53 A demon, a door, a dungeon

When we arrived at the nurse’s office, Arkifa was still sleeping soundly, and when Zeeta broke into the room and tried to shake her awake yelling, “Stop sleeping, you demon!”, Aika Zarate chased him out in a rage. Well, I got mad too. I knew Zeeta just wanted to find Linah as soon as possible, but hell, he had to pull himself together. After he left, I waited for some time, hoping Arkifa would wake up, but… she didn’t, and all I did was silently gaze at her. The image of her long, black hair glued to her sweaty face and her skin paler than usual didn’t leave me as I followed Ray to the Wind House to get our luggage. Arkifa was obviously still struggling to stabilize her inner energy.

“Geez,” I sighed. “Maybe she doesn’t even know where she sent Erma.”

“Probably,” Ray agreed. He stopped in front of the house. Oh. We were already there. “Armen? Armen?”

“Yeah? What is it?”

“You… wouldn’t happen to be affected by the demonic energy you ate, would you?”

Huh? He was still worried about that?

“I’m fine. I’m glad you worry about me, Ray, but finding Erma is more important right now.”

“… Hmm,” my master nodded sparingly, and he disappeared inside his room.

In a few minutes, I gathered all my things—my violin, my clothes, my notebooks, as well as the book Wisdom had gifted me. I paused for a while in the corridor, looking over the balustrade, at the hall, the stone walls, the big, round table my companions had been eating meals… and I shook my head. It was sad that I wouldn’t be able to see Nina, and Noah, and Styzz, Jing, Lei, and Giant Sasha again, but… I grinned. I was happy I had met them.

Walking into Ray’s room, I commented:

“I told you I won’t leave Phoenix until we’ve found Erma, didn’t I?”

Ray was putting his laptop into his bag while Rainbows was running around him happily, wondering what was going on. He glanced at me.

“You did.”

I gave a relieved nod and crouched by Rainbows, saying:

“You must be hungry, lil sister.”

I opened a crab meat can for her. By the time she finished, Ray had packed up everything. As we walked out of the room, he paused by the door, and I let out:

“You forgot your favorite book under the pillow. Makler Vod’s book.”

Ray snorted at my joke.

“You scared me for a moment. I didn’t bring it here.”

“Heh. So it’s true it’s your favorite book.”

“It’s not. Let’s go.”

We left the house, crossed the courtyard, and just reached the first escalator when we came across Styzz. The sky was almost completely dark by now, and Electromorpheus was holding his umbrella as a staff, walking with elegance.

“Oh, guys, are you still searching for…?” He fell silent as he saw our luggage and frowned at Rainbows. “Are you moving?”

“Er… That’s right,” I said. “But we won’t leave Phoenix until—”

“Moving?!” a voice repeated from the escalator. I saw Noah, Jing, and Nina pick up the pace and arrive at the top of the stairs. The crimson-haired guy was putting a face of disbelief. “You mean, you’re leaving the Wind House? Why now? Ha,” he scoffed, “don’t tell me you guys are gonna sleep in the instructors’ quarters because you got scared by the fatty’s kidnapping? Hahaha!”

“That’s not—”

“We quit the training,” Ray declared, cutting me off. A blanket of silence fell over everyone. Then he turned his back on them saying: “It’s been a pleasure. Good night.”

He began to go down the escalator just like that, Rainbows on his heels. Geez… Couldn’t he be a bit more tactful sometimes? I grimaced then turned to our astonished companions. To think I had to leave them for the mere reason I was an undead… But then again, I felt happy to have met them. Nina with her quiet yet passionate love for plants, Jing with her dream of becoming a true virtuous hero, Styzz with his easily swayed yet reliable personality, and Noah… Noah…

I put my fist on my chest.

“Nina. Jing. Styzz. Noah. I’m glad I met you guys.” I chuckled, remembering the dinners, the race, the lessons, my death melody, the gardening… “Heh. It was fun.”

None of them smiled, though.

“Ah… This isn’t goodbye, guys. Let’s exchange phone numbers. Or I’ll just give you mine. Yeah, let’s do that, but don’t forget to write, huh…”

As I quickly searched for a pen and a piece of paper, the four of them began to react. Noah loomed over me.

“Hey. Stupidstar. What’s the meaning of this? Quit the training? Because of what happened? What about the Sunclaw girl?”

