"There's a super cool puzzle this way that you need to see! It's a bit tricky, but I'm sure you'll manage."
"All we need to do is go straight and-"
"Huh?"
The bridge leading to the next room happened to be blocked by a pair of spikes poking from the ground.
"Ugh, don't tell me."
The princess appeared to already know the source of the problem. Her exasperated complaint led Raziel to believe this happened quite often.
Looking past the bridge, Raziel saw a trio of rocks and three white tiles. Two rocks stood on top of the tiles, pressing them down with their weight. Unlike its brethren, the last rock stood behind the white tile refusing to touch it.
It was painfully obvious that all three tiles needed to be pressed for the spikes to lower.
The bridge rested over a current of water flowing from each end of the walls. Raziel estimated it to be about three and a half meters wide, plus another meter of wet ground.
He felt confident he could leap over it and clear the puzzle.
So, he warmed himself up, took a few steps back, got into position, and...
WOOS-
"Mr. Rock, could you please go back to your usual spot? We already talked about this!"
...Huh?
Raziel's sprint came to a halt before it could even initiate.
Did- Did she talk to a rock?
No, he must've misheard it. Asking an inanimate object to move is pure lunacy. The only reason she'd do that would be to joke around.
"Oh, come on pardner! You know I like this spot."
...
The rock seriously replied.
"I know that, but if you don't stand on the tile people can't go over the bridge."
"Can't you find another rock to put on the tile?"
"You three are the only ones heavy enough and you know it!"
"Okay, I'll move over, only cause' you asked nicely."
No one else found the interaction odd besides Raziel. Doubts that he might be going insane began rising in his head.
Who could blame him, it's not every day you see a rock replying to someone in fluent English.
Crystal checked to see if Raziel hadn't gone off on his own again and saw the boy in complete disarray. His usually stoic and unbothered expression was now anything but that.
"Everything okay?"
[How is it that a rock can speak? A ROCK!]
"..."
"Magic!" She replied with a bright smile.
Tchack!
The spikes on the ground lowered, freeing the bridge.
"Thank you, Mr. Rock."
"Just for you pumpkin."
Crystal crossed the bridge and waved for Raziel to do the same.
step-
WOOSH!
The spikes erupted from the ground at blinking speed!
Luckily Raziel reacted quickly enough to move his foot out of the way.
"Hey! Why did you move again?"
"Because you already crossed the bridge."
"Yeah, but Raziel still has to! You could've hurt him!"
"Hmm? Oh! Do you mean that boy over there?"
"Alrighty, I'll let him pass. You're givin' me a real workout here."
Tchack!
The spikes lowered again.
This time, Raziel passed through without issues.
"Sorry bud didn't see ya comin'."
"Must be because you have no magic. Next time, tell me you're there so I can lower the bridge for you."
"You're supposed to be on the tile always!"
"I'll keep that in mind, princess."
"Great, glad to hear that. We'll be going now, take care!"
"See ya, sugars."
"Look! The puzzle is right there!"
***
"Here it is!"
[You want me to fall again, don't you?]
"Hey, you fell because you didn't listen to me. Had you paid attention nothing would've happened."
Before the two youths stood the long-awaited puzzle, to Raziel's surprise and his recovering pride's anguish, the puzzle consisted of cracked floor tiles. Unfortunately, these tiles couldn't be avoided this time, as the entire floor was made of them.
It looked more like a roadblock than a puzzle. No matter where you stepped, you were bound to fall.
Or so Raziel thought.
"I know it looks impossible to traverse but trust me there's a way to solve it. As a little girl, I used to think the same thing and would fly over it with my magic."
"One day though I decided I wanted to clear it normally, and quickly found out how!"
"The whole puzzle revolves around trial and error, meaning you're forced to fall several times to find the solution!"
"While the whole floor may look broken, there's a solid path hidden in it."
"Luckily for you, I know the path by heart, so there's nothing for you to worry about, hehe!"
Crystal confidently stepped on the broken tile in front of her.
Raziel flinched, expecting to see the princess meet the same fate he had previously suffered. His worries were for nothing, however, since she didn't move an inch from the ground.
There was indeed a path hidden under all those cracks.
"The first few are safe for you to walk on, but from there on make sure to follow me carefully."
Raziel reluctantly walked into the puzzle.
Step...
Nothing happened. Safe to proceed forward.
Past that point, Raziel concentrated as hard as humanely possible to take the exact same route as Crystal.
Four steps left, five steps forward.
