Disclaimer: I don't own LOK or POP. Elizabeth was a stock sue-type until she lost her grip on reality.
I've got another one of this series kicking around in my head. Can I get a shout out of who would rather I not resist the urge to write it?
As Raziel cleared the path of sand creatures more than once, and worked closely with Liz to solve the next puzzle, he let his worries about the Reaver slide away. Elizabeth was right, the sword was not going to come to claim him when he was in this place. It was a small relief, despite the circumstances.
"Oh dear," Liz swore when they emerged. "Just ignore the birds and run."
Raziel dodged the birds, as Eliza's passing had alerted them. As soon as he crossed the bridge, the entire structure collapsed in an impressive display.
"The switch is broken," Elizabeth remarked dully, as if not surprised. Unlike the prince, Raziel did not assume she was joking.
As Raziel clambered along the outside of the tower, Eliza offered encouragement from within. When it was clear that he could not find a way in, Elizabeth spoke with a trace of melancholy.
"Raziel, it's going to take a while for you to catch up with me," Elizabeth explained. "Try not to leave me alone for too long."
Raziel growled in frustration once Eliza was not looking. Even though the sands had shown him no visions, he could sense a series of annoying puzzles ahead of him, and they weren't even for Elizabeth's benefit.
Raziel navigated through a ruined courtyard with a maze of narrow walls whose tops he had to run across with a precarious balance. Then he had to be mindful of an underground reservoir, the swift currents and moist atmosphere causing him great discomfort. Along the way, swarms of bats decided to start attacking him.
The pesky creatures even followed Raziel into a cavernous well, though fortunately that proved to be a comparatively minor inconvenience after having to jump along a line of collapsing platforms and stalactites. The sands began giving him visions of Elizabeth's future as well, including her death. Raziel dismissed the prophecy, as the sands had depicted his own death several times over, and clearly none of those scenarios had occurred.
"I don't believe this," Raziel complained as he contemplated the pit of spikes the served as the entire floor of a room. A rope hung down in the middle, and two switches glowed prominently on the walls.
With an amazing feat of acrobatics, Raziel managed to activate both switches and pass safely into the next room. He was still wondering in disbelief at how he had managed it when he passed through a particularly nasty hallway of death without a scratch.
"Eliza?" Raziel called, growing impatient with the girl's absence. "Are you here?"
"Raziel, I'm in trouble," Elizabeth cried, panic edging her voice.
"Where are you?" Raziel shouted. He received no reply, but he could hear the hiss of arrows bolting through the air and the creak of Liz's bow.
After bashing through several walls, Raziel was able to reach Elizabeth. He could see that she was holding her own well enough, for someone who lacked the ability to actually kill the sand creatures or block their attacks. Raziel ran forward and began beating the creatures back.
Raziel winced as once again an arrow brushed past his ear. He maneuvered so that the sand creatures were between him and Liz. There was still a chance that he would be hit by a stray arrow, but it was a smaller possibility, as now she didn't have to aim around him.
Once the battle was finished, Raziel stepped into the sand without a word. He now craved it in much the same way as his body craved blood. When he awoke, Elizabeth was hovering over him.
"I was so sure that you weren't going to come back for me," Elizabeth sighed as she stroked Raziel's bangs away from his face.
"What are you doing?" Raziel asked.
"Playing my role," Elizabeth answered, standing up and letting Raziel's head fall from her lap.
"Do you really need to do that?" Raziel asked.
Elizabeth shrugged. "Probably just the puzzle elements. We're supposed to have an argument about getting separated from each other."
"I can imagine," Raziel remarked dryly. "Do you know what I went through to get here?"
Elizabeth nodded. "The speed runs are probably why I got frustrated with him in the first place."
Raziel punched a statue angrily, accidentally pushing it aside to reveal the hole that Liz was supposed to crawl through. She submissively went through the gap and opened the door.
In the Hall of Learning, there was finally an accident with Elizabeth's bow. Raziel hissed angrily. He had finally begun to rely on her arrows to wound and distract the sand creatures. Raziel ran into a more open area of the hall to give Eliza a clearer shot, but that just left her vulnerable. That was the only accident, as she was more careful to avoid shooting Raziel again.
"Listen to this," Elizabeth said as she read from one of the books. "Of what use is reason against the power of love? Love is life. So if you want to live, die in love. Die in love if you want to stay alive." She hoped that it would be inspiring to Raziel.
"Quit messing around and help me," Raziel spat, clearly as unimpressed as the prince had been.
"I'm doing what I can, and really I'm not supposed to tell you the answer," Elizabeth said. "I believe my line is, 'This isn't that sort of game.'"
For the first time, Raziel questioned whether his own life was also just a game. His experience in the old ruins underneath the castle certainly was cause for thought. He knew that the story was created and was surprised that the real princess would actually say that.
"All of these books say the same thing," Elizabeth commented.
"Forget about your role and help me with these puzzles," Raziel insisted.
Eliza shut the book she was holding with a loud clap and flung it away. "Keep your shirt on," she called. "Or take it off, whatever you want."
Raziel glanced at the abused ruin of his coat, tattered scraps of which were left scattered throughout the palace. His red leather breastplate, which had his clan symbol painted on it, was badly scuffed. He wished that he had his own black leather pants, as these white ones were matted with bloodstains.
"Liz!" he shouted angrily, that one syllable expressing his lost patience.
In one long sentence, Elizabeth described the most efficient route through the entire library. In the next room with the giant orrey, she gave a similar explanation.
"This is my route," Elizabeth said as she squeezed into another crack.
Raziel glanced at the new deadly obstacles that lined this hallway. "Oh yes, go crawling through the walls like a rat." Though he held a deprecating tone, Raziel could not fault Eliza for wanting to take the comparatively easy route.
"I need to be up here anyway," Liz shot back as she pulled a lever that opened Raziel's path.
"Stop me if I miss," Eliza called before leaping across another hallway.
"Fine," Raziel yelled back, though he did not know how she would be able to re-judge her leap if she didn't make it. Fortunately, the situation didn't arise.
When Eliza tried to help Raziel navigate the next courtyard, he interrupted, "The sands were clear about the solution this time."
And soon they were able to see the bridge to to Tower of Dawn, though the overlook did not reveal the route that they needed to take.
"You're not going to like this," Elizabeth commented after she squeezed under yet another broken gate.
"What's wrong?" Raziel asked.
"Well, you remember the last time that this happened," Elizabeth said as she walked to the next gate.
Raziel followed the sound of her voice along the outside of the palace. "I remember."
"It isn't so long this time," Elizabeth said. "I've just got to walk downstairs to that courtyard."
Raziel glanced along the wall. A flight of stairs led down to the far end of the courtyard. He wondered what was so long about the path that he had to take. The visions weren't so specific this time; they spoke of cages.
Raziel hadn't known that the wall would collapse underneath him. When he came to, he marveled at the fall that he had survived. Raziel's armor and coat were damaged to the point where he had to discard them, not that they had been much protection in the first place. He winced as he imagined how much damage his body must have already healed.