"Your final task is as follows: Climb to the top of the mountain closest to your elevator. Good luck, Geniuses!"
A grimace marred Sintra's face as the group shared hesitant looks between each other.
"That's it?" Jesse asked.
A very valid question.
This was too easy for a final quest. Not that the mountain looked like an effortless feat but Sintra couldn't help but think that it was much too simple.
Climb to the top of mountain. No catches, no riddles, no battles, no monsters. It seemed to good to be true.
Lightning struck across the sky, illuminating the harrowing looks placating their faces.
Anxiety had Sintra frozen in place as her mind ran through a million possibilities. These game masters never made anything this easy and now they were suppose to just climb a mountain?
What was at the top of the mountain? Was there a time limit? What would happen after they had arrived at the top? Could she even make it to the top?
The mountain was incredibly steep, not to mention it was almost the height of the Eiffel Tower. How long would this take? Could her limbs hold out until she got there or was someone or something going to attack them before that?
So many questions, so many possibilities. It was too much for her.
"Hey," Vante said, snapping her out of the marathon of thoughts running through her mind. "What are you thinking?"
"I'm thinking that it's too easy."
"You look at this giant sized tower of rock and think it's easy? You grew alot of balls since I met you, Sintra."Jesse pitched in.
"I mean, I understand what she's saying. What's the catch you know?" Felix defended.
"There's no catch. We climb the mountain and we win. Just try not to fall off or we'll die. Same treatment as every game," Jesse retorted.
Sintra wasn't so sure about.
A few participants had already started climbing and it wasn't long before Sintra herself had been pulling her body up the mountain.
It was a very lengthy journey but some how they managed to keep going by what Sintra believed was a miracle.
A scream echoed from behind them, followed another, and another. Indication that some people had fallen to their deaths.
Sintra's hand shook with every grip of rock, her anxiety taking a seat within her bones as it kicked up a foot to enjoy wracking her nerves.
As she reached for another piece of gray rock to anchor herself, her foot slipped, dangling in the air momentarily. She hurriedly found her balance again, exhaling deeply at the close call.
Her entire body was shaking uncontrollably now, the possibility of falling to her death even more imminent.
"Don't look down okay, Sin? It's gonna be fine," Vante said as he stopped next to her.
That however, was easier said than done.
"Why don't I tell you why I bought shares in your company as we climb? Take your mind off the fall?" He then asked and Sintra's ears suddenly perked up, interested in learning this forbidden knowledge.
"Okay," she nodded, reaching for another piece of rock.
Sintra didn't understand how Vante could be smiling at a time like this but he did, shaking his head at her as they climbed.
Felix and Jesse were below them, warring against the rock as they too wrestled against the unpredictable rock.
Jesse was good at this sort of hard labour but Felix was struggling and as such, she had chosen to stay behind to help him climb.
"My father, you see." Vante started, a grunt following after as he heaved himself up the mountain. "As I told you before, he took control of my mother's organization and turned into a profitable charity. I didn't have any objections to that. He was helping people, or so I thought."
"What do you mean so you thought?" Sintra winced, straining as she pulled herself up as well.
"He was using company donations for drug trafficking as well funding the selling of exotic animals as pets to rich creeps. Even after he past the company down to me and pulled me from my studies, he was still embezzling company funds to run his underground business."
Sintra was at a loss for words. She would have never imagined Wish4All was involved in illegal practices but now that Vante had disclosed this, it explained why so many millionaires and celebrities had been donating and supporting the organization.
Infact, Vante just disclosed some very serious information as a few government officials and superstars flashed through Sintra's mind. No wonder he didn't want to tell her. It was easier not knowing, especially for her— their competitor.
"He not only sullied my mother's life work and name but he brought trafficked drugs that destroy minority communities and illegally captured animals and sold them to freaks all over the world. Animals he knew his son was studying to help."
Sintra wished she could hug him, a frown forming on her mouth as she heard the pain in his voice.
"So you sold the company and took the money and invested it into Free the Kulture," Sintra said, pausing to look at him.
"I did. I've always admired you, Sintra. Your company was everything I thought mine had been and I wanted to be apart of that. I may have went a little overboard with the shareholding but it was just because I was ashamed. I may not have done anything but I felt like I had conned people out of their money. I wanted to feel apart of something good again."
"You wanted to be a hero," she smiled at him.
Shame ravaged her mind as she remembered the thoughts she had about him before they they were taken.
He really was genuine in his speeches and press conferences. Her initial judgement was the correct one. Vante Kim was a honest man that cared about helping people and he loved animals. He was never rotten to the core. Just hurt.
"You loved your job. You loved helping people. And you thought of me as your rival and that made me remember my encounter with that lion. You were like me, watching like the predator you thought I was and I was the lion, watching you in awe, hoping you could see that I meant you no harm."
"Vante—" Sintra said, her voice cracking.
"Your name is the biggest contradiction because you're not a sin, you're a blessing. I'm sure we would've fallen for each other without this happening but I'm glad it happened anyways."