After that, seven steps to the right, then three steps forward.
With each step Crystal took, Raziel followed right behind, replicating her every move.
"We're already halfway through the puzzle! Next, we go left again, stay sharp!"
While walking forward Raziel noticed something out of the corner of his eyes.
A patch of red leaves.
Above the red leaves was a sign hanging on the wall. However, it was too far away for him to read the text.
Raziel (not learning from past experiences) walked toward the wall without thinking twice.
As he got close enough to read out the sign...
Rustle.
[Didn't you read the sign down-
"Oi! Don't step on the leaves!"
"???"
Raziel had carelessly stepped on the patch of red leaves. For some unknown reason, he wasn't supposed to do that.
He lay on them before, why would stepping on them be a problem now?
"Come here before you get hurt!"
The boy followed her order and quickly got back to the intended path. He didn't even read the entire sign.
"Eyes on me, clear?"
*Nods*
"Great. Now, seven steps back to the left."
Step, step, step.
"Two steps forward."
Step, step.
"Finally, ten steps right!"
"Tadah! And we're done!"
"If you practice enough, you'll eventually be able to do it with your eyes closed!"
[How long did it take you to figure the path out?]
"Not much. The solution to the puzzle isn't hard to find if you use your brain a bit."
"I'll show you, there's some stairs over there."
The two youths walked down the stairway to a small room below the puzzle filled with red leaves. The leaves were placed geometrically, creating giant rectangles of red. As a result, a long, equally geometrical path of purple shifting from left to right formed.
"Here's where you end up if you fall upstairs."
"There's the clue." She said, pointing to a sign at the room's far end.
To reach it, the two followed the path.
They took ten steps forward, two steps left, seven steps left again, and three steps forward.
At that distance, Raziel could finally read the sign, and it said:
[Please don't step on the leaves.]
"???"
"Do you get it now?" Crystal asked curiously.
He shook his head.
"Try walking to the end of the path and see from there."
The boy obliged. From the sign, he took seven steps right, five steps forward, and four steps left to reach the end.
Raziel turned around and scoped the entire room. Oddly enough, the path felt familiar, like he had already done it.
"!!!" He jumped in realization.
It's the same path as upstairs.
Bingo.
The arrangement of the leaves below shows how to walk across the tiles above.
"Now you got it!"
"I fell about five times before I figured it out. Get why I told you not to step on them now hehe?"
He nodded excitedly.
"Perfect! Now that we've solved this puzzle, let's move on to the next, we're close to halfway done with the Ruins!"
***
Traversing through empty hallways gave Raziel some time to analyze his surroundings properly for once. Despite every room so far having at least one characteristic that made them unique and entertaining, he couldn't help but feel like the Ruins were unusually empty.
If Crystal didn't talk, an overbearing silence would seep in, broken only by the sound of footsteps echoing throughout the dim halls of the Ruins.
Such an unsettling atmosphere isn't uncommon for a place like this. However, for being described as full of magical life, the Dreemurr's abode felt abandoned.
Shouldn't there be other Magical Beasts around?
Poke, poke.
"Hm?" Crystal felt Raziel poking her shoulder.
"What's up?"
[Where are all the other Magical Beasts?]
"Ah, most of them are still asleep. They're all big sleepy heads so, they're usually not up this early in the morning."
Well, that explains it. The Ruins sure live up to their name when no one's around.
"I promised to show them to you, but I got too impatient and brought you here early. I'm sorry."
A sad frown covered her jolly face.
[Don't worry. I'm having fun.]
"We still have many places to explore, I'm sure they'll be awake by the time we're done!"
He nodded happily.
Scribble, scribble.
[We've been walking for a while now. Where's the next-
POW!
Raziel's face met with the floor in the blink of an eye.
"Eh? Are you okay? What happened?"
Raziel tripped on something, but there wasn't anything to trip on.
All he did was step on a bed of leaves, but to say that's why he fell is a stretch.
"ZZZ"
Although Raziel was busy writing he made sure to see where he was going.
"ZZZ"
So, what could he have possibly tripped over...
"ZZZ"
Huh? What's that noise?
Something or someone kept saying the letter "Z" out loud repeatedly.
Coincidentally the noise came from underneath Raziel.
"Wait. Blooky it's you!" She yelled out at an unknown subject.
"Here, get up Raz." Crystal extended her hand and helped the boy up.
Luckily, face-planting caused him no injuries, only more doubts about his sanity.
