Heavy. That was all Suna felt. She collapsed to the ground. But she wasn't out of it. She still had some energy left, she still had her consciousness.
She could barely make out the noise of Angie rushing towards her, casting spells, trying to close the worst of the bleeding wounds.
This heaviness… I guess I should get used to it. It was a part of her, just as much as her bounding energy and willpower. Instead of trying to brute-force my way through it, to eradicate it… She reflected on herself. I should try and accept it, merge with it, mold it from the inside out. It's not a useless part of me…
"An-Cough!!-ngie, Angie, we gotta move…" Suna rallied her legs, that pushed aimlessly against the ground in some sort of attemptat locomotion.
"No, Suna, you're-"
"Come 0n. Blech, cough, cough…"
Suna didn't pay much attention to her body, that screamed. Whose screams she always ignored… I'm sorry. Once we get out of here…
She somehow ended up on her feet, stumbling, with Angie doing her best to support her, all the while hastily chanting healing spells.
"Shaanek,
Shaanek,
Shaanek…
…Oh God. Suna. You're arm…"
Suna didn't pay much heed to the girl that was practically under her. When she stopped, Suna couldn't progress forward.
"Suna, what are you doing?"
"Oh God, oh god, oh god, oh, oh…" Angie's breathing was growing rougher. She was losing control of her words, of herself, her body would not sit still, shaking like a newborn fawn.
"Angie, stop. We have to move."
"No, no Suna, no, I, I have to, I have, I-I-" Angie began to fully hyperventilate.
"Angie, breathe, it hurts…"
"Ah! I'm s-s-s-so-sorry!!" Angie let Suna down, gently, to the floor, whose normally featureless expression was beginning to show winces, cracks of pain. Angie started shaking her head back and forth, her body back and forth, as if stuck in some repeating loop of frantic movement. It took her multiple tens of seconds to begin to feel the sensation on the side of her head. Blood, blood was dripping down it. Her hand immediately went to investigate the disturbance, only to find Angie's hand there, somehow raised despite all odds, whose fingers were bent out of shape, whose arm had parts of her bone exposed at certain cuts and gashes. This was the better arm.
"...Angie…"
Angie's attention slowly focused on Suna.
"...go… go… and live…"
An immense well of emotion exploded within Angie. There was too much to say, too much to do, and so little time to do it. This geyser, of nameless, powerful emotions, she took it. Grasped it, all of it. And redirected it.
Angie's hands shot for her pack, taking out a book. She frantically flipped through the pages, wordlessly, back and forth, before shortly locating the one she needed
"Eirykh antra Im, Feredoh, Eirykh antra Im, Feredoh, Eirykh antra Im, Feredoh, Eirykh antra Im, Feredoh, Eirykh antra Im, Feredoh…"
Like a mantra, she recited the words under her breath. Endlessly. Over, and over again. Suna was starting to come under siege by whole new waves of pain, as more and more time passed.
"...-gie, cough! An, Ang-, Angie… go… leave… hurry…" Angie didn't acknowledge Suna's muttered pleas.
"An…An…Angie…Stop…"
"No! Shut up! Eirykh antra Im, Feredoh, Eirykh…"
Suna was stunned by the forcefulness of Angie's words. She just lay there. Soon, the luxury of even being able to talk was robbed from her, inescapable groans, gasps for air, and fits of choking, all collectively assaulted the poor girl, who could escape none of it.
At some point, Angie raised her hand.
"Eirykh antra Im, Feredoh!
Eirykh antra Im, Feredoh!
Eirykh antra Im, Feredoh!
…"
A sharp green flicker emanated occasionally from her hand, trying to come into existence. Angie's face quickly became strained, her breathing rough, her body quivering, as she continued chanting, channeling mana through to the failing spell.
A long while passed. Filled with chanting. Angie took small breaks periodically to catch her breath, but she would always go straight back to chanting, wasting not a single second. Her expression was pained, she was pushing herself to her limit, but it was filled with determination. She didn't even consider the possibility of failure, that she was wasting her energy, that she would let Suna die. No, the only thing found on her face was pure focus, willpower, and determination. It wasn't a shallow hope, anymore.
Suna, whose breathing got worse, whose pain got worse, who couldn't even keep her eyes open any longer, started to dip in and out of consciousness. It was a long time, seemingly no end to it as everything she was feeling ramped up to eleven, then 12, then 13, 14, 15…
Suna found the most comfort in just counting. 29… 30… 31…
51… 53, no, 52… 53… 54…
101… 102…
At some point, she lost count. She had no idea what number she left off of, she didn't even have the wherewithal to guess the ballpark. But, adrift in the emptiness of her mind, it all returned to her.
