This is the second part of this particularly long chapter.
Don't hesitate to tell me in the review if you have anything to say about the story.
Disclaimer : I don't own Witch, Winx or the prequel of this story.
Chapter 8: Games :
Part 2 : Prisoner of Unreal Time
She had been catching up with Nabu at the bar while he was still recovering when Stella had come and yanked her away from her date, mumbling things about Tecna being in trouble. She had been about to ask her to explain when she saw the same scene mirrored by an air-flaming Taranee and Kadma.
'I also thought it was far too calm.' She had complained internally while helping them round up the other girls. After getting Musa who had been singing on the scene the Guardians had transported them waiting to be out of sight.
"So. What do we do now?" Aisha asked, trying to place where they'd been taken. It was a small room with clothes lying around and an artificial light came from b...
"Wha... "You were fast. I'm not there yet." Timmy jumped, a serious look on his face.
'Okay. What the hell are we doing at the boys' place?'
"It's still too long." Taranee answered, looking over his shoulder at the screen.
"Can someone explain what's happening? Because all I understood from Stella's mumbling was that Tecna had found a way to get herself in trouble." Bloom frowned, hand on her hips. She hadn't said it but everyone had probably heard the 'again' at the end.
Timmy glared at her, then at Stella, before turning back to his screen. He had definitely heard it. "As I explained over the phone to Taranee, there was a problem with the game in which Tecna sent the White Circle."
"Should have seen it coming." Bloom muttered, shrinking back from the glare.
"Well." Timmy ignored her and continued "In any case, she plunged into it and told me she would have it back after 6 hours."
"Six hours!" They all exclaimed.
Cassidy glared him down. "She's been in there for six hours and we didn't know anything?"
"Yes." He answered, suddenly looking unsure of his choice. "She sent me a text saying not to call you before six hours were up, and I let her."
"Why?" Aisha asked, unable to understand how he could have let her go alone after all they were going through "Weren't you worried for her? Letting her alone like that?"
"Of course I was!" He answered, insulted." That's why I followed her! But I had to at least let her try."
"See where it got her?" Roxy said monotone.
Timmy winced, hurt. "You wouldn't understand. For the last two weeks she's been ... perturbed." He tried to defend her .
"She lost confidence in herself." Hay Lin completed for him and Aisha had to look away from the others. Self-belief and pride were what she had built herself on. Having that taken away...
"A Believix Fairy who doesn't believe in herself." Musa cringed, loathing herself. "I'm never there when it count." Musa was the closest to Tecna, yet she had let thing go hopping they would resolve by themselves.
Aisha saw that she had to stop Musa own descent and said the first thing in her mind. "She tried to get it going back from a solitary quest. Wouldn't be the first."
Flora looked at her, lost and more than a little hurt."I don't understand. Why didn't she ask for our help? We're her friend."
"Some more than others." Stella muttered bitterly, her eyes piercing Bloom.
Timmy stood and abruptly turned to pass them all over. "She wanted to repair her errors! Do you know how it is? To feel yourself more than useless when your friends are counting on you?"
The Winx looked down. Had it been a year ago she would have raised to the challenge, but she had felt that way far too much since. Each of them had been feeling that way a lot the last month.
"I know I do." Timmy went back to type at his screen.
The girls all had a pained look on their face but it seems Bloom still had her thing to say. "Nevertheless, what she did was stupid and reckless."
It was the moment which Taranee chose to drop the bomb. "I won't argue on that, but we have to help her, or we will lose her this time."
"What... What do you mean? Didn't Timmy just say Tecna was almost there? " Flora asked. "Maybe she can still get it before the wizards. She is at home in there after all."
Cassidy sighed, sat on one of the couch and reached to tangle her hairs."I want to agree with you Flora, but...Taranee, you didn't pull us out with such urgency just for the wizards, right?"
The whole room went chill when the other reached the same conclusion she had.
Taranee frown deepened. "No, I didn't. When we go in there the Wizards will be the least of our problems."
"What are we still doing here?" Musa trembled, readying the spell Tecna had given them a while ago in case such thing happened.
As if on cue Timmy's typing stopped and he finally moved out of his chair. "Nothing anymore. I just finished breaking the codes. All you have to do now is plunge an find her."
"But remember. Tecna is the only one who can take the Circle back."
"Why?" Kadma asked, for once clueless.
"There is too many facts for me to explain clearly. Just understand that the game was made with people like you in mind. Make sure Tecna gets the circle before anyone and you should be good."
"Wait, won't you come with us?" Flora asked, surprised .
"I can't plunge. I don't have magic and my account is non-diver."
Timmy defeated look while he explained didn't elude her. He wanted to go with them and wished he could do more, but as he had said he was helpless. Right now Aisha didn't know who she wanted to slap more for that, but she swore she would, and do it.
"When you are inside I'll have my avatar wait in front of the castle for a little time then I'll open the doors. You have to pass through them as fast as you can before they close, I can't open them twice and they open only for those with the keys. The party I bring along, that means you, have to use the time the doors open and close to get inside. After that, You'll be on your own. There is delays between non-divers and divers that would be incapacitating for you."
"Huh?" They looked him as if he had two head .
"One hour here makes one day inside as a way to balance advantages divers have. It stops people from playing too long as well." He tried to explain but the only thing which registered was that Tecna had been alone in there for 6 days and a half and was loosing hours while they talked.
"Oookayyy. Well, then we can only count on you to open the door right?" Hay Lin asked, baffled.
"Yes . Then you'll have to make do with the magic you can use. The spell should give you strength equal to your real-life ones. It was designed for test and casual player. You can't save your data that way."
"Understood." Cassidy activated the spell and they transformed just as they were sucked into the game.
"Winx Believix."
...
The first thing she saw upon arriving was Bloom cocking her head to the side. The game had given her a light Grey and Red armor alongside a flaming sword which oddly didn't burn her gears and a grey headband like tiara to tie up her hair which gave the whole a look of fiery ashes strangely fitting her. "So ... we're really in the game?"
"It seems so." Kadma nodded. "And here is the castle, with Timmy waiting for us." Scepter in hand she pointed at the large stone building towering over them on a nearby hill. As she strapped it to the back of her long green robe Taranee idly thought it looked like the one she had when they met her on Zamballa, a laurel crown on her head giving her an even more fairy like look. Contrary to Bloom she still had her Wings.
As she looks at the others she noticed that all four of them still had their Wings while the Winx had seemingly lost them in the transition.
"Why do I fell like I know the place?" Cassidy asked out loud, looking oddly charismatic in her blue leather armor completed with metallic boots and gauntlets. "The scenery seems somehow familiar."
