The prince looked down at me until our eyes met. He reacted, "Tss," before letting go of me.
Argh! How many times have I fallen this morning? And how many times has the prince been the cause of that as well? The grassy Prince just knocked me down!
"We're here, stop dreaming!" the Prince said rudely and walked ahead to follow the Echelons. Because I didn't want to be left behind, I immediately complied. My clothes got dirty right away, and some parts of my clothes got wet. Fortunately, my insides didn't come off somehow despite getting wet, because it would be really difficult. I don't want anyone to think of me rudely.
We will climb this ascending forest again. It's tiring, I'm not happy at all. But I could do nothing. Because in the first place, it's me who decided to join as I took the Echelons' and the Prince's decision as an opportunity to be with them despite being a bait.
"Stupid, can you move faster?" The prince said looking annoyed after looking back at me. I was shocked at the distance, they would almost leave me behind. We are already a long way apart. I blinked before running to where he was.
"Stupid!" The prince groaned in anger.
But I also couldn’t help but get annoyed. Because what the heck is his problem? I know I'm terrible compared to them but does he need to point it out every single time? And why is it always me? Oh— because it's literally always me.
"Stop calling me stupid!" I weakly said though the annoyance of my tone cannot be concealed.
The corner of his lip and his right eyebrow rose, "Then I should call you what?"
I secretly rolled my eyes.
"What do people call you, prince?"
"My name." He said seriously while staring at me intently.
I'm going to melt here.
"Exactly—" I became quiet all of a sudden. I also cringed after realizing what I just brought. I want to be called by my name but I can't tell them my name. Yeah right, I deserve to be called stupid.
"Exactly what?" He questions again.
I looked down at the ground, indicating that I can't answer his question, "Tss." he reacted and started walking again.
"Prince! We have found the cave!" That was the voice of Corinthians from above. It looks like they have already found the cave I saw.
After hearing that, the prince quickly went to them and then left me. I took a deep breath then ran to where the voice came from. Although it was tiring, I did it until I reached the cave. They were already there, meeting outside and I was the only one missing. Suddenly my chest weighed down, why am I feeling sad? Why does my chest feels so heavy with the feeling that I don’t belong to them where in the first place and fact I don’t really belong to them?
Why am I hurting when I know I am only a pawn for them? Why am I feeling sad with the thought that I don't belong to the world they are in.
Chrysler turned to me. After seeing me, he immediately went to me.
"Thank God you're here. Why are you taking so long?" He asked as he pulled me to the group. I just tagged along with his haul.
Nathalia interjected, "Is this the cave you saw?"
I nodded.
"Let's go in." Greyson said.
The prince walked in first, Greyson followed, then Nathalia and Corinthians entered at the same time. Chrysler waited for me to enter before he followed. The inside of the cave was dark.
"Corinthians, light please." Said Zavan.
Am I even allowed to call him by his name? Suddenly, Corinthians' hand lit up, illuminating the inside of the cave.
"Don't look at my face, will you?" Nathalia complained.
"Ops, I'm sorry. I thought your face was a wall."
"Why, you're an idiot!"
The two women continued to bully each other which was shocking as they do not get really mad at each other despite their harsh words. We started walking with Corinthians's light as guide. I looked closely at what was carved into the side of the cave.
"Maybe there have been people who have lived here before." I whispered.
Chrysler turned to me, "Why do you think so?"
"There are drawings here. It's their way of communicating with each other. Well maybe they can't speak or sign language isn't enough for them to fully understand what they have to say to they just draw it." I spoke as I continued to look at the carvings in the cave.
"This is fire." Chrysler pointed to the drawing.
"There may be something here that can determine where the gemstones are." Greyson said.
I stopped walking and examined the engraving. There was a straight line and the end of it became two, it seemed to separate. On the left side are about a box engraved, while on the right are piercing objects. I can't determine what kind of spikes these are and the box on the left. But there's something that got my attention. At the end of the same line, there is a large circle drawn.
"There are two ways, where are we going?" asked Greyson.
I looked away after he said that. I think I already know what this drawing means.
It's a guide.
"We should go the left first. Or maybe we split? Three on the right and three on the left," said Corinthians.
"Gray, Chrysler, and you witch on the right. We're with the Prince here on the left." Nathalia said, then they also went straight to the left.
Chrysler immediately complied, "Let's go then."
I followed them. But I quickly stopped when someone remembered, "We don't have a light."
Grayson quickly lifted his bag, "Don't worry baby, I'm always prepared." He said then pulled out a flashlight.
I smiled, he's cute. He may be a playboy but he's still a baby.
