Time Limit (III)

Dairen bulldozed through the floors without stopping, any monsters that he had stumbled upon, he would quickly kill it. There were many times he stalled because of the amount of monsters that had attacked him, but that didn't deter him. He kept going with only one goal in mind: save Snow.

Mr. Everrett helped protect the jeep as much as he could. He sent out a powerful aura that kept the lower level monsters back most of the trip, taking them a full day to get to the first floor without too much of a problem.

The magical power that Mr. Everrett gave off enough for Dairen to focus on most of the drive, running over unsuspecting monsters, and even reinforcing it with magic to bulldoze his way through.

Driving a bit recklessly, Dairen sped into the town. He wasn't a fantastic driver, but his driving was sufficient enough to get through the bumpy terrains that they had to go past. Mr. Everrett held on to the side as if his life depended on it. He gave Dairen a wild stare that told Dairen that he was a bit crazy. With a squeal, he turned the jeep a bit too sharply, causing the jeep to waver.

"Dairen?" Heather was directing a few players over, fixing up a broken machine. When she saw him driving towards her, she stopped what she was doing. "Dairen?"

"Heather, quickly, get on," Dairen spoke in a hurry. No doubt explaining everything to Heather right this moment would be a great idea. He knew that Heather was Snow's best friend and that they treasured each other. He was a bit afraid of what she would do to him if he went into full detail. But even still, he needed her help now.

"What's wrong?" Heather was confused at his sudden entrance. She didn't know that he would come bulldozing over with a jeep.

"Just get on. There is no time to explain." Dairen replied he was waiting impatiently as he drummed the wheel. He looked back at her and again at the destination that he needed to go a few times.

Heather could see that Dairen was in a hurry, she didn't ask any question. She opened the back door, she let out a small scream, realizing who was lying there. "Oh my god, is this Snow?!" She jumped in the back, slamming the door behind her.

Checking Snow's vitality, she frantically opened up the side of Snow's clothes, partially ripping it apart to see a large gaping wound in her chest. But when she found her barely alive, she snapped towards Dairen angrily. "What happened?! I thought you guys were protecting her!"

"She saved me," Dairen replied without hesitation, pressing the gas pedal a little too firmly that it jerked all of them backward.

Heather fell back a little too hard as she felt her shoulder crash into the seat. She yelp, trying to pull back up on her seat, which eventually she was able to get back up. "Where are you taking her? She needs medical attention."

"To the Mana Lake." Dairen said, "Red told us to get there and slip her in the lake."

"Wait, what?! Are you crazy?!" Heather exclaimed, she reached over, grabbing the back of his shirt. She pulled back with a yank and squeezed.

Dairen felt his neck tighten from his clothes. His airway was blocked, making it very difficult to breathe. Even his vision started to fade out, and his arm slightly limp. The jeep sharply turned, throwing Heather into the side of the car. Her fingers grabbed on a bit tighter, gagging Dairen for a split moment until she let go.

With another sharp yank to the right, Dairen was able to get control. He was lucky that he was able to stop before they rammed into a tree. He coughed a few times, and angrily replied, "Are you trying to kill me?!"

"Yes." Heather hissed, "As much as I liked you, you killed my friend!"

Dairen didn't have anything else to say; he was silent as guilt riddled his heart. Snow saved his life again; this time, she threw her life to protect him. He had wondered why she would do such a thing, mostly because if he had died, then it would have still lived in the other world without his memories about the world. For her, it was a death sentence.

"If you were only stronger-" Largely droplets of tears dripped down the side of her cheeks, unable to speak anymore as she brought her hands to her face. She sobbed hard, while her chest heaved.

"I'm sorry," Dairen whispered. He had difficulties dealing with a woman's tears. "I'll make it better, I swear."

Heather didn't say anything as they rode in silence throughout the whole ride. All Dairen could hear was Mr. Everrett saying, "everything is going to be alright, Ms. Heather," and the constant sobbing that eventually slowed down. The guilt that was budding in his heart kept growing, but at the same time, his dedication grew to save her as they got closer to their destination. It took an hour to arrive at their destination.

They arrived at the Mana lake, where they did not see a speck of monsters usually drinking by the waters. Curious why this was so, Dairen turned towards Heather, who had half of her make up caked off her face. He wanted answers, wondering what was going on.

