Author's Note: This was the last chapter that I wrote years ago and I finally got around to rewriting it. So at this point everything that follows behind this chapter has to be written from scratch. Working on this has been stress-relieving for me since I've been dealing with some problems lately. I'm gonna be focusing on my other stories since I got to figure out where I'm going with this story.
Chapter 6
Emptiness Aching
After getting dress Yuu pulled off the towel wrapped around her damp hair and threw it onto the pile of dirty laundry. She looked in the mirror, noting that she looks a lot better now that she got a refreshing hot shower. Though, the band-aids that Kitty put on her weren't waterproof so a couple of them came off in the water. At least she didn't have an ridiculous amount of them on her anymore.
She combed her hair with her fingers and twisted it into a loose bun. Some of the strands slip out, but she didn't mind them. She grabbed her bag and headed out of the bathroom. She dropped it besides the couch and plopped herself down on the cushions.
Dante's door opened and he popped his head out. "I'm going to sleep. I take it you're gonna crash on the sofa until you get your own bed."
"Yup."
He looked at the dirty pile of clothes. "Did I also mention that you don't have start immediately tomorrow? I figured you'll need some time to settle in first."
"Good. I feel like I can sleep for an eternity with how tired I am," I said, trying to make myself comfortable.
"Do you need a pillow? Blanket?"
"If it's not too much trouble."
"It's not," he said, popping back into his room to retrieve a spare pillow and a blanket for her. He threw the pillow at her and it hit her in the face. She pull the pillow off and placed it on the couch besides her. She quickly got up and pull the blanket away from his hands before he tried to throw that at her face too.
"Thanks," she said sitting back down.
"No problem," he said smiling. "Are you sure you don't want to share with me? I promise it's a cozy bed and I'll keep my hands to myself if you want."
She rolled her eyes and turned over on the couch. "I'm sure. Good night, Dante."
"Alright," he said pulling back from the doorway. "Night..."
He closed his door and Yuu stared up at the ceiling. 'I need to turn the lights off. Wait, is the front door even lock?' she thought, turning her eyes to the entrance and sitting up. 'I won't be able to sleep if I don't make sure it's locked first.'
She got up to double check and she was relieved to see that Dante had locked it at some point while she was in the bathroom. She also turned the lights off and pulled the blanket over her and fluff the pillow before laying her head down on it. It didn't take her long to fall swiftly into a deep slumber. She was back in her world, but strangely enough she was inside a school. The very same school she and her friends planned to meet when their world was falling apart.
"Why am I here?" she whispered, noticing that she was holding a flashlight and used it to look around. It was quiet and dark in the building. She walked towards the front doors and tried to open the push-bar to leave the school. It creaked, but refused to open.
"Looks like I'm stuck in here," she said, walking towards an opened window and looking out of it. It was just as dark outside. Not even the stars were visible despite the city's lights being gone. The moon was still bright though, but it was glowing an eerily yellow. It looked a bit too similar to the yellow eyed creatures.
She frowned, looking away from the moon and turn her eyes to the street below. 'It's so dark. I can't see anything. There's only a few street lights on, but it's like they're losing a battle against the darkness,' she thought, moving away from the window. She continued walking, noticing that the rest of the windows were pitch black to even look through.
'It feels so empty here. It's almost like an illusion,' she thought, also checking all the classroom doors to see if any of them would open. 'This must be a dream, but why am I here? Am I alone or is it just me?'
"Nirdesa? Larcrima?" she called out, running through the hallways. "Is anyone else here?!"
'There has to be a reason why I'm inside the school. I was outside with them before I got taken away,' she thought, resting against the staircase. She calm down, facing the stairs leading down to the basement. 'We never actually got inside the building. So is this some sort of guilt dream? Because I wasn't careful or strong enough to get us all inside?'
"What should I do? It'll be stupid to go to the dark basement, alone and unarmed. But I suppose this is just a dream it's not like I can die in it...I think. So, if I'm punishing myself there's only one place that I would have to go to that I don't want to," she said, silently walking down the stairs and wishing that she had a weapon with her.
Her nerves were going crazy, telling her that something could possibly be down there. Something that she didn't want to run into. She clench her hands tightly, fighting the urge to turn back. 'I don't have to go down there, but I need to check if anyone is really down there. I can't live with the thought if someone needs help, but I was too scared to go and see,' she thought, heading straight into the darkness with only the light of the flashlight guiding her.
