DAY ???
DAY ONE OF THE HELL PIT BOND EVENT
FOUR DAYS UNTIL EXTRACTION
If the Hell Pit was anything, it was well-named. His sight was absorbed by red, orange, and black. The obsidian earth beneath them was split by orange fire, and the very atmosphere around them was red like the gold of Haven. Strangely, the Hell Pit wasn’t nearly as hot as he’d imagined it’d be. It was hot, but it wasn’t burning. It was closer to a hot day in the summer than a bath in a churning volcano. Seiji assumed it was due to his Health stat.
“That’s where we need to go, right?” Alexandra shouted, pointing to the tower a few yards away from them.
The tower was as wide as the Grand Garden and taller even than the Royal Castle in Haven. It was a white building, though the red atmosphere made it look orange. There were lanterns of fire hung on each of the many flying buttresses that burned with ominous white flames. At the front of the Tower was a drawbridge guarded by two massive statues of humanoid goats holding tridents and shields facing one another. The tower was surrounded by a deep moat Seiji couldn’t see the bottom of. He imagined that was the reason for the ‘Pit’ part of ‘Hell Pit’.
“I suppose so,” Selene confirmed. “We can head in after we deal with them.”
“Who–” Cora began, but cut herself off when she followed Selene’s gaze.
Six wolf-sized creatures slowly began to encircle the group. Their bodies were covered in black fur, their ovular heads were wrapped in what looked to be gause, and their blood-re arms and legs were shriveled up and wrinkled like old leather.
“Yes, yes, yes!” Alexandra shouted. “You ready, big bro?”
“Come on now,” Alexandros scoffed, rolling his shoulder.
“Wait!” Selene called. “We need to coordinate! We don’t know how strong–”
The Alex Twins coated their bodies in orange flame and sped off. Two of the demons ran at them with a jaguar’s speed, but the Twins met it with equal speed and even greater force. They both punched holes through the demons, laughing maniacally as they faded to ash.
“Alright, then,” Selene muttered. A bit louder, she called, “Lirio?”
“Let’s go,” her Servant answered.
As if on cue, two demons ran to their flanks. The pair wordlessly pointed a hand at the first demon at their left, simultaneously releasing balls of white light from their palms. They connected with the demon with a thunderous boom, blasting the creature apart. With clearly practiced coordination, they repeated the attack on the remaining demon with ease.
“I suppose we’re next?” Cora said.
“I suppose so.” Seiji nodded, lowering into a battle stance. He pointed at the two growling demons staring them down. “I go right, you go left. Ready?”
“Ready!” Cora shouted.
Seiji lunged for the demon approaching from his right. He punched it in its head with a fist of Dragon Fury, following that a flurry of punches all over its furry body. When it crumpled to the ground, Seiji gathered a Dragon Shot into a hand reinforced with Dragon Fury. Seiji slammed the Dragon Shot into the gause-wrapped face of the demon, the explosion enough to blow the creature’s head off. As its body turned to ash, Seiji looked over to Cora, who’d used her Dragon Claw to cut the demon into chunks before allowing it to fade to mist.
”Cool!” Alexandros called. “Now that we’re done showing off, can we head in now?”
“Wait,” Cora said, interrupting Selene’s protest with a hand. “We shouldn’t just run in without some sort of plan.”
“This is a six-person mission,” Selene agreed, stepping to Cora’s side. “We each need tasks so that we can operate efficiently.”
“I can make a map,” Seiji offered.
“You mean like you did at the Botanist thing?” Alexandra scoffed.
“Exactly that,” Seiji said, ignoring her unamused glare.
It’d made the news what he and Cora had done at the Botanist’s Bond Event. While the townspeople found it interesting, the participants of the events had not. Though no one had challenged them, they made sure to glare at Seiji and Cora whenever they had the opportunity.
“Cool,” Alexandros scoffed. “Show me your paper and pencil and you can get right to it.”
“I imagine the castle will have paper and a writing utensil,” Seiji retorted, “Even if it doesn’t, I have experience keeping mental track of spaces. That was a large part of my job when I was alive.”
“That will work,” Selene nodded. “Sir Lasko suggested that we will find our daily necessities within the tower itself, so Lirio and I will search for them.”
