Please Heal Me (I)

Snow reached up to grab the handles, pulling herself up. Her mouth partially dropped, trying to figure out what was going on. Was she back inside the dungeon itself, or was she still dreaming? She reached over to pinch herself, and when she did, a sharp pain answered her.

This was not a dream.

She'd never seen such destruction in the entirety of her life.

The ground grumbled in riot, telling anyone to duck and cover for the planet's stomach didn't settle. The skyscraper shook, the windows cracked, breaking apart into pieces as it rained onto the floor. A musical clatter of glasses echoed like chimes as the more and more broke all around. Eventually, the beams that are supporting the very walls of the skyscraper started to tremor. It moaned and whined. Finally, the beams shouted as they bent in fierce ferocity, causing the building to lean and break apart at the very base.

Large pieces of the broken building slammed into the ground as it shook. Some fell on top of flipped cars, others toppled into the building next to it, causing a chain reaction. A fire roared through the city as electricity sparked all around them like a snake, jumping from one building to the next.

People screamed at the destruction that was happening all around them. Nobody knew where the cause was coming from. Until finally, everything went quiet. It was as if the world was throwing a tantrum, and now it was done.

Many people were injured, dead, or buried underneath the piles of rubble, but just as many escaped. Sleepers and the magical community appeared one after another, helping each other.

Chaos was apparent as the Sleepers awakened and the magical forces around the city were broken. No more were they covered with a magical barrier, making them appear in front of the Sleepers.

Luckily for the group that left through the dungeon's entry, they were in a clearing, a bit away from the towering city walls that were broken like dominos.

Many stood stunned at what they were seeing, they were gone for so long to see a complete terrain change. Many of the Players guild's websites kept updates on what was happening, and to see a vast overhaul completely shook them to the very core.

"What's going on?" Audrey, the giant bear-like man, spoke, coming out right behind Snow's group. He looked around, rubbing his eyes with his big hands. He wasn't the only one who was befuddled at what was going on. "Is this a new update?" He jokingly said, but one could tell that he was very concerned.

"No, I'll check on our forum." Dedrick, his assistant, stepped out next to him. It was hard to tell if he was shocked or not by the way he kept calm as he corrected his glasses. "There is nothing about the earthquake...wait."

"What?" Audrey's gaze snapped towards Dedrick, waiting for his answer.

"A dungeon overflow?" Dedrick replied in a confused tone. "We had other dungeons spawned around the city."

"Since when? I've never heard of more dungeons opening up in Atlantis. I thought the Dungeon of Sacrifice was the only one?"

"Since, last night." Dedrick said, "I think it happened at the same time when the dungeon fell."

"Impossible," Snow blurted out, unable to contain her disbelief.

Dedrick looked over his shoulder, pushing up his glasses once again before he spoke, "It's true Snow. There have been new dungeons spawns around the city."

"But an overflow? In one day?" Snow had heard about dungeon Overflows before when the magic of the dungeon became too much to bear and it would burst out, spilling into the outside world. Such occurrences would allow the monsters that lived inside the dungeon to come out in large numbers.

"Yes," Dedrick responded, "Is this normal?"

"No." Snow replied, "It's not normal. Dungeon Overflows do not just happen in one day, someone or something forces it to happen." She had a feeling she knew who the culprit was.

"Levian?" said Darien.

Everyone had the same thought, they knew that Levian was in the dungeon to cause trouble and at the same time a mysterious force was killing people to sacrifice to the dungeon core. The question was, why and what for?

The only thing that Snow had in mind was that the dungeon overflow had happened to release the magic that was stifled inside the dungeon. So, the monsters could come out and destroy parts of the civilization. She had the feeling that this might not be the only place to use such a method.

"Possibly." Snow said, "It must have been what he was going for."

"What are we waiting for, we should go help the people down there," Mike replied. He practically jumped out of the car to get to the injured people.

The others started to move as they looked around. Snow also got out of the car, but she needed a bit of help from Dairen. Her muscles wouldn't listen to her and instead wobbled. Dairen reached out to catch her as she fell halfway into his arms.

"Thanks." Snow replied, frustrated that her body was still not listening to her correctly. The way things were going, she needed her whole body to be functioning correctly right now, but she wasn't sure how much longer she would have to wait to be in that state.

"No problem." Dairen's hand was on her shoulder as they moved one step at a time until Snow didn't need his help anymore. Heather was busily attending to the Dragon Express that she wasn't there to watch over Snow at all times.

