The moment Darian opened his eyes, he found himself once again inside his mind. Around him, the icy place had become bigger after using the three tails; the trees had become taller and they were made entirely of ice.
"Snowy… ouch, my head," whispered Darian as he called his friend, slowly returning to his feet. As he got up, he positioned his hand over his head because he was feeling dizzy.
Snowy remained silent, floating in front of Darian.
"If I'm here, it means I'm about to wake up once again?" asked Darian. "Like every other time, it has always been like this…" he added playfully.
"But still, what even happened? I remember kicking that plushie's ass… but I guess I must have fallen unconscious after that. Are the others alright?" asked Darian as he sat down on the ice once again. Snowy stopped flying and landed nearby his legs.
"Exactly, they're still doing alright in the sanctuary. You don't have to worry," said Snowy.
Hearing these words, Darian let out a sigh of relief. "Oh… they're still doing alright…" Darian spoke normally until he realized that something Snowy had said felt a bit strange. "Still in the sanctuary?!" he shouted, as he couldn't believe it.
"Like, wouldn't I have been unconscious for at least a day?" he asked, surprised. Snowy nodded his head.
"At least three days," said Snowy.
'Then I guess I hadn't trained enough…' thought Darian. "Then why the hell are they still in the sanctuary?" he asked.
"Because only six hours have passed," said Snowy.
"What?" yelled Darian, confused. "Then why am I waking up only now?" he asked.
"It's because the fight is still going to be long, and having you unconscious will be a problem," answered Snowy.
"Then you'll wake up too?" asked Darian, excited, but Snowy shook his head. Right before the fox was about to speak again, Darian's body started to disappear, meaning that he would soon wake up.
"I've taken all the strength of the three tails. I'll remain unconscious for multiple days…" Snowy tilted his head, and before he could speak again, Darian had completely disappeared, hearing only these last words.
Snowy let out a sigh of relief, then smirked. "And it's because you want to discover other important things…" Snowy remembered all the times Darian had said how he wanted to discover and learn new things; remembering that, the fox smiled warmly.
"Hey, Darian!? Are you awake?" The first voice that Darian heard was Liro's. As he slowly opened his eyes, he found Liro and Orechin in front of him.
"Yeah… I'm awake…" When Darian had fully opened his eyes, he found the whole group around him. "What… what happened since I fell unconscious?" he asked, confused. The whole group was silent. Darian soon realized that they were at the entrance, and he was right in front of the ladder.
"Well, multiple things have happened…" said Liro as he scratched the back of his head awkwardly. Darian looked at him, confused.
"He was able to create an illusion that could speak and create any sound," said Orechin as he wrapped his arm around Liro's shoulder. Darian opened his eyes wide and remained with his gaze fixed on the two men.
"What? What do you mean, Liro?" shouted Darian as he got up and positioned his hands on Liro's shoulders.
"I-I don't even know, honestly…" Liro looked at the ground shyly before telling Darian exactly what had happened.
"That was clearly your soul… but what was it doing there?" While Liro was telling Darian what had happened, the scientist had sat down in a better position, and while petting the unconscious Snowy, he started to propose some ideas.
"That's what we believed too… and now that it has been set free, it feels like he has unlocked a new power," said Orechin. After all these hours, his body had turned smaller, especially because the sun had set and the light of the sanctuary wasn't enough for his body to become big again.
"We believed it happened because Liro wanted to do something that completely went against how he usually was," said Lily. "Like, just think—he was someone who was extremely scared a few days ago, and now he literally wanted to come and help you even if it would cost his life," she added happily. Liro again scratched the back of his head awkwardly.
"Well, but these are all theories. I've never read anything about this… so I guess the only option would be to ask the others in Therya or in Skar-Zhul and see if they know something more," said Liro. Everyone else agreed with him.
"Still… what happened with him?" whispered Darian as he pointed to Vane, who had remained quiet since he woke up and was sitting far from them, looking at his hands.
"We haven't told you everything that happened after my power started to change…" pointed out Liro. Darian looked confused when suddenly someone smashed his fist against the floor. As they turned towards the sound, they noticed it was coming from Vane.
"I could have saved her… she literally died in my hands," he said angrily. The others turned quiet, and Darian was the only one who remained confused.
"Please… just explain what happened!" he said.
After another 20 minutes, the group had finally finished explaining everything to Darian. Vane had remained alone the entire time, and it was almost 10 p.m.
"Then there was actually a girl… our theory was right…" pointed out Darian after hearing everything.
