Chapter 29

29

-----------------------------

Casterline was so taken aback by the hidden, lethal nature of these cute little creatures that she couldn't help but wonder if this game was even appropriate to play with Harumi. She was so engrossed in the Menu Board that it hadn't occured to her that Harumi was only barely able to write her name in both the English Alphabet and Japanese Hiragana. She often drew her letters and symbols backwards, a trait Caste found rather cute, whereas Harumi's teacher found it rather bothersome, often spending the better half of recess and lunch trying to correct the issue.

"Let's go somewhere safer, honey. Perhaps there might be treasure inside the castle? Maybe we'll even manage rescue a Princess from one of those towers up there, hm? Come on, sweetheart, let's go" Casterline was relieved to see Harumi obediently following her instructions to get as far away from those demonic plants as possible. Once they'd made their way into the first floor of the enchanting palace, Caste quickly forgot her worries and was thoroughly enjoying clearing every room on every floor to reveal old fashioned treasure chests full of wonderous loot. That was until they were only a few steps away from the highest tower, having climbed numerous spiraling stairs to reach the open door, when a great, thunderous °clop° shook the castle from top to bottom, causing the walls to crumble, and the stairs to give way. As Casterline felt herself slipping and falling, she noticed the faint, ghostly figure of The Blonde Woman staring out into the garden. The apparition turned to look at her with an incredibly sad and forlorn expression, then disappeared. Harumi shoved a canopy bed out into the middle of the palace floor in order to break Casterline's long and treacherous fall. "Honey, how did you get down here safely?" Casterline jumped from the canopy to check Harumi for wounds. She stood surprisingly still during the motherly inspection which threw Casterline into an even worse panic.

"Talk to me, Harumi, you've been acting strange all day. How did you get down without any scrapes or bruises, honey. Answer me! Please answer m--" A thunderous and demonic whinny reverberated all throughout the castle, causing even more debris to crumble down around them. Casterline scooped Harumi up and darted through the palace entryway, out into the garden. It was there she finally caught sight of the perpetrator behind the castle's untimely demolition.

The title above the creature's HP bar flickered to several different names, almost too quickly for Caste to see. But she read them all. "HeLp Us" "SaVe YoUrSeLf" "RuN" the names continued to randomly alternate like the ever spinning reels of a casino slot machine. Caste stood frozen, until the text roulette landed on one final selection: Beast-Fiend Ultimate Sevius. The midnight black Pegasus with red eyes and an electric purple mane bucked and screeched as it charged toward the heroine. If one looked closely enough, they could see grotesque faces of trapped human souls wriggling and writhing, pushing against Sevius's skin in an attempt to break free. Caste gripped her broadsword tightly in both hands and braced herself for what she thought would be her final farewell to this wretched planet.

Pain shot through her temple to remind her she was on Earth, simply playing a harmless game. Sevius galloped toward her, broken wings enfolding its back, its silver horn as sharp as a poison tipped dagger aiming right for her. She parried, but not fast enough. Her coinciding thoughts and memories, her inability to differentiate between what was reality versus fantasy, had caused her foolishly fatal mistake. Blood dripped from her pierced flesh as Sevius slowly and agonizingly removed its bloodied horn from Casterline's belly. She felt the pain as if it were real. She coughed crimson but stood her ground, never wavering in her resolve to get back home to her beloved family. If she could just lead the damn thing further into the garden, to the place she now realized to be the Fox Bloom Grove she'd read about in the mysterious, enchanted diary she'd found several hours ago, she could enact a strategy that was sure to inflict serious damage. Purple bolts of electricity shot from Sevius's horn as Casterline ran through the everlasting garden until at last she wearily and breathlessly reached her destination. She leapt up into the aid and stayed levitating in the air, just above the rows of Fox Blooms. She intuitively remembered her ability to manifest all sort of Magic through deep meditation, though she couldn't remember who had taught her such a thing and why it hadn't been available to her earlier in this wretched VR game.

The Beast-Fiend Sevius bucked ferociously into the deadly garden and right into Casterline's trap. She snapped her fingers to cause a sudden torrential downpour then swiftly glided out of harm's way as Sevius folded on all fours, completely paralyzed by the fatal foxes. While Sevius sat helplessly trapped within its flowery prison, Casterline Magiced special raincoats for Harumi and herself. She then manifested a steel shelter, almost like a standing coffin, just big enough for the two of them to fit under. "Don't you dare move from this, spot, Rumi. You'll get burned if you do. Promise me, honey. Please." Harumi nodded slowly and stepped back against the steel wall to watch the ensuing battle unfold. Fiaerna had to put on a frightened face, of course. But beneath Harumi's childlike expression was an unbridled excitement Fiaerna could barely contain.