"Where… is this?" Frey opened his eyes; he found himself waist deep in flowing water that extended without end, it reflected the glowing surroundings.
Wasn't he underground just a minute ago?
This place didn't look like the Sunless Mire either, no swamp, no trees, no nothing.
He was standing below the vast expanse of the cosmos, far away stars shone as though they were polished gemstones.
Their positions looked like deliberate choices on a canvas, forming signs and figures whose meaning one could only guess.
Frey ran his hand through the river while admiring the wondrous sight… none of this felt real.
There was no sensation of touching a liquid, and when he pulled it back out, there was not a drop of water clinging to his skin or clothes.
An illusion that tricked his sense of sight and touch?
He frowned; all of this felt… strangely familiar… had he been here before?
'Not a chance.' he shook his head; there's no way he would forget about something like this!
'Am I dreaming?' Frey pinched his arm, "Ouch!" he yelped, a stinging feeling remained at the spot.
He was certain that that couldn't be the case either.
The world continued to turn, the vision overhead was moving on from him, shooting stars passed in a hurry, distant galaxies grew unrecognisable.
Asteroids drifted across space, some as small as grains of sand, others the size of mountains, colliding in slow, silent violence.
The larger remains here and there hinted at what once was, a moon shattered into pieces, held together by gravity's stubborn grasp.
From this vantage point, the field seemed to go on forever.
But even with terrifyingly large objects being this close, it was a rather peaceful, quiet place.
For once he wasn't on the run, getting chased, pressed for time, or anything else which he would usually worry about.
He almost wouldn't mind staying… if not for the chilling question of how he got here.
Unsettling didn't even begin to cover it.
"Hello? Hellooo!" he yelled, but there was no one around to hear him, to keep him company.
He was all alone, even the river failed to act as a distraction, as the stream was hardly making any noise.
"Lu?" he called out to his trusted companion and loyal friend, yet there was only silence.
With nothing else left to do Frey started walking, but his feet only allowed him to move along the river's current, no matter how much he fought to break free from this set path.
When he tried to stop again, his legs refused, what was set into motion suddenly couldn't be stopped anymore.
Whatever he was headed towards, there was no end in sight.
A gust of wind carried a sweet melody, the approaching hum of a voice, a delicate whisper that reached Frey's ears.
The soothing warmth of a tight embrace wrapped itself around him, it wasn't restricting, rather it felt like a long overdue reunion with a caring soul.
Frey knew this voice!
It plucked at his heart like a harp string, pulling memories from the depths where he had buried them.
And further down the river emerged the figure of the only person this voice could ever belong to…
"Mom?" he trembled, "Mom! Is that you?" tears welled up in his eyes; he wouldn't ever mistake her for somebody else!
He wanted to run towards her and throw himself into her arms, or to fall to her feet, to repent for his actions, for their separation, that he hadn't searched for her and his father any sooner!
But he could not escape the pace that the river was setting, no matter how much he struggled, he wasn't getting any closer.
Margareth stayed just out of reach, she was smiling at Frey, but her face couldn't hide the fear and restlessness stirring in her heart.
"We thought we had lost you." the grief in her eyes betrayed the smile on her lips.
Frey's voice cracked, "I- I'm right here, mom!" he stretched out his arm hoping to close the distance.
"You've grown a lot already… but it's nowhere near enough." she shook her head, "You need time. Something they will never allow you to have. Look where their last interference has landed you… This is all wrong…"
Frey recoiled, "What? Mom? W-What are you talking about?" this wasn't how he remembered her, how he expected their reunion to go.
"Look around yourself." she gestured broadly, "What you see- It's all their work." she was moving on from his concerns as though they held no importance.
"All around us, a graveyard of worlds, devoid of life, of creation, mere husks of their former selves."
The lights of faraway planets increased in splendour, while others darkened for eternity to come.
"They will bleed them dry if they must, take from them until there is nothing left. Then move on to the next." Margareth sighed bitterly, "They have done whatever they pleased for far too long."
Frey was shaking his head, "Mom, I- I don't understand! What are you saying? Who are they?!"
Margareth paid his question no heed as she looked off to the side, bright colours were clashing with each other far out in the vast emptiness of space.
Their fight was sending ripples across the cosmic expanse, but not even they could affect the river Frey was trapped inside of.
"Forgive us, this is as much time as we can spare to meet with you, lest they find you by following our trail." she lowered her head.
Her form was turning translucent, fading away, "We must go."
Frey's mind felt like it was splitting, there were so many words left unspoken, so many questions he wanted to ask, but she was already leaving!
"Wait! Mom! Where are you going?! Where is dad?!" he shouted after her.
She closed her eyes, and her body vanished, "You have to hurry. There is not much time."
"They will come. For us. For you. Soon." her final words echoed in his ears.
Frey ran; his feet were pushing off the ground beneath the water with as much force as he could muster.
He was desperately chasing after her, "Don't leave me here! Please! MOM!" but it wasn't showing any effect.
