Chapter 2: Hangman's Salvation
When Red Riding Hood slowly regained consciousness, she found herself in a small room and laid down on a cheaply made bed. She had no idea how long she had been passed out or where she was, but as she slowly oriented herself and came to her senses, she took note of the dim lighting and musty smell in this small room with a small run down door. While the room looked very basic and almost like a prison cell, she did not think that she was actually locked up in here. More importantly, she also noticed somebody had patched up her lacerations from the earlier attack. Even though the environment was unfamiliar, there was no feeling of danger, before she was able to get up, the door to the room opened on its own and somebody had entered.
There at the doorway stood a woman with long hair and average build dressed in the typical black coloured garments of surface dwellers. Beyond that, the poor lighting in the room did not reveal too much of this person at the doorway.
"Good to see you're awake," said the woman.
"Yeah, I guess I am all right, but where am I and who are you?" Red Riding Hood responded as she slowly got up.
"Right where we are is an underground city, a safe haven of sorts. At the very least, down here we're safe compared to the surface that you and your friends fled from. I had called out to you when I saw the dangerous situation and got you all here to safely as well as gotten help for your injuries too. As for me, I am one of the residents of this underground base, my name is Guillotine."
"Guillotine?"
"Yes, that's me, is something the matter?"
"Oh nothing, just... thank you for taking all of us in...
...
(Guillotine huh, she was the one who attacked Jack's group... but it doesn't look like she's the same in this world)
...
Anyway, where is everybody else?"
"Most of your friends are in our medical units. So far you're the first and only one to wake."
"I see... well, as long as they're okay. Who is in charge of this base?"
"One of the founders of this place is in control, I'll take you to him now," Guillotine motioned and walked out while Red Riding Hood followed behind.
A short walk outside and everything was clear: the surface dwellers here have mostly gathered in this underground base with remnants of what used to be civilisation, making use of left over trains, buildings, and even some infrastructure. Not that it was much different than the Liberated District in the underground Jail, but it was a relief to know there was a safe place on the surface. After a short walk through what resembled a city street, Red Riding Hood was lead into an unremarkable building near the edge with a small door.
Despite the dilapidated outward looks of this building, the inside seemed to be organised and decently maintained. Around the perimeter of this room were various lab equipment and in the centre was a desk there with a man in front at work. With the two of them entering this space though, the man took notice and stood up. Though it would seem like this was an introduction, Red Riding Hood already knew this person.
"Jabberwock..." Red Riding Hood accidentally slipped out, remembering that this is their first encounter in this world. This was also caught on as both Jabberwock and Guillotine looked over in surprise.
"Well, hello there. As you may have heard I am more or less in charge of this small town underground here, I take it that you somehow know me already..." Jabberwock replied, though initially surprised with his name known, he was not too concerned.
"I am Red Riding Hood, and I do know about you a bit, but at the same time not really. I have quite a bit to explain, not sure if you'll believe me though..."
"We certainly do have the time, by all means go ahead. In turn, I will tell you what we know about the surface if you're interested."
"Yeah, that would be great. Now, where to begin..."
A few moments later
"I can't believe it, there's another world just like ours?" Guillotine questioned, trying to understand the reality.
"Hm, I see. So that is the power of the White Core. In the wrong hands, there could be dire consequences, or perhaps it had already happened," Jabberwock said, noting all the details from the stories he had just been told.
"Something happened already?" Red Riding Hood inquired, seeing Jabberwock maybe had an idea of what was going on.
"For one, your existence here in this world from your own would normally be unbelievable, but based on what you have said and what I know from my brother's creation of the seed that landed on earth long ago, I have a theory. This world that we're currently in is because of time turning back because of the White Core yes? While it is not unthinkable that such a power exists, but what if perhaps instead of merely turning back time and doing something different, where we're at is actually an entirely separate world from your own."
"Are you saying that there's actually two worlds existing at the same time and its possible they are connected?"
"Precisely. Furthermore, as you know Theophil, or the Jail as you'd call it is a mastery of mimicry, which is not too out of ordinary to think our world here is a result of that. Another idea I have is that the Jail itself is actual sentient and growing with its mimicry decided to create this world in the first place, and based on what you said about this Jack fellow wishing away Jails and Blood Maidens, it actually just transferred the powers most of its properties from your world to this instead."
"I never thought about it that way before, but how did I end up finding a way into this world?"
"That still remains a mystery for now unfortunately, as my ideas are only theories as to what is happening. For now though, we should focus our efforts on the current issues we have. I believe Guillotine has the details for us."
"Right, I should first state that before Red Riding Hood and her friends came to the surface, this underground base is where whats left of humanity has been living for many years as people can remember even if some of us had been infected or came into contact with the Contaminated. The ones who attacked you on the surface though, they resemble humans, but are very much like the Contaminated. The only things we know about them are that they are actually lead by my brother to subdue the planet, and the only reliable way to actually kill them with fire. Since they regenerate even after they're killed, we just call them the Undead. Anything else like how they regenerate and how their numbers keep increasing is still a mystery to us." Guillotine explained.
"Hm, so what is our plan going forward?" Red Riding Hood asked.
"The first step for now, is to head up Salvation Tower nearby and gather supplies, since we just had a huge increase to our population. Also, Gallows had went up there awhile ago on a routine trip, but when that Tower rose from the underground, it began to eat away and transform the entire land, and she has not returned since."
"And there's that, I know this may be sudden and asking a lot, but would you be willing to lend us some help with this task?" Jabberwock asked to Red Riding Hood, seeing as she seemed to be the only one who was not completely injured to the point of immobilisation.
"I can... its just that as I said, not being a Blood Maiden anymore means I am no where near as strong to handle most things."
"That's fine, I am not asking you to fight much, but just come along to help explore the Salvation Tower while we look for Gallows. I know you said we had been your enemies in your world, but here is different because we're definitely separated from my brother," Guillotine assured.
"Of course, I'll go."
"Thank you for your help. The task up ahead may be difficult, but once we figure out what is going on here, we'll try to help you find your way home too. If there is anything else you need, I will be here," Jabberwock concluded, as everybody agreed to go on what to do for now.
Two Days later
With a solid plan of action in mind, everybody begins preparation for the trip out to Salvation Tower. Before heading out though, Red Riding Hood did have some free time before setting out, so she visited some of the Blood Maidens to see how they were holding up in this new underground base. After the few days of rest, most of them seemed to be awake already.
