New Friends Pt. 2

"Crescent… I mean Cress." Cress reached up to push her absent glasses up  painfully jabbing the bridge of her nose.

"It's nice to meet you, Cress. My name is Mia. Behind me are Dian and Marcel."

"Hmm. Now that I'm looking at her, she's kind of cute."

"I wish I could say the same," Cress snapped. She'd never liked the flirty male archetype.

"You're not the only one," Marcel chimed. "If the man trained as much as he fucked, he'd be worth something."

"Marcel! Don't use that kind of language, especially not in front of a stranger!"

"Sorry…" Marcel's rugged cheeks flushed at Mia's scolding and Cress had to fight back the urge to laugh. Clearly Marcel had a thing for the young healer and Cress couldn't help but wonder if the feeling was mutual. It was a better ship than Dian and Mia.

"Let me help you to your feet."

Cress nodded and took Mia's hand. Each movement was like lifting a thousand pounds with a body that felt like one giant bruise and Cress wondered if she'd just fall back down. To her relief she was able to maintain her balance and she looked around.

Above the group a small orb of white light floated, illuminating the stone passage. Several others levitated down the tunnel and down a ways she could see the disfigured, burnt corpse of the giant spider, or Cave Stalker as they'd called it. Even looking at its body made Cress's heart race and she quickly turned away from it. Like before, a cozy feeling flooded wrapped around her, flooding her senses with a calmness she'd only felt one time when she'd accidentally taken too many anxiety pills.

"Don't worry, it can't hurt you anymore. Do you want me to take you over so you can be sure?"

Cress shook her head vigorously, her mind growing hazy as the calming feeling flooded her senses to the point Mia was looking at her with concern. "I'm fine. I just don't like spiders."

"Then you're in the wrong cave," Marcel said. "The place is infested with them because a queen moved in."

Even though Cress could feel the calming spell kick into overdrive, she could feel her heart start to race and she dropped, hunched over on her knees. She gagged several times, though nothing came up, gasping for air each time while Mia held her hair and rubbed her back.

"I've… never seen that before. Are you okay?"

"I just need my purse," Cress replied, hugging her trembling body tightly. "I just don't do spiders."

"Then we should prioritize taking her back to town, right guys?"

To Cress's surprise, both men of the party nodded somberly in agreement. Even Dian's smile was nowhere to be seen and suddenly Cress felt incredibly vulnerable and naked. Then, realizing she didn't know if she was or not, she looked down at herself.

As she expected, her brown and white cardigan was in tatters, though somehow it had managed to maintain its shape. Likewise, though her skirt was torn, it wasn't completely destroyed. Unlike her white leggings.

Like her skirt and cardigan, Cress's leggings were torn, with long runs down them. Between the tears and red blood stains they were ruined, to be sure, but what mortified Cress was the large yellow stain running down the left leg. Her cheeks flushed and she dropped down, trying to cover her shame with her ruined skirt.

"It's okay," Mia said, crouching down and putting her hand on Cress's back again. "Right guys?"

Cress's ears burned at Mia mentioning the men of the party, but to her relief, both looked away acting like they hadn't seen anything.

"What's okay?" Dian asked, pretending to count the crossbow bolts strapped to his thighs. He was a terrible actor.

"Sometimes it's better to not say anything," Marcel said, walking past Mia and Cress to where dared not look. A moment later she held out Cress's dirty, but otherwise intact purse to her. After she took it, he walked over to a pack tossed carelessly against the cave wall. He quickly untied a coarse brown blanket from it and a moment later wrapped it around Cress's shoulders, earning an approving smile from Mia.

"Thank you."

A soft grunt that felt more fitting than a real response was all Cress received in reply and Cress couldn't fight back her smile at the man's generosity. She felt exhausted and ragged, and she wanted nothing more than to be at home in her bed telling William the Bird to shut up while she lounged in bed for a month straight. But, since that wasn't an option, being with such kind people was the next best thing.

"Do you have any water?" Cress asked Mia as she reached into her purse. To her relief, her meds were still there along with, unexpectedly, everything else she had on her. She wasn't sure how long it had been since she took her last pill, but at this point she didn't really care. The calming spell she was under could fade at any minute and if she didn't want her saviors to have to see the mess she knew she was going to be in once they started traveling again.