"h-hey there... princess."
"!!!" Raziel's eyes froze in shock.
A white, translucent humanoid figure emerged from the bed of leaves, emitting a cold, melancholic air.
Its body lacked any muscles or bones. It had a smooth oval body, noodly arms, and a ghostly tail for legs; an appearance far too cartoony to be real.
Its face was no different. The figure was a young boy with a round chin and soft cheeks; silky short hair and big hollow eyes. Despite being void, a constant sense of sadness emanated from them.
This thing wasn't living. It was a ghost.
"Blooky! Why didn't you say anything when we got here?"
"i didn't want to bother you... so i pretended to be asleep, hoping you would ignore me."
So, the "ZZZ" noise came from him! How... cartoonish.
"Why would you think that?! I could never ignore you!"
"well... you looked like you were having so much fun with your friend and I didn't want to mess it up... sorry."
Self-esteem isn't his strong suit that's for sure.
"Nonsense, I wanted you two to meet!"
"Raz, meet Bloo- Huh? Hey!"
Raziel zapped behind Crystal, peeking over her shoulder.
[IS THAT A GHOST?]
"Well, yeah, but he's a friendly ghost!"
And like always, this situation was normal for everyone but Raziel.
The Underground kept relentlessly shattering his understanding of the world. Raziel was never one to believe much in the afterlife. So, for a spiritual manifestation to stare at him directly, freaked him out.
[HOW IS HE REAL?]
"Because he's a magical ghost!"
"..."
Ah, of course..., how could he have forgotten?
"Come on, stop freaking out, he's not going to haunt you."
"Blooky, meet Raziel." Crystal moved to the side and shoved Raziel forward. He and the ghost were now face to face. "He fell from the surface and will be living with us starting today!"
"I decided to explore the Ruins with him so he could meet everyone. He doesn't like to talk much so be patient with him, ok?"
*stare*
*stare...*
An intense match of stares began between the two.
*stare!*
*stare...!"
Their eyes dug deep into the other's soul.
*stare!!*
*stare...!!*
The intensity of their stares ramped up! Until!
*stare!!!*
*stare...!!!*
"..."
"Hmph."
"hmph..."
Both nodded in agreement.
"Hmph, hmph!"
"hmph, hmph...!"
Clap!
A firm handshake was all it took to solidify their friendship.
"Eh?" For once it was the princess the one in utter confusion.
"...They seem to be getting along." She thought, still perplexed.
"Uhm, a little help? What's happening?"
[As a fellow man of few words, one look is enough to know him.]
"he's right."
"Uhuh." Their explanation only gave her more questions. "...Is this how boys become friends?"
"Anyways, Blooky, I haven't seen you in ages! Where were you?"
"i've just been wandering about... trying to be alone."
"It's been almost two months! I missed you!"
"i'm sorry... i'll try to come more often... if you'd like."
"You should! Especially now that Raziel's around, he'll get to see all your cool tricks!"
"i guess."
"Speaking of which, can you please show us your hat trick?"
"i'm not really feelin' up to it right now. sorry."
"Please, please, please!!! I haven't seen it in forever! Besides, Raziel would like to see it too!"
Crystal nudged Raziel in between her pleas.
"Psst... cheer him on, he gets excited if you motivate him."
Scribble, scribble.
[I'm curious to see your trick. If Crystal sounds so thrilled, it must be great.]
"See?! Come oooon! Just this once!"
"alright... if you insist so much, i can't say no."
"i haven't done it in a bit, so let me try..."
Having witnessed the Dreemurr's grandiose display of magic, Raziel had high expectations for this 'hat trick'. What he saw went (as always) beyond his imagination.
Blooky's eyes filled up with tears. They kept building up, getting closer and closer to overflowing. Eventually, the first tear dropped, but not down.
The tear levitated upward to Blooky's head. Cascading upside down, the other tears followed, merging at the top into one body.
As the final drops left his hollow globes, they all fused into a stylish 80's top hat.
"i call it 'dapper blook'."
"do you like it...?"
Classy.
"WOO! I love it!" Crystal clapped and cheered.
"heh heh..."
"Right, Raz? Isn't it awesome?"
Blooky eagerly awaited Raziel's response.
"Pfft, hahaha." The boy chuckled amusingly.
[How do your tears even go up?]
"that's sorta just how my magic works... it's kinda lame i know."
[I wish I could do that. Your magic's incredible.]
"oh... well... heh heh, i guess so."
