damned_institute | Night 57: Test of Courage

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Night 57: Test of Courage

[From here.]

When Guy's vision cleared and that bright light had faded away, he found that he was somewhere else entirely. Luckily, it was nothing at all like that coliseum, except for the fact that it once again seemed to have switched to day -- or the illusion of it, at least. Granted, not much of the light from overhead was getting through due to the fact that they were now in a forested area, dense with trees and surprisingly tranquil. Was this somewhere out in the wilderness surrounding the institute, or was this all in their heads, like when they'd thought they'd been back in Baticul?

Guy couldn't help noticing that he was still soaking wet, so transporting hadn't changed that much. He was relieved to see that he was still armed, though. Even if everything seemed calm now, he wasn't going to assume that would last for long.

He saw some ruins up ahead that seemed to be the focus of the area; his instinct was to head there. First, though, he had to check on his friends.

As he turned, he saw Claude was there at his side, just as he'd thought, but... "Where's Anise?"

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The last thing they had time for now was an argument about who should go to save the girl, and yet Guy realized at a delay that Claude was worried about his phobia. It was a legitimate concern, but that hadn't even crossed Guy's mind until now. He knew from previous times that when it really mattered, he could work through his fear.

With his boots and socks kicked off, Guy started to strip his upper body as well, knowing that he would need as little water resistance as possible for when he swam to Anise's rescue. He threw his vest off and then turned to Claude, shaking his head.

"I'll be fine. When it comes to something like this, my phobia isn't an issue." Not that his heart wasn't pounding at the thought of having to take Anise into his arms, but he knew he could do it. "I've been trained in maritime rescue -- I can do this." He spoke with complete confidence, wanting Claude to know that he could trust him on this.

His only real concern was if he'd really be able to move those bars, seeing how Anise was having her share of trouble with it. Granted, his upper body strength surpassed hers by a long shot and he had a weapon to work with, whereas she was just using her bare hands.

The whorling sound of the cage’s chains releasing was safely buffeted by the water’s surface. It wasn’t until the sudden impact of stone and metal displacing the calm waters in jarring waves did interest from below peak. Like a Pavlovian urge, things from the shadows began to stir, cutting a path through the algae-caked bottoms with a hunger that hadn’t been satiated in a long while. Most fled the open waters for safety. One, long and deadly, glided through its domain without trouble.

The surface shifted ever so gently in the distance behind the pitiable girl that found itself stuck within the monster’s cage. The creature had laid dormant for years with no one to give sacrifice; the world around it had shifted and grown decrepit while it slept. Stone had crumbled and broken off into its territory as it tried to find its way back to the familiar sound of new prey. Its wide girth squeezed between two structures, leaving a delicate column to collapse into the water, alerting the newfound visitors that everything was not well within the lake.

"Maritime rescue?" Claude echoed, stunned. He hadn't known that, but he suddenly realized that it would explain why Guy was a much stronger swimmer than himself or Anise. The other man's confidence spoke volumes about his ability. Guy would not have said all that if he hadn't meant it. "Okay," Claude quickly added, not wanting to waste time.

Although he was about to insist on coming along as well, the sound of something large and heavy splashing into the water's surface caused him to instinctively whip his head around in search of the disturbance's source.

It wasn't difficult to discover where the noise came from. Waves and bubbles emerged from where the column fell. But more than that, Claude caught sight of a steady line of ripples. They moved with too much deliberation and purpose for him to ignore. Turning his body more fully to face the potential threat, he realized the trail of displaced water was likely heading for Anise's sinking cage.

"Dammit, something's coming," he told Guy, taking on a more urgent tone now. First, they had to deal with the possibility of Anise drowning, and now this? "You go rescue Anise! I'll handle whatever that is."

The water was creeping up past her knees when Anise became aware of something moving in the depths around her. She paused, watching and listening for more signs of movement... and got way more than she expected. There was a loud noise, and a nearby column was sent crashing into the water.