She pushed open the metal door, carefully closing it behind her once she entered it. There was a light above her and down the hallway was another one, but it was flickering on and off. 'It's like something in a horror movie,' she thought, trying to keep her mind clear and calm. 'I would always laugh whenever a character stupidly enters into an area that is obliviously not safe. And when they do the monster is there watching them get closer to their lair, waiting for the right moment to strike.'
She swallowed thickly as she walked down the hallway and stayed close to the walls. Her eyes scanned behind her every once in a while, making sure that nothing would sneak up on her. She came to a stop when she reach a door on her right. It was already open. She pushed it wider, slowly walking in and checked the light switch on the wall. She flipped it on and the lights flickered before staying on completely. She switch the flashlight off and pocketed it.
She was on a railing, overlooking the whole room. On her left were stairs leading down below. 'From this view I don't see anything out of place. If anyone is here they might be hiding,' she thought, making her way down to the room. She check the large cabinets and closet, not finding anything. However, she did find a hammer and a screw driver. 'These will do. It's certainly better than having nothing at all to protect myself.'
Seeing as there was no one there she moved on. This room was connected to another room. It seemed to be a wood-shop room, with all the wood and tools around.
"Is anybody here? Larcrima? Nirdesa?" she whispered, noticing that some of the things in the room were scattered carelessly around. She couldn't see much since the light switch didn't work. At least there was some light shining through the glass windows on the door from the next room. She paused, listening for any sound or a reply.
She sighed and turn to leave when she heard something.
It echoed, a hollow sound coming from the teacher's office. She walked there quietly, trying to see through the large glass windows on the door. It was too dark to see exactly what else was in the room, but she could make out a desk up against the wall and some cabinets.
Her hand reached the door knob, turning it and pushing it open. The door started to open, but something prevented it from opening any further. She looked around again, making sure that nothing would pop out from behind her. 'Should I try to kick it open? Or body slam it? No. It would probably make too much noise and I could hurt myself if I don't do it right,' she thought, pushing the door a little more wider. 'I might be able to squeeze through now...'
She held her breath and managed to get through the door. She looked for a light switch, spotting one and switched it on. It didn't work, so she pull her flashlight out and held the hammer closer to her. She kept the screw driver as a backup weapon in her pants' pocket. "Hello? Nirdesa? Larcrima? Is anyone here?" she asked, her voice soft.
There was a muffled noise, sounding similar to a gasp. Yuu wasn't sure where it came from, but she squinted in the dark and looked for anything that a person could use to hide in. She saw a decent sized storage cabinet and made her way over there silently. She stopped in front of it, wondering what she should do if someone was really inside it. 'If they're hiding than they're scared. I can't just open it because they will freak out and attack. Maybe knock? If it was me I would want to be sure it's someone not out to get me on the other side of the door.'
Yuu raised her hand, knocking three times on the door. She heard nothing, but tried again. She stayed quiet, holding her breath. Something shifted inside and she pressed her head against the door listening closely. She could hear something breathing heavily on the other side and then it stopped.
She took a step back, taking a deep breath and exhale slowly. Calmly she leaned forward, staring at the cabinet.
"Hello?" she said loudly this time. "I'm not gonna hurt you. I know you're in there and I'm not gonna force you out. Maybe we can help each other? I'm looking for my friends."
Yuu waited, seeing if they'll answer and leave the cabinet themselves.
"I'm not in any rush. I can wait here for a long time, but it would be ridiculous to find out that neither of us would harm one another, and wasted that much time just waiting around."
She swallowed thickly, nervously inching her hand closer to the handle. 'Maybe I'm not actually talking to a person and it could be one of those monsters trapped inside. But my gut is telling me it's a person. They're just afraid. I wish that they would at least talk to me,' she thought, biting her lip. 'It would certainly make things a bit easier.'
"If you don't want to get out that's is fine. Just please talk to me. I'll leave you alone afterwards if you want, but only if you talk to me."
Yuu sighed, gripping the handle of the cabinet. 'Nothing? I'm gonna have to force them out, aren't I? It looks like this dream doesn't want to make anything easy for me.'
