Heroes to Hunted

The world around me seemed to be crumbling as I stood in the room. The ceiling, illuminated by a cascade of flames, was collapsing, and the wooden beams and load-bearing pillars were disintegrating into dust.

I became light-headed, but not as a consequence of smoke inhalation. No, my dizzy, nauseous frenzy was solely due to the flames glued to my skin. "Get it off me! For fuck's sake, GET IT OFF!"

A gout of cold water heeded my call, soaking me to the bone and snuffing out the flame sticking to me. The forceful gush pushed me back, staggering my straight posture with overwhelming strength.

When the flood ceased, I felt the cooling embrace of tranquility; I was free. 'Thank god,' I brought a shaking hand to view and sighed a loud relief. "I'm oka-"

"GET A MOVE ON!" a feminine voice echoed from behind me.

I pivoted quickly, brandishing a knife toward whoever it was. Staring back at me was a sight for sore eyes. Her flowing purple-hued hair and azure eyes directly opposed the yellow-red growing inferno. A damp bandana obscured half of her face.

"M-Mizuno?!" I stammered, confused. "You're here?! Does that mea-"

"There's no time for questions!" she snapped, then threw a wet cloth in my face. "Put that on; there's too much smoke in here."

I followed her direction and tied the cloth around my face, covering my nose. My eyes and lungs burned from carbon monoxide exposure. I must've tuned out the sear from the smoke during my panic attack.

"Where's Joseph?" she inquired, then answered her own question when her eyes fell upon the still corpse strapped to a chair.

"I-" I stopped and bit my bottom lip in frustration. "I couldn't save him. I tried. I promise I tried."

Mizuno, amongst the chaotic flames, stepped up to Joseph's corpse with a pained expression. "You deserved better," she gave a melancholic smile and placed a palm on his cheek.

She lifted a longsword in a flash and slashed the bindings holding Joseph in place. Mizuno then pointed out the woman cowering in the cell.

She'd pulled a blanket over herself, facing the furthest corner from us.

"Free her. We're taking her with us," Mizuno commanded, hoisting Joseph onto her back.

I had no reason to argue. We were here, and Joseph had given his life for her. The least I could do to honor his memory was save her from a gruesome death by cell and flame.

"Understood," I replied, then raced through the room to find the dead captain. 'If anyone has a key, it'd be him.'

A few moments later, I found him. His skin was sick with pallor, and his overcoat ran red, soaked in a dark crimson.

I turned the corpse over, my fingers shaking as I fumbled through his pockets, searching for a key. First, I checked his overcoat pockets but found only the smooth linen of the inside.

"Damn...nothing," I griped, then quickly moved to rifle through the only other possible location; his waist-bound satchel.

I took a deep breath in apprehension and reached for the small leather bag. 'You have to have a key. You have to,' I hoped as I dug through the container. That's when my fingers brushed past a familiar sensation.

It was cold and metallic, smooth yet firm. Excitement coursed through me as I pulled out a polished, medieval key made from weathered iron. It was bound to a large metal ring, clinking and jingling as I fished it out.

'This is it!' I thought, then sped toward the cell with a gnawing unease. The fire within the room was growing, and so was Mizuno's impatience.

"Hurry up! Barik can't hold them off forever!" she griped while standing at the foot of the staircase.

I stuck the key into the lock and twisted, hearing a deep clunk in response to my efforts. I applied some pressure, and the cell squealed open.

"No... NO... STAY AWAY!" the woman turned with an expression twisted by distrust and horror. "I WON'T GO BACK THERE! I WON'T! JUST LEAVE ME BE!"

Her widened, fearful eyes were akin to shimmering stars, golden as an untainted meadow.

I had no time to calm her nerves or give explanations, so I slipped behind the woman, my training taking over as I executed a precise hold.

A fine line existed between a lethal choke and a knockout, but my experience would carry me through, ensuring her safety during the maneuver.

I wrapped my left arm around her neck, my forearm applying pressure to the sides of her throat to cut off the blood flow to her brain. With my right, I gently but firmly pressed against the back of her head, ensuring that she wouldn't be able to escape or dangerously thrash.

"L...et...g-" she rasped.

"It's okay. It'll be okay. I'm sorry, there's no other choice..." I assured while tightening my hold.

She struggled and clawed at my arm with her fingertips. Thin streaks of blood poured from my forearm as her fingernails dug in. I barely felt the sting, the rest of my body was already in agony. I held her steady, keeping her in the hold until her movements began to slow.

