No One Else - Part Three

His head hurt. His arms hurt. His legs felt ready to give up. And to top it all off, the blood flow to his head was cut off—and with it, he felt his world once again spinning.

He was on the verge of forcing out the words “I’ve had enough. I’ll just give up on this one,” but feeling this close to passing out, not a single one of his thoughts were organized.

He had words he wished he could say, but all of that slipped from his grasp as he came closer and closer to hitting the ground.

But no matter how close he came to blacking out, there was something there that prevented that: a hand on his shoulder.

“I know it hurts. Come on, push through it. Open your eyes.”

Normally he loved that voice. But with this much pain, he was tired of hearing it. A part of him wanted that voice to fade away and leave him alone.

But as much as that darker part of his mind told him that—

“Look at me, Cobalt.”

Fuzzily, he opened them.

And within seconds, the searing pain had disappeared.

Two exceedingly colorful eyes greeted him, spread across a porcelain face. Cherry red and pillowy lips rose on either side to form a smile. That smile, one which he couldn’t wish away no matter how much pain he was in.

And now that that pain was gone…

“Hey Bizzy… If I just give up and let you beat me, you’ll pass the class, right?”

He was still unable to return her smile.

It was this type of selfishness he always loathed about himself—even if that regret only spurred on hours after the fact.

Cobalt was in a sour mood, and didn’t have the time to appreciate her company, but Bismuth’s smile persisted nonetheless.

“Of course I would. But if we both worked our hardest and put on a great performance, we’d both pass.”

“I don’t have the muscular strength for that…”

This performance she was referring to… The final grade culminating in months of a state-of-the-art combat training class.

…A training class that Cobalt had spent the last months ignoring existed, instead opting to play the latest DIVE game: Labyrinth of Ire.

“You’re right—you don’t.” she looked downcast as she scratched the back of her up-tied hair.

So that’s it, then?

“But you promised me that no matter what elective we chose to take together, you’d do your best to pass with me, so… Looks like you’re out of luck, Coby.”

Out of luck?!

“That’s not to say I just magically win at everything I do. I’ve been studying a lot. So, it’s time for you to do the same. That way, neither one of us has to flunk out.”

His head was starting to feel better now. So carefully taking Bismuth’s hand off his shoulder, he stood a little more tall—although still not really understanding what she was getting at.

“I don’t understand. How am I supposed to win against someone who’s bigger, stronger, and smarter than me just by studying?”

Normally one would bite their tongue before calling a cute girl bigger than themselves—but it was true. Wearing a sports bra and bike shorts, her frame was visibly larger than his own. She had relatively wide hips and hidden biceps that were actually impressive when she flexed them. Compared to that, Cobalt was just a twig.

“You’d beat me in most fair fights, right?”

“So I gotta fight dirty then? Knee to the nose or throw sand in your face?”

“You’d be able to sleep at night if you did that to me? Because I suppose if you could, as well as find sand somehow…”

“Oh, no. If I hurt Bizzy’s face, I’d never be able to forgive myself…”

“Just my face?”

“Well, I’d forgive myself eventually if I hurt your body. It would just take a while, y’know?”

“That’s… Reassuring. But to answer your question: no. Don’t fight dirty. Fight smart.”

“Didn’t I just say you’re smarter than me, too?”

“It’s not possible to measure intelligence, Coby. The whole topic is subjective. You can easily outwit anyone if you know them well enough.”

“And I know you better than even myself.”

“For once, yes. We’re on the same page here.”

Bismuth held back a laugh. She always loved repartees with him, even when it was clear the two were both trying way too hard to sound cool.

“One thing I noticed while sparring with you is you’re really good at outmaneuvering me, so I think you can use that to develop a style of your own. As for me, I already have a pretty well-defined style. If you think of it like Labyrinth of Ire—I’m like a tank, and you’re a noobie that has more skill points to add. So try putting them into speed.”

“Does that mean we’re going again…?”

“Yeah. but this time, I want you to try to get behind me. When you’re in position, slide your arms up under my armpits and pull back. It’s a restraining move I’m pretty bad at countering.”

He closed his eyes, thinking to himself with a solemn expression as his chin pointed downwards.

But of course, she wasn’t expecting enthusiasm.

“And one more thing… If you fall again, I’ll help you up, okay? I’m always going to be here to make sure you don’t fall. Even if you don’t want me to, I’ll always have my hand ready to hold onto you if things get too difficult.”

