A/N: Hey guys! :D Long time no see! ;A; Sorry for not updating for a long long time... I'll get more into detail at the end, but for now, I hope you guys enjoy! I really liked writing this chapter :3
Part 3
The door opened, leading Zach to a small alcove and hallways stretching out to his left and right. However, what drew his eye was the aquamarine vase seated in the little space in front of him. Right behind it was a painting of an identical colored vase titled,
"Eternal Blessing"
Zach adjusted his glasses and eyed the vase wearily, but nevertheless pulled out his six-petal rose and put it in. The five lost petals instantly regenerated in the usual glow of the vase. The pen markings on Zach's hand disappeared as if they had never been there, and his hand went back to normal. However, unlike normal, despite the fact that he'd just used it, the water in the vase didn't disappear. Zach reflected on the painting and came to the conclusion that maybe the aquamarine vases are a permanent asset of this dungeon. An 'eternal' vase. I mean, there's always going to have to be something OP* to help the players, right?
Zach smiled at how his situation was starting to seem like a real life video game… that puts his life at risk. The smile quickly fell and he brought himself back to the matter at hand; getting out.
Beginning to look around, Zach noticed that there was another writing desk situated next to the vase. It didn't write anything and was the reason why he didn't notice it before. Looking to the left, he saw that the hallway ended with a door, perhaps into another room of sorts and to the right… Zach froze. There in the middle of the hallway was an… arm? Sticking out of a misshapen lump of… hair?
No… it's a person! Or is it?
Zach cautiously approached whatever it was supposed to be and realized that the suspected 'it' was in fact a 'she'. He crouched down and brushed away the hair to see who she was supposed to be. Whoever she was, she seemed to be in a lot of pain. Her face was twisted into a tight grimace and she was sweating. He followed her extended palm only to see that it was just out of reach of a red key. Zach picked up the key and wondered what exactly had happened to her for her to be passed out in the middle of the hallway and be in this much pain.
Zach turned back towards the girl, planning to call out to her or gently wake her when he heard a faint sound escape her lips.
"My… rose…" she whispered, her voice fading fast.
Realization shot through his mind and he quickly ran over to the other door at the end of the hallway, since that seemed to be the direction she had been heading for. Whoever she was, she was dying. Once he entered the left side of the hallway, he saw a small room jutting out of the wall. The room only had a red door and a window adorning its exterior. Immediately, he just knew that the key he held opened that door. The door, as he'd expected, clicked open easily, but what awaited him made him freeze in his steps.
"Loves me…" A nearly identical painting to the red fiend that attacked him before sat in the corner of the room holding a rose stem with one petal hanging precariously on the edge. The only difference between them was that she was blue. The lady heard Zach enter and snapped her head in his direction. She slowly put the rose down and stared at him, as if daring him to come closer.
Zach couldn't be sure, but if he was to assume that he was right, and he was almost completely certain he was, he instantly knew that there was a connection between the rose and the passed out girl in the other hallway. Somehow, he had to get the rose back before all of its petals were completely stripped; otherwise that girl was probably a goner. Zach took a tentative step forward and almost immediately, the lady in blue hissed and lunged at him.
Crap! Zach dove down as the lady sailed over his head. His jaw hit the ground and his glasses clattered towards the rose. He scrambled to get up and grabbed the flower and his glasses. Pocketing both items, he turned around and came face to face with the lady, blurry now, again. Talk about déjà vu, he thought. The lady had obviously learned her lesson and waited for him to make a move, eyeing him like a ravenous hawk.
Zach looked around the room and saw only the window, a stool, and what seemed like a randomly placed sculpture displayed in the space in front of the door. He wondered how he hadn't seen it earlier, but, right now, that was the least of his problems. The lady was between the door and the sculpture, still waiting. Zach quickly formulated an escape plan in his head and thusly darted towards the stool. He picked it up as the lady ran towards him and he then threw it at her as she jumped. The two collided in midair and the woman was thrown back towards the sculpture with a loud shriek. The sculpture shattered and Zach made his way out of the door, hastily putting his glasses on again.
