AN: If you didn’t know when I mark dialogue with ‘ ‘ it is indicating thoughts that the reader can hear from the characters viewpoint. Also meant to finish this chapter a few days ago but computer issues kept me for accessing word and the internet.
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Chapter 7 Jumping the Gun
Cameron: “Wait, what the fuck do you mean I didn’t die?!?!” I screamed at the goddess as all of my memories of my previous life were still there as if I hadn’t ever lost them causing me to pause. “Also, why can I remember my previous life while I forgot it while reincarnated?”
Goddess of CG: “Well you can remember your previous life because you are in this realm, which is linked with both of those universes. Before I answer your first question I should also let you know that you won’t remember anything that we are about to talk about.”
Cameron: “If I’m not even going to remember the fact that you screwed me over nine ways from Sunday, then why even bring me, or my consciousness or whatever the hell of mine is here, to talk in the first place?”
Goddess of CG: “Well it’s not so much for you as it is for all of the observant lesser deities who are watching your story and the “god” that created you and your “story” told me to.”
As she said this she looked just past me at the wall behind me. I turned to look at the white wall that oddly enough had a small number 4 painted on it in black paint. I decided to just brush it off and get back to the matter at hand.
Cameron: “Let’s get back on topic, what do you mean I didn’t die?”
Goddess of CG: “For reasons I’m not going to divulge at the moment, because I don’t feel like it right now, the 9 gods of alignment’s ability to see our varying distances into the future were set to a reality different from your own. Since then we have stopped using our future sight and have decided to see where things go without skipping ahead. Personally I find it fun not knowing what’s going to happen next. Back to the point at hand, the reality we saw was that you died in the ambulance and you were not revived. Unfortunately for you, and also slightly for me, in the reality you come from you are revived on the way to the hospital. I reincarnated you when you technically “died” before being brought back.”
She gave me an apologetic shrug and continued.
Goddess of CG: “Before you go I will let you know that your original body is in coma. I wanted to tell you more but you seem to be breaking up sbrzh g…d lu…”
Cameron: “You do know that trick doesn’t work if I can see you.”
Goddess of CG: “Since we don’t have cell phones I’ve always wanted to try that trick.” She then snapped her fingers.
All of a sudden I could feel my consciousness start to fade from this reality as my vision was starting to fade.
Wooo for me and my good luck. I’m actually glad one of the few quirks I kept is my sarcasm. The view of the white room and the goddess started to fade to black and was as though nothing had just occurred a different scene started to appear.
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As the blinding light fades and my body no longer feels likes its getting ripped apart I remember Natasha screaming a long “nooooo” just as I notice I’m still on my knees and about to black out onto a stone floor. I manage to muster up enough strength to place my hands forward enough to lessen the impact and avoid head damage. I then fall forward and manage to hit the stone softly as I black out.
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Lily’s POV
‘Ugh, what happened and why the hell does my head hurt? What is that sound? The last thing I remember is that Cameron pushed me out of the -.’ Lily cut the thought short as she quickly looked around to see where she was.
She was still in the room in the living dungeon that she had been before her brother had pushed her out of the way of the incoming spells. ‘Since I got knocked out right after with a similar spell in such a short time they must have been light elves.’ As her vision cleared she saw her friend Natasha hunched over an object she was holding and she realized the sound she couldn’t identify was coming from her. She struggled to get to her knees, then her legs which were still a little wobbly, before making her way so she could collapse on her knees next to the princess. She put her hand on the girl’s shoulder to get the girls attention which caused her friend to turn. Noticing that it Natasha was crying she inquired as to why.
Lily: “What’s wrong Natasha? What happened and why haven’t I seen Cameron yet?” She then decided to look at what Natasha was carrying and realized that it was her brother’s long sword and a horrible feeling hit her. “Where is he, is he de-de-dead?” She started to stutter some as the grief of most likely losing her little brother was starting to make her cry as well. She calmed down a little when Natasha shook her head for no. “Then where is he and what happened to him?”
Natasha: “I…I…I… I don’t know where he is, just that he isn’t dead.” She said starting to calm down a little after starting out stuttering.
