PMD: Boiling Will

The beginning: 4

A low, throbbing, heartbeat resounded in my head. A pattern on one, two, pause, repeat. It kept going, starting at a slow rate that gradually got faster and a little louder.

It was still slow, but now I could feel something below me. My surroundings. I must have been on some kind of dirt that would occasionally rumble. When the ground shook, it would always be in another direction, so something was moving.

Eventually, I did hear something as well. It was unintelligible, but there was a certain rhythm. There must have been multiple sources all around me. It was in a generally low tone that would get high and dull down to only go right back up again.

Pain started to swell up in my head as the sounds grew louder as they switched tones. It became very... familiar.

The sound was chanting. Following the same pattern that I heard when I entered the shadowy walls of that dungeon. Chanting and chanting, cheering and whistling. It got worse as I listened to it, and the heartbeat got quicker.

I needed to leave, but I couldn't move. The beating heart, my heart, became a part of the cheering. They joined together into a dreadful melody that stuck into my head.

"Stop!" My eyes flashed open, and above me was a green ceiling of leaves. I must have still been in the maze, but there was something different. I can see the sunlight more clearly.

I was laying on my back with a familiar wind blowing across my face. I closed my eyes again and took a deep breath. How am I not dead?

After a few minutes, I let my heart rest and calm my mind. I shrugged off the dream and tried to lift myself up.

"Gah!" I yelped out loud as an explosion of pain surrounded my right arm. Oh yeah, it was broken.

I still held myself up, but I quickly moved all my weight on my good arm before pulling myself into a sitting position. I finally lifted my eyes open as I held my broken arm to examine it. To my surprise, there was no dried blood from the dungeon, and it was wrapped in long green leaves with a branch to keep my arm straight and bandages on.

There was no way that I did this unconsciously, so it must have been Nills. I searched around for any sign of the blue 'mon, but she was nowhere to be seen.

On the topic of Nills, I guess that she was some kind of thief from her obvious experience in doing so, and how she is being hunted down from mercenaries, but how does this relate to this Diance or evolution? I'll have to ask her later. For now, I need to wait. She wouldn't leave me.

I hope.

I had shifted my way to a nearby tree, initially scared that it would be part of the dungeon walls, but there was no shadow. Everything seemed like it was clear. There were no shadowy walls, only trees.

The thought that I was finally out brought a smile to my face as I pushed up against a tree to use it as a back rest. The sky was bright, and the wind was warm. It felt arid, but I didn't feel dry. I just sat there, mesmerized at the beauty of the forest, as I completed my promise to myself.

I rested till I started to nod off, yawning tiredly, as I quickly heard rustling nearby. I flinched at the noise, but I couldn't move or fight due to my arm. Instead of trying to fight, I pushed myself closer to the tree to try and conceal myself.

A blue creature burst from nearby bushes next to a tree on my left. It was Nills, and she was looking around before looking at where I had woken. Panic settled on her face.

"Hey." I calmly called out trying to get her attention. She snapped toward me in fear, but she calmed down when she noticed that it was me.

She sighed and walked towards me. "You should stay in place to rest." When she got closer eyeing me up and down before leaning in, lower than she already was, to my arm, lifting it to inspect it. "You even twisted the wrapping."