Ostium: Chapter 5
A bloodcurdling howl erupted from the demon as Éclair and Mary leapt from the shady shadows of the brush. As the Saint dashed in a wide arc around the monster, pulling out her guns and shooting, she caught sight of Mary yanking a retractable pole out of a holster on her leg, and snapping it out straight. But the image was gone as she dive-rolled to the back, just barely missing the sharp tooth of the demon’s claw. She popped back up and fired two quick shots at the monster’s hind legs, trying to immobilize it; however it swiped at the bullets instead. It suffered wounds on its arms, though it did stop the bullets from their desired destination.
Now that it was distracted, Mary, in the front, charged at the beast. Sensing her from behind, the monster kicked a leg out in an attempt to strike, but she leapt easily over its limb and made a neat slice down its hind leg. The resulting howl almost made Éclair drop her weapons to cover her ears in pain.
Instead, she gritted her teeth and fired a couple shots at its head, trying to get a clear shot. Even though it was preoccupied with pain, it still managed to duck away and charge at Éclair. Her eyes widened, startled, as it darted over to her, and she jerked her revolvers up and shot at it rapidly. It barreled away then, off to the side of her and then suddenly, Mary was up in the air. She smashed her spear into the back of its leg and a magnificent display of blood splashed into the air, splattering onto the ground like crimson rain. The ground burned where it had reached contact with the dangerous liquid, and small wisps of smoke curled up from their places.
By now, the monster was very ticked off. It growled menacingly and spun to face Mary. Panic flooded Éclair’s senses, and she fired shots hastily to try to get it away. More of its blood gushed out from its wounds; however it ignored them and charged at Marianela. The girl was unaffected by its display of aggressiveness, ducking when it swiped at her and jumping lithely onto its arm to its back. It resulted in another agitated roar, and it immediately flattened itself on the ground, and attempted to roll over.
The move was a smart one indeed, but no match for Mary, Éclair noted as she fired carefully at the monster’s flank. Mary had gracefully pattered against its rough fur, walking along its side as it turned so that she wound up, once more, on its back. When it realized that its creative attempt in flinging the tiny girl off its flipside failed, it snorted irritably, and proceeded to violently shake itself. This time, his plan worked and the poor girl was flung from its back and collided with the bushes at the edge of the clearing.
“Mary!” Éclair shouted - a regrettable act, for it caught the attention of the monster. It whirled, snorting, and eyed the Saint with its blank stare. She resisted the impulse to flinch back and instead fired at its head in vain. When it reached her she ducked as it swiped at her and rolled to the side, dodging as its other arm came down in a fury and creating an impression on the ground. As soon as the saint recovered, she fired at it immediately. The bullets pierced its skull, clearly evident by the monster’s tortured howling.
Suddenly, Mary appeared on the monster’s back, apparently having jumped onto it while it was distracted. It was very hurt from the multiple gunshots and strikes from the duo, and it staggered under Mary’s weight. But then, it suddenly bucked its back, flipping the girl into the air. Éclair gasped involuntarily, covering her mouth. She was thrown so high...
But then she recovered in only the way she could, and held her weapon down, aiming straight for its skull.
The monster melted underneath Mary’s feet as she had hit it, making her sink to the ground quite gracefully. Éclair watched with a sort of soft wonder, sincerely impressed.
“That was...amazing.” She commented, watching her small partner sprinkle Holy Water over its remains. Mary glanced up at her briefly.
“...thanks.” She replied evenly, and put away the bottle then. “Let’s go.” Éclair nodded, and the two of them looked at the map again, recalculating where their destination would be.
Hours passed by, and the day was bleeding to night when finally, Mary brushed aside the boughs to reveal a lovely clearing. The last rays of sunlight dripped past the tangled bramble that formed a roof, leaving the grove with a mystical air. They stood there for a moment, their eyes darting to every inch of the area, suspicious of anything that moved until finally, Mary stepped into the grove with Éclair behind her.
“This is the place?” Éclair asked no one in particular, her voice soft, unable to bring herself to break the tranquility in this area. “It feels so peaceful, it’s almost unreal...”
Marianela didn’t reply, she instead simply surmised the area, apprehensive about the clearing when she suddenly stopped. “Éclair.”
The brunette looked up curiously. “What?” But almost as soon as she did, she saw what Mary had paused for. At the far end of the grove, almost completely obscured by the brush and green tendrils, was a cave. Monochromatic peppery rocks lined it like the petals of a flower, though they were also masked by the green.
Slowly, then, the pair realized that almost like magic, small insects buzzed in the air with a soft golden glow.
“Fireflies.” Mary whispered quietly, watching them with a silent interest. She started, turning abruptly when Éclair suddenly dropped her bag and started rummaging through it. “Wh-what are you doing...?” She asked, bewildered.
“Just give me a sec.” Éclair said as she fumbled with the items in her bag, until at last, she brought out a jar. “I have an idea.”
Marianela only stared at her surreptitiously.
