A/N: I should get a writing schedule X_x I'm getting lazy O_o
Disclaimer: Must I state this againnnn? ;_; Incase you haven't gotten it yet... For the 10th time... I don't own Grand Chase or any of their lovely characters. I just take great joy in manipulating them with fan fiction OwO;;
Chapter 10: Consuming Flames
"Done!" Arme called the group in, indicating to the plate of sqewered harpie meat. After Elesis, in an extremely good mood, had decided that they would stay at the beach for the night instead of the nearby town they had planned on going to, Arme had been appointed with the task of cooking the oversized bird for lunch. She would have recruited Amy as an assistant, but the pink-haired girl seemed estatic to be allowed a vacation. She had hastily reached into her bag and grabbed something, leaving the area. Several minutes later she returned in a swim suit, running for the water. Jin had joined her a few moments later, and Elesis seemed to hyper to be slowed down. She was dragging Ronan with her along the beach, every once and a while stopping to point at something or another. Ryan seemed to have disappeared the moment the words 'staying at the beach' were heard. The left Lass as the only option for Arme to go to for help, and she had definetly needed it with removing the feathers from the selected harpie. With a few hesitant tugs on his sleeve and a begging tone she had the silver haired male helping her, the feathers removed quickly. With that step over, he had stayed long enough to offer his (cleaned) daggers to cut the harpie into chunks, and have those chunks thrown onto sewers around the fire. He had then pulled the same disappearing act as Ryan, saying he couldn't offer much more help unless she wanted the food badly burned. That had left her to sit next to the fire boredly as she watched the others, waiting somewhat impatiently for the meat to cook.
Now that it was done the rest of the chasers swarmed her, all looking for their fair share. Since the harpie was rather large there were many skewers to go around, causing Arme to sigh relievedly. Elesis seemed to have a particular love for the meat; she had grabbed nearly half of the kabobs before Ronan forced her to put some back.
"The others need to eat too," He repremanded lightly. The red-head grudgingly put them back, though her good mood still wasn't spoiled. Ryan and Lass came back from wherever they had been hiding to get some food, joining the group in their small circle. Arme took her portion last, and Elesis looked over the group with a glare that made it obvious who the eater of the three left over harpie-meat sqewers would be. Looking around, Arme quite suddenly noticed a large building on the horizon.
"Is that where we're going?" She asked after finishing her first sqewer. Following her gaze, Jin shook his head.
"That's the orc temple. There haven't been any complaints since they took out the leader over a year ago, so we have no reason to visit." He explained. Elesis nodded in agreement.
"Yeah. We'll just be passing it over, so the next important place is the Gorgo's Dungeon. we need to go through it to get to the Gorge of Oath. " She added. A moment later, she stood up.
"I forgot! The only people who've been here before are me, Ronan and Ryan! You guys have never..." Jin raised his hand.
"I was a Silver Knight, remember? I travelled alot." Amy nodded.
"I travelled with the silver knights for a while, so..." In the end, all eyes turned to Arme and Lass. The silver haired boy shook his head.
"If I've been here before, I certainly don't remember. The monsters here are weaker than in Ellia, so I suppose that's all that matters." Noting the blank look on Arme's face, they continued onto another topic.
"And who's registered their second job with their guild leader?" Jin raised his hand, Ryan following a moment later.
"We'll make a pit stop at Gaikoz' Castle for a few weeks, then. That way Some of us can work out what's been going on in the Foraken Barrows and Marsh of Oblivion. We'll stay at that abandoned castle somewhere inbetween the three." She decided quickly, looking over at Ronan. He gave a confirmational nod, glancing at the others.
"That's alright with everyone?" Amy nodded enthusiastically, an idea seeming to have hit her.
"Arme! I forgot to give you something before we left the town~" She called excitedly, handing her left over meat to a happy Elesis as she made a dive for her bag. After digging through it for a moment she pulled out a purple bathing suit, tossing it toward the mage with some other items.
"Ninan armour~" She smiled widely as she looked toward the rest of the group,"Everyone remembered theirs, right?" There were some hesitant nods as the group looked at the somewhat evil appearing female.
