Chương 95: Selfishness
Asahi raised an eyebrow in confusion. He never knew that Kali could show such contempt for the cheerful, mint-haired girl prancing around the room. Asahi stared at the floor and thought.
(My mind almost got destroyed by those… vines. I see no reason to stay here other than to waste time. I forgot that Drimi, Phthonus, and the others could be outside. Perhaps I could use this chance to escape?)
He turned over to the charming petite girl with soft lavender-green hair and glistening cyan eyes.
(Maybe...)
A haunting sense of guilt flew in him, remembering all she had said to him back when they were at the docks.
Without realizing it, Asahi muttered out loud.
"But… the thing is, I don't want to abandon Kali…."
Asahi's gray eyes adjusted to the sight of Aletha, Katib, and Brunella discussing what had just happened. Aletha was trying her best to stay standing. Her arms moved and dangled in wavy patterns, projecting a sense of unease in Asahi.
Faced with this predicament, instead of following what his heart told him, Asahi came to a selfish assumption that if Kali could use their powers, then she could defend herself and find him eventually. There was no one more that he cared about than his sister.
As Asahi's thoughts began to spark like electricity, he raced over to Aletha and leaned over to her ear, whispering while others were bemused by Pridia's strange, absolutely unnecessary dances.
"Let's go, sis. Drimi, Phthonus, and Sally are waiting for us outside. This problem is their problem now."
A sneer of suspicion was given from Aletha, knowing that her brother was indefinitely lying. Despite the shocked look on the others' faces, Asahi whispered.
"Just... follow me."
As Aletha was being pulled to the long narrow wooden door from Asahi, she expressed loudly with a look of concern.
"Bro, that's so selfish. I know you're lying… but…."
She shivered at the thought of feeling her brain deteriorate again from those forceful, magical entrancing vines. Aletha continued.
"I don't want to feel it anymore, even if you lied… I… I guess we should leave."
Before Asahi could celebrate, she nagged Asahi down and forced some guilt into him.
"Hey, before we leave… don't you think abandoning the person that saved us seems at least a LITTLE bit selfish of you. I feel like you don't even care about everyone but me."
A guilty but anxious expression shrouded Asahi's face. He tried to pull Aletha up the stairs, but her body wouldn't budge. As an awkward silence approached from the hallway toward the room, Asahi leaned over to Aletha and whispered as a cold feeling burst in his heart.
"Sis, you're family. I can't afford to lose you too. If the vines are still there, we can find Drimi and the others and show them this place. It's not selfish… I swear."
Aletha's eyes winced and crinkled at her brother's face, detecting not a sense of falseness within his words.
(He's telling the truth.)
Even though Asahi told the truth, Aletha simply could not accede to abandoning them. She cared too much for the strangers. Her heart thumped, her hands quivered, and her face grew red.
Aletha stomped on the ground, pouted, and rolled her eyes.
"I can't believe you…"
Asahi gave a half-shrug and took another step closer toward the outside. He insisted while he pushed the two doors forward.
"Please… just listen to me, and trust me… this once. I promise I will give you something in return."
Attention dawned on Aletha's face. In her pouty tone, she replied while her face puffed up in annoyance.
"Pfft, like what?"
"How about…" Asahi tilted his head up to the dry ceiling, thinking of what he could bribe his sister with.
(Hmm, what are things she wants that I could do…)
He hunched his shoulders and fidgeted with his thumbs, thinking nervously. As Asahi closed his eyes, Aletha impatiently stomped her foot on the stairs and hollered.
"Come on, bro. Hurry up, or I'm going back there!"
Asahi's eyes rounded in shock, his heart paced, and his mind shuffled countless memories.
(I know a lot of things my sister wants. I just can't find the primary one that would persuade her in this situation. I know she likes adventuring, cats, painting, and sports, but…)
Suddenly, a verbal memory echoed in Asahi's head.
("Out of all the treats in this world, this one is my favorite. The cream in the center, the two sweet chocolate wafers sandwiching over it; I can't…) A crunchy sound followed, sounding as if the person speaking were chewing something. (I can't resist it. Bro, please find more! These are the best things in the world!")
A blurry vision flashed, with a girl sitting against a ledge and a boy grabbing a package from the booth. White and Dark Brown were the only colors Asahi could recollect.