Lily: “It’s good to know he is alive, but how do you know if he isn’t here?” Looking at the long sword and the fact he is alive meant he must have gotten captured by the slavers.
Natasha: “Because of this.” Natasha made her ID plate appear in her hand and showed it to Lily.
Lily was curious as to why Natasha was showing her ID plate but Lily looked at it anyway. As she was looking at she realized that there was a new piece of information on the ID plate.
MateCameron Shadowfur
All demihuman are taught that the only way to break the bond of a bonded pair of demihumans was for the death of one of them. If this ever occurred, because of the bond and their animal instincts, they would know when their mate died. The ID plate would also say deceased in this spot until the demihuman re-bonded. The relief of seeing her brother’s name caused Lily to calm down.
Lily: “I’m glad that he is still alive.” Lily thought for a moment about the fact that her brother’s name was on Natasha’s ID plate before the realization hit her. “You bonded with my brother!?!? When did this happen and when were you going to tell me and everyone else.” She cried out in a shocked and happy voice which caused Natasha to smile slightly.
Natasha: “It happened last night and we were going to tell everyone at his birthday party.” The realization that everyone was expecting all of them to come back made her burst out in tears again. This forced Lily to try and comfort Natasha some more.
Lily: “Do you know what happened after I was hit by the spell that knocked me out and if Cameron got captured?” She was trying to keep both Natasha and herself calm since she also wanted to burst out crying as well.
Natasha: “I got hit by a similar spell too, but I started to come to while we were in the pit. All I remember after I woke up was a magnificent looking full hellhound transformation killing some elves. I realized it was Cameron congratulated him on finally transforming. Next thing I remember he grabbed me and you by the wrists and threw us out of the pit we were in. After I landed I managed to push myself up enough to look to see if he jumped out too, but I saw him turn back to normal and fall to his knees. I guess he must have run out of mana or else he could have jumped up while normal. He looked at me and smiled as a magic circle in the pit activated and engulfed everything in the pit in light as I screamed. When the light stopped there was nothing in the pit, not even the magic circle.”
Just about that time she heard footsteps running towards them and recognized the smells coming their way along with some very bad smells in the air as well. She waved to the other four members of their party and managed to get their attention before looking around some more. This time she saw the war hammer that still had the arm and hand of its owner gripping the handle. She looked at the ground and saw the remains of the big human she remembered from earlier and realized she was smelling the blood and organs that left his body after he was cut in half. She looked back toward the pit and saw the cauterized halves of the dark elf as well and realized the other smell was burnt flesh. The group of four stopped as they met up with the two girls. Mick looked like some of his fur was singed and was bleeding some from his shoulder as he approached the girls by himself.
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Mick’s POV
As Mick and the other 3 girls entered the 4th floor a pungent smell hit them. ‘What the hell happened down here, it smells like death.’ This immediately answered his own question as he quickly tried to find the source of the smell and if possible his friends. He quickly scanned the room and saw Lily motioning to him. He told girls to stay there as he went to check the rest of the party.
As Mick started heading Lily’s direction he saw that it was just Lily and Natasha kneeling on the ground and that there was no sign of Cameron. As he headed towards them he walked by the three piece corpse and laughed a little to himself as he saw the hand standing in the air. He knew it was the handiwork of his best friend’s dark mana ‘son of a bitch didn’t even see it coming.’ As he reached the girls he noticed the long sword similar to what he sparred against many times over the last 5 years. This immediately got him a little worried since they had also been attacked outside the dungeon, but they were prepared for an ambush. They knew if any Mer approached them then they were likely to have evil intentions. When he had picked up the sound of several beings moving through the nearby forest towards them he got everyone ready for the ambush, but to look like they didn’t know about it. He needed to find out what had happened to his best friend.
Mick: “Lily and Natasha are both of you okay?” Both girls nodded their heads yes and he looked around and saw the dark elf who had been melted in half. “Hey Natasha, did you kill the elf over there?” She shook her head no and started to tear up again and clutched the sword closer which made Mick realize that he had not seen any sign of Cameron’s body. “Hey is Cameron still in the dungeon?” He had tried to word the question in as kind and hopeful a way as possible. All he got in response was both still stunned looking girls shake their head no. “Well how about we get both of you out of here and back to the inn in town and we can talk more there.” The girls had some trouble standing, so Mick motioned for the others to come help him get Lily and Natasha back to town.