Surprisingly, there was a cathedral that was intact within the area where the Order of the Sun had begun to take for themselves. Not that anybody minded it as before their occupancy it was just an abandoned derelict structure. With the Order of the Sun actively working to restore the cathedral, a good portion of the dirty black discolouration had been cleaned off, revealing some of the whiter marble material it originally was. Most of the seats and existing instruments were broken down to being unusable previously, but it would seem repairs are well underway with simple nails and other temporary fixtures.
Right in the centre were Snow White and Sleeping Beauty both delegating and coordinating the efforts to restore the sanctuary, unfortunately Thumbelina was no where to be seen. Still, it would appear the two of them were doing their best to keep things under control in the meantime. Things seemed to be all well and good, so Red Riding Hood wanted to leave, but when Snow White noticed her, she waved.
"Red Riding Hood! It's good to see you," Snow White said as she motioned towards her.
"Hey, it is nice to see you all right as well. Looks like everybody got here safely and settled in now. But where's Michuru? Wasn't she supposed to be leading everyone," Red Riding Hood inquired, having noticed that the figurehead from the Order of the Sun was absent.
"Actually, not everybody made it safely here. Michuru along with Hikari and her group went missing. And we also found out that Thumbelina had gotten poisoned, same thing with Hameln as well. They're stable right now, but still unconscious..."
"I see... hopefully Hikari and her friends are alive somewhere, it was the same thing back in my world too. By the way, when we all rushed out of the Tower, you guys were chased by a Nightmare? How did it look like?"
"I don't remember too well, except for the massive arms, long hair that covered its face, and... I don't think it had legs, it just moved with his arms," Snow White recalled, being particularly spooked remembering the last part.
"Hmm, all right. Doesn't sound like anything I might recognise. Anyway, for now I am going to be heading out to Salvation Tower with Guillotine to retrieve some supplies, since there are more people living here now. We should be able to find an antidote as well."
"Oh yes, we've all heard about what's going on from Jabberwock, are you going to be all right fighting out there?"
"I guess, this is the best arrangement we have for now since I am guessing besides injuries we don't want to risk Blood Skelter while outside."
"Yeah, just be careful out there, especially since we don't know if that Nightmare will return."
"It should be fine, I suppose you are doing your best back here and taking care of everything?"
"Yes, while it has been busy, I am glad everybody is getting along, I have to continue to try my best while Thumbelina isn't here. Anyway, I'll see you later, good luck out there," Snow White waved as Red Riding Hood left the cathedral and went on her way.
It was apparent that the large group of people from the underground Jail settling into this surface base did not cause too many problems with the existing population. In fact, due to the city having a comparatively lower number of people initially, the additions were welcome.
Right back out on the streets, Red Riding Hood had noticed a shop vendor on the side of the road had opened, or perhaps was there all along and just was not in business before. Regardless, with a bit of spare time she decided to take a look inside to see what kind of shop it was. Inside was a little messy with boxes of miscellaneous items unsorted and the floor barely visible along with subpar lighting. This really did not seem like a shop, even though shelves were present and there had been some organisation taking place.
"Hey, we're not opened for business yet, come back later if you want to check out the new stock," said a voice from inside, that belong to a small girl. Appearing from the shadows was none other than Clara, who was cleaning up and organising the store that was not yet opened.
"Oh Clara, I thought you were..." Red Riding Hood trailed off as she remembered what the Clara in this world did. "Wandering around the Jail? How did you get here?"
"Well, that's the thing, I don't know what you guys had done within that Tower, but as it grew everywhere I went seemed to be worse off for business, so naturally I had to come up to the surface too. Imagine my surprise when there was this whole town here with people. So anyway, I asked the elder here and got permission to open up store here in the meantime. Of course, I will go out and search for other valuables when I can, so just tell me when you need something!"
"(Hmm, I don't remember too much about Clara in this world, maybe that's because it was Otsuu who first met her, but at least she seems to be doing just fine)"
Letting Clara do her own thing, Red Riding Hood had continued her walk towards where Jabberwock's laboratory, there were a few things she wanted to know before heading off into the journey to Salvation Tower. Before she reached the lab though, she heard the sound of frantic footsteps coming from her right side. Turning around, she saw Rapunzel and Cinderella carrying various supplies, probably in an effort to help expansion of the underground base.
"Red! You're okay!" Rapunzel said, noticing that Red Riding Hood was alive compared to half dead the last time she was seen.
"Hey, glad to see you're both okay. What are you guys doing?"
"Oh you know, carrying a few things for the shop keeper down that way. It looks like there aren't enough rooms, shops, or anything since there is so many of us now," Cinderella explained while trying to make small talk with Red Riding Hood.
Just as Rapunzel was about to take a few steps forward, she suddenly paused. With a focused glance in the direction of Jabberwock's lab, she let out a low growl that both Cinderella and Red Riding Hood heard as they took note of Rapunzel being on high alert.
"Rappy, what's wrong?" Cinderella asked, as she looked towards the direction that Rapunzel had begun sniffing at now.
"There's a baddie nearby! Rapunzel snorted as she began to charge off in the direction where she felt there was something.
"Hey wait, it might be dangerous to go in alone!" Red Riding Hood said as she followed along.
With no success at catching Rapunzel, Cinderella and Red Riding Hood could only follow behind her, and when they reached the small alley way around the corner behind Jabberwock's place, they could see that there indeed was a Marchen. Granted, it was not a very threatening one, as it seemed too timid to do anything, and began to retreat seeing Rapunzel. However, its tiny legs could not run fast enough away from Rapunzel almost going feral.
"I'm gonna beat you!" Rapunzel growled as she leapt forward to catch the Marchen, only for it to get picked up by somebody else in the alley and Rapunzel crashed into the person instead.
"Wooaaargh!" Said the voice belonging to a girl as there was a pile up causing a commotion as Red Riding Hood and Cinderella finally caught up to where Rapunzel was.
Hearing the loud noises from outside, both Guillotine and Jabberwock had stepped out to take a look, and they were actually not too surprised to see what was happening.
"Oh, it's Mary," Guillotine stated as she immediately recognised her by the distinctive hoodie and her familiar.
"You guys know her?" Red Riding Hood asked, hearing Guillotine's tone that it would seem this is the norm.
"Yes, Mary usually just keeps to herself around the area ever since we found her by herself years ago. That said, her abilities does allow her to roam safely around and she helps out occasionally," Jabberwock explained.
"Ahh yeah. I didn't mean to cause any trouble, I just didn't think anybody could track me down," Mary explained as she was surprised how quickly Rapunzel snuffed out her familiar.
"Mary not enemy? Sorry," Rapunzel apologised as she kind of understood what was going on. Shortly afterwards, Cinderella took Rapunzel way back to their task with transporting supplies, leaving just the group of four outside Jabberwock's lab.