Gasp!! Cough, cough, cough… She sharply inhaled as consciousness was returned to her. The sudden intake of air set her lungs on fire, and she couldn't stop coughing. Angie! Her eyes were open, her mind still adjusting to the images that seemed to rotate and twist all around in some unhinged manner.
"Cough, cough, Angie!" She eventually located the girl in the mess of her distorted, shifting peripheral. She was slumped onto the ground. "Angie!!" She gave no response to her desperate, hoarse scream. She willed her body to her, to check on her, to see if she was still alive, the answer to that question had to be yes.
With great difficulty, she eventually was able to free herself from the cold hard surface of the ground. In a haze, she saw her arm approaching Angie's side. With her mind, that seemed to shake uncontrollably in her head, as if her brain was being rattled, she telepathically willed her arm closer to Angie, feeling around for her arms, and then her chest, desperately looking for a pulse. Fuck, what's happening to me…! She could barely feel through her arm – no, she felt too much through her arm, or rather, she was unable to parse and identify the signals her arm was sending her. "Fuck!" She flopped her body to the side of Angie's and started using her head like a bull to flip her onto her back, as gently as her body would allow her to. With great effort, since most of her energy and motions simply refused to listen to her, at times even counteracting her, she eventually was able to get Angie to lay on her back – she was sprawled out, curved, splayed out like someone who tosses and turns in their sleep. But it was enough. Like a fish, she flopped her head and shoulders onto Angie.
Please, Please! She did her best to identify a pulse from the motionless girl, or movements of breathing. As her body started to calm down more, no longer being pushed around, she grew stiller. As she did, she felt it.
Sniff. Suna couldn't help but let out tears of relief. She celebrated, ecstatic in her mind. Oh, thank goodness, thank goodness…
And, finally giving in to the pleas of her mind and body, she lay still, the subtle, smooth rise and falls of Angie's body like a pleasant bobbing of the water. She slept.
–
Suna felt something wet, nice, and cool go down her throat. It brought much needed energy to the parched and deprived lands of Suna's body. It roused her, bringing her out of the deep pool of slumber, of unconsciousness.
She opened her eyes. Her eyes met Angie's.
They both sat, in silence, staring into each other's eyes as if they had miles of pages of stories and emotions that they longed to convey to each other, wordlessly.
Their eyes grew blurry. But they still looked at each other's eyes. Angie broke the staring contest, a smile emerging onto her cracked, pained, tired face. It beamed so brightly. Sounds of rapid exhalation were starting to emerge from her mouth. From both of their mouths. Steadily, like a group of cicadas joining each other one by one in grating harmony, their noises grew louder. The smiles on their faces rose, like grass sprouting from a parched land that needed life. Angie got closer, placing her arms on Suna's shoulders, yet still locking eyes through their duet of emotion. Then, they burst out into full blown laughter. At least, as close to laughter as their bodies let them get. They… were alive. Together. They had made it through, in each other's company. They reveled in that fact, first tossing that idea back and forth before joining hands and diving into the depths of their ecstasy.
We made it! We're alive!
The two embraced. Suna didn't cough on her laughter, she didn't wince when Angie placed her hands on her. Actually, she was able to grip Angie, too. Together, they just laughed.
The two walked down a tunnel. They gripped each other's hands tightly, but they felt no anxiety. Quietly and softly as they had done before, but with renewed vigor and life, nonetheless. The two heard no footsteps echoing throughout the mountain. No one was chasing them. They allowed themselves to relax, slightly. They had earned it.
"Suna…" Angie's words drifted, "That… That thing you did back there… Do you remember it?"
Suna recalled the vague feeling within her mind. Darkness, it pooled in her mind, almost seeking to drown her from the inside out. She pushed away the encroaching concept, reflecting on the more superfluous of her recollections.
"I do."
"So… So you can do magic?" Angie's puzzled voice filled the quiet corridor.
Suna thought to herself. She knew the cost of that spell. "No… no, it was a fluke. If we encountered a similar enemy right now, I don't think I'd be able to pull it off again."
Suna recalled the state of her mind as she fought off the armored figure's onslaught near the end. I can remember! I remember how he looked! Suna was pleased to be rid of what felt like a disability. I guess… I guess because I killed him… Her convenient amnesia was extremely annoying and demeaning – she was glad to finally be able to claim a small victory over it, it was monumental progress.
"Is that so…" Angie looked down.