"Get changed when you finish, then!" She exclaimed, daring the rest of the group to oppose her. Arme blinked when she noticed Amy's smile turn into a glare, and traced the glare back to Lass. The assassin was giving her a disbelieving look.
"You are going to swim, right Lass?" She asked in a somewhat sinister sing-song voice. Disinterestedly Lass shook his head, gaping when Amy took out a rather oversized cello. Another wide smile creeped onto her face.
"I asked if you were going to swim, Lass." She repeated slowly, the instrument being tapped on the ground heavily with each word. Sensing his error, Lass gave a resigned nod. Placing down the cello, Amy clapped her hands.
"I'm glad we got that sorted out~!" She skipped away from the group and toward the water, allowing Arme to let out a breath. The last of her food gone, she went toward the shade of the nearby trees to change. She did so quickly, peeking around the tree self-conciously in her bathing suit. She gave a small wave as Elesis approached, suit in hand.
"You might want to get going, or Amy will start wondering where you are." She commented with a grin. The purple haired girl's eyes widened as she remembered the cello from minutes earlier. She muttered a quick goodbye to Elesis before heading to the sandy area of the beach. Jin was already there, dragged into the water by the overly hyper muse. She had surfaced a ball from somewhere and was currently rallying it back and forth between herself and the fighter. Arme watched quietly as she sat at the water's edge, her feet under the sun-warmed water. She made a pile of wet sand next to her, sculpting it quietly. The rest of the chase were slowly joining them, those who didn't want to participate still wearing swim suits. Amy turned to look at them when the ball finally splashed against the water, a pass from Amy not pushing it all the way across to Jin.
"Come on!" She cried, wading through the shore to reach the purple haired girl. Arme didn't notice until the pink haired girl had grabbed her arm, pulling her along and into the water. Despite her protests, Arme found herself wading in somewhat deep water. She gripped Amy's arm tightly trying to protest further as the pink haired girl continued into deeper water.
"You can let go now, Arme~!" Amy called, spinning. The combined confusion of her situation and her soaked hands made it difficult to grip Amy's arm, and she soon found herself without something to hold on to. Her face paled as she swung her arms quickly, the muse staring at her confusedly.
"I-I've never sw--" Arme couldn't continue her sentence, the somewhat hectic waves dragging her under with simplicity. Her swinging arms weren't seeming to do much, twisting her body as she opened her eyes. The water stung, and sight didn't seem to be doing much to help her predicament. She took a large breath as she felt herself somehow reach the surface again, the relief only momentary. Another wave was there to drag her down, and by then she had completely lost sight of the pink haired girl. Her body collided roughly with something, Arme feeling something wind around her wrist. She was yanked out of the water the next moment, gasping for breath as her free hand grabbed onto her only support.
"Well, ow." Her eyes flew open, and she found herself staring into cerulian eyes. Lass! She noticed then that she was grasping his hair roughly, but another large wave dispelled her of all thoughts of letting go.
"I'm not going to let you drown, so can you let go of my hair? That kind of hurts." He mentioned idly, releasing her wrist in favour of carrying her by her waist. She somewhat hesitantly complied, her arms wrapping around his neck instantly. From her view over his shoulder she could see nothing but water, the sky blending in and making it difficult to determine the exact horizon line. They made it into shallow waters quickly, Lass setting her down and stretching as Amy ran over to tackle her in a hug.
"Arme~! Why didn't you tell me you couldn't swim?!" She exclaimed, looking guiltily at the soaked magician.
"She tried to, Amy." The silver haired boy replied, rolling his eyes lightly. At this, Amy seemed surprised.
"I'm sorry!" Reaching up, Arme managed to pat Amy on the back.
"It's okay, stuff like this happens to me all the time." She glanced over at Lass and he nodded, a small smile on his face as he gave a sigh.
"Far too often."
"O-Oh... Well, I can teach you how to swim!" The muse cried, seeming to be excited again. Lass eyed them carefully.
"Amy, don't do anything reckless with her. She's not durable like Jin or Elesis." He explained as he walked back to the shore, a light brush colouring Arme's cheeks.
"Awww! You're concerned!" Amy called after him. Shrugging, the assassin continued walking.
"With you teaching her to swim, Amy, anyone would be." Amy giggled as Lass left, pulling Arme gently into the shallow water. Jin joined them a moment later.