Alexandra beamed. Selene rolled her eyes.
“If Cora and Seiji are busy scouting the place…”
Selene looked away from Alexandra, waving a lazy hand to the girl. She nodded to Lirio, who returned her nod with one of his own. In a blink, the two were gone. Leaving Seiji and Cora with the Alex Twins.
Alexandra ran up to Cora and grabbed her hands. “Lady Cora, it would be an honor to be your bodyguard!”
“We don’t need protection! We’re–”
“Hey, sis! You think the king’ll pay me for this?” Alexandros shouted. The boy unsheathed his swords, cloaking himself in orange flame.
Alexandra did the same, standing at his side. “Yeah! We can live in Grand Lolena for the rest of our lives!”
“Hey!” Cora shouted. “I said we don’t need–”
The Alex Twins sped off in a blur towards the tower, leaving a trail of fire and ash in their wake. Cora sighed deeply as Seiji approached her.
“Scouting was the hardest part of my old work,” Seiji shrugged. Cora didn’t meet his eyes. “Think of this as… a day in my old life? You’ll be like my apprentice.”
Cora formed Dragon Fury in her feet, still not meeting Seiji’s eyes.
“Let’s just go,” she sighed.
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The tower itself was elegant. Rather, that’s what he would’ve said before the Alex Twins got to it. Now, it looked like it’d been set upon by rabid dogs. Decorative paintings and banners were shredded and torn, slowly fading bodies of demons lay scorched, slashed, and seared on the floors in awkward positions, and the sounds of cackling laughter echoed louder than the horrifying roars and screams of the demons that once inhabited the tower.
Seiji and Cora had explored three floors while under the Alex Twins’ ‘protection’. Each of the floors they’d seen were the exact same. They were vast red and white rooms each housed a massive center staircase that led to a second story with about six different rooms. The rooms were the same each time, one bathroom, two armories, and three storage closets. They’d made a point of charting the contents of each storage closet, though they housed only useless garbage. The armories, meanwhile, were far more interesting. While most of the weapons were junk, Seiji had managed to swipe a dagger with a zigzagged dragon hilt. It wasn’t the most practical weapon, but he liked it. It looked cool.
As they finished marking the useless junk in a closet on the third floor, a collection of cleaning equipment, and a few torches, Alexandra shouted her victory over the last demon in the room.
“That’s… this floor… complete!” She shouted through heavy pants. “You two find any Aspected weapons?”
“Nope,” Cora responded. “Everything’s Unaspected so far.”
“That’s… a shame,” Alexandra responded, placing a hand on a porcelain pillar.
Cora looked down at them with clear envy. Seiji could relate. He didn’t come to the Hell Pit to scout. Sure, it was a five-day trip, but there had to be more to it than this. At their current pace, they’d spend more time scouting than training – especially if the Alex Twins killed everything in the tower before they could fight something.
“Hey,” Cora shouted, jumping over the railing to land on the red floor before Alexandra. Cora turned, waving for Seiji to join her. He did, leaping over the railing to land beside her. He saw Alexandros in the distance weakly kicking a slowly disintegrating demon. Cora called for him to come, too.
“Aren’t you two getting tired? Why don’t you two take a break?”
“I don’t… need one!” Alexandra challenged. The elf woman had her hands on her knees and wheezed like she was about to pass out. Cora gave her a doubtful look. Alexandra didn’t meet her eyes, preferring to pant to herself.
“Look,” Cora began, lowering herself to Alexandra’s level. “Once you two rest, we’ll all be able to fight demons together! Seiji and I didn’t come here to make maps, and if we can fight as a group we’ll be able to conserve our energy better.”
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“But that’s–”
“More energy, more fighting!” Cora said. “This is a Tier Six Excursion, did you forget? These lower floors are where all the cannon fodder lurk. The higher floors are probably where the fun starts!”
Alexandra stood from her hunched-over position and smiled. “This is why… you’re my favorite princess in Haven!” She to the center of the room, calling for Alexandros to join her. They cloaked themselves in fire and leaped to the second story of the room in a single jump.
“We’ll be in the armory,” Alexandros shouted. “Don’t take your time!”