"Just put me on that ledge over there." Snow pointed towards a half beaten ledge with plants sticking out from the side. It was next to a small decrypted building that had an extensive fence line around it. There was even a yellow tape section off around the once gone dungeon gate, keeping the Sleepers and any stragglers from coming towards the area.

"We should set up here for a moment," Rodney, the Heavenly guild master, appeared out of thin air next to Snow, startling her. "We don't know how bad the situation is in the city, but if a Dungeon Overflow happened, there should be monsters roaming the streets. We need a fallback point as we send out our forces to clear away the monsters."

"I agree," Dairen said, he waddled around Snow, hoping that she wouldn't fall.

Snow motioned him away, telling him that she was okay.

"We shouldn't split up yet. We don't know what's going on out there as of yet and the monsters could overrun us if we are not careful." Dairen said. "I wouldn't be surprised if the casualty rose up to the thousands from today's event. If we can line up this place with some defensive measures and blast away some of this debris, I think we can hole up here for a moment until we get a clear answer on what is going on."

Snow was grateful that the two were working a lot better than before, their disagreements in meetings gave her headaches. She had wondered when they started to become a lot closer, but she didn't care. By now, even the other guild members were working together a lot more efficiently than before.

Maybe it was the 'thick and thin' of the dungeon hunt that brought them closer together, she wasn't sure.

Already, the Players and the Hunters were working in unison to set up base. Some Hunters to check out the surroundings to find what happened to their family, but many of them stayed. There was too much to do.

The Healers set up a tent, not too far away from her as they opened up a tent for the injured. It wasn't just one or two that came running over with broken bones to fatalities that needed a significant boost of magic. There were just not enough healers to take on the growing moans and pains that were brought out from the rubbles.

Even still, Snow couldn't do anything. Closing her eyes, she sought to find her magic but instead was stopped by some kind of force. Curious, Snow poked at it a few times, allowing her to take bits and pieces of her usual energy into her hands. It took a while to steer the power inside her body to get to the point where she could conjure up a small fire the size of her hand. But it wasn't enough to heal anybody.

Frustrated, she let it go. Her focus was becoming erratic, making everything difficult.

She swore she was able to get a bit more if she focused a bit harder, but her mind wasn't bending to her will. Thinking back to the conversation that Dairen and Rodney had, she gazed upon the busy shouts of the people working tirelessly before her.

In some ways, the Players were a lot more…humane than before. She had thought that these Players would have left many of the Natives to die, but they were all diligently searching for ways to dig out the trapped or injured people. She sent out a silent heartfelt thank you, grateful for their change of heart. But she knew that these Players could probably revert back to their cold self.

Needless to say, Snow wouldn't let these small actions cloud her mind. She knew that the outside world was a lot harsher than she liked. Snow had seen a little glimmer into the dark side of humanity to understand better. Still, she hoped that this would last a bit longer.

Snow watched a group of five Players bringing in a family of six. The mother and father were injured, while one of the children had bandages all over its head, covered in blood.

Fear laced their hearts as they silently followed along and made their way home, trying to figure out what had happened.

Then not too far away, another group of players came rushing in with a makeshift stretcher coming straight towards her.

"Snow!" A player, she knew as a level D Hunter came running with his group, bringing over a heavily injured Sleeper. He was unconscious as a part of his arm was missing, leaving behind an ugly white bone and shredded muscle.

Snow flinched but hardened herself.

The players came over and placed the injured Sleeper in front of her. Their eyes looked upon her with hope and respect.

"We found an injured person in one of the collapsed buildings, we couldn't save his arms. Do you think you can save him?" One of the Players anxiously asked, looking at her then back down at the man.

Snow wasn't sure if she had enough energy to do such powerful healing magic. "I can try, but I haven't been able to control my powers yet since I have awoken."

"Please, we gotta get back and go help the others." The Players left her with the man before she could say any other.

It was a miracle that the man was alive, Snow's eyes were already scanning his body to see if any other areas needed to be fixed and found a few more broken bones. She sat down as she could not squat.

Closing her eyes, she felt for the power once again inside her core. It retaliated against her, telling her that it wouldn't want to budge. Sweat started to form.

"Come on." Snow said with frustration, her body was becoming warm as if she worked out for too long. "Give me what I want."

She fought. Hard, taming the raging magic that kept slipping out of her fingers until finally, she felt the damn break. Magic swirled around her fingers in excitement.

"Greater Heal."