"WAIT!" his shout staggered the air, the river let go off him for but a moment, releasing him from its tight grasp, before regaining hold over him.
Shackles coiled around his feet, weighing him down, he came to a crashing halt and tripped.
Frey was submerged in the water, the soil he had stood on was gone, the surface seemed to be getting farther and farther, the stars above weren't visible anymore, the depth of the ocean swallowed him whole.
He opened his mouth to inhale, his lungs filled, he was choking, clasping his neck and frantically clawing at his throat.
He couldn't breathe- he was drowning.
Frey's eyelids grew heavier, his movement turned sluggish, and his mind went numb.
A frigid cold seeped into his bones as he sunk deeper into this bottomless chasm, the thumping of his heart was getting weaker.
Then Frey jolted awake!
He coughed in between breaths, he was drenched, blood streamed down from his shoulder, painting his clothes red.
Plamus' spell had struck him… that's right… he was still in the Sunless Mire!
Frey crawled his way up, disoriented, exhausted, then reclined against the rock wall.
He was entombed, all sides blocked off by stones.
He wiped tears from his cheeks.
But he hadn't been crushed, in fact, the walls were shaped unnaturally, as though someone had employed earth magic to protect him.
'Did I…?" he closed one eye, racked his brain, then shook his head, "I don't remember…'
Frey was the only earth mage among the remainder of the expedition, who else could have saved him?
Was knowing this even important?
There was a more pressing matter to attend to first...
"Lu! Lu are you here?" he held his breath, several excruciating seconds passed, then he nodded his head while exhaling, "Thank goodness… I was scared that… Nevermind… I'm glad you're here."
He looked to his side where Marv was lying, his chest was rising and falling, his body unscathed.
Tremors shook the place, "We need to get out of here. Can you carry Marv?" he gulped, then added, "Please."
He felt he shouldn't take Lu's presence and help for granted, even if their bond seemed inseparable.
"I'll make a path." Frey stood up, using the wall to support himself.
He lifted his hand, and the rocks ahead of them made way.
… …
Daren knelt on the ground, his face was kissing the dirt, his arms covered his head.
The buzzing of Plamus' spell came and went, the walls of the cave were blasted to oblivion, rocks came crashing down from above, but despite the heavy pressure that hung in the air… he was still alive!
He staggered to his feet, 'How absurd!' the sight was unbelievable… a storm of pink and white petals encased him.
His saviour… were the locals?
The storm subsided; the petals returned to their owners.
Daren spotted a flower-woman protruding from the ground near him, she was cradling the infected human girl in her arms like a baby.
Then there was another hanging down from the ceiling, and two more peeking out from the walls consisting of rubble!
Plamus noticed them as well, he had tried to kill one before, and instead of succeeding, three more appeared to haunt him.
His face contorted as the dagger in his back moved.
He tried to turn, but froze for fear of ripping it out, a voice right in his ear sent shivers down his spine, "Looking for someone, sucker?"
Reyna had a triumphant expression plastered all over her face, her hand tightly gripped the artefact she had struck into him, large, fiery feathers that took the shape of wings were glued to her.
When Frey managed to escape from her pursuit, she knew that something had to change.
Her lack of mobility spells had caught up with her, but she's a rank three mage, nothing could hold her back from creating one by herself!
When deliberating over the spell's design, she quickly found herself drawn to this…
She always envied the freedom that birds had, to fly wherever they'd like, so what better way to materialize her dream, than to let flames unfurl as her own wings!
Reyna could undo her mistake with her own hand, it wasn't worth much now, but it was a victory nonetheless.
With a bit of force behind her tug, and a grin on her lips, the dagger should have come loose… yet her hand was stuck.
Her heart dropped, she stared at Plamus' back, his small and scrawny figure.
There was nothing to be afraid of, nothing except for the dark tendrils that had wrapped around her arm, preventing her from pulling away.
Plamus' head turned sideways, and despite his dejected glare, he wore a sickening smile.
Reyna's eyes darted to her arm, the tendrils felt like razor wire, digging into her flesh.
In the split moment she hesitated to sacrifice it, the tendrils had already coiled around the rest of her body.
The wings on her back were squished until they burst apart; blood shot out of her nostrils.
She was trapped with no way out.
Unless…
Reyna closed her eyes; death was inevitable, so she would at least choose how it ended!
Fire spilled from her every pore; heat surged until it was burning away at the tendrils.
A flame rose high above, an inferno was unleashed… and then snuffed out.
The fire and all its particles dissipated into the air like a puff of smoke.
Reyna's body was drained of all vitality; her life ended in the blink of an eye.
The production of her particles had been the start, and Plamus' power the end.
The tendrils loosened, and she crumpled to the ground, hollow, lifeless, an empty shell of the woman who had burned so brightly moments before.
Plamus' skin bulged, tissues regenerated.
He regained a healthy colour, before the black veins drained it all away.
He scanned the cave, his plaything broke, it was time to move on to the next.