(What… was it?! I can't remember the name. It was her favorite treat….)
Just before Aletha could take another step down, almost about to give up on her brother, the same voice returned, sounding cheerful and desperate.
("Please, Asahi, get me more sandwich cream cookies or whatever they're called. I will do ANYTHING for them!")
But despite Asahi's trouble remembering, he finally recollected what Aletha wanted the most: at least…. something tangible and possible to give.
Stepping forward, Asahi's face reddened while shouting at Aletha at the top of his lungs.
"Sis, do you want those… umm… chocolate sandwich cookies?!"
Aletha's heart warmed up, her blood rushed to her veins, and her head slowly turned behind.
Her crystal gray eyes shimmered and sparkled, clearly remembering those sweet, crunchy treats her brother mentioned. She hurriedly sprinted up the stairs, her mouth drooled like an animal, and a devouring smile shone on her face.
Tossing away all her concerns, she ecstatically jumped up and down like a child and screamed cheerfully, her voice echoing over the walls.
"Yes! Where are they?!"
"Only if you flee with me."
Asahi smirked proudly, knowing he had won this bribery. Deep inside, he felt guilty about exploiting his sister's selfish desires.
(If only she knew...)
While he stared into space, Aletha shouted at him with her mouth drooling.
"Okay, okay! Come on! Let's find the others and get the cookies! You better not be lying to me..."
Asahi sighed. He knew persuading Aletha with her favorite treat was wrong. Still, at the same time, if this was going to benefit him from fleeing from possible danger and problems, Asahi would take that opportunity in a heartbeat.
* * * * * * *
Asahi clutched Aletha's hand tightly, feeling the fluorescent evening breeze brush against his hair.
As Asahi and Aletha tried to part away from the place, one of them couldn't take the pressure anymore. Aletha's voice shouted out as she raced back to the doors.
"Liar! There are no cookies. If you had some, then you would have given them to me sooner."
The moment that she tossed her distraction aside, she immediately remembered.
"I-I can't take the pressure anymore! Something bad is happening. I have to go back!"
Before Aletha could hear Asahi's yells, she was already pacing down the stairs, followed by another girl with a magical luminance covering her hand.
Asahi reflected on his mistake and mumbled.
"If only we were further from that place..."
As Asahi slowly crossed the street back toward the basement, he reflected.
(Just when we were about to leave, she still managed to feel cared for. Sometimes, I wish my sis wasn't so caring for every single person she met. So many bad things could happen to her if she continues to do this…)
His eyes broadened as he saw a faint green luminance on the staircase.
"Wait, I think I saw someone running into there as well. Dang it, I guess I have no choice but to run inside."
* * * * * * *
Asahi hurriedly jolted down the stairs, trying to return to Aletha, but was stopped by a mysterious girl. He attempted to budge himself through the girl rudely but was controlled by her… saying…
"It's not over."
Asahi, inherently confused that everything that was situated within this moment, did what any average individual would do… he asked her…
"W-What are you doing? Who are you?"
The mysterious lady pushed Asahi away and slammed her light-engulfed fist against the ground. A wall of brown roots streamed and rose from the ground, obstructing Asahi's path further down. A voice echoed.
"Don't worry about it. This predicament is all my fault."
"Wait a minute, just who are you?! Answer!" Asahi asked for five steps down the stone staircase.
The further the mysterious girl descended the staircase, the more her appearance was unveiled from the expanding light in the room.
She had long silky shamrock-green hair, piercing cold emerald eyes, fair skin, and a bright purple hair attachment dangling on her right side.
"I'm sorry. Is there a problem?"
Her appearance projected a look of power and confidence; even her attire looked like a warrior or an assassin. Asahi couldn't help but feel lifted from the appearance, possibly the forceful feeling becoming more severe than it already was.
As her footsteps echoed and bounced over the walls, Asahi chased the mysterious lady down and screamed.
"Who are you?"
"Stop getting in my way."
The lady sighed and closed her eyes.
"If you won't stop... I wi--
(Boom)
Both fell utterly silent after that loud thump trembled the entire area. Asahi and the lady slowly tilted toward the door.
"Hey, what are you guys doing?!"
All four stood still, looking absolutely clueless and entranced except for Aletha, whose eyes were bulging and her legs were secretly getting wrapped from the vines.