"Amy...? Didn't we just cover that she can't swim?"
"That's why I'm teaching her! The pink haired girl exclaimed with a smile. Looking confused, the red-head didn't bother to continue asking questions. The three spent a fairly large portion of the day attempting to teach Arme to swim, the small magician having a large ammount of difficulty with it. Her experience with swimming hadn't been a good one, but had convinced her that no matter where she was in the water, there was a good chance someone could get to her. Elesis waded in a few feet to come watch them for a while. Ronan had followed, letting Arme know that the red-headed knight couldn't swim either. Said knight promptly blushed and went off to the shore again.
By the time Elesis was calling for dinner the purple eyed girl had managed to grasp the basics of swimming and back floating. She didn't feel comfortable in the water as the sky started darkening, so she returned to where the knight was waiting for a second course of harpie meat.
"I'll help this time," She added, looking over to where Ronan was dragging a harpie.
"Thanks!" Arme said, accepting the help with ease. Lass had already helped her... Three times that day? She flushed at the thought of having to ask again. Asking, it appeared, was unnecessary. As the two girls sat down to begin de-feathering the bird, Lass came over to join them. Daggers seemed to be the most ideal for the task, as the two had been staring at Elesis' spear moments before. Ronan's sword was also unavaliable; the blue haired male had gone off to find Ryan, who had left the area a few hours previous. When the feathers had been removed Elesis stared at the meat, clearly at a loss for where to begin. Arme stared at it thoughtfully.
"Elesis, could you go out and find five sticks for me?" She asked. The knight seemed to be relieved to be given a certain task; cooking wasn't one of her specialties. With Lass' help Arme had the meat cut into three even, large chunks. The water of the ocean was surprisingly clean, and overly efficient for cleaning the meat. They had finished preparations for the meat when Elesis returned.
"I got the sticks!" She called, throwing the bundle towards the pair. Lass caught it before it could wack the small magician in the face, handing it to her after. With one, Arme squewered each of the three pieces of the meat. She crossed two on each of the fire, propping up the meat inbetween the two as a sort of spit. Elesis watched the meat silently as Arme began cleaning up, the silver haired boy having left when the spit had been set up.
"Will it be ready soon?" Elesis questioned, staring hungrily. Arme laughed and shook her head.
"Elesis, the meat will take about an hour." The red head groaned, leaning back on the beach to stare at the sky.
"Well, this is going to get boring..." Arme turned toward the knight, blinking. Somehow, the knight had managed to already fall asleep. Shaking her head lightly, she smiled as she watched Jin and Amy rallying the ball again. The sun was going down which meant the water had to be getting cold, but neither seemed to mind. The two seemed to be extremely happy, laughter easily distinguishable from Arme's position on the sand. She reached into her bag, pulling out her pajamas. It would be much more convenient to change while no one was around. She peered around quietly as she entered the small covering of the trees and wondered where exactly Lass had disappeared to. She blushed and hoped he wasn't in the forest, the thought compelling her to change quickly. When she returned, Ronan was sitting on the shore with Ryan sitting a little distance away. The night had gotten cold, and Ronan had brought Elesis' blanket out of her bag to lay it over her. The spell knight looked up as she approached.
"Hey." He greeted her quietly,quite obviously trying to keep the sleeping knight just that; sleeping.
"She looks alot more... Peaceful when she's sleeping." Arme observed, watching the red-head as she curled slightly under the blanket. Her hair tie had been taken out (most likely by Ronan), and Arme only then realized exactly how long it was. The red locks were laying on the blanket in hopes that they wouldn't get sand in them, though Arme doubted sleeping on a beach would be very convenient in those means. Ronan gave a quiet laugh.
"Definetly." He brushed back a strand of hair that had gotten into the red haired girl's face, sighing as he leaned back on his palms. Arme watched the scene with a smile, looking over to where Jin and Amy were. The two were still in the water, though the activity of splashing each other seemed to have become the more entertaining one. And... Her eyes lighted across the shore to where the orange haired boy sat, staring blankly out at the water. Ronan caught her glance and sighed.
"Places like this are still... Difficult for him, even after all this time. Even though it's nearing a year... " Arme watched the druid worriedly.