"It does look a lot like Meridian." Hay Lin said giving her a defeated look and Taranee started looking around. Jumbling her visual memory for where she'd seen this kind of scenery she floated up to see the other side of the castle where she could distinguish dry highlands. At the bottom of the hill was a river where a small village slept while all around spread a seemingly infinite and arid plain were earth domes arose here and there, living the riverside the only place anything could possibly grow.
Back on the ground she heard Stella shiver. "Meridian? Wasn't that the name that world Will took over from you?".
"It is." Taranee answered touching down.
Hay Lin frowned. "To be more precise on our situation, it looks like South Meridian."
"Oh no! You didn't just say that." Taranee clutched the ridge of her nose where her glasses would have touched long ago. She could see it now. Phobos had taken them here once to show off one of his winter mansion to them. The place had been a Hospice for the Changeling when they still were accepted in the country.
"Seems you made the connection too." Hay Lin sighed. "I would hate to be the only paranoid one."
"What do you mean Hay-Lin?" Musa asked as she was trying out her notes shaped blades with mixed results." I don't like when you're paranoid, because you're right most of the time ."
Cassidy scoffed bitterly, tying her arc on her back. "She means Will put the invitation just under our nose."
Finally it was Bloom who snapped. "Could you start to make sense please?"
"Sorry. We can't say it for sure yet." At that the two younger Guardians looked at their leader disapprovingly. "Okay! Its pretty much written on the cover that the Spider Queen is a real live person we know of. Miranda the metamorph. Queen of South Meridian and one of the vicious bugs working directly under Will."
"Spiders aren't bugs you know." Roxy said with a smirk, deciding that Will had even more tricks in her book.
"And Miranda is not a spider, it's just her basic transformation which looks like one... from afar." Taranee pointed out. "Her silk is real though, and I'm sure she picked up a lot of tricks doing Will's work."
They were distracted by the sound of the doors opening. Timmy had said he would wait a little but they had had far more time than they thought to talk.
"Looks like we will find out." They ran to the door. Which it seemed was far easier than Hay Lin would have though it would in a armored Ceremonial Chinese dress. Yes, the designers had managed to armor a Ceremonial Chinese dress and make it light. If there was still a question as to the fact they were in game this answered it for Hay and her.
"But.. If her follower is the boss, then why would she play?" Aisha needled, walking in behind her.
"Playing with our nerves would be the go to answer. But I fear Tecna will find the other reasons on her own." Kadma answered. She had been closing the march and the door closed behind her.
"Now, where do we go?" Flora asked taking in the spacious entrance with numerous doors.
"I would say... we follow the monster's bodies." Bloom, her face pale, pointed to a trail of spider shaped monsters in various state of death. The scene was far too realistic for the taste of the Winx it seemed.
For Hay Lin and her it just angered them. 'Bad memories?' She asked and Hay Lin nodded slowly, clutching her weapons. Some of the humanoid bodies had exploded or melt from the inside living part of the bodies missing here and there. Some were moving in short burst repeating the last second seemingly endlessly.
"... I guess it's a good start." Cassidy said weakly, a little pale herself. "Here, follow me, and don't stray. We may be in a game, but this is Will we're dealing with."
Taranee thought the Winx would ask why it would change things, but they didn't. They only shivered and grouped closer. 'They're starting to learn.'
...
"Mana Burst" Tecna used her in game spell to get rid of the oncoming arachnid which had tried to blind side her.
"Oops. Seems like I missed one." The Dark Angel in White Cleric clothes walked on with a smile. Tecna hated to admit it but she was the one doing most of the work. Tecna wouldn't even be past the first floor without her .
She had been foolish to think she could do it alone in less than 6 hours. She would probably have died half a dozen times if not for her overpowered "companion". While the quest to enter had been relatively hard it was nothing next to what they found inside. The Castle was not only an labyrinth but an End game dungeon with mobs so numerous it screamed for groups in a dungeon were there was a lone prize.
Yet here Will was just blasting through the unrelenting waves of spiders as if they were bugs. She'd caught herself more than once in awe in front of such strength, wishing she was on her side.
But Tecna was not stupid enough to believe she was. It was an alliance of convenience. They were just tagging along until one of them stabbed the other in the back, and she had no delusion as to which one would be stabbed.
Nevertheless, Tecna saw a positive light in it. She knew, by now, that Will wouldn't lie. She would deceive her, and was probably the origin of her mistakes here, but she wouldn't stop her from taking the White circle. And with the speed Will was driving her she still had a chance to get it before the 6 hours deadline.
Tecna paused when Will's body glowed a blinding light and started to sing.
"Holy flare." Her words echoed and when Tecna could once again see the next wave of enemies was falling on the floor, burning. Will only used her in-game spells but each time their power exceeded what she thought possible, as if to show her that even in a game, her world, she was better.
"Those were the last ones, I think." Tecna said as a massive door opened out of what had been a wall like the others.
Tecna breathed herself, second guessing herself. Here was the moment but she had to ask. She couldn't trust her farther than here. Still as she crossed the redhead's brown eyes she hesitated."Can... Can I ask you to wait here? Please?"
Second passed like hours as Will looked her with genuine wonder. "... Can I know why?"
"You know why. I don't trust you." Tecna answered, all the accumulated tension pressing her on, anger and fear merging at the back of her throat. "You got me here in time, and I sincerely thank you. But I can't trust my back to you against a boss... not without at least that door between us."
"You know, I can probably just one-shot the boss." Will remarked with a grin, white sparks crackling between her fingers.
"That's part of the problem. The White Circle will go to the one who finishes off the Queen." Tecna tried to justify, thanking the game designer.
Will pouted, a finger on her cheek."Well. Guess the reason you were here alone was your wounded pride. You don't want to feel useless."
"Yeah, right..." Tecna growled. She had really given that one to her.
"I knew the feeling. There is nothing wrong with that you know. Just get stronger."
"And end up like like you?" Tecna scoffed but Will dismissed her with a hand wave. She was riling her up on purpose.
"Just remember that my help have a price. It's stupid to waste it. Illogical even." Will winked at her, making a gesture for her to pass first before a parting snide. "You should hurry or all you've done will be for nothing."
"I know. I don't want my debt to only be a handicap." She spared a last glance at her personal nightmare before running in the throne room.
"If you really need me just call my name."
The door closed behind her and she took in the new environment, trying to put Will last words out of her mind. For some reason the proposition chilled her to the bone. Maybe it was because it sounded so close to Roxy's story.
"Let's just hope I won't have to." She said, looking around at the multiple cobwebs. The room was badly lit and so massive that she could only distinguish the throne on the other side as she walked to the middle of the room. It was empty. "Now where is she?"
"Up here, my dear " A silken voice sing-sang above her as a sharp pain hit her on the back.
...
From his position behind the corner of a wall Ogron could see the massive doors opening at the end of the next hall. It was probably their destination. "It was too calm." He remarked.
"For once I won't complain." Anagan sighted, peeking in behind him. "Whoever did this carnage know his stuff."
