I gradually became aware of the fact that my face was pressed into something hard. Did I fall asleep on the floor or something?
Wait a moment.
Lifting my face off the ground, I checked myself for any wounds. Thankfully, I'm still in one piece and not crushed flat. However, all I have on me right now is my sword and sheath. I must have lost my bag somewhere along the way.
Due to the lack of injury, I'm inclined to believe that the whole thing earlier might have been all a dream.
It was still a pretty intense dream though.
Unfortunately, what had happened to Master Verum before had not been all in my head.
I had screwed up big time, worse than I ever had before. There was nothing I could do now to fix it. The only thing I could do now was to go forward with my original objective, which was to find Nocte and Cinder. The self-deprecation could come afterwards.
Where am I, anyway?
Taking a look at my surroundings, I discovered that I was in a dark alleyway. Walking out to the street, my eyes are greeted with the sight of an unfamiliar street illuminated by bright lampposts placed in regular intervals. The only thing I can recognize is the sight of the moon in the night sky, which reassures me that I haven't ended up on another planet or something.
The lack of recognition isn't unexpected, since I've never actually been outside of the castle. Pretty much everywhere outside would be unfamiliar. Unfortunately for me, that means I can't determine exactly how far away I am from the castle. For all I know, I might not even be in the Land of Departure anymore. I decided to do a thorough examination of this place, to get an idea of what this place is like.
I walked over to one of the buildings. Displayed behind a large window were mannequins dressed in a variety of clothes. Not being interested in getting a new outfit, I walked to the next building.
This time, there were a large number of tables inside. There were a few people sitting at them, talking and eating meals. I felt slightly hungry, but I didn't have any money to purchase food with. I walked on.
All of the buildings seemed to be shops or restaurants, which seemed to indicate that I was in a town or city. I still had no idea where this place was, or what it was even called. A map would've helped, but I didn't know where I could get one. I decided to try getting up on a roof to get a better view of the area.
Spotting a ladder on the side of one building, I went over to it and started climbing upwards. It was a little more difficult than usual to climb, but that was probably due to the fatigue I was beginning to feel.
Upon reaching the roof, I looked around. The good news is that I am in a city. There's a multitude of buildings stretching out as far as I can see. I think I can even see a dock over in the distance. Now I've got a better idea of the layout of this place. The bad news is, I still have no idea where I am. I really should find a map. I don't know where to get one though. It's also quite late, and I'm really tired, despite just waking up recently. I don't even know where I'm going to sleep tonight.
While I was pondering on the next course of action to take, the sound of breaking glass caught my attention, followed by some sort of sound I couldn't quite identify. I peered over the edge of the roof to look down at the source of the noise.
The first thing I noticed was the girl standing in the middle of the street. I couldn't make out most of her appearance, but I did manage to see that she was wearing a red cloak. It stood out to me for some reason.
The other thing I noticed was the huge scythe she was holding. Really, how could I miss it? The thing was large, looked very sharp, and scared the living daylights out of me. Part of me wondered how she was able to hold it up, seeing as something of that size and material should be quite heavy.
As if to answer my unspoken question, the girl spun the scythe around before burying the tip of the blade into the pavement. I spotted a guy in a bowler hat gesturing to a bunch of guys in black suits wielding swords and what were probably guns. Some of them began rushing at the girl.
What followed was one of the most amazing and terrifying events I've ever witnessed so far in my life (that I can remember).
The girl, seemingly undeterred by the difference in numbers, began her attack by kicking the first guy to reach her right in the face. Next, she spun at an incredible speed before smashing another guy away with her scythe. She then proceeded to take out everyone else in a swift and likely painful manner.
At that point I stopped watching and pulled away from the edge. Clearly that girl is more dangerous than she looks. Getting hit by that scythe would definitely be no joke.
I felt a small measure of relief at being up here, out of sight. Getting into a fight like that would not end well for me. While I sat on the ground trying to decide what to do next, a rather loud whistling noise shot through the air followed by the unmistakable sound of an explosion.