We went straight for the walk. Since I wasn’t satisfied with Greyson’s flashlight I turned on my power. I covered my ears because of the different sounds I heard. I think waking my abilities up is a bad idea so I stopped it immediately and joined Greyson's moving flashlight.
"What are those?" Chrysler asked. We stopped because of the things in front of us.
"Are these the gems?"
So, the piercings drawn are sharp stones?
"This is..."
"Don't touch it!" I abruptly shout freaking the two men. Greyson immediately raised his hand and walked away.
So, what was the big circle I saw there?
"What the heck is that?" Greyson asked.
At once, we stared at the enormous creature standing in front of us. The big circle is a... beast!
THERE'S A BEAST! A VERY HUGE BEAST.
"Maybe the place we went to was wrong." Grayson gnashed his teeth.
"Both sides has its own creatures. We need to find a precious stone before it gets mad." I whispered.
Chrysler suddenly interjected, "Let's just search."
"Need to really slow down?" Greyson asked.
"Yes of course. And if you're not sure about a thing, don't touch it."
"But baby, I want fast and hard."
I'm a little taken aback by what Greyson said. This jerk is starting to get on my nerves. I now understand Corin and Nathalia's frustrations. I carefully searched around, making sure not to make a loud noise so as not to wake the creature in front of us.
Come on, there must be something here.
"I think, I found something." Greyson whispered.
"What is it Gray?" Chrysler asked.
"I am not sure, but..."
My heart thumped loud as a loud thump traveled the cave as if something fell. I stiff when the flashlight created a loud noise as it fell to the ground.
"This is insane." I gritted my teeth and closed my eyes tightly. How can these boys be so careless?
"What did you see Greyson?" Chrysler asked aloud, "Wait, where is the flashlight? Oh there."
I let the two men talk as I watched the monster slowly wake up because of our noise. What am I doing?
"Guys, guys," I call to the two men who are busy finding the gems. The big monster stood up. It's really hefty, I will be swallowed in no time. Its eyes are facing the guys. Gosh! I have to do something to divert its attention. Once its eyes open, I need to do something.
"Guys,"
THUG.
The flashlight thundered a loud noise again. Why are these boys so careless? And because of that, the monster's eyes finally opened.
OH SH*T.
I quickly thought of a way. There are a lot of sharp stones here, I will use them so that I can distract the monster from the men looking for the stones. I pulled hard on the sharp rock I saw, I was even injured before I could get it. The grain of my blood dripped on the ground. And because of that the monster quickly turned to me.
"Good... that's good." I whispered nervously.
"What the hell are you doing?" Chrysler shouted. I stared at him. I mouthed don't-mind-me but yet he didn't listen.
He quickly let out smoke with his hands and pulled me away from the monster's sight. But the smell of my blood was strong, the smoke didn’t work because the monster just sniffed it. I can be seen by the beast again.
"Baby, don't move..." Grayson calmly said. How are they able to be calm in this situation?
"Greyson..." I whispered. I'm getting scared what the heck.
"Shh, baby. I'm gonna get you, don't move."
I nodded in response.
Chrysler is doing something while Greyson is slowly walking into my place to get me. The beast isn't wild yet, and it's good since atleast we can still run. I aimed my bow and arrow to shoot the beast but it only became a way for my blood to drip. The beast thundered the cave by it's loud groan.
"Run baby, run!" Greyson shouted and reached for my hand. I immediately ran towards him and reached for his hand. Then he pulled me so we could quickly run away from the monster. Eventually the monster got up and almost broke down the wall as it stood because of its size.
"Sh*t! Sh*t! Sh*t! What the heck!"
"Chrysler faster! Throw the bomb already!" Greyson shouted.
"We'll explode together if I throw it away!" Chrysler shouted.
"Then just run!" I yelled.
Then at once, we ran away from the monster. Due to its weight and size, it was difficult to get out of its burrow to chase us. Yet it was strong enough to cover us with rocks from the cave.
"Run fast, I'll hide you in my smoke!" Chrysler shouted.
"How about you?" I asked.
"Don't mind me, I can handle myself!" He said and smiled stupidly . Stupid. The jerk even managed to smirk!
"Please make sure to come back with us alive." I whispered.
There was a look of shock on his face when I said that.
"Let's go." Greyson pulled me away.
We ran again as soon as we came to the corner, Corinthians and Nathalia came out as well.
"Did you get it?" Corinthians asked vaguely.
"Don't mind it, let's go!" Greyson shouted. We immediately followed him and ran again. The corner we came from is falling apart.
How about Chrysler?
And the Prince?
Are we with the prince?
Couldn't they have been covered?
WHERE THE HECK ARE THEY?