"It's okay." Suna squeezed her hand. "We're getting out of this place." She paused. "...It's thanks to you, Angie. Thank you." Suna knew. Looking at her body, which she knew had been riddled with cuts and gashes and burns not long ago, she knew that its current condition, while not anywhere close to her peak, was all entirely due to Angie's efforts, her difficult battle against her own enemies, which she had come out on top of.
"N-no, it's, it's because of you, Suna…" Her voice didn't taper out of shame. It tapered as she recalled all the things she had went through. All the struggles, the many, countless times she had given up, resolving herself to die, to wither away. She knew, that Suna knew, just how much she had gone through. She allowed herself to feel a little sense of accomplishment. She felt Suna's gaze in the darkness. She could feel the respect Suna had for her. It was a nice feeling…
Like this, mostly in assured silence, the two advanced through the tunnels. A faint sound reached their ears. They were getting closer.
Crunch. Crunch, crunch…
The two looked at each other in the dark, feeling their resolve, and the resolve of the other, and they advanced down the shaft. The reason they approached the noise, was because they could smell fresh air. They didn't let desperation cloud their minds or actions, but they were done with the dank, damp, arid, dry, stagnant airs of the caves. They walked forward.
Crunch. Burp… Munch…
Something was eating something… They didn't have a good feeling about it.
As they advanced, bodies started appearing. Angie was clearly worried to see a familiar face among them, but she glanced anyway, not faltering in her footsteps. With each body they passed, she felt more and more sure that her dear companions weren't among them.
Click, Clack, Burp…
Suna knew. She just knew. Something was different about her. It wasn't strength, it wasn't energy, it was something, something that filled her with confidence, like a ship, a small, small ship, that she now had to traverse the uncertain, murky, and dangerous waters of the world.
A profound sense of spirit. One that she knew was so, flickeringly small, yet so powerful.
"Angie."
Angie simply looked at her. No fear, nor anxiety, touched their faces.
"Let's go."
"Let's, hehe."
It didn't take long for them to come across it. It was a towering beast, sitting on some wide, flat stone. It roused. It knew it had company. It stood tall, its height nearly reaching the entirety of the tall, main tunnel shaft.
"Sanctus,
Phevienne tu Sachtal.
Avaarem.
Engster."
The beast made no effort to disrupt the chants, slowly picking up its long, crude, dangerous-looking weapon. Snort. It let out a crude, nonchalant laugh, as it turned around.
Angie's mind recalled the name of the famous beast. Minotaur. She recalled what little she happened to know about it, none worth sharing with Suna in the moment, though. She remembered just how terrified she was of them as a kid. Stories of them eating whole hunter groups, and stalking dark caves, coming back to her, stories she was told when she was very young.
But that fear. There was none of it.
Suna readied her knife. With a subtle swagger to match the minotaur's emotions.
It might not be easy. It might almost cost them their lives. But Suna, and Angie, both knew. That they were going to emerge victorious against the beast.
–
"That spell, which one was that? Krax didn't tell me about it."
"It's a secret. That I've kept from him. Don't worry, I'll tell you about it when the time comes. You have to let me keep a liiittle secret at least, alright?"
There was a joviality to the two's conversation. A light-hearted air, one that didn't reflect the severity of the injuries on one of their bodies.
"Eirykh antra Im, Feredoh.
There you go."
It was almost miraculous, the way that Suna's skin and torn arteries mended themselves, en masse. It wasn't a miraculous cure-all, Suna could tell from the way the aches and pain remained, underneath her skin. But it was impressive. A tool that would allow them to encounter great danger and walk away with their lives still intact.
And of course, Angie didn't forget this spell, and how it had already saved her life.
"Thank you." Suna said, with great meaning.
"Hehe, it's nothing." Angie smiled. "It's… It's my new favorite spell, now." Angie looked down and blushed in slight embarrassment, as she recalled the great emotional struggle that was just a couple days prior. Under that exterior, were certain… warm feelings. The kind she hadn't really felt before, had little experience with. The kind that was evidently causing her gaze to shift, and her cheeks to redden.
"Come on." Suna beckoned. "Aren't you excited? To see what wonders there are in the world?" Suna outstretched her hand, to an Angie that saw the pure expression on her face, the wonder on her face, a strength on her face. She looked in awe, and in desire.
"What are you waiting for? Come." Suna grabbed her by the hand, and pulled her, all while Angie fought with her emotions, trying to suppress the affection and care and… something else, that roiled in her heart.
And the two, the two walked towards the bright, bright opening. To the Unknown, one that they were more than happy to face, Together.
End of Part One: Survival