Asahi slowly sneaked closer to the door and peeked through it, seeing long, stringy green vines wrapping around the heads. He gasped, backing away and trying to keep his voice from getting out. His face, along with his mind, felt numb.
"What... the?"
"Sigh..."
The green-haired lady facepalmed and pointed back to the door, looking as if she was going to force her fist through the door.
"I knew it. This is why I didn't want you to draw interference with me. Wait... look at that white-haired girl again."
Asahi rudely added.
"You DO know she has a name, right---
"Shhh..."
The lady covered Asahi's mouth and forced his sight to stare straight through the door.
The luminescent green vines expanded in numbers, wrapping and slithering all over the room, coating its mucus-like essence through the crevices of the room. Asahi's heart froze as he heard his sister's voice get muffled by the vines.
"W... What's happening to me?!"
Aletha was so inherently blinded by the anomaly that she couldn't even look at the door. Her gray eyes strayed from the forceful essence, her arms drooping down toward the cold solid floor, and her face drained pale.
Asahi's veins pumped with rage, seeing his sister, along with the others, getting leached from the strange glowing vines.
"Aletha!" Asahi couldn't keep his voice any longer.
The five tips on the wriggling vines hurriedly darted their vision toward Asahi and hissed.
Suddenly, fifty green strands emerged from thin air, strapping and grappling onto each end of the door, forcing Asahi and the girl back and creating an impassable wall. The girl clenched her fists and gave a cold gaze of hatred at the vines. She hastily shoved Asahi to the wall and addressed him with a tone of anger.
"Stay put, and DON'T move."
Asahi had no choice but to abide. He nodded and relaxed against the wall, peeking over and watching the lady bolt toward the wall. She forced her arm up to the ceiling and created a flickering green luminance on the center of her palms, punishing and shriveling the winding vegetation into ashes.
Then, from the green light centered at her palm, summoned two ornate blades spreading out like a leaf. Her arms wrapped around the handles, she wiped the sweat off her face, and forced the carved guard straight at one of the vines.
The fierce abomination raised up and tried to force its sharp green head at the lady but was hastily unguarded from two unbelievably swift strikes, causing it to retreat into the hole.
She smiled with leaves splattering all over her face, seeing a few of the transparent glowing vines unhitch from the three heads of their victims.
"Don't move!"
Katib, Brunella, and Pridia all nodded their heads and fainted on the floor, experiencing the aftermath of the drainage. The lady's smile dropped to a frown, cartwheeling and forcing her daggers straight at the vine monster's pulp.
Its bubbling, nasty bulb splattered its steaming essence on the walls.
Asahi's eyes broadened in shock, slowly walking through the door and seeing all of the mind-draining vines release their grasps from Aletha and Kali's heads. Instead of staying put like the girl asked, Asahi raced through the foliage-infested floors without questioning and grasped Aletha's hand. He asked with an anxious sweat sliding down his face.
"A... Are you alright?"
Aletha's eyes could barely move. But seeing her chest slowly move in and out acknowledged Asahi that she was still alive.
Asahi breathed a sigh of relief and tried to carry his sister back toward the safety of the staircase but was swiftly stopped by the green-haired lady bouncing from wall to wall, striking all the vine monsters into oblivion.
Her sharp emerald eyes caught every movement from the vines, cutting and slicing, pouncing, and then finally beheading all the vines, forcing each and every one of them to retreat.
A small smile formed on the lady's face, panting heavily and falling to her knees.
"I... did it."
The lady collapsed on the floor, her blades dissipating into shimmering green particles.
Asahi looked at all who were in the room. Most looked drained and exhausted, leaning against the walls or the floor. He mumbled while carrying Aletha on his back.
"I… can't believe that just happened. And I thought this place was going to be relaxing. Sigh, I'm always wrong."
"...ah."
Asahi felt subtle movements sliding on his back.
When he heard that soft voice, Asahi hurriedly raced to the wall and carefully placed Aletha on the ground. Her eyelids parted, she released a faint yawn and swiftly shook her head.
"What... happened?"
Asahi chuckled nervously, scratching his head and pointing to the left-over foliage from the vine monsters.
"There were... problems."
Aletha raised an eyebrow, grabbing her brother's hand and getting lifted up to her feet.
