Hours pass since that gruesome scene.
The young Nightwalker stirred and groaned. She felt no more searing pain, and she wondered to herself what happened after that last scene she witnessed. She opened her eyes, and was greeted by someone she's known for years.
"Ah, Rebecca, you're awake!" he said. "You're good as new." It was Royce; a Thunder Breaker she trained with in Ereve. His thick accent clearly shows his Scottish roots. A rugged cap of brown hair rested on his head, topped by a Leather Ocean Hat, and his body is clothed by a Green Plasteer. "You lost a nasty amount of blood, but thankfully this man helped keep you among the living." Royce pointed to the Priest standing beside the doorway. Apparently he had just entered, as he finished planting another few steps into the room.
"Good evening," he spoke softly to her.
Rika beheld a most cherubic sight. If she were dead, he'd be an angel. An elegant fuzz of light blue hair crowned the spectacled man, and his visage, too, was elegant. He wore a gentle smile, and it seems to Rika that this is the face he keeps most often. Flowing down his body was a Blue Enigmatic, matching his color of hair. She hadn't any idea what to say but to return the greeting.
"Good evening, and thank you," Rika said. Orienting herself, she observed the room around her. It was austere, to say the least, with the least liveliest of gray walls, decorated only by cracks and pipes here and there. Its only source of light was an incandescent bulb hanging from a wire at the middle of the ceiling. The sound of explosions permeated throughout the place; they seemed to come from above. To her strange surprise, she lay on a hospital bed, but this place was definitely not a hospital of any sorts.
"You should be thanking Cray for taking you to me," started the elegant Priest. "He found you under attack by a Stalker, and carried you here all by himself. I merely nursed you back to full health," he finished. He certainly is modest, she thought.
"Well you have to be thanked a lot, anyway," Rika responded. "I'd be a useless bag of meat if I were brought here barely alive and then die later." She smiled. Her comment released a soft chuckle out of the Priest. "What should I call you?"
"Apollo," he said. "Your friend here, Royce, called you Rebecca, is that right?"
"Yes, Rebecca. I prefer to be called Rika, though," she answered, and Apollo nodded. "I just think it's less of a mouthful to say." Her eyes wandered around the room once more, trying to figure out where she is.
"You're in the Dark Lord's new hideout," informed the Priest, noticing her curious wandering eyes. "The Hive, as we call it. It's hidden in the subways."
"Wait," Rika said, "what's a Magician doing in a Thieves' hideout?"
"I'm a very good friend of Cray's, and he called me here to tend to his wounded allies," Apollo said. "Besides…" a long pause followed. He still wore that smile, but shut his eyes. Rika sensed something bothered him.
"Besides…?" the question was asked as if to add oil to get a rusty jaw speaking again.
"It's not only Kerning City with these problems, anymore," he finally spoke, "In the five hours that you rested, Ellinia is struck by more powerful Magicians; Obscurae, as we refer to them. They reduced the fragile town to ashes. Perion, too, is attacked, and they're called Slayers. The Nautilus has left for Ludibrium, carrying the refugees they can from Ellinia and Henesys. Henesys is the only remaining safe town in Victoria Island, but it's uncertain when it will be beset by aggressive bowmen. I'm here also because Kerning City has the largest number of injured. Others are, too, for the same reason."
The news shocked Rika. The fact that a leadership rivalry between Lady Syl and the Dark Lord has transformed into an all-out battle throughout Victoria Island in so little time astonished her.Something immense must be going on beneath this.She could only wonder what, and in her mind, this definitely involves the Black Mage. Her thinking behind the thought is scratchy, however.
"Right," started Royce. His arms were crossed and his back rested on the austere gray wall. "The Ellinia ships to Ereve and Orbis have moved to Henesys for the time being to avoid the Obscurae. They're stuffed like a sack full of potatoes each time they dock. Everybody wants to get the hell out."
"We should report this to Neinhart!" suggested Rika, sitting up on the bed, slipping on her Dark Cleaves and Orange-lined Shoes.
"You wish, pretty girl," Royce said. "We're not the only Knights on the continent. Someone must have told them already. Anyway, it's a gauntlet up there in the surface with all these Stalkers. Getting to Henesys will be precarious; Balrogs flying all over the route, you see."
He's right, Rika thought, nodding at the Thunder Breaker. "Has any Cygnus Knight sent to Kerning City returned to Ereve at all?" Rika asked.
"No," bluntly answered Royce. "Sixty of us were sent to Kerning City. Twenty-eight are here in the Hive, us included. The other thirty-two are dead." The grim news was another indicator of the extremeness of the situation. Rika slumped. The elegant Priest handed her some relaxing potions, taking note the deep sighs she made.
"Apollo!" shouted someone from outside. Urgency ringed with the voice. The man who entered the room had a familiar face to Rika, and it should be; it was the Chief Bandit from earlier, the one who rescued her. The difference was in his equipment; he was now in a Dark Studded set and wielded a Dragon's Tail dagger. He looted!
"I had a feeling you were here," he said to the Priest. Rika observed his face, as she couldn't when she first saw him. He and Apollo resembled each other. They could be brothers… But I doubt they are. Their similarities end where the Bandit has shaggily arranged dark brown hair and dark brown eyes.
"There's a group of hostiles coming in the Hive's direction," the warning startled Apollo. "They must have followed our guys taking the injured here. You're our best Priest; we need your help eliminating them. Shit'll happen if they discover where we're hiding."
"Dual Blades?" Apollo asked.
"Four Dual Blades, one Stalker," he slipped the Blood Nightfox onto his head, concealing his shaggy hair. "I hear they've got an Outlaw with them, too, probably just a mercenary."
The Priest pushed his glasses back against his nose's bridge and props up a Blue Galaxy hat. Extending his hand out in front of himself, he produced a magnificent horizontal glow and grasped it as it solidified into a Kage staff. He nodded, perhaps to show his understanding of what must be done, and says "Let's go."
"Wait!" interrupted Rika. The two men have barely left the room. The Chief Bandit looked at her over his shoulder, examining that this is the girl he found and saved hours earlier. "I'm coming!"
"You have three choices," he started, counting with his fingers. "A; you're sane and decide to stay here and keep out of danger. B; you come along to help, but ultimately die. C; you just have a death wish. There's an Elite Stalker walking with them. Think it over. Not everyone swallows coins; you were lucky. I wouldn't have beaten him any other way." Think it over, Rika echoed in her mind as he and Apollo sped off. Her decisions kept alternating between the first two choices, despising the third.
"I don't have a death wish!" she said to herself, stressing the second word in her statement. Choosing the second option but omitting the words "ultimately die," she took her Claw from the stool beside the bed and ran out the door following suit.
"Rebecca!" Royce cried. He doubted she heard. She's bad at listening sometimes, especially to him. He always admired her undaunted courage and strong will to succeed, as he witnessed time after time for years when they trained together back in Ereve. However, she doesn't always think and rethink the situation thoroughly. Dammit, Rebecca! If we both die, I swear, I will kill you again in heaven! "Oh this is going to reek!" he spoke the thoughts aloud and chased after her, hoping to catch up. You really should have been a Dawn Warrior instead, like I suggested; fits your bill far better!