Closing the small room's door, he ran towards the exit door right as he heard glass shattering behind him. Sparing the smallest of glances, Zach saw the lady burst out of the small window and land roughly on the ground, the glass sprinkling all around her. Her blood thirsty eyes glared at Zach with such an intense hatred that, for a moment, he couldn't tear his gaze away.
Then she let out a guttural growl that snapped him out of his daze and he reached the door. She lunged one last time at Zach, claws stretched towards his coat, but he had already slipped through the door and promptly proceeded to slam it in her face.
Zach readjusted his stance to barricade the door, just in case the lady in blue was a bit different than the lady in red.
BANG BANG BANG.
The same three bangs, but the same lack of force against the door. Zach didn't know why they didn't simply chase him and wondered if it were at all possible that they were all actually somehow figments of his imagination. He wasn't about to take his chances and go head to head with one just to find out for sure though. Taking his mind off of his questions for once, he pulled out the black rose and, for a moment, wondered what to do with it.
A sudden scribble brought his attention to the small alcove in the center. The vase! It felt like the right thing to do, soZach walked towards the aquamarine vase and gingerly placed the black rose into the swirling blue water. The light engulfed him and the rose once again and once the light faded, the petals had returned to the rose and the water swirled on. Zach looked down at what drew his attention in the first place and noticed, this time, that the notebook had different lines in it as opposed to the other notebook he encountered.
{A/N: The 'FAILED Trial Four' is supposed to be crossed out, btw...}
Raven, Linda 003et2: FAILED Trial Four
Survived Trial Four
Strider, Zachariah 006kh7: Survived Trial Four.
Still not having a clue about what was being recorded into the little notebooks, Zach ignored it, pocketed the flower, and walked to where the girl was.
Linda stirred ever so slightly. Her body ached as if from a phantom wound, but the pain was gone. Groaning, she tried pushing herself up, but her arms were so weak that they pretty much gave out right away.
Zach saw the girl try to get up only to flop back down again. He cautiously made his way towards her. Even though she had obviously seemed like an ordinary girl that was also connected to a rose like him, he still didn't know for sure if she was human or not. Crouching down, Zach had planned on waking her softly, but his hand hesitated giving Linda just enough time to groggily push her torso up off the ground and stare ahead of her, straight into deep blue eyes.
"AHH!" Linda yelled as she scrambled to get up. Zach mirrored her actions and recoiled in the opposite direction. Her head began to pound from the sudden movement, but she still managed to point a shaking finger at Zach. "You!" she seethed and balled her other hand into a fist. "You give me back my rose!" she yelled as she threw a well-aimed punch at those eyes.
Zach brought his hands up and immediately blocked her punch which reached centimeters from his face. Linda's anger faltered a bit as black spots danced in her vision entreating her back into unconsciousness.
"Give… me my…" Hang on. Linda struggled to think about what was going on, despite her pounding headache.
Zach slowly relaxed his defensive stance, but then quickly moved to Linda's side as her vision blacked again and she fainted. Catching her before she hit the ground, Zach gingerly dragged her body and rested her against the wall. Linda didn't stay passed out for too long and she woke up to see Zach sitting warily across from her. Squeezing her eyes shut as if to hasten the ebbing of her headache, she leaned her head back against the wall and asked,
"Who are you?" Zach continued watching her warily, waiting for another lash out. Cautiously he answered,
"Zach. And you?"
"What are you?" Linda disregarded him, cracking open an eye and glaring at him, as if waiting for some transformation that would prove him the enemy at any moment.
"If we're going to be asking questions, I think it'd be a little more fair if you'd answer mine as well." Zach shot back. Linda squeezed her eyes shut again and resigned, muttering
"Linda."