"Anyway, since we're here already, I did want to ask you guys something, is there a quick way to calm down Blood Maidens during battle?" Red Riding Hood asked, not sure how to phrase the question, but only she was certain there had to be a way to hold off Blood Skelter.
"Calming down... Oh, you mean to hold off this Blood Skelter that you mentioned? We do have a temporary solution, though it takes quite the effort to manufacture..." Jabberwock replied, presenting a bottle with large green spherical pills inside.
"These are what we are use to control ourselves when we venture outside, but it requires lots of resources so that is why we do not usually go out too often," Guillotine added, as she had her own bottle that is only half full.
"Oh, is it really expensive to make?"
"Strictly speaking, no. When I first observed Guillotine and her friends occasionally going too far into their blood lust sometimes, I knew I had to do some thing, and this thing... its main ingredient is human blood."
"Oh... is it..."
"Mainly through donation within our society, sometimes though we had to resort to siphoning from the corpses we come across. There is no helping it, we just had to do what it took to survive. There are still many things we don't know about how or why certain types of blood can causes such a calming reaction." Jabberwock said, as he had only done limited research in this regard.
"Which is to say, your help is greatly appreciated in these times were resources are limited," Guillotine added.
"All right, I can't promise I'll be that much help, but since we're here let's do this together," Red Riding Hood responded, resolved to help and solve the issues within this world, and hopefully finding a way back home.
"Before you two go out, may I make a suggestion? Perhaps it would be helpful to have Mary come along for this trip."
"What!?" Mary responded, as she was actually ready to slowly sneak out of the room.
"Because of that Tower spurting out from the ground and latching onto many of areas around here, I believe it would be beneficial to have Mary scout out some areas safely before jumping into danger. Besides, who knows if there will be those guys as well."
"Right... I guess I can do that..."
"We won't ask you to fight, just help us out with this," Guillotine assured Mary, knowing that the timid girl was never too interested in doing anything except existing.
With Mary reluctantly agreeing, the three of them headed out of the room and towards the known passage way near the backside of the town towards Salvation Tower's base. Along the way though, Mary had been following behind Red Riding Hood slowly, but just occasionally taking a few glances, which was caught on pretty quickly.
"Mary, you've been looking over at me for awhile now, is there something the matter?" Red Riding Hood asked, noticing the multiple glances Mary took at her, but thinking the introverted girl was just too shy to speak.
"Oh, ah... well, since you came from another world, was there a 'me' over there as well?" Mary asked, suddenly sounding a bit more confident in the conversation.
"Yeah there is. Apparently she was friends with somebody named Charlotte and got along really well. I don't know too much about them though since they weren't in my group. Wait, how did you even know I was from another world?"
"It's because of this here," Guillotine said, grabbing and holding up the small timid goose-like creature behind Mary.
"Her familiar? She was listening through that?"
"Don't worry too much about it, Mary just has a habit of eavesdropping sometimes, I knew this thing was hiding while we had that conversation days ago, but didn't bother to throw it out."
"Hey, don't throw Gaccho away, he's very helpful you know."
"Gaccho, is that its name?"
"Yeah, figured since I had him helping out all the time I'd just call him whatever came to mind. What Guillotine said was true, but I didn't mean any harm, I just wanted to know what was going on, would you mind telling me some more about your world in detail if we get the chance?"
"Well, if you're really interested, then I could tell you whatever I can remember when we get back, for now let's prepare ourselves," Red Riding Hood responded as they climbed up the steps and through a broken door leading into Salvation Tower.
The blinding white and scarlet red colours of Salvation Tower encased the entire area as far as the eye can see, along with the usual hanging noose at the ceiling. Everything was rather quiet, all of these were very familiar to Red Riding Hood, and probably to Guillotine and Mary as well. Though everything may seem calm, everybody knew the immediate and most dangerous threat of a Nightmare ambush could happen at anytime, so everybody was vigilant and careful of their surroundings as they surveyed the first room they walked into. When the room was deemed safe to enter, the party went in and looked for the connecting hallways. Mary, being very prepared had some sheets of paper, began to roughly draw a map of the room and surroundings.
"Huh, I didn't know you were this prepared Mary," Red Riding Hood remarked when she saw Mary mapping out the area almost instantly.
"Well, it helps to remember some of the more important places, its how I avoid getting lost all this time. Besides, it really helps if we run into one of those Nightmares things, because I definitely don't want to die," Mary admitted, not so much being diligent but practical.
"There is a reason why Mary has been so successful surviving alone, she is also unrivalled with scavenging materials too," Guillotine explained, having fond memories of Mary carrying some rather interesting things back to base.
"Interesting, we never had somebody specialised in gathering materials."
"What, the me in your world never did gather cool stuff? Her loss I guess. Still, I'd like to hear more about your world sometime... though right now I'd better hide," Mary said as she started to cower away as Red Riding Hood and Guillotine noticed a few syringe on stands were moving around them.
The ensuing battle was over almost as quickly as it started, since they were prepared, both Red Riding Hood and Guillotine were able to dispatch the Marchens without too much trouble. Though Red Riding Hood noticed how much harder she had to handle her weapon due to the difference in strength from before.
"You feeling all right?" Guillotine asked, seeing Red Riding Hood almost struggling with her oversized pair of scissors.
"Yeah, looks like I just had to swing with greater force to get a proper hit in, guess I am just not used to this right now. Anyway, where did Mary run off to?" Red Riding Hood responded while they both looked around the area and then only faintly heard a muffled voice from the far right.
"Hey, I am over here. Come check this out," Mary's voice said, as the two approached the direction of the voice and found Mary hiding on top of an out of place ice block looking through a mesh window.
"What do you see from there?"
"A room that I recognise. Or at least what I think is a place we've been to before, though I can't really get through there."
"You guys are really familiar with Salvation Tower?" Red Riding Hood asked, seeing that both Mary and Guillotine are rather versed with certain rooms and distinctive features of the tower.
"In a way, there are plenty of medical supplies here and we sometimes do a supply raid. Though, when that tower sprung out from the underground, it looks like it began to change everything. Mary usually knows exactly where certain materials are."
"Yeah, this place seems to be much different than before. But seeing this room from here, maybe I'd say that the tower got an expansion or something. Well, I just can't force my way through here, if only we had another group of people on that side, maybe they can open a door or something to over here."
"The other side... huh, if only it was that convenient, back in my world that is exactly what happened, there were three groups going through the areas, even though we were unaware of each other."
"Unfortunately, we don't have the numbers to make it possible, but for now let's keep heading up, perhaps there will be a way to cross over. Come on Mary, it's safe to get down from there now," Guillotine said as she looked forwards and saw a chasm that separated them from the stairs at the end of the hallway there.