"E...Eh?"
A keen smile came up from him.
"I'm just glad you're safe."
* * * * * * *
A few minutes after the invasion from the vine monsters, everyone inside the room took a moment to relax and reflect on what just happened, let alone the reason. They don't want to create any more noise knowing that there are people above them.
The first concern from Katib's mind the moment he awakened was that he wanted to know who that mysterious green-haired lady was.
He stepped over, rubbed the leaves off his slick pink hair, took a deep breath, and asked the lady.
"Um... just who are you? Why are you here in the first place?"
"Oh, me? Well, I'm..."
As the lengthy discussion grew in the distance, Asahi pulled out his special notebook from his pocket, turned to a blank page, and began writing what he analyzed from the background noise. At the same time, Pridia, Brunella, Kali, and Aletha were attentive to the mysterious woman, asking questions.
[I'm relieved that we made it out alive. To be honest, I thought that was our end. But then again, those vine monsters came out of nowhere, so we were severely disadvantaged. I knew some random person would just arrive and save us; it's too cliche for that.]
Distant chatter followed,
"Oh, my name is Isa. I sincerely apologize for those vines. I never thought that it could reach here."
Kali stomped on the ground, outraged and confused.
"Isa, it's not your fault. I don't even know why it's acting this way too. Though, I believe that it's still the--"
Pridia jumped up in joy and slapped her knee, screaming.
"Well, that was super weird! I thought I was going to die from whatever in the world that was. Anyways, I think all of you guys are useless! I'm going! See you later!"
Before anyone could catch the silly Pridia, she had already left. Katib sighed and shook his head, whispering to Isa while Asahi pressed his inky pen on the notebook.
"That was unnecessary. She was annoying anyways." Katib brushed off the leaves on his shoulders and continued with a sigh. "It's too late for this, wasn't there supposed to be a huge festival tomorrow? That was the sole reason why Brunella and I came here in the first place."
Kali snapped and jerked her fingers forward, nodding while walking over to the stairs.
"Oh, shoot! I completely forgot!"
Isa pushed her silky dark green hair to the side and facepalmed.
"Yes, I believe commencement begins at noon."
Brunella, utterly terrified and anxious after the vine encounter, hastily stepped forward and screamed, breaking her false persona.
"Enough discussion, let's leave! This place is utterly dangerous and unsafe."
Aletha nodded her head.
"Y...Yeah..."
Kali interfered.
"I still think we should stay here... I believe--
Brunella clapped her hands and raced to the stairs.
"Okay, then it's decided. We're abandoning this place. Katib and I are leaving, too."
They didn't even allow Kali to finish what she was saying.
. . .
As they peacefully walked up the stairs, Asahi continued writing in his notebook; his mind almost separated from reality.
[After recovering from that momentary disaster, Brunella recommended we immediately flee out of that basement before any other danger could emerge. Ames was back on my shoulder, resting like usual. And surprisingly, Kali urged us that we should stay in the basement, but we didn't listen. It's common sense that we should leave.]
While they waved goodbye to Katib and Brunella, Asahi turned back toward the basement and continued writing on two of the blank pages.
[Yet, even though I agreed to leave that basement, I felt something weird while I was in that corner where the vines came from. It could have been an illusion because I only had an hour of sleep, but then again...]
Asahi flinched, feeling Aletha's cold hand poke his back.
"Hey, Asahi... I'm tired."
"Just wait for a minute, okay, sis?"
Aletha sighed and whined.
"But, bro. It's so late. Should we get some rest?"
Asahi scratched his head, hearing the carriages pass through the winding streets.
"Give me five minutes."
She crossed her arms and pouted, looking forward to the inn far in the distance.
"Hmph. Okay, fine."
Asahi turned his head to the streetlight above him, pulled out his special notebook, and continued writing where he left.
[It felt like... Aiyana was there. Her scent, the aura... all of it projects a familiar sense in me. I thought my sister would feel the same, but I guess not. Maybe she's just tired, or maybe this is all just an illusion. Anyways, there's no doubt that tomorrow, I'm returning here. I don't care if there is some sort of festival; if Aiyana is there, I will sacrifice everything just to get her. There is no way I can simply ignore that.]
Before he reached the other block, he put his pen away, slid his notebook back to his pocket and continued traveling.
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