After taking her medicine, the group agreed to give Cress some time to rest before heading back the way they came. Dian had found Cress's phone while scouting the area; it was still somehow intact, though the case was worse for wear and there was a tiny chip on the corner of the screen. As expected, the party wondered if it was a magic artifact of some sort and Cress didn't have the energy to explain the truth to them. It was already odd that they hadn't asked about her apparel, though she suspected it was because they wanted to avoid the topic of her appearance given what happened earlier.

"Let us know if you need a break," Dian said as the group trudged through the tunnel. He would often jog ahead and disappear for a while whenever the cave opened up, ensuring that the way ahead was clear and telling the group where there were safe spots to rest.

"I'm fine for now," Cress lied. She wasn't even sure how she was still standing, let alone walking. "How much longer till we get out?"

"We won't be out any time soon," Marcel said. "We've been in these caves for over a day now, so we'll have to stop to sleep at least once before we get out."

For the umpteenth time, Cress swallowed back bile that rose in her throat. She was thankful that Marcel's blanket was large enough to hide her shaking body. Mia had refreshed the calming spell, Lion Heart, several times for Cress and Cress had also been taking her medication fairly liberally after confirming with Mia that she would be able to save her if she overdosed. While the priest wasn't pleased with the question, she had been understanding and assured Cress that she could use an anti-toxin spell to prevent that from happening.

"I wish I had Mia's spell at home. I'd be able to do anything then! Even though I know there are more of… those things out there, I don't feel paralyzed like I normally would. Actually, I'd probably be passed out from hyperventilating without it. How can anyone stand to live in a world where abominations like that exist?"

"Alright, chums, I found a good place for us to make camp up ahead," Dian said proudly, hand on his hip, beaming from ear to ear.

"You're su… Sounds good," Marcel replied, his light brown eyes glancing at Cress midway through his sentence. Cress chose to pretend she didn't notice. Ignorance is bliss.

"Just hang in there, Cress!" Mia said, taking Cress's hand and squeezing it. "Once we get there I'll set up a barrier and you can rest easy."

It only took a few minutes to reach the open area Dian had scouted. It seemed odd to Cress that there was a random room-like area randomly in the tunnel, but she had no way of knowing whether or not that was normal. From what the party had told her, there were no such things as magical dungeons in their world, but that didn't mean rest areas weren't a natural occurrence. Still, the oddness of the room made Cress a little tense.

"So, tell us about yourself," Dian said after everyone had gotten comfortable. Marcel was first on watch, though that just meant he had to stand with his sword in hand rather than sit with the rest of us. "It's strange to find a civilian so deep in a cave."

"I'm not sure," Cress said, surprised there was no suspicion in Dian's voice. "I was chasing a cat down an alley and the next thing I knew, I was here."

"Are you from a different country?"

Cress hesitated, looking down at the piece of jerky Dian had given her a few minutes ago. "…Probably."

"Probably?"

"Don't push her, Dian. She's been through a lot and she doesn't seem like the type to lie."

"Oh? Marcel defending the new girl? You better watch out, Mia."

Mia's fair cheeks burned red and she pulled up the collar of her robes to hide them. Cress had been right.

"It might not be my place to say this, but I think Marcel and Mia make a cute couple." Cress's dark hazel eyes followed Marcel as she turned away blushing, his face redder than Mia's. Neither said anything, but Cress got the impression they appreciated her compliment.

"Yeah, yeah. They're super cute, but that just makes me the third wheel! Unless you're looking to—"

A heavy pack slammed into the side of Dian's head, knocking his jerky from his hand and leaving him sprawled on the floor. From the other side of the room, Mia grinned and gave Cress a thumbs up.

"These people really are straight out of a show. Honestly I always thought it'd be annoying in real life, but it's not so bad. If I don't hold us back, we should be out of here tomorrow. But then what?"

"That does it!" Dian fumed. "When we get back to town, I'm joining another party!"

"You say that every time and you never…"

Marcel's words trailed off as he gripped his sword tightly and brought it in front of him. Mia and Dian followed suit, Dian readying his crossbows and Mia raising her staff.

"Here," Dian said, the mirth of his voice gone, drawing one of his daggers and handing it to Cress. "Better safe than sorry."