Before Sintra could respond Jesse screamed, catching their attention as they craned their necks below them to see what had happened.
"What the hell is that?" Vante asked, horror creeping into his deep voice.
Sintra gulped as she watched a very oversized mountain lion drag Felix across the mountain.
"No, no, no!" Sintra shrieked, tears forming in her eyes as she watched Felix spit blood from his mouth while the lion dragged him across the rocky terrain.
"FELIX!" Jesse cried loudly, the shout causing the animal to toss him off the mountain.
They were already half way up the solid gray rock. There was no way Felix could have survived that fall.
The beast turned his attention to a weeping Jesse, ready to pounce on her as well.
"We have to help them, Vante!" Sintra cried, her vision slightly blurry with tears.
"We— h-how?" He asked her.
It was the first time she had ever heard him sound so afraid. She was use to Vante being the valiant one. He was the source of her strength. But as she looked into his eyes, she could see terror knocking the walls of bravery down to nothing.
The beast attacked Jesse but not before getting stabbed in the eye by her bedazzled dagger. Sintra didn't even know she had grabbed it before leaving the cavern earlier.
The beast howled in pain, almost falling from the mountain but its legs gripped the hard stone firmly as it found its balance.
"Help!" Jesse cried.
Vante began to move down the mountain and Sintra couldn't stop herself from asking what he was doing.
"I-If that thing doesn't die it'll attack us too. I have to help her," he said, his voice shaking.
Another scream broke their conversation and they both had to watch as the beast knocked Jesse off of the mountain.
Vante expelled air from his mouth, the fear in his eyes dissipating and turning into something else. Something courageous and heroic. Something scary and final.
It didn't take a genius to figure out what he was thinking.
"You can't!" Sintra cried.
"If I don't we'll both die. And I did tell you that I wouldn't let you die. I meant it," he told her, climbing closer to her to steal a kiss.
It was only for a moment but it was something Sintra would never forget because the feeling it elicited was that of pure and genuine love.
It was as if all their memories had flashed through her mind at once and by the fervor and emotion behind his kiss, she could tell he could see them too.
Them running in the pouring rain of a rainforest then sprinting across the sweltering heat of the desert. They were at each other's side as they tunneled through a danger ridden collapsing cave and when they had given them water instead of land, they had swam together instead.
He waited by her side while she was hurt and when the time was right he had kissed her gratefully while caressing her with longing.
There were so many terrifying memories sweetened with moments of passion and revere. She had saved him and he had saved her. They were the reason each other was alive.
And here was once more ready save her again. One last time.
"You have to win this thing, Sintra." He told her, reluctantly pulling his lips from hers.
"No, no, no. I can't do it without you!" She tried to reason but he only gave her a small smile.
"You can and you must. For Anna. For Carter. For Lena. For Phillip. For those ghosts. For Jesse. For Felix. For me," he finished, resting his forehead on hers.
"You win and you give those game masters hell when you see them. Okay?" He told her.
But all Sintra could do was cry.
"I know I've told you this before but it's been a privilege, Ms. Magnus." He finished, kissing her cheek one last time before letting go of the rock hold.
She screamed his name as he fell still staring at her with absolute adoration in his eyes before grabbing the lion's back legs as he pulled it off the mountain to its death.
Sintra shut her eyes quickly, turning her face away as she waiting to hear them hit the ground but all she heard was the screams of other players across the sea of mountains.
Her stomach cramped with pain as she tried to steady herself so she wouldn't fall as well, sobbing against the rock.
She couldn't believe that just in a moment all her friends were gone. She knew this task was too good to be true— that there was some catch to it all.
She cried as she continued climbing, recalling Vante's final words to her.
He had been teasing her the first time he said it in the elevator but after hearing it again with everything they had gone through, it held more than this mountain's weight.
This wasn't fair.
Lightning struck next to her, her frightened shriek echoing loudly as it damaged the rock while she lost her balance and dangled by only one hand.
Groaning loudly, she pulled her weight up, finding another piece of rock to grip to continue her climb.
The journey took hours. With her face stained with tears and her limbs that ached with every stretch, Sintra didn't think she could make it.
But she did.
At the top of the mountain, a lone elevator waited for her and she staggered inside it, falling to floor in a pathetic heap as she broke down again.
This was the first in a longtime that she had been alone.
Her friend Lee had lived with her so long that she had gotten use to the idea of company. She had forgotten how devastatingly painful being on her own was. It was how she grew up and she hated it.
The elevator door closed by itself and Sintra felt herself going upwards, the display panel showing no number.
Her head felt light as her eyes fought to stay open.
She had made it. For Jesse. For Felix. For Vante. But now she felt as if the strain if her heartache was too much to bare and her life was fading.
A sort of joy took her over at the thought of seeing them again in whatever afterlife existed and a smile overcame her tears, ready to meet her friends again as she blacked out once more. Hopefully for the last time.