"But... Is there anything we can do for him...?" Ronan shook his head sadly.
"We've tried. He just wants to be alone..." Arme let her eyes close. Loosing someone that close to me... Her mind wandered to all those she had met. She hadn't really had friends in the other world, so she had never really stopped to think about it, but... Opening her eyes again, she looked over those on the beach. What if one of them was gone?... What if one of them... Died? The thought in itself was almost enough to make her cry. She didn't know much about friendship, but couldn't imagine loosing the group of people she was with.
"Ronan...?" The blue haired knight turned to look at her, pulling the sheet up a bit higher on Elesis as she shivered.
"Did she... Did Lire die?" She questioned lightly, not entirely comfortable with asking. Ronan didn't move for a second, his eyes downcast. She was about to take the question back when he answered.
"No. At least... We don't think she did." Arme stared at him bewilderedly.
"S-She's not?! Why haven't you gone to get her back yet, then? Surely whatever happened wasn't bad enough for her to stay away from you guys for this long?" Ronan gave another sigh.
"We don't know where she is. Well... We have a vague idea, but we can't get her back from there. Don't you think we would if we could?" He sent another glance over to Ryan, "This past year's been so rough on him... If we could find her, we would bring her back." Arme instantly felt bad for bringing the topic up. Ronan sounded extremely remorseful as he watched the druid.
"He thinks it's his fault." The purple haired girl sighed, remembering her conversation with Ryan roughly a week earlier. "Weren't you listening? It was because of me." The conversation died quietly, Arme watching the food carefully while Ronan reached into his bag. She turned to watch curiously, eyes widening as he pulled out a hair brush. He cautiously began pulling it through the sleeping girl's hair while Arme stared.
"Ronan... Why are you brushing Elesis' hair?" The knight shrugged.
"Because she hardly ever does. It gets tangled in battle, so..." The magician almost laughed at the oddity of the situation.
"But shouldn't she wake up?"
"She's a heavy sleeper. I've been doing this for nearly two years, and she hasn't woken up once." Arme chuckled quietly. She stood up, stretching as she went over to her bag. Pulling out her spell book, she went back to the fire. She opened it up to about half way through the first chapter, where she had been the day before. Reading passed the time quickly, and Arme had nearly forgotten about the meat until Ronan reminded her.
"Can you wake Elesis up? The food's done..." She questioned sleepily, rubbing her eyes as she reached for the stick with the chunks of meat. Nodding, The spell knight went off to gather the others while Arme finished the preparations of the meat. By the time everyone was situated around the fire all three chunks had been sliced into fairly thick slabs. Elesis seemed genuinely amazed that meat could be cooked in more than one way, and she stared at the platter as it was passed around. The other members were similarly amazed, though it seemed to be more on the side of 'We can actually eat decently while travelling!'. They finished eating quickly, Arme falling asleep nearly the moment she was done.
Arme was woken up rather abruptly by the sound of a loud scream. Her head flew up off the ground to look around. The rest of the members seemed to have heard it as well, And most of them had already stood up, some already changed. Before she could comprehend what was going on Amy had yanked her to her feet, for once a serious expression on the pink haired girl's face.
"Arme, we have to get moving now." She said quietly, going back to her own bag to finish packing. The fire had been smothered out, and Arme ran over to the tree shade to change, all the while wondering what was going on. Who was screaming? As she returned to the nearly packed group, another loud scream was heard, an unidentifiable sound roaring up after it and chilling Arme's blood. Lass threw her bag at her as she made it to the camp, picking her up as soon as she had it on her back. Everyone was moving faster than usual even though it was still dark out, and the path was nearly invisible.
"L-Lass?! What's going on?!" She questioned as another cry rose into the air. The boy hesitated before answering.
"If I had to take a guess... I'd say it was the Gorgos." He responded, his voice quiet. Elesis nodded from her position at the front of the team.
"We have to hurry, guys!" She yelled, managing to lead them through the darker areas of the forest they had entered. A bright glow was coming into view, screams filling the air as they got closer and closer to the village. But it's the middle of the night... Why would there be lights out? Her question was soon answered. Within five minutes they had made it through to the other side of the woods, where a village laiden in flames awaited. Small red dragon-like creatures could be seen flying through the air, breathing flames as they swooped through the darkness. People were running every which way, most injured or burned, some being lifted off by the monsters.
