Nephus

Chapter 7: Lost History

Katsu's eyes begin to flutter as he wakes, opening his eyes and seeing Griffin, Erin, and Myra surrounding him. They all look down at him anxiously as Myra casts healing magic on his body as much as she can, her face visibly strained. From her tall wooden staff, a green energy flies and seems to spin around Katsu, the energy slowly filling his body with warmth.

"Hey he's waking up!" Erin says, her face lighting up, Griffin grinning at the sight.

Katsu sits up, leaning his back against the wall, "my head hurts so much," he says, holding his head in his right hand.

"Yeah I imagine, you used Fabrication a lot, your brain is probably fried from all the magic use," says Griffin, "and the amount of mana control it takes to do that mana mode you do must totally exhaust your body," Griffin adds.

Katsu groans from the pain in his head, Myra's healing magic alleviating the pain slightly. He removes his hand from his head and looks around the place they are in. It looks to be a long hallway, the end obstructed by darkness. The floor and surrounding surfaces are made of the same yellow, ancient tile from which Baphomet's room was made, black flame torches lining the walls.

"Where... are we?" Katsu says, "and how are we meant to leave with the cavern now caved in," he adds.

"I don't really know, all I know is we are farther in the dungeon now," Griffin says.

"And we are just going to have to hope that there is an exit farther in," Griffin says, "if not we will have to force our way through the now caved in cavern," Griffin adds.

"Yeah it's not looking good," Erin says, looking down the hallway.

Katsu examines Erin. Where she was sliced open by Nue, there is a large rip in her top, a lengthy scar beneath her white top. The white cloth surrounding the cut is stained red from the blood which spewed out.

"Do you want me to fix your clothing," Katsu says, gesturing to the tear, "or maybe make you a cloak to wear over your shirt," Katsu suggests.

"Huh?" Erin says, confused at first. She looks down at where he is pointing and notices the torn clothing, her white skin shining in the dim light.

"Oh yeah," she says, noticing the tear, "just uh, make me a cloak," she says.

A brown cloak sprouts from Katsu's hand. It is about the same size as Katsu's, since Erin and him are of similar height. Katsu hands it to Erin and she slips it on. It has no sleeves just like Katsu's cloak, but is longer, reaching halfway down Erin's calves. It also has a large hood at the top, contrasting Katsu's which has no hood.

"Thanks," Erin says.

"No problem," Katsu responds, looking over at Griffin.

"Should we go on then?" Katsu asks.

"Yeah, it's about time," Griffin says.

Katsu rises to his feet, dusting off his cloak as he stands. He looks down the dimly lit hallway, darkness not far off, beginning his long strides into the dark. Time passes as the hallway becomes more wild, the torches disappearing, cracks appearing more often as they trek on.

As complete darkness envelops the four, Katsu creates a torch, the hallway lighting up once again. The four continue on through the quiet hallway.

The hallway seems to grow even quieter as they progress, the sound of their boots scraping across the tile floor slowly dissipating. The four look at each other, confused as to what is happening. Erin opens her mouth to speak, and seems to be saying something, and yet there is no noise.

Confusion turns to panic as Erin spins around, trying to figure out what is happening. The quiet becomes so quiet it seems loud, the sounds of their organs doing their natural processes beginning to be heard, until even that dissipates, complete and total silence filling the hallway.