's attack with a perfectly timed skill, and in their current circumstance, buy the remaining three members some time to escape to a more easily defensible position.

The fist flew through the air, its thermal energy igniting the air around it as it did so, and Rain took up the ready stance of the Crimson Square skill...

''Not yet, not yet...'' She thought... ''Now!'' Rain became a blur amongst the haze and fire, her swords moving fast enough to be obscured by the haze, and scoring a direct hit on the fist, redirecting it from its course, once straight and true, headfirst into the wall, before the fist beat a hasty retreat back to its host. Settling back to a standing position, after the post-skill motion had worn off to see three very different reactions: that of complete shock, complete awe and complete bewilderment...

''How did you-Rain, that was incredible!'' Jet stood there, almost slack-jawed as Rain recovered her energy after the attack.

''I, uhh, I just figured there had to be a way to parry a boss's attacks, right?'' Rain answered, almost blushing under the praise, a reaction that wasn't helped by who it came from either.

''It's coming back!'' Yuna called out, and Jet rushed forward. This time, the attack would be even stronger, as both fists of the creature were now hurtling toward the group...

''You two, don't stop running! Rain, reckon that trick'll work again?'' Jet asked, sensing that the answer wasn't a clear cut yes...

''Maybe, but we'll have two to hit, not just one...''

''I'll take the right. Rain, count us down...'' Jet got into the ready stance for his sword skill, whilst Rain readied hers. The pair focused everything they could into this attack. They'd have a very small margin for error, and if they got it wrong... well, there was likely no coming back from this.

''Three... two... one... now!'' The pair released their attacks at the shout, and for a brief window, it felt as if time had been put in slow motion as they flew forward under the system assist. For Rain, she felt her left blade collide with the fist, and forced it into the wall again. For Jet, he felt the clash between the tip of the reforged Hope and the boss's fist, the force from his skill deflecting the fist onto a collision course with the other fist.

Now badly damaged, with lumps of rock falling from both fists, the arms retreated back down the cavern, and the pair were able to breathe easily for a moment. Adrenaline running high after forcing the field boss into a retreat, both looked at each other, and for the first time today, laughed slightly. It was a minor victory, sure, but the boss wasn't going to be coming back at them immediately, which was as good as a win in both of their books, whilst Nautilus and Yuna had been able to get some distance between them and the boss.

''We should get going. That thing'll be coming after us as soon as it recovers, and I've no doubt that it'll be pissed!'' Jet broke into a sprint, and Rain followed suit.

/-/

Remembering what Jet had told them, Nautilus and Yuna had run as fast as their limbs would carry them. Even after the noise behind them had fell silent, they'd kept running, and after a few minutes, they'd found a door out of the cavern. Buried into the rock, with little by way of identifying marks, the door would've almost been ignored, had Yuna not leaned on the door to recover.

''Yuna! In here!'' He called, as he opened the door.

Once inside the chamber, he noticed Yuna still stood outside, looking back down the cave and hoping to see the pair, but to no avail. Just darkness, and the occasional roar of lava. They'd only known them briefly, and yet the pair had thrown themselves to the boss, to save them. ''What about Jet and Rain! They need our help!'' Yuna pleaded.

Nautilus hesitated. On one hand, he had no doubts that the pair knew what they were doing when they told them to run. He didn't think they'd have told them to flee if they didn't think the risk was far too great for them to handle, and perhaps they would just get in the way... but on the other hand, they'd helped them when they needed it - Jet, helping to pull him and Yuna from the rubble, even when injured, and Rain helping them at the orphanage, and now out here. He'd always been taught that one good deed deserves another...

''We-no, they wanted us to get of there safely Yuna, they wouldn't want us to go back after them.'' Nautilus spoke, a clear unease in his voice. Somewhere in his head, a voice told him just how much of a coward he was, and that the pair had thrown their lives away for no reason, by saving them. Whatever happened, it was all his fault. He refused to go back to help, and hid behind ''someone else's wishes'' as an excuse for his own cowardice...