Zach was taken aback at how familiar her name sounded. He didn't understand it, but, for some reason, he just had the feeling that she was important.
"Now, my turn. Are you human?" Her voice brought him out of his thoughts as he looked at her now fully staring at him.
"Of course. Did it feel like porcelain or clay when you tried to punch me?" Linda winced at the sharpness of his words.
"Sorry." She mumbled, looking away.
"It's fine," he sighed, "had you actually landed a punch, I probably could've just healed myself with the Eternal Blessing. Speaking of healing, I believe this is yours?" Zach asked her as he pulled out the black rose. Almost chuckling in disbelief, Linda leaned away from the wall and extended her hand as Zach tossed the rose to her.
"Yeah, thanks." Linda missed the rose. Picking it up off the floor, she twirled it in her hand, thinking that she would have to figure out a better place to put it than in her pocket.
"Don't worry about it." Zach watched as Linda shrugged to herself and put the rose back into her front pocket. When she glanced at him, he gestured to the rose and asked, "So can I take this to mean that you're human as well?"
"As human as I can be, the last time I checked. Which would explain why I was dying in the middle of the hallway." Linda grimaced, the memory of the pain still fresh in her mind. Silence fell over the duo as both of them were lost in their own thoughts. "Sorry again about almost punching you. I…" Linda stopped briefly, embarrassed. "I thought you were the Lady in Blue at first." Zach looked at her skeptically.
"I almost feel like I should be insulted. How did you mistake me for a lady?"
"The first thing I saw were blue eyes and..." Linda gestured feebly, shrugging. "Well, you know."
"Fair enough." There was another stretch of uncomfortable silence as the two waited for the other to say something. Zach was the first to break the silence by standing up. "I don't know about you, but I don't want to stay in this place any longer than necessary and since, I'm assuming, we seem to have the same goal of getting out, how about teaming up and getting out? Like they say, two heads are better than one." Zach extended his hand out to Linda, but she brushed it off.
"I can stand on my own, thanks, but you're right. I do want to get out." She said. Zach shrugged, almost snorting.
"Alright, lead the way then, since you're so sure of yourself."
She walked towards the unmoving statue because she sure as hell didn't want a repeat of six chapters ago. All of a sudden, a large glob of acidic blue spit came hurling at her. Zach grabbed her arm and pulled her back just in time as the blue glob sailed passed her and hissed into the ground.
"Shit." Linda steadied herself. "Oh, so now you spit." She eyed the dumb painting with the wiggly tongue. Pulling her arm out of his grasp, Linda stepped around the blue glob, but shot him a brief, thankful glance. "Thanks, I guess." Zach nodded.
Reaching the mannequin in front of the door, Linda was curious whether or not Zach had had the same experience she did with the mannequin in that green room, but she held her tongue. Sure Zach felt like he wasn't a piece of artwork, but she didn't fully trust him just yet. She felt a bit guilty for treating her savior so harshly, but she felt justified as well, since she really didn't know him at all.
"I'm glad this one doesn't move." Zach offered, trying to start a conversation with a half-hearted joke. Linda just looked at him and nodded,
"Yeah. Thank God." Stepping up to the statue, Linda pushed it out of the way and Zach opened the door for her, holding out his hand.
"After you."
*OP means over powered
A/N: They finally meet! :D XD It was really hard for me to figure out how I wanted to do it because this is a big milestone in the story and I wanted to do it justice. Because of that, I had a serious case of writer's block and I almost wanted to stop writing for a while, but my lovely beta smacked some sense into me XD ehehehe... ^^; then, with her current update of her own chapter, she inspired me to get off my lazy bum and just write! I'm also about to take a creative writing class as well, so hopefully my writing will improve! (Though my beta already does such a good job going through my chapters ;A;) But enough about me, what did you guys think of this chapter? :D
Reviews are always appreciated! Thank you guys so much for reading! I love you guys! :D KC-Z out! B)