The Great Sage (Fem. Reader x Great Sage)

Chapter 12

 "Chris, are you okay? Where's the monster?"

Chris' eyes snapped open, and he frantically looked around, his eyes landing on me.

"The monster," he gasped, "It's terrible!"

"Chris, we can take it," I comforted, "We're the best, most accomplished mages in all of Miitopia."

Something was wrong. Chris never panicked about monsters. What kind of monster could have-

Suddenly, the ugliest creature in Miitopia emerged from behind a tree and grabbed Chris with one of its arms. It looked almost reptilian, with beady yellow eyes and a wicked sword. It stood on two legs, double as tall as I was.

"If you use your magic, your friend gets it," the creature hissed, pointing the tip of its sword to Chris' skull.

This was a bad situation. If I used magic to fight, this monster would surely kill Chris. What about Ethan? If I called for his help, the monster would, again, kill Chris. But maybe I could alert Ethan silently...

"Wake up Ethan," I thought, focusing my attention on Ethan.

My spell must have worked, because I felt weaker and out of breath. But would Ethan realize what happened and save us?

"I yield," I said, "Don't hurt him!"

I raised my hands in surrender.

The monster twisted its face into some sort of smile, and took out some strange contraption. It put the metallic ring around my neck, and it beeped in a happy tone. How ironic.

"This will prevent you from using magic," the monster growled, "We know you can use magic without a staff."

"Okay," I said quietly, "Chris?"

Then something really strange happened. Chris faded away, and in his place stood another one of the monsters. They tricked me!

"Wha- what have you done with him?" I gasped.

"Oh don't worry, girlie," the monster snarled, "You'll be reunited with him soon. Haha!"

I had no choice but to be slung over one of the monster's shoulders and carried to wherever they wanted to take me. My only hope was Ethan: could he save us both?

I must have dozed off because when I opened my eyes I was in a disgusting cave. The only light was coming from a small, rusty lantern. Chris' staff was leaning against a crate. I looked up at the ceiling and gasped.

"Chris! Oh gosh, oh gosh..."

The monsters had a cage hanging from the ceiling of the cave, containing a barely recognizable Chris. His blonde hair was damp and covered in mud and sticks. He had a huge welt on his forehead, and dozens of small scratches and mud on his arms and legs. It looked like the monsters had knocked him out, dragged him through the woods, and punched him a couple of times for good measure. On his neck was a collar identical to mine.

The monsters laughed at how pathetic and helpless I was, and picked me up.

"Let me go! You'll regret this!" I yelled hoarsely.

I kicked and kicked, but I couldn't get free. The monsters placed me into the cage and locked it.

As they talked, I crawled over to Chris and tried to wake him up. I checked his pulse, he was alive! But he still wouldn't wake up.

Reflexively, I tried to use the "Wake up" spell on him. But as soon as I muttered the words, my collar beeped loudly and electrocuted me. I screamed and tried to take it off, but it was impossible.

"Ha, I told you not to try! You should have seen your face!" one of the monsters guffawed.

Despite the pain, I tried it again. It had to work. Chris had to wake up!

"WAKE UP!" I sobbed, but the collar beeped again.

The pain I felt was so intense that I fell to the ground screaming and thrashing. I prepared to die.

"Hey, we can't have her dead, now can we?" said one of the monsters, earning a chorus of groans.

The electrocution stopped, and I buried my face deep into Chris' robes, sobbing hysterically. His robes were warm and soft, and no monsters could see my tears. I found comfort in that.

I felt a hand at my back, rubbing it gently.

"Chris?" I whispered.

"What happened?" he whispered back.

Suddenly I thought of something. What if this wasn't the real Chris?

"Chris, what happened the first time we met?" I whispered. I wasn't about to get tricked again.

"You were about to get killed by the Dark Lord. And I said something stupid like 'Hold it right there!' and I stopped him. And I saw your face and I'll never forget it. You were really scared, and ever since then I have made it my goal to protect you,"

"Okay, real you," I sighed in relief.

"How do I know it's really you?" Chris whispered.

"When the Darker Lord tried to kill me when we first got into the Skyscraper, you stopped him. Even though you were being possessed by him, you still had some control. But he gave me a scar."

His hand traced the white scar that stretched from my forehead to my left cheek.

"When I went to investigate the rustling, I saw you there. And you were hurt, so I knelt down to help you. And then you changed into one of those monsters," he said, shivering, "And knocked me out."

"When I heard you scream, I ran after you to help. But it wasn't you, it was a monster," I said.

"What about Ethan? Could he help us?" Chris said hopefully.

"I woke him up before they got me," I whispered to him, "Maybe he can help us."

"He's our only hope."

The cage shook, making me gasp and remove my head from the comfort that was Chris' robes. One of the monsters was observing us, licking its lips hungrily.

"You two are going to make a delicious meal," the monster growled hungrily.

I whimpered in response, not very fond of being eaten.

"Thanks for the compliment," Chris sneered, "But that's not going to happen."

The monster eyeing us laughed.

"Of course it is! Nobody knows your whereabouts. There was nobody around within a mile radius of your inn!"

I locked eyes with Chris, hopeful again. Ethan still had the element of surprise.

"I guess you're right," I said, "Now we're going to just sit here, which isn't very entertaining. Bye!"

The monster nodded and went back to whatever he was doing before.

"They don't know Ethan was with us," I whispered to Chris, "He's still safe."

"I know. I guess we have no choice but to just wait for Ethan to save us."

Chris reached over a hand to play with my hair, but his fingers brushed my sensitive neck, sending a wave of pain through my body. I winced and reflexively grabbed his hand. He froze.

"Sorry," I whispered, and let go of his hand, "When you were knocked out, I tried to wake you up with a spell. But this collar-"

I pointed to the metallic collar around his neck.

"-electrocuted me. And I tried it again because I really wanted you to wake up, but it electrocuted me again, for even longer."

Chris shook with rage, his eyes surveying the monsters with even more disgust.

"I'm so sorry," he comforted, "I didn't mean to hurt you."

"I know."

So instead I played with his short blonde hair, taking all the twigs and mud out of it absentmindedly. He closed his eyes and must have fallen asleep because when rescue came he was breathing softly.