"Damn it!" Elesis cursed as she entered the village, her eyes searching the area, "What would they want with this place?!" She quickly turned to the others as they entered the village center.
"Lass, Amy, you guys are on the higher up gorgos and gons! Try to get to the ones carrying off people first, and make sure they come down safe! Ryan, you can help me with taking out the lower monsters! Ronan, you need to search through for the survivors and bring them back here! Arme, set up as large a shield as you can and heal the injured! Jin, you need to stay here as well to make sure no gons attack while she's trying to heal! Let's go!" Everyone followed Elesis' instructions flawlessly, setting out in different directions the second their command was issued. Though Arme wasn't sure exactly how to spread the barrier of the saver further, she managed to cover a fair area along the center of the town. She kneeled down helplessly as she waited for the first of the survivors to show up. She looked slowly around at the burning buildings, the sound of screams, roars, and crackling fire a less than comforting back ground.
"Here." Lass was the first back, placing a middle-aged man infront of her. His arm seemed to be crushed, sporting several long claw marks through it. She winced, forcing herself to keep her eyes open as she healed the wound. Regular cure would be needed; there was a chance the people might not last with a regeneration spell.
"Try not to dwell on the blood too much." The assassin murmured, jumping onto a rooftop to continue his part in the mission. Arme's hands were shaking as she stopped the flow of blood, using a cloth from the bag to clean the wound gently. It wasn't a perfect heal but it would have to do; Ronan and Amy had both arrived. The pink haired girl was carrying an unconcious black haired boy, a small group of children following the spell knight. Ronan departed immediately, the children staring after him worriedly. Amy stayed a bit longer, laying the boy down carefully. He was still concious, his back and arms sporting large gashes.
"I'm hurting..." The boy wimpered as Arme began healing. Tears spilled from her eyes silently as she healed, person after person being brought in. Many brought by Lass and Amy were children, their lighter weight making them a simple target for the gons to lift off. Elesis and Ryan made it back soon enough, the axe-wielder carrying a burned elderly woman. They went to the group of huddled up children first, Elesis kneeling down before them.
"Hey... Almost all the monsters are gone now, okay?" She explained gently. Several of the children went up to her, pulling on her shirt lightly.
"Do you know where my mommy is, Elesis-sama?" One asked quietly.
"And mine!" Another spoke up, afraid to be forgotten. Before the red head could answer the children had swarmed around her, pulling on her sleeves and questioning loudly. The knight's eyes were shining whem she looked down at them.
"R-Ryan is going to take you to a safe place... Follow him, please..." Her voice died quietly, though she tried to keep a smile on her face. The confused children turned to where the orange haired elf was standing. He took a quick glance at Elesis, then back to the children.
"Yeah. Let's get going." He began to walk out of the shield, carving a safe path for the children and injured to walk to walk. They all followed him with a smile on thier faces, clearly thinking they were going to see their parents. A few had already reunited, their parents having been brought in earlier. The rest, though... Ronan came back just as Elesis punched the ground, a large crack sounding.
"Damn it! Why would Kaze'Aze attack here?! There's no..." Tears were threatening to spill as Ronan came over, laying a hand on her back.
"Come with me to do the search... We may be able to find some of their parents." He helped her up, Arme watching sadly. She didn't bother to wipe her face of the tears that kept falling as more people were brought in. Though it was a decent amount of people, Arme knew better than to think most had survived. From what she had been told by Lass earlier during their travels the village was much larger than it looked, nearing two hundred inhabitants. So far, she had only treated around fifty people. Tears kept flowing as she looked at the newest girl that Amy had brought in. Her red, curly hair was tattered and matted with blood, her dress, ripped and stained with red. She babbled endlessly as Amy set her down infront of Arme, and her large silver eyes peered inquisitively up at the magician as she began healing the burns on her arms and legs. Eventually, she reached up to tug on Arme's shirt.
"Miss? I'm Hinahime!" She smiled widely, seeming to ignore the pain that must have been coming from her wounds. In the face of the little girl, Arme did her best to compose herself.
