Another late update, sorry! I was busy with graduation prep that most of my leisure time is used for napping or simply doing anything that hardly needs any thinking to reduce the stress. But here it is again!
Wishes, Dreams, and Memories
Chapter 24 – Unexpected
"Achoo!" The sneeze coming from the hazel-haired Earthmate echoed throughout the snow-covered forest.
"Are you okay Lest?" Frey asked worriedly, "Do you bring any thicker clothes? Or do you have any warmer armor equipped?"
"No, I'm fine," Lest rubbed his hands in order to warm himself a bit more, but noticed that his sister wasn't wearing any thicker clothes and she didn't look like she was bothered by the weather, "Your clothes don't look like they're any thicker than mine, so how come that you don't look too bothered by the cold?"
"Huh? Well, it's…" As the green-haired Earthmate looked around nervously, an idea suddenly came into her mind, "Military training! Yeah, that's it! My training makes me more resistant to the cold!"
"The young lady is correct," A voice came from behind the bushes as an armored man walked towards them, "Sechs soldiers are trained to be able to withstand the extreme weather, from this cold weather to the burning hot summer. That kind of weather resistance training is just the beginning, sadly…"
"I hear you, Kane," Frey commented sympathetically with Lest watching them curiously.
"Is it that cold here?" The ghost girl popped in the middle of the three, "I don't feel anything at all, to be honest."
Lest could feel that Pico was expecting to be struck down with the comment saying that she shouldn't be able to feel cold as a ghost, which was something he often heard coming from a certain Guardian. Her being missing had left a hole within Lest and Pico, who were Dolce's closest people other than her adoptive parents. A trade offered by the Sechs would allow them to get their Guardian friends back, but both Lest and Frey had to come for the in exchange.
"Hey uh… Lest, right?" Kane called out to Lest, "If you're worried about your wife, let me say that I can ensure that she, along with the rest of the Guardians, are safe and sound. It may sound like an empty promise, but I know that the current Sechs won't be as traitorous as you knew before."
Lest saw the honesty and trust from the soldier's eyes and gave him a nod, "Okay, I'll trust you. Now let's get going."
"Right," Kane replied with a nod before he started walking away, "It's this way."
The Earthmates and Pico followed Kane through the forest which seemed to have the same scenery no matter how long they had walked. Years had passed since Lest came into the area when he was trying to recover the stolen rune spheres and the scenery of the Sechs' territory had changed completely. They hadn't come across any monsters or any other soldiers, making the area almost like it had been completely abandoned. It felt like it was completely void of life until the suddenly rustling coming from the snow-covered bushes from their side.
Kane responded by having his hand ready on his sword hilt as he looked around the small clearing they were in. Seeing the soldier's response, Lest and Frey had their weapons ready as well with Pico looking around for any signs of danger. Frey suddenly stepped to the side and quickly spun her spear, reflecting an incoming arrow from the side.
"Everyone, spread out!" Kane yelled out and the four of them quickly moved in different direction as a big boulder landed hard on the spot where they used to be.
Once the dust had cleared, an army of Sechs soldier had already been waiting in front of them. The archers behind the armored soldier began raining the group with arrows, which was easily blown away with Lest's wind magic and Frey's spinning spear. Kane charged towards the soldiers, hitting the soldiers with his sheathed sword before elbowing them out of the way.
"Pico, stay behind us!" Lest called out to the ghost girl, who shook her head in disagreement.
"I'm fighting too! I'm doing this to find Dolly!" Pico flew ahead of them, making the soldiers swing their swords all over the place as she kept on teleporting to dodge the incoming swords.
"We'll have to clean these guys fast," Frey took out her hammer, "We're running out of time here."
Lest nodded in agreement, "Yeah," Lest got his dual blades ready, "We need an opening to get through them."
Nodding at each other, Lest and Frey charged toward the incoming soldiers. Lest dodged a sword aimed at his head before he brought down the blade on his left to the back of the soldier. The attack landed hard as the soldier fell down to the ground, but another had come as a backup towards him. Lest had his back completely turned to the incoming soldier, but another one had collided with him just in time before Lest could get hit.
The flying soldier had come from Frey's side of the field, which had produced soldiers flying towards many different directions. The soldiers who could get close enough to her would either get elbowed hard on the gut or a punch in the face, leaving her almost completely untouchable. Another hammer user from behind as she was sending the others flying everywhere, knocking her towards Lest.
Lest was pushed back as he was blocking an attack from a soldier, completely unaware that his sister was flying towards him. They both collided and were sent towards a dead tree, landing on the cold snowy surface. As Lest was knocked out cold under her, Frey tried pushing herself up and got ready for another round of fighting, unaware of the weak ground beneath both of them.
Pico had teleported out of the field and towards the Earthmates as she noticed what happened to them, "Lest! Frey!"
"I'm going to be fine!" Frey brushed off the snow from her clothes, "Take care of Lest while… huh?"
Cracking sounds could be heard from the area they were in, loud enough for Kane to notice it. Kane quickly turned to the soldier he locked swords with and swung it hard enough for the soldier to be thrown to the side before he quickly ran to their side, "Lest! Frey! Watch out!" It was too late for Kane as the ground beneath Lest and Frey collapsed and the two Earthmates fell into the deep dark hole.
