//TW// Blood and Gore descriptions/ A bit of swearing///
"You're taking this too far! It has to end!" Kit yelled at Ritchie.
"I heard enough out of you," Ritchie flicked his hand as a lightning bolt shot from it and hit her head on.
And all she heard was ringing. Just like last time.
Last time? There was no last time. Ritchie never attacked her before, unless it was a game of Dodge the Lightning Bolt. Why does this feel so familiar?
This never happened before; Ritchie would never do this if he was in his right mind. But he isn't. Just like before.
Before?
What...?
Kit can't think; her head is pounding. All she hears is ringing.
...
..
.
It takes a while for the ringing in her ears to clear. She doesn't know how much time has passed. As she can finally get up from the floor, she can finally take out bits and pieces from the conversation that the others are having.
"--- Magia - - – of a guild – - weak – - - laughingstock —"
She could barely make out what was said, but she was pretty sure whoever was talking was calling them useless.
"-- - afford alcohol anymore."
Of course. It's Ritchie. He really isn't in his right mind, but he hasn't been for the past year, or however long he has been wasted.
I wonder how his livers are still functioning. Kit shook her head to get rid of the rest of the fuzziness that was caused by Ritchie's lightning bolt.
"-- – - - - strongest guild – - – - – – - believed that too" Mario?
As Kit finally refocused on the scene in front of her, she realised one important thing.
Something is about to go down.
"Then prove to me the strength of this guild," Ritchie taunted.
Called it.
"If that's what you really want, sir" Lucas replied as he looked over at David. The two made eye contact. Talking about those two, Kit wondered what the hell happened. They seemed closer in a way.
Didn't David say something about a Demon Book and an SS class?
...
She doesn't remember, Damn is she tired.
"Let's give the man what he wants." David's words finally shook her out of her mind, and she realised what they were going to do. What she was about to do.
Fight their wasted guild leader.
It can't be that hard, she wondered as she got ready. He's totally wasted; he probably is super uncoordinated.
..
...
..
She was wrong.
So wrong.
Ritchie rubbed the ground with them. How can someone so wasted still be so strong?
"Is that all you've got?" Richie asked his guild, who were broken and crumbled on the ground in front of him.
Kit couldn't believe it. Ritchie, one of the guild leaders of this guild, is treating them as if they meant nothing. Weren't they supposed to be family?
Kit huffed out of bitterness at that thought.
Yeah, a family. They haven't been one since Brandon disappeared.
"This guild is just a bad memory! A reminder that we're all weak and useless! I hate this guild. I hate it!" Ritchie said as he sent one last attack at Divinus. Which turned the already-destroyed island into a crater.
Kit coughed at all the dust as she saw some of the other members try to stand while their wasted excuse of a guild leader stood opposite of them. God, he was really starting to piss her off.
Her anger kept growing as she watched Ritchie relax his form so he could tilt his head and stare down at them with uninterested eyes.
"See what you make me do."
Now that.
That pushed her over the edge because how dare he act like this is their fault, like they're making him do this.
"Maybe if you sobered up and actually tried being a decent guild leader, we wouldn't be in this situation, and Brandon would be back by now," Kit snarled at her once well-respected guild leader.
"That probably wasn't smart to say," Lucas warned as he fully stood up from the ground.
She knows that was a low blow, but she had had enough with Ritchie.
"What did you just say?" Richie turned to glare at Kit. "I'm not trying?" She realised how pissed off Ritchie was as lighting sparks appeared around him.
"Like, I haven't ravaged every dark guild in Atlantide searching for him. I punished more criminals this week than I had in two years looking for him." Ritchie summoned an attack in his hand and aimed it at Kit. "I am trying, you annoying little girl." He snarled as he sent off the attack at her.
Kit was sure at that moment that she was going to die. Even though they were reacting to protect her, none of them would've made it in time. She knew that. She knew all of them knew it too.
Except him.
Because he got to her on time. But he was just not early enough to save himself as well.
..
...
..
Silence.
That is what came over the island. At least that's what Kit guessed happened. She couldn't look away from him.
Tapio. Her best friend, who is now bleeding out right in front of her.
She couldn't look away from him. She couldn't look away from his bleeding body which had a hole in his chest where she could see his organs.
Her knees gave out, but she still couldn't look away, even when she felt like throwing up everything in her stomach. She kept looking. It was as if Tapio would wake up and there would be no hole in his chest. He would tell her that he's okay. But he isn't. Because he's dead.
Oh God...
Tapio's dead.
Because he took a shot meant for her. Ritchie killed him. He shot that attack. All because she decided to berate Ritchie.
This is all her fault.
No. It's Ritchie's; he is the one wasted and attacking his own guild.
And Kit decided to poke the bear with a stick when she knew that wasn't a good idea.
So, it is her fault.
If she just shut her mouth.
This wouldn't've happened if she- No, if Ritchie wasn't drunk all the time, this wouldn't've happened.
Why does she keep blaming herself, it's Ritchie's fault.
It's his. Not hers.
Not hers...
Not-
Not- Wait. Why is she having trouble breathing? She doesn't remember. Her hands feel warm for some reason. Everything is blurry; she can barely see. All she can see is-
Red...
Red.
Like Blood.
