Chương 32: The Bang

A plume of hot steam scalded her face as an enormous torrent of heat battered the mass of water arranged before her. Jeremy had been right, the staff had been pretty intuitive and even on instinct she'd been able to raise a shield of water. The glow from the mountain grew as the explosion ceased to run out of energy. The water was evaporating almost as soon as it was cycled in front of her. There was another blast, followed by a searing blast of heat and her world went dark.

The staff vibrated in her hand and it shuddered from the sheer amount of energy she was funnelling into it. She heard a large cacophony of explosions before a shrill ringing replaced all the noise. She didn't move from her position, standing protectively in front of Jeremy. Her foot was touching the side of his boot, and she used that as a way stone to keep her direction. Another burst of scalding water landed on her hand, causing her to hiss in pain as she almost dropped the staff.

She didn't know what was worse, the pain or the huge amounts of energy the staff was draining from her to charge itself. How had Jeremy lasted this long? She was a whole rank higher, and already she was flagging. The pressure on her grew, and the instinctive feel for water the staff gave her made it clear they were running out of it. Most of the water had evaporated. Even the large pond in front of them was nearly empty, and yet it didn't seem like the explosion had reached its apex yet.

She slammed the staff into the ground and poured everything she had into it, letting the limiters she'd placed inside herself decay and dissipate. That vitality she'd felt earlier drained until almost nothing was left, her senses diminished until she'd retreated into a shell of herself, barely cognizant of the world. She was alone. A gust of warm air across her back caused her to open her eyes. She could see? Her eyes had been ruined, she was sure of it, but now she was… sitting?

She felt the wood beneath her, it was solid. In front of her was the pond, but the surrounding vegetation was lush and vibrant instead. Paved pathways led around it towards a small village. Chimneys blew smoke, and the wind blew the scent of baked bread toward her.

"Did I really die? God dammit," Grim cursed herself.

"Phil's gonna be so pissed." She tried to picture his face bright red, screaming at her for doing something so stupid. It almost made her laugh. Jeremy would be dead too, but she tried not to think about that.

"Mind if I sit here?" A woman's voice asked her. Grim jumped and twisted towards whoever had just spoken to her. She had to crane her neck to see their face as they towered over her. They wore an all-white summer dress with a matching hat adorned by a small red bow. Her skin was, well, she wasn't sure what colour, but her fur was white as well. It was short and closely cropped, as well as being immaculately groomed.

She wasn't sure what the fashion standards were for whatever society the woman was from, but Grim was sure she was very well dressed.

"Fuckin' Saints lady, you can't sneak up on me like that, gonna give me a heart attack or something," Grim rubbed her chest, trying to calm her heartbeat. The woman smiled politely, and her eyes briefly flicked over to the bench again.

"Yeah, yeah. Go ahead. Not like I own the place." The woman sat down beside her, careful to fold her dress as she sat. The bench looked to be a tad too small for her nearly seven-foot frame, but she didn't seem to pay that any mind. She looked off into the distance, staring at the still water of the pond. While she seemed to be comfortable in the silence, Grim was not.

"So you gonna tell me what's up with me or are we just gonna sit here?" Grim said.

"Also, before you answer, I hate metaphors."

"Then I shall speak plainly," the woman turned to her and smiled. It was one of those smiles that exuded warmth, every ounce of it genuine.

"My name is Seir, the white snake. What is yours?" Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

"Well, that's not ominous at all," she said.

"My name is Grim." Seir frowned, and the warmth vanished fast enough to cause her to shiver. Her eye colour changed from a snow white into a deep orange while her pupils narrowed until they resembled snakes, "That is not your— Oh. I see. Forgive me, you did not mean to intentionally lie to me." The warmth returned.

"Can't really lie about something you don't know," Grim shrugged, trying to stay casual.

"You happen to be able to tell me anything about that?"

"Yes, but you will die if I do so, do you still wish for me to tell you?"

"No, nope. That's okay. I'm sure I can figure it out on my own. Wait. I'm not dead?" Grim asked. Seir looked around, mock confused, "How else would you be talking to me?"

"I don't know. I thought maybe you were death or the system—""—I am not related to that abomination you call a 'system'. Do not insult me like that again."

"Sorry, that's my bad. Didn't know you were sensitive about that."

"Your apology is accepted." Grim cleared her throat after it seemed like she wasn't going to say anything else.

"So... what is this place then?"

"This was my home before it died. Beautiful, isn't it? Now, my home is dust and memories."

"Are the... creatures here, like you, or were they…"

"Once, maybe. Now they are mindless and filled with rage, their only desire is to add more shards to their collection."

"How? They were people once? Like a civilization? I thought they were, like made up or something by the system."

"Maybe we were? Who am I to—" Seir's hand stretched outwards for Grim's neck, a set of vicious claws fully extended. She felt it sink in deep and rip somewhere deep inside her soul, only, instead of pulling out her throat, Hazel came squirming out as she was forced to materialize.

"Caught you, vile thing. Thought you could eavesdrop without my notice?" Grim raised her knife, it appearing as if it had always been there, towards Seir, "Let her go." Seir raised an eyebrow as Hazel pounded on her arm, she didn't budge. Her snake eyes turned their attention onto Hazel as she scanned every part of her, unbothered by Grim's threats. Frost crept up and covered her neck as her fingers dug deeper into her windpipe.

"Curious, I haven't seen something like this before," Seir muttered to herself.

"It's a shame I have places to be, I'd love to take my time."

"You have five seconds." Seir turned her snakelike gaze, sizing her up, "I don't think I wi—" Hazel gripped the arm that was choking her, and ice flowed along Seir's skin, scalding it with frostbite. Seir flinched and dropped her as her arm hung uselessly at her side. Her hiss of pain was replaced with a gurgle as Grim shoved her dagger into the side of her throat. She smashed Grim with a backwards blow, and it was strong enough to knock her back into the bench and knock the wind out of her.

Seir didn't have the strength to do anything more than that as she reached up to try to stop the bleeding. It didn't help, and her white fur stained itself with every pulse of her heart. Hazel skittered back to the safety of Grim and the two watched as she choked on her own blood for a moment longer. Then she smiled. Blood flowed between her teeth as she stood up straight, the snake's gaze transfixing Grim.

The earlier signs of her struggling disappeared, and she acted as if the fatal wound she'd received didn't exist. Grim looked around them, only able to move her eyes as she searched for an escape route. At this point she'd have much rather been back in the real world trying to fend off the explosion of a mountain than here. There wasn't much besides an open field behind them, the path and the lake. She wouldn't bet on herself winning a foot race in the open, and she wouldn't get far in the water.

There was only one thing she could do. [CEDE]. The momentary activation of her Boon seemed to startle Seir, and the control she had over her body retreated. In the same moment she dashed forward, crossing the distance between them in two bounds. Seir didn't move as Grim drove her knife towards her throat, she just sat there smiling at her. It was almost worse than if she'd done something. Almost an eternity passed in that moment as she tried to slit her throat again.

She was waiting for her to do something, anything, but it never came and her knife entered her t— —She felt the wood beneath her, it was solid. In front of her was the pond, while the surrounding vegetation was lush and vibrant. Paved pathways led around it towards a small village. Chimneys blew smoke, and the wind blew the scent of baked bread toward her.

"What the fuck," Grim said. She looked around for Seir, but she didn't see her or Hazel, who wasn't responding to the tugging she was doing on [FRIENDLY SHADOW]. What she did find was a small white box wrapped with a bow on top.