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Once they were on their way out of the dungeon Mick noticed that the girls still had parts of the cuffs the slavers had put on them and didn’t want to upset the girls anymore than they already were. When the twins asked Mick quietly about their brother he just told them he wasn’t in the dungeon anymore and to wait till they got back to the inn to find out just what happened. The only thing Mick knew was that luckily wherever he was, if he was still alive, Cameron could finally use elemental mana, well at least fire.
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Cameron’s Father’s POV
‘What’s taking them so long with the test? They should have been back by now. I have a bad feeling about this.’ He was pacing in the room that they had prepared for Cameron’s party, the first one of three they would have for him. He had thought it might have been too dangerous for the kids, but they had easily passed the requirements for the test. ‘Why was it taking them so long’ was the only thing he could think until a guard walked into the room and addressed him and his wife.
Guard: “Sir and madam, the lord has requested both of your presences in his throne room for the summary of the test since the kids are back.” There was a shadow of sorrow as the guard had said kids and this worried him when he saw it.
They followed the guard to the Lord’s chamber and stopped in shock when they entered and only saw 6 children reporting back. They knew it was Cameron who was missing because he was the tallest and the only one who was pitch-black. Cameron’s mother almost broke down crying but his father tried to comfort her for the kid’s report.
Lord: “Mick, what do you have to report about the events that occurred in the dungeon during your mission?”
Mick’s POV
Mick: “Yes Sir my Lord. When we checked in, in town, we were told that no groups had gone from the town to raid the dungeon in about a month. When we arrived at the dungeon we found the mouth closed which made us curios as to what had occurred. We gave the dungeon our offering and asked it why it was closed. Hearst informed us that a group of an unknown amount of Mer had entered it 2 weeks previously and were still inside on the floor above the boss floor. They had stayed there for the 2 weeks and had also dug a pit on the floor for unknown reasons, and Hearst suggested we get the guards to check out the situation since he had closed himself to protect any Demihumans exploring him for their graduation test. Cameron presented his royal guard emblem and asked if he could question the Mer inside about their long stay. Natasha and Lily then insisted that they accompany him inside to question the Mer and he acquiesced to their demands and they went into the dungeon.”
Lord: “So you, Sarah, June and Jane stayed outside as backup while others went inside to investigate the intentions of the suspicious Mer, as expected of the royal guard. While you were stationed outside you were attacked by Mer slavers and managed to kill them, correct? Do you also know what happened inside the dungeon or about the current status of Royal Guard Cameron?”
Mick: “Yes sir, while we were prepared for ambushes since any Mer coming our direction were most likely slavers, we had the easy task. I don’t know what occurred in the dungeon however, since Natasha and Lily have said they would wait till we got back to say what occurred.” The lord turned to look at his daughter.
Lord: “Natasha can you inform us what led to the loss of Cameron?”
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Natasha POV
She had been dreading this moment ever since Cameron disappeared into the light from the magic circle. If Lily hadn’t been giving her support and keeping her hopes up, she might still be sitting in shock in the dungeon. She steeled herself as she began to recount what she had seen.
Natasha: “Once we had entered Hearst, the dungeon cleared all of the creatures out of our way and led us to the 4th floor where the Mer were located. Once we got to last room before the boss floor we found a makeshift campsite. We couldn’t detect anyone behind us when as we approached the camp and we called out to those inhabiting the camp. We were greeted by a dark elf and a large human who invited us into their camp. Cameron was studying the dark elf who was approaching and asked him about his reason for being in the dungeon for so long, and suddenly drew his weapon. He then pushed Lily and I away as three lightning spells hit him from behind and forced him to his knees. The magic users were 3 light elves since I heard them say the name of the spell as they hit and knocked out me and Lily.”
Lord: “Do you know why Cameron suddenly started to attack, and how you didn’t detect the elves you walked past?”