"H-hello... Are you alright?" She asked quietly. The little girl frowned before continuing.
"The pink haired lady said you would make all my boo-boos better, so I'm fine! But..." She seemed hesitant, so Arme urged her to continue.
"Yes?" The red haired child looked up determinedly, her eyes pleading.
"My little brother was snatched up by a monster, miss! Daddy told me to take care of him before he went out to find Mommy, and I don't think they're coming back. I went out to look for them, but I really didn't know he was following me... One of the dragon thingies grabbed him, and I couldn't make it to him on time before it flew away. So... You're one of the good guys, right? I need you to save Hiromaru for me! He has red hair like me, so he should be easy to find!" Arme watched the girl with surprise in her eyes. She doesn't care about her own wounds... She knows her parents aren't going to come back... But she's still thinking about her brother? Her attempts to set up a barricade for her tears failed at that point, raining down as she smiled lightly.
"I'll... Try my best." The girl grinned, skipping around and spinning.
"I know you will, Miss! Because you're a nice person!" Arme watched the girl spiralling around with a lack of concern that was admirable, and just then noticed Lass lighting down next to her with another middle-aged person. She quickly grabbed his arm before he could jump off.
"Lass, where's Elesis?!" She asked as she started to heal.
"Probably with Ronan, why?"
"Go get her, now!" Deciding to leave the further questions until later at Arme's tone of voice, the silver haired boy nodded and went off in search of the red-head. He returned moments later, the knight in tow.
"What is it?!" She questioned, looking at the mage worriedly. Arme stared determinedly back.
"I want to go to the Gorgo's Dungeon!" Elesis seemed surprised, Lass even more so.
"You can't, Arme! It's too dangerous, and people here need healing!" Unable to find a retort, Arme stared silently until Amy dropped in.
"I can heal, Lass~" She exclaimed. The silver haired boy shot her a glare.
"Even so, who's going to take your position?"
"I can!" Everyone turned shock to see Jin standing there, nearly forgotten, "There aren't ground enemies any more, there's no point in my being here. I can get onto the roofs and fight, there are only a few enemies left here anyway. Arme's idea is a good one, we need to get rid of the source of the monsters." Elesis looked somewhat hesitant until she noticed the red-haired child that had grabbed Arme's hand and was spinning around in a circle.
"I knew you would go! You're gonna save my brother, right?!" Arme tried to give a smile, and Elesis seemed startled by the event. She nodded lightly, and Lass sighed.
"In that case... I guess I'm coming too. Arme, Elesis and I will clean out the dungeon, you can keep the town under control?" The others nodded, Ronan having just arrived.
"Be careful!" He called after the group. Elesis laughed.
"When am I not?" This recieved a smile from the concerned spell knight, and he turned back to continue on his job.
"Good luck~!" The pink haired girl called, a soft healing melody beginning to come from her violin. Arme felt more rejuvinated, feeling her lost mana begin to refill. When she was full, the group began moving away from the village. As the three started moving faster, Lass picked up Arme.
"This is going to be your first time in a dungeon, so be careful." He muttered, still sounding fairly displeased on the entire event. Arme nodded, waiting impatiently for them to reach the mouth of the cave. Please don't let me be too late... In no time at all they had come up to a rather large hole, coming up almost like the opening of a den and leading further into the ground. the walls were completely burned, the black seemingly painted on and not leaving much light. The darkness nearly consumed them as they entered the cave, running deeper and deeper into the dungeon. The air around them heated up quickly, and soon they were in a room aglow with embery walls and pools of lava. Lass set Arme down here, walking forward cautiously. It came as no surprise when the shriek of a gorgos was heard, gons surrounding it. A mauled body lay in the center of them, Arme making her primary goal to reach it. She set a shield around herself as the others started fighting, teleporting into the center. Using reverse gravity she was able to clear out the circle of enemies, giving herself time to kneel down next to the body. A hand was placed lightly on the elderly man's half-devoured chest, and Arme felt her stomache clench up. He was dead.