Naturally, they were unable to proceed forward and so the party takes a turn south and follow the hall around the area until they reach another clearing. Upon reaching this room, there was an ambush of Marchens shaped similar to an aquatic animal except with lots of human feet for legs and had many eyes on their upper bodies. Even though the ambush caught the party off guard, Mary was quick to run away while Guillotine stood vanguard. With a quick but intense slaughter of the Marchens, the blood splatters were enough to induce Massacre for Guillotine, who then proceeded to happily hack apart more Marchens without issue.
It was the first that Red Riding Hood had observed a Blood Maiden from the surface go Massacre mode, but nothing was unexpected with the usual changes in personality or appearance. After the short battle, Mary was found resting in a longer room up north, so Red Riding Hood and Guillotine met back up with her there.
"Sorry to have you see that, we usually don't end up fighting that hard," Guillotine said, noticing the gaze at her in Massacre mode.
"No, its quite all right. I am used to seeing it and doing that too. Anyway, are you all right Mary?" Red Riding Hood responded as she directed her attention to Mary, who seemed a bit exhausted.
"Uh, yeah... I am just not used to going through areas with the Contaminated, usually its the Undead," Mary said, as she took another deep breathe before scribbling on her notepad.
"Oh right, those guys are usually around too aren't they, how come we haven't seen them?"
"They usually are, and I think they still are. However, like we observed with the Tower growing out of the ground and transforming the place, I think they either got displaced or are just on the other side that Mary looked through."
"That aside, how were things back in your world, Red Riding Hood? Anything else different from here?" Mary asked.
"Well, I did mention there were these special people with blood that could instantly calm down a Blood Maiden and they used Mary Guns."
"Oh, that's a cool name... but what about Guillotine and her buddies, did they have someone like that too?"
"No, they... had these special armour, I think it was called Gore Suits, they used those to keep themselves under control, and I think they took human blood too..."
Mary had also proceeded to ask several more questions about how the Gore Suits worked, and the world where Red Riding Hood came from, mainly about Gato and the various encounters that were different from this world. Seeing as this was a rest stop, Guillotine also listened in, since it was a bit interesting and that some of the information could potentially be useful, especially about Gato.
"So Red Riding Hood, I am guessing you must be eager to go home if you can?" Guillotine asked, seeing as Red Riding Hood seemed to be recalling information with a distinctive focus.
"Yeah, it would be nice to not be in constant danger... but right now, it is what it is. At the very least, there is no Massacre Pink here. You see, back from where I came from, all of you guys in Massacre Pink were just bloodthirsty killers that we had to fight."
"Well, I suppose that would be because the Professor took us in, we... or I made a decision that changed things from what happened in your world, it is funny how such small things can cause drastic changes."
"Yeah, from the memories I got, it seems like in this world just Otsuu's presence changed choices and actions of people underground and everybody was different. But if I had the choice I probably will not head back right away, because what Jabberwock said about two separate worlds does concern me a little, especially if they might be able to affect each other."
"That makes sense, we appreciate any help we can get right now."
"Hey, you guys... I don't mean to interrupt, but isn't things a bit too bright in here?" Mary asked, who thought that the blinding whiteness of the walls were especially bad in this spot.
Red Riding Hood and Guillotine looked around, and indeed the whiteness was quite intense, but what really stood out was that even the red parts of Salvation Tower started to white out as well. At this point they opened their mouth to speak but no words came out as there was some movement within the room that was not natural. Moments later, something had emerged from behind Mary, while both Red Riding Hood and Guillotine made brief eye contact and nodded.
Mary had also realised at this point that the walls were not more intense in white colours, but rather it was the White haze that made everything appear unnaturally bright. Though Mary was too afraid to move despite feeling a monstrous presence creeping from behind. With very quick acting, Guillotine lunged forward to shove Mary out of danger. However, this manoeuvre put Guillotine in danger herself, so Red Riding Hood also moved forward and used her own scissors to confront the Nightmare.
Due to the difference in size and strength, the Nightmare's pair of scissors break through Red Riding Hood's pair and then followed up with a second strike. Red Riding Hood had moved enough out of the way to avoid a direct hit, but not enough that the attack sent her flying across the room onto the side wall. The impact on the wall left Red Riding Hood gasping for air as she fell to the ground, barely getting up.
Meanwhile, Mary had slowly processed what was going on and acted upon seeing Red Riding Hood thrown across the room. Gaccho immediately handed one of her secret smoke bombs and immediately hurled it at the Nightmare, just diverting its attention for a moment. In that brief period, Guillotine saw the opportunity and ran to Red Riding Hood and took her by the hand and they ran north out of the room as Mary was already doing the same. Having been thrown across the room and taking an impact but needing to run, Red Riding Hood was able to keep up on adrenaline alone, and as luck would have it, they all managed to escape the Nightmare in time after running down a long hallway and turning into a small but long room.
Mary was relieved but shocked as just how terrifying the encounter with the Nightmare was, and Red Riding Hood basically dropped to the ground now in a bad shape and exhausted as well.
"Holy Shit!" Mary exclaimed in relief.
"Apologies, I should have been more vigilant when we were taking a break. Are you all right Red Riding Hood?" Guillotine said as she checked up on Red Riding Hood, who seemed exhausted yet well alive enough.
"Yeah, just a little beat up. Too bad about my weapon though... Anyway, can we head back the way we came from? I think I saw something unusual," Red Riding Hood responded as she got and began to slowly walk back into the hallway they escaped from.
"Are you crazy, that thing might still be out there!" Mary protested, but the rest of the party just proceeded slowly.
A few steps back into the hall, Red Riding Hood stopped and then looked upwards, scanning for what she could have sworn was a pair of legs hanging from the ceiling, and unlike the local Marchen they saw, it was an actual pair of human-like legs. After Guillotine and Mary caught up at the location, sure enough, Red Riding Hood pointed out to the very distinct shape of a pair of legs just hanging near the ceiling.
"Look, is that a body caught up there?" Red Riding Hood pointed out, seeing as there was no movement but just the dangling pair of feet.
"Wait, I think I recognise who that is," Guillotine said, having a closer look and realising.
"Really, you know who people are by their feet?"
"No, its a habit of hers. Hey, Gallows, its me!" Guillotine shouted, as the pair of feet seemed to come alive and there was some vigorous movement from above.
Within a few seconds, the dangling pair of feet not only began to descend, but also revealing a full body of an average build girl with long pony tail as well as same black uniform as the rest of the surface dwellers, albeit torn up and damage. Equipped to the upper body was a harness that had a secured lanyard tied to a ceiling. Finishing the descent, the lanyard was retracted.