“It’s nothing bad!” The saint protested. “Really. We’re just going to catch a couple fireflies and keep them in here for light inside the cave.” And then she proceeded to do so, Mary eyeing her as she helped, until the bottle was filled with enough to keep it glowing fairly bright.
“Okay, that’s done...” She then walked over to the vines and stared at them hard. “So, how are we going to get these awa-“
A hissing sound broke off her sentence, and suddenly the vines fell away. When the brunette looked back, she saw that Mary had sliced them neatly off with her weapon. “Oh. Thanks.”
She nodded in response, and the two of them took a deep breath, and headed inside.
There was nothing, for a while. Though, the cave was indeed warm, and the walls were made out of some odd rock material that somewhat shone, but they moved so swiftly they didn’t investigate. The air was somewhat alive, however, and it felt like you could feel the earth breathing.
Suddenly Mary squeaked and Éclair’s head jerked to her direction. “Mary?!”
“Wh-wh!” The saint could hear her freaking out, brushing her hands impatiently over herself and she was so very confused.
“Mary, what’s going on?!” Éclair held up the light to her partner and then saw something dart across the reflection. Similarly, she squeaked in fear. “M-MARY! WHAT’S THAT?!”
With her fear heightened, she was suddenly very acutely aware that the wall was indeed made out of a strange material because there was something crawling on it. The earth was not breathing, something was buzzing. Lastly, there was either also a lot of them or one very big one, and either wasn’t very good.
“K-keep moving.” Mary’s timid voice, now shaking with fear, reached out to Éclair. Her small hand wrapped the older woman’s thin arm, and the saint picked up her courage and continued walking on. “I can feel the air ahead open up...there’s a bigger r-room...”
Éclair obeyed, and then she too, after a certain step, could feel that the atmosphere changed almost immediately.
“We’re in here.” Mary confirmed, and Éclair walked a couple steps forward, using instinct and intuition to figure out if she was in the center or not. Having the rough idea, she then took the jar and carefully opened it. The fireflies sped out, happy to finally have fresh air after that somewhat long yet short period of time imprisoned in the glass jar. But as they did, the room was illuminated, and the twosome gasped.
“What are ladybugs doing here?!”
Éclair was breathless. Hundreds, if not thousands or millions of ladybugs decorated the room, crawling all over the walls and in the air. It was as if they were trapped inside a fishbowl filled with them all. One of them landed on Éclair’s hand, and she brought her hand up to look at it when it flew away. Another one replaced its spot soon after, however.
“There’s so many of them...” The saint commented, and took a step forward. The cavern suddenly shook violently, and the ladybugs all erupted from the walls. She heard Mary’s surprised yell as she hit the ground, and the ladybugs buzzed furiously in the air until they emptied the cavern, save for maybe a handful when Éclair yelled in pain.
Her head was wreaking havoc on her body; it hurt immensely - she felt as if someone like Capricorn was beating her head over and over again with a blunt club. She fell on the floor and curled up in a heap, clutching her head and whimpering. Mary crawled over to her, shaken up from the ladybugs, but baffled as to why Éclair had suddenly collapsed.
“Éclair? Are you okay?” She asked as she touched the Saint’s shoulder. Éclair only whimpered in response, and Mary awkwardly patted her back. “Uh...”
Then as suddenly as it came, the pain went away. Éclair paused for a moment, opening her eyes she didn’t realize she squeezed shut and sat up, bemused. Mary stared at her with a very confused and surreptitious look at first, but then relief overcame her and she suddenly hugged Éclair.
“...Mary?” Éclair asked timidly as she patted the girl on the back. She froze for a moment, and then drew away quickly, looking down, embarrassed.
“...sorry.” She muttered. The saint smiled at her slightly before she helped her up.
“Come on.” But as soon as her partner stood up, Éclair froze. Her heart pounded wildly in her chest as she stared wide-eyed behind Mary.
Behind Mary stood something Éclair had only seen hours earlier, only much smaller than the way it was now.
"I...I can't believe it." She dared to whisper, but her voice was almost inaudible.
"M-Mary...there's another..." Mary quickly looked at where Éclair was looking, a horrible mistake.
The monster's head jerked towards the two and it roared, so loud it shook the cavern violently and rock fell from the ceiling. It then proceeded to romp over, indentations in the ground where its large paws sunk. The younger girl hissed under her breath and took out her weapon, rolling to the side. Éclair followed suite so the monster skidded to a halt and roared again, now in the same section of the cavern as them.
"What are we going to do, Éclair?!" Mary hollered over at her, gripping her staff tightly.
"That's a very good question!" The panicked saint called back. "I don't know if we're strong enough to beat this thing!"
"Well, there's really only one way to find out!" At that, Mary charged at the monster, much to Éclair’s protests.
"Wait! Mary! Stop! You're going to go and get yourself killed! Mary!!" But instead, the monster swiped at her while she rolled to the side, almost beneath its arm. She then spun her weapon in a quick wheel, making a shallow cut in its arm. The demon grunted in annoyance and swiped at her small frame. She then ducked underneath its large torso and sprinted to his hindquarters, running her long blade underneath its stomach, shoving up as far as she could. The monster roared in pain, its screech so horrid Mary stumbled and Éclair dropped her gun cartridge as she tried to reload her weapons.