Looks like someone decided to make things more fun with explosives. I should probably leave the area before a stray shot comes my way. I started walking over to the ladder to climb back down. To my surprise, the bowler-hat guy from the street came up, shoving me to the ground with a short "Out of my way kid!" He proceeded to run past me to the other side of the roof.
Before I could get up, something came flying through the air. It turned out to be the scythe girl. I would've been impressed at her aerodynamic feat, except for the fact that she landed feet-first on my stomach with considerable force. Thankfully she quickly stepped off, letting out what I think was a quick apology before going to confront the bowler-hat guy. I'm not exactly sure, being a little preoccupied with the excruciating pain and inability to breathe for several seconds. The sound of yet another explosion pierced the air, but I didn't focus on it too much, seeing as I was still struggling to get air into my lungs.
When I could finally breathe normally again, I turned my head and noticed a few things. One: bowler-hat guy wasn't on the roof anymore.
Two: a woman with blonde hair and some sort of cape was present on the roof.
Three: there was some sort of tilt-jet hovering close by, and said woman was firing off what looked like spells at the tilt-jet.
Oh, and someone was firing back. Wait a moment. That spell looks familiar…
At that moment, part of the roof exploded. By now I had a fairly good guess of who was in the tilt-jet.
But could it really be her though? Surely it wasn't as easy as that.
I got on my feet before trying to see who was in the tilt-jet.
Sure enough, there was Cinder.
Overjoyed at the chance of finally meeting up with her again, I took a step forward and called out.
"Cinder!"
In my haste, I forgot one very important fact: there was still a raging battle going on. Drawing attention to yourself in the middle of a fight in which you're completely outclassed tends to be a very stupid thing to do.
On one hand, the scythe-girl and the blonde woman finally noticed that I existed. The woman did not seem amused at my presence though. That might be a problem later.
On the other hand, there was Cinder. If she had heard me, she clearly wasn't happy to learn I was here, because I caught this strange look passing over her face. It probably was anger, only on a completely different level from just regular old rage. I've only seen that look once before, and that was right before the spar between her and Nocte. It was a look that promised a fiery and explosive demise. And at the moment, it seemed to be directed at me.
Why did I shout out? The hunger and fatigue must really be getting to me. If I had stayed quiet I could probably have slipped away unnoticed and unharmed. Unfortunately, I hadn't done that, and now it was time to face the consequences.
A distinct high-pitched whistling sound alerted me to an incoming attack. I did the only thing I could do at that moment: throw myself backwards as fast and hard as I could.
And just in time too, because the roof exploded. Again. I think my pants might have gotten a little singed from the blast. There are probably plenty of bruises that I'm going to feel in the morning as well.
I don't have many options to take at the moment. I possess no viable methods of long-range attacks, save for the spells I currently know. However, casting even one spell leaves me quite exhausted. I'm not quite sure why that is; nobody back home could or would explain it. On top of that, my lack of control would leave me unable to aim properly, meaning that I would be more likely to hit myself in the face with a spell before hitting a target. And I would only have one shot. So, using magic is out of the picture.
There's also the matter of the two other potential opponents: the scythe-girl and the blonde woman. Both of them seemed quite capable of beating me senseless. Fighting at all would probably end badly for me.
There's only one option left then: flee. It might seem a little cowardly, but I'd prefer to not to be involved in any more violence right now. Running away to fight another day seems like a good idea. So, I picked myself off the ground and stumbled as fast as I could toward the ladder to the street. I say stumbled because I found it a little difficult to keep my balance or move very fast. Maybe I suffered some sort of injury from the explosion. No time to stop now though.
Hopefully Cinder will keep the other two busy while I make my escape. That is, if she isn't trying to kill me anymore. I didn't get nailed in the back by any attacks as I made my way over to the ladder, which is probably a good sign. I think I heard the tilt-jet flying away, but I can't be absolutely certain. Actually, everything's starting to get a little hazy for some reason.
In fact, I'm feeling really tired. My legs seem to have stopped working properly as well, because the next thing I know, I'm lying on the ground. My arms are non-responsive. No matter how hard I try, I can't move them. My eyes can't stay open either.
You know what? A nap sound good right about now. Maybe everything will resolve itself after my nap.
Unable to continue on, I lost consciousness (yet again).