Lucia's POV
They both looked at me, confused, as I began to walk.
What?
"Can we first know your name?" The blonde girl gently asked.
Oh yeah, right.
"L-Lucia. I'm from here."
"A-and you?" I asked back, a bit embarrassed.
" I'm Ashley. Has it always been like... this?" she asked back.
Is she talking about the Plagas and stuff?
"Not really...? I'm sorry, but I really don't have this much time, so let's move on quickly." I replied as I gave them a blobfish-like smile.
Honestly, I had other plans for tonight, but since Luis seems to be counting on me...
I just hope I won't collapse in front of them...
As they followed me, I showed them around the castle. We passed through a lot of rooms, and puzzles that I never decided to bother myself with, and ended up in the room that lead to the towers.
As we met a little group of Zealots, I became pretty much impressed with Leon's skills.
Is this what a secret agent does?
He'd just kill twenty people when I'd have barely the time to kill three.
He reloaded his rifle.
"What are we going to find, here?" Ashley asked.
"Absolutely nothing... That's why I have to get you both out of here."
When I meant absolutely nothing...
Of course, I wouldn't joke.
The only thing you could get from going through this castle was a whole bunch of problems.
We continued our journey until we got into a large room with a balcony above. When we approached, my teeth gritted when I recognized Salazar's unsupportable laughter.
Already?
He appeared on the small balcony above us, with both of his two Verdugos, including...
my father.
I closed my eyes, trying to ignore this situation.
Every time I saw him in this state I just wanted to cry.
When Salazar noticed me, a carnivorous smile appeared on his face.
"I was starting to wonder when you might notice us." He condescendingly said.
When Leon and Ashley lifted their gazes to actually look at him, I eased myself a bit.
Okay, maybe this situation is a tiny bit ridiculous.
Why is he on this balcony, anyway?
"Who are you?" Leon said apprehensively as he gently let his hand rest on his pistol holster.
"Me llamo Ramon Salazar, the eighth Castellan of this magnificent architecture. I have been honored with the prodigious power of the great Lord Saddler. I've been expecting you, my bretherns."
I bit my tongue.
Power? What a joke.
"No thanks, bro." Leon replied.
I scoffed.
Oh well.
" My my, we've got a feisty one. If you care for your well-being, I suggest you surrender yourself and simply...become our hostage. Or, Mr. Scott, you can give us the girls, since you're not worth a penny, I'm afraid. You can die."
Then, he walked away.
I turned to Leon and let out a tiny laugh when I noticed he was visibly confused.
This is priceless.
I looked in front of us and quickly headed towards the balcony, knowing perfectly what this little brat was going to do.
The passage under the balcony closed in the blink of an eye.
Come on, not this shit again...
Leon and Ashley glanced at each other.
"I'm never turning into one of them! Never!" She ended up saying.
"Got that right. We'll find a cure."
"Then let's move on." I spoke.
Maybe they could reach the island, after all.
There would be the machine Luis told me about in there.
Probably understanding the fact that I didn't really want to participate in their little conversation, the two of them silently followed me as I led them to the prison.
After crossing the corridor above the cells, I noticed a note pinned on the wall before the gas-throwing statues. I looked around, and, since Leon seemed already to be occupied breaking vases, I silently unfolded it:
" I have confirmation that Lucia and Sera have entered the castle.
Why they would return during their escape leaves me to question their motives. But we must seize this moment and capture them.
We will get the other two Americans after we apprehend Sera and his partner.
It appears he took some vaccines when he stole our "sample". The vaccines we can do without, but we must retrieve the "sample" for it is our lifeblood.
I feel there is somebody else or some other ground involved in this whole affair.
If the "sample" were to get into the hands of that other entity, the world which we seek to create will not come. We must apprehend these two as quickly as possible. "
Okay, they officially want Luis and me dead.
So, the fact Luis decided to hide from me was the fact that he just like... stole a sample from Saddler's lab.
My god, why...?
I froze for a second.
Whatever Luis was about to do, I couldn't let the others know about this.
It didn't concern them.
So, I quickly hid the note in my pockets and examined the painting in the next room.
I already knew how to turn off the statues, so I simply grabbed the key and unlocked the prison door.
Then, I noticed something that wasn't here before.
I grimaced.
Why, of all monsters I've had to face, a Garrador?
"I'm taking care of this." Leon simply said as he let me go back with Ashley.
I sighed in relief.
I saw Leon calmly look around before taking the stairs.
Wait, I have to inform him.
Before he could go too far I ended up grabbing his arm.
"This thing attacks where there's noise... And his weak spot is on his back." I whispered to him, hoping it wouldn't wake up the creature.
That's when I realized...
His scent...
I'm way too close...!
I backed quickly, trying to hide my face as I felt it burn even more.
"I-I'll take care of it." He ended up replying.
I silently went back to Ashley, and when he shot the bell on the other side of the room, the monster woke up and ran towards the sound.
Leon calmly aimed towards the back of the monster with his shotgun and shot twice, before silently walking towards another spot.
He then did the same thing twice, finally killing it.
As the door re-opened I went down and activated the lever while he looked for ammo.
"Why do these monsters melt?" Ashley ended up asking from the balcony above.
I bit my lip as I tried to search for a simple explanation.
"Las Plagas... Are parasites that can't survive in the fresh air. Once their hosts die, they die too, so... they melt like this."
Actually, it was way more complicated than this, but I wasn't going to sum up everything I knew because it would just take... too much time.
"Then, if we end up not finding a cure..." She muttered.
"You'll find one if we keep moving on." I stated.
