Chapter 172 - Radiant Hope

--So cold, he thought. 

Walking through the darkness seeping through the many walls of the abyssal palace, bringing one foot in front of the other as each step felt as if it may be his last, he let out a huff of cold air through his lips. 

--Where am I? I...I don't remember anything, he tried to recall. 

Standing in the nooks of this grandiose, somber hall were thrones; far too large for anybody to sit in, formed of blackened, silver metal. It was vague as if he could not see them but instead simply felt their presence--shadowy entities sat upon these thrones, watching him with their disembodied gazes as he lumbered forward, limping. 

The cold grew more fierce; stiffening his limbs as the next attempt at moving his legs resulted in a tumble down to his knees. There was something there; just ahead of him, waiting for him--he didn't know what it was, but he needed it so fervently. It was the only thing keeping his body animated, forcing him to his knees once more before falling again. 

This time, laughter filled his ears. So sharp and abrasive; cutting deep into his skin the heckling, cackling roars belittled him without a single word being uttered. 

"Stop...stop it…"

Placing both hands over his instruments of hearing, the laughter wasn't dulled in the slightest, even amplifying as a result of his futile effort. 

"Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!"

As he begged and begged so desperately, tears escaped his trembling eyes as he kept his gaze to the floor out of shame, rocking back and forth as he attempted to block the noise out. 

"Weak! Weak! Weak!"

"Pathetic! Pathetic! Pathetic!"

"Murderer! Murderer! Murderer!"

The laughter was now threaded with these taunts, resounding through his body as if his pores took on his sense of hearing as well. 

"Shut up!"

With that last scream, he sat up quickly--the laughter was gone; the grimy palace was no longer there, in fact. 

"Ren?"

Blinking a few times at the sound of his name, his groggy gaze set itself on the figure looming over him, looking down at him with its snubbed nose that twitched a few times. Utterly confused by his current position and situation, Ren let out a gasp before shooting up--throwing himself onto his feet with a swift movement. 

"Calm down! Calm down! It's just us!"

Moko raised his hands up as Ren's own hand immediately traveled to the hilt of his sheathed blade. The tiresome adventurer paused for a moment, narrowing his blurry gaze as if to focus it--recognizing the stout being in front of him, and the companion of a similar appearance that stood near the fountain. 

"Oh, that's right…"

Still, with one foot in the realm of dreams, Ren recalled his most recent memories, wincing a bit as using his brain seemed to trigger the dormant headache under his skull, rubbing his head before he remembered a single name that brought everything together. 

Iris. 

"You both--you know where Iris is, don't you? Right?"

As he asked this, Ren walked past them and over to the fountain, peering over the side of it at the figure of the girl resting within the regenerative liquid of scarlet, looking down with eyes that held a fit of guilt and anxiousness. 

"That we do."

Moko was the one to answer, looking over at Velrum as the two primorelves watched the young man move like a reanimated corpse, covered head-to-toe in blood; how much was his or his enemies was unknown to them, though the plethora of monster corpses made it a bit more clear. 

"Where is she? Tell me."

Squeezing the unmoving stone of the fountain rim, Ren questioned them without turning his gaze away from Aiko, waiting for her body to resurface from the pool of red. 

"We can do you one better; we'll bring you to her."

"Huh? Really?"

Finally looking back at the two, his desperate words took away the harsh expression that harbored itself on his face--revealing the eyes of a boy, worried and scared. 

"Of course. Why do you think we were looking for you in the first place? It was as requested by Iris herself."

"...I just don't get it. How? Why? Who the hell are you two? Why're you helping her?...Why're you helping me?"

It was a reasonable question, one that the two scouts seemed ready to answer as they exchanged glances with one another. Under the watchful, deconstructive gaze of the white-haired adventurer, Moko and Velrum knew that attempting to withhold information would prove less than beneficial. 

"Iris saved our people--more than that, she saved our elder. It wasn't asked of her to do that much, but she did. All she wanted in return for a gift most unpayable was for us to help her find you, Ren. Frankly, we were worried...It is a request without much inherent value to it, but even we felt it might be impossible for us to find one person in this domain…"

Moko spoke with clear age guiding his words, placing his hands behind his back as his many wrinkles seemed to be revealed in the slight light that emitted from the vein of pearlescent rocks embedded into the side of the stone. 

"But you did."

Hearing that this was all an effort originating from Iris' desire to find him, Ren couldn't help but smile for a moment, catching a shocked look from Moko as he finally saw an expression befit for someone of the young man's age--a happiness that Purgatory doesn't cultivate. 

Reaching his fingers to his head, Ren winced a bit as the tips of his digits didn't meet with the fluffiness of his locks but the solid, smooth surface of a bandage. He didn't realize it until just then that there were bandages also wrapped around his hands and body. 

"Oh, I patched you up a bit while you were out, but it's only just something to keep you steady until you get the help of an actual doctor."

Honestly, these wounds don't even really hurt. In fact, it's dulled out the main pain throbbing throughout my body, like an itch being scratched, Ren thought. 

Moko answered Ren's confusion before a question could be asked, earning a slow, hesitant nod from the young man as if saying, "Thank you?", who still held his slight smile. 

It only lasted a moment before he returned his attention to the fountain, his smile dissipating along with his reprieve--watching like a protective parent over their child. 

"...If you don't mind my asking, what happened here?"

It was Velrum who decided to ask, stepping forward as his bare feet walked over the stone ground that harbored no warmth. 

"I do mind."

Just rejecting the curious question made something flow through Ren's veins that he didn't want; feeling a building warmth that would only result in the heat of rage. 

Taking a deep breath, this destructive emotion simmered down as he saw the girl's body finally break through the surface of the crimson, revealing her form to him at last. 

The wounds she endured were no longer present; besides the pale complexion that came over her--she was fine. It felt as if a boulder crumbled from atop Ren's sternum, finally taking in full breaths of air into his lungs as he smiled with utter relief. 

"Aiko!"

The two primorelves could only watch in silence at the sight; Ren retrieved the girl's small body from the bowels of the fountain, embracing her before she could yet wake. 

Running his fingers through her beige locks, he held her so tightly he feared he might hurt the girl of a frail-seeming build. Hearing her quiet, soft breaths close to his ear and feeling her melodic heartbeat--Ren felt his cheeks burn as the sensation moved to the edges of his eyes, releasing the built-up stress in the form of tears. 

"...You're really okay. I did it. I did it…"

It was as if Moko and Velrum didn't even exist to him in this moment, brushing his hand through her hair, watching her slumbering expression carefully as if waiting for the very second her eyelids parted--the smile he held constantly trembled as tears slid down his cheeks, washing up the blood that stuck to his skin. 

"We should go now, Ren. It was enough of a risk to wait for the girl there to recover, but it was a miracle we weren't attacked yet. I don't want to press our luck any further."

Moko's words seemed to fall on deaf ears as Ren remained knelt down with the girl in his arms, holding her so close to his chest as if fearing the wind might carry her off, nodding his head a few seconds later while his eyes remained on her restful canvas. 

Standing himself up, Moko and Velrum quickly nodded their heads before turning themselves around, setting their sights on the path they must traverse. It didn't take long for the scouts to figure out their route, moving forward as Ren followed close behind them.