"That isn't what actually matters!" shouted Vane as he got up and yelled in anger. Darian, caught by the sudden reaction, jumped in surprise.
"Oh, right…" said Darian as he slowly turned quiet, his voice barely a whisper.
"We tried to convince him to go away… but he just couldn't hear us," said Tyel.
"We can't leave now! Our objective was to save the little girl inside the costume, right?" shouted Vane, but no one answered him. "Right?" he asked them again angrily. Now the group, while looking down, nodded their heads.
"And we failed… we weren't strong enough," said Vane as he looked down as well, his fist clenched. "But we can't leave now, especially not after what we've seen! We can't let her sacrifice go to waste!! We should go, save Catripple, and kick that fucking Ashikunz's and Zrelekai's asses."
Vane looked once again at his hands, and he could feel the touch of the small girl again. 'I know what it feels like not being saved…' Vane remembered his childhood and all the people who had passed in front of him without even looking at the small child trying to survive in the cold of Therya.
'At first, she didn't want to… but once she trusted us enough, she was ready to escape… to live a better life…' Vane closed his eyes and breathed heavily, trying to calm himself down. 'I would have loved for someone to save me from that condition… even if she lived for over 300 years, she was still a child… she didn't deserve that ending…'
"Listen, Vane… I would love to come with you and fight… I don't want to see that stupid Zrelekai anymore. If she exploded, it's definitely his fault," said Darian as he got up and walked towards Vane, who, surprised, opened his eyes and looked at his friend.
"But Snowy is unconscious. I'll be useless in the next fights," said Darian as he showed the unconscious Snowy to Vane, who gasped at the sight.
"He's right, Vane… we should first return to the base and think of something better…" Orechin got up too. As he started to speak, his voice was extremely sure of himself, but as he spoke, his body began to shake and he lowered his tone.
"But we're here… Catripple is probably close… and we don't know if they're going to kill her now…" whispered Orechin. "I agree with Vane. We've rested enough; we can continue. Darian and Syrmax will remain behind, but we can continue. We should not be scared… especially after we've come this far!" shouted Orechin.
"But we can't take the risk… they might kill us… it will just be a useless risk," said Lily. Liro, next to her, nodded his head.
"It is just going to be a huge risk. We should return and think of a plan," pointed out Liro.
"I agree with them… going without thinking is just going to be dumb," said Darian before turning to Tyel. "What do you think, Tyel? Do you think we should keep going?" he asked.
"Yeah, let's ask him. He's still the one who can look into the future," said Liro. As they looked towards Tyel, he closed his eyes for a moment.
'Midnight hasn't passed yet… dying would mean restarting the day from the start of this fight… and so many things have happened that I don't know if I'm going to be able to make them happen again,' thought Tyel.
'Like, am I going to be able to make Liro's power become this strong? Am I going to be able to save the child in the Seamstress's costume after that huge fight?' Tyel remembered all the things that Timehors used to say: "I'm always going to save everyone! No matter what it takes!"
'Timehors always used to save innocent people… even if he didn't know them… but me? I didn't feel the urge to go back and save the child in the Seamstress… was it because I didn't know her? Was it because I didn't want my friends to lose their progress?'
Tyel, after having these thoughts, shook his head. "I believe we should stop for now. Going deeper will just mean our certain death," he said with a serious expression.
"But…" said Orechin before getting interrupted by Tyel again.
"But nothing, Orechin… we've already lost someone like the child in the Seamstress… losing someone like you will just be a waste," said Tyel as he got to his feet now, too. "And I don't want to risk that… especially not after everything that happened today."
Before Vane and Orechin could speak again, Syrmax interrupted the group. "Silence," he ordered. The whole group looked at him, confused, and after everyone became silent, they heard what Syrmax had started to hear too: footsteps.
"They're coming from above…" whispered Lily. Everyone glanced around curiously when suddenly the trapdoor on top of the ladder started to move, as if someone was trying to open it.
"Maybe we don't need to go to Zrelekai, since he's coming directly towards us…" joked Vane. Orechin, next to him, laughed softly.
The group arrived right below the ladder. "Get ready to attack," said Lily as a root appeared next to her. The others nodded and everyone got ready. When the trapdoor started to open, a small light came from it, even though it was night.
As the group heard a voice, they all looked confused. "Oh, finally I've found the entrance." Although the trapdoor hadn't fully opened yet, the voice spoke, and the whole group already let out a sigh of relief. Once it opened fully, the group noticed that the voice was coming from Martheel.
Martheel, with a small lighter in his hands, smiled at the sight of the group.