We climbed the stairs and continued our trip.
Later...
After going through the whole disorder that was the room with the platforms and the water, we finally reached the room with the two upside-down statues. I remembered this room too well since it had always been one of my favorite places in the castle.
I've always wondered how these statues never fell, during all of these years.
I waited for them to explore a bit, then went into the corridor that was at the back of the room.
I scratched my neck.
Isn't there a trap, down there...?
Then, Ashley quickly confirmed my thoughts as she ran past us, making the spiky traps on the ground trigger.
She then ran towards the end of the corridor, and...
"Ashley! Do not stick to the wall!" I yelled preventively.
But of course, the time her brain would process what I said she just kept sticking to the wall...
"What's going on?!" She screamed.
The wall just ended up turning to the other side with a pretty much trapped Ashley in it.
Gosh.
"Don't worry Ashley! I'm coming for ya!" Leon screamed.
I sighed.
I don't even remember how to reverse this trap.
Leon gave me a look.
" Well, it seems that it's just the two of us, for now."
I frowned.
"If it does bother you, I can go away." I quickly replied.
He smiled;
"Nah, sorry to break it to you but we're sticking together." He laughed as he tried to look into my eyes.
I quickly drifted them away, as he tilted his head.
Huh...?
Change the subject, Lucia, change the subject...
"A-anyway ..." I began, but my sentence ended up being cut off by Leon's radio's ring.
Quickly, his devilish smile turned into disgust when he realized that the person that he was talking to wasn't the one he expected, but Salazar.
" Salazar! How'd you...?"
I quickly looked at the radio.
"We've jacked the line. We didn't want you telling everyone any unnecessary information."
"Where's Ashley?!"
"Aw... So, she fell into one of our wonderful traps... We'll make sure we find her. Don't you worry about her."
I sighed as I silently went near the edge of the radio, waiting for him to continue his speech.
"Oh, yes. I let our miserable insects out for some exercise down in the sewer."
Oh crap.
"Thanks. That should keep us company. Cuz boredom kills me." Leon confidently replied.
"I look forward to our next encounter... In another life." Added Salazar as he ended the call.
Leon stowed his radio, looking back at me.
Then, pure silence.
"Sorry, you were saying something?"
...!
W-what is wrong with this guy?!
Noticing how fun it seemed to him, I quickly gave up.
"L-let's just move on before I change my mind." I sighed.
We continued our trip silently and ended up in the sewers.
The atmosphere and the air were thick, so the only thing I wished at the moment was to quickly get out of there since Salazar gently informed us about the Novistadors.
We moved on, and I felt something liquid fall... on my shoulder.
Don't tell me...
" Leon! Above us!" I said, stabbing the one that was above me with a crossbow jolt. Another one tried to catch Leon, but he spun away and blasted its head with his shotgun.
" Yeah, thank you for the warning!" He replied as he reloaded.
They were coming from everywhere, and I quickly started to feel a bit overwhelmed.
Uh... I can't kill them all, can I?
"Lucia, get the hell out of here!" he yelled as he shot another one.
"Okay!" I replied as I started to run in the opposite direction, dodging the insects as they continued on appearing from nowhere.
Once I reached what seemed to be a safer room, I decided to take a little break and examine it a little bit.
There's a huge pool of water, there...
And... A valve?
Wondering what it could be for, I decided that the best way to know what it was about...
Was to actually turn it.
So, I grabbed the handle and furiously turned the valve, until I couldn't do it anymore.
I looked outside of the room and noticed the strange pool seemed to have been drained off.
I'm such a smart person.
As I was about to get out, a Novistador leaped at the window.
...!
Gladly, he couldn't reach for me, so I tried to calm myself a bit.
Not that I was scared, but...
Yeah, this thing had totally creeped me out.
I quickly got rid of it and suddenly felt the urge to sit for a while.
Wow.
I mean...
I'm pretty shocked, right now.
I wiped my forehead as I closed my eyes for a second, feeling once again the exhaustion I'd been trying to disregard for days.
I don't know if I can hold on like this anymore...
Maybe it would be the end for me tonight, after all; I was way too weak to fight like Leon and to see clearly in front of me, and the fact that I kept on running as if everything was perfectly normal when I was clearly traumatized by the past events... was also beginning to play against me.
I just wanted to cry, for once...
I sighed as I shook my head.
The only moment where I should cry is when everything's over.
I gathered the last strength I had left and got up to join Leon.
I timidly waved to him, but he didn't seem to notice me, making me silently laugh.
Whatever.
I picked up what was left from the cells and returned to him.
Then, we went back to our little journey.
As we were about to cross the room with giant axes, Leon suddenly stopped.
"What's happening?" I ended up asking.
He gave me a quick look.
"Let's take a break."
I nervously laughed.
I'm clearly the reason why he's saying that.
"D-don't worry about me, I still can walk!" I replied to him, giving him the biggest fake smile I could ever show.
Please fall for it, please...
But, once again, his indifference clearly made me understand that he didn't really care.
"Don't lie." He stated.
I looked away, a bit anxious, wondering if I was that easy to read.
"Hey, look at me."
I sighed as... I ended up staring at him.
He was visibly worried, which made me feel even more guilty.
"Let's just take a break, okay?"
Then, he put his gun back in its holster and sat on the stairs, letting out an almost silent but meaningful sigh.
I looked at him, a bit puzzled.
"W-well..." I muttered.
He smirked.
"Need me to tell you to sit down?"
I pouted as I pretty much gave up, sitting right next to him.
Then, I let my head fall to my knees and slowly closed my eyes.
A little break couldn't hurt, right...?