IV - Retrieval

THIRD PERSON P.O.V

Nox wasted no time to grab and reach out to Auburn's arms, essentially dragging her until she got a hold of her feet and ran for dear life. A million thoughts ran through her head to make up for the few moments that it stopped functioning at the sight of that abomination, something so eerily humanoid, yet so horrifyingly disfigured.

"Agh—Now! What was that?!" she yelled, panting along,

"Who f*cking cares what that is?! Just run!" Nox yelled back, finally exiting the library through the other available doors, there are not many people in that room, to begin with, but it took only a few seconds for it to be completely empty, and after two flights of stairs, Auburn and Now reached the ground floor along with many other panicked students and the librarian, all out of breath and visibly perturbed.

They could hear the others whispering and muttering, wondering what was that… thing, up there, and for good reason. Auburn gulped, her throat on fire as she tried to even out her breathing, not even able to focus on gathering her composure as she kept her eyes focused on the glass walls of that room, fearing the minute that creature chose to follow them down.

And while it could just be a prank from someone with too much time and little regard for people, she wouldn't be too sure, since just about anything could go wrong.

And that it did, because from where they were, they could see, clearly, as that creature swung its grotesquely long arms towards the reinforced glass walls of the library, shattering it as if it was nothing, glass shards reaching some of the onlookers. It moved very little. It stood still for some time before making the littlest of movements. Perhaps it's assessing, looking over them from three floors up, inching forwards.

"What is that thing?!"

"What the…"

"Someone call 911, now!"

And just as the murmurs got louder, Auburn squeezed Nox's hand in hers. "… we should run," she breathed out. Nox nodded and both of them steadily took a few steps back as the growing onlookers remained at their spot, waiting for the monster to do anything. Some made an excellent call of just moving away from the scene.

And there were those who moved too late. A few seconds late. The monster let out an ear-piercing screech, one so high-pitched it was like nails on a chalkboard. It jumped down and hit the ground with a thud. Its body contorting to an upright position, as if it's unfamiliar with its own physique. The monster followed this with another screech, only this one was harder to hear above everyone else's screams.

Auburn made the mistake of looking behind her when she and Nox reached some distance and saw the monster now covered in what she could only guess as blood, in its wake, bodies. Her heart dropped and fear completely got a hold of her body. Knowing the gravity of the situation made her knees weak, and as painfully pathetic as it was, she tripped and fell, slipping out of Nox's grasp.

"Damn it—GET UP, AUBURN!" Nox yelled, leaning down to gran Auburn only to be pushed out by an oncoming crowd,

"No! NO! Stop!—Auburn fell–! STOP!" is all the man could shout, still trying to fight against the current of fleeing students, all the while Auburn was ran and stomped over that she couldn't quite pinpoint which part of her body hurt for she was aching all over, and once the crowd thinned out, along with her will-power, with Nox a few meters away and the monster… frighteningly closer than he is.

They were at a stand-off.

Her breath was shaky, heart beating too loud that it could pop her eardrums. Her hands were trembling, pressing against the ground to somewhat sit up, all in hopes of standing up once again and run, but with how that abomination moved towards her, she was certain…

She was not going to make it.

The monster took wary steps, which then turned into rushed walking until it ran, and on the other end, Nox gathered up enough courage to run towards Auburn as well, also certain he was not going to reach her in time and might as well run the other way, but he couldn't just watch. He'd rather get hurt in saving her than live knowing he chose to leave her then and there.

And the world stood still… perfectly still as the moment between life and death weighed on both Auburn and Nox, the monster was still running head-on, and once the monster raised its clawed fingers a surly sound broke the silence, Nox froze in the cold stillness of the scene, so did Auburn.

Their eyes were glued to the monster's motionless figure… that is, until its severed upper half fell to the ground, followed by what was left of it. Auburn started breathing again, her voice caught up in her throat as she looked around and gulped trying to relieve the painful dryness, her frantic eyes looking at the figure looming over the monster's corpse.

"Haggai…" she whispered,

The man nodded, sheathing the very sword he used to slice the creature in half, "How was your first experience with a ciccas, young mistress?" he asked, offering a hand to pull her up, and even as he did, Auburn's legs had long liquified with petrification, she ended up clinging to him while he supported her weight,

In the distance, Nox also fell to his knees, relief washing over him as he took a breather, not having enough strength to rush to Auburn for a hug at the very least.

