Chapter 32 - Abandoned saviour
Riko somehow accomplished the impossible. Dragging her incredible find towards the surface was a huge gamble and she prayed more than once to the Abyss that nobody would spot her and take the living relic away. The strange boy was hers alone! And she needed to thank him for saving her life as well. Yet, through sheer luck she encountered nobody on her ascent.
Her partner who originally was scheduled to accompany her on the expedition, Teggie, had been bribed with sweets beforehand to ease his guilty conscience, so he had not accompanied Riko on her exploration of the forbidden areas of the first layer. When the Crimson Splitjaw did chase her down that had seemed like a fundamental mistake, but now she was extremely happy that she had gone alone. This way the discovery of her treasure would stay a secret for a while longer. (Not to mention that Teggie' s less than impressive running speed would have surely ended in his demise earlier. Riko saw this as a win for them both.)
Nonetheless, transporting over half her body weight uphill was no easy task. Especially if the nausea inducing curse of the Abyss twisted her stomach into a tight knot and made her head spin. Soon she reached the first steps of civilization where old dirt paths began to lead into the lowest offshoots of the city.
She craned her neck to get a glimpse of the setting sun high above, taking in the natural beauty of her home with a fond smile on her dry lips. No other place on this planet could be as wonderful as this one. Her life might be hard, but she would not change it for anything.
"Well, the food could always be better..." she thought bemusedly, wiping sweat from her brow.
The draw of the misty chasm behind her was a part of her life as much as breathing or eating was. Riko could not imagine ever giving up her dream. Many accomplished cave raiders claimed to hear this "call from the deep" and she was no different. In her mind, it signalled that she was undoubtedly destined for greatness like her mother.
Shaking those wispy thoughts off, she wrapped her jacket more tightly around her saviour's hands to conceal the glistening metal from any curious onlookers. His clothes and helmet were already eye-catching enough, but with his steel hand hidden from sight most would think that he was just another young boy who fainted on his way out of the Abyss.
Obviously she could not bring him directly to the orphanage where Leader or Director would immediately notice him, so she had come up with an ingenious plan! Stashing him in the bushes and sneaking out at night to carry him up to the attic shouldn't be too hard...
∞•۞˂ ˃۞•∞
As it turned out, finding a spot where the younger kids wouldn't accidentally trip over him while playing was not as easy as she once believed. The stupid foliage was simply not thick enough to completely hide her treasure! Maybe she could sneak inside and get a shovel? Partially burying him should work. Until now nobody even knew that she was back-
"What are you doing here, Riko?"
Oh no! She was at least an hour too early before her scheduled return!
"Hi, Leader!"
She tried to hide her surprise with a strained smile. Judging from her caretaker's grim look it did not work.
"Explain."
There was no malice or forcefulness in his tone, but his serious gaze nevertheless sent a shiver down her spine.
"Ehm... I... uhm... I ran into a Crimson Splitjaw! It must have been really hungry to fly up so high and I barely got away! Its maw was so scary! And then... I ran up as quickly as I could, losing the beast in the process!"
Omitting the truth was much easier than lying.
"Really?" he asked with a deadpan stare.
A bird chirped...
The wind howled...
Sweat drops rolled down her neck...
Riko needed to convince him somehow!
"Yeah... uhm... Ah! Here! Look! I can prove it!"
After some rummaging through her many pockets she produced one of the few intact scales that had been left of the gigantic animal. It was a dull-red patch of skin that sadly looked rather unimpressive in Leader's hand as he took it.
"Mmmh... These are indeed scales from a Crimson Splitjaw. Although... how did you get that in the first place if you were escaping it? Furthermore... the edges look burned by something. What is the story behind that?"
No! He was catching onto her hastily fabricated excuse.
"Uhhh... I am not sure? It was already that way when I found it. I was going in circles you see... It must have fallen off when it scraped against the stones! Uh..."
"In circles? I thought you ran up as fast as possible to escape? Does that not normally happen in a more or less straight line?"
