Blessed Combat

39 - The Choices They Make

“How peculiar...”Zessica blinked at the sudden change in surrounding. She was sure she had been in the hospital in Stabs arms, Phoenix and Caterpillar worried for her health and Zatch approving her to go. She was just smiling back at Zatch too, so why was she here in some... white nothingness? Why was she weightless, feather light yet trapped here? Her oxygen tank was gone too, along with the tubes...but she was breathing easier right now. In fact, she never felt her body feel this good.

For the first time in her life, she felt like she could do something, anything without the worry of being sick later. If this was what she had to look forward to for the rest of her life, she supposed it wasn’t all that bad. If her selection of choices grows thin, if pills and medicine can do nothing to free her, this is what she would choose. However, there was something else she needed to worry about wasn’t there? Something that needs to be looked into first.

“I didn’t expect you to come to me Oliver, since you are after all part of the core.” Zessica turned to find the guy with the infamous Pikachu hoodie concealing most of his face. However, a sad smile was spread across his face. Even though Zessica could see his lips, she could tell he was having mixed feelings about seeing her. As if he missed her after being away for so long, but the short girl did not recall anything about being friends with him. Then again, he was in that picture in the same orphanage now was he not?

“Well since I don’t have a body, this is pretty much a permanent spawning point for me. If you are wondering whether you are dead then nope, you are still alive.” Zessica sighed in relief because that possibility was in her mind. After all, when Oliver said this area was a spawning point, she had immediately thought that she too had died, considering that Oliver was also dead... in an alive sort of way. The undead sort of way but without the rotten fleshes. Oh God, Arma must have rubbed off her somehow.

“So why am I here? Where is here?” Zessica asked curiously, scanning around to find that they were the only one present in the room. Now that she had a better view of the surroundings, she could see there were dozens of gears grinding over each other, all rotating in either clockwise or anticlockwise rotation, all of them in perfect harmony and synchronisation.

“W-well... I am not pretty sure what to call it myself. For me, it’s just some place that frequently changes scenery. As for why you are here, it’s because I wanna help you with the Declaration of War. I’ll help you get in Final Trial...” Both of Zessica’s eyebrows perked up in interest at Oliver’s answer.

“What brought this about?”

“Hmm... I don’t really know why but I just wanna help. Isn’t that a good reason enough?” Oliver grinned broadly to which Zessica observed carefully. Seeing there was no trickery behind that smile, Zessica softened slightly before smiling back.

“Sure, if you say so.” Oliver shrugged lightly, when without warning, he flicked his finger on her forehead, hard. Zessica’s head snapped back from the force and shock before she winced and glared witheringly at the Pikachu hoodie wearing guy.

 “What-

All of a sudden, Oliver pushed her backwards, cutting off her words. They were still lingering in her mouth when the image of him faded. She felt her stomach drop when she felt the sensation of free falling. It felt like she was going down a roller coaster at a dangerous speed. The air was caught in her throat and she knew she was panicking because her heart was beating erratically on her chest. She felt her heart almost stop when darkness surrounded her vision, leaving her with black nothingness.

The tall lad didn’t know where he was at but he knew that he was very far distant from the others. He couldn’t hear the battle cries and clashes between the two female players even echoing through the maze, unless they got separated again. Once or twice, he almost fell straight into very skilfully disguised pits in which he was able to catch himself at the last minute. It was after that, a catastrophic chain of traps started to unfold before him.