"Get fighting!" Arme hardly had time to move before the red-haired knight slid in between the magician and an approaching gon. Elesis is right... Making an effort not to look at the body, Arme stood up again. The room was nearly empty, only a few fire balls needed to clear out the rest. They continued into the next room, and Arme was shocked to hear a loud scream. She ran ahead, nearly tripping into a large pool of lava. She managed to right herself before she could fall, and turned back to see Lass staring at her warily. Ignoring his concern, Arme peered around the room. She was met with the view of a small gorgos standing over a terrified woman, several bodies scattered on the floor around her. The assassin was the first to make it to her, twisting his scimitar to slice through the monster before it could get closer. Arme teleported over to where the woman sat up, her entire body shaking. Arme healed as she began stuttering.
"I-It was... T-terrible... So... Many children... Futher in the c-cave.... There are c-children, p-please... save them-m...." The woman didn't appear to be able to say much, but Arme felt her entire body fill with dread.
"The way out is straight through there, when you get out run to the beach and don't look back! There's an orange haired boy there who'll protect you. " Elesis explained.
"T-The children..." Elesis nodded.
"We'll save them too, so don't worry." The fear didn't leave the woman's eyes as she stood up, looking at the group a final time before running out of the cave. They made a quick check on the rest of the bodies, but couldn't find anyone else still alive. Arme shook as they continued into the next room, staring at the setup. There were no enemies to be seen, only large platforms, spaced out.
"I'm not in the mood for this right now..." Elesis muttered, Arme watching as she began jumping from platform to platform. Some jumps were wider than others, and Arme was almost certain she was about to fall, but the red head never did. Lass seemed to have no problem with the large gaps; he jumped over them with ease. Watching them made it clear what she had to do, though Arme was seriously having doubts on some of the jumps that were being made. She hesitantly jumped across the first gap, no wider than the length of her shoe. The next one was a bit further, requiring Arme to make an effort to cross. It was also going higher, making it difficult to reach. She managed to cross three panels with ease, looking at the fourth in disbelief. There's no way. The next panel was higher than her height, and easily a further distance than Arme believed she could jump even if there was no height difference. She stared at it for a moment in confusion, breathing in. I can do this, I can do this, I can... She made the jump with as little thought as she could, screaming involentarily as a geyser of lava shot up behind her. Her arms retracted and she could feel herself miss the platform's edge by several inches. A hand closed around her wrist before she could fall into the firey pit below her, and Arme didn't even have to look up to know the person who had just heaved her onto the panel was Lass.
"Is there any particular reason you didn't just teleport?" He questioned with a sigh as he picked her up. Arme blushed from embarassment. Teleporting! How... Obvious. She smiled lightly and shrugged. They made it to the other side without error, Lass refusing to put down the accident-prone female even when she declared determinedly that she could make it to the other side on her own. Elesis was waiting at the end, urging them to hurry through to the next area.
"We're approaching the large Red Gorgos now..." She cautioned them quietly, readying her spear as she strode into the next room. Platforms lay everywhere, and Arme could see something moving. Lass went into action first, running at the monster before Arme could fully identify it. Elesis followed shortly behind, the mage casting fire balls around her to send toward the red mass in the corner. The assassin's scimitar collided roughly with it's side, an almost mettalic crash sounding from it. Furiously, the red monster turned to face them. Its small eyes looked over the room quickly, noting the three humans that were attempting to injure it. Elesis' newly sharpened spear did some damage, though it wasn't enough to stop the Gorgos from leaping away from the two and toward the mage.
"Arme! Jump!" Elesis' yell confused Arme, not giving her time to respond as the Gorgos landed infront of her with a thundering stomp. The shaking of the ground threw the small girl into the air, leaving her wide open to it's swinging claws. She was thrown into the wall, her back hitting it without mercy.
"Nnhh..." Arme's head was spinning when she looked back up and noticed the monster lunging toward her again. She could hardy manage a teleport away from the monster before it nearly crashed into the wall she had been thrown into, turning toward her furiously. By then the assassin and the knight had managed to get a bit further with it, chunks of the Gorgos' scales flying in every direction. It shrieked in pain, leaping up again. Arme was prepared that time, managing to teleport away before the beast could knock her into the sky.