''I guess.'' The almost whisper like voice that Yuna had said that in told him just how much she disagreed with him, and sent another wave of guilt through him. He went to speak, to reassure her... hell, just to say anything, but despite opening his mouth, he couldn't find the words to say. He couldn't reassure her, knowing he'd be lying through his teeth to her. It just wasn't something he could do.

As silence reigned throughout the cavern, with no sign of life of any kind, Yuna headed through the door with her head hung low, and placed a hand on the side of the frame, beginning to pull down on the lever.

''HOLD THE DOOR!'' a voice bellowed down the passageway, followed by a blur of purple and orange, itself being followed by another blur, this time of red and grey, as the door lowered into place and sealed them off from the pursuing boss.

''You're okay!'' Yuna sprinted over, leaping into a hug and almost tackling Rain to the floor as she did so. The redhead smiled at the enthusiasm of the younger girl, whilst the two boys were talking.

''You made it then?'' He asked

''Nah, we're apparitions.'' Jet stated, a completely blank look as he did, whilst he and Rain both rolled their eyes at the sarcasm. ''Yeah, we did.''

''That's the boss dead then?'' Yuna asked, a cheerful tone in her voice. Nautilus would admit that he was cautiously optimistic, until he noticed Jet and Rain nervously exchanged glances, their expressions asking each other what the next reaction was going to be...

''Uhh, no. We got it to scarper briefly, but it'll come back, and now...'' Jet's face dropped as he came to a realisation, one that soon came to Rain too, and eventually, as he looked towards the door, he did too.

''We can't run.'' He stated, barely containing the fear inside him. They'd only fought that creature's arm, so what exactly was the rest of it going to look like!?

/-/

A few minutes had passed, and the two pairs had settled on a plan. Inside the chamber that they were now locked in, Jet had taken stock of what they had in terms of defences. The room itself was relatively large, roughly around the size of a an average football pitch, but enclosed from every side by sheer rock faces, with sections of rock jutting out at awkward angles... except one. The chamber had no roof at all, and if he squinted, he could just about see the fading daylight about 500 metres above them.

At that moment, a handy piece of intel from their treasure hunter friend had given them a boon. On one side of the wall, about 10 metres above them, was some form of underground spring, being held back by some kind of door built by an ancient society that inhabited the volcano. One of many water supplies hidden amongst the volcanic caverns, and apparently, it had been the one that had leaked, and eroded the floor below them, leading to this mess that they'd found themselves in.

Still though, if they could drag this beast into a protracted fight on the ground, that would give Nautilus and Yuna time to climb to the door, release it, and with any luck, the cold water against what all had agreed was likely some kind of magma type creature would be enough to allow the pair to bring the boss down. That was the plan anyway, and like many other good plans, required a healthy dose of wishful thinking, if Jet was honest.

BOOMPH. BOOMPH.

The group looked at each other nervously, before getting into positions for the plan. Jet looked over to Rain, who looked every bit the hardened warrior, her blades spread into a defensive position, and her stance low to the ground. He smiled, and laughed mirthlessly, realising just how mad this was, and just how dangerous this was going to be... two people, holding off a field boss, with no real chance of rescue or reprieve to heal. If one of them got hit, the other would become the primary target, and there was no guarantee either would survive a boss's concentrated attacks, if it came down to it.

''Rain, if we don't make it out of here... I'm glad we met. It's been a good run.'' Jet admitted as he looked over towards the redhead. He wasn't sure if he was going to survive this, and sent one last message to Koharu. Two sentences, of three and two words respectively...

''Yeah, I'm glad we did. You, Koharu, Phillia, everyone... I wish we'd had longer though.'' The smile on Rain's face told him just how bittersweet that statement had been for her. ''Wouldn't have minded reaching my sixteenth, really.''

''If we make it out of this, I'll buy you a drink on your sixteenth!'' Jet laughed, watching the door, the smirk being replaced by a more determined expression, as the door began to weaken. Fist shaped dents became increasingly prominent, and the temperature in the room was beginning to increase too, a sure fire sign that the field boss had nearly destroyed the door...