"What in God's name..." The brunette hissed as she held her hands over her ears. As soon as the otherworldly sound stopped, she dropped her hands and swiftly reloaded her pistols. Once that was done she looked up, carefully aimed, and fired a handful of shots at its skull. Even though she had a relatively powerful gun, she saw that the bullets just barely entered its flesh - she could still see the bullet in its skin when they landed.
Meanwhile, Mary had finished her run underneath the monster and deftly spun, and she then proceeded to run her spear into its leg. The shaft only got in about halfway before she realized it was stuck.
"Um, Éclair...?!" She called, panic evident in her voice. The demon roared again, making more chunks of rock fall from the ceiling.
"I'm kind of busy here!" Éclair shouted, trying to aim for the inside of the monsters mouth, or its eyes. Anywhere she could penetrate.
"Yeah, but uh, my weapon!" At this, Éclair glanced over with some difficulty at the behind of the monster.
"I can't see anything!" She shouted as she started to reload her guns again. The monster howled and took this as an opening to bound on over to Éclair. "Mary! What-"
"My weapon got stuck in his leg and I can't get it out so now I'm stuck-!!" Her partner screamed, something she wouldn't normally do. Éclair’s eyes widened and her insides filled with dread.
"Oh God." She bit her lip as she swiftly reloaded her weapons and looked up just in time to meet the face of the monster. Its breath was so horrid she had to hold her breath in order to not pass out; even though it was only five or so feet away from her she could still smell it. Again it let out its brutal roar, and Éclair shielded her head with her arm, rocks sprinkling against her skin.
"You can't get your weapon out?!" Éclair shouted, completely unable to see Mary. The monster loomed over Éclair, sending chills down her spine. She then coughed and sucked in some air, which she regretted. Now the smell was on her tongue, and she had to resist the urge to vomit everything she'd eaten in the past 24 hours.
"No, but I'm trying!" Mary's frantic voice brought Éclair back to reality and the saint nodded.
"Um, alright! Just give me a sec." She dived off to the side as the monster watched her with rabid fascination. Why didn't it strike me when it could?, she wondered, confused. Well, at least I'm alive. The brunette then ran across the cavern and the monster growled, watching her yet. From where she was now, she saw Mary, with her feet firmly planted on the monster's leg, attempting to yank her spear out of it. The monster roared again as the girl grunted, and Éclair saw the spear move up an inch or so.
"Are you getting it?!" Éclair called. The demon screamed again, and started to limp on over to Éclair. She stared at it weirdly. She's making it limp.
"Kind of!" Mary's strained voice replied after a moment.
"Well, keep going! It's limping now, so it'll be somewhat easier to fight."
"If you say so!" Éclair held her guns readily, and started to shoot for the eyes. Somehow, the monster seemed unaffected as the shots peppered its face. Though, Éclair couldn't blame it. The bullets are so shallow, she though worriedly. How am I going to fight any monsters that become tougher than this? They just get more powerful with each encounter, it's just so unreal.
When a bullet pierced its eye Éclair’s face lit up, only to turn into one very confused person.
"M-Mary!" She shouted, unable to believe what she was seeing.
"What do you want?!" Her partner growled from the back. "I've almost got it out now!"
"I shot at its eyes and I don't think it really has any!"
"What do you mean, it doesn't have any? Aren't they something like weird white balls of flame?!"
"Well, the bullet kind of sunk into its eye! Why did that happen?!"
"Why are you asking me, I don't know-" A sort of meaty sound, like someone removing a butcher's knife from a slab of beef made Mary stop her sentence. Only a couple seconds after that and there was a loud thump!, and the girl's coughing. Then the monster shouted again, and the duo covered their ears.
"I'm guessing you got your weapon out?!" Éclair yelled. From a distance, and even in the dark for the frightened fireflies were starting to leave - much to Éclair’s dismay, they couldn't fight in the dark - she saw her partner nod.
"Yeah! Now come on, we have to beat this thing and you have to fill out your report!" The girl shouted as she jumped up to her feet. Éclair bobbed her head as she quickly made her way over to the front of the monster, though still some ways away, and carefully held up her guns.
"Mary, make it roar so I can get a clear shot at its mouth!" She yelled.
"Yes ma'am!" Her partner confirmed. Mary then scrambled up its back like a spider would, although she was much larger than any normal spider. Once she was on its back she carefully made her way over to its head, not wanting to be thrown about like the other one. Though its back was indeed broader; if need be, she could flatten herself against it and curl her hands into its fur to stay put, despite the horrible smell and overall quality of the monster's sanitary condition.
Simply scrambling up made the monster agitated. Its head jerked left and right, trying in vain to see what creature had made its way onto its back and making it very uncomfortable. Though of course, it couldn't rotate its head completely, so it snorted and growled in a huff like some agitated monsters do. When its mouth opened for it to let out a warning, Éclair took that opportunity and shot at the roof of its mouth repeatedly.
