Episode 31 – The Girl At Sea and the Angel Tower – Part 2
The essence of the room was becoming tense. Yessenia and Eidothea were still staring at each other in silence. There seemed to be no monsters nearby yet. The room was quiet and with a slight noise, it would echo throughout the floor. Matt took a step forward. He wanted to question what Yessenia just said, “What do you mean by that?”
Yessenia continued talking to Eidothea, “Not only that, you called these monsters ‘Digicells’. The term ‘digi’ came from animation, or more specifically, computer animation. Why in the world do YOU know about computer animation when we’re way in the past with ancient Gods?”
“I’m…” She had her right hand over her chest. “… Erica.” She said softly. Matt was utterly confused at what she just said. “Your real name is Erica…?”
Erica turned to Matt, “Yes, and I’m the Erica that you know, Matt. Don’t you remember me?”
Matt nodded, “O-Of course I do! But this whole time, you were Erica ever since you were born here?!”
Erica shook her head, “No, no! You got it all wrong! I’m half nymph and half human. Both the knowledge and heart of the nymph and my own combined. It was that day… when we combined, I had not remember much of what happened right before. Then a few hours later, my eyes started to shine. Overnight, our hearts were combining but our appearances were still two beings. Jen saw my eyes and I told her they were contacts… I didn’t want her to get involved with what I was dealing with her. Right when I got home that day, my heart began feeling lighter. The nymph was forming with me. Can’t you see, Matt? The only thing that’s left of me is my heart. My appearance is no longer there. I cannot go back to being my old self.”
Matt stomped his foot, “That’s horrible! What are you going to tell Jen now?! Are you even going to confront her anymore or what?!”
“Didn’t I already tell you? I can’t!! This is not as easy as it seems, Matt! I know all about these stage things. I’m supposed to live here now and survive five more times with who knows what and when!” She suddenly smiled, “But thank goodness… I am the only one that will be conflicted with this problem. The nymph came to the real world and she found me. I don’t think this will happen to anyone else…”
Matt turned to Yessenia, “This is crazy… but is she one of us?”
Yessenia turned her head at Erica, who had Eidothea’s body, “I assume she is. But what are we going to do now?”
Matt said to Erica, “And how will Jen handle this?”
Erica responded, “That is not a problem. I told her I have to stay home a few days to help pack up because I’ll be moving away. I heard that after succeeding the eighth stage, I will reform back to my own self. Once that happens, I can tell her that my family changed their minds.”
The voices of Digicells were near. Yessenia took out her blunt sword, “Here they come.”
Danny stood next to her, “I’ll help you too. I don’t care if I am tired and half-beat. I want to help!” Yessenia chuckled and they both ran up ahead.
Matt wanted to say at least something to Erica, but he was speechless. He followed Yessenia and Danny up to the next few floors without saying anything to Erica. Erica frowned. “He’s not treating me that well anymore…”
~~~
By the 75th floor, all three students with powers began feeling exhausted. They did not want to stop after fighting so many monsters and running through countless floors. Erica was behind them, still holding the shiny reddish stone as if she was Eidothea. The room was huge. Yessenia paused for a moment, “Something is not right here.”
Matt saw that there was nothing different about the room. It felt like any other room down below. “What do you mean?”
Yessenia pushed Matt aside as fast as she could and she took out her sword to block an attack from who knows what. Matt fell on his behind and he closed his eyes from the pain. Erica shrieked, “Oh my! What is that?”
Yessenia pushed the monster away from her sword. “A Chimera?!” The Chimera flipped over and fell onto the floor. “Chimeras are famous enemies especially in the Ancient Gods, aside from Cerberus. This is what Shirley must have been talking about before she vanished. She wanted to tell us that a Chimera was following us up this far.”
Danny stood in front of Yessenia, “It is really ugly. I don’t think anything can stop it. But all I can do now is stall it. Let me do it!”