''Yeah...'' Jet looked over to Rain briefly. The girl he'd grown to know and care for over the past few months - the girl who'd thrown away her chance at happiness, to let Koharu have hers, and had thrown herself into danger to make sure the children in this game didn't go without, and he'd never realised that she was still only a child herself. He'd known she was younger than him, but not by that much, and upon that realisation, felt a twinge of guilt thinking back to the numerous times she'd thrown herself into a fight, to save his sorry backside... that reverie was interrupted, as the door began to glow red, the metal beginning to melt away to reveal the boss...

The creature towered over them, standing nearly fifteen foot tall, and gushing magma from its body as it moved. Atop the magma were sections of rock, forming a crude form of body armour... not that it would need them, as trying to attack its actual body was a death sentence for those not wearing armour made of titanium. All in all, the creature gave Jet the impression of a creature designed to imitate some form of Roman centurion, the rock helmet over its face of magma and lava certainly helping with that image. The name above it read something familiar to Jet...

Pyrovile.

He would've laughed at that choice of name, had the situation not been quite so dire...

Putting aside thoughts of television, he readied himself. ''Well, here goes...'' Jet uttered, as the pair prepared to evade whatever attack came first...

/-/

SHINNNK.

''Rain, watch out!''

rrRRAGHH!

''Oh no you don't!''

Climbing up the rocks, Yuna couldn't bring herself to look down. Not for a fear of heights, but out of fear for the pair still fighting the field boss, and by the sounds of it, giving it a run for its money... As they rose further up the rocks, the sounds of clashing blades, and attacks hitting the wall continued to tear up the wall, and force them both to keep as tight of a hold on the ledges as they humanly could, even as continued to climb up the rock face. The heat was getting unbearable again, and combining that with the stresses of rock climbing made for a truly unpleasant experience. Every muscle in her virtual body was screaming at her to stop, take a rest, that she'd never done anything like this... except one, the most important one - her mind. She steeled her resolve - she would make it, and they would save their new friends! Yuuna Shigemura was no quitter, and this would be no exception to that!

''Naut...''

Her oldest friend called up to her from a few metres below. He always had been the poorer out of them at climbing trees, she reminded herself, and that was without the stresses they were going through... ''I'm fine, Yuna, keep going!''

With yet more reason to keep going, she powered up the wall, and made it to the switch for the door. To her horror, the switch required a key that they simply didn't have, and the door holding it was considerably more substantial, almost to the point of it being a floodgate. In desperation, she looked around the ledge for anything that could help to open it...

There simply wasn't anything.

''There has to be a way!'' She shouted in frustration, before remembering what had lead to their situation... the rock had eroded under their feet before, so perhaps the rock around the doorway might have suffered the same problem...

Hacking at the rock, her dagger plunged into a softened rock on the lower portion of the gate, and a small geyser of water came out. Smiling at the discovery, she continued to hack away, until a small flow of water was now cascading off the ledge.

With Nautilus now on the ledge too, the pair managed to turn that small flow, into a waterfall. Continuing to hack away, the pair realised something... the door was now creaking, and the ground beneath them becoming increasingly unstable. Seconds later, the pair began to climb even further up the wall, and before long that waterfall had turned itself into a raging torrent of tonnes of water, the metal structure around it, and the rocks dragged from the ledge...

/-/

On the ground, the battle continued to rage like a wildfire - completely out of control, despite valiant attempts to combat it. No matter what attacks the pair launched on the Pyrovile, they barely reduced its HP, and even after the time spent by the younger pair climbing the wall, and reaching the door, they'd only whittled it down to half of its HP, which had been a mixed blessing.

On one side, the Pyrovile was fifty percent dead, and that was a good thing for them. On the other, and slightly more noticeable side, that reduction to its final health bar had triggered a phase change, and the attacks became increasingly dangerous. The initial AoE attack had consisted solely of the creature smacking down on the floor, and rupturing the ground beneath them, a relatively easy thing to evade when they knew what was happening... this new one though, it was just plain nasty. The Pyrovile spat flames from its mouth, and put a burning status on whoever was unlucky enough to get hit.