“We’ll keep searching for her on our own.” I finished scribbling and put the note into his pocket saying: “Let’s meet again sometime, champ.”

I was already leaving, and he grabbed me by the arm.

“Hold on a sec. Why do you, too, have to…?” He fell silent, and I thought the situation was getting really awkward when he finally let go and growled: “It’s nice to be able to run away from the Nyomin just like that. Damn you.”

Yet another untactful guy who couldn’t just say goodbye in a friendly way. Well, whatever. I got on the escalator and began going down, a bit annoyed.

“Stupidstar!”

Despite myself, I turned and saw Noah hold up the piece of paper with my phone number. He tore it. How could he be such a bastard? Dammit. I should have given it to Nina. In the light of the escalator, I saw Noah’s grin.

“You scatterbrained fool, you already gave us your phone number back in Farskyer.”

I blinked. Really? I laughed.

“You almost got me angry, champ.”

Styzz held up his umbrella as if to bid farewell. Jing and Nina rushed to the top of the escalator. The former said:

“I don’t really get it, but take care, Armen!”

Nina hesitated, and I was already reaching the platform when I heard her yell:

“Thanks, Armen! I had fun, too!”

I grinned, waved, then walked to the next escalator with Ray and Rainbows. Then a thought came to my mind, and I sighed.

“Ray. Why are you so bad at saying goodbye?”

A feeling of uneasiness leaked through our necro-bond. My best friend shrugged.

“Who cares.”

I pondered. Who cared? Did I care?

We were already reaching the main square plunged in darkness when I said:

“Well, I do. So don’t say goodbye to me as if you’re taking your leave of an administrative officer.”

Ray raised an eyebrow and muffled a laugh.

“Okay. I’ll keep that in mind.”

Actually, don’t ever say goodbye to me, I rectified in my mind. I looked around and observed:

“Zeeta is not here yet. Do you think he came across Cesarine’s bodyguards?”

If Katya caught him packing up his things, given her stress right now, who knows what she was capable of. Ray suggested:

“Let’s see if Arkifa is awake.”

She was. When we entered the nurse’s office, she was answering some questions made by the Lightning Veil. She looked tired but in better condition than before. Lizzie nodded, straightening up.

“Thank you for your time, Arkifa Cythraul. I met your parents about ten years ago. They were famous Explorers among their peers.”

I raised my eyebrows as Arkifa gasped.

“You met them, ma’am?”

“Yes. Just once. We didn’t work in the same field. I think you have more visits. It’s time for me to leave. As a matter of fact,” she added as she walked to the door. “Ray. Please come. I have to talk with you.”

I grimaced as I felt his apprehension skyrocket. He swallowed and followed her into the corridor. I could only hear her dry tone when, surely seeing our bags in the hallway, she made her first question, “Son. Would you care to tell me where you are going with all this luggage?”, then Aika Zarate shut the door and squinted at me.

“Five minutes. And do not even dare raise your voice in here like the other friend of yours.”

Huh. Zeeta really got on her nerves. I smiled innocently.

“Thanks, ma’am.”

As I sat down on a chair by Arkifa’s bed, I opened my mouth, met Arkifa’s purple eyes, and kept silent. Come to think of it, there were so many things I didn’t know about her. After some seconds, I cleared my throat.

“Is your leg all right?”

Such a silly question. It was obviously not all right. Arkifa’s lips went up.

“It’s broken, but I will walk again in a month, according to the doc. Demons regenerate faster than normal humans.”

“Really? That’s great. So you are a real demon. To think the first girl I fell in love with was a demon. Heheh, as expected of a friend of mine. I can’t seem to make normal friends. Isn’t that amazing?”

“… Are you saying you are amazing because you can’t make normal friends?”

I laughed.

“The way you put it, I sound like a freak myself.”

There was a silence. Then…

“Thanks, Armen. And sorry. I should have told you I was a Firefly Demon.”

I shrugged.

“It doesn’t change a thing. Actually, there is also something important I haven’t told you either so…” I glanced at Aika Zarate sitting before her laptop and shook my head under Arkifa’s intrigued look. “But it’s not the time for that.”