The displaced water rippled outward, hitting the cage, making it swing slightly and splashing against Anise. She'd managed to cover her face to brace herself for that, but by the time the water settled again, the level had risen to her chest.

What was that!? Some kind of monster? This was bad. If her friends couldn't reach her in time... no, not just that, but what if the monster got to them before that? Anise's friends wouldn't go down easily, but they couldn't fight properly underwater, and there was no telling how strong that monster was. Things were starting to look bleak...

Her body was beginning to lift from the ground, floating in the water. There wasn't any time left for struggling... she had to focus on breathing instead. The last breath she'd get to take would have to last as long as possible.

It seemed that he'd said the right things to get Claude to agree to let him go, which Guy was grateful for. He quickly set about unbuttoning his dress shirt and then shrugging out of it. Now that he was stripped down to just his pants, he would be able to swim out to the cage with much less trouble. The only problem was that he'd have to take his sword with him, but he'd be useless without it. He was just going to have to hope that he was good enough in the water to pull this off.

Of course, it couldn't be that simple -- not that it had even been simple in the first place. As a column further off crashed into the water, Guy realized that there had to be something living in this large body of water. Chances were that it was guarding the cage, or planning to.

The idea of some water-dwelling monster eating his drowned friend was more than enough to spur Guy into action. He realized that diving into a lake that contained some sort of creature was one of the more reckless things he'd done in a while, but it wasn't something he even had to think twice about.

"All right, Claude," he said, quickly turning to his friend and nodding. "Good luck." He didn't think it had to be said that he'd do everything in his power to save their friend. Instead, he raced to the edge of the platform they were on and dove into the water, sword in hand.

The element of surprise was gone now that waters rippled with his presence. It truly didn't matter one way or another. These strangers in his domain were ultimately helpless against its size and strength.

The water dweller gradually breached the surface for a better look. A rack of horns like a mountain range appeared first before its wide, serpentine head followed out of the water to stalk from yards away. Its giant, golden eyes were focused on the strange splashing that surrounded its cage. Now, out of the dark depths of its home, the serpent’s pupils made use of the opportunity to soak up the trickle of light that spilled out between branches and the crumbling roof of the temple. Those eyes were trained to pick up on the most minute motions and vibrations within the pitch black; it was not difficult to hone in on these poor creatures and eventually strike with brutal, overwhelming force.

Before he knew it, Guy gracefully dove into the water, intent on rescuing Anise from that sinking cage. He'd left the task of defending them in Claude's hands, which meant he definitely could not afford to screw this up. He swallowed hard, steeling himself for what was to come.

First things first, though -- he needed to get himself onto higher ground, and fast. Immediately, Claude's gaze snapped onto a stone alcove peeking out from the water just beyond the rock beneath his feet. He darted up one of the heavily-slanted columns and, after tossing his sword ahead of him, hauled himself up onto the roof.

Almost as soon as he'd retrieved his weapon and pushed himself back onto his feet, a large creature raised itself from the water, revealing its unusual horned head. Claude gritted his teeth at the sight. A snake!? No, it was far too large and monstrous. Rather than just a large snake, it looked more like a sea serpent from a fantasy novel or video game...

More than that, it was definitely fixated on where Guy had dived after Anise just moments ago. That thing must have heard the cage drop into the water, and now it was looking for an easy meal. Claude's eyes narrowed.

Not on his watch, dammit.

((To here (http://damned.livejournal.com/1150773.html?thread=79314229#t79314229).))

When the creature drew closer to the surface, Anise caught a glimpse of its body. A sea serpent...? When it swam nearby, she let go of the bars and pushed herself to the opposite side of the cage, not wanting to catch its interest... though the noisy moving cage probably did that for her.

As it raised its massive head to the surface, Anise's air grew scarce. She tilted her head upward and held herself steady to allow herself a few more breaths. This was it. A few more seconds, and she wouldn't be able to breathe anymore... That realization made her heart pound and eyes widen in terror.