Matt tried to throw a fireball at it but the Chimera only absorbed such a thing. Yessenia’s wind wouldn’t help since the Chimera is heavy. Yessenia closed her eyes and thought about the situation. She agreed with Danny, “Alright. We’ll go ahead.”
~~~
The group of three was now on the 90th floor. Matt looked up ahead, “We’re finally almost there. Monsters just keep coming right at us.” Matt sat down on a rock, “Agh, I’m tired too.”
Yessenia faced the ceiling. She sighed, “I’m afraid it’s not over just yet.”
Matt followed Yessenia’s eyes, “Well of course- Oh no. That can’t be good.” On the ceiling, there was a strange silvery goop sliming down onto the floor.
Erica ran towards the next floor, “Should we run from it?”
Yessenia took out her blunt sword, “Yes, or at least you two should.”
“What do you mean?” Matt wondered.
Yessenia pointed at the slime, “Look at the steam coming out of it. Fire will just add more to the goop and it will only get stronger. All I have to do is use my wind powers to deplete the slimy bastard and I’ll catch up with you later as soon as possible. Hopefully this will be quick. Who knows.”
Matt was uncertain about Yessenia’s decision. “I’m not gonna let anymore friends lag behind. I don’t know if I can do this alone. More and more monsters keep appearing the closer we get to the top. You think I can do this alone?”
“What other options do we have?”
Matt turned to Erica and he said nothing. He ran up to the next floor and screamed, “Fine!” Erica tried to follow his immediate flee.
Yessenia clenched onto her sword, “Alright, now that’s more like it. I hope you can fix it, Matt.”
~~~
On the 99th floor, Matt felt exhausted. He sat down and he noticed that Erica was waiting for him. She was half nymph so there was less of a chance of her being as tired as Matt. Matt finally spoke to her, “Hey, Erica…” Erica was eager to listen to him finally talk to her. “What happens if we fail at least one of the stages?”
“H-Huh? I don’t know… I don’t want to find out.”
The two of them suddenly heard a roar coming from above. The ground was starting to shake after every thump. Actually, there was not only one roar coming out at once. Matt noticed the sound. “What is it now?”
Erica headed for the lower end of the floor, “No… no! We can’t go through this monster. Even the ancient Gods alone could not defeat it!”
Matt rolled his eyes, “Oh great. I’m assuming that knowledge came from the nymph.”
“Why of course. What do we do now? We can’t go back after going up this far in the tower!”
Matt hand his hands ready to blast fire, “Well whatever it is, we have no other choice. If I sign out right before I get hurt, I’ll be a coward. If I get hurt too much, I’ll start to vanish. If they do overkill, I’ll probably die completely in here. What are the choices?” He speeded towards the next floor.
On the way, he could see a three-headed monster take a step down each step. Matt looked up at it in amazement. Erica told him from behind, “Cerberus… the sacred monster that could defeat an ancient God.”
Matt took a step back, “I-I’m not scared. Just you watch me.” He ran towards the three-headed monster and it noticed Matt’s appearance. The monster spewed flames and Matt continued to run through the flames. “Easy as one, two, three!!” He smacked the Cerberus with his fireball. The Cerberus screeched. It suddenly started turning red and it began to rage. It looked as if it was going to stampede through Matt. Matt jumped off the stairs and the Cerberus missed. Matt was holding onto the ledges. The Cerberus, with red eyes, noticed Matt was hanging on the ledge.
Erica screamed, “Oh no, Matt!” The monster took sight of Erica. It decided to attack her next. Erica closed her eyes, “Eek!” The Cerberus was getting really close now. At the brink of downfall, a blunt sword appeared.
Yessenia laughed, “Hehe! This is nothing!”
The ground level under the Cerberus rose and it got knocked over. Danny was behind the monster, “It tripped!”
The monster started getting attacked by bits of ice. Shirley appeared from the next floor, “This is it!”
Matt was getting tired of holding onto the ledge for awhile. His fingers were slipping off the bars. Santi grabbed Matt’s arms and helped him up. He reversed the energy that Matt had lost while trying to regain stability with the ledge. “Now the five of us are here to reach the last floor.”