"I guess I could walk away, but then I'll be paranoid thinking that you'll come after me as soon as I do. The other option is that I could force you out. I don't want to do that, but come on, work with me here. Say something."
Yuu softly knocked on the cabinet's doors again.
"Hmm, how about knock once for yes and twice for no?" she asked, waiting again for a response.
She still got nothing but silence for the next few minutes. 'I seriously hope I haven't been talking to thin air.'
"Okay, I tried everything. I'm going to open this now. Please, don't attack me, but I won't blame you if you do," she said, hesitating for a few seconds before narrowing her eyes in determination. 'One...two...three!' she counted down mentally, turning the knob and flinging it open.
A dark object flew out and Yuu dodged, watching it hit the ground. Before she could get a good look at it with her flashlight, something banged against the cabinet and rammed into her. She screamed, dropping the flashlight and feeling its weight fall on top of her. It slammed against her shoulder and pain exploded behind her head as she knocked it against the concrete ground.
She winced, pushing and struggling to get out from under the heavy object. She lost her grip on the hammer and while wiggling around she searched the ground for it. She stopped, feeling her shoulder twinge in pain and grasped it. Her eyes adjusted to the dark and she noticed the hammer behind the solid form that attacked her. She got up quickly as the dark form moved and ran into the other room.
She clenched her teeth tightly and quickly grabbed the hammer and chased after the shadow. She lunged right onto their back causing them to falter in their balance and fall onto the ground. Her heart was pounding against her chest as she held on tight, trying to keep herself from being thrown off.
"Stop! Stop moving!" she yelled, pushing her hammer up against their neck. They froze at the contact of the metal on their skin and she release the breath she was holding. "Please, stop. I don't want to hurt you, but you're not leaving me much of a choice here. Now...who are you? Why are you here? Are there others here?"
The air around Yuu and the person was eerie. They were tense as though they were repeating your words in their head and letting it sink in. She frowned, not sure if she should repeat what she said or wait a bit more. They relaxed a little, looking over their shoulder to see if they could make out her face in the dark.
"I...I don't know. As far as I know I'm the only one here. Not after..." they paused, thinking their words carefully. "I just don't know anymore. I've been here for so long all. It's always night, so quiet and dangerous. I'm...I'm alone now. They're gone. They're all gone. They're gonna get me too, those things. I don't know how much longer I can keep hiding. They're gonna find me soon. But this all feels so unreal though, like a terrible dream..."
Yuu looked down, feeling the hopelessness dripping in their voice. She moved her hammer away from their neck and got off them.
"Let's move to the light. We'll talk more there," she said, leaning down to help them stand up. She almost fell back to the ground when an unexpected wave of dizziness hit her. But luckily they were holding onto her shoulder, keeping her from falling. 'I almost forgot about my head and shoulder hurting. Damn, there's gonna be an ugly bruise in those spots,' she thought, the aching appearing more strongly than before. 'Too bad I've calm down. The adrenaline was helping me ignore it.'
Doing her best she shook off the pain and led the way towards the light. She held the door open for them, checking the room one last time before following after them. She heard a gasp and turned around to face them, thinking they spotted something horrible. Instead they were looking at her or at least she thought so because she still couldn't see them clearly when they weren't standing in the light.
Yuu looked behind her, making sure there was nothing there before turning to them.
"Uh, what's wrong?" she asked, confused.
"You're alive!"
"I think I would know if I was dead," Yuu replied, raising her eyebrow.
"No, no! It's me!" they answered, stepping into the light.
Yuu eyes widen and the person tackle her into a hug. "Larcrima!" she exclaimed, feeling relieved at seeing her friend.
"In the flesh, but how are you here? And what the hell happen to you? Do you know where Nirdesa is?" Larcrima questioned, letting go of Yuu and placing her hands on her shoulder. She stared right into her eyes, serious. Yuu made a face at her injured shoulder being touched but ignore it, not wanting to draw attention to it.
"What is it?"
Yuu sighed, moving away from her. "I don't know where Nirdesa is. The last time I saw her was when we were all together. And I don't know how I got back here. For all I know this could all just be a very detailed dream. But when those things took me, I got knocked out and I found myself in a completely different place. I've never seen anything like it. I might actually be in another world where demons exist. Or I could be crazy. I don't know, but there's no other explanation for it. I've been looking for you guys. I'm not sure if you're still here or if the same thing happen to you two."