Ogron slowly went out of their hiding spot, walking ahead watching out for any ambush. He couldn't permit this opportunity to go to waste. "Are you sure there are only two players ahead?"
"Positive. My sensor abilities have translated well here. There are only two high level player ahead. Legitimate players." Ganthlos explained as he followed him. "It should not be too hard to get rid of them."
Bringing the rear, Dunman was for once more conscious. "If they're the ones who left those body parts laying around, maybe not so much." His successive run with the fairies and, most of all, the Dark Angel, had made him less conceited, something centuries of hunt hadn't manage. He'd almost be grateful.
"Now that you mention it. Why haven't they vanished, like the ones outside?" Anagan asked, poking one of the bodies near him.
Ogron shrugged. "Probably one more of those obscure rules." He hadn't bothered to understand the minutiae if this world anymore than he needed to get them in and out safely.
After that they continued skirting the wall in silence, hurrying toward the doors. They had ran most of the hall and were about to reach the door when they were stopped flat by an invisible wall and the most irritating voice Ogron knew, bare Titania's. " You've got to wait your turn."
"You!?" The four of them turned around, glaring death at the source of their hire.
"What are you doing there?" Ogron asked, ready to defend from any strike coming from her. She had changed the black scheme for a pure white nun's costume, but he wouldn't be fooled.
"Nothing much really. Just throwing a little party for a friend." She laughed. "But I can't let you pass yet."
"You won't stop us this time." Ogron declared, resolute. He made signs to his fellow Wizards to take an open formation and circle her.
"Well, you see, I kind of have to. Tecna is in there, trying her best. I wouldn't want you to ruin her fight with Miranda." She smirked.
"Miranda..." Dunman tasted the name. "Why do I feel like I know the name?."
"That would be the spider who guided us here. But why would she be here?" Gantlos said. "Did she chose to try by herself ?"
Ogron growled. The discussion in the sewers came back to him. "Don't you see it? She was the spider queen all along. She work for her." He stared at the culprit, willing her to vanish.
"I don't understand. Why did she make us come?"
"Because I asked her to, Anagan. I needed you four to be here."
'She is the Heart, whatever that means.' He reminded himself to maintain his countenance. He wouldn't be manipulated by a child. "Why? I believed you wanted us away from the circle, Or did she lie us into the trap?" Oh how he wanted to strangle those girls right now.
"She didn't lie. The Circle is with her behind this door, and whoever beats her will go away with it." Will said as she took flight in front of the door, definitely blocking the way between them and their prize.
"Don't worry, I'm sure you'll get your shot at it. I don't really mind who gets it in the end." Ogron reeled, barely holding the energy rippling inside his arms. She wasn't making any sense.
"Why stop us here?" Gantlos asked.
"I'm keeping a promise. Tecna wanted to have a little alone time with Miranda and I'm guarding the door for her. Once it has ended I'll let you pass."
That's was it. He was sure of it now. She toying with them and he wouldn't let that pass. "We don't take orders from you. Wizards, attack at once!" He ordered as he unleashed the blast he had been holding in, fueled by his rage.
"Tut-tut-tut. Such impatience. You should have learned better."
...
They had been crossing down the labyrinthine castle for what felt like hours when Musa jumped, alert. "What was that sound ?"
"Maybe an other monster." Hay Lin proposed as she tend her ears. The game had badly translated their hearings and it was making the both of them queasy.
"There's been very little until now." Flora whispered. "At least, few alive." She had been clinging to Kadma since she had seen the dead bodies of humanoid monster lying in the halls. The lack of blood was a small mercy but the deadly vibe was creeping the innocent fairy out of her mind.
Kadma sighed. "Well. When we know who opened the way... I'm surprised they was even one left alive."
The Castle was even more massive in the inside that it was outside and she was sure it followed a geometry only possible in games. More than once had they almost lost their way if not for the trail of gore Will had no doubt left behind on purpose. Now they just had to hope they would not be too late.
"Did any of you managed to contact Tecna?" Aisha asked, looking for the umpteenth time at the transparent screen around her wrist.
"No we couldn't either. As Timmy said that idiot cut her Pm channels." Taranee answered angrily. Not only was she angry after Tecna for doing such a stupid thing, but she was also angry at the Winx for not being there when she had needed them the most. And she was also angry at herself for even letting Tecna alone when she knew how hard it must be for her. Sure the girl had needed to make a point with herself, but she should have made sure one of her friend was always close by. And currently that meant any of them but Bloom.
"So she is alone against Will, the Wizards and Miranda?" The latter summarized between anger and guilt. "Just because she couldn't trust us?"
"You pretty much pushed her into it, yes." Cassidy said, she probably didn't want to saddle her but it was the truth. "Tecna already has a lot on her mind, you shouldn't accuse her even more."
"I know it was not her fault, I already said as much to her after it happen." Bloom retorted.
"Yet you acted as if it was."
Bloom stopped walking, her sword singing in the wall ten meters the side. "It's not my fault! I just can't trust anyone right now. Not even myself!" Her voice was hoarse, pleading. She had been on the edge for some time now they knew. "I know she feel the same, but ... I just can't." She started to cry the tears they had been waiting for.
Oh, Bloom had cried a lot, Taranee could see it on her face every morning. But those tears were not the same. She was finally trying to break the shell she had closed herself into. However now was not the best moment to finish the process.
"Not even me Bloom?" Stella asked, shocked and trying to connect with her best friend.
"Especially you. You're ... too corny for me." Bloom growled even as she looked down. Taranee winced hearing the C word. "And I still remember you're the one who pulled me into this shit."
" ... " Stella looked at her best friend, flabbergasted "... but .." Taranee could hear Stella cry of despair in her head. It was the same each time she was getting too emotional, it over-flooded their link.
"She saved your live from Icy!" Flora answered for her friend, getting angrier by the minute.
"After putting it into danger. I can understand why Roxy can't trust us, really. We're pretty much the one who guided the Wizards to her doorstep."
"They would have found me eventually." Roxy dismissed her, she was the only one not not troubled by the ongoing argument. "And I was already under Will eyes so..."
"Let's not talk about what could have been for now!" Cassidy stopped them. "Please, Bloom calm yourself down. For now we've got to save Tecna, then you'll talk. That
also goes for the other. We've got no time to lose, the sounds Musa heard could be the sound of her fight for all we know."
The Winx grunted, but went to dislodge her sword and they started back there travel through the castle. The trail of bodies ended in the middle of the hall were stairs led up to the next level.
As they climbed them, the sound of rumble became clearer. Someone was fighting upstairs.
They all ran up the stairs as fast as they could, expecting to find Tecna locked in a fight against the wizards .
' Prrrr ' " Whah !" First to climb, Aisha was almost knocked out and tripped herself to evade the collision with the burring form that crushed into the wall.
