All That Glitters

 “Mars, heal him, now!!!” Strauss barked. He rushed over.

“I was TRYING to do that before you got in the way-”

“SHUT UP AND HEAL HIM!!!” Mars headed over and positioned his right hand in front of Agon’s chest. He closed his eyes and focused as hard as he could. After a couple of seconds, he spoke.

“SEILAR’S PRAYER!” A string of glowing words floated out of Mars’ mouth and coated Agon’s chest. Soon, Agon’s entire body began to glow. After several seconds, the light faded, and the scar on Agon’s chest disappeared, along with the burns from the melted gold. His breathing began to slow down, and he started to take in deeper breaths.

“Agon…” Strauss whispered, still holding Agon in his lap. He turned his head to Mars sharply. “Why did you take so long to heal him?!? You need to focus!!!” He criticized.

“Are you serious right now…?!?” Mars snarled. “I was getting ready to heal him, but then you went and pushed me out of the way!”

“You were taking too long! I looked at you, and you were just staring at him in a daze!”

“Yeah, because I didn’t know he was gonna start breathin’ FREAKIN’ FIRE!!! I didn’t know what he had planned!”

“Y-yeah…I should’ve been more c-clear...Ngh!” He clenched his chest. Forty minutes left. Strauss and Mars loomed over him in concern. Strauss set Agon down gently and shot up to push Mars in his right arm.

“You didn’t even heal him all the way?!? What’s your damage, Mars?!?”

“I DID heal him all the way.” He spoke through clenched teeth.

“Then what was that, just now? Look at him! What kinda healing was that, huh?!?” Strauss took his left hand and pushed Mars in his right shoulder again. “I asked you a question-” When Strauss went to push his shoulder again, Mars stepped back and grabbed his arm, pushing it away. Strauss watched his hand fall back to his side and looked back at Mars in disbelief. A gust of wind wrapped his knuckles. He took his right arm and threw it into Mars’s cheek in the blink of an eye. Mars slammed into a wall from the sheer power, holding the side of his face. Agon quickly got up.

“MARS-!” Strauss put a hand in front of him.

“Agon…don’t worry about him. He can take it.”

“B-but…”

“He should know better. This is the only way he listens. Right, Mars?” There was no answer.

Strauss seemed like a bully in Agon’s eyes, now. He started to remind him of a despicable ram-horned deity. Strauss walked forward, not even looking down at Mars. “Let’s keep going, team!” He ordered in his usual chipper tone. Kiche followed without hesitation. Agon went straight to Mars and helped him up.

“Heh…That left side really weighs ya down once you’re on the floor. Throws off your whole balance and everything.” He joked while keeping one eye closed as he tried to fight through the pain of the punch. “Thanks, guy.”

“Why is he treating you like this?” Agon wasted no time expressing his disapproval of Strauss’s actions.

Mars didn’t answer. He just chuckled.

“M-Mars…”

“Ugh…Come on, let’s catch up.” He finally spoke and detached himself from Agon. Once he found his balance again, he started to walk ahead. Agon watched him slowly crawl ahead to the others and followed suit.

The group proceeded as normal, all except for Agon. With every room they checked, every puzzle they solved, he kept his eyes on Strauss. Ever since the events that unfolded in the room with golden coins, He seemed to be even more strict with Mars, berating him and making jokes to Agon and Kiche while he was out of earshot. It upset Agon heavily to watch Mars go silent and just soak up Strauss’s orders like a sponge, pretending like nothing was happening. He wanted to speak up, but Strauss seemed much more intimidating now; all he could find the courage to do was watch. In a new room, the party searched around tirelessly for the key. There was no luck for several minutes, until Kiche stumbled across a treasure chest. “Gehehehe!” His cheerful laugh alerted the others, and they ran over to see what he found. As he opened the chest, a beautiful golden key sat on a velvet pillow and glowed in their faces.

“Alright! Way to go, Kiche!” Strauss applauded.

“Gehe!” He blushed.

Strauss grabbed the key and tucked it in a side bag. “Now, we can open the door in the main room! I bet that’s where the big bad monster is. Come on, let’s start making our way back! Woohoo!”

“Geheeee!” Strauss and Kiche ran back the way they came like a couple of kids, singing a made-up song whose lyrics consisted of “We found the key” and “Gehee”. Agon stayed back with Mars, who hadn’t let his mouth open at all. Agon grunted and coughed; he had thirty-five minutes left. Just as Mars began to walk, he grabbed his arm. Mars turned back.

“Hm?”

At first, he didn’t say anything, still mulling over everything that had happened in the dungeon up to now. He tucked in his lips tightly, squeezing them together like a stress ball, and then spoke.

“Are you…Are you happy here?”

Mars looked at him with a lifeless expression, then closed his eyes and smiled weakly.

“I already told ya, I’m fine-”

“That’s not what I asked,” Agon said in a slightly more stern tone of voice. “I asked…Are you happy here?”

There was no answer. Mars just took his arm away from Agon’s grip and started walking. Agon sighed and started walking with him in silence. They made their way back to the main room and saw Kiche and Strauss dancing and celebrating in front of the door.

“Took you guys long enough!” Strauss shouted from up top. “Hey, Agon! Don’t let that guy drag you down with all that weight! Not your fault he’s slow!”

“Gehehehehe!” Kiche added.

“Ah…r-right…” Agon gave a dry grin. He really didn’t want to respond and accidentally approve this behaviour, but he also didn’t want to start any more conflict between the two of them. They made their way up the stairs, standing a couple of feet from the lock. Strauss took the key out of his bag and placed it inside.

“Get ready, everyone. Because once we go in, there’s no going back…”

“He sounds so serious, now.” Agon gulped as he watched the others ready themselves for a fierce battle. He wasn’t quite sure how to do that himself, so he just took a deep breath. Strauss twisted the key, and the lock dropped to the floor. He smiled and raised both his hands in the air, summoning a puff of wind in each palm.

“AAAAAHA!” He took his palms and slapped them on the face of the door, creating a giant blast of wind that made the door wing open. Agon gasped in astonishment, which prompted Strauss to turn to him and wink. He walked ahead, and Kiche went after. Mars exhaled as he watched the two of them disappear beyond the door. He looked at Agon and smirked.

“Finally, we can get out of here, huh?” He did the same forced chuckle as before. It sounded more and more dry every time he did it. Agon said nothing and just watched him fade into the darkness.

“Here we go…” Agon lost another minute and staggered. Twenty-three minutes left. He grunted and hurried through the door. The ruby red eyes of the snakes upon the door frame glowed, and the door closed shut.