Fates Intertwined

12. | "And then some."

"What is all of this exactly?" Lina asked, her arms crossed as she yawned into her hand. Eric, Nara, and Zyran all stood around them in the store room that Aurora had found.

"This," She opened the chest. "Is a magical chest."

Lina arched her brow. "Magical... how?"

"This place went up in flames, right?" She looked around, studying the others' reactions. They didn't know where she was going with this. "This chest managed to survive the fire. This entire room survived."

"They could've put the fire out before it could touch." Lina retorted snarkily.

"Lina, don't start." Zyran sighed. She rolled her eyes.

"But that's just it. They didn't put the fire out. And why on earth would a factory have a chest full of weapons? Matter of fact," She grabbed the ball mace from inside. "Why does a factory have a chest full of medieval weapons?"

"So what are you saying?" Nara asked, face scrunched in confusion.

"This place isn't normal." She answered.

"Gee, everything has to be magical with you, doesn't it?" Lina retorted, glaring.

"Lina, can we please not do this?" Nara sighed, running a hand through her hair.

"Oh, sorry for stating the obvious. You all need to wake up and see what's really happening here. She's luring us to our deaths." Lina emphasized.

"Lina—"

"If I'm luring you to your death, why aren't you dead?" Aurora stepped toward her, staring blankly at her. "If I wanted you dead, you'd be dead."

Lina's upper lip curled. She took a step toward her, squaring her up and standing a mere inches away. "Bull. Shit."

"I don't get why you have such a problem with me. I've kept you alive so far."

"And one day, you're going to stop, and then one of us is going to end up dead." She glared.

"Evangelina, shut the fuck up!" Eric finally broke. Her head snapped to him. "Just shut up!" They all stared at him, eyes wide. "Nobody gives a fuck about whatever unresolved issues you have, so stop taking it out on us! We didn't choose this, and neither did she! So grow the fuck up."

Lina inhaled a deep, angry breath. "Fine." She turned to Aurora. "You all can listen to her, but I don't need her help. I can fight on my own." Then she was storming out.

Zyran stepped toward Aurora. "You okay?"

She blinked, turning away from the place Lina had disappeared from. "Yeah. Let's just...do this now before we get found." They all nodded. "Help me grab this box and take it to the roof."

The four of them each took a corner, lifting it up and carrying it to the stairs that led up to the roof. Aurora left the four of them to carry it, Nara and Eric at one end and Zyran at the other, to open the door and give them room to walk through.

"Set it over here." She instructed, pointing. They listened, setting it down, and they opened it back up. "Okay, we'll start with hand-to-hand combat and then we'll work with..." She looked at the chest and winced. "Less-likely-to-kill-you weapons."

"That's not comforting." Eric remarked.

"Yeah, well, it's the best you're going to get." She shrugged.

"Woah, sick. I call these things." Nara announced, holding two of the ball maces in hand.

Aurora quickly snagged them, throwing them back inside. "I said less likely to kill you. That also meant wounding."