Enza was fighting to catch her breath.
She stood on a thin ledge of glass.
On one side, a churning crystalline ocean. On the other hand, a drop of certain death to the snow far below.
Directly across from her was a wall of jagged rock—a nearly vertical mountain face. There was a platform cut into the mountain at the same height as the opening in the snow globe. Beyond it, a tunnel extended into the rock.
And connecting the glass ledge to the platform was a bridge of red and green yarn…
It looked like it had been tied by hand or even finger-knitted. The only difference was that it was large enough for a human to walk on the strands—but only if one were careful. There were countless gaps to slip and fall through to the snow below.
Athalia's weight was exhausting Enza's arms.
I need to move fast… I can't cross the bridge safely while unbalanced like this…
She threw Athalia's body over her shoulder like a sandbag.
That's a bit more comfortable…
She took in a deep breath and bent her knees, then carefully took the first step onto a criss-crossing strand of yarn. It flexed under her weight, but it held.
The storm inside the snow globe behind her was growing stronger and stronger. The air around her was slowly swirling…
I have only moments before the real shaking starts.
She fumbled her way across the bridge, doing her best to not look down between the gaps. With a burst of strength, she tossed Athalia onto the rock outcropping before scrambling up herself.
RRRRRUMMMMMBLLLLLEEE
The hairs on Enza's arms stood up completely straight. Her vision vibrated with the ground beneath…
Picking up Athalia again, she hobbled towards the tunnel opening in the rock face.
She felt around on the inside wall…
There!
She slammed her fist on a button as she dragged both of them across the threshold. A slab of rock immediately slammed down behind her.
It was completely dark and silent, other than Enza's ragged breathing. The tunnel was insulated from the outside and didn't appear to be affected by the shaking. She started to slump against the wall but quickly straightened herself.
I can't rest… not yet…
She laid Athalia down on her back, nearly tripping over her in the process.
Farther down the tunnel is the next area of the stratum. It's well-lit there, and it wouldn't take long to reach. However, I need to perform any necessary treatments now—we can't enter the next area without both of us being ready to participate.
Usually, a few matches are enough to light up this tunnel for the purpose of walking through it. But I can't light matches with one hand and operate with the other… I can't do the operation myself. Damn, it's times like this that an Instrument that brings light would be especially handy. Most of the Mountain has ambient lighting, so we rarely consider it...
Enza looked down at the organic armor covering her body.
I really don't have a choice, do I?
In the pitch darkness, Enza unhinged her jaw like a cobra. She took out a small container of water from her waist and dumped it all down her throat at once.
A strange, guttural growl came from deep within her chest.
POP
There was a wave of pressure, and Enza's chest exploded open like a balloon.
The chunk of armor covering her chest had been completely blasted away. However, the damage didn't stop there…
Her skin had been torn open in four rough strips like blooming flower petals, revealing her rib cage underneath.
Inside Enza's chest…
There were no organs inside Enza's chest.
Not a heart, nor a pair of lungs…
There were only the bones of her ribcage, and within, there was a Venus flytrap taking up the space where her organs should've been. Its roots entangled with and merged into her bones as it opened its maw wide, awakening from its slumber.
This process didn't appear to cause Enza any pain. She glanced down at the flytrap in her destroyed chest and spoke to it rapidly. It angled its maw upwards to 'look' at her. Even through the dark, she could feel the gaze of the eyes it didn't have.
"Do not do anything until I give the go-ahead, or I'll tear you out by the roots. I'm going to light a match and remove her blindfold so the damage can be properly assessed. After that, do everything you can to mend her."
The flytrap straightened its stalk when its roots were threatened. It slowly tilted forward towards Athalia in anticipation…
Enza lit a match on the wall and held it over Athalia. The darkness was held back just enough.
She immediately felt queasy…
Warping in the shadow was Athalia's unconscious face. The lower half of her sharp features were frozen in pain. Trails of blood trickled from her eyes in all directions. On the borders of the blindfold, multiple layers of skin had been peeled up like one big sticker, taking the adhesive along too.
Enza fought back her nausea and forced herself to act like a doctor. Explorers couldn't lose their cool over a little blood and flesh. She took out the squirt bottle of adhesive remover and applied it around Athalia's eyes.
As she reached down to peel off the blindfold, her hand paused.
After I take it off, the adhesive is going to be mixed in with the wet wound. It has to be cleaned out. Is that even possible? I didn't consider it… In that case, is it safer to leave the blindfold on?
No, by the looks of the damage from only what's visible, it's a guarantee that she'll never see anything again if I don't let the flytrap give it a shot. She would never forgive me. She'd prefer that I try something and have her die from some brutal infection in the process…
She held the match with her teeth, supported the back of Athalia's head, and attempted to peel the blindfold off in one go. With the sound of wet paint, it started to come loose…
Enza felt a sudden resistance—a tug in the opposite direction.
The light from the match was fading, so she quickly rushed to identify the problem. She felt her hand around under the blindfold.
Her hand brushed against a string.
And then another.
Two strings…
Two wet strings.
She pulled back her hand reflexively. Even before she had fully processed what she had touched, that hand was trembling.
That was because she knew there was only one thing that could cause such a sensation in that spot…
With the last glimpse of match light, she got a full view of the damage.
Two little marbles were stuck to the blindfold. White and gruesome ones.
Attached to each was a sinewy strand. They trailed down to Athalia's face and led into her emptied sockets, which were now just vague depressions in a mess of gore and black goopy adhesive.
The large marbles came unstuck from the blindfold and landed back on Athalia's face with a wet plop.
Enza's mouth dropped open in shock. She wanted to tear her eyes away the sight, but she didn't have to. It was already pitch black again. The match fell from her limp hand.