When the door to the armory shut behind them, Cora let out a breath.
“I’m glad that worked.” She turned to Seiji. “At least now we can do something. Is scouting always this boring?”
“I agree,” Seiji admitted. “And… yes.”
Cora groaned. “Next time, I’m picking the tasks for us.”
“That might be for the best.”
The two walked up the staircase, opting to conserve as much aura as possible in preparation for the upcoming floors. When they approached the armory, though, Alexandra burst out of the room and pointed at Seiji with a mischievous smile on her face.
“Hey, Seiji!” Alexandra shouted. “You might be a good Servant but you’re a ba~d boyfriend!”
“What are you–” Seiji tried, cheeks heating. He immediately turned to Cora, whose gaze darted between him and Alexandra. The red-haired elf leaned a bit too close and whispered into his ear, though he knew Cora could hear.
“They say a bored cat’s a bored cat, you know. Next time, pick something fun!”
“I-I never. My intention wasn’t–”
Alexandra laughed, and he couldn’t help but feel like he was sharing a room with Thea. Cora was unamused, though. She walked into the stone gray armory, not meeting either his or Alexandra’s gaze. She stood beside a rack of spears, arms folded as she leaned onto the stone wall. Seiji stood beside her, leaning back with hands in his pockets. Alexandros sat with his forearms resting on his knees, staring up at Alexandra who closed the door and sat cross-legged beside her Servant.
“So…” Alexandra intoned, rolling her eyes to scan the entire room. “How’re things with you two?”
“What do you mean?” Cora asked, her tone unamused.
“You know what I mean! Give me all the romantic–” Alexandra said.
“You of all people should understand that there are such things as relationships that aren’t exclusively romantic.” Cora pointed a finger at Alexandros. “Or are you going to tell me you have feelings for your big bro?”
Seiji did his best not to slump upon hearing Cora’s words. She was the first friend he’d ever had, and their relationship was closer than he’d ever imagined it to be, but hearing her put a definitive title to their relationship as ‘non-romantic’... hurt. This was no time to think about that, though, so he instead focused on the floor.
“Aww, too bad Seiji! I tried to help you.” Alexandra shrugged, but Seiji didn’t meet her eyes. “Anyway, what do you guys think about Selene and Lirio? I need a story!”
Alexandros smiled, turning to his Servant. “You see the way they look at each other? They’re dating.”
The girl gave Alexandros a conspiratory smile, clasping her hands together. “You think they already… you know.”
Alexandros glanced around the room as if wary of eavesdroppers before leaning close to Alexandra. “I’m not gonna say they’ve done it, but I am gonna say they offered to split up to find the beds. Coincidence?”
“Their relationship is not your business!” Cora interrupted. “How close they’ve gotten or how far they’ve gone does not concern you.”
The Twins both turned narrow, accusatory eyes on Cora.
“T-they aren’t exclusively looking for beds, they’re looking for our necessities – food, water, and shelter.”
“Yup,” Alexandros said in a droll tone.
Normally, Seiji would’ve helped Cora in this argument. He’d come to her defense plenty of times against Endora whenever they engaged in their occasional verbal battles over absolutely nothing. This time, though, Seiji left Cora to it. He didn’t like Selene and Lirio very much, so he didn’t mind if their names were tarnished.
“See?” Cora added. “I suspect they’re already–”
The door to the armory burst open, cutting off Cora’s sentence. In the doorway stood a heavily panting Selene accompanied by a similarly fatigued Lirio. They looked disheveled. Selene’s hair was frizzy and unkempt, bits of her sleeve ripped to expose an arm laced with old and new scars. Lirio, meanwhile, had claw marks on his face and his shirt had more parts missing than present.
“That good, huh?” Alexandros scoffed, stifling laughter.
Alexandra smacked his back and gave him a look that told him to be quiet before turning from the newcomers to suppress laughter.
“Here.”
Selene reached down to her left and revealed the head of a goat with six eyes and six horns. She threw it into the room. It hit the ground with a wet splat as blood and ash gushed from its mouth and severed neck. Alexandra looked like she was about to heave. Cora jumped, running behind Seiji and hissing at the stump from his back.
“We should take a break for today,” Selene said simply.