“… True. I’m ashamed, but I totally misjudged Linah Sunclaw,” Arkifa admitted. “To think she threw herself to save me… I am pretty sure my unstable energies affected her when she touched me. That may be why her hand slipped. If not for me, everything would have worked out well.” She shook her head as I was about to protest. “Anyway, we fell. In the end, all I could do was teleport her away. The problem is, I cannot control the destination, let alone if I am in a hurry. So… I have no idea where she is. All I know is that she cannot have gone more than a few kilometers away. I’m sorry. The Lightning Veil told me they’ve been looking for her for more than four hours now. I’m sorry,” she repeated. “Compared to the powers of my parents, mine is just trash.”

I frowned. Arkifa didn’t know Linah’s whereabouts. Even though I had been prepared for the possibility, the reality hit me painfully. I sighed.

“You did your best, Arkifa. In a situation like that, it’s a miracle you could even react before hitting the ground. Anyway, thank Gods you are alive. Ashooka would have killed me if anything happened to you…” I looked at the plaster cast on her leg and rectified: “He may kill me anyway.”

Arkifa stifled a laugh and gave a growl of pain.

“Aaah… Ashooka can’t even kill a fly. Don’t worry. He’ll be angrier at me for keeping that demon thing a secret. It was a promise I made. I couldn’t break it.”

Not even for her boyfriend? She glanced at Aika Zarate and waved me forward before whispering to my ear:

“I actually told him part of it.”

Part of it? Which part, exactly? The truth was rather simple: she was a demon. Well whatever. It was clear that Arkifa hadn’t kept it a secret from Ashooka because of mistrust or fear of creeping him out but because of that “promise” she had made.

“So?” Arkifa added in a low, curious voice. “What is that important thing you didn’t tell me?”

“…!? Huh… It’s really not the time for that.”

Arkifa gave a calm nod.

“Okay. Whatever it may be, please know that just as you tried to protect me even though you just found out I was a demon, I will protect you, too.”

Under my wide-open eyes, she smiled and added:

“Like my mom used to say, a demon breaking a promise is not a true demon. I never told you about my parents, right. They worked for the WHO as Explorers, but because they were demons, they couldn’t be recognized as Heroes officially. When I was ten, they disappeared exploring one of the most dangerous dungeons on Earth. The Black Hole of Seattle. And that’s why I wanted to become an Explorer the official way to look for my parents and be also backed up by a real team. So I hid my identity, changed my name, all for that. But now that the instructors know… they definitely won’t let me become a Hero.”

“…!!” I think it was the first time I heard her talk about her parents. I was taken aback. “All because you are a demon they’ll prevent you from becoming a Hero?”

“It is not officially forbidden, but it’s as if.”

“Damn,” I snorted. “So… you think your parents might be still alive in that dungeon?”

Arkifa’s face darkened as her eyes glittered.

“I don’t think so. Most likely, they are dead. I just want to at least see that place with my own eyes. The WHO never sent any rescue team. Their disappearance wasn’t even officially reported by the organization. My grandma and I found out what happened only thanks to an old partner of my parents.”

“That’s…” I gasped, revolted.

I knew her grandmother had died a year before I had met her in middle school. That meant, ever since, Arkifa had been fighting with this alone, dreaming of becoming an Explorer to enter the Black Hole of Seattle, just as her parents did years ago.

“Thanks, Armen,” Arkifa added to my surprise. “I don’t know exactly how you did it, but you helped me stabilize my energy, didn’t you? Back on the lookout. How did you do it?”

She changed the subject so abruptly that I gave her a confused look. She misinterpreted it.

“Or maybe I’m mistaken,” she muttered.

At that moment, Aika Zarate rose to her feet, and I pouted as I felt her eagle eyes on me. I hesitated before I stood up.

“Arkifa. Say. What will you do if you can’t pass the Hero exam in summer?”

Her purple eyes gleamed.

“Don’t worry about that, Armen. You’ve got more urgent things to do, don’t you?”

I widened my eyes and nodded.

“The Lil Witch. You’re right. But before I go…” I took my red knit cap off and put it on her head, smiling. “Don’t you dare enter that Black Hole of Seattle before you give my beanie back.”

Arkifa looked at me in bewilderment.

“But it’s a gift from your mom, isn’t it?”

“Yeah. I love it. So don’t lose it. It looks cute on you, by the way,” I laughed as I stepped backwards.

“Do you know Phoenix is called the Island of the Eternal Summer?” Arkifa replied with a snort. “Who on earth would wear a knit cap on this island?”

“It’s a promise!” I said, turning my back on her. I smiled gratefully at Aika Zarate and opened the door, adding: “Take care, Arkifa!”

“Who promised what?” I heard her sigh before the door closed behind me.