"Whew, am I ever glad to see you, Guillotine. Thought it was the Undead noticing my hiding spot," replied the girl upon her emergence.
"Good to see you alive Gallows, when you didn't return days ago I fear you'd run into some serious trouble. Anyway, a lot has happened in the last days, I think we should head back for now," Guillotine suggested, knowing that Mary was exhausted, Red Riding Hood bruised up, and Gallows completely out of supplies and worn down herself with the most of gear in tatters.
"A fine idea, introduce me to your new friend here too while you're at it," Gallows responded, tired after spending a few days in the Tower by herself.
Back at the base, infirmary
"...And that's what happened, any questions?" Guillotine said as she gave the gist of the idea to Gallows.
"This is very hard to believe, but there has been so much has happened that I won't question it. Anyway, it seems like we still need to head up Salvation Tower, so once my replacement gear is ready tomorrow, let's go," Gallows replied, though taken aback at the facts, she was not against living with the larger community.
"Getting back into it already, she's something else," Red Riding Hood remarked as she had her minor wounds tended to.
"That is just how Gallows is, she's probably the smartest out of the three of us. She's even able to learn her trade after reading through an old book that we found some time ago," Jabberwock explained.
"So she is a little like Gretel then, good thing we found her alive then."
Next Morning
Red Riding Hood had gotten up, her sores from being thrown across onto the wall the previous day had mainly subsided, even though there were still some bruises it was of little concern. Just as she was ready to leave the room however, the door seemed to open on its own and immediately hit her in the face.
"Argh!" Red Riding Hood whelped as she flew back a little in pain. Standing in the doorway was Gallows with a dumbfounded face, who quickly realised her error.
"Oh no, I'm sorry about that," Gallows apologised as she helped Red Riding Hood back up.
"It's fine, this is nothing compared what happened yesterday."
"Right. Sorry, I should have knocked first, but I was excited to bring you this you see," Gallows said, presenting a new pair of scissors that was similar to the previous pair Red Riding Hood had, but still looked strong enough.
"Anyway, are we going to continuing our climb up the Tower today?"
"Yeah of course, but first I did want to introduce myself since yesterday we were both a little injured. I am Gallows, the youngest but smartest of the three Massacre Pink here at this base. Though I am sure you may know a little about me already since you did some strange world hopping."
"Nice to meet you, I am Red Riding Hood, so I guess you already know everything that's going on?"
"Yeah, interesting to hear about some theories from the Prof, but I did actually come here to ask you this: How did you think you were able to travel over to this world?"
"Hmm, I recalled that I saw the me from here over at my world, but when I touched her I gained her memories and then the way was opened."
"Yes, but how do you think she got there in the first place?"
"That's... umm, now that I think about it, I think I did dream of something unnatural before coming over here, like it was a vision of the Jail Tower I think, and..." Red Riding Hood trailed off, the details are fading but she could sort of connect her prior dreams to what happened.
"Did those dreams involve Witchcraft by any chance?" Gallows added, trying to confirm her own theories.
"Yes, I think so. I may have thought it was just a light, but thinking about it, it does make sense. So that means..."
"Just a theory I got based on what I have been told, but the you from this world would have needed to know that you existed in the first place in order to reach you right? I am thinking that this Witchcraft is involved in some way, and maybe even somebody else was involved. Because with the timing of everything, I do not actually believe you are here by accident."
"So what does that mean? Is everything we're doing just somebody's plan?"
"I wouldn't say so, but its just something I have thought about. In any case, I just wanted to see what you made of this whole thing. I believe you already made up your mind to travel through with us right? Hopefully we'll find the answers we're all looking for."
"Yeah, I can't promise that I'll be able to fight that much, but I'll do what I can. After all, if somebody is planning something I wouldn't want them to harm anybody else back in my world."
"That's the right idea. Anyway, let's go get something to eat first, I think Guillotine said she's making her signature cabbage dish for us, you don't want to miss it."
"Is it really good? And Guillotine can cook?"
"Yes, pretty well I'd say, but her cabbage dish is to die for I tell you," Gallows promised as they headed to the cafeteria, where as expected, Guillotine was already there.
Not very long after sitting down, Guillotine was very quick to come over, proudly presenting her creation from the kitchen. As promised, thinly sliced cabbage neatly cooked along what appeared to be meat.
"Wow, this does look good," Red Riding Hood commented
"Hm, how did you manage to cut up so much cabbage in a short amount of time?" Gallows asked, knowing what probably happened.
Almost as if on cue, Jabberwock had appeared from behind and with a rather exasperated expression that gave the impression that something was not quite right.
"Guillotine..." Jabberwock said, the tone of voice seemed to be a little annoyed.
"Oh, professor," Guillotine responded, knowing what was to come.
"How many times do I have to tell you this? Don't use your weapon to cut cabbages."
Upon hearing the comment, Red Riding Hood shot Gallows a glance of uncertainty and doubt, while Gallows responded with a shrug and small sigh. Clearly, this was not the first time that this had happened.
"Ah, well... you know, I washed it properly before, and you know its so much quicker cutting apart heads than with a knife," Guillotine explained, a small bit of panic in her voice trying to get out of this.
"That is the not the point, you use that sword to fight the Contaminated, it does not belong in the kitchen."
As much as Guillotine had good excuses about efficiency, Jabberwock ultimately shut her down and demanded her to start over in the kitchen. It seemed almost like a very routine thing, so after the two had left, Red Riding Hood just had to ask.
"Is she always like this?"
"Yeah... I mean, you should be familiar with this, the Blood Libido. Even though she has lived within this community for awhile, she still prefers using her blade to maximise efficiency," Gallows explained, completely nonchalant about it.
"(Huh, so this is how Massacre Pink is with their Blood Libido... I guess in this world where they are just regular blood maidens everything is as normal as it can be...)" Red Riding Hood thought to herself, seeing the life of the Blood Maidens on the surface almost mirroring the underground life.
After the bizarre breakfast scene...
The party had all gotten ready to set out again, and now Gallows had been fully fitted with the proper boots and black garbs and a new and improved version of her weapon. Red Riding Hood had received her new pair of scissors, and was also ready to enter Salvation Tower when she noticed Mary was nowhere to be found.
"Where's Mary?"
"Well, she has decided to do her own exploration, though I honestly would say yesterday's encounter was just too much for her," Guillotine explained, shrugging it off as obviously this was something normal from Mary.
"I don't blame her, it is much more dangerous than before. But now that I am back, we should be more secure," Gallows said, as they walked right into the Tower and headed towards the room with a wide chasm.