It worked. The demon recoiled violently and suddenly so Mary was flung off its back as it jumped onto its hind legs, roaring and throwing its head in circles.
"Mary!" Éclair shouted as her partner landed almost all the way across the cavern, rolling in the grass and flowers that had grown on the earthen floor. Marianela coughed as she forced herself to sit up, shaking her head and gingerly moving her body, trying to see what was broken and what was alright. She screamed in pain, however, when she attempted in moving her left leg.
"Éclair, I broke my leg!" Éclair swore under her breath, something not many Saints do, and shook her head.
"Just stay there, I'll fight him!"
"But you'll die if you're not careful!" Mary shouted as she dragged herself against the back of the cave, trying to stay out of the way as much as possible.
"So will you!" Éclair shot back as she fired a barrage of bullets at the monster again. It once more let out a snarl, and Éclair’s eyes narrowed. My cartridge has almost run out of bullets, she noticed as the gun was lighter. That's not good, I don't have many magazines left...
The monster's mouth was wide open. She then held the triggers on her guns and let loose a fury of bullets. They peppered the insides of its mouth, blood flying out like tossed water, staining the teeth and killing the grass underneath its head. Being beaten badly as it was, the monster lopped over to Éclair with its wounded leg and swiped at her in a very dogged matter. The saint quickly dove to the side, but slightly a moment too late as part of its malicious claw barely scratched her side. She grunted as she hit the ground and quickly rolled over as the monster's other paw slammed where she was only a moment before. Getting up, she aimed at its mouth, though the bullets bounced harmlessly off its teeth.
"I need to get inside its mouth!" Éclair shouted to Mary.
"Climb on its back then! Its muscles aren't made for the hands to grab onto its back, so if you can get onto his head and aim at his mouth you should be able to get inside!" Her partner shouted, looking for sticks to make a tourniquet.
"Good idea!" The saint called back to her partner, impressed that she had managed to come up with a plan like that.
"It's what I'm here for!" The saint then glanced up at the monster only a moment too late. Its paw smashed against her left arm, at her elbow and she screamed.
"Éclair?!" Mary's voice shouted, her eyes widening. Éclair gritted her teeth as the monster removed its paw, revealing her arm. It had broken it horribly; its paw had completely smashed the bone to bits and the pressure from the monster had caused some of the bones to puncture through to her skin, leaving bits of bone revealed and blood streaming openly. What was worse was that veins are more prominent in the elbow region - she was going to lose a lot of blood, fast.
"It got my arm!" She shouted. The saint couldn't feel her left arm anymore at all, nor could she move it. In a huff, she forced herself up and stumbled over to the behind of the monster, ducking as it attempted to swipe at her.
"Well you kind of need those to climb up you know!" Mary shouted. "You can't get up now!"
"It's the only way I can really get up there!" The brunette protested as she faced its hind legs. Taking a deep breath, she let her wounded arm hang loose, wincing in pain as it throbbed, and jumped onto its hind leg. The monster was very peeved now; another mysterious thing had climbed onto his leg and was making him jittery.
"Éclair, it knows you're there!" Mary warned, tying the knots on her makeshift splint.
"I know!" The saint barely managed to shout through gritted teeth as she slowly dragged herself up its hind legs. Her knees hooked onto its boney leg and fur as she clawed her way up with one hand. Her progress was almost too slow; the monster bounded about the cavern, prancing and romping, trying to throw her off.
Make things any harder, would you.... Éclair grumbled to herself as she made her way to the top. After what seemed to be about an eternity, she had reached her destination. She sighed in relief and collapsed on top of him, but then after a moment was up on her feet again. Éclair’s useless hand bounced against her thigh as she shuffled over to the monster's head, throbbing in pain.
"Almost there! Be careful!" Mary shouted as Éclair nodded back to her. The saint then sat down at its neck and hooked her feet together, making a strong hold. Then slowly, she eased herself around so she could see the monster's face and then reached for her holster. The monster seemed to see her then, and went berserk.
It flailed through the cavern as if it had lost its mind, slamming itself against the walls repeatedly, but unable to get Éclair off - its head and horns prevented it from slamming Éclair directly onto the wall. Momentarily, Éclair managed to get her gun out from its holster and held onto it carefully, tightening her grip with her legs.
The moment the monster roared, she suddenly quickly leaned over and threw her arm into its mouth. But before it could snap its mouth shut and take out her arm, she pressed the revolver to the roof of its mouth and pulled the trigger. A shot resounded and blood erupted like a fountain from its skull. Éclair flinched back from it as some of the drops landed on her skin. Part of its tooth cut her arm as she drew back and fell off, landing with a large thump in the grass.
The fiend swayed dangerously over Éclair, and for a moment she thought it would fall onto her. But then it swayed dangerously in the other direction, and collapsed. Silence invaded the cavern, deadly quiet. Mary watched Éclair as she struggled to sit up. Her skin was bleeding profusely; her left arm looked horrible, her skin burnt in many places, and a long gash ran from her forearm to the back of her hand.