"I don't know. For the past few days, the monsters seem to be afraid." Heather said. "She peeked out, but when she didn't see anyone, she opened the car door and stepped out in a bit of a hurry.

"I'll go ahead and check our surroundings, I'll be back." Mr. Everrett spoke, disappearing into thin air. Dairen wondered how Mr. Everrett was able to do that, he was going to plan to ask him later to learn from him.

Dairen got out and went to the back as he picked up Snow in his hand. Walking quickly towards the lake, he stopped for a moment. The lake was different, the crystal clear water was slightly purple, glowing with light. He didn't know what was going on with it, but he knew he needed to go in.

"I want to come with you," Heather spoke beside him, appearing like a ghost.

Dairen opened his mouth to stop her, but before he could speak a single word, she glared at him. He felt a cold shiver down his spine, looking at her menacing gaze that would not even listen to him also if he had said something to say.

"Don't." Heather threatened. "Let's go. I'm guessing you know a way to save her."

Dairen nodded. Taking a step in the waters, he felt a rush of cold crawling up his to his very knees as he got deeper and deeper. He shivered.

Tightening his grip, Snow could feel her cold, lifeless body becoming colder and colder. He didn't think that he would be holding Snow this close. He had dreamed about it, but this wasn't the way he wanted to keep her.

Throwing away such thoughts, he continued forward. The cold water lapped up against his skin, soaking his very clothes and down to his underwear. Every step felt like a slow few seconds had passed, making this journey into the water long and slow. Each step felt more substantial than before.

At first, he thought it was just himself, but it was not. When he looked over his shoulder, Heather was having difficulty going into the water because of some kind of resistance. At first, she was hesitant because she felt something strange about the lake, but this didn't stop her. She wanted to be next to her friend to help in any sort of way. She forcefully changed into her Mermaid form and dove into the water headfirst. A flick of red tail glimmered before it disappeared.

Dairen didn't think that it would take so much effort to push through the clear water, it was almost as if the mana lake was resisting them.

"You guys are almost to the center," Heather popped out of the water next to them. Her hand was gently on Snow's shoulder, looking at her with a worried gaze.

Dairen let Snow's body float, he was already neck-deep inside the lake, making carrying difficult.

Dairen kept swimming, his eyes filled with determination until finally, they made it to the center.

"What next?" Heather asked, searching for some clue that could assist her in some way, but she found nothing

"Keep watch over us for any danger," Dairen spoke, he knew what he had to do. Taking out the plant that Red had given him, he ate it without a single thought.

"What did you eat?" Heather asked, wondering if he would give her one as well.

"Dreamscape Plant," Dairen said, he breathed in, ready for it to take effect. He even closed his eyes, hoping that it would speed up the process. He reached over and grabbed Snow's hand, floating on his back. Barely any sound could be heard, but the sloshing of the waves in his ears.

He heard a hum in his mind. Still, nothing happened.

Just when he was getting tired of waiting, the water started to bubble around Snow. Dairen panicked a little, wondering what was going on. His hand felt the tug of his hand sinking. Turning over, he saw Snow sinking into the very water below.

The Mana lake was awakening, its water shimmered in excitement at the thought of a new host. Quickly, it wrapped around Snow's body, pulling her into the waters to take over. Dairen pulled back, but he didn't succeed. Even Heather, who was throwing spell after spell, was being thrown back away from Snow's body.

"What's going on?" Heather yelled. She threw another water spell to push away the tendril of magic that wrapped around Snow's waist, melting the very ice around her body.

Dairen could feel that his magic was weakening, the connection between Snow and himself was breaking as the rapid surge of mana swept into Snow's body. A static shock of mana hit him on the chest, stunning him for a moment. He grunted.

A fist full of water smashed into his throat, he coughed and spewed out of his chest. He thrashed around until he got his breath back.

Suddenly, the area around him glowed purple. A splash of energy snapped out from the waters, wrapping Snow. The mana lake pulled Snow's body in the lake, dragging her down to the very bottom. In alarm, Dairen dove in as he swam frantically to grab hold of Snow's hand. Even Heather frantically swam to catch Snow's hand.