The heavy, melancholic air surrounding Blooky dwindled slightly. Cheering seems to have improved his mood again.
"i usually come to the Ruins because there's nobody around..."
"but today i met someone nice... thanks Crystal."
"No need! I told you it's fun to hang out with friends!"
"a-and you too Raziel... oh sorry i just made this awkward."
"i'm rambling again aren't i...? i'll get out of your way."
"ooooooooooooh..."
And like that, he vanished.
"Bye! See you later!"
"Did you see how happy he got at the end? I bet he'll come to visit every day now hehe!"
Raziel nodded.
***
Step, step, step.
The two youths continued their expedition, the sounds of their conversation filling in the silence. Or rather, Crystal kept chatting while Raziel listened quietly.
"Blooky might look unfriendly at first glance, but he's a super sweet guy once you get to know him!"
"One time he made a 'dapper blook' for me too! I got so happy we started dancing with them, but it broke almost immediately, and I ended up soaked in tears."
"Aah, good times."
Step.
"Ooh! Candy pit stop!"
"???"
"Follow me, you'll see!"
Crystal grabbed Raziel's hand and brought him to a small entrance in the corner of the hallway. The entrance belonged to a tiny room containing a single object.
A pedestal circled by red leaves.
The pedestal was filled to the brim with wrapped candy, turning every kid's dream into reality. Unfortunately, a little note on the pedestal broke those kids' dreams of candy galore:
[Take one]
Crystal dug her hand into the bowl and took two pieces of candy.
"Here, on the house hehe!"
Raziel gladly took the candy offered to him and ate it.
Sweet! (pun intended)
"Mmmh! So good!"
"I come here every day to grab some! Oddly enough, I never saw it go empty."
"Every time the bowl was almost out of candy, it was back up to full the next day! I told you the Ruins are a magical place!"
What Crystal failed to realize is that it was Tori who refilled the bowl each time. She was also the one who placed the note on the pedestal to prevent Crystal from getting any caries.
What a thoughtful mother.
"Alrighty, pit stop is over! Let's carry on with our exploration!
"It's always good to take small breaks like these, don't you think?"
"Mhmm!" Raziel nodded, candy still in his mouth.
"We'll go right. We're not too far from where most Magical Beasts hang out. Maybe some are already awake!"
FIUM!
"EEEEH! F-Forgive me!"
A flying creature bolted across the hallway, stopping inches away from Raziel's face.
Raziel reflexively backed up, the blurry image of the creature slowly becoming clear.
The creature had a moth-like appearance. To call it fragile would be an understatement.
Its wings were tiny and wrinkly, close to the leaves scattered across the Ruins. It had twig-like arms and legs, drooping antennas, and a traumatized frown.
This thing looked too scared even to breathe.
As the moth flapped meekly, Raziel wasn't sure of what to do.
Trying to be polite, he raised his hand to say hi.
"EEEEEEEH!!!"
Halfway through his hand's movement, the moth burst into tears and flew away instantly.
"...?"
Raziel turned to Crystal in confusion.
[Did... Did I do something wrong?]
"No, this happens all the time."
"That was a Whimsun, another Magical Beast that lives in the Ruins. They're extremely timid and sensitive, meaning they panic at everything."
"It took me months to gain their trust, and even so they still freak out if I move too abruptly."
"They don't know you, it's normal they'll be scared of something they haven't seen yet."
"You'll get used to them as they will to you. All it takes is some time!"
"Come. Let's leave him alone for now."
***
*Inhale*
"HELLO EVERYONE!"
Crystal flared her arms out in the air. Her yells echoed throughout the large hall the two now found themselves in.
"Hm... Too bad, nobody's around."
"Since everybody hangs out here, I hoped some would already be awake."
"Anywho, welcome to our hang-out spot! This is one of the places I wanted to show you the most!"
Looking at it, one would understand why.
This room was massive.
Purple walls stretched far and high.
Rays of sunlight shined through the cracked ceiling, enveloping everything in faint shades of gold.
Crystal-clear currents streamed from outflows.
Springwater nurtured the surrounding plants, granting them new life and strength. Thanks to it, youthful and vigorous vegetation spread freely across the room's immense floor.
The temperature also felt far more adequate than in other locations. The damp and suffocating air of the Ruins was no longer present, replaced with fresh breezes and cool winds.
Raziel took numerous deep breaths, allowing the crisp air to cleanse his lungs.
With each inhale, the young boy felt reinvigorated.
