"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 by 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 were going to force her fist through it.
"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 him to stare straight through the door.
The luminescent green vines expanded in number, wrapping and slithering all over the room, coating its mucus-like essence through the crevices. 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 drooped down toward the cold, solid floor, and her face drained of color.
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, which punished and shriveled the winding vegetation into ashes.
Then, from the green light centered at her palm, two ornate blades spread 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, cartwheeled, and forced 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 grasp 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. I thought this place would 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, and she released a faint yawn, swiftly shaking her head.
"What... happened?"
Asahi chuckled nervously, scratching his head and pointing to the leftover foliage from the vine monsters.
"There were... problems."
Aletha raised an eyebrow, grabbed her brother's hand, and got 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 had 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 on 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 in delight.
"Well, that was super weird! I thought I was going to die from whatever in the world that was. Anyway, 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 anyway." 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 was 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 to 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, given that I had 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 off.
[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. Anyway, there's no doubt that I'll be returning here tomorrow. I don't care if there's a festival; if Aiyana is there, I will sacrifice everything just to be with 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.