Even through her shock, she knew she couldn't leave the flytrap hanging for long.
"Well… you saw it. Do everything you can. Draw on my body's nutrients if you have to, but don't take more than 30 percent. If you can't clean the wound, still try to reattach the eyes."
She heard the rustling of leaves as the flytrap snaked out of her chest to obey her commands.
Her legs finally couldn't take the quaking, and she sank to the ground, slumping against the wall of the tunnel. Her arms rested on the flesh that had exploded from her suit when she awoke to the flytrap. She immediately pulled them back due to their association with recent events…
She stared into the darkness in front of her.
Images of Athalia's face flashed by…
Her cunning grin with that chipped canine tooth she gave herself once. Her unreadable, deep brown hawk's eyes.
What happens if it doesn't work?
What happens if she loses her vision?
What happens if she dies?
Enza reached up to smack herself in the face over these thoughts but remembered she shouldn't disturb the flytrap's work, so she just pinched herself on the cheek.
None of that is within my control now. I've done everything I can. And to continue to do so requires remaining calm. If I think I feel bad now, imagine how I'd feel if those very thoughts led to an incorrect decision and a worse outcome.
But it's easier said then done… This is scary, for god's sake… Must we really explore the Mountain?
The tunnel's insulation provided warmth, but Enza felt a rush of cold.
She felt farther from home than she ever had. She wanted someone else to be there…
In fact, there was, but Enza couldn't bear to think about her right now.
Fear began to tingle in her fingers and crawl its way up. The darkness, the sound of the rustling leaves and plant stems digging into slime and flesh…
A minute passed, then another, and another.
How long has it been? Ten minutes? Fifteen? I don't think I can stand another five… Damn, why am I acting so weak? I'm not the one injured… Athalia might die…
The flytrap laughed to itself.
When it was watered, it truly became a part of her, so it was only natural it was privy to some of her thoughts.
You weakling… you coward.
Do you think it's fun to be all dried up in the center of your hollow chest all the time? Do you have any idea how thirsty I get? I only get used on expeditions, which is almost never.
Complaining about exploring the Mountain… I'd kill to grow legs and taste freedom like that, to taste freedom itself. If this mouth could talk, I'd tell you all the ways you're wrong. And I'll demand a thousand thank-you's for this job right now. This sure is disgusting…and not easy by any means. Since when is a surgeon only allowed a single glimpse of the wound before they operate?
The loose ends of the flytrap's roots were making hundreds of tiny stitches around Athalia's eye area. After a few more moments, the botanical maw pulled back to observe its work. The eyes had been loosely set into sockets shaped from winding stems. The strands of sinew that were attached to each eye and led into Athalia's brain had each been braided together with hair-thin vines.
Strangely, the goopy adhesive had disappeared completely. It was as if it had been absorbed into Athalia's face just before the flytrap began its work, even though Enza had laid eyes on that very goop only moments prior. The flytrap just assumed she had been talking crazy and hallucinating when she told it to look out for such a problem.
Prep's done. Now it's time for a snack…
The flytrap wished its mouth was flexible enough to smile at Enza. Not that she would be able to see it in this darkness.
It darted toward where her gloves exposed her fingers and tore off a thin piece of skin. Enza yelped in surprise.
"Hey! What are you doing? Use the skin from my chest; I don't have any nerves there."
Sorry, lady. Replacing such delicate skin requires a graft from an area that's nearly equally delicate. The hand works, unless you'd like me to use your eyelids instead…
Enza quickly realized the flytrap must have its reasons and clenched her teeth through the pain as it ripped more skin from her hand.
After a few more drawn-out minutes, with intermittent flashes of pain on her hands to keep her sense of time, Enza heard the rustling of leaves once more. She forgot about any pain in her hands as she stood up. She must have been sitting for longer than she thought, because all the blood rushed to her head. She stabilized herself to avoid stepping on Athalia.
Enza was startled to hear a groan from below her.
"Nghhhh… ahhhhh…"
Awake so quickly? Does that mean it went wrong or went well? I need light, but first…
She grabbed Athalia's face and gently forced her jaw open, dropping a small yellow pill inside. She massaged her throat until she swallowed.
Enza struck another match on the wall.
Is this my last one? That sure is inconvenient.Better make it count.
As her eyes adjusted to the scene before her, she nearly dropped the match directly onto Athalia's head in surprise, which would have charred her hair to an even more unflattering extent.
Athalia looked…
Completely fine?
Other than trails of dried blood on her face, she looked just as she had before the snow globe crossing. The black adhesive was completely gone.
The flytrap provided a complementary cleanup service? Even after I threatened it? That's one generous plant…
And seriously, how did it do such a good job? I was hoping for adequate results in the best possible scenario. The goop was all mixed in, and the damage was…well…
These eyes are, without a doubt, Athalia's, down to the shape. Also, I don't feel tired myself. The flytrap didn't require a noticeable amount of nutrients from me, only skin. Who the hell gave it an upgrade?
She realized her thoughts were wasting the match. She glanced down at the flytrap in her chest, which had curled itself up into a tight ball. It was all dried out now. She wanted to pat it gently but knew ruining its beauty sleep was a terrible idea.
She reached down and began grabbing the fallen chunks of her armor, stuffing them back into the frame like a kid stuffing papers into their backpack just minutes before school. She gave it a final smack into place, and her armor looked mostly like it had before, albeit with slight rearrangements.
Now I just have to wait for her medicine to wear off.
Enza finally had the clarity to consider what had happened inside the snow globe.
I can't believe I wasn't attacked at all… Why is that? I mean, the Institute as a whole has no idea why the books and pages attack in the first place, so any guess would be conjecture.
Although I do have my personal theories regarding this topic.
They only go for the eyes, right?
Doesn't that mean they want to show us something?