Droplets trickled down and echoed in Oscar's ears. His eyelids trembled, and a deep tiredness suffocated his attempts to open them. He couldn't move a single finger nor shift his shoulders despite the pain wrecking every inch of his body. Normally, such levels of pain would prompt even the most immobile person to react. Oscar merely laid down in silent suffering without so much as a gasp or groan.

Did he die? No. All of this pain meant he was alive, though barely. Under his back, cool water flowed lazily, splashing into soft waves upon his skin. Refreshing and comforting. If not for the waters providing the soothing chill against the burning pain, Oscar felt he would have succumbed and died.

'Am I in a pool of water or a river?' Oscar strained his ears to listen closely. It was so silent he heard the faintest streams of water flowing to his sides. Oscar thanked the lucky stars for his survival. He welcomed death when he saw the floor collapsing and the red roots writhing around. But now, a new chance came to him.

He wished to open his eyes and move around. Instead, his mind dulled, and he was losing hold of his senses. He fell asleep, dreaming about his friends and family. Had they all made it out?

Oscar awoke, unsure of how many hours or days he had slept. His eyelids moved and opened slowly, letting the light creep in. Oscar winced as the light burned his eyes after an unknown long time spent in darkness. Flickering between light and dark, sight finally settled and revealed a hole in the rocky ceiling.

"Uhhh," Oscar groaned, trying to stand up. Reaching into his space pocket never felt so tiring. Moving even a single inch felt like lifting the heaviest weights. He held a healing elixir and tried to open it. His fingers lacked the strength, and the elixir plopped into the waters.

"Lad! You're awake!" Gol-4's familiar voice grated on Oscar's ears. The sudden sound shook his mind.

"Softly, please. My head hurts. Where are we?" Oscar rolled his eyes around in their sockets, taking in the few amounts of scenery he could currently see. He was in a cavern.

"I can't believe you survived! I am shocked beyond belief. Tenacious doesn't begin to describe your cockroach-like vitality." Gol-4 laughed. "We're in a good hideout far from the central palace."

"How?" Oscar found some blanks in his memory. There was no possibility of ending up in a refreshing pool of water in a safe cavern like this.

"After you pulled off that insane move which stumped even the Knight Exalt red roots for a moment, you fell straight into the floor. I wouldn't say it was a lucky fall as you slammed into several rocks on your way down." Gol-4's voice was slightly garbled like he was speaking through the water.

"The underground of the central palace is divided into two parts, one of magma and the other of water. You landed straight into the water portion and flowed into one of the many outflows. The red roots tried to chase you, but the underground network was like a maze, and you kept floating along."

"Are we still underground now?" Oscar took long, deep breaths, assessing his body with Reis Awaken. Everything was a mess. He needed to take a healing elixir to start regaining his strength.

"No, after a day of floating around, you exited the underground caverns into a fresh river in the forest. I thought you were dead. If not, you'd surely die from any creature who came near you." Gol-4 sounded rough, spilling his fear and nervousness at the time.

"Why am I here?" Oscar asked.

"As I said, you're one goddamn lucky lad. A creature did come to find you, and it brought you here. The waters in this place have a slight healing factor, which has kept a hold on the slight flicker of life in you."

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

"A creature?" Oscar was confused. Then he heard footsteps in the distance, growing louder as they drew closer. He couldn't turn his head but didn't need to. The creature peered over to glance down at him.

Oscar chuckled and coughed from the laughter aching his body. His unknown savior was the deer he saved from the Grovekeepers. The deer leaned down as its teal crystalline antlers glistened from the light above. Its nose sniffed and breathed onto Oscar affectionately.

"Thanks…." Oscar said, closing his eyes and finally allowing himself to relax.

"I'm not sure about its motives, but it must feel an affinity to you due to your anima. Quite nice to have someone else here, even if it's an Exalt Beast." Gol-4 said.