"All right, let's try and reach the Core today."
"This Core that we're looking for, will it really allow us to kill the Nightmare once its removed?"
"Yes, it has always been like that, though... when I went through all the areas, my friends had also been travelling in other groups and destroying cores in other regions too, so if that's the same here..."
"Ah, I get it, that probably means there are at least two Cores up here. Mary did mention something about looking through the bars here and seeing those contaminated ones, which means that half of the tower is where the other Core might be," Gallows suggested as the group reached the chasm at the end of one of the rooms on the first floor.
"We couldn't get through to that door yesterday, do you think you can reach it Gallows?" Guillotine asked.
"Of course, this is what I do," Gallows responded as she took out a giant roll of what appears to be a thick and reinforced rope. Attaching and securing the special rope onto her harness, Gallows used her gallow apparatus and launched the rope upwards into the ceiling where it attached securely. With the rope and contraption in place, Gallows hoisted herself towards the ceiling, and then after positioning herself with the perfect rope length, swung herself over the chasm to the door.
Everything had happened quite quickly, but Red Riding Hood was almost certain the rope would not hold up and an accident was to happen as she looked in horror. Guillotine of course, picked up on this and spoke up.
"There is no need to afraid, Gallows has done this plenty of times. It is how we've always navigated these parts," Guillotine explained, as she grabbed the rope swinging back and proceeded to swing through the chasm as well. Naturally, with no other choice but to trust the self made mechanism, Red Riding Hood went through with it, albeit with some doubt and a slight yelp as she landed, to which Gallows laughed.
"Haha, you all right?" Gallows asked, as most people were doubtful of her handmade contraptions.
"Y-yeah... I should be used to this but somehow it was a lot scarier than I thought," Red Riding Hood responded, getting herself together.
"Rest assured, Gallows has made many things over the years and has improved to this point where we can fully trust it to not break apart anymore," Guillotine added, with emphasis on the 'anymore' after having been through some of the failed creations prior.
"I see, has she always been interested in this kind of thing?"
"I sure am, we were lucky in some of our salvaging operations and even found some self-help books. I've read through quite a few of them and even know some basic set ups for electricity at the base. That reminds me, Jabberwock did say there's more people, so when I get the chance I gotta install more lights, especially your room, Red."
"Right, I was told it was the best room there was. Anyway, let's keep pushing forward for now shall we?"
Pushing through the door, the party headed into a more familiar section of the tower, at least Guillotine and Gallows recognised it. What made this part of the tower stood out was that there was significantly less Marchens, and the reason become known very soon as there were quite a number of Undead soldiers wandering around the area. Being obviously outnumbered, the party sneaked around the perimeter of the rooms and avoided unnecessary confrontation.
"There sure are a lot of them here, do they usually congregate like this?" Red Riding Hood said quietly, ducking behind a giant block of ice as she heard footsteps coming into the room.
"No, we've never seen gather in such large groups, perhaps it is because of that Tower that is indiscriminately devouring everything in its path that they hid here. In any case, we'll just have to make our way through as necessary," Guillotine replied as the footsteps indicated somebody had just walked into the room they were hiding in, Guillotine immediately moved her guillotine sword and beheaded the unsuspecting victim.
Without a moment of hesitation, Gallows used her gallows apparatus and hanged up the body while Guillotine took out a small lighter and lit the corpse on fire.
"I guess that's one way to deal with these guys..."
"Yeah, its not a pretty sight, and I would have preferred if we don't have to do this either. But that's how things have been for a long time now."
Being extra cautious and moving forwards, the party was able to figure out how to manoeuvre around the Undead as well as operate some of the switches around the tower. Most long chasms Gallows' rope swing contraption was able to get through, while some of the specialised switches Guillotine was able to use her greatsword's cavity to grip onto switches on the wall and turn them. Other times, Red Riding Hood snipped apart (With Gallows' advice) specific wires to open some doors.
It would turn out that there are parts of the wall broken by the Undead between the two sections of the Tower and so the party was able to go in between the two sides and make their way upwards to the top floor after exploring and travelling a bit. Of course, the most challenging thing had to be avoiding the Nightmare's white domain that was similar colour to the Tower's walls.
As luck would have it, after turning one more switch and opening the door, the Core was in plain view. Naturally, everybody was prepared as the sight of the Core meant there was a Guardian nearby.
"There's the Core. Though, with how we moved up, there might be one more," Red Riding Hood said, while scanning left and right for the Guardian.
"Well, one step at a time, we'll take care of this one first then look for the other," Gallows responded as she spotted a giant doll-like Marchen emerged nearby and confronted the party in battle.
Guillotine and Gallows took the vanguard while Red Riding Hood flanked the enemy and snipped away at its joints. With coordination, Gallows briefly held part of the Marchen's arm up high while Guillotine very quickly and efficiently hacked it off. The ensuing blood splatter was enough to induce a quick bout of Massacre for both Guillotine and Gallows, which had them aggressively and taking a frontal assault and shrugging off offensive spells. Meanwhile, Red Riding Hood had sneaked behind the Marchen and with careful aim, plunged her scissors into its head from behind.
In the brief moment of it being stunned, Guillotine and Gallows jumped at the chance and finished hacking the Marchen apart. Finally, the Core guardian was defeated, but when the high of Massacre mode wore off, a bit of fatigue crept up.
"A successful attack, even if it was a bit messy. But, it also hurt more than I thought," Gallows said as she sat down, as did Guillotine from a bit of exhaustion, but keeping vigilant in case of any ambush.
"Yeah, we did good, and now for the Core," Red Riding Hood said as she was less exhausted as she made her way and broke the Core.
After a brief moment, then came an unexpected response:
"Haaaaaaah!" a high pitched voice echoed throughout the entire tower.
"Ok, that was more creepy than I anticipated," Guillotine said, a bit startled by the scream even hearing about it beforehand.
"It is not something that you get used to, but usually the voice would seem to be crying out in pain, instead-" Red Riding Hood responded as the Tower and everywhere began to violently shake. Though the vibrations were strong, everybody had their eyes on the side of the room where the wall not only split open in two, but the cracks had numerous tendril squirming out and then coiling around to form a new hallway. Only afterwards the blinding white and red colours began to take form on the hallway as the shaking stopped.
When everything had settled down, the party just looked on the newly formed path and wondered what to do, it was such a strange occurrence that took them completely by surprise. As they were about to move again though, a voice had interrupted their course of action and they looked to the other side.
"Ah wow, I didn't expect such a big change to the place all of a sudden, but I guess everything is all right," said the voice, belonging to the familiar figure of Clara.