"I... I can't..." Anise began to choke out, her voice cracking. She felt the water splashing against her chin then, and realized she couldn't afford to talk. She took a long, deep breath...

... and then the top of the cage sank below the surface.

Her eyes were closed tightly for that moment of submersion, and when she opened them again, she could see flashes of light from the surface. Claude's weapon...? So they were really going to try to fight that thing. Anise just had to hold out for as long as she could, and hope they'd make it in time...

Edited 2011-08-15 16:02 (UTC)

It became immediately clear that this was fresh water, not salt water. That should have been assumed considering they were in the middle of a forest and not near the ocean, but Guy was still relieved for it. He could actually open his eyes without it burning, which he needed to be able to do if he was going to free Anise.

He could tell that the cage was almost entirely underwater now, which meant that Anise was also holding her breath now. His lungs were larger than hers, though, so he couldn't use his own level of comfort as a measuring stick for hers. He'd trained to be able to hold his breath for long periods of time, on top of it all.

Guy couldn't help noticing the massive form in the distance. His vision was too blurred to make it out particularly well, but he could tell that it was lingering near the surface of the water. He'd just have to rely on Claude to keep it distracted.

With a few powerful kicks with his legs and some directing with his one free arm, Guy eventually swam over to the cage. He found the front of it, where a lock of some sort should have been, but there didn't seem to be anything like that. Forcing himself to concentrate, Guy grabbed onto one of the bars with one hand and then brought his sword forward with the other. He moved it hilt first toward a gap between two of the bars and then rotated it, putting all of his strength into trying to push them apart from each other.

It was a good thing that Anise was so small. He wouldn't have to make that large of a gap for her to slip through.

The light from the torches above was growing more distant. The only thing Anise could be thankful for at the moment was that the water wasn't as cold as the previous room's. In fact, going from such a cold body of water to one that was merely cool made the latter much more bearable than it would have been otherwise.

That still didn't mean anything if she couldn't breathe, though.

Through the haze of the dark water, Anise could see someone approaching fast. Guy! He came to save her! She'd never been so happy to see him, though it was hard to show it when she was struggling to hold her breath. Anise used one hand to hold her nose and mouth shut, and one to hold her down against the bars opposite from where Guy was, to keep herself from floating up or around.

It looked like Guy was trying to pry the bars wide open. Anise had tried that herself, but Guy had a lot more strength and a weapon at his disposal. She could only hope that he'd have more success than her.

Her lungs were burning, and she felt like she was choking. Anise was doing all she could to fight against the urge to breathe in, but it was a losing battle. She couldn't hold on much longer...

Trying to do a job like this when the cage was still falling was making it that much harder. The buoyancy of his own body was fighting against the way that the cage was sinking like dead weight, but Guy still did his best to brace both himself and the sword against the metal, putting every ounce of strength into it.

However, after another few seconds the cage settled against an outcropping of rock well beneath the water's surface. Now that it was stationary he had a better chance of actually pulling this off -- not that there was any other option. His lungs were starting to burn, every instinct screaming at him to forget all this and go back to the surface. He could have taken a moment to go take a breath, but it wasn't as if Anise had that luxury, and so he couldn't.

He felt a large displacement of the water even this far down, which he realized probably meant that that monster was on the move. Guy hoped that Claude could handle it on his own...

As he continued to apply pressure, he finally felt one of the bars giving way under him, and could even hear a fainting creaking sound as it started to move. If he just kept at it, if he forgot about the pressing need to breathe and just worked at this, then he'd be able to save her.

Anise winced when she felt the cage hit the ground, but it looked like it made things easier for Guy. The bars were moving...! She couldn't give up yet. Even if her body reached its limits, she just somehow had to hold out long enough for Guy. How horrible would it be for both of them if she drowned while he was just inches away? That just couldn't happen.

She watched Guy work without moving from where she was floating, though it was becoming too hard to hide the pain in her expression. It hurt. Her throat, her chest... There was a burst of bubbles from behind the hand she held over her face as the last of her air escaped. She just couldn't hold it in anymore.