"Are you okay?" Mary said almost inaudibly. But in the quiet, Éclair heard. She glanced up at her partner and smiled as the last firefly went out.
"I'm fine."
Now that it was distracted, Mary, in the front, charged at the beast. Sensing her from behind, the monster kicked a leg out in an attempt to strike, but she leapt easily over its limb and made a neat slice down its hind leg. The resulting howl almost made Éclair drop her weapons to cover her ears in pain.
Instead, she gritted her teeth and fired a couple shots at its head, trying to get a clear shot. Even though it was preoccupied with pain, it still managed to duck away and charge at Éclair. Her eyes widened, startled, as it darted over to her, and she jerked her revolvers up and shot at it rapidly. It barreled away then, off to the side of her and then suddenly, Mary was up in the air. She smashed her spear into the back of its leg and a magnificent display of blood splashed into the air, splattering onto the ground like crimson rain. The ground burned where it had reached contact with the dangerous liquid, and small wisps of smoke curled up from their places.
By now, the monster was very ticked off. It growled menacingly and spun to face Mary. Panic flooded Éclair’s senses, and she fired shots hastily to try to get it away. More of its blood gushed out from its wounds; however it ignored them and charged at Marianela. The girl was unaffected by its display of aggressiveness, ducking when it swiped at her and jumping lithely onto its arm to its back. It resulted in another agitated roar, and it immediately flattened itself on the ground, and attempted to roll over.
The move was a smart one indeed, but no match for Mary, Éclair noted as she fired carefully at the monster’s flank. Mary had gracefully pattered against its rough fur, walking along its side as it turned so that she wound up, once more, on its back. When it realized that its creative attempt in flinging the tiny girl off its flipside failed, it snorted irritably, and proceeded to violently shake itself. This time, his plan worked and the poor girl was flung from its back and collided with the bushes at the edge of the clearing.
“Mary!” Éclair shouted - a regrettable act, for it caught the attention of the monster. It whirled, snorting, and eyed the Saint with its blank stare. She resisted the impulse to flinch back and instead fired at its head in vain. When it reached her she ducked as it swiped at her and rolled to the side, dodging as its other arm came down in a fury and creating an impression on the ground. As soon as the saint recovered, she fired at it immediately. The bullets pierced its skull, clearly evident by the monster’s tortured howling.
Suddenly, Mary appeared on the monster’s back, apparently having jumped onto it while it was distracted. It was very hurt from the multiple gunshots and strikes from the duo, and it staggered under Mary’s weight. But then, it suddenly bucked its back, flipping the girl into the air. Éclair gasped involuntarily, covering her mouth. She was thrown so high...
But then she recovered in only the way she could, and held her weapon down, aiming straight for its skull.
The monster melted underneath Mary’s feet as she had hit it, making her sink to the ground quite gracefully. Éclair watched with a sort of soft wonder, sincerely impressed.
“That was...amazing.” She commented, watching her small partner sprinkle Holy Water over its remains. Mary glanced up at her briefly.
“...thanks.” She replied evenly, and put away the bottle then. “Let’s go.” Éclair nodded, and the two of them looked at the map again, recalculating where their destination would be.
Hours passed by, and the day was bleeding to night when finally, Mary brushed aside the boughs to reveal a lovely clearing. The last rays of sunlight dripped past the tangled bramble that formed a roof, leaving the grove with a mystical air. They stood there for a moment, their eyes darting to every inch of the area, suspicious of anything that moved until finally, Mary stepped into the grove with Éclair behind her.
“This is the place?” Éclair asked no one in particular, her voice soft, unable to bring herself to break the tranquility in this area. “It feels so peaceful, it’s almost unreal...”
Marianela didn’t reply, she instead simply surmised the area, apprehensive about the clearing when she suddenly stopped. “Éclair.”
The brunette looked up curiously. “What?” But almost as soon as she did, she saw what Mary had paused for. At the far end of the grove, almost completely obscured by the brush and green tendrils, was a cave. Monochromatic peppery rocks lined it like the petals of a flower, though they were also masked by the green.
Slowly, then, the pair realized that almost like magic, small insects buzzed in the air with a soft golden glow.
“Fireflies.” Mary whispered quietly, watching them with a silent interest. She started, turning abruptly when Éclair suddenly dropped her bag and started rummaging through it. “Wh-what are you doing...?” She asked, bewildered.
“Just give me a sec.” Éclair said as she fumbled with the items in her bag, until at last, she brought out a jar. “I have an idea.”
Marianela only stared at her surreptitiously.
“It’s nothing bad!” The saint protested. “Really. We’re just going to catch a couple fireflies and keep them in here for light inside the cave.” And then she proceeded to do so, Mary eyeing her as she helped, until the bottle was filled with enough to keep it glowing fairly bright.
