A Man for Himself (Norton X Eli) [Identity V] *UNEDITED*

Chapter 16 - Death

Norton had always feared death. After the events at the mine, he realized he wanted more than ever to stay alive to reach his goal. He'd accepted the invitation to the manor to fulfill that, but he wasn't expecting that he would be signing up for a survival game.

Death always lurked around the corner in every match. He knew he could die anytime, but after experiencing continuous victories, the thought got pushed to the back of his mind. There was constant danger, but he was getting better at this game. He had everything under control. There's no need to worry.

Until Eli.

He got reminded of what it felt like to be on the brink of death.

The prospector had lost his consciousness as soon as they left the match. He didn't know how long he had been out, but when he finally came to, he found himself in the infirmary.

Norton looked to his side. Sitting on the bed next to his was Aesop whom was getting tended by Emily. He couldn't remember the embalmer getting injured, but he appeared to have a bruise on his cheek and a cut on his lip.

On the other side of the room was Naib. He was staring intently at Aesop as if his sight alone could pierce through the gray-haired male. Judging from it, it looked like Naib was the one who caused Aesop's injury.

"Calm down now, you two," Emily sighed as she started putting away her equipment. "The good thing is you won. Eli's sacrifice didn't go to waste."

"Is Eli dead?" Norton found himself asking.

All heads turned towards him. They're looking at him as if he'd grown a third head.

Norton remained staring at their faces, confused and waiting for an answer.

"Stop fucking around, Campbell. You know no one dies in this game," Naib hissed at him.

How could he know? Was that even possible? No one told him about that. Ever since he arrived at the manor, he had never experienced defeat. He never looked back. He thought everyone always escaped.

"Where is he now?"

Norton's question was answered when the supposedly dead Eli Clark entered the room.

"Why does everyone look so gloomy?" he asked as if he didn't get impaled with a pick axe in the chest earlier that day.

The mercenary wasn't able to contain himself and marched his way to Eli, wrapping his arms tight around the seer as if they were alone in the room.

"Sorry. I wasn't able to rescue you," Naib said upon taking a step back. Aesop forced me to—"

Eli chuckled. "It's fine. We won. That's what matters."

Norton sat up to take a better look at the seer. Eli looked normal except for the hole in his bloodstained robe where the pick axe had pierced him. There was no wound. All that was there was smooth skin.

"You may all go back to your room," Emily announced. "Eli will have to stay here for a bit. I need to do a check up on him. He will need a lot of rest."

Norton wanted to talk to Eli and ask him a lot of questions, but the seer never paid him attention or even dared to look in his way. The feeling of getting ignored was unpleasant, but he decided to let it go. There would always be a next time.

***

He'd never seen Eli since their last encounter at the infirmary. It had been days. He figured despite coming back alive, Eli wasn't as fine as he appeared. As much as he wanted to talk to him, Norton figured it would be best to stay away for a while. After all, it didn't seem like Eli had already forgiven him for what he'd done and was still being cautious around him. He couldn't really blame him.