I found Ray at the end of the corridor, waiting for me. I sent him a quizzical look, saw his, and shook my head gloomily.

“Arkifa has no idea where she teleported Erma.”

Ray didn’t look surprised. As we began going down the stairs, he answered my silent question through our necro-bond:

‘I just found out I’m incredibly bad at conveying simple ideas to my parents even when trying. Or maybe it’s just my mom, who can’t understand I am not a child anymore. Anyway, we looked like a crow and a baboon trying to understand each other.’

“Pffheh… Such a pity I didn’t see it. But what did you tell her?”

‘Nothing in the end. Her attention is too focused on what happened today. So she just repeated to me three times I couldn’t leave just like that without giving a good reason. And I repeated my good reason three times, saying that I’ve had it with the training.’

That was his good reason? Well, it’d have worked for me, but I could imagine that one of the Nine Crowned Fairies wouldn’t accept it.

Well, in a way, it was a relief. I had been somewhat worried that, after finding out about my nature, Lizzie might take some cruel measures to definitively keep Ray from wanting to ever revive any corpse…

We were arriving at the hall when we saw Zeeta sitting on the first step of the stairs, his guitar bag on his shoulders. As we stopped beside him, I noticed his gaze. He was staring at a closed door on the other side of the hall. Who was he spying on? No, more importantly: what was he doing, spying on the people in there?

“Zeeta?”

Zeeta put a finger on his lips, and we waited in silence for a moment. Finally, he stood up quickly and waved at us hurriedly. A lecture hall was just to our right, and the three of us walked in followed by Rainbows. Shortly after, I could hear voices in the hall. Some footsteps were coming our way, and I recognized Addison’s serene voice and that, sharper, of Angela Lasri, the Soft Queen. They passed by the corridor at a fast pace, then the silence returned, only interrupted by Zeeta’s and Ray’s breathing. I looked at the former intently.

“Any news?”

“Bad ones.”

Before his dark expression, my necro-heart skipped a beat. For some inexplicable reason, I recalled Linah’s prideful face when she was presenting her explosive cake to me. ‘It seems that Styzz and Noah ate the rest of the Shanghai pie during the night—those two are hopeless gluttons—and since you couldn’t even taste it, I thought: what if I make a cake? And so, I did!’

“What are you crying for?!” Zeeta snorted. “Erma’s not dead yet, or so the instructors think. They sent Addison and the Soft Queen to rescue her.”

“…?!”

“Rescue her? So they know where she is?” Ray asked.

“They say she must have been teleported in the dungeon below.”

My jaw dropped. The dungeon! Why didn’t I think about it sooner? Zeeta added:

“The problem is, it seems the dungeon is quite big, and they have no idea where she might be. Well, they say that as long as she doesn’t touch anything and waits for help—”

“We’re talking about Linah here!”

“I know, Straw Head, I know! That’s why I’m gonna go after the instructors and follow them into the dungeon.”

“I’m going with you!”

“Aren’t you supposed to ‘leave by tomorrow’?”

“So are you. Who cares?”

“It’s dangerous.”

“I know that. Let’s go.”

We didn’t have much time to decide, anyway, if we didn’t want to lose track of the trainers.

Zeeta could still hear their footsteps, and he led us through the corridors, to some stairs, then more corridors, then more stairs. We stopped for a moment at Zeeta’s silent command, then descended as quietly as possible, aware that we weren’t supposed to be there. A shut metallic door in a dim-lit, empty circular room received us downstairs.

“Crap.” Zeeta restlessly inspected the huge door and the opening device with ten numbers. “Damn codes. Is that as far as we can go?”

Ray’s face darkened.

“We have no idea how many digits the code has. I’d say four would be the bare minimum for a place like this one. Best case scenario, there are ten thousand possible combinations.”

I gave him a frightened expression. Zeeta glared at him as if Ray was responsible for making the situation harder. I stepped forward, squinted at the code machine, and smiled.

“Never say die.” I indicated the device and said: “Four, seven, eight. They have rests of lifeforce on it.”

Zeeta and Ray gaped at me. I added:

“So… I don’t know how to calculate, but there must be fewer possible combinations, right?”

“Factorial three,” Ray murmured. “That makes six combinations. But maybe some of those digits are used more than once. If it’s a four-digit code, then that would make thirty-six combinations…” Ray grimaced. “But there’s probably a blocking system after a given number of failed attempts.”