“No way,” Alexandra scoffed. “I haven’t even used my best moves yet! I can easily kill a couple–”
“We all need to rest today.” Lirio interrupted. “It wouldn’t be smart to go off and fight while we’re exhausted.”
“Hey, now. We’ve been resting!” Alexandros challenged, slowly approaching Lirio.
“Do you think you could handle another five floors of demons? If you can, you’re more than welcome. We left plenty behind.”
Alexandros glared at the boy but didn’t say anything in response. The Twins were at their limit as it was. He and Cora had enough energy to fight, but if it was just them against powerful demons, he could imagine them getting overwhelmed pretty quickly.
“Now that that’s taken care of, I need your help, Seiji.”
Lirio revealed a large folded sheet of paper from his pocket. As soon as Seiji saw its contents, he felt a wave of annoyance hit him all at once. Lirio must’ve registered, because he immediately moved to clarify.
“This is a map of the entire tower, all fifteen floors. I know you’ve only seen three floors, but your insight would be invaluable in locating the hidden grotto.”
Just like that, the day was a waste.
“Whatever.” Seiji sighed, snatching the map from Lirio’s hand.
Each floor followed the same floor plan, though the order and location of the second-story rooms varied from floor to floor. Seiji imagined that understanding the pattern there was key to locating the hidden grotto. Just as he noticed the unique layout of the 8th floor, Selene spoke up.
“The living quarters are on the 8th floor. We cleared the way.”
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Seiji & Cora share a room & they ponder the Hell Pit. They bond a bit more.
The 8th floor looked the same as the others in the tower. Unlike the armories and closets of the other floors, the living quarters had three bedrooms, two kitchens, and a dining hall. They’d shared a meal in the dining hall, eating the dried meats and greens left behind by the previous occupants. As they ate, Selene assured everyone that the floor would be safe for the next three days considering how slowly the demons move when not trying to kill someone. Thankfully, she and Lirio had cleared about two floors above the 8th alongside the two below to ensure their safety.
When their dinner ended, Seiji and Cora were directed by Lirio to the bedroom furthest from the staircase. As soon as Selene left, though, Cora seemed unable to move from the doorway, though he couldn’t understand why. He instead focused on the room itself. It was far bigger than his dorm in Haven. Sure, the red walls and black floors were garish, but it was still far more spacious than anywhere he’d ever lived in his life. The black bed looked large enough to sleep an entire family. Though the black armoire beside it revealed only red bath linens, Seiji was excited to learn what kinds of clothes it held within. Directly across from the bed was a TV that sat above an active fireplace, though Seiji didn’t care much for that. What he did care for was the door to the bathroom beside it. It had its own shower and a bath! Ironically, he imagined the Hell Pit to be his own personal heaven.
“Seiji,” Cora muttered.
He turned to Cora, fighting desperately to keep his breathing ordered. “Yes?”
“I… um. The… uh… sleeping situation?”
“Oh!” Seiji said, forcing a smile. You can take the bed, I’ll take the floor.”
Though Seiji had inwardly hoped to sleep in the bed, he’d spent more years sleeping on wooden floors. He had no problem sacrificing comfort for Cora. When Cora still didn’t move, his heart finally began to thrum. Thea had spoken to him once about Felzian sleeping habits.
“Felzians usually curl into balls and share a bed,” Cora said. “It’s totally normal! I personally share a bed with about five Felzian butlers each night. A-all girls, obviously!.” She turned away again. “I don’t like sleeping alone. It’s weird.” She glanced up at him. “Don’t… be weird about it. Okay?”
Seiji nodded wordlessly.
After a short while, they’d thankfully moved past the awkwardness of their sleeping arrangement. He sat at the edge of the bed, while Cora tore through the armoire to find clothes that weren’t armored. Apparently, there were aura-infused closets and armoires that held a nearly endless amount of clothing. This black armoire happened to be one of them, containing hundreds of sets of clothing folded into its side and lower doors. Most of the clothes were either armored or leather. Cora insisted on finding light clothes, refusing to change into dirty Exam clothes.
While Seiji had wanted to join her, he couldn’t with his mind where it currently was. He’d gotten into the habit of meditating at the end of his day, and the more he thought the more he came to the same conclusion.