‘Even if you don’t want me to’, what a ridiculous thought…

He rolled his shoulders out, sighing to himself before he opened his eyes.

“Let’s make a deal. ‘Kay?”

Holding out a finger, she brought it so close she could poke his nose with it.

“If it fails, and you’re on the ground, I’ll carry you back to your room. But, if by chance it actually works and I’m restrained, I want you to trust me from now on to teach you how to fight. And I want you to promise you’ll study for the final test with me.”

He lowered his body.

It wasn’t something he wanted to do. Not at all.

But knowing that she would help him if it got too hard to stand…

There’s something dangerously reassuring about knowing that… A man’s heart is way too malleable.

“I promise, but…”

Lowering his gaze, he felt a spark shoot through his nerves like a chill. Like electricity, the anticipation shocked him in a spectacular way—something he wasn’t expecting.

He shook his head, fixing his ruffled hair and replacing his downcast expression with a fragile grin.

“You promise you won’t hold back.”

* * * * * * * *

『I WON’T LET ANYONE ELSE SUFFER THE WAY SHE DID!!!!!!』

The words rung in his ears.

Again, again, and again while his body did all the work.

Thrashed about to no end, his arms had a death-grip sprawled across the neck of the greying figure he had latched onto.

To and from and back again, his limbs writhed across legs and arms much larger, but much thinner than his own.

Struggling to gain a grip, this brawl of continuously falling backwards subsisted, met with the anguished grunts of struggling bodies.

He felt as if he was watching all of that from a distance.

Disconnected from the scene itself.

He saw his arms pull up tighter, hyperextending the neck of a beast, its snarly gaze pointing heavenwards, up to enormous stalactites hanging dozens of meters over them.

He saw his legs scramble and jerk about, clinging to the hueless flesh it sought to prevent the movement of.

Entirely in control, having all the say over the battlefield - that is, as long as they could continue moving backwards.

However the beast used this momentum in its favor, inching back step by step, searching for the flowstone with its bulgingly erratic eyes.

Neither one could say how this confrontation would end, be it on the ground or against a wall.

But detached from that…

Cobalt’s ears rang with his own declaration.

No one else has to suffer the way she did.

No one else has to suffer that way.

No one else has to suffer.

…Just what the hell was I trying to say?

Cobalt’s feet dangled, overwhelmed by the height of this predator-turned-prey.

He had no idea how much time he had left before he hit the flowstone, or what would happen when he did.

Almost as if this was an out-of-body experience, he watched the limbs of the boy’s body clash repeatedly as it climbed against the grey and bare calf muscles.

No one else has to suffer…

The situation wasn’t ideal, but…

He distinctly remembered the warm hand he once had on his shoulder.

Of course there was once a time when a hand was always ready to help him if he needed it.

But this new one…

That second hand, just as colorful, and just as warm…

Shit…

“EVEN IF YOU LAUGH, I’LL STAND BY EVERY WORD!!!”

“RRRgggghhh come on!!!”

Pulling tight against the lantern, Arabelle watched the chaotic scene before her.

Out of the 90 or so meters they had to go until they reached the backs of the flowstone, the two had already made it over half that distance, leaving Arabelle desperately far behind.

What do I do?! What do I do?!

Even with all of her efforts…

“Why won’t you come off?!?!”

Was she powerless without her magic?

She didn’t understand…

Cobalt desperately latched on to the back of what he called the Wendigo—and from this far of a distance, what she was able to see had diminished greatly.

If Cobalt’s eyes were open, she wouldn’t even be able to see the whites of them.

The battle had gone on long enough, but from where she stood…

Her feet wouldn’t budge.

He learned all about this way too quickly… How am I supposed to feel about that?!

The Trials, the Wendigo, as well as its weakness.

Did I just underestimate him? Just who the hell is he…? Cobalt Aspire…

All of the things she’d underestimated since coming here…

No. No, I’m tired of this.

All of the doubt, all of the pain she felt.

The question was stupid, but if she indulged it:

What would Cobalt do?

What he screamed right after latching onto its back like a madman…

I won’t let… anyone else suffer the way she did.

Who…?

Cobalt was the type of person who embraced absurdity… Was that it?

Did it not matter what he said? Or the realizations he came to?

Screaming like a barbarian and then latching onto this devil nonetheless…

No… It does matter.

Then to ask that question again—what would he do?

Something absurd. Something reckless. Something entirely different than anything else.

Thinking that thought—

“His eyes… They’re—”

Faced with death, they were already closed.