"Focus!" Cassidy shouted, reflexively gripping her hand to stop her fall.
"Thank, I saw I was going to die there." Aisha shivered, collecting herself.
"Not likely, We're in a..."
Cassidy was cut by three similar crushing sound in the same hall they had been headed.
' Prrr ' ' Slatch ' ' Boom '
Four in total. "What was that ?" Roxy started to panic .
'Hmmm' Someone mumbled from where the first crash that had almost taken Aisha out had occurred.
"That was Gantlos trying to fly backward and crashing on the wall." Cassidy said as she looked up the body of the blond Wizard on the ground.
They hurried up the stairs only to find Gantlos was lying there in the still fuming obsidian armor. The statute 'Knocked out' shining up his head. "That was a lethal blow." Someone stated the obvious .
"Now the question is. Who did that?" Musa looked around the corner and froze.
"What did you ... I guessed." Taranee, followed her stare. Apart from the torn spiders' remnants there were three other people knocked out on the ground. The armors were different but she easily identified them as Black Wizards.
"At least we arrived at the last boss." Hay Lin pointed out to the far end of the hall where a massive metallic door opened on a well of light.
"I don't think we'll pass that easily." Flora shivered. In front of the door floated white clad redhead girl shining like an inner sun.
At the same time they'd notice her she turned to face them. "You're just on time." The voice of the former Guardian rang through their heads like telepathy. "...So that's how Pm was translated. Interesting."
"Where is Tecna?" Taranee asked using the same method while making sure everyone heard her.
"She is fighting against the Spider Queen behind those doors... At least, she is trying to."
"You mean Miranda" Hay Lin seethed .
"So you found the clues, huh? Good job." Will answered in a mocking tone. "At least this time you'll know who you're fighting." That last comment was undoubtedly destined for the Winx. They all backed off slightly.
"And what are you doing here? Afraid your slave won't be enough to handle us?" Kadma said coldly.
Wilhelmina laughed. "No, of course not. Tecna is the one I'm here to help. She didn't want you to find what was going on and needed help against her pursuers. Too bad Timmy did not wait as long as Tecna asked. You really can't count on boyfriends." That last part stung Taranee hard.
"He did that to protect her from you." Musa retorted.
"But I'm not her enemy here." Will countered, faking outrage. "In fact, had she not been so stubborn in not letting me inside with her we would have finished before you showed up."
"I can understand her choice." Aisha mumbled, but over the telepathic-like Pm system they all heard it clearly.
Will grinned, Enjoying her mind-game far too much. "Yes. It can be hard to trust. Now, what will you do?"
"Save her.. of course!" Bloom exclaimed with the little courage she could gather. Her voice was shaking with both fear and anger.
The PM was cut. "Not you no." Cassidy said cutting Bloom in her track.
They were ready to fight it out. It would hurt, but if there was one advantage to their predicament it was that no death would be final. At least the Wizards were not.
"I can fight, here at least." Bloom whined.
"I know but you and the Winx should not fight this one." Cassidy continued . "Tecna can't possibly take Miranda on her own."
"And she's been in here for hours." Stella realized, glancing at the door.
"Exactly! She must be getting tired. But you five are still fresh. She'll need all the back up she can, that's why we're here for."
This time they all nodded .
Bloom turned around toward her goal. "You want us to go past that door right?"
"Yes, I do." Cassidy confirmed.
"But how?" Roxy asked. "I mean the Wizards just tried and they got pummeled into the ground."
"As I said you won't fight." Cassidy made signs for the other Guardians. "The four of us will. She doesn't seem too serious right now. We should be able to hold her long enough to let you pass."
"She is not?" Flora opened her eyes wide.
"When is she ever?" Hay Lin scoffed.
"Right ... At least we should survive. But don't expect us to go inside. Once there you're on your own." Cassidy looked at the 6 fairies in front of them, her eyes lingering on Bloom. "Think you can do it ?"
"Sure. We don't really have a choice either way." Bloom griped the pommel of her weapon tighter.
"We've got to save Tecna!" Musa pumped. The other just nodded.
"Okay. Now just walk slowly and wait for us to drag Will out. Once it's done run." Cassidy finished before they took flight.
...
(Treasure Hunter's 東方 Touhou Classic/Metal 55 )
"Will!"
"Just the four of you? Tempting your chance with a safety net?"
"They're not ready yet." Kadma said as she pointed the magic-end of her staff toward Will.
"I wasn't either when Kandracar sent me against a traitorous former Guardian, with traitorous and supportive 'friends'." The stressing on the phrase stung hard in each of them. But they had to do it. "But I won't complain now. I already had my revenge on them."
"And now you're tormenting us, and the Winx." Hay Lin balled her fist. " They've got nothing to do with this."
"Of course they do. I got that armor for one reason after all. I think I'm being pretty laid back even, having let them relax for one full week." She grinned menacingly. "I could make each of you a wreck."
"Like it wasn't what you're planing ." Taranee growled .
"I'll admit it. But I have time now. Time to see each of you and them suffer slowly, being broken from the inside as well as from the outside, until insanity looks like heaven." They could not represses the shiver as Will smiled coldly
Cassidy growled, raising her arrow. "They'll never be as broken as you are."
Will tilted her head. "Wrong. They'll never be as powerful as I am. I've just began my play and they're already breaking apart. Look at poor Tecna alone against Miranda."
"She won't be for long." Hay Lin grinned as Taranee saw a glint behind Will.
A dozen dagger fell on the white clad monster .
"Good try." Will lazily dodged each of them.
Yet Hay Lin remained smiling.
The daggers turned around back to Will .
"Oh. I see... Let's dance then." Will made a bee-line toward Hay Lin.
"Not so fast." Taranee finally reacted, calling a wall of fire to protect Hay Lin. Will would be forced to either stop to break the spell or turn around.
To their mild surprise, she did neither and used her magic to blow a hole in her defensive spell, all the while narrowly evading Cassidy's water arrows hidden behind her wall.
The hole closed just in time to stop most of Hay Lin daggers, the others making a u-turn to harass Will from the back.
However Hay Lin could not move during her spell. It took Both her and Kadma to block Will first strike as a melee fight started between her and the both of them.
And god was she right. It hurt.
...
(Treasure Hunter's 東方 Touhou Classic/Metal 56) 2:00
Tecna dodged the flying silk webbing once more, hiding behind the rubble. She had barely evaded the one-hit knock-out when she had entered, and since then it had only been down-hill. At first glance it looked like standard spider web but she had quickly and painfully learned that being touched could be highly incapacitating.
"How long will you hid like this. Aren't you here do defeat me?"