"Meteor!" Arme yelled as loudly as she could, her wand raised as she wondered wether or not meteors could be summoned in an enclosed area. They apparently could, judging by the large rocks that came pummeling down on the Gorgos moments later. It slowed down considerably, though still didn't release its target on the magician. Elesis' spear was jabbed into it painfully, sending the monster into a frenzy as it lunged at Arme. Her head buzzing, the purple haired girl hardly had time to realize what was happening until she had been slammed into the wall again, the Gorgos weight combined with hers nearly crushing her. She didn't even have enough clear thoughts to scream when the Gorgos sunk its teeth deeply into her side, lifting her up. Her mind registered the incredible pain, but she was unable to even lift her staff as the Gorgos stood up to its full height again.
"Arme!" She could hear yelling, but wasn't certain wether or not it was Elesis or Lass; possibly both. All she could feel was the swing of the Gorgos' head as it looked around, and it's awquard movements as something hit it. Moments later she could feel the Gorgos crashing into the wall, it's teeth clenching tighter around her and then going slack entirely. She hit the ground like a dead weight, lacking the energy to move. She could hardly feel it as she was gently propped up against someone.
"Stupid... I told you it was too dangerous..." Lass... She could hear the worry in his voice, but couldn't find the power to vocie a reply. Why did I come here anyway...? Her thoughts were blurring, but she knew it had been important. Finally, a word came to mind.
"Hiromaru..." She could feel liquid dripping from her mouth as she forced herself to stand, batting away the hands that tried to pull her back down.
"I have to find..." Her eyes finally rested on the corner where the Gorgos had been when they entered. A pile of bodies were lying there, most with several pieces missing. Her stomach churning and her steps slurred, Arme made it to the other side of the dungeon. She was vaguely aware of Elesis and Lass following her and saying something, but couldn't be bothered to listen. The people piled ontop of one another, and Arme's eyes desperately searched those visible. Some of the people that were still concious were watching the injured mage warily, and she tried to focus. "He has red hair like me, so he should be easy to find!" Searching, her eyes finally landed on a small body with red hair. She made her way over hastily, dropping to her knees next to him. She grasped his shoulder carefully, pulling him over so she could see his face. When she could, her blood iced over. The small boy's face was coated in a thick layer of blood, large cuts lining his small arms in spirals. The worst of the entire scene was the overly shallow breaths that came from his chest, even though an oversized claw was protruding from it.
"H-Hiromaru...?" Arme questioned, her voice cracking several times. There was no response from the small body, though even with it Arme couldn't ignore the truth. The child wasn't going to make it. Ignoring all voices of reason, Arme began pouring the last of her energy into a cure. Nothing was resulting from the glow of her healing, the last breaths of the boy hiccuping and dieing out. Tears flowed, but she refused to stop healing. I promised... I said I would bring him back! Her hand pressed down into the wound, and she was no longer able to see clearly. What she could feel, however, was someone yanking her arm away from the child. She struggled violently, failing miserably at reclaiming her hand.
"Let m.... Let-t me go!" She demanded as loudly as she could, unable to push away from the person.
"Arme... He's dead." She could recognize Lass' voice, even though her sight was giving out on her. A hand pressed on her back, trying to keep her still even as she attempted to move away.
"No, he's not! I can still save him! I promised!" Her demands didn't seem to be getting her anywhere, and soon she was sucessfully pinned against Lass' chest.
"Let me go!" She yelled miserably, a hacking cough passing through her lips as she tried to move, even a little.
"Arme, if you use up any more of your energy you'll die too." The voice spoke sternly, Arme feeling her energy drain out of her as her head landed on his shoulder. Tears streamed endlessly as she made one last half-hearted attempt to escape.
"I don't care... I can still..." She could feel herself being picked up and held tightly.
"Well I do, so just stay put for a while, would you?" I don't have much of a choice, now do I? She felt like a broken doll as she lay there, unable to even hear the conversation going on between the knight and assassin. Her body swayed lightly as they made their way out of the cave, luring her to sleep.
"Arme? Try to stay awake for a little longer... We need to get you to Amy." Her eyes opened as the air around them cooled, and moon light intruded her vision.
"Miss!" She couldn't name the voice, but she could hear when it joined in with her silent sobs, echoing through the night.
A/N: Well that was... Depressing O_o Please review, it means alot to me! I don't care if all you type is a smiley face or something, It'll still make me happy ;3
-Utsuro