Matt looked at all of his four friends, “H-How did you all…?!”
Danny explained to him, “Santi and Shirley appeared together to help me then we reached Yessenia. Defeating the Chimera and the Slime as a team really helped.”
Shirley pointed at Santi’s arm, “And with his powers, he got to rewind all of our exhaustion so that we were back to normal.”
Erica was amazed, “Oh, that’s right! No ancient Gods in the past had gone through this trial with a team.”
Yessenia came closer to the Cerberus, “And with teamwork comes success.”
Santi turned to Matt, “Hey, you were the one who had gone this far alone. You went through nine floors after Yessenia with Erica and you two haven’t gotten hurt. Why don’t you go onto the next floor and put that stone back. I’m sure this is the last of the monsters.”
Yessenia corrected him, “They’re not monsters. They’re Digicells.”
“Whatever you say.” Santi rolled his eyes.
Matt agreed with them, “Alright!” He said to Erica with happiness, “Let’s go, Erica!”
Erica followed him. She was happy that Matt was able to smile and talk to Erica even after knowing she became half nymph and half human…
~~~
The 100th room… It was shiny as ever can be. Oddly enough, the floor was growing flowers. The sun was shining in from the windows which had no glass on them. Matt took a look outside the window, “Wow… I could see the clouds just right below us. The atmosphere is thick, but you can still breathe in it.” He turned to Erica, who was heading for the altar. “I can’t believe we made it this far…”
Erica took out the shiny reddish stone. It was reacting with the altar. Erica said to herself, “I don’t know what possessed me, but I thank everyone for helping me bring the stone back to peace.” She placed the stone back on the altar and the room was becoming even brighter.
Matt’s four friends came into the room. This was a sign that the Cerberus was finally defeated. The tower was cleansed from Digicells… The room was quiet and peaceful. Shirley softly gripped her hands together, “How beautiful…”
Erica took a step back, “Something’s not right… something is still here.”
Yessenia felt her chest, “Yes, I can feel it too.”
Santi examined the whole room, “The strange essence is getting closer really fast…!”
From down below, a dark figure was appearing. Yessenia said in a panic, “What?! This can’t be… it’s Hades!”
Hades said with an echoing, satanic voice, “All this loveydovey of a tower is making me sick! How is it possible that a weakling like Eidothea succeeded to put the stone back to its original place?!” He began vibrating with anger.
Santi yelled, “This can’t be good!” He opened his palm and he tried to stop the time Hades’s actions. “It’s not working. My time powers are not working!”
“Stop it!” A voice was heard from behind the altar. Everyone turned to the voice.
Hades said to it, “What are you doing here?!”
Jon appeared. He slowly walked towards Hades, “Are you trying to kill these people or what? You don’t even belong up here in the sky. You’re supposed to be in the underworld. It’s where you belong.” He stood in between Hades and the group of six. He opened her arms, indicating that Hades could not hurt the group of six.
Erica whispered to the group with the knowledge of Eidothea, “That’s right… ancient Gods cannot attack their chosen ones. All of us are chosen to be the ancient Gods apprentice of our generation.”
Hades complained, “Agh, I’m going to get you for that next time, Jon!” He began to vanish under the floor.
Jon sighed, “Next time, eh?” He turned to the group. The group was waiting for his response. Jon shook his head, “You’re damn welcome.” Jon pressed a button on his cellphone as he vanished.
Shirley said blankly, “Why…?”
~~~
---- Next chapter preview:Matt: On the next chapter, there seems to be a strange book behind the bookcases. Wait... who is that girl?
???: I want my book back.
Matt: B-But I saw it first! I'm going to see what's inside.
???: IT'S MY BOOK. GIVE IT BACK TO ME.
Matt: N-no! Get your crazy self out of my way, and keep your friend away from me too! Agh... Next chapter, Beauty and Liquid, Two Unlike Combinations!
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