Skyrise

Mysterious Mysteries

Fox

     "Come on! Come on!" I walked into the mine with Spectre, Songbird, and Lilith. "I decided to come down here and grab Cloud's body out of the rocks to finally bury it. Corporal works of mercy, you know? Well, I found the body alright, but something's off." My torch burned brightly, but still I somehow tripped over anything within a 3 ft. radius.

     "Off how?" Songbird asked.

     "Well, you know how when souls face extreme emotions, the power within them overflows into the eyes and face and gives them both a glowing appearance?"

     "Huh?"

     "Your eyes glow and you blush your soul color when you're upset or super happy or sick, right?"

     "Yeah, everyone does that."

     "You're not wrong, but corpses usually don't do that, since their souls have no more energy to keep them alive, let alone enough to overflow."

     "Where are you going with this, Fox?" Spectre asked behind me. God, his British accent makes me melt every time. Okay, Fox. He's straight as a ruler. Pull yourself together.

     "Spectre... Ah...how do I properly word this? Your brother is not entirely dead. He is very close, but he isn't dead. He has .657981 out of 250 HP."

     "What?!" Songbird yelled.

     "How?" Lilith asked. I flinched when they got in my face and slowly took a few steps backwards.

     "Well, I think it may have to do with the nature of his soul in relation to his brother's. Whenever a person gets healed, it fills their soul. Since they supposedly switched soul parts, a part of the HP going into Spectre's soul may be flowing into Cloud's portion of the soul. Make sense?"

     "Yeah... Where is he?" Lilith asked.

     "Just across this old bridge." I tested my weight, accidentally looking down in the process. I took a rather large step back. "Err... Ladies first, I insist." The ladies exchanged skeptical glances but marched across the bridge.

     "Aren't you gonna go?" Spectre asked.

     "After you, lad." I smiled.

     "Yeah. Not happening." I felt my head hit his back. I lifted my head and saw the chasm below us.

"H-Hey! Put me down! Spectre!"

Waterfalls flowed into the abyss, creating white noise and an interesting aesthetic. Spectre's rhythmic, strong breathing filled me with hope. I hoped with all my heart that we could get a happy ending from this nightmare. It was a romantic moment, and apparently Spectre noticed it too.

"Woah...!"

"Yeah, cool right?"

"You have no idea. Hey, Fox. I have a question."

"Yeah?" My hopes rose even higher.

"I don't think I've ever seen you take off your gloves. Why not?"

"Oh?" So much for 'Will you go on a date with me?' I looked at my hands. I hadn't noticed them at all. "Weird. Ten years on the island, you'd think I'd notice them at least once. Wow. My hands are probably pretty cramped." I reached down and liberated my hands. I was shocked at what I found. "Uhhhh..."

"What's wrong, pal?"

"What are these metallic thingies? They look kinda weird." They looked like metallic plates drilled into my hands.

"Let me see!" I reached back awkwardly to let him see. "F0-X. Fox! Is that how we got your name?"

"Maybe?"

"Wow. I knew Cloud wasn't that creative, but this is a whole new level!"

"Can we please take this just a bit more seriously?" I asked, putting my hand back into a natural position.

"You're right. I'm sorry. What do you think it means?"

"Hm... I think--"

"Are you boys comin'?" Songbird asked, waving from the other side.

"Yes!" He addressed me. "Let's discuss this later, pal." He then took off across the bridge.

"S-Spectre! You're gonna kill me!"

"I'd never!" My head banged against his back and I used my elbows to prop myself up. It offered a clear view of my hands. Great. Another thing that makes me weird. I'll have to add that to the list when I get home.

     We entered the cavern and were greeted by an orange glow. "Wow!" Lilith breathed. "What is it?"

     "It's my brother's soul!" Spectre ran ahead, clapping his wizard hat to his head. We dug the body out of the rubble together and carried it back to my house. We were pretty quiet the whole way back. With this shocking breakthrough and Cerberus coming home, we all had a lot to process. Especially when I got home and everyone left.

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Don't you just hate when authors give you cliffhangers? What do you guys think is going on once Fox gets home? I'm currently listening to a metal cover of one of my favorite songs. I don't hate it somehow? Eh... Don't ask what song. I'd be too embarrassed to tell anyone lol!