She had never seen a boss that good and it was very frustrating. It always took some time to find the strategy to defeat a boss, and she intellectually knew that the higher you played the harder it was. But this one had so far adapted to everything she had tried just before she could land anything meaningful. She was supposed to be the player, but it was as if the Spider Queen was playing with her.
"Don't you want my crown, young one?" The Queen continued her overly scripted taunt.
"Young? She looks my age." Tecna seethed. That more than anything was infuriating. The Queen part she had, alright. If not for the silk she shot from her arm she would just look like an average princess. With a really unique piece of jewellery.
When she heard the Queen's clothing on her Tecna triggered her spell. "Mega Watt." The rubble she had been hiding behind exploded toward the boss. She had already used that once with mild result and sure enough it was dodged. But to do so she had to fall back and give time for Tecna to flee to another place and think.
At least that what Tecna had hoped for.
She only saw the bigger, web-guided, rock flying at the last moment. "Shit!" She cursed,preparing herself for the impact. "Plasma defender" She just had the time to call on her defensive spell before the rock impact on it, sending her flying the way she had come.
"Tecna!" She heard Musa's voice call out for her just before landing on a smooth surface she knew too well.
'Morphix huh?' She thought. She was too shocked to know if she should be happy to see Aisha's signature spell here.
The other Winx were there, she wouldn't have to fight alone. Which meant Bloom too. 'The cat's out the bag, isn't it?'
"The cavalry comes to the rescue." Stella shouted in a forced jovial tone, helped her up.
"Thanks. I would have liked finishing it on my own." Tecna complained, still a little dazed. "Where are the Guardians?"
"Outside. They're holding Will so we could pass. But what about you are you alright?" Without waiting for her answer Flora had already started to heal her.
"My pride is badly hurt, my self-confidence crushed. I have six days of questing in the legs." Her own voice sounded hollow to her. She had well and truly hit her limits.
"That's your fault for going alone after you already fucked thing up." Bloom accused her while looking out ."You should have asked for our help from the start."
"And getting accused like you're doing now? I still see it as the better option." Tecna said, griping her staff in both her hand. "But what's done is done. You can shout at me after we dealt with that thing." She passed by her without a second glance.
"So. Did you finish your little reunion? I've got a job to do you know." The Spider Queen said, almost sounding bored.
"That's spider boss is really weird." She said for the upteenth time.
"About that, she is not a normal boss." Stella said
"Guess not " She heard Miranda pout .
"Thank you for the obvious info Stel." Tecna had a dry laugh.
"What she meant, Tecna, is that she is no game boss, but a real life one. The Guardians said she would be Miranda, one of Will's strongest goons." Aisha stated, not letting her shield down.
"What the ... She's with Will?" Tecna felt weak in the knees "But I wouldn't even be... here without her help." She brought a hand to her face .
' You're right about it being a trap ... ' She remembered Will words. "I fell right into it, didn't I?"
"Pretty much, yes." the now identified Miranda said with a small laughter that chilled them to the core. "But it is your own fault, you shouldn't have rejected her help at the last moment."
"What does she mean Tecna?" Musa asked looking between her best friend and the door, forgetting the Spider for a moment.
"She sort of... offered to deal with the boss for me." Tecna said, internally berating herself. "But I couldn't." The Winx nodded, but she saw that Roxy looked at her as if she was dumb.
"If you had accepted you would already be out of here." Miranda laughed once more and now Tecna understood where the bad feeling had come from.
"And let her take the Circle? No way. You did good Tecna." Flora tried to sooth, smiling weakly. It was how she had thought then. But right now she was not so sure anymore.
"She have no direct use for it." Miranda pointed out, her words hurting more than her blow .
"Then why don't you give it to us now?" Aisha joked. If only it could be that easy.
"I could. But where would be the fun in that." She slowly fell down from the ceiling on her web. "Either way, here you are, little flies. Lets continue the party."
"You think you can beat the seven of us?" Bloom snarled, the sword she had burning evermore.
"In the real word... I don't think I'm ready yet ." Miranda made a show of hesitating, her legs just above the ground. Then she touched down and the world around them flashed to white.
"Here you're on my turf. There is a reason it's called the Web."
Confused, Tecna gathered herself and saw Miranda standing in the middle of an engraved spider web, looking at them with amused disdain.
"What the .." Aisha swore. The shield she had raised since her entrance had protected her but it had not been the case for those closer to the middle.
"Bloom, Stella, Musa!" Flora cried, running for her friends. The three were lying motionless on the ground, the now familiar 'KO' shinning above their heads. "How could you?" Her voice was low.
"She may be a living being but she have Boss perks. AOE attacks were to be expected." Tecna had let Miranda out of her sight for just an instant but when she looked back there was nobody. "As was speed." She chided, looking around, a spell ready at the tip of her staff. She had been chaining error after error like a beginner.
"You took too long to talk." The deformed voice of Miranda came from above.
Tecna reflexively shot her and in the light of her spell saw an humongous spider nimbly side-step on the ceiling.
Tecna gritted her teeth. "How could I be so stupid."
"Eww. Is that your true form." Aisha looked pale. "If Stella was not already KO she would've fainted just seeing how hideous you are."
Flora nodded, still next to Bloom and Musa.
Meanwhile Roxy just looked at her curiously. "What do we do now?" She asked staring at one of Miranda's leg.
'There is the white circle.'
"Flora! They'll get back! Come here and help us, see if you can slow, or better catch her with some vines." It was her fault they were it, but only Tecna could give directions in this situation. "Roxy, spiders are animals, see if you can mess with her, Aisha protect them. I'll play distraction."
As she was giving direction Tecna had continued to charge her power and hurled it at Miranda, bolting toward the monster. Alone she couldn't face her on the brawl but with support from her friend, she might .
"I heard everything you know." Miranda laughed. The Spider blocked her staff with one of her legs and proceeded to cocoon Tecna's leg with webbing.
"I know." Tecna grunted as a second leg prepared to impale her.
"Andros Hurricane" "Constricting Vine" Aisha and Flora howled together. The purple goo fused deflected struck the hind-legs and tripped the spider away from her and stems erupted from the ground to ensnare her to the ground.
Using the respite Tecna cut the hard webbing and jumped back, narrowly dodging a shot of white crackling magic.
"Wild rage" Roxy's blue magic blocked Miranda's, some breaking through and heading were the Spider had last last been.
"Not enough." Miranda grunted, quietly shifting between forms.
Tecna could finally see damage on her. They had managed to piss her off.
"Not nearly enough!" Electrified webbing shot all around her.
"Missed." Aisha grinned. None of if had reached them and most was dangling weakly on the walls.
"Well that's embarrassing." Miranda smirked back.
'Something's not right.' Then she heard the crackles all around them.
"Animal instincts" Roxy howled just in time and her vision was blue as the room was engulfed into on electrical inferno.
"Roxy!" Flora shouted, tentatively reaching for her. The sphere around them held them safe but it was taking away Roxy's strength.