Yuu glanced at Larcrima, expecting her to give her a look that said she was insane. But no, she was staring at the wall, thinking deeply with a frown on her face.
"You're not crazy," she commented, "Those things are real and what happen to us - to the world really did happened. I kept wondering if maybe you were still alive. We didn't see your body, but we also didn't see your heart float above you or in the creatures grasps. So there was still a possibility that you were alive, but taken somewhere else. I didn't expect it to be another world though. Are those things there too? Is there anyone else we know there?"
"I don't know. I haven't see any of those creatures so far, but they may be the least of my worries. Apparently demons exist here, well, I mean the world I'm at. As for the people from our world...I don't know either. I could be the only one or maybe there's more. But it'll be hard to spot them unless they get picked up and sent to a psychiatric hospital for nonsense about being from another world," Yuu said, shrugging. "Or they could've gotten kill by whatever dangerous thing that exist in the new world they're in."
"...seriously?" Larcrima sighed, rubbing her temples.
"Yeah, this is a lot bigger than anyone would've thought. I've been keeping a low profile and establishing myself a home base before going on the search for answers. I don't know how long it'll take for me to find a way back home," Yuu said, crossing her arms.
"You might be stuck there," Larcrima said, leaning against the wall.
"Maybe, but that won't stop me from looking for a way," she responded. "This world has demons and they come from what I suppose is Hell. So there has got to be information about those creatures, other worlds or some way to open a doorway home or something."
"It sounds like an even worst place to be at. Just please be careful and don't mess with anything demonic either. It's not worth losing yourself for a way home, which at this point may not be a good idea," Larcrima said. "This is all that's left of it. Silent, empty of life and never-ending darkness..."
Larcrima's gaze shifted, and she stared into the distance. "I really hope you're not some sort of figment of my imagination from being alone and scare."
"I'm not," Yuu replied. "But I suppose nothing I could say or do could convince you of that. Funny enough, I think that this is just a dream. That you're not really here."
"Wow, the figment of my friend thinks she's real and that she's dreaming. Seems a bit overly complicated when I think about it," Larcrima said, rubbing her head. "And it sounds crazy."
"Then don't think about it. I find that it helps to accept that it's happening and to go along with it," Yuu said, eyeing her friend in concerned. "After all, I can't wake up from this dream and from the sounds of it you don't have anything else to do. There's no harm in keeping my company and trying to get some answers or figure some things out."
"Okay, that makes sense," she mumbled, looking down the hallway.
"So, lets start from the beginning. What happen to you two after I was taken? Where's Nirdesa?" Yuu asked, realizing she still had the flashlight on and clicked it off.
"We tried out running them, but there was just too many of them. So we force our way into the school. Nirdesa was ahead of me and I was falling behind," she said, taking a deep breath before continuing on. "We needed somewhere to hide or make a last stand if it came to it. But it happened so fast and one of them appeared out of nowhere in between us. The last time I saw of her was on the first floor running down the hall while I ran in the opposite direction. I found myself down here in the subbasement. I knew there was an emergency exit here and that there were plenty of things here that I could use as a weapon."
"Do you think she might still be here?" Yuu asked, putting the flashlight and hammer away so she could rub her hands for a bit more warmth.
"I don't know. I haven't been able to go look for her. Those creatures are still here searching for us. That's why I was hiding, but it has been quiet."
"If Nirdesa is still here she wouldn't head upstairs. The doors up there are always locked. Unless she went to hide in one of the girls' bathroom, but I doubt that. It's not a very secure place to go to. She would've headed to the subbasement too. She may not have been following behind you, but there is more than one way to get down here," Yuu said, thinking out loud.
"Maybe she headed to the experimental theater? The prop room? We should check those areas first," Larcrima said, pushing off the wall to look for something.
"What are you doing?" she asked, following her as she enter the wood shop room again.
"Looking for a weapon. If we're going to look for her we're going to run into those creatures. I'm surprise you haven't been attack by them when you were looking for us," she answered, lifting up some wood planks.
Yuu helped her move them off the tables.
"Yes!" Larcrima cheered, lifting up a wrench that was left underneath it. "I knew I misplace it during class. Good thing too or my teacher would have locked this up with the other tools."