Tapios blood.
Oh God. It's staining her clothes and the ground. It's everywhere, and she can't breathe.
She still couldn't breathe when someone grabbed her hands. At first, she wanted to pull away, but it was really calming, and it was helping her even with her breathing, so she didn't. She didn't know who it was since she couldn't see them. When did she close her eyes?
She felt it as the person put her hands on their chest. At first, she was confused, but then she realised they wanted her to copy their breathing. It took a while, but little by little, she could match her breathing to theirs.
She theorised that it was David since the person didn't have gloves nor were they wearing a shirt.
When she calmed down enough to hear the wind around her, she gently took her hands from David's grip. She took a couple of big breaths before she opened her eyes.
What she didn't expect was to see Ritchie in front of her, sheepishly smiling at her. That's not David.
"YOU!" She yelled as she backed away from him.
"Wait, Kit-" Ritchie said as he reached out to her only to have his hands slapped away by Kit.
"Don't fucking touch me!" She snarled at her guild leader.
She watched as that bastard retrieved his hands and dared to look hurt by her actions. Like he didn't just kill Tapio.
"Kit-" "You killed Tapio." Ritchie physically flinched at her words, which she still didn't understand, why he was so impacted by her words. Like he didn't just uncaringly try to fucking kill her.
"I know and-" He glanced at the ground for a second before returning her eyes to hers. "I'm sorry"
"As if saying sorry could change anything," Kit scoffed at him. "What do you want me to forgive you now?" She taunted.
She didn't care anymore, if Ritchie decided to have another temper tantrum and attack her again. She couldn't care less; maybe she could join Tapio on the other side.
What surprised her, though, was for Ritchie to reach forward to her and grab her by the shoulders. She would've pulled away if the eye contact that Ritchie kept holding with her wasn't so intense with emotion.
"No, I don't. I know nothing can change the fact that I killed him because I did, and I am so so sorry." He took a shaky breath before he continued, "But I don't want you to forgive me because that would be cruel, and I don't deserve that forgiveness."
Kit was speechless because she didn't expect him to say that. She was about to respond to him, but he kept talking before she could.
"But please wake up." He squeezed her shoulders for emphasis, "Because this is just a nightmare,"
A nightmare?
What did Ritchie mean by nightmare, this all just happened. Lucas and David just returned, and then he got all angry in his drunken state.
Wait, where did his beard and long hair go? And wasn't he wearing a different coat before.
"Is this all just a sick nightmare?" She asked, but before she could get an answer, she blacked out.
*
As she was waking up, she finally remembered what was actually happening. Right, we are in this creepy temple thing to rescue the others.
God, was she dizzy...
So, it really was just a stupid nightmare. Figures.
Suddenly, she heard rustling of clothes near her, which immediately grabbed her attention.
"Ow... My head" She heard as they quietly complained.
Wait.
She opened her eyes. At first, everything was fuzzy, but her eyes focused fast, and that's when she noticed the room she was in, but she didn't pay much attention to it when her eyes fell on him.
"Ritchie?" She mumbled as she started to sit up.
Immediately, Ritchie's attention went to her as he scooted closer to her with concern in his eyes.
"Are you okay?" He asked as he looked her over. Probably checking her for injuries.
She rolled her eyes before she spoke up.
"You don't want me to forgive you?" Of course, she changed the topic because, yeah, she's not okay, but she doesn't really go into that right now. She'll probably cry about it later.
And thank god Ritchie didn't call her out on her subject change. "Yeah, I don't."
His response was blunt and to the point, but she could see the hesitance in his eyes. She unfortunately didn't know how to respond to him, so she just nodded as she finally focused on the room, they were in.
It looked different than the one they were in since there were no murals and no entrance, just two doorways heading different ways.
"Do you know what's going on?" She asked as her eyes went back to Ritchie.
"Kind of." Richie answered before he explained further, "From what I have put together, we are all separated and in an unconscious state that causes us to either experience a fear of ours or a flashback of a certain event,"
Kit nodded at his explanation, which explained her situation.
"Oh! And realising that you are indeed not in the real world, but a nightmare causes you to wake up, and when an awake person gets closer to someone in an unconscious state, they are also dragged into their nightmare" Ritchie finished the full explanation.
"Okay," Kit acknowledged the extra information, "So we need to find the others?" Richie nodded at her question as he looked at the doorway to his right.
"Yeah, and I think that is where we need to go since that wasn't open when I entered," Ritchie stood and then held out his hand for Kit so she could get up.
"Well then, let's go," She patted herself down before heading towards the doorway, Ritchie following her wordlessly.
Through the doorway, all they could see was a small hallway, which would probably lead them to the next person in this hellhole.
"You better not forgive me," Ritchie suddenly said.
Kit glanced over at him, making eye contact, and then she just smirked. "Bet." Then she walked through the doorway. She could hear the soft chuckling of Ritchie behind her, but her small joy ended as she entered the new room.
Because the next person was Mario. She wondered what he was experiencing on his own.
But she was ready, because this was their family, and neither she nor Ritchie were going to let them suffer in whatever hell this temple thing put them in.
So, with Ritchie by her side, they approached Mario, and just as he had told her, everything went black.
(2108 words, damn this one is a long one)