"Timmy ... He said only Tecna ...could take the circle back." She said, her face contorted under the charge. They wanted to help but the game mechanics stopped them.
Finally the storm receded, and Roxy fell down, knocked out.
Miranda laughed in her sick voice. "Four down, Three to go."
"She sacrificed herself for us." Flora cringed, unleashing her nature magic. All around her vines and trees grew out the stone and turned on Miranda as if they had a mind on their own.
This time Miranda was ready and she shook it off as easily as she had blocked Tecna earlier, dancing around the hostile greenery with ease.
"Once more you have it wrong. The beast fairy sacrificed herself for this." She showed off her foreleg, moving the circle around.
"That's the same!" Aisha said, joining in before Tecna could remind them Roxy was just knock-out.
'How can we beat her like that?' Tecna frowned, protecting her friends form Miranda's riposte.
...
Ogron grunted as he woke up. Being knock-out in a game was definitively not as horrible as in real-life. It had been like dreaming, seeing and hearing what happened around him, but absolutely interact with the world beyond the wall.
In fact it was much like he imagined being a ghost would be. The state had given him much hindsight in the ways of his foes. The fight was still going on above them.
"Ogron, you woke up too." He heard Gantlos over the sound of fighting. The blond Wizard had just walk up to him after waking up.
"I just did. Where are Anagan and Dunman?"
"Just here." Anagan stood next to him. "As for Dunman, he his already waiting next to the door.
"I see." He turned another glance to the still raging fight between the elements. He had been to Fairy Courts, Witch Covens and Wizards Assemblies and in all is life he had never seen so much power in one place. Of course he counted himself and the wizards of the Black circle as being part of said power here. "As much as I'd like to get my hand around her neck our priority is the Circle. Let's get to it ."
"Without the mad one seeing us if possible. If it were not for the rules of this strange world we would be dead." Anagan whispered, looking warily above his shoulder.
"If only." Ogron muttered to himself. He knew the type. He occasionally was himself the type. Death would not be so swift.
Hiding being the rumbles and Spider corps they quietly made their way to the door, always keeping an eyes up. It saved their lives twice dodging a stream of water, and then a misfired wall of fire just as they were reaching the door.
"Now let's get to this Spider Queen." Ogron said, cracking his hands as they passed through.
...
"What the fuck!" That was Dunman first impression as the light receded and the jitters stopped
Ogron tended to agree. "As they say, out of the fire, into the frying pan."
There were rubble all around. At least one pillar had been crushed and web was sticking out from what seemed to be every corners of the room he could see. As for the occupants, six of the fairies were lying on the floor. The seventh was dangling from the ceiling by her leg, the only sign she was alive the lack of notes on her head.
Looking for the responsible he almost missed the gigantic ball of black, lazily suspended from the ceiling. "Ah. The final guests. I had started to believe she had knocked you out too hard." The giant spider's distorted voice grated on his nerves.
He spotted the circle on one of the monster's leg ."You should know you don't stand a chance, Miranda."
"Try me." She challenged them, letting go of the purple-aired girl in her arm. "I may be tired but I'm still plenty strong."
"You'll pay for playing us for fool." Dunman roared, changing into a wolf again. The game would only permit three different transformations for him.
Miranda gave him what he interpreted as an unimpressed look. "You know nothing of being played for a fool, fool."
This was as far as Ogron could take the insult. He knew in the dark places of his mind that he had currently no chance against the Fallen Being on the other side of the door. She terrified him as much as she unnerved him. But this pretender he could take down. The spider would take it all for her. He just had the spell for that.
"Wizards, back down." He howled reaching back to the core of his magic.
"Ogron, are you ... " Dunman hesitated. Anagan and Gantlos were already back against the door.
"Back. Down. Now!" He roared louder. His hand were already bathed in an rainbow of colors. He hated using this spell, he always felt sick for days afterwards. The only reason he would risk its use was that they were in a game, he wouldn't die.
' Yet it's still not strong enough for Her ' He raged inside. The spell brought back his best memories, and his worst fears.
It was the strongest spell he had ever stolen, so strong it still needed followed the ritual of the fairies to use it.
Miranda was shaking. "What is that?" She too could feel the colossal power building.
"That's your end" He whispered in cold rage. " Titanic Fall "
...
Will was sited on Taranee's corpse looking at the door and the flickers on the wall.
During the whole fight she had been slowly chipping at their health and waiting for the Wizards to get up. She had stepped up her game and maintained the Guardians low on life as they walked toward the doors, stirring the fight away from them. And as soon as she had spied the Wizards entering the throne room she had finished the job.
"So he was still holding back, huh?" Will smirked. Once in it had not taken long for the Wizard to bring the big guns. She could feel the power build up from here. It was not enough to kill her but it would hurt if she took it on.
"Still. They have a pretty good timing, don't they?" She said it louder so that the down Guardians could hear. She had not knocked them out just so that she had something to do if her plan took too much time. But it seems she had hit too hard, they could not even answer her.
"Now what choice will she make." She said, cocking her head and taking on a pensive face.
...
"That's your end." Tecna heard as she was painfully opening her eyes. The power build was really unlike Ogron, but it was his voice.
"Titanic Fall" The sound was almost deafening and the light was blinding. She could feel the program underlying the game struggling to keep the spell in.
Tecna thought as fast as she could.
They had already weakened Miranda somewhat and there was no doubt in her mind that Ogron's spell would crush her.
And that would be a problem because... Yes, the Wizards would get the Circle as per the rule of the quest, leaving her with nothing but one more failure.
She would have accomplished less than nothing.
Tecna closed her eyes. She didn't have a choice. With the last of her strength she called.
"WIIIIIILLLLLLLL!" Her ear deafening shout carried all her despair and all her strength.
She had made an error and would pay the price however high it would be. Tears ran as she knew she had just given more of herself that she could know.
The next second seemed like an eternity as the rainbow of light descended on her and Miranda.
Her plea was answered just before it struck, the ray of colors bisected by a dark blue flash of lighting hitting Miranda dead-center.
No sound was heard as Miranda fell.
But before she dissipated the arachnid looked at her, and smiled. 'Gotcha'
The Circle fell in her hand and Tecna felt the pull of the 'end of Quest' teleportation.
The first thing she heard on the other end was Will's voice. "You called?"
"You planned it." Tecna lashed out, more angry at herself than at Will. She had remained in here for almost 7 days/ hours. No one was supposed to remain that long. In fact she should have gotten the security messages a few minutes ago already.
"You could say that. But it doesn't end here." Will answered, far too pleased with herself.
Tecna shot up, adrenaline pumping through her blood. She had been beyond tired, but what Will had said shocked her to the core.
"What do..." She turn to see the girl smiling. "How is it not the end?"
