I sat suspended in mid-air, not wanting my feet to touch the soft yet firm surface—beneath me lay the gigantic tongue of the whale that had just swallowed us; this damp and slimy environment truly made me feel uncomfortable.
All around us was darkness, and the only source of light was the flaming arrow held by Robin. "I thought our bodies would be instantly dissolved by the acid in its stomach," he breathed a sigh of relief as if this weren't a terrible situation at all.
I wanted to extend a giant stone hand to strike its teeth, but I was afraid it might just end up swallowing us whole—for now, I had to try and find a way out whilst it was still holding us here.
"Hey, cheer up—it could be worse."
"Don't say that; usually, when you say that, something worse happens."
"O-oh? Really? All right, I'll keep quiet."
An awkward, drawn-out silence filled the monster's mouth. I was still wondering why the pixie dust that had made me float had vanished, along with Tinkie, who was no longer perched on my shoulder—had she betrayed me? Or was it just an accident? The question kept spinning round and round in my head. I could have enjoyed this silence whilst I thought, but Robin seemed uncomfortable with the lack of conversation between us.
I let out a long sigh; just when I wanted to savour the tranquillity and devise a plan, Robin chose to ruin it. "This reminds me of the first mission Mother gave me," I muttered, causing Robin's eyes to dart straight towards me.
"Have you ever been swallowed by a whale before?"
"If I had, I'd already know how to get out of here."
"Makes sense."
I hadn't expected him to completely shatter my expectations with a question like that. My mood for telling stories vanished, and I didn't want to open my mouth again. "I've changed my mind—I'm not telling the story after all."
"Oh, right—sorry, sorry."
But come to think of it, that incident happened such a long time ago—I can't even remember why I behaved that way. Half a year ago, I was given my first mission, where I would be accompanied by someone I'd never even met before—Red. We were tasked with finding someone who'd gone lost in the forest, a place that casts an illusion capable of confusing anyone who ventures into it.
"I don't need your help," I said arrogantly; at the time, I felt superior and believed no one could ever beat me, thanks to the unlimited potential of my Everafter ability.
"Wood is my surname, you know," she replied. I thought she was just joking at the time, but it turned out I was completely wrong.
I didn't want to lose to someone whose Everafter was merely a shotgun, so I arrogantly issued a challenge. "Fancy a bet? Whoever emerges without the victim has to go to the pub alone and buy a round for everyone there." Instantly, the girl held out her hand—I, full of confidence, shook it, making the bet official.
But as soon as I'd taken a few steps, I was already lost and had lost sight of Red, who was moving with incredible agility—I then decided to fly up, but all I found were dense trees and not a single sign of a path.
I descended again and ran aimlessly, and as time went on, I became even more lost—I'd tried various methods, including tying myself to a tree trunk with a very long rope so I could work out which way I'd come, but that proved futile when the rope snapped and simply vanished.
The sky had darkened and the atmosphere grew increasingly eerie as I heard the sounds of wild animals beginning to make their presence felt in the night—heavy rain began to soak my clothes, but although my clothes were repeatedly splattered with mud, I still hadn't found a way out.
And there was still no sign of Red whatsoever; my feet stopped dead in their tracks when I spotted a cave I could use for shelter—I hurried inside and immediately slumped down, my body no longer able to summon Everafter after trying various methods deep within the forest.
I was alone and cold; it would take a long time for my strength to return—as if fate wasn't satisfied with toying with me, a loud rumbling could be heard from my stomach. "Ugh…" I hadn't eaten since midday and it was already night—I looked towards the cave entrance and out onto the wet, dense forest.
I hugged my knees tightly—tears streamed down my face without me realising it; I quickly wiped them away and tried to stay strong, even though my heart was aching terribly right now.
"This is still my first mission… If my missions are going to get harder and harder each time, what will become of me in the future?" The words hung in the air as my fingers clawed at the stone floor I was sitting on. I might well die in this cave before anyone finds me, and the light within my heart began to fade.
But the sound of a twig snapping was heard outside the cave; I jumped in surprise and, on reflex, grabbed a rock nearby and clenched it tightly for protection—my hands were already trembling, and sweat began to pour down my whole body. 'Stay away!' I shouted, trying to scare off whatever creature was lurking in the shadows—whatever ferocious beast might finish me off here.
