A short summary: Elegy, Sab and Sheep successfully managed to save Hats after defeating the White Monster permanently. Vastoria still hangs on to life by a thread, so they made the unanimous decision to let her rest in the solitude and safety of her floating island. Meanwhile, Migu and Energy are having quite the troublesome time in the Shrine's jungle layer...
"Wowie." I smirked at him, "That's the third time you've died since we got here, gramps. What's wrong? You said you could do this alone easily."
Energy didn't at all enjoy my jeers, which is in fact exactly how I want it to be. A guy who doesn't know how to hold himself accountable for his actions should learn it the hard way, at least that's how I see it. Vastoria... isn't gonna get forgotten so easily.
"Hm." He held his hand out, looking annoyed.
"What?" I still sat leaning up against my wall, "Need something?"
"The Flasher." He moved his fingers, fully expecting me to hand it over, "I need something to distract them with."
"Ehhh~? No way~" I sang, "This is my only form of self-defense, you know? Besides, you were the one who gave it to me in the first place!"
"I'm just borrowing it-"
"Nope! You can't just take back a gift!" I stuck my tongue out, "Figure it out yourself, since you claim to be able to do this all by yourself."
He had donned a very gloomy glare by this point. I know for a fact that he detested both me for being this uncooperative and himself for making me like this. Like I care, though. He killed Vastoria, there's no excusing him.
"Migu..." He grumbled.
"Come on, didn't you already beat this lousy floor once already? Even we managed it before we met you, so what's the problem?"
"You had Ga-" He bit his tongue.
Oh? Do I sense some envy in that sentence? Am I getting this right? Ehe, so he does know the importance of working with a team. Suddenly, gramps has grown meek, how cute.
"Hm? What was that~?" I kept teasing him, "I didn't quite catch that!"
"Grr... A-Ahem, back then I had Vastoria to use as bait." He tried to regain his composure, "While the bat roaches went for her, I'd swoop in and kill them."
That's what I was waiting to hear!
"Ah." I acted naive.
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing, I just realized you can't do that now." I rubbed salt into the wound that he so vehemently claimed he didn't feel, "Y'know, since you brutally killed Vastoria in front of my Eyes and all."
A stern smack to the face finally made me realize I went too far. Peeking over at his Eyes, he had the same terrifying expression as when he took our group out at the entrance.
"Will you shut up about that girl already!?" He screamed.
"...E-Eh?"
"She's dead, idiot! Killed or not, it doesn't matter if you can't talk to them or use them for anything anymore!" He kept going off on me, "Besides, she took my Eye, and do you think I cared one bit!? No, I forgave her because I know holding a grudge isn't optimal for survival!"
"You... slapped me..."
My Red cheek called for my hand's comforting touch. It almost sizzled with how hot it had gotten, and I couldn't bring myself to let go. I was afraid he'd hit me again if I did. I went too far, he's gonna kill me.
"I forgave her, and that turned out to have been the reason for why we made it to the bottom of the Shrine!" He just wouldn't stop, "So tell me, future descendant of mine, what exactly is the logic behind your grudge!? What do you gain from it?"
"I-I..."
"A sense of pride? Revenge!?" Energy raised his tone, "Think, Migu, think! Will pride save you against a horde of rotted? Can revenge stop a bat roach from gnawing on your spine!?"
Before long, he dragged me out into the grassy area by the hair. Loud as he was, we were surely attracting a few dozen of those things, at least.
"L-Lemme go..." I begged, "Energy, let me goh!"
"Shut up and prove to me!" He raised me so high I couldn't even touch the ground anymore, "Prove to me how your pride and your petty revenge will save you from them!"
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"I-It won't! I'm sorry!"
"How convenient..." He whispered, "Down there, disciplining brats had a hard limit. Usually, beating them within an inch of their life was as far as you could go, since any less would lower the population. But here... Here those limits are nothing but a distant memory."
C-Crap...! I can hear flapping in the distance. It's getting closer! He won't seriously feed me to those things, right? Energy, you bastard, I thought you said we were family! I get I was being annoying, but it was your choice to kill Vastoria! You made that choice, so the least I could do was make you realize what you did and repent!
"Energy..." I finally saw the large dark beast making a beeline for us in the distance.
"You die here." He said, "I will too. I'll follow you into our next attempts, where I'll keep feeding you 9 more times. That should be enough to get you to take this seriously..."
"Energy..." I glanced back just in time before the beast tore me open, "You're a product of your time, you damned geezer!"
The very next moment, I opened my Eyes to a very disgruntled Energy. He yet again grabbed me by the hair and took me outside, shouting for the bat roaches to attack us. No matter what, though, I didn't falter. No, Vastoria wouldn't want that. I just kept tossing out snide remarks with this annoyingly shit-eating grin on my face. He stopped the punishment after 8 deaths, claiming that he felt bad for me, but I know the truth. That man couldn't take the fact I was holding out so well.
