Book 3: Chapter 34: Victory or Loss
Scarlet
The tingling sensation and sensitivity grows stronger and stronger until just the simple fact of wearing my clothes is growing far more uncomfortable than anything Ive ever felt before. No matter how much I try to run around.
Ta-ah, I try to speak out loud, only for the sensitivity in my mouth and my throat to stop me.
Tar, what the fuck is going on?!
Its much worse than I expected, Tar says while appearing in front of me. Now that its dead I can tell you what the poison is. This creature has a special type of petrification corruption. The corruption first makes the infected creature so sensitive that they cant move before their body begins to turn to stone. But the amount of your body that turns to stone and how fast you petrify depends on how much you move and if you can keep moving while under the effects of the poison. Until it finally fades away.
And how long is this going to take to go away?!
Tar doesnt say anything for a few seconds before eventually answering, One hour is the normal time.
Fucking hell! There is no way Im going to be able to last an entire hour like this!!
You have to! Tar exclaims, sounding genuinely angry. You are not giving up on me! I will not have you dying, do you hear me?! Youre the most important person in the world to me now! Were tied together! Do! Not! Die!
My eyes widen in shock at the stuff he just said. And considering that hes a fae, he cant lie. So he really means all that.
Im uh
He seems to grow embarrassed after a moment and looks down as he mutters, Youre my best friend. And Ive never had one of those before
I blink while still moving, the strange twist in the conversation helping me somehow deal with the incredibly unpleasant sensation better.
What about your family?
My brothers and sisters have always been in competition with each other, never caring all that much for the most part beyond simple politeness and a few close siblings amongst them, Tar says, sounding sad. And our father isnt much better, especially considering the vast number of siblings I have. We werent treated poorly by any means, but there wasnt as much warmth in it as there is in you mortals relationships with your fam-
He cuts off as he notices me grimacing at that. Particularly the fact that I didnt have my parents around growing up.
And an awkward silence fills the area as I try to move as little as I can while still moving, just so that my body doesnt rub up against my clothes much. Its getting so bad that if it werent for my pride beating down at me not to, I would straight up strip here and now.
But my pride wont let me. And its making the situation even worse.
Then a cracking sound echoes through the clearing, bringing my attention to my fingers, which are slowly turning to stone.
Move faster you idiot! Tar shouts while rushing around me as if that would do something.
Damnit!
I grit my teeth and begin moving faster. But it looks like its already too late. The petrification is slowly spreading. And the further it spreads, the harder it is to move.
Slowly it spreads across my hands and then arms before more of it starts on my feet. And by this point, I cant move at all, even if I wanted to. So it continues spreading until it suddenly stops right around my shoulders, confusing me.
Tar lets out a sigh of relief and mutters, Thank Oberon the poisons effect was weakened.
I open my mouth to speak, only to realize that the sensitivity of my body has returned to normal, and everything feels fine again.
Then pain shoots throughout my entire body instead, and I cant help but scream as its the worst pain Ive ever felt in my entire life. Even worse than having a limb torn off or my heart cut through or pierced. Or even my gut impaled.
I immediately use pain diffusion to remove fifty percent of the pain, but it still hurts bad enough that I cant help but scream. A flaming pain all throughout my body. A sharp stabbing pain in my chest where the wound is still closing, along with a burning pain that is flooding my mind where my arms are petrified.
Damnit, Tar mutters as he floats around me, seemingly unsure of what to do. Eventually I vaguely see him vanish, seemingly abandoning me.
But I know him. He wouldnt do that. He has to have some reason for it.
Whatever reason it is though, the pain continues growing worse regardless.
And soon enough, my mind blanks and everything goes black.
The In-Between Tar panics as he flies through the in-between, searching desperately for a connection. But the only connection he can find is that of his contract with Scarlets father. The one he had to sign in order for him to be allowed to contract with his daughter. The one stopping him from telling Scarlet everything he wishes to tell her.
No! Nonono! I havent been able to form a connection with White yet?! Why not! I cant find her through the In-Between without it!
As he flies through the In-Between in his tanuki form, passing through the absolute darkness that is the In-Between with nothing in it aside from him, he continues panicking, unable to find what he wants. At one point, he peeks his head out of the In-Between to look at the mortal realm, only to find himself at the North Pole. So he reenters it and continues flying through the In-Between again for a while until he stops and peeks again, only to find himself on Tartarus instead.
This process repeats itself over and over again as the In-Between has no measure of distance. Just one foot in distance inside of the In-Between could end up on entirely different planets or even realms on the outside, making it nearly impossible to find anything without a direct connection to them. And thats not even mentioning that any world where a fae has no connection will not even allow the fae inside the planet through the In-Between.
Tar continues flying before eventually tugging on his connection to Scarlet, the girl he has grown to love more than his own family. Far more than his last contracted partner, even if he himself doesnt understand why.
When he first met her, he had only decided to contract with her because of who her parents were. What her bloodline was. He even thought that he was lowering himself a little bit to allow a child such as herself to contract with him and felt it necessary to keep things from her and even manipulate her a little bit. But after spending time with her, he grew to love her. Grew to no longer feel any need to manipulate her. Even grew to feel disgusted at his mere act of having previously manipulated her.
Its not a romantic type of love, though. Instead, its one between comrades. Between what the humans deemed best friends when he asked around while Scarlet was in class one time.
The fae princes panic only grows when he returns to find Scarlet completely unconscious in the middle of an ashen blood covered clearing inside of a park during a Demonic Assault with her arms and legs turned to a purple tinted stone. And for a moment he turns to look towards the center of the city, only to find that its far too far away.
By the time he would arrive, if he isnt just taken or killed by a demon along the way, Scarlet could already have been killed by a wandering spawn. And he does see plenty of wandering spawn when he flies up into the air over the park. Some of which are heading in her direction.
His eyes widen when he sees a fomorian along with them. Something that would absolutely be able to kill a weakened, almost dead, and unconscious Scarlet.
Nononono, she cannot die!!!
Tar tries to think of anything he can possibly think of until he comes to the conclusion that there is only one way to save her now. A way he knows Scarlet wont be happy with.
He reenters the In-Between.
And he pulls on his connection with Scarlets father.
He is the only one who can send someone to save her now. Even if it means even if it means she may have to leave Earth behind for now.
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