"I spend most of my days here playing with the Magical Beasts."
"We play catch, hide n' seek, ball, and many other games! We've even held week-long football championships in this place, you should see how good the Froggits are!
"Of course, not as good as me, I'm the five-time leading champion after all hehe!"
"Hmph..."
While Crystal continued sharing the room's extensive history, Raziel took the liberty of exploring a bit on his own.
Although the Ruins were fascinating, this was something else. It felt like he had entered an entirely new biome.
There were so many new things for him to see, feel, and touch.
Experiencing the same feeling as when he first settled on the golden flowers, the boy couldn't get enough of his surroundings. His eyes shifted from one direction to the other, the sheer magnitude of the place constantly making him crave more.
He became entranced, locking himself in his thoughts, walking closer to whatever piqued his interest.
However, discarding all external stimuli led him to thread where he shouldn't have.
In a small pathway, hidden beneath the darkness, a creature preyed on the fallen human.
Yet another Froggit.
However, something wasn't right.
This Froggit exuded a tremendous bloodlust.
Stepping out of the shadows, its appearance hardly resembled the neutral and harmless frogs encountered before.
Far larger and far more menacing.
A rough, rock-hard shell of skin enveloped its body like armor. Underneath, a palace of muscles pressed against the skin with steaming intensity.
The round and chubby curves typical of the friendly frog became spiky, razor-sharp protrusions laminated across its frame. These rugged blades peaked on the beast's head, giving the illusion of it wearing a crown.
Its eyes glowed with uncontainable aggression, all directed at one single person.
The fallen would later learn that these Froggits are not an anomaly but rather a more powerful and dominating variant, known as 'Final Froggit'.
Raziel had been its prey the moment he walked inside the room, and now he'd taken one step too many inside the beast's territory.
Lost in his head, Raziel unknowingly turned his back on the Magical Beast.
Its jagged jaw trembled in anticipation.
A magicless being dared walk to its lair. All threats must be eliminated.
BOOM!
The Froggit's tongue blasted from its mouth, barreling towards Raziel's head!
WOOSH!
!!!
Faster than the eye could see. Faster than a human brain could process.
Raziel's hand caught the incoming attack.
With his back turned against the attacker, he blocked it, nonetheless.
His eyes were still focused on the scenery, his mind clear of outside noise. This wasn't a conscious action.
Raziel's body moved instinctively.
And as if getting its tongue grabbed wasn't shocking enough. What truly gave the Froggit shivers was when the fallen human's brain processed what had happened.
Hollow eyes stared at the beast silently.
All the violence stirring inside the Froggit vanished. All its muscles stopped exerting strength.
No more glaring.
No more attacking.
Just a human and an animal.
Just a hunter and a prey.
Time had stopped. Seconds felt like decades, hours felt like centuries.
Every instance the Froggit met eyes with the human, a feeling, an emotion rose higher in its heart.
Its body, frozen in place, began convulsing rapidly.
Legs and arms gave out. Breathing turned into hyperventilation. Confidence turned into doubt.
The rising emotion took over the shivering predator.
Only then, did the Froggit understand.
Terror.
A dark, vile energy emanated from the human.
It sunk deeper, and deeper into the animal's soul, clawing at its insides.
Froggit's legs began kicking back frantically, trying desperately to run away.
But to no avail.
Raziel gripped the tongue firmly, his prey was not going anywhere.
Froggit pulled its tongue as hard as it could over and over, excruciating pain shot throughout its entire body at every pull.
Legs dug against the dirt erratically. Tears and sweat dripped in floods.
Its efforts were all pointless.
Regardless of what it did to escape, Froggit would always be forced to stare back at the human's eyes.
The heinous air only got more intense.
Fear and terror consumed the whimpering animal. Dreadful scenes corrupted its mind.
Facing the boy for the final time, one thing became clear.
Those were not the eyes of a human.
Those were the eyes of...
"Raz!"
Whish.
Raziel let go of his grip. Without waiting a second longer, the Froggit retracted its tongue and ran back into the shadows, never to come back.
"Everything ok?" Crystal hurried towards him.
He nodded.
"That one's pretty feisty. Even I can't get too close to it, or it'll attack me."
"Luckily it ran away. You're not hurt, are you?"
Raziel shook his head.
"Thank god."
She let out a sigh of relief.
"..."
"We... should probably go home, we've explored enough already don't you think?"
He nodded.
"Okay, but stay close to me. I'll keep you safe."
CHAPTER END.