The unlucky sod happened to be Jet in this case, who was currently trying to ignore the fire surrounding his arm, and make up for the lack of shield, which had taken the direct hit from the AoE attack, melting and partially fusing to his arm, a sensation that was agonising for him, even with the pain limiter...

''We can't keep this up...'' He muttered, smacking his arm against the wall in a futile attempt to put the flames out. As he did so, he watched the boss change target, now focusing on Rain, and allowing Jet a chance to hit back against the Pyrovile. Even with a successful strike, he'd barely even phased it, but changed the target to himself...

Preparing to evade again, Jet felt the full effect of fatigue on his virtual body, his legs collapsing underneath him, and he came to an awful realisation. His HP was in the red, and he was about to have to take another direct hit... ''I'm sorry, Ko...'' He thought to himself, saying his goodbyes in the last moments of his life...

He closed his eyes, resigned to his fate and awaiting the final hit, and the message that would spell his demise.

Only to feel a tremendous weight push him to the floor, and soak him to his core. They'd done it! They'd actually gone and done it!

The giant screeched in agony, it's body slowly falling apart in the cloud of steam now surrounding it, as its magma skin cooled and its body heat became steam around it. Leaning on Hope, Jet picked himself up and made one last strike, decapitating the Pyrovile with it. The rock giant collapsed to the floor, sans its head, and disappeared into pixels, whilst Jet began to laugh.

The words that told them that the fight was over hovered above them:

CONGRATULATIONS

''We... we actually did it?'' Rain, now slumped against a wall in exhaustion, uttered as she tried to open her menu to retrieve a HP potion.

''Yeah... we actually did.'' Jet felt his eyes getting heavy, and collapsed to the floor again. ''I'm going to have a lie down now...''

/-/

Following the defeat of the Pyrovile, the mood had changed rapidly - the sombre, almost funeral-esque atmosphere from earlier, had been replaced by a far more optimistic outlook. Or at least, it had been, until Nautilus and Yuna arrived back, having narrowly avoided being swept along with the torrent, and looked over the pair. Rain had evaded most of the hits, but she'd been fairly badly singed by a number of attacks. According to her, most of the fire attacks had healed by now and left just cosmetic damage to her attire, mostly just tears and scorch marks.

Which was unlike Jet, who'd had to tank a number of fire attacks, and now looked as if he'd been in a losing argument with a flamethrower and a lawnmower at the same time. His coat was shredded, and the few remaining areas of it were blackened by fire damage, the armour beneath it had become deformed in the heat and with his movements, whilst angry red gashes covered his body and steam continued to pour off the damaged armour.

All in all, he looked as if he'd seen better days really.

After basically forcing a HP potion down his throat, and hanging back for a few minutes to give the group a chance to recover from the exhaustion, even if it was momentarily, before they began the journey back out of the volcano. Argo had gotten back to them with a rough map, showing them where the cave in had been, and a way around it, in order to reach the exit that the girls had managed to find earlier in the day...

Armed with that knowledge, and with the benefit of not being blinded, buried or chased, the group made it out of the caverns in far less time, reaching the surface in just over two hours, and to a less than pleasant sight...

The earth around them was stained grey, its features, now just blots on the landscape, had become encased in long since solidified magma, and almost no signs of life. In the air, a putrid smell of ash assaulted the nostrils of anyone unfortunate enough to be stood there, almost worse than inside the volcano, whilst the sky itself had become a pitch black cover on the land, the cover only faintly broken by moonlight, refracted from particles of ash and soot.

To Jet, it felt like they'd walked out into Pompeii... in 80 AD.

{Author's Comments}

I did say thirteen wasn't going to be lucky for them...

Anyway, that's about all for this week.

If you've enjoyed this or have any feedback, leave a review or drop me a PM!

Signing off, Midland 2541.