Chapter 14 - And you thought it was over.
Chapter 14
"H-how long were we in there moo..?" I ask with apprehension, the heat and smoke clouding any sense of time passing.
"It couldn't have been more than 10 minutes… for every one of the creatures we killed ten came back, but then the fire went away… it burnt so fiercely but they must have been taking away from it every time they rebirthed wan…" We could all only look on at Anna, her labored breathing and closed eyes in pain.
"We need to get her somewhere safe while we kill that fucking pixie moo!" Keeks steps forwards and brings her paw out in front of her, a morose expression on her face.
"C-can you pass her to me… I learnt to bandage off my sister… We can at least wrap her up so she doesnt get an infection nye…" We both look at her surprised, she shrugs her shoulders and looks away shyly. "W-well you know, my sister and I traveled a lot… she made sure I knew basic first aid at least… Now! Give nye!" I gently lean over and let Keeks cradle her, such fear in her eyes as we watch on. None of us feel like this is a game right now. It's too real for us.
We watch silently as the smoke clears, the burnt husk of the village, cremated corpses, barely the bones left, so little bodies as well, all the villagers having become the monstrous flame beings instead, just the merchants left.. What else will this dungeon throw at us? I can only hope that this will be it, the last part of this quest of ours.
Keeks works slowly, making sure to avoid hurting Anna as much as she can, everytime Anna winces she winces with her, panic in her expression, so afraid to hurt the small girl. Watching her work fills me with love. This manic woman, hyper and whimsical, to be able to express herself in such pain for another. I look at Zel and she looks back at me, tears in her eyes. She smiles gently and leans into me, reaching around, I bring her close, both watching Keeks work.
A sigh escapes her lips as she puts away her little first aid kit. "Th-thats all I can do… there's too much… surface, fuck. FUCK NYE!" She stands up, turns around and screams into the night with all her fury in one word.
Turning back around she runs into our arms, her tears flowing freely, as she mutters and swears all she can. We all hold each other as we get ourselves ready for what's next. Zel pipes up after a short while, the planner of the group. The one to think for us all.
"Lets… get together to finish this… get out of here, we can take Anna to the entrance and take care of this fucked scenario… wan…" We all nod in agreement, our heads so close together that the others bonked into me, eliciting instant cries of pain.
"Oww why is your skull so hard nye!?" I chuckle and kiss her on the forehead and then kiss Zel's, both of their pouts too much for my poor heart to deal with.
I Pick up Anna and lead the way out through the ashes of the once grand feast. As we reach the entrance to the village I see all our 'equipment' stored in a box, the same box the old lady put them in, untouched and waiting for us. I see Zel's weapon here… I look at her quizzically.
She responds with a sly grin. "Hehe the staff is way good, but I figured something out with my new racial abilities wan~" She pulls out her hand and I see her furrow her brow in concentration, then. Fwoosh. Her hand scatters, the small silver moths gleaming, Slowly they form together, a fluttering dance as they all move around, one by one they make symbols with their tiny bodies.
The dance ends, the symbols hanging in the air like when she normally casts spells. They meld into a sphere and BOOM shooting out a silver bullet of mana tears across the sky. The moths form back into her hand and she looks up at me in praise.
I stand there stunned, then moving Anna out of the way to use my other hand I rub her head, eliciting happy 'wans' from my wolf magician "That's crazy moo!"
She shrugs and winks at Keeks. "Mmnn hehe I think the crazy thing is still where Keeks keeps her sword when we get checked like that wan!"
Keeks shrugs with a cocky look on her face, "Let's just say… it's a talent nyehehe!" We look at each other and shake our heads. Considering the pictures of her with those two dragon girls I can only think one thing. But I keep the words to myself.
We make our way past the fields, following the curve of the stone walls and the devastated fields behind them. Eventually getting to a split. One to go towards the Saints Rise and the blue fairy's domain. One that we hadn't trodden before, presumably the exit from the village and out into the territory of the golden fields.
We make our way out, hoping that we were able to keep Anna safe while we delt with the boss, then we can bring Anna back through with us. Considering there has not been any changes in the quest indication, we still hadn't saved Anna… Huh, I question our actions to the rest of the party.
"What if we take Anna back through first moo?" Zel seems to think about it for a second.
"We should need to kill the boss before going through, we have only had small encounters, if any. It has felt like all of the encounters have been more theatrical than real bosses, although I'm still worried about that wan…" She points to my blue fur, unchanging since I became 'it' from the playthings.
"Ehh it hasn't given me any debuffs or anything… I'm just… blue? Not the worst color but I still like my nice white fur… It better not be permanent moo!" Zel giggles in response at my cavalier approach to life, both of us hoping that it won't mean anything and we can just finish this already.
"Can't wait to smash that blue bitch! I bet she is ugly as hell nye!" We try to banter as best as possible, all of us seeming to have a bit of a worry as we approached the border. It was something clear as day, it being night, a light above us shining the path ahead from Zel's magic.
It's like there is a dome over the village, a slight sheen of blue to it, it covers everything. Now that we can see where it connects it's impossible to unsee it. It's above us and stretches past over the tree behind us. I can only wonder how far it goes.
I touch it carefully and feel my hand go through, the path stretches downwards, down the mountain curving around the rocks and fields of crops as we look down on the world. As I lean in further, Anna touches it, or more precisely, her head, that sliver of blue that coated her face. She winces in pain and recoils in my hands away from the barrier. I pull her back and look at the two with concern.
Keeks and Zel make their way through and seem to be doing fine, I brace myself and try to put my leg through, the blue stained leg.
A shock goes through my system, a pain rushing up through my body as if my injury was acting up, I fall to my knees and breath in and out heavily as the pain goes away quickly. The memories of each time I was made weak rushing through my system. N-no please…
I feel Zel's arms wrap around my head, avoiding my horns. Her whispers of care run through my brain as I calm down.
"Well so much for leaving her beyond her domain moo…" I sigh and Zel helps me get up, trying my best not to rock Anna around too much. Keeks still outside of the barrier is trying her best to look into the distance and into the city off in the distance.
Should we leave her here? Fuck… is anywhere safe except by our side? "Okay new plan… should we take her back to the dungeon entrance..? Maybe we can finish part of the dungeon and get her out of here, then we can fuck that blue bitch up moo!"
Zel nods and adds, "There's nothing to lose by trying, we aren't on a time limit wan". Keeks having come back, reaches up and pats Anna on the head.
I can see the pain in her eyes watching Anna in pain. "Yeah, let's get this one safe… I'm in a bad enough mood without her getting more hurt nye!" All in agreement we head on back, slow and steady, keeping an eye out in case we get jumped. The endless tree's and the dark forest being illuminated by a single bright light above us. After 20 minutes of walking we find the entrance, the dark red of the entrance glowing ominously in the dark, shining worse off the magical light.
"Alright… let's see if this works moo…" I approach and as I get up to the entrance a console command opens up in front of me.
Reluctantly I press the Accept button, Anna giving off one last mew in my arms, her eyes opening briefly as she disappears from my grasp, the warmth leaving my arms as they drop to my sides.
"S-so did it work nye?" I turn around and nod sadly. They don't need to know… it's shit enough that we had to experience all this.
An update to the dungeon quest appears and I can only shake my head… we can't let her get away with this…
< !Quest Update! >
Rescue Anna from the nightmare
Main objective - completed
Rescue Anna
Side Objective - Incomplete
Kill the Blue Fairy
Able to leave the dungeon with minimal rewards and the knowledge that the NPC Anna will survive thanks to your efforts.
Must complete Side Objective for full rewards.
Let's end this.