"Clara? What are you doing here, I thought you were minding the store back down there?" Red Riding Hood asked, surprised to see her of all people in this Tower.
"Well yes, I was. Just that I am a little low on hardware, and had come out to gather some goods. Turns out there are lots of valuables to pick up here, and I figured between this and the store, I'll strike it rich. Say, might you guys be interested in what I have here?"
"Looks like you're appearing only when we're tired after the fight to sell your goods when we're desperate," Gallows said, slightly suspicious of Clara's timing.
"Ah, I swear this is not what it looks like. But actually, the Professor did tell me to deliver something for you guys, so I just came out with my goods at the same time," Clara explained, handing over a couple of capped syringes with some suspicious looking liquid inside.
"What's this supposed to be?" Guillotine asked, seeing as whatever was inside the syringes did not look very friendly.
"I don't really know, the Professor said it was something about helping you guys calm down or something, said it was much more effective than a pill version or whatever you have on hand. Anyway, if you guys don't need anything else, I guess I'll go back to picking up goods. I always have goods we see each other again, and don't forget my store either," Clara said, as she disappeared as quickly as she appeared before anybody else could say anything.
"What an odd little one she is, you sure we should just leave her alone all by herself in these parts?" Gallows asked, seeing as the party had to be cautious traversing the dangerous floors, and yet Clara is doing it solo.
"Well, the Clara I know was kind of adopted by someone else, so she just stays at home base all the time. I don't know all the details about the Clara here, but if she survived by herself in the Jail underground, hopefully she is fine here too. Anyway, did Jabberwock really make these, and how reliable are they?" Red Riding Hood asked, as she inspected the syringes and indeed thought that it was a very suspicious looking liquid inside.
"While I don't think she would lie and trick us with saying it was from the Professor, I suppose we can give it a try..." Gallows replied, still looking apprehensively at what they were given.
"Red Riding Hood, keep watch in case if anything happens to us," Guillotine suggested as she and Gallows tried out the experimental 'drug', as they did need a quick way to wind down and not risk Blood Skelter after a long battle and probably more fighting ahead.
Surprisingly, there was no real side effect of the new drug, except a brief moment of faintness... and hiccups. but thankfully no Marchens or anything approached the party during the brief respite. When enough time had passed, Guillotine and Gallows finally got up, but were not very amused at the side effect of the drug, even though it was quite effective on them and they were refreshed.
"All ready to go?" Red Riding Hood asked, seeing the less than pleasant faces of her party.
"Yeah, I think these new one works quite well, but only if we have a chance to stop. If we were attacked or the Nightmare showed up, I think we'd be in big trouble," Guillotine responded.
"You guys seemed to trust Jabberwock a lot."
"Well yes, it was during some hard times that he helped us get to where we are today in our town. Without him we really wouldn't be here. I mean, he does try to help out with these experimental meds, but... results have been mixed as you can see," Gallows explained as she shrugged off the side effects and the party cautiously continued their way down the new path.
The hallway that they proceeded through was eerily quiet, even though things had looked the same as the rest of the tower, though there were no mesh on either side so there was only the unknown in front of them. Yet still, partway into the hallway, the ceiling did seemed to be high enough that Gallows set up three sets of her swing ropes just in case if anything happened.
After travelling some distance down the hall, the party finally saw the end, which connected into another room. Upon looking closer though, the room was where the other Core was, and it was on the side with the Undead, which instantly had a few figures inside the room snap their heads to their direction instantly. In addition to the regular few figures, there was a more distinct humanoid that was nowhere near deformed as the others, standing very close by the Core while a flood of bodies rushed towards the party.
"This is bad, we're caught in this cramped space with nowhere to go," Guillotine said as she motioned to retreat.
"I got an idea, back to that point!" Gallows suggested, hinting at the mid point where she had her ropes set up.
After a brief chase, the party got back to that specific point and took hold of the ropes to evade the mob. After a few moments, they descended back down when it seemed clear, but keeping watch in case if there was an ambush set up for them. Miraculously, there was not, and after scanning both directions of the hall and saw nothing, the party was confused as they had clearly been seen escaping upwards but nobody seemed to even notice them. Without anywhere to go, they headed forward again to the room and this time just outside Gallows had set up one more hanging rope as a precaution.
"This is strange, some of them are still there, I think they're guarding the Core themselves," Red Riding Hood said, looking inside the room from further away and saw that distinct person have not moved since the initial rush.
"The longer we stay here, the more likely we're gonna get pincer attacked, we should act fast," Gallows advised, occasionally looking back and expecting the mob to be back any moment now.
"Yeah, you're right. I have an idea, maybe I can use one of your ropes and swing in to surprise that guy and while he's distracted, you guys can ambush him and quickly decapitate him."
"Fast and efficient, I like it. Just be careful not to get too caught up," Guillotine responded, and the party slowly got into position.
Bravely swinging on the rope, Red Riding Hood was able to get just near enough to the entrance of the room and jumped through with a leap. Of course, she was noticed immediately by three occupants inside the room, but Red Riding Hood had the element of surprise and was able to swing her scissors with enough force to land and knock out of the occupants. When she turned around and ready to defend herself from the other two, she braced for the worst in case things got bad.
"How dare you-" said the boss figure, but interrupted half sentence as both he and the other figure were hoisted up in Gallow's apparatus and Guillotine decapitated them both with a quick bloody death.
"That worked out well enough, seems like whoever this was, isn't so special after all," Guillotine said, looking over the corpse of the boss figure. Though it was a quick kill, she noted that this guy had a much more complete and human figure than the rest of the rest of the mob the party had encountered. Still, a corpse could not tell much about who they really were, and considering the circumstances, there was no time to interrogate anyone.
"I guess we'll take care of this Core too," Gallows said, as she readied to smash it down when it began to writhe, which she instinctively retreated from.
The sudden movement has Guillotine and Red Riding Hood on full alert as well, as if the Core was reacting to their presence, and they stepped back and looked on cautiously. Instead of a surprise attack as they expected, the Core slowly unwrapped its first layer, and from inside a mass of thick red substance wriggled its way out. The sight was really mortifying, but nobody could take their eyes off what was going on, as the substance continued to wriggle out like an insect, it eventually completely came out and splattered on the floor still slimy with pink translucent fluids oozing out. Just when it seemed to be all over, the whole blob began to squirm, and after a few seconds of this, the membrane slowly melted away as a very visible but deformed arm reached out, and slowly the rest of the membrane peeled off and revealed something very unnatural. The shape of the creature inside looked humanoid, but was deformed, and there was no skin developed on it yet, and the head part had empty cavities where the eye sockets were as it crawled about slowly.
