Damned Desire

Chapter 4: Retreat

The group found themselves hiding in one of the rooms that they passed by in the hallway. After finding themselves in a safe spot, Vox immediately let out his frustrations.

"Damn it! He was right there! And we just fucking ran away!" shouted Vox.

"Calm the fuck down, Vox! You think I'm not fucking upset?! All of us are!" yelled Mysta.

"I know, that's why I'm even more upset! I can't even blame anyone right now, fuck!" cursed Vox.

Bam!

Vox ended up dumping his anger into a nearby trash bin, its contents sprawled out from his kick. His breathing was ragged from his frustration and exhaustion. He felt like running outside immediately to save Ike, but he knew he couldn't. That fact only further deepened his frustration, and the only thing he could do was catch his breath and attempt to calm himself down.

At another corner of the room, Shu released his hand from Luca's chest as a purple glow went out from his chest. "There, the curse had been dispelled. Do you feel anything wrong with your body? Any aftereffects?"

Luca examined himself briefly, "Hmm, I don't think so. I just feel really tired right now..."

"Well, just catch some rest for now. We all needed one," Shu commented. "I've finished installing the Curse of Isolation in this room. They shouldn't be able to find us, at least until I have to dispel it."

"And what would happen if you didn't dispel it?" Mysta asked.

"We'll be permanently stuck in this room, separated from our plane of existence. We should have around fifty... no, forty minutes maybe? God, I don't even know anymore..." answered Shu, his uncertainty was noticeable in his voice.

"...Haha, I'm not even in the mood to joke about that right now." Mysta weakly responded.

The atmosphere in the room had sunk to rock bottom. Everyone was exhausted, both their bodies and their minds. The unimaginable might they'd faced, their close encounter with death, and Ike's miserable expression—every single one of them wore down on their physical and mental strength.

"...Damn it, this place's like a funeral. Nobody's dead yet, right? Not even Ike," Mysta spoke out.

"..." His words were met with silence.

"We can't just mope around like this while he's waiting out there for us. We gotta do something, anything that could give us a chance," Mysta continued on.

"...And what do you suggest we do? You've seen what that bastard could do. We're no match for him," said Vox despondently.

"Even with all that strength I had, I couldn't do anything to him. Is there even a way for us to save Ike?" questioned Luca.

"His cursed energy was overpowering... It was impossible from the start. The moment we stepped into this place, it was checkmate," muttered Shu weakly.

Despite Mysta's attempt to raise the atmosphere, everyone couldn't follow him. Negative thoughts had already crept deep within their minds, muddling any hopes that they had.

"...So that's it? You're all just gonna give up on Ike?" Mysta asked coldly.

"That's not-!"

Mysta interrupted before Shu could finish his words, "Even knowing what that monster could do, Ike still fought for us to give us a chance to escape, to find a way to beat that bastard. And now he's still out there, fighting by himself. You wanna spend this precious chance from Ike just to sulk around when you guys have the strength to do something about it?"