"I guess I was lucky enough to find the hammer and the screw diver in the other room," Yuu said, making sure the items she mentioned were still in her pockets.
"Let's go," she said, heading out the door and into the hallway again.
"Do you want me to lead the way?" Yuu whispered, looking around and pulling her flashlight out.
"No, that's okay. Just watch my back," she answered, staying close to the wall. "Wait, let me hold the flashlight."
Yuu passed the flashlight and followed behind her friend with her hammer ready. Sh kept checking behind her, eyeing the dark and shadowy areas suspiciously. She had a nagging feeling in the back of her head as the both of them got closer to the theater. 'Why haven't we been attack yet? I'm pretty sure we made enough noise to attract unwanted attention,' she thought, biting her lip. 'Could this be a trap? Was I just the bait to lure my friend out?'
Larcrima paused, glancing at her to make sure she was still behind her. She motion for her to look over her shoulder. In front of her was the experimental theater and nothing seemed odd about it so far. The door was closed and the other rooms in the area looked to be locked. She turned backed to her, giving her a looked that said she should walk towards the door first. Yuu nearly slapped her own face in disbelief at her friend's change of mind. 'I'm scared too, but I did offer to lead the way,' she thought, rolling her eyes.
She moved in front of Larcrima and tighten her grip on the hammer. She wondered if she should run there or walk slowly, but decided to just walk there since she didn't want to waste her energy if it was a trap. Larcrima keep watched from behind while she kept her eyes on the door, briefly scanning around the darken parts of the hall. 'So far, so good.'
Yuu made it to the door in one piece and tested the door knob to see if it was locked. It wasn't. She looked behind her at Larcrima, waving her hand for her to come over. Yuu slowly turned the knob, and pull the door opened.
"You think she's in there?" Larcrima whispered, trying to peek through the crack of the door. Yuu shrugged, "I hope so."
She pulled the door wider, letting some of the flickering light in the hall fill it. The first thing that hit her was the musky stench of the room. And from what she could see there wasn't anything strange or out of place in the room. 'Well, let's see if the lights work,' she thought, using her left hand to search the wall near the door for the light switch. She finally found it, and flipped it on. Some of the lights on the ceiling flickered on, but the rest didn't even light up. 'There goes most of the light source in this room.'
Yuu sighed and turned to Larcrima. She leaned in close to make sure she heard her. "The lights aren't working. You'll have to hold the door open and keep watch from there while I'll search the room. It's the only way for us to see anything at all in here," she said softly.
"You can take back the flashlight," she said, raising her hand up with it.
Yuu nodded in thanks and began her search of the room. She kept a hand on the wall to make sure she wouldn't run into or trip over anything. Larcrima held the doorway wide open, constantly checking the hallway for any signs of those creatures. Her eyes squinted in the dark, trying to make out the things that were laying around. So far, she didn't find anything interesting besides knocked over chairs and some folded up tables. There was nothing in there to suggest anyone came inside to hide. 'Where else could she have gone?' she thought, swinging the flashlight around.
Her hand that was on the wall hit empty air. She step closer to where the wall was and reached out again, this time she felt something solid there. 'Is that a door?'
Yuu's hand trail down until she found a metal bar that stretch across the door. She pushed against it, testing to see if the door would open. The bar easily went down but it didn't go all the way, signaling that it was locked. 'Well...this was a bust,' she thought, quickly getting out of the musty smelling room.
"Anything?" Larcrima asked when Yuu stepped into the light.
"No, there's nothing because she never went inside," she answered, quietly closing the door.
"We'll find her," she said with determination. "I hope."
"Yeah..." Yuu mumbled, feeling slightly drained.
She and Larcrima checked each door, hoping to find one unlock. Luckily the both of them didn't have to look that far. She moved to the side of the wall, while Larcrima position herself to opened the door and use it as a shield if something popped out. Both of them looked at each other, before Larcrima pulled the door opened.
Cold air passed Yuu's face, giving her a feeling of terror and weakness. 'Wha-what was that?!' she thought, shaking off the shiver and the sudden exhaustion that the wind gave her. 'I don't like the sign of that.'
Yuu looked at Larcrima noticing that she was on the edge too, more so than the situation calls for. "Did you...did you feel that?" she asked, lightly.
Larcrima eyebrows furrow in question. "Feel what?"