Will strode back towards the entrance of the castle and when she talked Tecna could feel the 'but' coming miles away. "We beat the boss and you have the Circle . In that quest is finished, alright."
"But there was clandestine on our trade, and we got to decided what to do with them ."
"Clandestine?" Tecna asked, her mind blocking the potential meaning, rushing to find any alternative.
As an answer Will opened a hole in the fabric of the world. "Your friends, as well as my betrayers."
On the other side the Winx were still KO while the Guardians were slowly waking. All were still inside the castle.
"Although, our first accord was that I help you before they show up so they would not discover your trouble, so it's partially my fault. It's also yours for misjudging your timing, and refusing my help on the last fight." Will passed by her and knelt, whispering the last of her sins in Tecna's ear as if sharing a dirty secret. "You could have end it there you know. Your friends wouldn't have suffered, even if they'd still know your blunder."
Tecna growled. She wanted nothing more but to throw her away, but she was too damned tired. "What do you want in the end?"
"I'll come to that." Will laughed. "I had to fight the Wizards and the Guardians to give you your time with Miranda, to whom I had asked to guard the Circle after I discovered your blunder. You know what's funny? She was ordered to throw away the fight once I entered. You wouldn't even had to fight to take it back ."
"Why didn't you say it then?" Tecna asked filing the many holes of logic the situation had made. "Why didn't you let the Guardians pass?"
"It was more fun to let you make your own assumption and choice." Will shrugged."As for the Guardian, they're the ones who chose to fight. I couldn't refuse after you so kindly asked me to not let anyone pass." She grinned as Tecna felt her blood chill down to ice. She was far to close for comfort.
"But.. the Wizards passed." Tecna tried.
"Yes. Because the Winx went behind my back to go in." She smirked and Tecna idly noticed she had started to play with the circle in her hand. "But here come the principal point. I was only supposed to keep You safe with the circle. And you called for my help in the end."
"Stop it already. I said I was ready to pay any-prices. I won't try to back down. I know it would be foolish." Tecna said obfuscated.
"I know. But you missed the point." Will stood up. She wasn't tall, but looking up Tecna felt small as a child. "I was supposed to keep you safe, and only you. Your friends entered a bugged games without any safeties nor real authorization on the quest."
"What do you mean in the End? " Tecna begged, feeling the last of her nerves giving away.
Finally having decided she had played enough with her, Will dropped the bomb. Tecna wished she hadn't. "I mean that you just trapped you friends within the game."
Tecna mind went blank . They were trapped in the game. How was that possible? They were safeties for that ... safeties that were weaker here on Earth... and could have been broken by her tinkering ... Now that she thought about it they shouldn't have been able to get there that fast...
Tecna quickly looked through the quest participant... the Wizards' false identity were there, but not the Winx or Guardian's temporary ones. They had not made the preliminary quest.
They should not have been able to enter and the faulty system wouldn't know what to do with them. They were bugs, holes in the already collapsing matrices. They would be erased the moment the program rebooted or they tried to go out the normal way. They were, for all intent and purpose, prisoners of the castle in front of her.
She warily looked up to Will, trying to find a solution her tired mind couldn't. "What can I do?" She asked herself. She could do something, she knew. She was the fairy of Technology. But she didn't have enough to make it on time, it would take too much for her to get back her energy before the program eliminated the bugs. They most likely had only been held by Miranda herself.
"I can do something for that, you know" Will said.
"And why would you?" Tecna look at her suspiciously .
"To see you torture yourself knowing you will never be able to repay me, that I do not even need to control you to make you do what I want." Will looked at the windows she had made and she followed her eyes. The Guardians were looking around for an exit while her friends were still out.
"Can I finally know the price I'll have to pay?" Tecna asked .
"Yes. I think it's time." Will looked back at her and Tecna felt as if a chain had closed around her neck.
"The price would be to, in a way, take their place. I'll have you prisoner in here for as long as I want, with only me and Miranda as visitor...Of course if you take my help here as well you'll own me so much that I will have to speed up the game even more, ...years per hour maybe." She tilted her head, looking hesitant.
Tecna cried, that all she could do, cry. Whatever happened she would lose her friends. She had made one little error and she would lose it all.
'Why me?' She asked to whatever deity was listening.
"You were just the first on my list my dear. But don't worry, your friends will join in your suffering." Will whispered in her ears. She had been in front her one second before but she was now behind, her arm resting on Tecna's shoulders. "It will not be the same however." She said with a voice which proved she was truly mad. Horror and despair sized Tecna's heart even more as she listened to Will. "I should not be saying this, I know. But I have a personal hell ready for each of you. Bloom already have her feet in it and will be digging it herself as you fall in yours."
"But you. You'll have time." This phrase, which she had already heard, took a whole new and horrifying meaning in Tecna's mind. In fact she would have time. If she chose to save her friends she would have so much of it that she would lose herself in it. "What do you chose?"
"I... " She looked at the window. She could not let them suffer that fate. They would probably be safer without her anyway. "I'll be your prisoner."
"I knew you would say that." Will said before clasping her finger. "Of course you understand that I can't let you say good by. If you have any message for them, tell me now and I'll relay the massage."
"Give them that." Tecna handed Will the Circle "Tell them that I'm sorry. And tell Timmy I love him."
"Message registered." Will smiled a true smile of joy, which was really creepy. "Now, let get the bugs out." She disappeared.
Now she was well and truly alone.
...
Hay Lin looked around her, dazed. "What .. where are .. oh."
They were back in the real world.
She fell back on her wings. They had literally gotten their ass handed to them by Will in there.
"Did they make it?" Kadma asked, rolling her head to the side.
"Yes. She did it." Timmy said. But there was no cheer in his voice.
"Where is the circle then?" Taranee asked.
"That cursed thing is here." Timmy said, bitter, throwing it at them.
"Whoa. What happened to make you so angry ?" Cassidy asked as she took it in her hand .
"What happened?" He shouted. "I lost Tecna! That's what happened." Hay Lin could hear the sob in his voice as he was frantically taping on his keyboard. "I lost her again, just because I couldn't wait some damn minutes, have just a little confidence in her!" He crashed his hands on the keyboard, the machine screeching horribly .
"What do you...? What happened to Tecna?" Taranee asked, worriedly looking around. She could see the other fairies, all down for the count, but no trace of the fairy of Technology. "How do you have the circle if she is not here?"
"It was all a big trap from the start... She has her." Timmy said. The Guardian immediately understood, yet they let him continue. "She had to sacrifice herself to save you from being erased... I shouldn't have let you enter the castle without checking for bugs... She was forced to go into a deal with her... it's my fault I lost her." He finally stopped, still crying. His hand returned to their work.
"It's not your fault. She always uses the one we love to hurt us." Hay Lin tried to console him, but she was too shaken. Had she not cried all her tear already she would be crying too.