“Okay, that’s done...” She then walked over to the vines and stared at them hard. “So, how are we going to get these awa-“
A hissing sound broke off her sentence, and suddenly the vines fell away. When the brunette looked back, she saw that Mary had sliced them neatly off with her weapon. “Oh. Thanks.”
She nodded in response, and the two of them took a deep breath, and headed inside.
There was nothing, for a while. Though, the cave was indeed warm, and the walls were made out of some odd rock material that somewhat shone, but they moved so swiftly they didn’t investigate. The air was somewhat alive, however, and it felt like you could feel the earth breathing.
Suddenly Mary squeaked and Éclair’s head jerked to her direction. “Mary?!”
“Wh-wh!” The saint could hear her freaking out, brushing her hands impatiently over herself and she was so very confused.
“Mary, what’s going on?!” Éclair held up the light to her partner and then saw something dart across the reflection. Similarly, she squeaked in fear. “M-MARY! WHAT’S THAT?!”
With her fear heightened, she was suddenly very acutely aware that the wall was indeed made out of a strange material because there was something crawling on it. The earth was not breathing, something was buzzing. Lastly, there was either also a lot of them or one very big one, and either wasn’t very good.
“K-keep moving.” Mary’s timid voice, now shaking with fear, reached out to Éclair. Her small hand wrapped the older woman’s thin arm, and the saint picked up her courage and continued walking on. “I can feel the air ahead open up...there’s a bigger r-room...”
Éclair obeyed, and then she too, after a certain step, could feel that the atmosphere changed almost immediately.
“We’re in here.” Mary confirmed, and Éclair walked a couple steps forward, using instinct and intuition to figure out if she was in the center or not. Having the rough idea, she then took the jar and carefully opened it. The fireflies sped out, happy to finally have fresh air after that somewhat long yet short period of time imprisoned in the glass jar. But as they did, the room was illuminated, and the twosome gasped.
“What are ladybugs doing here?!”
Éclair was breathless. Hundreds, if not thousands or millions of ladybugs decorated the room, crawling all over the walls and in the air. It was as if they were trapped inside a fishbowl filled with them all. One of them landed on Éclair’s hand, and she brought her hand up to look at it when it flew away. Another one replaced its spot soon after, however.
“There’s so many of them...” The saint commented, and took a step forward. The cavern suddenly shook violently, and the ladybugs all erupted from the walls. She heard Mary’s surprised yell as she hit the ground, and the ladybugs buzzed furiously in the air until they emptied the cavern, save for maybe a handful when Éclair yelled in pain.
Her head was wreaking havoc on her body; it hurt immensely - she felt as if someone like Capricorn was beating her head over and over again with a blunt club. She fell on the floor and curled up in a heap, clutching her head and whimpering. Mary crawled over to her, shaken up from the ladybugs, but baffled as to why Éclair had suddenly collapsed.
“Éclair? Are you okay?” She asked as she touched the Saint’s shoulder. Éclair only whimpered in response, and Mary awkwardly patted her back. “Uh...”
Then as suddenly as it came, the pain went away. Éclair paused for a moment, opening her eyes she didn’t realize she squeezed shut and sat up, bemused. Mary stared at her with a very confused and surreptitious look at first, but then relief overcame her and she suddenly hugged Éclair.
“...Mary?” Éclair asked timidly as she patted the girl on the back. She froze for a moment, and then drew away quickly, looking down, embarrassed.
“...sorry.” She muttered. The saint smiled at her slightly before she helped her up.
“Come on.” But as soon as her partner stood up, Éclair froze. Her heart pounded wildly in her chest as she stared wide-eyed behind Mary.
Behind Mary stood something Éclair had only seen hours earlier, only much smaller than the way it was now.
"I...I can't believe it." She dared to whisper, but her voice was almost inaudible.
"M-Mary...there's another..." Mary quickly looked at where Éclair was looking, a horrible mistake.
The monster's head jerked towards the two and it roared, so loud it shook the cavern violently and rock fell from the ceiling. It then proceeded to romp over, indentations in the ground where its large paws sunk. The younger girl hissed under her breath and took out her weapon, rolling to the side. Éclair followed suite so the monster skidded to a halt and roared again, now in the same section of the cavern as them.
"What are we going to do, Éclair?!" Mary hollered over at her, gripping her staff tightly.
"That's a very good question!" The panicked saint called back. "I don't know if we're strong enough to beat this thing!"
"Well, there's really only one way to find out!" At that, Mary charged at the monster, much to Éclair’s protests.
"Wait! Mary! Stop! You're going to go and get yourself killed! Mary!!" But instead, the monster swiped at her while she rolled to the side, almost beneath its arm. She then spun her weapon in a quick wheel, making a shallow cut in its arm. The demon grunted in annoyance and swiped at her small frame. She then ducked underneath its large torso and sprinted to his hindquarters, running her long blade underneath its stomach, shoving up as far as she could. The monster roared in pain, its screech so horrid Mary stumbled and Éclair dropped her gun cartridge as she tried to reload her weapons.