"What is that!?" Red Riding Hood exclaimed first, coming to realise how disgusting the sight was.
"Whatever it is, it ain't natural, step back!" Guillotine replied on reflex and proceeded to hack the monstrosity apart until there was no life it in anymore.
Gallows, though taken aback at the sight, observed the creature coming out of its strange cocoon as well as the way the Core reacted and how it looked inside and had a rather unsettling revelation of her own. Several things began to make sense, and it was in part horrifying. "So... I think I may have realised something here."
"What is it?"
"Basically, by the way how all this unfolded, that Core just basically gave birth to one of those Undead we've been fighting all along."
"So are you saying the Cores are the ones making the copies of all these Undead humans we've seen?"
"That would explain their numbers, though it seems to be an imperfect recreation as we've seen, and might explain why the reproduced don't possess much intelligence. Of course, then there was that prominent figure standing close to it too, and I think that he was probably the one being used as a base for reproduction of all the clones."
"That... makes sense."
"I cannot be certain that is what's going on, but its a good guess. Anyway, let's not think too hard about this and just take care of this Core," Gallows finally said and this time with the Core inert, she able to to break it down completely and it dissipated. As expected, the other cry from the Jail was heard.
"Hhhhhm!" came the chilling voice, but no violent shaking no expansion of the tower occurred this time.
After a very quick second to catch a break and refocus, the party tried their best to put behind them what they learned and got ready for the showdown with the Nightmare, which is now fully vulnerable. Naturally, they did not have a go looking for the monstrosity, as there were sounds of frantic cries and wailing from the end of the hallway that connected the two rooms with the Cores.
"Ah, I think I know what happened to the mob that was chasing us now," Guillotine said, as it became apparent that the Nightmare had got to them in the first place, hence the wailing from afar. That, along with the white haze that was filling the area and fast approaching in their direction meant that it was time for a fierce battle.
"All right, its been a long day, let's get this done and so we can go home in one piece!" Red Riding Hood said, hoping to finally get this journey in Salvation Tower done.
"Agreed, I could sure use some rest after this long day. Still, let's not get reckless and die," Gallows added, as they awaited their mighty foe.
As the white haze grew thicker, the Nightmare's large frame came into view, and while slaughtering the remnants of the runaway mob, it did not have a clear direction, it certainly did when it caught sight of the party and it headed straight on to a full scale battle. Guillotine faced it head on with her greatsword clashing with the giant pair of shears, and they were evenly matched. Meanwhile, Gallows and Red Riding Hood got to work on the other vulnerable parts of the Nightmare from behind or from the side. With enough attacks from the back or side, the Nightmare began to turn its attention away from Guillotine, who wasted no time and with a decisive strike broke one part of the Nightmare. Red Riding Hood retreated a ways back while Gallows nearly broke off another part, but cracked just a portion of its head. With the Nightmare on the counterattack, they regrouped at the front where they launched a combined frontal assault to break through the rest of the Nightmare's parts.
"All right, we're ready for the final blow. This thing is far uglier than I imagine," Guillotine said, as the party stood to gather themselves and ready for final stretch of this battle and end of the long journey.
"GIIIII!" screeched the Nightmare as it began to aggressively fight for its own dear life, and began to flail wildly.
With the sudden change in movements, it was severely more difficult to flank the Nightmare, and the addition of two disembodied heads on its side had the party go on the defensive. After the initial burst of attacks, Red Riding Hood began to hack away on the head on the right side while Gallows had her hangers to distract movement from the Nightmare as much as possible. Guillotine had also been defending from the barrage of attacks and only looked for opportunities for counterattack while Red Riding Hood was still busy on the side.
When the head on one side finally fell down, the Nightmare took notice of this and turned its attention towards Red Riding Hood, and immediately Gallows tried to restrain its movements again. However, the Nightmare proved to be too strong and broke lose from all restraints, but just when it could begin to act, it was pierced from behind, as Guillotine has took the opportunity to decapitate the other minion and launch a surprise attack. The Nightmare growled in pain as it seemed to keel over, but instead it flung itself upwards and released a huge shock wave that threw everybody off their balance and then turned around, with Guillotine's greatsword still stuck in it.
Without her weapon, Guillotine was not in a position to defend herself as the Nightmare began to charge at her, and she only had time to get up on feet and brace herself. However, Red Riding Hood had gotten up and rushed over and in a quick attempt to obstruct the Nightmare, threw her coat and blocked its view. The blinded Nightmare began tear away the coat and violently swerve around that it was dangerous to approach it, but Gallows had stood back up at this point and with careful precision, latched her hanger around onto the neck of the main body while Guillotine ran in just at the Nightmare's back and retrieved her greatsword while Red Riding Hood stabbed her pair of scissors down onto the tumour part of the Nightmare, bringing it down just enough for Guillotine to use her sword and fully decapitate the Nightmare. With the severe injury it took, the Nightmare's body came crashing down and writhing until its life completely left it, then dissipating.
It took awhile for everybody to catch their breath, but after processing what had happened, they were finally able to feel the relief wash over themselves in victory.
"We... did it," Gallows sighed, the battle had been quite exhausting, but it was definitely over now.
"Yes, it was only because we were able to work together, and now... let's get what we came here for and head back down," Guillotine said, also quite tired after making several quick decisions in the previous battle.
The party left the room they were in and walked into some more familiar rooms where Guillotine and Gallows were able to locate the specific room they needed to go and were able to procure supplies for their base, as well as some antidote. Before leaving the Tower, everybody had noticed that another door from the room the fought the Nightmare in was open, and through the door was a strangely familiar orb of light. Recognising the orb, Red Riding Hood stepped inside and as expected, discovered the way into Grave Dungeon. Nevertheless, since everybody was tired they noted where this point was and headed back to home base for the time being.
Upon returning to the base and up to Jabberwock's office though, they could hear somebody else talking inside the lab, to which Guillotine was able to deduce who it was, and her posture seemed to change. Shortly afterwards, the door flung open and there stood a young woman, with dark blue twintails and average height and build with regular black garb as the rest of the civilisation.
"Go on ahead, I'll get back with you guys later," Guillotine said quickly, and suddenly began to withdraw.
"Hey Guillotine, what's wrong?" Red Riding Hood asked, but before she even took one step forward, Gallows patted down on her should.
"Leave her be, this is a complicated matter," Gallows instructed, knowing this was not the time to explain things, as confusing for Red Riding Hood it was.
"She's still like that around me, not that I would blame her. Still, I heard all about what you guys were doing, and it is good to see you back. By the way, I am Rachel, one of the many people who live here," The woman introduced herself as she watched how Guillotine flee quickly away.