Selene and the Alex Twins fight like they share a body. Cora and I fight like individuals
Endora had said as much, but hearing that and experiencing it were two different things. As much as he tried, he couldn’t imagine fighting like the Twins or Selene and Lirio. It wasn’t them. That thought annoyed him even more. What was ‘them’? If they excel as individuals, did that count as their own style? Why did they need to adopt something new?
“You look stressed,” Cora said from beside him. She’d moved to his side at some point. Seiji hadn’t realized. “What’s on your mind?”
Seiji told her what he’d been thinking. She agreed, also calling back to Endora’s assessment of their skills during their last training session. Cora blamed it on her training. She’d fought solo her entire life, so it was difficult to fight with a partner now. Seiji felt much the same having lived his life as a solo assassin. Sure, he’d been on a few team missions, but those were incredibly rare. They’d resolved to attempt to fight together the next day, promising to get as much as they can out of the Hell Pit before they returned home.
“I found some nightclothes,” Cora said, running from the armoire. She pulled out a hanger holding a simple black shirt with loose trousers and black socks. “It’s unisex, and it’s only in black. I know how much you care about your clothes.”
Seiji laughed. “It’s just us. I don’t mind.”
Cora gave him a shocked look.
“Now, if you think I’d leave the room in that…”
Cora scoffed, pointing him to the bathroom. “Go take your shower. I want to sleep. The TV doesn’t work so I’ll get the fireplace going as entertainment.”
Seiji laughed, taking the hanger from her and the red bath linens beside her into the bathroom. When he came out, Cora watched him with half-opened eyes like she’d been sleeping. He apologized for waking her, but she didn’t respond. Instead, she dragged herself to the armoire, took her nightclothes and bath linens, and trudged to the bathroom.
Seiji hopped into the bed, staring up at the ceiling from the pillow. There was another thing in his mind that he wanted to meditate on before he slept. Something that’d been bugging him from the moment it’d happened.
Did Cora reject me?
He had no words for what his and her relationship truly was. Seiji considered her a close friend. An ally. A confidant. There were parts of him he wasn’t yet ready to show her, but he couldn’t imagine showing them to anyone else. He’d never been in love before, so he wasn’t sure whether that was what he was feeling or whether it was infatuation. A distant part of him wanted to ask King Vassilis for any advice. Hadn’t his relationship with Valkyrie Eir progressed the same way? He probably knew what to say about this.
The door to the bathroom opened, soapy steam slowly permeating the room. Seiji didn’t open his eyes. He didn’t want to see Cora right now, partially due to the ensuing awkwardness and partially because of his own feelings. Seiji heard her slowly approach the bed and practically felt when she’d loomed over him.
“N-night, Seiji,” Cora breathed.
Seiji didn’t answer. He was in way too deep.
Cora yawned as she crawled into the bed. Seiji felt her weight on his stomach as she curled into a ball on top of him. He hoped she couldn’t feel his beating heart or his quickening breaths.
“I know… you’re up. Stop faking.”
Seiji didn’t open his eyes.
“Oh, he’s really asleep... Good.” Cora muttered to herself. Seiji attempted to level his breathing as he listened to Cora. “Night Seiji… don’t leave… please. Want you… here.”
Though his eyes remained closed, Seiji smiled as he listened to Cora fall asleep. She was already half awake before she took a shower. He was surprised she hadn’t fallen over in the bathtub.
“Stop bothering him… Alexandra. Leave my… Seiji… alone.”
Your?!
Seiji couldn’t help it. He opened his eyes. Cora lay on his chest curled into a fetal position. Her head was far closer to him than it seemed to be when his eyes were closed. He could feel the rising and falling of her chest on his, the gentle beating of her heart, the delicate weight of her body. Almost involuntarily, he found himself placing a hand on her head, just as Endora taught him. He stroked behind her ear, smiling softly at the girl.
“Good night, Cora,” Seiji whispered. She purred in her sleep.
Shortly after, Seiji moved his hands to the back of his head and allowed sleep to finally claim him. As he drifted, he felt something warm press against his cheek for a moment, but he was too tired to investigate. He’d think about that when he woke up.