Quest for the Eighty-Eight Keys

Chapter Forty-Five: You'll be Safe with Us

WARNING: REFERENCES TO TORTURE!

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Rufus stared in shock. He couldn't believe it. He was just imagining it, right? He didn't just see Nyx fall off of the end of the ravine, did he? He had been following Lucy, Freed, and Midnight when he heard something. Granted, it could have been nothing more than woodland creatures, but he was skeptical of that since the sound resembled voices too much for him to brush off.

He had turned around to face the direction that the sound was coming from, the top of the ravine behind him. He didn't know if he was imagining it or if he was making a big deal out of nothing, so to speak, since it hadn't appeared that any of his companions were hearing it.

As he stared at the ravine, he was about to listen to Lucy when he saw a winged woman stand on the end, only to soon get tackled to the ground below by another person. Rufus could only stand there in shock. He didn't want to assume that it was Nyx, but the person who fell off of the ravine resembled him quite a bit.

Lucy grabbed his wrist and attempted to pull him along when Rufus saw the winged woman stand up from where she and the other person had fallen behind some shrubbery. He suddenly exclaimed, "wait! Wait!" He then ripped his wrist out of Lucy's grip and rushed to the woman. and the other person who was possibly Nyx.

The woman quickly began panicking. She hurried over exclaiming, "you're Rufus, right? Please tell me that you're Rufus!"

Rufus took the woman's shoulders into his hands. He tilted his head to look her in the eyes, speaking with as much of a calm voice as he could manage, "what happened? Are you okay?"

The woman looked back at the shrubbery before looking at Rufus again. Her pretty, young face was twisted into an expression of worry and there were tears in her eyes. "Please tell me that you're Rufus!" She demanded of him as she grabbed his arms. Rufus gave a small wince at her grip. She seemed to be stronger than she looked.

Rufus nodded his head. "Yes, I am Rufus. I don't remember having ever met you."

At that moment, Lucy, Freed, and Midnight joined them. Lucy too looked worried as she questioned the winged woman, "are you alright? Can we help you?" Freed and Midnight simply watched, both appearing to be more suspicious than worried.

The woman pulled Rufus toward the shrubbery. "You have to help him, please! He was trying to find you, all of you!"

Rufus' eyes widened at that. There was only one person he could think of who would be looking for them. He quickly breaks away from the woman and rushes to the shrubbery. He momentarily freezes when he finds what was there.

Nyx was laying on the stone ground. He was unconscious, as well as shirtless and shoeless. His bare chest was littered with small, circular scars. His bare feet were cut up and bleeding. Rufus kneeled beside him, taking him into his arms as he calls out, "Lucy! We need Monoceros!" If he recalled correctly, Monoceros possessed Healing Magic. Rufus hoped that he would be able to heal Nyx.

He rushed over to the others with Nyx in his arms. His heartbeat had picked up its pace and he could almost feel the adrenaline coursing through him. He watched as Lucy rushed over, a hand covering her mouth. "Is that...?" She stopped as she trailed off, appearing hesitant now.

Rufus nodded his head and looked over at the winged woman. He walked over to her. He was trying to remain calm, however, something about seeing Nyx like this made him feel panicked on the inside and he was struggling to not let it outwardly show. He questioned her, "what happened?"

The woman seemed hesitant to speak, as if the truth would cause trouble. Then again, they would face trouble anyways, they have Nyx after all. The woman brushed a lock of her white hair out of her face and began playing with the hem of her white dress. She looked away from Rufus as she answered, "he...he ran away...f-from Terra and Lust." Her answer was soft, and quiet, as if she was telling him something that he wasn't supposed to know.