With that, I remove my blindfold and turn my right eye firmly on him. Then I spread my arms, and for the first time in ages, I unleash the magic energy within. I can sense my eye glowing brighter by the second.
Looks like our fairy friend has quite a lot of magic.
Little by little, cracks begin to form in the invisible wall. From them, bright light beams like the one that brought us here shoot forth.
I clench all my muscles as the entire area around me glows. Victor and I both squeeze our eyes shut.
“Don’t you think we came the wrong way?”
Jurd nods deeply. “Yes, Captain. Very much so.”
The wall opposite the staircase they descended is lined with skulls. This is likely a burial site for the people who died under the lake. The two shudder to think why their remains were gathered in that very room.
It seems the place was built with the intention of scaring trespassers. Their faces twist with fear as the pair make their way along the skull-lined wall. Their desire to escape as quickly as possible hastens their footsteps.
“Well, I’m glad they aren’t whole corpses,” Captain Marius says. “It would reek horribly down here if they were.”
“Not that I particularly like skeletons, either.”
“It’s a wonder you and I made it down here alive.”
“You said it, Captain. When we get out of here, I want to drown myself in booze and women.”
“Oooh, paradise! Well, we’d better get out of here no matter what.”
“Yes, sir! ……Do you suppose the prince is doing all right?”
Captain Marius thinks for a moment. “He’s got Bitsy with him. He’ll manage to get them out of any mess.”
“Fair point. Let’s you and I just focus on our own problems.”
Exchanging firm nods, the two men diligently press onward, the wall of skulls watching them go.
“I got inside…” Victor’s wide eyes slowly turn downward to his foot—it’s in the water.
Well, of course you did. I used massive amounts of magic to break the barrier for you. If you couldn’t get inside, I’d question your bodily composition.
I feel heavy, probably from unleashing so much magic energy at once.
I’m so tired. Will I even be able to make it out of this lake? No way in hell am I dying down here.
“Hey, brat.”
“Just get the fairy. Quick,” I command sternly before he notices my fatigue.
Cursing under his breath, he makes his way toward the fairy. I rest, trying to restore as much of my magic as possible as I watch Victor. He makes his way up the wall, grabbing on to many vines of ivy for support.
He’s a lot nimbler than he looks… Then again, just how sturdy is this ivy? Shouldn’t it break under the weight of a grown man?
“Almost there…” Victor reaches for the fairy.
Now that I removed my blindfold, my vision is very good. I can see everything, right down to the minute details. I stare hard at the fairy’s expression.
……Is she asleep? She looks exactly like the sort of tiny fairy you’d find in a picture book.
She has clear wings and slightly pointed ears. What an adorable little thing she is. I wish Durkis had fairies, too.
“Got her!”
Just as Victor says that, the waterfall begins to flow harder, breaking the vines and crumbling the walls behind them.
Oh dear…I should have known this would happen. Dungeons like this are always designed to fall apart the second you grab the treasure.
“What’s happening?” Victor demands.
The ivy he’s clinging to turns brown and snaps. With a loud crash, Victor falls in front of me, his hand still firmly gripping the adorable little fairy.
I’m surprised she’s still asleep, what with the way he’s grabbing her… But up close, you really can see how beautiful she is. Her eyelashes are long, and her skin is smooth—she’s like a perfect assortment of all the traits that make girls jealous.
“Why are you so calm?” Victor barks.
How are you unscathed after falling from that height?
“How’re we getting out of here?” he muses.
The crumbling walls cut off our path out of here.
We’re in dire straits here. The water is rushing harder, too. If we stay much longer, we’ll drown.
“We have to get out of here.”
“Have you even been listening to me?” Victor gives me an exasperated stare.
Think, Alicia. This is just like an escape room. There has to be an exit.
All the green turns brown, destroying the beautiful scenery in an instant. I sense the force of magic in the room once again.
I take a deep breath in, then say, “You don’t suppose we can wake this fairy, do you?”
“Wake her?” Victor frowns.
“If she’s asleep, maybe waking her will make something happen.”
“What if waking her makes things worse?”