"What in God's name..." The brunette hissed as she held her hands over her ears. As soon as the otherworldly sound stopped, she dropped her hands and swiftly reloaded her pistols. Once that was done she looked up, carefully aimed, and fired a handful of shots at its skull. Even though she had a relatively powerful gun, she saw that the bullets just barely entered its flesh - she could still see the bullet in its skin when they landed.
Meanwhile, Mary had finished her run underneath the monster and deftly spun, and she then proceeded to run her spear into its leg. The shaft only got in about halfway before she realized it was stuck.
"Um, Éclair...?!" She called, panic evident in her voice. The demon roared again, making more chunks of rock fall from the ceiling.
"I'm kind of busy here!" Éclair shouted, trying to aim for the inside of the monsters mouth, or its eyes. Anywhere she could penetrate.
"Yeah, but uh, my weapon!" At this, Éclair glanced over with some difficulty at the behind of the monster.
"I can't see anything!" She shouted as she started to reload her guns again. The monster howled and took this as an opening to bound on over to Éclair. "Mary! What-"
"My weapon got stuck in his leg and I can't get it out so now I'm stuck-!!" Her partner screamed, something she wouldn't normally do. Éclair’s eyes widened and her insides filled with dread.
"Oh God." She bit her lip as she swiftly reloaded her weapons and looked up just in time to meet the face of the monster. Its breath was so horrid she had to hold her breath in order to not pass out; even though it was only five or so feet away from her she could still smell it. Again it let out its brutal roar, and Éclair shielded her head with her arm, rocks sprinkling against her skin.
"You can't get your weapon out?!" Éclair shouted, completely unable to see Mary. The monster loomed over Éclair, sending chills down her spine. She then coughed and sucked in some air, which she regretted. Now the smell was on her tongue, and she had to resist the urge to vomit everything she'd eaten in the past 24 hours.
"No, but I'm trying!" Mary's frantic voice brought Éclair back to reality and the saint nodded.
"Um, alright! Just give me a sec." She dived off to the side as the monster watched her with rabid fascination. Why didn't it strike me when it could?, she wondered, confused. Well, at least I'm alive. The brunette then ran across the cavern and the monster growled, watching her yet. From where she was now, she saw Mary, with her feet firmly planted on the monster's leg, attempting to yank her spear out of it. The monster roared again as the girl grunted, and Éclair saw the spear move up an inch or so.
"Are you getting it?!" Éclair called. The demon screamed again, and started to limp on over to Éclair. She stared at it weirdly. She's making it limp.
"Kind of!" Mary's strained voice replied after a moment.
"Well, keep going! It's limping now, so it'll be somewhat easier to fight."
"If you say so!" Éclair held her guns readily, and started to shoot for the eyes. Somehow, the monster seemed unaffected as the shots peppered its face. Though, Éclair couldn't blame it. The bullets are so shallow, she though worriedly. How am I going to fight any monsters that become tougher than this? They just get more powerful with each encounter, it's just so unreal.
When a bullet pierced its eye Éclair’s face lit up, only to turn into one very confused person.
"M-Mary!" She shouted, unable to believe what she was seeing.
"What do you want?!" Her partner growled from the back. "I've almost got it out now!"
"I shot at its eyes and I don't think it really has any!"
"What do you mean, it doesn't have any? Aren't they something like weird white balls of flame?!"
"Well, the bullet kind of sunk into its eye! Why did that happen?!"
"Why are you asking me, I don't know-" A sort of meaty sound, like someone removing a butcher's knife from a slab of beef made Mary stop her sentence. Only a couple seconds after that and there was a loud thump!, and the girl's coughing. Then the monster shouted again, and the duo covered their ears.
"I'm guessing you got your weapon out?!" Éclair yelled. From a distance, and even in the dark for the frightened fireflies were starting to leave - much to Éclair’s dismay, they couldn't fight in the dark - she saw her partner nod.
"Yeah! Now come on, we have to beat this thing and you have to fill out your report!" The girl shouted as she jumped up to her feet. Éclair bobbed her head as she quickly made her way over to the front of the monster, though still some ways away, and carefully held up her guns.
"Mary, make it roar so I can get a clear shot at its mouth!" She yelled.
"Yes ma'am!" Her partner confirmed. Mary then scrambled up its back like a spider would, although she was much larger than any normal spider. Once she was on its back she carefully made her way over to its head, not wanting to be thrown about like the other one. Though its back was indeed broader; if need be, she could flatten herself against it and curl her hands into its fur to stay put, despite the horrible smell and overall quality of the monster's sanitary condition.
Simply scrambling up made the monster agitated. Its head jerked left and right, trying in vain to see what creature had made its way onto its back and making it very uncomfortable. Though of course, it couldn't rotate its head completely, so it snorted and growled in a huff like some agitated monsters do. When its mouth opened for it to let out a warning, Éclair took that opportunity and shot at the roof of its mouth repeatedly.
It worked. The demon recoiled violently and suddenly so Mary was flung off its back as it jumped onto its hind legs, roaring and throwing its head in circles.
