THE KNIGHT AND THE ONE-WINGED BIRD
Asher watched as the suddenly enraged Kanna stormed off. "What...?" That's all that came from his mouth as he tried to keep up with her. It was like the day they did the quest that ended with Kanna's dismemberment. She was infuriated with him, and Asher doesn't even know why. Last time, he understood. He put the words so bluntly, Kanna mistook his actual meaning. But now, she was so angry at him for some odd reason. Asher couldn't place his finger on it, and yet he still attempted to as the two former partners went up the castle.
It was a hard battle all the way up. 5 potions were used for health and mana each. Asher was almost at his breaking point, which is rare because he was a black belt. Kanna kept her distance, not in shyness, but in wanting to stay away from what she might think is her source of anger. This issue combined with the facts that Asher is fighting off hordes of enemies and doing the very things Kanna doesn't want- ironically they were for her sake- took a major toll on him.
By the time the party of two reached the top, Asher felt like crying. This was even tougher on him than the test he had to take for his first degree black belt, which was 5 hours worth of workouts, exercises, forms, and no-holds-bared consecutive sparring matches. At least in there, Asher could recover quickly because it was only him. Now, however, Asher is trying to resolve a problem that involved him and a close friend, which kept on resulting in failures. Without a word, Kanna went to the chest and did their supposed "plan" that "they" made. Kanna would get out the necessary crystals and heal herself whilst Asher held off the enemies. Once that was done, Kanna would jump into the fray and eliminate all the enemies. The quest itself proved to be worthwhile in experience, spoils, and in healing Kanna. Little did they knew Asher would be pushed over his breaking point.
The black amoured swordsman and the vermillion one-armed dual-blader (ironically, again) were cornered as enemies spawned at the steps. They were all golems of various elements, but all were unable to cast spells. They made up with their varying weaknesses and strengths, and their high HP points.
The first Golem, the Earth Golem, charged at Asher, who simply side-stepped and dropkicked it down the steps because they were so close. This bought time for Kanna to work and get ready the materials. This also caused damage to some other Golems.
A few minutes later, a Flame Golem came up, slightly damaged from the Earth Golem's fall, charged in and targetted Asher. Before he could move, Kanna's cold words rang in his mind, and they froze his feet. Asher allowed himself to get hit into the wall, but recovers quickly and returned the favor. Asher slammed his fist into the Fire Golem's body whilst simulataneously casting icicle rain into his fist. The result was a spread shot that send the Fire Golem to it's doom, as the spell made frequent critical hits. An Ice Golem showed up, and Asher did the same move, only using Fireball as the spell to slam into the target at point blank.
A Wind Golem showed up then, and it moved quicker than other Golems. It charged at Asher and slammed into him. Asher hopped back on his feet, only to be slammed from behind by the same Golem. Asher rolled and used his only spread shot move, Icicle Rain, again. The Wind Golem expertly dodged the attack and charged at Asher, who ducked and slashed low. The blade caught the Golem by the leg, and it was tripped. The Wind Golem flew (pun intended) threw the air, only to be juggled by Asher's Tempests, Tempest Reversals, and Heavely Tempests.
Her words still rang in his ears throughout the battle. His only way of experessing himself was through his power in his attacks in battle. The Voice of Treason sought with such ferosity, it was nearly impossible to tell that he is in pain inside. If one looked closely, the places where Asher had left still had his tears dropping to the floor.
However, his victory streak didn't last long. With such power and ferociousness, it is all but inevitable that Asher would slip. Midway through the horde, Asher had left himself open and was struck with a critical hit. Luckily for him, the health bar was not empty, and no status effects were inflicted upon him. This had a flip-side though. His mind... It had been overrun by the sense of pain. Even though the game didn't transmit any pain to the player, Asher had been through mental pain, and his brain made those feelings of pain when struck by the Golem's arm, as well as fabricating the pain from previous attacks and the fatigue that Asher had endured.
The Voice of Treason couldn't move. He did not recover midair. No, he let himself drop to a lone corner of the room, one that was fortunately away from the busy and ever-weakening Kanna. Asher didn't even stick his sword into the ground and try to get up. No, he sat there, drowned in his tears. The Voice of Treason sat in the corner, crying as the Golem raised it's arm. It was too far for Kanna to attack and get back, let alone attack the thing without going back. The only thing she could do was try to get Asher get up and keep fighting.
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How long had it been now? The shouts of the enemies charging up from behind, the sounds of battle... All of these things were distant, slowly drowned out by a growing sense of fatigue that rose up from within Canon's very core, threatening to consume her. Her condition was growing worse, she realized, and yet somehow, even as her vision began to grow dim and her mind to slow, it didn't seem like it was happening to her. Everything felt so faraway, as though her heart was elsewhere, no longer paying attention to what was going on around her. It was so hard to stay awake...
But she had to. For just a little longer, she'd have to remain conscious. Her eyes flashed open once again, watching as the small bar before her progressed a little further, the alchemy circle on the floor flashing and blazing with its arcane light as the process continued, slowly transmuting reagents into the desired healing crystal, the one item that, right now, would be able to save her, and to give her back everything she had lost. For that purpose, she'd just have to stay awake a little while longer, until the process was completed...
A dull thud from the corner. The falling of a body? Glancing back slowly, Canon suddenly found it hard to see who it was who had fallen. Was it Asher? She couldn't tell. Her vision was so blurry. It was familiar, somehow. Ah, right, she'd had trouble seeing things back in her real body, hadn't she? She'd spent so long playing the game, she had forgotten. Or had she been playing at all? Right, she'd become trapped here... Ah, she was so tired...
But Asher had fallen over there, hadn't he? Why wasn't he getting up? Surely he wasn't dead, was he? His health bar, displayed in a small "party" box alongside her own, wasn't gray, so he wasn't unconscious either. Then... why wasn't he getting up? That sound... was he crying? Impossible. That... that wasn't possible. During the time she'd known him, he'd never once so much as shown an ounce of fear, nor once had he ever reached a point where he'd reveal it if he was actually saddened to the point of tears. He couldn't have actually been crying, could he? And yet... Why wasn't he getting up? Why were his tears falling?!
If he didn't get up, both of them were going to die. Canon hated to admit it, but right now, she was totally, completely helpless. She couldn't do this by herself. For one last time, she'd have to rely on him. And so, she opened her mouth, took a deep breath, and then spoke the words of truth which symbolized everything she hated about herself.
"Asher... That's not funny, Asher, falling down like that." Canon coughed, but quickly mustered herself, trying to continue. "Why won't you get up? Please. I... I know I've been a burden to you, always having to rely on you. But right now... I can barely move. I can hardly... see. I know. I know it's troublesome, having to keep fighting to protect me. I know I'm a terrible person for making you do this, but right now... I... I c-can't do this by myself! I need to rely on you, for just a little longer! So please, just one last time... Protect me, Asher!"