Sharp petals closed in to assault him, to deter him from getting closer, but each of their attempts were repelled by his purple barrier, allowing him to walk towards Daren's group.
The flower-woman that held the infected girl in her arms hovered above the unconscious human mages.
It appeared to be holding the most precious and delicate of objects, handling her with such intense care.
Pain flashed across the girl's face, the bubble on her head pulsed, the corners of her eyes quivered, and shortly after, orange tears rolled down her cheek.
One, two, three.
The first fell and landed on Kassan, the second hit Marquis Gomon, and the third left its mark on Winny.
Daren was shocked into inaction, 'What is happening?!'
The sight reminded him of when the heart produced a single drop, that transformed the lake into something magical…
Was this the same liquid?
Was the girl intentionally infected and experimented on to achieve this result?
And was Frey in on this?
Daren stepped away from the three.
What if they suddenly transformed, and became infected?
What if they turned on him?!
Countless possibilities raced through his head.
"H-" the girl's lips moved.
"Hurt…s" she spoke, the words scraped against Daren's ears, "…Hurts…" she repeated herself, "It… hurts…"
"It… hurts?" goosebumps covered Daren.
Did the girl regain awareness, enough to voice her emotions, or was this someone else talking through her…?
Groaning interrupted his distracted mind, the rank three mages were getting up, they looked as though they were glowing from good health.
"Where… am I?" Kassan grumbled.
"Kassan!" Daren blurted out, foregoing his usual courteous manner of referring to him as Sir.
"Daren?" he recognised his panic-stricken voice instantly, "Then we are still underground?" he scoffed, of course things wouldn't just turn for the better while he had been passed out.
Daren turned to Plamus, at the storm that was approaching, "Don't you feel him?"
Kassan sighed, "My senses are completely out of order, I cannot find a single particle for me to use nearby. If you need me to fight… I'll have to disappoint you."
"Plamus was smart to destroy the lake. Whether that was intentional or not." Marquis Gomon held his forehead; he was suffering from a severe headache right after waking.
"But I guess I'll be fine." he added after noticing the water crashing down from the hole above.
Gomon held his hand out to Winny, intending to help her up, "What about you? Any more secret aces up your sleeve? Any more elements we don't know of?"
"Hah." Winny smirked, "They wouldn't be secret if I told you… But no." even someone as blessed as a dual-elemental mage would run out of options eventually.
Daren inhaled, all his worries were unfounded, for now at least.
He couldn't be sure if the infection merely needed more time to take root, before it would start showing signs, but until then…
"Thank you." Daren bowed to the flower-woman, to the infected girl.
Despite his reservations, they wouldn't get a final chance to fight back without them.
"Thank… you…?" the girl said, processing his words.
"Mhm." he affirmed, "Even if we have a common enemy, it's not a given, to aid one another, without asking for anything in return."
"Common enemy?" he mulled over his own words.
Until now it hadn't been obvious, since Frey might have influenced them, but the locals' stance on Plamus was the same as theirs.
Daren bowed even deeper, "Please! If you understand my words… we ask for your help! Plamus has become too powerful for either of our sides to take him on alone!"
"We… should join hands. Before he can unleash more destruction."
Her little head bobbed back and forth, a subtle nodding, "De…struction…"
Kassan cleared his throat, "It's not much of a plan… but we need to whittle down his supply of particles. It's the only way for us to ever reach him."
"He's been doing a great job by himself, tossing around spells with no regard, but it looks like he needs our assistance." Kassan continued.
"And avoid those tentacles while doing so." Daren agreed.
It was a shame about Reyna, but her death served as a grim reminder for these horrifying appendages growing out of Plamus.
The flower-women shifted back to him; their petals shaved away at the barrier.
Each attack seemed laughably weak on their own, but this was to be expected when facing overwhelming power.
Water particles gathered outside of Plamus' protective spell, they formed groups, then each of them took the shape of a serpent, using their fangs, or slamming their tails to harm the barrier.
Ripples spread along the surface, but that was the entire extent of Marquis Gomon's strikes.
Plamus' stride could not be stopped.
Particles gathered in his palm, nowhere near the amount he used for the rank four attacks, but they were enough to threaten the survivors at this stage.
"Shit! Shit! Shit!" Daren bit his lips.
Rough trajectories entered his mind, they weren't perfect, but they sure as hell needed to be!
He clapped his hands together, and everyone was sent flying, whisked away by clouds to escape the spells that immediately ravaged their previous location.
New craters formed on the ground, and as the dust settled down, Daren looked around to spot his allies.
'They made it!' he rejoiced, his clouds disappeared, but the flower-woman that had stood next to them was gone.
"…Thank you for your service…" Daren whispered.
Still, his eyes were drawn towards a certain part of the cracked floor.
Pebbles were jumping in excitement, then the earth split apart, like a wind-up toy leaping out of its compartment, the flower-woman holding the infected girl reappeared!
Somehow, he was feeling glad, "Heh… as tenacious as when we tried to kill you."