"The cold air."
She shook her head.
"Than...why are you looking like you're about to run for your life right now?" she quipped, keeping her eyes on the doorway.
"Because of the smell. It's seems familiar. Like I should know it and I should fear the reason it's like that," she answered, concentrating. "I...I know the smell. I just can't think of why it's familiar. It's at the tip of my tongue!"
"The smell?" Yuu whispered to herself. 'I'm more focus on the feeling in the air, because every bone in my body is screaming to get away. I was doing okay, but I'm suddenly feeling tired and frighten,' she thought, leaning against the wall. She tried to look inside the room, but it was too dark to see anything. She aimed the flashlight into the room but for some reason the darkness was too thick for the light to penetrate. 'That is weird...'
"Don't force it. It'll come to you."
"But I don't want to figure it out before it's too late, especially if it's something important," Larcrima said, rubbing her head in annoyance. "It feels important and that I know what it is."
"One way to find out is to see where the smell is coming from," Yuu said, standing in the door way. 'Though I find it strange that she's smelling something that I'm not. Just like the feeling in the air that only I'm able to feel and she can't.'
"Lets go together this time," Larcrima said, looking for the light switch. Yuu found it instead, flipping the switch and looked towards the ceiling. The lights turn on, but they flickered. 'At least we have some light than none at all.'
Yuu kept the hammer close to her, feeling paranoid that something would jump out at her. The longer they spent in the room, the more tired and lightheaded she became. She reasoned it was because she was coiled up tight and on high alert. The stress of the situation was beginning to get to her.
"What's that?" Larcrima asked, motioning the door on the other end of the room.
It looked like any other door but only this one was half opened, which was something they had yet to come across. Yuu turn to her and Larcrima did the same, a hopeful look coming across both of their faces. She nodded and followed her as the both of them pushed the door open the rest of the way. There were many items in the room, many of them appear to be costumes and props used in the school's plays.
Suddenly a wave of dizziness hit Yuu almost making her fall over. Luckily, Larcrima was right besides her and saw it. She grabbed a hold of her arm, letting Yuu lean against her.
"What's wrong?" she demanded, looking around quickly before looking back at her.
Yuu closed her eyes, trying to ignored the strange shapes moving around in her vision. The lightheaded feeling disappeared and she opened her eyes again. "I'm okay now," she responded, standing up straight. "I must've been more tired than I realize."
Larcrima gave her an suspicious look, not completely believing her. "Maybe, but you will never know with all this strange stuff going around," she said, staring at Yuu to see if anything else was out of place. "Let me know if you feel sick again or something."
Yuu nodded, and looked around for the light switch again. She and Larcrima did find one but it wasn't working. Instead the both of them resorted to using a chair to hold the door open so that the flickering light from the hallway could illuminate the area even if it wasn't much. Yuu and her continued to search around, looking for any clues that Nirdesa had been there or hopefully still is.
"Do you smell that?" Larcrima inquired, sniffing the air.
"No, but you're smelling whatever it is again?"
"Yeah, it's getting stronger," she retorted. "It's coming from there. I don't know why it smells so familiar, but there isn't that many things that smell copper-like."
The color in Yuu's face drain when she heard the words smell and copper in the same sentence. 'No, that can't be!' she thought, running over to where Larcrima had said the smell was coming from. She entered the room further, coming to a small hallway.
"Holy Sh-!" Yuu blubbered, staring at the scene in front of her.
"What?! What is it?" Larcrima inquired, standing besides her and taking in her expression. She slowly turned her head, taking in what was in front of her.
"Oh..." she gasped and quickly turned away. She dry heaved a few times and stepped further away from the entrance. "You don't think...?"
"No!" Yuu exclaimed, firmly. "This could be someone else or something else. I'm not going to jump to any conclusions until I have actual evidence that it's related to her. Besides there's no body so I won't believe that it's her that's hurt or worst dead, unless I see it with my own eyes."
Everything in the room was a disaster. On the wall were streaks of blood, dripping onto the floor and painting it a dark red. There was also a long smudge of blood that indicated that whoever was hurt was dragged to the other door and down the hallway. 'It looks less like a fight and more of a struggle. Whoever or whatever lost may have pass out from the blood loss or got knocked unconscious by their attacker. This could be Nirdesa, but it could also not be her,' Yuu thought, examining the blood stains. 'The blood isn't fresh, but it's still enough for us to smell it though.'