"… st… Lest… Lest!"
Frey desperately called out to her brother, but was relieved when Lest slowly moved his body around. The male Earthmate could feel pain on his head as he sat up, still unaware of the unfamiliar surroundings. Lest kept holding his head as he opened his eyes to see that the surrounding area was bright.
He raised his head and saw a blurry pond of light in the distance, "Where… is this?"
"Are you two okay!?" Pico suddenly popped out in front of them, surprising Frey enough for her to cling to Lest.
"Y-Yes, I think…" Frey was still in shock before turning to Lest, who was slightly choked by the grip she had on him, "Sorry!"
Lest let out a loud sigh as Frey let him go, "Yeah, that's okay…"
"Now that's aside…" Pico turned around to look at what seemed to be a pond of light from the distance, "What is this place anyway?"
"Somewhere underground, that's for sure… wait," Frey suddenly took off towards the pond, prompting Lest and Pico to run after her.
"Wait up!" Lest called out before he stopped beside Frey, right in front of the pond of light.
Frey was looking at the pond in shock and the pond was actually bigger than it was seen from the spot where they fell. It was bigger than the Dragon Lake back in Selphia, but the lake wasn't filled with water. Runeys were flying around and from the lake before they went through the ceiling of the unknown cave the three of them were in.
"So this is it… the rune lake…" Frey spoke up in awe, surprising the other two.
"Rune lake… so you mean…"
"Yes," Frey nodded, "This is the place we're supposed to find and protect."
Pico flew on top of the lake and looked down, "It's warm… and yet I usually can't feel it…"
Frey looked down at the lake, "The amount of runes is still low, but it's still at a safe level."
"Tell me," Lest spoke up, "Why are we supposed to protect this place? And from what should it be protected?"
"Because," Frey extended her hand to touch a runey before it turned into a small ball of light, "this is where pure runes are from. Runes free from evil souls, but also very sensitive to that kind of corruption. Pure rune energy is the strongest form of rune energy, which is enough to turn a regular human being into… an Earthmate."
"So that's why…"
"Yes, but not just a regular human being can become an Earthmate," Frey continued, "Only the person with the purest heart to do good deeds can become one."
"What if it's someone who wants power? What would happen then?" Lest asked.
Frey could feel a slight ache in her heart, even though Lest was referring to another person. Letting him know the answer should have been fine, but things would turn out bad for her should he know about her past, "I… don't know…"
"I see…" Lest replied calmly.
Lest, having completely forgotten about his past, was still confused of his supposed responsibility as an Earthmate. He was in awe with what he had seen, but he couldn't feel any special connection with the lake. He assumed that he either had never been to that place or he simply never knew about the rune lake. He looked around for a possible exit to the surface as the hole they came from was too high up and luckily found a path leading out of the place.
"Frey," Lest spoke up, "While it's good to know that we've found the place you wanted to find, I think we should leave this place for now."
"I know what you mean," Frey replied, but she was still looking at the lake, "Can you two leave me here for a short moment?"
"Okay, if that's what you need," Lest turned to Pico, who was still hovering above the lake in awe, "Come on, Pico."
Lest and Pico left for the exit while Frey stayed behind and closed her eyes. The floating runeys responded to her action as they flew around faster and seemed like they were pouring out of the lake. The female Earthmate suddenly felt a sharp pain in her hands and the pain led her to open her eyes which gave her a horrifying sight.
Her hands were turning invisible as she felt the pain in her hands, as if her hands were being pulled out of her arms forcefully. She held her hands together while holding down the pain as a part of her arms had started turning invisible as well, 'Not now… Please, not now! Just… a while longer…'
The pain on Frey's hands and arms slowly faded as they turned visible once more, making the Earthmate sigh in relief. Frey noticed that the runeys were back to normal, flying around the area in a normal pace. Frey held her necklace firmly before walking away and towards the spot where Lest and Pico had been waiting for her.
"Are you sure we're not going deeper?" Pico asked as she followed the two Earthmates in front of her, "It's just getting darker and darker."
"I hope not…" Lest replied tiredly, "It feels like we've been walking for hours now…"
"No, I think we're going somewhere else," Frey spoke up, getting the attention of the other two, "This might be our only way of getting out of here, but I can feel that this isn't going to be a pleasant journey out of this place. I can feel that the rune energy flowing around this place is corrupted."
"If the runes are corrupted, I think we're close to the very people we're supposed to see," Lest responded, "I just hope that Dolly and the others are there and unharmed."
"Yeah…" Pico nodded with a frown on her face, before she noticed some light coming from the front, "Huh? Are we almost at the exit?"
"I think we're almost there!" Lest took off along with Frey and Pico, finding themselves inside a building made of stone walls.
"This doesn't look like an exit…" Pico commented.
Frey looked around cautiously before she put her hammer beside her, "On your guards, you two. I sense that we're not alone here."
Lest looked around on guard as he held on to his dual blades, before noticing the silhouette of a monster behind him. He turned around and pointed his swords, but all he saw was a black spiky thorn coming out from the ground, covered with colorful flowers. As he had his back turned against the unfamiliar guest, he was tackled into the ground before he had the chance to react.
Lest quickly turned around and the shape of the silhouette became clearer to him as it left into hiding, "I know… I know that form!"