“We’ll never know until we try. Were you always this conservative? We’re waking her—unless you can think of some better plan.”
Victor falls silent, unable to say anything back. We’ll cross that bridge if things get worse. As things currently stand, we are already dead.
“Okay. We’ll wake her.” Victor relents.
“…………How, exactly?”
“Like I know! This was your idea! I’ve never woken up a damn fairy before. Argh…you always suck the seriousness right out of the air, don’t you?” Victor’s shoulders slump in annoyance.
How rude. I’m a very serious person.
I have an idea, and it’s worth a try. If I succeed, I can write a book: How to Wake Fairies (and Make a Killing).
I focus all my mental energy on the soundly sleeping fairy. The winds billow upward, changing the air around us. The water slows down.
I hear Victor murmuring in awe, but I just keep pouring my magic into the fairy and willing, Wake up.
“My heavens, I’ve never felt this much pressure before.”
A high-pitched, clear voice rings in my brain. I relax my power. The little fairy in Victor’s hands covers her mouth and yawns.
““She’s awake,”” Victor and I say at once.
The fairy looks a tad perplexed by our excitement. “Nooo! The paradise I built is falling apaaart!” she screams, standing up in Victor’s hands and looking around.
“So it was paradise.”
Victor’s face scrunches. “Huh? Don’t be silly. What’s paradise if nobody can come here?”
“It was paradise to her,” I argue, looking at the fairy.
“Oh, you humans! Always judging with your eyes. There may be jewels inside a place, but if it’s filthy on the outside, you won’t trouble yourselves to find out, will you? That’s why I poisoned the lake water! So I could keep my beautiful paradise unsullied and untraversed by anyone.”
“I’m so sorry. We destroyed your paradise, and for that, we will apologize.”
Victor looks at me like I’m some beast. “Brat…you can understand that gibberish?”
Gibberish? The fairy is speaking normally. What is he talking about?
“Well, you’ve got powerful magic, my dear. Of course you can understand what I’m saying.”
“Oh, that makes sense.”
“What makes sense? Fill me in here.”
“She said I’m magic, so I can understand her.”
While we’re chatting about this and that, the water rises to our midsections. Ever since the fairy woke up, the current has gotten stronger.
We really have raised a death flag… Well, I refuse to die here. Not when we just found the fairy.
“Hey, fairy, can you tell us the way out?”
“Ummm, no? You kind of attacked me in my sleep. Why must I help you humans?” The fairy eyes us in annoyance.
Touché. We humans are selfish creatures, though. You will show us the way out—I’ll use force, if necessary.
I turn up the intimidation again. “Just stop whining and tell us the way out.”
“Oh, fine! I’ll tell you. Just please stop!” she wails.
I loosen up.
“I don’t believe my eyes! I thought saints would be sweeter, kinder, and more diplomatic with fairies.”
“Saint? But I’m a villainess.”
“……Oh, you don’t know…?”
What are you on about? I’ve a good mind to tell her about the crazy saint we’ve got back in my kingdo— Nope, I’d better not. Victor is here. If Laval is trying to find our saint, I have to protect that information with my life.
“Enough of that. Just tell us how to get out of here. Quick.”
Victor’s voice snaps me out of my thoughts. The water arrives at my chest.
“Well, aren’t we impatient?”
“If you built this place, then can’t you stop the water?” I ask.
“I can’t. You’ve completely and utterly destroyed it beyond repair. And you can hardly blame me. I’d be crazy to think a human could make it all the way down here and wake me up,” she answers curtly.
“Surely you can do something about that. Tell us, now,” I press relentlessly.
The fairy eyes me critically. “Before I do…may I ask one question?”
“What is it?”
“Why didn’t you just cast a spell?”
I glance at Victor. That alone seems to tip off the fairy.
I can’t cast a spell… Victor may know I have magic energy, but I told him I don’t know how to use it. It’s probably hopeless…but if possible, I never want to have to cast a spell in front of him.
“Well, if you don’t want to cast any spells, that’s fine by me… Now, what’s your name?”
“Alicia.”
“I’m Kee. Nice to meet you, Alicia.”