"Nox!" she called out, "Are you alright?"

"Yeah… yeah… I'm fine," he replied,

"We need to go," Haggai whispered, looking into the distance.

Fearing the worst, Auburn gulped, "Why? Is there more?" she asked. Haggai didn't say anything back, but the look on his face was enough to tell her what she needed to know. She clenched her jaw and pushed herself off from Haggai to limp over to Nox, kneeling next to him, her heart heavy with the conclusion she came to realize.

"Nox, you need to go, he said there's more, you need to run away and get to safety," she instructed, the man looked at her with a frown,

"Sh*t… and you?" he asked,

"Nox, I'm with the monster killer," she assured,

Nox sighed and finally got his hug, and with a few seconds in that serene embrace, they pulled away, "Stay safe," Nox whispered, and with that he stood up and gagged away, occasionally looking back to check on her until distance completely parted them.

Auburn's stomach felt like it was filled with stones when she turned her heel to look at Haggai, standing stoic, an impatient look on his face, "Shall we go back now?" he asked,

"To my house? Yes,"

"Hmm…"

She limped to walk away, simply thinking that getting home through the usual commute would be the only way back, only to be swooped up in Haggai's arms, in a yelp she blinked once and the next thing she knew she was in the living room of her house.

It felt like she was going insane. Ignorant of her struggle, Haggai carelessly threw her to the couch, making her already aching body ache more. Hearing the noise, Lois peeked from upstairs and froze at the sight.

"Red! What happened—"

"Ciccas," Haggai replied, cutting Lois off with a single word, making the elderly woman gasp before rushing to Auburn, checking every body part she has, simply mortified by what she had just heard. Her eyes welled up with tears. She did well holding them back, but the sudden fear that coursed through her was enough to give her a heart attack.

Auburn, being bewildered and frightened as she is, wasn't able to fight back tears as they flowed the minute she saw her grandmother, and small hiccups and whimpers turned into wails and cries, and while Lois rocked Auburn back and forth, offering her granddaughter the scarce amount of comfort she could give, Haggai watched.

He looked right into the old woman's eyes. There was no helping it.

They no longer have a choice.

"Look at you… you're filthy," Lois cooed at her, knowing full well that was the least of their problems, yet she still used the fabric on her sleeve to wipe the dirt and soil from her granddaughter's face. Auburn looked absolutely pitiful, Lois knew she owed him Auburn's life and was reminded of her own incapabilities.

There is nothing more she can offer Auburn, and there is nothing more she could do to help. It's time…

Lois needs to let her go, and give her to people who could do much more for her.

"Duchess…" Haggai bellowed, looking into the distance. She knew what he meant. Ciccas don't attack one at a time, they're pack hunters, essentially. Seeing one means that there are more.

Lois nodded with a sniff, patting Auburn's head, still crying. Lois combed her fingers through Auburn's hair, "Oh… my Red, my little apple… it's okay, everything's going to be okay from here," she cooed and Auburn was conscious rough to read between her words and her sobs slowly died down,

"W-What… are you saying?"

Lois smiled, reaching into her pocket to give Auburn a red and green gem, even Haggai was surprised to see these, knowing what it means which makes one of them, as clueless as she was Auburn shoved the two gems back to Lois, knowing what this could mean,

"What are these—don't want them—"

"You need them… Auburn," Lois pressed, squeezing the two gems in her granddaughter's palm, "I need you to take them, so when I catch up… we can give them back to their owners," she finished, Auburn's frowned, sniffling while her eyes shifted between the gems in her hands and the gleaming tears in her grandmother's eyes.

"What do you mean… catch up?" Auburn asked,

Lois smiled, placing a tender kiss on Auburn's forehead. "I love you, Auburn…"

"No—Granna! N–"

"Haggai, take her away!" was all Auburn could hear before two firm arms swooped her torso, a sudden jerk pulled her away, she blinked once and they were in a completely different place followed by the overwhelming feeling of bile up her throat, not able to bear the discomfort, she fell to her knees, her hands clutching the tan soil of their unknown location and threw up what she could.

She was lightheaded, something similar to the sensation of carsickness. With one last cough, she completely blacked out.

She was back in her world.