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"Had enough, brat?" He asked, "Gonna help me clear the floor now, finally?"
I didn't even have to waste my breath to reply. Just sitting back down in my regular corner was all it took for him to blow another fuse.
"Migu-! Ugh... Gimme the Flasher." He yet again tried this approach, "I'm sorry for trying to rely on you, and I'm sorry for killing Vastoria. You don't have to do anything, just give me the Flasher and I'll do everything myself."
"I don't accept that apology." I shook my head, "Seriously, you could've at least sounded a little sincere."
"Migu, we're running short on time here!" He began to panic, "If what you told me before is true, the Gods will surely send in another hitman against us, and I'd like to at least heal up at the bed before that happens. Think about it, I'll be able to protect you better if I'm at full strength!"
Right, I did mention that. I kinda don't care though, since Vastoria is dead. Back then, I thought for sure Energy was normal, so I at least hoped we could somehow mend everyone's wounds down here and continue the investigation without her, but now I see that's a lost cause. No, more like it's a waste of time. He won't ever be able to make up for what he did to her—what he did to me—so yeah, I don't care if someone tracks us down here and kills us. At the very least, I won't have to feel sad without her by my side.
"...Hey." He squatted to meet my Eye level, "You know what this is?"
"Hm? I'm not dumb." I shot back annoyedly, "That's your mallet."
"I want you to have it."
Before even waiting for my reply, he tossed it on my lap which hurt like hell. Dammit, jackass, do you know how heavy that thing is!?
"Ow! I-I don't want it!" I shoved it off, but he pressed it up against my face, "H-Hey!"
"This side of the mallet broke 13 bones in Sheep's body." He explained, "By the way, the other only got 5. Do you know why I'm telling you this?"
"What the fu-!? Get it away from me, then!" I shoved him, but he didn't budge, "Mn...!"
"Hey, Migu." He got real close to whisper, "Did you know...?"
"Ener-" I suddenly felt a sharp pang in my thigh, "AAAAHHH!"
Without even seeing him do it, that bastard stuck a stake in my leg. But I know what he's going for, there's a deeper meaning to this already bloodied stake in particular...
"Did you know that's the same stake I used to impale Vastoria's throat?" He asked innocently, "I know it's dangerous to keep the weapons bloody, but I made a special exception for you."
"T-The... hell... are you talking about...?!" I hissed back in between dogged breaths.
"Sharing blood, sharing bodies, isn't that poetic in a way?" He asked, "I thought long and hard about you two, and it made me realize just how tough you actually had it. You were lovers, but there was no way for you to bless that love with children. I know it's not much, but I hope this gift can bring you peace of mind—It is a fact that you now carry a bit of Vastoria in you for the rest of your afterlife."
This bastard...! Has he gone insane?! I get it, he wants to scare me into doing as he says, but won't this just make it harder for me to trudge through the Shrine's layers? Ugh, it hurts...!
"Hm? What are those?" He wiped the tears streaming down my face, even going so far as to lick it from his finger, "Salty... Seawater? How are you doing that?"
"You're old enough to know what crying is, idiot gramps!"
"Oh? Is that what that is?" He smirked contently, "Well, stop that. I imagine it's gonna blur your vision if you leave that seawater in your Eyes like that."
"Huh...?" I finally realized the main caveat of his latest punishment, "W-Wait, aren't you gonna kill me again?"
Pausing to stare at me like I just said something so outlandishly weird, he eventually sighed before painfully yanking the stake out of my leg, causing me immense pain.
"AAAGH! Dammit, you-!"
"Tsk, tsk." He shook his head, "My dear descendant, it pains me to hear you wish for such a horrible thing."
"Just shut the fuck up and gouge my throat out like you did to her!" I demanded, "You're not seriously gonna leave me wounded like this, are you!?"
"Don't worry." He dangled the Flasher he pickpocketed from me while I was down, "Now that I have this, we should be able to clear the floor easily. Ah, but I guess that means you'll have to bear with the pain for a bit longer. Do your best, brat~!"
You damned...! Ghack, crap, my wound is spewing blood like crazy...! Dammit, to think he was this mad. I wanted to wait for him to leave with the stake so that I could use the Flasher's blade, but he even took that from me. It seems he doesn't plan on letting me heal until we reach the beds on the fourth floor. I have two options—I can either look for a way to kill myself before he reaches the fourth floor, or I help him make it there in one piece.
"Heh, I think it's obvious what I'm going for...!" I smirked, slowly but surely limping far behind him through the jungle layer, "Just you wait, gramps! As soon as the opportunity arises, I'll give those bat roaches a five star meal! Let's see you keep me safe from that!"