"What are you thinking?" Larcrima asked, from the other room.
"Too many things," Yuu said, not able to look away from the scene. "It could be someone else and not hers. Maybe she's still somewhere in the school safe and is just hiding like you were? Or she could be hurt and trapped? Maybe she got away, but is hurt? Maybe she's being hunted? Could the blood not be hers? If that's the case, who's or what blood does this belong to? Cause the last time I checked those creatures don't bleed."
"Yuu," Larcrima said softly. "I'm sorry."
"There's nothing for you to apologized. None of this is any of our faults. I wish I have answers, but I don't. I wish Niredesa was here. She would know what to do," Yuu said, finally looking away. "Or at least she would have a better idea of what to look for."
"She does watch a lot of crime scene investigation shows," Larcrima said, fiddling with her wrench. "She was always interested in it, so much that she even consider going into that field of work."
"Yeah, instead she's pursuing a career in medicine," Yuu said. "She's tough and I know she'll be great at it."
"Exactly," Larcrima nodded, feeling braver to come closer to the room. "She knows these things better than us both combine."
'All we can do now is hope that she's somewhere safe. And if she's hurt that she'll be somewhere that someone can help her,' Yuu thought, mentally praying for her friend's safety and health. 'She better be okay or I'm gonna hunt down whatever it is that hurt her and make it wish it never existed.'
Yuu looked towards Larcrima, noticing that she had her head bowed with her eyes closed.
...Hey.
Yuu jumped in fright.
Get up.
She blinked, looking around quickly to see where the voice was coming from.
Come on. I know you can hear me.
Her eyebrows furrowed, trying to figure out why she was hearing a voice. 'It sounds familiar. Is that Dante? I know I said this is a dream, but is it really?'
"Yuu?" Larcrima inquired, placing a hand on her arm. "What's wrong?"
She opened her mouth to answered but Larcrima continue.
"No, that's a stupid question. Don't worry, we'll find Niredesa. This...this may not be as bad as it seems. I once stepped on broken glass and cut my foot. There was so much blood all over the kitchen floor, all from such a small cut. So...don't worry too much," she said, giving her a small smile. "Hell, this might not be even hers. So, lets not jump into any conclusion. We'll keep searching for her."
Yuu smile in returned, pleasantly surprise at her determination and the truth in her words. "Thanks."
Larcrima nodded and looked her over to make sure she was physically fine. That was when Yuu realize that she was slouching forward like she was about to keel over. She straightened up, wondering why her body felt lethargy while her mind was sharp.
When Larcrima saw that Yuu wasn't going to collapse in hysteria or some other reaction, she clench her teeth, staring determinedly in the direction of the bloody room. Yuu quickly followed her, making sure to stay besides her in case she collapse into hysteria. The deeper she went, the darker it got and it seems that the lights in that part of the hallway weren't working.
"It ends here," she said, staring at the floor. "How strange. Injuries don't stop bleeding that quickly unless they were patched up. I don't see anything to indicate they were taken care of."
"That's true," Yuu said, looking at the blood trail and scanning the area for a clue. "There's a door over there, but the blood doesn't go in that direction."
She walked over to it, placing her hand on the doorknob and turning it to see if it was unlock. 'Another locked door and a dead end. So, whoever is injured either teleported themselves, which I doubt that very much or those creatures took them. Another option is that they were able to patched themselves up before continuing on,' she thought, frowning.
"Where do you think she would go?" Larcrima asked, checking the walls and floor for anything Yuu overlooked.
"I don't know. If she's injured she may go to the nurses' office. But if she's being followed she might look for a place to hide instead," Yuu said, leaving the room and hallway. "We're not leaving this school until we've check it from top to bottom for her."
"What if she's not here?"
"Then we'll leave a note in the entrance that she can't miss in case she does come back," Yuu said.
"Do you think she would go back home?" she asked, nudging a broken chair away from her with a wrench. "Maybe those creatures took her away like they did to you? If what you say is true just how are we gonna be able to help her? We have no way to get to her and who's to say that there isn't a bunch of other worlds too. We won't know the right one that has her. Or you...because you're not really here. It's not like I could borrow a space ship and fly off right now. That won't work. There's nothing out there. That just isn't how our reality works."