Natasha: “Based off of our condition when I started to regain consciousness I realized they were slavers. Cameron must have noticed the collars the dark elf had on his belt before Lily or I did. The elves must have been using some kind of camouflage spell as well as using scent blockers to hide from us. When I started to come to I was also in the suspicious pit which contained a magic circle that apparently took some time to activate. I also saw that Cameron was in full hell hound form as he was killing the light elves that were in the pit with us. I know he must not been in full control of his elemental mana since he grabbed Lily and me and threw us out of the pit by our handcuffs. I’m guessing he didn’t grab and jump out with us because he was afraid of hurting or even killing us. In the process of throwing us out he had also managed to melt through the chains binding our hands, but he ran out of mana before he could get himself to safety and was engulfed in the effect of the magic circle.”
Lord: “One last question before I dismiss this debriefing, how do you know that Cameron is still alive?”
Natasha: “Well the night before we went into the dungeon I bonded with him and because we are mates I know he is still alive.” She couldn’t handle it anymore and she broke down crying and was quickly hugged and comforted by Lily who was next to her. “Its my … my … my fault he’s gone. If I had let him, *sniffle*, go alone he wouldn’t have needed to get us out of the way of the first spells. He heard them and could have dodged.” She couldn’t talk anymore and she bury her face in her hands and started bawling.
Lord: “Could all of the guards please leave the chamber. Stephanie could you please stay for a moment?”
As soon as all of the guards had left, a well endowed bunny woman walked to stand in the line formation the kids were in.
Lord: “Stephanie, based off what you have heard, what do you think the magic circle was for?”
Stephanie: “Well my lord, based off what I’ve heard, it is most likely a single use teleportation magic circle. The fact that it was in the lowest non-boss floor suggests it need a mana vent to power it, and coupled with what could be a long cast time, might take a while to charge. These slavers must be some of the best to use teleportation. Even if it might take a while for the circle to charge we need to warn the other tribes about this.”
Lord: “Thanks for your thought Stephanie. Could you please get the warnings out that all children going for graduation tests should have guards to observe them. Those Mer were prepared for demihumans, and most likely have been watching the dungeon and knew only kids explored it.”
The rabbit girl bowed and left the chamber, leaving only the 6 kids, the lord and queen and Cameron’s parents. The lord and queen looked at each other and then walked over to their daughter and knelt and hugged her. They were joined by the rest of the lioness’s new family in a large family hug, since they knew she must be feeling very lost right now. The two sets of parents knew that if you were separated from your mate, especially during the first year after bonding, it could be very hard on them. If Cameron died, Natasha would instantly know because of her instincts, but they had to keep her spirits up so she stayed alive in the hopes Cameron could get back to his newly extended family.
Standing nearby were Mick and Sarah who were standing next to each other and staring at the large family hug Natasha was receiving. They looked in each other’s eyes and then back to the embrace as Mick gripped Sarah’s hand. She squeezed his back and they decided that the best thing to do at the moment was stay silent.
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Cameron’s POV, several hours after teleporting and losing consciousness.
‘Auugghh, my head hurts like hell.’ As he awoke he was suffering a mana depletion hangover as he looked around. ‘It looks like I’m in some sort of cell of a prison, based off the types of bars keeping me in. and damn those dead elves are starting to stink.’
As he started to regain his bearings and managed to stand up he heard the sounds of doors unlocking and voiced coming from the opposite side of the room. He looked in that direction and saw the open doorway of a spiral staircase that had people currently heading his way.
‘Well isn’t this birthday just freaking wonderful.’
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Author’s note: Well here is the next chapter. I was originally going to finish writing it on the 26th (which was my birthday) since the 25th I was Panic! at the Disco live, but I had issues with my laptop and couldn’t even access word (which is what I write the chapters in). Not sure when I’m going to come out with the next chapter because I write as I think of it. Hope you enjoyed the chapter. I’m definitely going to keep writing this FF because I enjoy writing it more than RE:O.I. (which I guess is now officially on hiatus), plus this is much more popular than it is. Let me know what yall think by commenting.