But as its feet drew nearer, I saw that the creature was standing upright on two legs; its red eyes were fixed on me and its hand was holding out something towards me. "So you don't want any bread?" The creature could speak; as I wiped my tear-filled eyes, I saw it was a human—more precisely, a girl wearing a long red hooded jacket.
"...You?" I never expected her to be the one to come, let alone that she'd bring me bread to fill my stomach—she tilted her head and looked at me in confusion. "You're here."
"Of course. Did you want me to just leave you here? I mean, you're already crying."
"I-I'm not!" I quickly wiped my tears and turned away so she wouldn't see my face again—but the fact that she'd done that for me almost made a smile appear on my face. "You should've come sooner, you idiot."
"Well, when I brought the victim out to safety, Mother asked where you were whilst I was enjoying my dinner."
"Huh?! So you'd forgotten all about me?!"
"Yeah."
"You really are the cruelest person I've ever met."
"Now I've got an achievement I can be proud of."
After that, she took my hand and led me outside—without the slightest sign of difficulty, she immediately set off running without a second thought, as if she knew every corner of this place by heart. "How do you know these paths?" I couldn't help but be curious; my hand was clutching a loaf of bread that had been splashed by the rain, but even so, it was the only thing I could eat right now.
"My instincts are amazing," he said casually, though I could see that he was extremely proud behind his seemingly expressionless face—I was truly shocked and couldn't believe he'd managed to escape simply by relying on his instincts; I wanted to call him mad, but before long we were breathing in the fresh air outside the forest.
The rain had stopped too—all the accumulated exhaustion suddenly washed over me, causing me to collapse to my knees. "FINALLY!" I shouted, filled with joy and gratitude; I hadn't felt that happy in quite a long time.
"So you're going to honour the bet at that pub, aren't you?"
"Huh?"
"Am I stammering or something?"
I was so frightened that I'd completely forgotten about the bet I'd made myself. I clutched the ground tightly, and I felt like throwing it in his face for shattering my moment of joy with a fact that was truly painful.
However, putting that aside, I realised something: I still have shortcomings that I cannot change—yet Mother has given me someone who can fill my shortcomings, just as I fill hers, the more often we carry out missions together.
"So that's when you started getting closer to Red?" asked the man sitting next to me, and I replied with a nod, unable to suppress a smile as I recalled everything we'd been through together—but, completely out of the blue, Robin suddenly said:
"I am not Red and I don't want to be seen as her—I am neither your best friend nor the person you can fully trust—I am still me, and I'm willing to be a friend you can take on many missions with and who will look out for one another."
My heart skipped a beat; my head slowly lifted and our eyes met—for a moment I thought it was Red standing beside me, saying those words. But it was just a man who bore a resemblance to the girl. I laughed, letting out all the amusement bubbling up in my stomach—I stood up before giving him a gentle nudge in the side.
"All right, please play along, mate."
Outside the monster's maw, the creature was still relentlessly chasing the ship beneath the night sky—the crew were panicking and shouting orders at one another; the ship was travelling very fast, but the monster was far quicker; it was so close that the tip of its head rammed the ship, causing it to spin round and round on the water.
The ship came to a halt and the monster drew even closer; the crew inside had readied the cannons and were about to fire, but suddenly the captain stepped forward and shouted, "Stop!" This made everyone freeze in their tracks; his dark eyes were fixed on the sea monster swimming towards them.
"Captain—!" One of the crew wanted to protest but fell silent when he saw Monstro freeze in place, as if trying desperately to hold its mouth shut; all the crew's eyes fixed on the scene—Liz, upon seeing this, had her eyes light up with hope.
"Could it be…?"
Just as their assumptions began to take shape, the monster's giant mouth opened—revealing two figures inside, along with two stone hands that parted and held the monster's mouth open like a window. A grappling hook was thrown, and with a deft movement, Liz caught it and secured it to one of the ship's masts, creating a firm hold.
It was strong enough to support the two of us as we flew and glided towards the ship; a man grasped the grappling hook's grip, his hand clutching mine tightly, and it was only then that I realised just how rough his hand felt against mine.
Everyone's eyes widened and their jaws dropped at the sight of the two of us; as our feet touched the deck once more, a wave of nausea immediately began to rise in my stomach, signalling that we were back on dry land now.
"ALICE! ROBIN!" The entire crew shouted our names and they immediately rushed over to surround us, their eyes all shining with admiration and awe. However, all that praise would have to wait for later because there was a monster we had to deal with right now, before it caused any more trouble.