"Where else would she go? The places that come to mind are too far away for her to get to, especially with all those creatures out there. I suppose she could head to my place since it's in the area, but if I'm not there she would be stuck outside in the open. So I don't think she would chance that," Yuu answered, facing her. "Whether I am real or you aren't doesn't matter right now. We'll both here in this dream or reality at the moment with the same goal. To find each other."
"Sorry, you're right. But I keep thinking of the what ifs because unlike you this isn't a dream for me. I don't have the option of waking up and believing that this all was just something that my subconscious came up with to give me comfort and a goal to focus on."
"I get it," Yuu said, giving her a sad smile. "I don't want to leave you alone. If I could..."
"You would keep on dreaming," Larcrima finished, smiling back. "While I keep on believing you're just a figment. I'm seriously gonna need a therapist after this."
"Same here. You're okay for now?" Yuu asked, handling the flashlight over to her.
"For now," she replied. "If Nirdesa isn't here, how do we get to another world? Or reach you?"
"Magic."
Larcrima gave Yuu a dead pan expression at her response.
"I don't know. The only thing that I know of is that the creatures did this, maybe they can do it again."
"So...what? We try to catch one of them and make them transport us?" Larcrima joked, not really thinking about it.
"Yes," Yuu said, crossing her arms and sitting on top of a table. "That's not a bad idea. Lets do that when we're absolutely sure that Nirdesa isn't here anymore."
"You forget that there's no guarantee that those creatures would transport us to the same place, let alone the same world."
"Eh...what else do we got to lose?" Yuu said, shrugging. "Any place is better than here."
Larcrima purse her lips, thinking out loud. "I guess. But it would be real shitty if I ended up some place worst."
"I'm not gonna force you to do something that you don't want to do. I'm just saying that it's an idea. It might not even work if we did try it."
"I don't even know how we would be able to keep those creatures trapped in the first place," Larcrima mumbled.
"I don't either. But right now, we have to continue the search for Nirdesa-" Yuu cut off, feeling dizzy. She slid off the table, feeling another wave hit her again. She collapsed to the ground, holding her head as she heard the familiar voice talk to her again.
Get up.
This time the voice was louder.
Get up.
Yuu was losing focus, feeling tired and strange.
Come on.
She wasn't even aware that Larcrima sat besides her on the floor, until she felt her hand on her shoulders tighten.
You didn't ask for a wake up call, but it's time to get up.
Yuu leaned against her, closing her eyes tightly and willing herself to snap out of it. She could barely hear Larcrima's panic and talking over the tugging feeling in her head, but she managed to catch some of it.
"What's...get hurt? Are you..?"
Come on! Get up!
Yuu moaned, raising her hand to her head. The voice echoed louder, causing a headache to appear. She felt even more strange, feeling like a lot of weight was slowly being lifted off of her, but also feeling like she was floating at the same time.
"You're disappearing!" Larcrima yelled, gently tapping Yuu's cheek to get her to focus on her. "Look at me! Try to focus on me! Whatever it is fight it. Please, try. I really don't want to be left alone."
Yuu forced herself to hold on and to focus better. Another wave of dizziness pass through her. Desperately she grabbed onto her friend, not willing to leave her behind.
"I think I'm waking up," she said, staring at Larcrima's eyes. "I don't want to leave you, but I don't really have a choice in the matter. Remember the plan. Look for Nirdesa and please be careful. I know it's scary to be alone, but I know you can do this."
"Please, don't go..." Larcrima sniffled, hugging her.
"If all else fail, just wait here for me. I'll find a way to get to you."
"What if you take too long? Or I'm not here anymore?" Larcrima asked, wiping her tears.
"Than come find me. Just make sure to leave a note behind so that I know where you went."
It's time to get up.
The voice was clearer and sounded like whoever said it was right besides Yuu. Her mind exploded, numerous images flashing across her head until it settle on one. But before she could really see what it was a bright light erupted from her body. As the light dimmed, Yuu's body faded slowly.
"Yuu..."
She vanished right before her friend's eyes. She opened her mouth to scream out, but no sound came out. Than the light became completely black. Yuu lost all of her senses before waking up to the peeling white ceiling of Dante's shop.
"...Larcrima."