Questioning if that was the answer she needed, she stood up with a grin.

“Yeah… That’s it.”

Confronting the conflicting views she had about it, she simply decided not to question it.

“Why would I question the things I don’t know the answers to?”

The thought almost made her laugh.

Seeing his eyes closed, though…

Her feet kicked off the ground, launching her forward as she bolted into a run.

Something she’d never think of—that’s what he would do.

What answers did she have?

Right now, she only had one.

Running forward, seeing the pain he had put himself into all alone.

Running forward, his eyes clenched against what they were forced to endure.

Running forward, feeling the tears dry as an absurd smile spread across her lips.

“We don’t need the light!!!”

Glass shards splintered across the ground, scattering like snowflakes as they fell.

With her other arm, she shielded her eyes, but as the loud crash reverberated in her ears, she couldn’t help but take a peak at what she had done.

Sparkles of light glimmered past her, the echoing breaths of both life and light freed from their prison.

Shards and shrapnel followed them as they flew, but ignoring the occasional slash across her legs, her eyes were drawn to the notpixies’ flight.

Sure—they might not have been pixies. But they were surely just as beautiful as them.

Dissipating like glitter only visible when it catches the light, their bioluminescence flickered as they scattered, slowly returning this place of warm sparkles into that of the hell it once resembled.

But in place of the fire that extinguished against the cold cave air—

A sole glimmer of a jagged metal reflected the light she had burst free.

The handle…

With the broken lantern in one hand and the handle in the other, she charged forward on feet that were once afraid to move.

Two weapons, and only a few dozen meters to go.

But as she came closer—

“No…”

Under the figure colored vibrantly in blue, lavender, and red, the greying figure accelerated, bursting into a backwards run as its elevated head could see the flowstone approaching.

A terrifying and almost comically eccentric series of backwards lunges that defied what a normal human’s body could do—it was absurd and impractical, but as she realized just how fast it had accelerated, it became clear it was much faster than Arabelle could possibly—

“NO!!!”

She had to be faster. She had to beat the Wendigo.

She had to save him, just as he did for her.

But dozens of meters became a few within seconds.

Her legs wouldn’t be enough.

Beaten by its game, Arabelle knew it wouldn’t be enough.

But with two weapons left, her legs weren’t all she had.

The Wendigo threw its body backwards, searching for the flowstone to crush him with.

Just as Arabelle felt her body leap forwards, launching her left arm into the cold air.

Feeling the battered lantern leave her hand, she didn’t have to rely on only herself to win battles.

There were weapons all around her.

“AAAGH!!!”

His body crumbled under the weight of his enemy.

Holding out for as long as he possibly could, his hands lost their grip.

Being punctured across the blunt flowstone, he wasn’t just pinned.

His entire body screamed at him. And even though the sensation of pain was slowly draining from him, he could tell:

His ribcage had practically shattered from the impact.

Blood squeezed its way out of his throat, soaring through the air in a colorless and wet cough.

Slipping, falling down over the smooth coffin he was forced against.

The world around him started to fade.

Had he lost?

Even after all the words he had to give?

Even after every muscle he had pushed to their limits?

His eyes squinted, enveloped in the dark grey substance that was supposed to be called blood.

But dare he open them—

Someone charged forwards, screaming something as her arm was thrown into the air.

He felt as though he didn’t have ears to hear her cry.

And he didn’t have the lungs he needed to respond.

But watching that girl run forward, caked in all the colors in the world that had drained from his eyes—

His eyes… That was all he had left.

Greying arms flung into the air.

The dark grey veil over his eyes was blinked away.

Another enormous grey silhouette rained down from above.

Remembering with his dying mind the wolf that was caught in a hellstorm of missiles…

The stalactite that crashed like lightning almost brought a smile to his face, knowing exactly who had brought it down to smite the grey horror..

Being swayed back and forth, the lanky monster ahead of him stumbled out of the way of its trajectory.

And released from its grips, Cobalt slid.

Sliding, falling, and slipping away from the world of color, he was almost on the ground by the time he saw it.

Weaving around the falling stalactite, a girl in color charged forward, visible between the legs of the terror which bathed Cobalt in shadow.

And within her hands, a glimmer of silver flashed across his eyes, thrusted forward by her trembling hands, meeting her war cry.

The world would soon fall to black, returning the world to that of the shadows and blocking the lights and all of her color from his view…

But just as his eyes surrendered their fight, his ears rang out to hear one last lonely song, before leaving him to rest in the silent dark…

“HHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”