Gol-4's words lingered like a long, drawn-out breath. Oscar's mind began to muddle, and he felt his body sink as if he were in quicksand. He fell asleep again, sleeping soundly.

A few days later, Oscar finally recovered enough to open a healing elixir properly. Downing the solution in his mouth, his body creaked and groaned from the Ein coursing through his veins. His wounds started to recover slightly. Eventually, he reached the point of being able to crawl out of the pool and unstrapped Gol-4 from his waist.

"Ah, thank goodness. It was rough being in the water for all that time." Gol-4 levitated up and spun around like a spinning top, spraying water all over him.

Oscar leaned on the cavern wall, finally seeing the whole place. The cavern was small, around the size of his living room in the Pavilion. Several shallow pools of water, including the one he rested in, flowed ceaselessly and lazily into one another. One trickle at a time, water cascaded from the highest pool onto the lowest, having a greenish tinge to its surface.

The Deer drank from the waters and grunted at Oscar, tilting its antlers to the water.

"Drink it?" Oscar crawled back to the pools and drank its gift. "It's delicious!" He rolled over to his back, huffing as his chest heaved. With his body recovering, Oscar felt the pain subsiding and gazed through the hole, seeing the bright lonely sun of Ashen Grove.

"How…how long was I out?" Oscar stammered, scared of the obvious answer resounding in his heart.

"You were out for around a week. I'm sorry, lad. If your information about the time limit is accurate, Ashen Grove is closed." Gol-4 sighed, levitating over to Oscar's line of sight.

'Closed…it's closed.' Oscar stared blankly at the sun, unbothered by its light. Ashen Grove was closed, and the portals were shut down. He was trapped here, trapped in a godforsaken place, trapped in a hostile environment, trapped…

"Hahahahahahahahahaha!" Oscar could only muster up a laugh. Tears trailed from the corners of his eyes.

'Are you happy now? You risked your life for Frederick and ended up here. You've doomed us both.' Demon spoke for the first time since Oscar woke up.

"Shut up!" Oscar shouted, wanting Demon to remain silent.

"What's wrong? We are in unfortunate circumstances, but you can't lose your sanity. Come on, let's talk. That'll keep your mind from deteriorating." Gol-4 nudged Oscar.

"I think my mind lost itself a long time ago." Oscar drank more water, having hurt his throat from all the laughing. "But you're right. I only have around….four hundred years to wait until the portals open again. Since I'm an Elite Exalt who advanced two or three years ago, I have one hundred forty-eight years of life left."

"We can avoid the impending doom topics for now. Do you regret it?" Gol-4 asked.

Oscar managed to get himself up to sit down, his face warped from pain. "The only regret is I did not have the strength to get out with both of us. Other than that…none. Fred better make a happy life with Emily, or else I'll wrangle him in his nightmares when I'm dead."

"Again, stop speaking as if you're already dead. Rest for now. Once you've fully recovered, we can discuss our next steps." Gol-4 fell, tumbling on the rocks.

"You have a way out?" Oscar asked, hoping this was not some lie from Gol-4 to console him.

"Maybe or maybe not. I'll tell you what I'm thinking about when you're all healed. It'll take you a while for that." Gol-4 replied, keeping Oscar in the dark.

Feeling the urge to throw Gol-4 around, Oscar scoffed and leaned against the smooth cavern wall. The surface fit his back nicely and quenched the burning wounds on his back. Oscar took several more healing elixirs and waited for his core to recover.

Several days later, his core could take in Ein again, and he fed the hungry core until it filled to the brim. The streams of Ein flooded into his body, bringing renewed strength. Oscar opened his eyes from meditation and stretched his hands.

"Ok, Gol-4. What should we do?" Oscar got to his feet, strapped Gol-4 to his waist, and exited the cavern.

Trees adorned the lands before him, tranquil and ancient. In the distance, Oscar spotted some mountains he had never seen before and tall trees similar to the great tree that held Oen Fortress.

The true Ashen Grove, no, Stonehaven, was right before him.