Real or not real? (Five Hargreeves) Book 2

Chapter 16 'Shit'

Stellar pants heavily as the sound of voices drifts through the heavy metal door. She stops in her tracks, a wave of relief, hope and franticness overcoming her.

She can hear Klaus outside, talking to everyone.

"What happened to you guys? You look like hell."

"Try fighting a guardian." 

Five.

Stellar almost laughed at the irony, but the guardian swings its double edged sword at her, narrowly missing her head as she lets out a soft yelp and ducks before swinging her katana at the same space she'd been aiming at since she started fighting. She'd make a good dent in the armour now, and she could see the edge of the metal chest plate curling up. It was only a matter of hits before she could flick the whole piece of metal off. 

Outside the voices continue.

"We just did."

Allison.

"So did we."

Ben.

"You know what, I'm happy I'm still kicking even despite dad's attempt to bash my brains in, time for tearful reunions later." Klaus interrupts. "What you all need to know is that dad killed Luther. And then he locked me in the tunnel, and then he rang that stupid bell, and- hey, where's Stellar?"

There seems to be silence outside, and Stellar takes her chance, quickly turning to what she thought was the door and banging on it as hard as she could.

"In here!" She yells. If they could hear her, she had no idea, but she continued calling out and pounding her fists on the door.

There's a shuffling of feet until she hears a voice from outside.

"Stellar?"

Lila.

"Yes, I'm in here, and-" She lets out an alarmed shout as the guardian lunges for her again, lashing out with her own katana and once again cleanly slicing the small chink she had made in the chest plate.

"Stellar?!" 

It sounded like Viktor.

Viktor. 

"I'm- I'm okay, just- open it! Open the door!" She yells. 

The guardian tries to bring its sword down directly on her head, and she flips the katana horizontally, holding it above her head as she pushes back on the brute force that she guardian is applying. She can hear a rustle and commotion outside before it stops.

"How?!" Viktor yells from the other side.

"Viktor, you ended the fucking world twice! Blast the door open!" Stellar shouts.

A murmur and shuffle of feet can be heard outside.

"Hurry!" She adds almost desperately, shoving her katana up with extra force, causing the guardian to stumble backwards.

Suddenly, a blast sounds from the other side, and the metal door caves in, shattering as if it were mere glass.

Stellar immediately stumbles out, her katana falling from her hand as she does so. She almost falls if not for Viktor catching her and steadying her. She leans against him for a second, allowing him to support her while she caught her breath.

"You okay?" Viktor asks carefully.

"Well-"

She's interrupted by the heavy clanking sound, and she whips around to see the guardian coming out of the room.

"Not really, no."

She finishes, immediately pushing him away out of harm's reach before diving for her katana and slicing it across the guardian's chest place once more. It was almost broken. Just a few more times.