The Second Survivor (An Ara x Reader Story)

Chapter 23

I got nothin...there's a chapter here but that's it...
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        "We need to go. I'm assuming the others managed to defeat Karis but Behemoth doesn't seem to be stoping its advance towards Sander," Zhu said as he helped Ara stand. "That hurt," she whined. "At least you're okay. Sorry about that. I should have killed him sooner," (y/n) said to Ara who no longer had her fox transformation active. "You're an idiot for that," Ara muttered as she stared down at the ground frowning.

        "Hey, I already apologied. It's not even entirely my fault," (y/n) said, surprised that Ara would call him an idiot for such an action. "That's not what I'm talking about," Ara said, still frowning as she climbed onto Zhu's back. "We can discuss this on the way out. Right now, we need to move!" Zhu said right before another tremor shook the area. "Do you think everyone else made it out already?" Ara asked as they easily made their escape.

         (Y/n) decided to run alongside Zhu to get rid of the extra energy he still had in the form of anger. "Most likely. I don't sense their souls anywhere within Behemoth's. They might be waiting on us. Weren't you supposed to be with them?" (y/n) said. "She asked to accompany me before I left the group. I didn't see a reason to decline her request," Zhu said. (Y/n) highly doubted that.

        Zhu was probably just afraid of Eun which reminded him of something. Why hadn't Eun tried killing Zhu already? Perhaps the fox decided the murder could wait until after Sander was saved which was a wise decision if that was the case. Another tremor shook their surroundings making their progress falter for a moment before they were able to continue on.

        "How exacly do we stop this thing? If the air ships can only stop it for certain periods of time, how are we going to keep it from plowing right through Sander?" (y/n) asked. He got no answer and was greeted by abother shake of the ground. "We're near the exit. We have to figure something out when we meet up with the others," Ara informed. She was a little more serious than before which made (y/n) think that Eun had taken over again but it was definitely Ara who'd spoken.

        It bothered (y/n) that no one had any ideas on how to dave Sander but their main priority was escaping and meeting up with the others so he didn't ask for any more suggestions. "There, let's get out of here," Zhu said as they neared the final point in their escape route. Next time the only exit leads to a fall that could cost a life, perhaps he should find another. Their fall was abrupt and unexpected as they got to the exit.

        Behemoth had suddenly stopped causing Zhu and (y/n) to fall down to what would have been a painful landing if neither of them had made a quick decision. Zhu disappeared, dematerializng while (y/n) caught Ara with one arm and sank his claws into Behemoth's hide with the other all while still in his fox enhanced form that he'd neglected to get rid of. It was allowing him to find a stable foothold and thus saved both him and Ara from falling.

        Ara's spear was the only thing to plummet down into the sand and it didn't have a short fall. "That was a close call," (y/n) muttered to which Ara nodded although her grip on (y/n)'s shoulders was a but uncomfortable. "You didn't think I'd let you fall did you?" (y/n) said noticing her fright. "Of course not...that's just a long way to fall," Ara quietly said.

        (Y/n) began to scan their surroundings seeing that the rest of the El Search Party along with Vapor were on a nearby air ship. Elsword spotted him just as he made eye contact and seemed to be ordering the group to help them somehow. (Y/n) looked back at Ara finding that she was staring at him. "What? I don't recal saying anything," he said. "It's n-nothing. You're just...thank you for saving me," Ara muttered, quickly averting her gaze.

        "You can't possibly be that oblivious," Zhu said within his mind in regards to Ara's actions. "Nope. Not in the slightest. I find it a little amusing," (y/n) thought with a smirk. His attention was caught when he realized that the air ship that the others were on had made its way closer to them. "Zhu, take Ara across to the ship. I'll make the jump myself. Make sure you catch her," he said. "Wait, what?!" Ara yelped but she didn't have to chance to protest before (y/n) let her go.

         Zhu reappearing having lept across the distance between the ship and Behemoth and successful caught Ara within a few of his tails as he went along. (Y/n) didn't hesitate to follow catching holdof the ship's railing before Zhu pulled him onto deck. "See, that wasn't so bad," he said as he stood and dusted himself off. He looked for Ara seeing that she was glaring at him. "You dropped me on purpose!" she said but all he could do was shrug in response.

         Soon after, the El Search Party gathered around them. "So you didn't get yourself killed afterall," Lu commented but not without getting a scolding look from Ciel. "Glad you three got out safe but we still have a major issue here. Behemoth's not changing direction and Sander isn't far from here," Elsword said. "Do any of you have any ideas? Even Add has no solution to this problem," Eve spoke.

        "Not a clue but I do have a question. How is Behemoth still alive. Didn't you guys take out its heart?" (y/n) said. "Necromancy. Karis must have had someone cast a spell just in case her plan failed," Aisha answered. (Y/n) was about to say something else but Zhu spoke up only being heard by Ara and (y/n). "There may be a way but it's dangerous and risky. If we find no other alternative, (y/n) and I will have to risk our lives," Zhu said.

        "What do you mean we'll have to risk our lives? When I asked you earlier, you didn't say anything," (y/n) said. He got strange looks from some of those in the search party but they didn't know that Zhu could speak with his host and the hosts of other beings such as Eun. "Behemoth has a soul just as you saw. Just like any other living thing with a soul, it can be stolen but with it being on a level like that, we'd get a power overload that would likely kill us if we tried stealing it. It can be done without us dying but the chances for that are extremely low. One mistake and we die," Zhu explained.

        It made sense and the risks were likely the reason Zhu had chosen not to mention the plan in the first place. "There has to be another way to stop Behemoth!" Ara said. "No else has any ideas, Ara. If we don't think of something else within the next few minutes, I just might have to go along with this," (y/n) said glancing at Vapor who was still unconscious and now being carried by Ain.

        "What did Zhu say?" Chung asked being one of the few members of the team that understood that Zhu couldn't be heard by them. "He basically said that we both have to die in order to stop Behemoth," (y/n) summarized. It wasn't the best way to relay the message but putting the main concern out there was the best eay to spark their minds into thinking of something else.
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Got another chapter finished. I got more to do so until next time you amazing readers!