Pain was becoming the least of Anise's worries, though. Since it had been so long since her last breath, she was starting to get dizzy. Her ears were ringing and her sight was dimming... but she knew it would all be over if she let herself lose consciousness just then, so she tightened her grip on the bars behind her and did her best to focus on where Guy was. Just a little longer...

The pained expression on Anise's face was surprisingly clear from where Guy was positioned, and it only added to the adrenaline coursing through him. He had to do this, he had to save Anise and relieve the agony that she was going through. And more than that, he had to think about himself, about how his body was going to give in before long. His time was running dangerously short.

But continuing to add pressure to the hilt of his sword as he pushed against the bars caused the gap to widen even further. That had to be large enough for Anise's head to fit through, didn't it? And if her head could clear it, then she would probably be able to squeeze the rest of her body through too. Her small frame was really going to work in their favor this time.

Dropping the sword to his side, Guy pulled himself closer to the gap and then stretched his free arm through it, reaching out for her. And at that moment, his phobia wasn't even a part of his thought process. He just needed to get her out and back up to the surface of the lake before his strength left him completely.

The gap widened, and while Anise's vision was growing darker, she could see Guy's hand reaching for her. Her head was getting fuzzy, but she was able to push herself forward and reach her arm out in return. Her reach was clumsy and slow, and it took an extra second to find his hand and grab hold of it. Despite all the pain and terror she was feeling, that moment of contact brought immense relief.

As their hands touched, however, the reflex Anise had been fighting for so long finally overcame her, and she involuntarily took in a mouthful of water. Now she really was choking. The pain was unbearable, but she didn't even have to the strength to do anything about it. All she could do was weakly focus on her one lifeline.

Her grip was weak, but she held on to the extended arm with all the strength she could still muster, knowing it was her only way to safety. Guy would get her out. She had to trust in that.

Even with all of the odds working against them, their hands managed to meet, and for once touching Anise was a blessing rather than something he had to recoil from. Still, he could tell how weak her grip was and realized that she wouldn't even be able to move herself forward and out of the cage. Instead, he was forced to pull her himself.

As he'd guessed, her head made it through the gap without any problem, although trying to maneuver the rest of her body through was proving difficult, especially since he only had one hand to work with.

In the end, he had to be rough, yanking her further out and hoping that the momentum would be enough to twist her body the way it needed to be positioned in order to squeeze through the open space. He wished he could apologize to her then and there, but all of those words could be exchanged when he got her to safety.

Anise tried to cough up the water that had made its way into her airway, but she couldn't. Any attempt she made only let more water in. She realized she wasn't going to get any relief until she reached the surface.

Though completely disoriented, Anise could feel her body being pulled forward, the bars brushing past her. One of her boots was caught on the edge and was knocked off her foot, but Anise was fine with that. It would make it easier for her to move... or for Guy to move her, as was becoming the case.

She couldn't see anything clearly now, but she tried to pull herself closer to Guy, if only so her limbs wouldn't slow them down by flailing outward. Her consciousness was fading, but she knew Guy would take her up to the surface. Everything was going to be okay. She was going to be okay!

The second that Anise's hips cleared the gap, Guy realized that everything would be okay. Her legs followed with no problem and while she may have lost a boot in the process, it hardly mattered. She floated toward him as both of them pulled toward each other desperately and she finally reached his arms.

He quickly moved himself around so that she was nestled in against his side, his free arm wrapped around her shoulders tightly. And then, all he was focused on was getting the two of them to the surface as quickly as possible.

It was that instinct to survive that allowed him to move, kicking his legs with a fierce strength. He stared up at the light from above, only noticing when he was close to the top that some of the water nearby was stained red with blood. What--?!