"And she used me to hurt her." Timmy continued in his self-mutilating.
"What are you doing?" Kadma asked. Still seated on the floor she took his arm in her hand.
"Let me." He tried to get his arm out of Kadma grip. "I'm sure I can find a trace of her somewhere in there."
"You won't." Taranee said resolutely. "Will ... " She stopped there, looking at Cassidy sadden face. Cassidy was holding her hand, their knuckles white from the pressure they exerted on themselves .
"We will take the girls home." Cassidy said. "Once they wake up ... We'll explain why we got a friend missing." She slowly got back up.
"I'm sure you'll find her ... We will get her back." Taranee said, determination in her voice, she too was holding back her tears.
...
In the end the Winx took one full day to wake up .
...
Around the time her friends were waking up Tecna felt like she was already getting mad, both from loneliness and frustration.
24 years. She had been there for 24 fucking years. At least by her reckoning. She had never thought that her body being unable to age would be that unnerving.
As Will had promised she had gotten a better handle on her magic.
As for the world itself it was pure hell.
She now knew each part of this world as well as her back hand. She could tell how many pixels were needed to draw her nails, how long exactly it took for a flower to bud or how many mm² there was on the original map, to the 5786th decimal.
There was nothing else to do when you were utterly and absolutely alone save for your jailer and her smug warden.
At first she had tried to get out, but each time she prodded too much for Will's taste she had been punished, either by her or Miranda.
Well there were the AIs too she guessed.
Strangely, Will had accepted that she created her own, which were gathering food for her right now. She had first thought to make them in the form of her friends, but thought better of it when she remembered that it would mean seeing them dying at one moment, when Miranda would be out hunting or Will playing with her mind.
In those 24 years she had seen Will eight time. The first time had been to 'officially' present her to Miranda as well as to lay the base rules.
The next two time she had been caught red-handed trying to get out using her power. It had hurt so much the second time that Tecna had beg for her life to end. But she had not. Will had healed her, and with a smirk told her that it would not be so easy to flee.
The other time, it was just to talk.
Each time she never was here for long. But her presence was in everything.
* "So, you did not try to flee this time?" Will asked with an almost disappointed pout .
As usual Tecna had not know she was here before her jailer was just behind her 'Maybe she's always just behind me ' She thought. "NO ... I wouldn't ... I promise ..." Tecna trembled taking her head in her arm.
"Well. I guess." Will laughed. "You're not the kind to willfully do useless thing."
"Useless huh ..." It was exactly how she felt .
"Yeah, useless, like resisting." She smiled. "Look around, you've got a whole word to try out, and a lot of time to try it."
"You know this is not what I want." Tecna growled.
"Of course, that's why I gave it. Yet you should look at it." She got near her and whispered "... You may learn a lot." The tone she had at that moment was blood chilling and Tecna understood it was more of an order than a simple advise."
"I.. Will." Tecna stuttered.
"Good, see you around then " Will had said before disappearing, just like she had came, from behind her.
Tecna punched through the wall.*
Will had said that when she was ready, they would play another game... Tecna was not sure if she ever wanted to be ready.
Then there was Miranda. She fully thought of the spider girl as her warden. Always there even when not seen, making her stay even more hellish. Destroying the little she had after it had 'outlived its usefulness.'
She could not imagine what Will had in plan for her friends. She could not ask either, too afraid of the truth.
"I could try to send a message." She thought. "It would not be as hard or loud as to break out." She knew the coding enough by now.
"But what if she find about it?" She voiced her concern.
"She will find about it." She slumped. "There is no but in that."
"And then it would be punishment again." She shivered, feeling her head crumbling for the lone memories.
"NO!" She yelled ins despair. "Nononno. Not that ... mind-rape." It was the only way she could describe it .
"Then what to do. We can't let them ... not when we know what's at stake." She protested.
"What's at stake ... My mind is as stake." She shouted. "I would prefer to be Her puppet, it hurt far less."
"But you know ..., You know that they'll suffer too if you don't try anything." She protested, outraged . How could she be such a cowards
"Then, what do you propose?" She cried out, punching the ground. She could not think about anyway that wouldn't earn her a near death experience at the least . She didn't care if she seemed like a cowards
"I don't know." She answered sheepishly, taking her leg in her arm. "Maybe I should have refused her help." She looked at the castle in the horizon.
"And let them trapped inside?" She frowned. "I checked, they would have been erased."
"Maybe if I rested , I could have had the time ..." She proposed hopefully .
"With Will pulling the string ?" She laughed . " You are deluding yourself Tecna . But thinking about it she may had freed them by herself. She don't want us to die "
"Who is the one deluding herself?" She snarled. "She would just have gone right to the torture ... at least that way they still have some days free."
"Free to torture themselves over their guilt." She pointed out .
"And talking about guilt ... I wonder how Timmy is doing?"
"Badly ... Probably did not sleep of the night , going mad about how he should have put more research into it." She smiled sadly .
"Talking about going mad, are you alright?" The voice of an NPC said, sounding worried .
"What do you mean?" Tecna asked angered , coming out of her dialogue with herself for a moment .
"I mean ... Sorry if I disturbed but you programmed me as an health care ... " The black-haired girl said." And talking with yourself is ... not a good sign, to put in mildly."
"Are you saying that's I'm mad?" Tecna growled, getting up. She glared at her insistently.
"Well ... Infact " the NPC was hesitating .
'Afraid ?' Tecna smirked, was she good enough to make a NPC who could really feel fear? " So what it is. Am I insane or not?"
"I .. don't know " The NPC stuttered "Maybe I was wrong." The NPC walked back, trembling .
"You don't know, even so you're programmed for that ? " Tecna menaced her, taking her by the arm . " Then I don't need you " She sent an electric shock through her hand and deleted her .
She looked at her disappearing slowly
.
' I'm sorry " She sobbed for the umpteenth time . Digital tears going down her virtual cheeks .
...
...
23/02/2014
FOR: That was the second part of chapter 8. Please review, no review make me sad. Follow and Favorite if you want too.
Yan: I won't say I'm glad to see what's happening there.
FOR: Which mean I'm doing my job. Once again sorry for the long wait. I'll try to not be as long.
Heimrish: You have work to do.
FOR: I know, I know. So much chapters to write and rewrite.
Heimrish: No. Not that. Real life work. Your studies. Mid-quarter Exam are coming.
FOR: Hey! Since when do you know MY schedule.
Heimrish: We had a lot of time young man.
Yan: And the less you write the less I have to see my Hay Lin unhappy.
FOR: You won't stop me. I have a story to write. Characters to make suffer. And the chapter which justify the M and Horror rating is coming next.
Yan: *faint*
FOR: °u° Just as planed. (Turn to the readers) See you next time in Chapter 9: My love : The Fountain of Life".