"Mary!" Éclair shouted as her partner landed almost all the way across the cavern, rolling in the grass and flowers that had grown on the earthen floor. Marianela coughed as she forced herself to sit up, shaking her head and gingerly moving her body, trying to see what was broken and what was alright. She screamed in pain, however, when she attempted in moving her left leg.
"Éclair, I broke my leg!" Éclair swore under her breath, something not many Saints do, and shook her head.
"Just stay there, I'll fight him!"
"But you'll die if you're not careful!" Mary shouted as she dragged herself against the back of the cave, trying to stay out of the way as much as possible.
"So will you!" Éclair shot back as she fired a barrage of bullets at the monster again. It once more let out a snarl, and Éclair’s eyes narrowed. My cartridge has almost run out of bullets, she noticed as the gun was lighter. That's not good, I don't have many magazines left...
The monster's mouth was wide open. She then held the triggers on her guns and let loose a fury of bullets. They peppered the insides of its mouth, blood flying out like tossed water, staining the teeth and killing the grass underneath its head. Being beaten badly as it was, the monster lopped over to Éclair with its wounded leg and swiped at her in a very dogged matter. The saint quickly dove to the side, but slightly a moment too late as part of its malicious claw barely scratched her side. She grunted as she hit the ground and quickly rolled over as the monster's other paw slammed where she was only a moment before. Getting up, she aimed at its mouth, though the bullets bounced harmlessly off its teeth.
"I need to get inside its mouth!" Éclair shouted to Mary.
"Climb on its back then! Its muscles aren't made for the hands to grab onto its back, so if you can get onto his head and aim at his mouth you should be able to get inside!" Her partner shouted, looking for sticks to make a tourniquet.
"Good idea!" The saint called back to her partner, impressed that she had managed to come up with a plan like that.
"It's what I'm here for!" The saint then glanced up at the monster only a moment too late. Its paw smashed against her left arm, at her elbow and she screamed.
"Éclair?!" Mary's voice shouted, her eyes widening. Éclair gritted her teeth as the monster removed its paw, revealing her arm. It had broken it horribly; its paw had completely smashed the bone to bits and the pressure from the monster had caused some of the bones to puncture through to her skin, leaving bits of bone revealed and blood streaming openly. What was worse was that veins are more prominent in the elbow region - she was going to lose a lot of blood, fast.
"It got my arm!" She shouted. The saint couldn't feel her left arm anymore at all, nor could she move it. In a huff, she forced herself up and stumbled over to the behind of the monster, ducking as it attempted to swipe at her.
"Well you kind of need those to climb up you know!" Mary shouted. "You can't get up now!"
"It's the only way I can really get up there!" The brunette protested as she faced its hind legs. Taking a deep breath, she let her wounded arm hang loose, wincing in pain as it throbbed, and jumped onto its hind leg. The monster was very peeved now; another mysterious thing had climbed onto his leg and was making him jittery.
"Éclair, it knows you're there!" Mary warned, tying the knots on her makeshift splint.
"I know!" The saint barely managed to shout through gritted teeth as she slowly dragged herself up its hind legs. Her knees hooked onto its boney leg and fur as she clawed her way up with one hand. Her progress was almost too slow; the monster bounded about the cavern, prancing and romping, trying to throw her off.
Make things any harder, would you.... Éclair grumbled to herself as she made her way to the top. After what seemed to be about an eternity, she had reached her destination. She sighed in relief and collapsed on top of him, but then after a moment was up on her feet again. Éclair’s useless hand bounced against her thigh as she shuffled over to the monster's head, throbbing in pain.
"Almost there! Be careful!" Mary shouted as Éclair nodded back to her. The saint then sat down at its neck and hooked her feet together, making a strong hold. Then slowly, she eased herself around so she could see the monster's face and then reached for her holster. The monster seemed to see her then, and went berserk.
It flailed through the cavern as if it had lost its mind, slamming itself against the walls repeatedly, but unable to get Éclair off - its head and horns prevented it from slamming Éclair directly onto the wall. Momentarily, Éclair managed to get her gun out from its holster and held onto it carefully, tightening her grip with her legs.
The moment the monster roared, she suddenly quickly leaned over and threw her arm into its mouth. But before it could snap its mouth shut and take out her arm, she pressed the revolver to the roof of its mouth and pulled the trigger. A shot resounded and blood erupted like a fountain from its skull. Éclair flinched back from it as some of the drops landed on her skin. Part of its tooth cut her arm as she drew back and fell off, landing with a large thump in the grass.
The fiend swayed dangerously over Éclair, and for a moment she thought it would fall onto her. But then it swayed dangerously in the other direction, and collapsed. Silence invaded the cavern, deadly quiet. Mary watched Éclair as she struggled to sit up. Her skin was bleeding profusely; her left arm looked horrible, her skin burnt in many places, and a long gash ran from her forearm to the back of her hand.
"Are you okay?" Mary said almost inaudibly. But in the quiet, Éclair heard. She glanced up at her partner and smiled as the last firefly went out.
"I'm fine."