But then they breached the surface and he took in huge, greedy breaths, coughing and sputtering. He still had Anise with him, but he didn't know if she was even aware enough to breathe in anymore. Some water had probably gotten into her lungs --

And so, even though part of his panicked mind was worrying for Claude, he had to take this one step at a time. He started to swim toward the closest collapsed column. Hang in there, Anise...

Somewhere between the rocky floor and the surface, Anise's consciousness slipped away. Her grip loosened, and her body fell limp. Her throat had already closed up, preventing more water from entering the airway... but it also kept the air out, and she remained unconscious after surfacing.

By the time that Guy reached the dry platform that he'd been aiming for, he could tell that Anise had passed out. He'd taken too long, though he knew how to handle this sort of situation too. He just needed to get some oxygen back into her system and hopefully after that she would have the strength to cough up most of the water in her lungs.

Guy dragged himself up onto the column, pulling Anise with him, and dropped his sword before he carefully laid her down. His adrenaline was still pumping through him to the point that he wasn't even thinking of her as a female but simply as someone to be saved.

But then he remembered Claude and the blood in the water and sent a panicked look around him in search of his friend. When he didn't spot him immediately, he yelled out: "Claude?!"

He couldn't take the time to wait for a response, though, not when Anise was probably not breathing at this point. He hoped that Claude would hear him and come in search of them, since the good news was that the serpent was nowhere to be seen. Maybe that meant --

But he couldn't think about it now. Instead, he leaned over Anise and pressed his mouth to hers, starting to breath fresh oxygen into her system for her. Anise was strong, stronger than a lot of people gave her credit for. She had to come back from this!

Fortunately for both of them, that was just what Anise needed. Before she was even aware of what was happening, Anise started coughing. Each cough was followed with a gasp, which brought enough air into her body to clear her head, little by little. Grabbing on to the nearest thing in reach (which turned out to be Guy's arm), she turned her body over to the side and continued the violent coughing fit, spitting water out onto the ground.

By the time the coughing began to lessen, Anise more or less figured out what had happened, even if she didn't remember anything between being pulled out of the cage and that coughing fit just then. Guy must have pulled her out of the water, and then... from the way he was bent over her when she came to...

Sitting up, Anise delicately touched her fingers to her lips, as if expecting to find some sort of evidence there. Did Guy just steal her first kiss!? That was definitely the last person she'd expect to try something like that.

Well, she could harass him about that later. Right now, there was something more important to say. Managing a wide, though weary smile, she cried out, "You did it! Oh, I knew you'd save me! My hero!" Since he was still close by, Anise threw herself at him, embracing him in a big hug. Since he was touching her just a few seconds ago, it was probably fine, right? Hey, maybe he was cured!

Her celebration was cut short by the realization that they were missing someone, and that she could smell blood in the air. Still holding on to Guy, but lifting her head away, Anise tried to look around. "Where's Claude?"

((Continuing from here (http://damned.livejournal.com/1150773.html?thread=79336757#t79336757).))

He wasn't sure how long he stayed still in that place, but it hadn't felt like much time before he thought he heard someone call his name. Not only that, but a girlish voice reached his ears as well. That must have been Guy and Anise. Claude let out a shallow breath in relief.

His head swam, and his blood burned like fire, but at least he hadn't been turned into snake food, and nobody drowned. When he looked at it that way, tonight could have been a lot worse.

"I'm fine," he called after a brief delay -- well, it must have sounded more like a croak with the way his voice grated in his throat. Picking up his sword again, Claude used the blade to try to give himself enough leverage to sit up a little more. His left hand wouldn't move, so the effort was more taxing than he would have liked.

Either way, he managed to catch sight of two figures further down the lake. His vision was a bit blurred, the light much brighter than it had been even a few minutes ago, but those were definitely people. Claude leaned against the stone wall beside him and brought his sword up into the air.

...Which would have looked cooler if he hadn't promptly dropped it, letting it clatter onto the ground. "Ow," Claude hissed under his breath. Suddenly angry and frustrated with himself, he gripped onto the stone with his uninjured hand and forced himself to stand.