"...et...o..." After a few seconds, her eyes lost focus, and her body went limp.

'I always hate doing that,' I sighed, then released the hold to lower her to the ground gently. I used two of my fingertips and pressed them deep into the skin just below her jaw. 'Good, a pulse,' I smiled in relief, then promptly hoisted the woman onto my back for an escape.

I turned my head toward the three guards when I exited the cell. However, it was the growth of the consuming flames that I saw first. 'It's not there... Just...think of something else!' I closed my eyes as I approached the guards, envisioning everything that had once made me happy, or trying to.

Oddly enough, the sight I saw weren't "puppies" or an endless rolling plain. No, what greeted me as my innermost desire was the silence of darkness. I saw the void I had spent a few, blissful moments of existence in.

Within the darkness, I was detached from worry... There was no more death, no more trauma, no more loss... I longed for that bliss. I longed to feel the tranquility and safety of nothingness once again. Yet, I no longer desired death, as I did back in my old world. This was a fresh start and I refused to pay my dream's toll. I wanted both. I wanted life AND peace.

With a falling bit of ashen wood, I came back to reality with a strange sensation of calm.

I, again, fell my sights onto the guards. Before, I would've passed them by. Despite the gnawing self-loathing my subconscious would've subjected me to; I would've left them to their fates.

"It's for the best! They're enemy combatants, I have no responsibility for them," is what I would've told myself to ease my guilt.

Yet, that wasn't the case this time. No... Instead, I had a moment of inner reflection, a nagging shift in my thoughts that reduced my steps toward the staircase to the smallest paces.

The moral conflict within me paralyzed my body, and I stood motionless, with a thousand thoughts swimming through my mind.

"What are you doing? Let's go!" Mizuno shouted, waving me forward.

'She's right. What the hell are you doing, Sato?' I asked myself. 'The steps are right there. Just go. Just a few more steps, and you could leave. Just a few more...'

But then I saw Joseph's lifeless body cradled on Mizuno's back. He fought so hard to be a savior, so hard to uphold his naively stupid ideals.

In some small way, though I still regarded him as a foolish liability, the distinct feeling of admiration for the kid plagued my thoughts.

'It's time to be better,' I resolved.

"Mizuno, go ahead without me. I'll be right there."

"WHAT?!" she widened her expression in surprise. "No, we need to go now! That's an ord-" She stopped, seeing the fire filling my eyes. My resolve burned even brighter than the cinders filling the room.

"What is it?" she hurriedly inquired.

"Those three guards, they might still be alive."

Mizuno cast an anxious glance to the three, then visibly relented. "Fine. But hurry the hell up!" Upon a sigh, she proceeded up the staircase.

With that, I rushed to the three soldiers. I already had the woman at my back, so saving even one would be a struggle. All three were stationary and inactive, their heads and shoulders slumped over in death or unconsciousness.

I pressed my fingers into each of their throats, searching for the thrumming of life.

I checked the first; no pulse.

The second; already growing cold amidst the flames.

Then I moved to the third. It was the only one of the three who had remained silent during my fight with their captain - the only one who genuinely seemed to care for the fallen.

"C'mon, be alive," I growled. "Be alive."

A moment passed with no response to my prodding. However, I pressed deeper and felt a faint but distinct beat against my callused fingertip. 'Thank god,' I sighed, the apprehension within me defusing to relief.

Time was short, so I threw the guard's arm over my neck and shuffled up the stairs from the burning basement.

"This...is nothing," I clenched my teeth, stumbling over my steps as I carried the weight of two grown adults.

Several moments later, I'd made little progress up the stairs to freedom. My body cried out in exhaustion as I hauled myself upward.

"Just one more," I tiredly repeated to myself as I ascended. "Just one more."

Several unsteady steps later, the light from the surface shone brightly, only inhibited by the plumes of smoke pouring upward past me.

The clamoring of metal clanging, shouts, ominous titanic roars, and rumbling earth met my desperate efforts to escape as I closed in on the dungeon's exit.

I was out of breath and running on empty in terms of strength. 'I need to rest,' I thought, nearly giving into my fatigue. However, my captain roused me from my weakness.

"HURRY UP, SATO!" Mizuno screamed in desperation. "WE HAVE TO GO!"

'You try carrying two people with a slew injuries,' I chuckled, then smashed my teeth together.

I groaned loudly, finally ascending the last step to the outdoors.

"JUST... ONE... MORE!"

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