The Fifth Floor

Yusato panted as Azalea held him in her arms. His body ached all over and his wounds made it hard for him to move. He would like to stay and rest, but that wasn’t an option right now.

“Thanks, Azalea. But I’m okay.” He pulled himself out of her arms. “We have to hurry and get to the next rest spot.”

“That won’t be until the sixth floor though,” Azalea reminded him, running her shoulder. “We should rest here.”

“But the minotaur. Won’t it revive again?” Yusato asked, looking at the place where the minotaur had been just a few moments ago, now nothing but a flickering blue flame.

“Not unless another group comes in before we leave.”

“That’s all I needed to hear.” Yusato said. He walked over to Mira and picked her up, putting her on his shoulders. He winced right as he did that. “We need to get these two to safety as quick as possible.”

“You’re not in great shape yourself.” Azalea flipped her cloak out behind her while striding towards Yusato and Mira. “I’ll take care of Mira.”

“I’ll be fine. Besides, you’re injured too.”

“I’m the least injured of all of us.” Azalea took out a potion from her pocket and looked it over. She stared at her reflection for a bit. “That’s why I didn’t take this.”

“You should’ve taken it,” Yusato said.

“It’s the last one we have. We needed to use the others on you, Mira, and Saria.” She looked at her reflection in the small vial. “And this should be saved for an emergency. We still have the fifth floor to get through after all.”

Yusato sighed. “You’re way too stubborn.”

“Looks whose talking.” Azalea held out her hand. “Now hand her over. I’m not taking no for answer.”

His shoulders tensed as he stared at the shattered rock formations behind Azalea. Azalea tapped her foot.

“Yusato.”

Taking a minute to think, he realized that Azalea did have a point. As much as he didn’t want to admit it…and he really didn’t want to admit it…He was in no condition to be carrying anybody.

“Alright.” He carefully handed Mira over to Azalea. “But what about Saria?”

“Saria?” Azalea blinked. Then, she pointed behind her.

Saria was lying down, giggling as she watched birds flew through the sky. “Pretty birdies.”

“I see…”

Azalea threw Mira over her shoulders and glanced at her sleeping face. “It’s just this one that’s particularly exhausted.” She grabbed a hold of Mira’s ankles to get a firm grip on her. “Saria! We’re leaving!”

“Coming!” Saria jumped to her feet and hurried over to the others.

The blue flame dispersed and its place, came a large rock pillar with a door on it. As Yusato walked through the door with his friends, he started to think.

That power…The power of the spirits. It had saved him time and time again. Not only that, but having that much strength felt kind of…fun.

As they entered the next floor, they were greeted by a vast sea with several frozen islands floating on top of it.

Tick tock. Tick tock.

The sound of a clock.

Yusato looked up to see a large clock suspended in the air. Beneath it, written in magic runes was 5:00.

“Five?” Yusato raised his eyebrows at that.

“Five minutes,” Azalea said, folding her arms. “This floor seems to be time-based. We were lucky.”

“So, we just have to get across this ocean in five minutes?”

Azalea needed. “Looks like it.”

Yusato let out a rather loud sigh of relief, his hand over his chest. “Thank goodness.”

“I wouldn’t be so carefree if I were you. We still only have five minutes do this.” Staring out the sea, Azalea squinted her eyes. “It’s definitely not going to be easy.”

Yusato stared at the palm of his hand. The blood from the last fight was starting to dry. He wondered if he should use that power again. There had to be a spirit that could him with this too.

Saria hugged Yusato’s waist, snapping him out of his thoughts. “Can we just hurry and get out of here please?!”

He got a bit dizzy as Saria shook him back and forth, still while hugging him. “Why are you freaking out?”

“Because the water!”

“What about the water?” Yusato pried Saria off of him.

Saria shirked back. “It’s scary.”

Azalea held an a chuckle. “You’re scared of the water?”

“Don’t laugh…” She tilted her head down, keeping her gaze fixated on the ice beneath them. “It’s not funny. I can’t swim.”

“Can’t you just use your magic to carry you over the water?”

Saria stared blankly at Azalea for a few seconds. “Oh yeah, huh!” Yusato and Azalea both face palmed at that while Saria giggled happily. “But right now I won’t have enough magic to carry all of us over.”

“That’s okay. I can take care of myself and Mira,” Azalea said, fixing her grip on Mira’s legs. “Are you good with just you and Yusato?”

Saria nodded. “I should be able to do that, yeah.”

“Good. Then, let’s get started. We’ve already wasted enough time.” Azalea pointed to the time that was now at four minutes. “See you guys at the finish line.” Azalea leaped into the air and flipped onto another one of the frozen platforms.

“Dang, she’s fast…” Yusato watched Azalea as she kept flipping across the ocean with Mira on her back. She was already a decent way across.

“Okay, Saria. Do your thing.”

“You bet’cha!” Saria rose both her arms as wood formed from under the water and wrapped around both of them.

The wood carried them across the ocean at a blinding speed. Yusato’s gut twisted as he saw the black spots on Saria’s skin increase a little. It wasn’t nearly as much as before, but even seeing that little bit caused an ache in his chest.

The timer kept counting down. Three minutes…two minutes…

The wind blew through Yusato’s and Saria’s hair as they rode her wood. In the distance he could see a rock pillar with another door in it. They were getting close. They’d definitely make it in time.

“Help! Somebody help!”

That voice…It couldn’t be.

Yusato dared to look down and saw a figure flailing around in the ocean. They were desperately crying out for help.

He gulped. There was no way. He didn’t want to believe it, but he knew that voice all too well.

The wood stopped right in front of the rock pillar and Saria leaped off. “We did it!”

Yusato remained on the wood, looking back at where he heard the voice. Azalea’s foot tapped against the ice. “What are you waiting for, Yusato? Hurry and jump off.”

He kept looking behind him. “Saria. Send me back over to the center of the ocean.”

“What?! Why?” Saria asked, her eyes darting to the door, then back to Yusato. “The next floor is right here. She glanced up at the timer. “And we only have a minute and forty-five seconds left.”

“That’s fine! I’ll only need a minute. If the timer gets too close, drag me back!”

Looking into Yusato’s eyes, Saria nodded and sent him back towards the center. As he reached the sound of the voice again, he swallowed the lump in his throat.

Their eyes met. For the first time since that wretched day. Somewhere in his mind, he told himself this was a terrible idea. That it’d be best to leave them her, just as they did to him. But he couldn’t bring himself to. And so instead, he reached out his hand.

“Take my hand. Azumi.”