“Let’s do it,” I replied, stepping aside. “I trust you, Ray.”

“Don’t put pressure on me.”

Ray made the first attempts for three digits: four-seven-eight, four-eight-seven, seven-four-eight… Each time, the screen displayed the message: «Sorry, try again». Luckily, the system didn’t freeze.

“Let’s go for a four-digit number now.”

The first failed. The second did as well. Zeeta groaned:

“It’s four-eight-eight-seven!”

Ray shrugged and typed the number. «Sorry, try again».

“Don’t play the lottery, Zeeta.”

“Shut up, Straw Head. At least I tried.”

While Ray was typing combination after combination, I took a meditation stance and then said:

“Eight-seven-four-eight.”

“Did the Holy Gods tell you?”

I nodded at Zeeta with an earnest face.

“They did.”

Ray grumbled.

“You almost made me type a combination I already used. Could you shut up, you two? I’m trying to concentrate.”

Zeeta’s left eyebrow twitched, but we fell silent. Oddly, my tension had dropped a bit. True, dungeons were dangerous, but this one wasn’t the Black Hole of Seattle. The instructors had even planned an expedition there as part of the training. So, yeah, maybe Linah was struggling somewhere, but at least the instructors thought she was still alive. Even so, since they didn’t know where to find her in the dungeon, I couldn’t just stay put. Zeeta seemed to be feeling the same way.

We then heard a metallic creak.

The door was opening! Beyond it, a tunnel was going down, its walls cracked by time, with embedded, tiny orange crystals. A dungeon. It was the first time in my life I was seeing one. The Dungeon of the Phoenix Turtle.

Ray turned to us with an excited glint in his eyes.

“Let’s go,”

As soon as we entered the tunnel though, Ray flinched, and Zeeta stopped, breathing hard. Rainbows and I looked at them, confused.

“The pressure,” Ray explained, frowning as he regained his composure. “It’s… just like in the Qi Staircase.”

So the dungeon’s pressure was stronger than outside. Well, that was to be expected.

“How much pressure?” I asked.

“About the same pressure there was in Helly’s room at Yuutow Tower, I’d say.”

That was a lot, wasn’t it?

“Hmm. Know what?” Ray muttered thoughtfully. Without adding a word, he looked at Rainbows. The tabby cat pouted but silently crossed the gates again, leaving the dungeon. He nodded satisfied and smiled as if he was praising her through their necro-bond. I swallowed, worried.

“Ray… We’re gonna leave her behind?!”

“Though she didn’t feel anything, she’s not as resistant as you are to qi pressure yet. Besides, we don’t know how much time we’ll be in here. Phones don’t work, but it seems the barrier just behind those gates doesn’t stop my necro-bond from working. With Rainbows outside, I’d still be able to talk to my dad if he comes. Just taking some precautions. As for him…”

I followed Ray’s gaze and looked at Zeeta worryingly. He was bending forward, his palms on his knees, trying not to collapse. At the same moment, the metallic door began to automatically close behind us. I could only grasp the fleeting image of Rainbows going upstairs with muffled steps before it was completely shut. There was no device to open it from the inside. Maybe there was a button somewhere? Ah, yes, there was. Not that it was our main concern right now, but…

Zeeta was gasping for air.

“You should lie on the ground,” Ray suggested. “Qi pressure tends to be lower around soil and rock.”

Zeeta’s knees buckled, and he landed on his four, but instead of following Ray’s advice, he got back to his feet, shaking like a leaf and smiling fiercely.

“I’m fine.”

“You’re totally not!” I snorted.

“Qi pressure can be dangerous for those who are not trained to resist it,” Ray stated. “You can even die if you stay here for too long, you know.”

Die?! My eyes opened wide.

“Zeeta, how about you—?”

“It’s okay,” Zeeta grunted loudly. He took a step forward, fighting against his own body. “Maybe because I tried to kill myself so many times, I somehow can tell if I’m gonna die or not. This is nothing. I’m gonna rescue the Lil Witch. Aren’t we, Straw Head?”

His eyes were flaring. Once Zeeta was determined to protect someone, there was no stopping him, even if it killed him. That was my stalker’s reckless yet amazing way of living. I knew he wouldn’t forgive himself if he gave up now. My mouth broke into maybe the most nervous smile I ever made as I uttered:

“Okay. Then… let’s go tame this dungeon and find Erma.”