Riko was regretting her decisions now. Perhaps she should just tell the truth now and avoid getting punished for lying. Just as she opened her mouth her teacher continued.
"Whatever. Where is your backpack?"
"Oh! Darn! I... kind of lost it?"
Leader's blue eye's bore into her soul. The loss of a valuable piece of equipment and the relics contained within would bring unpleasant consequences for her in the future.
"I was really terrified and I thought that it would be best to get rid of the weight that was slowing me down. I am sorry. I shouldn't have-"
"No, Riko. Listen to me. I am not mad at you. You did nothing wrong. Don't ever let someone tell you that you should prioritize profits over your life. That is the fastest way to get killed and if you are dead then you can't make any money at all. What you did was a smart choice. However, I have to ask..."
He kneeled down and gripped her shoulders tightly. Suddenly he seemed even more serious!
"What happened to your companion, Teggie? Is he alright? Or has his soul returned to the Abyss?"
Oops. She totally forgot about the boy!
"We got separated earlier. He is probably worried sick by now, but he is fine!"
"That is good to hear. Let us get inside. Don't forget to apologize to Teggie later. Also, you are on latrine duty for the rest of the month."
"What! Why? I thought you said I did nothing wrong!"
"Do not test my patience, Riko. You should have searched for your partner the minute when you noticed that you were no longer followed by a giant, flying snake. Teggie was never the fittest and you left him alone. Now come inside and stop crawling through the bushes."
As they entered the orphanage Riko was filled with immense relief. Leader did not notice her treasure! Awesome!
∞•۞˂Greg's point of view˃۞•∞
It was her! Lyza's daughter! His goal! She was undoubtedly Riko with the same blond hair and clear blue eyes as her mother. To see her was his goal for years! For her sake he had left the comforts of the village of Iruburu, passed layer after layer and defended himself against countless threats!
But this was not how they were supposed to meet. Greg never considered that she could come towards him as well.
And what was that behind her?
One of those dangerous, flying worms from a few layers below here! They occasionally could shrug off some of his weaker blasts, so he would need to go all out to save Lyza's daughter! Whatever the cost, Greg had to save her just like he swore to do a long time ago.
Overloading his circuits, he channelled more power through his body into his incinerator cannon than ever before, absentmindedly yelling out a warning before he unleashed every ounce of energy in one fiery blast. The air burned bright enough to blind even his enhanced eyes and the creature turned to ash, yet he still continued to make sure that no harm would come to Riko.
Then the symptoms of overcharging his body like this hit him at once.
One after another his systems powered down, leaving him unable to stand or talk, regardless of his desperate need to share her mother's message with the girl. His limbs went numb and his eyes closed moistened at the dreadful realization of what he had just done.
Against all common knowledge he hoped, he prayed, he begged... that he would remember something when he woke up again. Anything that made up his mind was irreplaceable; particularly the fateful promise to Lyza which brought him here in the first place.
"If he woke up again." the artificial boy thought with resigned horror.
Yet darkness still claimed him, erasing the years of laughter, tears and wonder with uncaring swiftness. As his power fizzled out, the cumulative experience of "Greg" was deleted and Ű̷̹̐͗̓̚͠n̷̹͕͙̭̬͖͑̄i̷̟̱͎̻̟̓̍̔͒̑͜t̶͍͓͙͝ ̷͎̱̱̟̏̈́͗ͅ2̶͉̩͕͔͉̩͕̀̄3̵̧̰̦̈́̒̊̽̈́͝4̴͙̏̌̎͐͜͝1̵̬̣͔̹͈͗͗̎̆͂̃7̸̧̭̲̺̖͕̬̍̈̒͑̄̚-̵̨͔̳̗͉̑̀͜͝Ę̵͖̱̜̗̤̋̌͆x̴̰̥͛͐̈́͒(̷̨̘̼̫͇̩̻̊̑̆͋͛͒b̵̧̢̢̩͍̗̽̑̄̎̍̍)̷̨̮̣̙͓́̄̄̈́̅̓͘ was returned to a blank slate.
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