That turned out to be easier than he'd expected. The moment that Anise started to cough, Guy pulled away, wanting to give her the space to get as much of the water out of her lungs as possible. He'd told himself that she'd be all right and that had turned out to be true. He credited that more to the girl's strength than his own swiftness, though.

Though it didn't take long for Anise's eyes to clear as she touched her lips. Had she felt that...? Guy hoped that she wouldn't bother mentioning it, since it had been done purely out of necessity --

But then she threw her arms around him, and while he knew that she was doing it as a way of thanks, he couldn't help tensing somewhat at the contact. He managed to not scream or shove her back, at the least, but he knew that this wouldn't last. By tomorrow his phobia was probably going to be back in full force, unfortunately.

When he heard a voice from behind him, Guy took that moment to carefully push Anise away from him and turn toward the source. The first thing he saw was the body of a huge sea snake -- how had he missed that?! -- and the second Claude's sword waving in the air. "He's right over there," he remarked to Anise as he smiled. So they had all made it!

And more than that, Claude had taken down that monster singlehandedly. Guy wasn't about to deny that he was impressed. "We're over here!" he called out as he waved back to the other blond. "And we're both fine!" More or less, anyway. He doubted that Anise felt one-hundred percent right then, but she'd be all right.

When she heard Claude reply, Anise turned to face the direction of his voice. Guy had gently pushed her away, which was a little disappointing, but at least she'd had her little moment of celebration. She moved to stand up, but found that her legs were wobbly, and so she remained sitting on her knees just to be safe.

Luckily, she didn't need to stand to see what she needed to; that serpent's body was pretty hard to miss. And there was Claude, sword in hand... well, it was in hand... but most importantly, he was still standing! Wait... did he beat that huge thing all by himself!?

"W-wow!" she gasped, looking from the beast to Claude. Anise knew Claude was strong, but she never thought he'd pull off something that cool! And she missed the whole thing! It didn't seem fair.

Anise joined Guy in waving, trying to look as healthy as possible, even though she still felt pretty awful. "Heyyy!" she shouted with a big smile, "We made it!"

Well, they certainly seemed energetic, Claude thought to himself with a half smile. Then again, they were likely trying not to act too bushed for his sake. When he thought of how things could have turned out, a cold chill settled in the pit of his stomach. Man, they were so lucky to all make it out of that alive. If something terrible had happened to Anise or Guy...

Well, they didn't have to dwell on that, and so they needed to bask in the moment. After slowly reaching for his sword with his right hand, Claude stumbled into the water and dragged the blade behind him. It was shallow enough in some places where he could wade most of the way, though his blood-soaked clothes provided more resistance than he wanted. As tiring as it was, and as much as it aggravated his wounds, the water also felt oddly refreshing now that no one was in danger of drowning.

Funny, how near-death experiences could change someone's perspective in the blink of an idea.

Eventually, he drew close to where Guy and Anise were perched. Heaving in a tight breath, he brought his sword up onto dry ground and began hauling himself up. It hurt, but he just told himself he wouldn't have to move anymore once he settled down with his friends.

Guy got onto his feet to keep an eye on Claude while he made his way over. The man had to be exhausted after what he'd just been through; while Guy hadn't seen the fight, he couldn't imagine that it had been easy on his friend. That became even more certain when Claude got close enough that Guy could see his torn shirt and the wounds at his side, not to mention his hand.

"Here," he said, drawing forward and grabbing for Claude's good arm to help him up. "I can't believe you took that thing down on your own." He glanced over Claude's shoulder at the monster once more, marveling at the sheer size of it. He would have asked Claude how he'd pulled it off, but all of them were probably too exhausted for a long story like that.

Besides, it wasn't like Claude had come out of it completely unscathed. Once Claude had both feet on the platform, Guy moved back, giving him the space to sit down. "Thanks for dealing with that. If that thing had come after me while I was trying to free Anise, we would have had a serious problem."

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