If I Had a Heart

Raptor looked at the others in the room.

Then he moved towards Eira, armor clanking together as he swiftly went to join her. He tried not to think about what might happen to the people they were leaving behind. With someone like Aumrauth in their group, he couldn't imagine things ending well.

But it wasn't his responsibility. He had a job he needed to do back on the world he was supposed to be on. He had to get out of this place so he could catch Mist and his troublesome demon. He had to meet up with May. If he died here, the two of them would never get back to Earth together.

He couldn't let himself feel guilty.

"I'm coming with you," he said. "It's the option that makes the most sense."

He didn't answer Nikolai's question; he didn't know the answer.

"If you wish," Elias said to Nikolai. "Though I can't promise we'll be here when you return. Who knows how deep this place goes?"

Ainsley turned to Mel, realizing he never introduced himself, courtesy of the near-death experience from earlier. "My name's Ainsley," he said. "Not 'bloody guy.'"

Mel felt herself feeling swayed by Eira's words -- not because they were convincing, but because it was patronizing. All her life she was told what to do and what to think, but she was over it now; it was time to set her foot down and make her own choices, even if others think she was wrong or didn't make any sense.

"Yeah, who knows how deep that cave goes and if it even has an exit," she mused out loud. "For all you know, it could be a trapped maze full of other monsters. At least in here, nothing will attack you unless you open a trapped chest, and there are only two more left."

It was clear the room was getting divided, so she took a step back so she was closer to Aumrauth, Dr. Archer, and Ainsley, who she offered an impish smile to since she was rather pleased with her 'bloody guy' nickname.

It was interesting hearing everyone's reasons, but it didn't change Aumrauth's mind. While everyone's motives were mostly centered around self-preservation and hopes of going home, he was more interested in what brought them here, and why. He wanted to know the reasons behind it.

He was however intrigued that several of them implied that they weren't home. They might've simply meant their place of residence but he was beginning to feel that maybe their homes were in very different places. Different planes. Different dimensions.

But that was just a theory, at the moment, and it wasn't about to get proven right away.

He looked to Raptor, and the mage girl - the ones most vocal about leaving.

"Listen, if you want to go prancing about the cave tunnels in search of an exit, go on ahead. I'm sure no matter which route you take there will be more discoveries, and more trouble afforded to you, just like this room." He waved his hand at them dismissively.

"As for the rest of us, why don't we start--" he picked a tunnel on the right. "This direction. It's not like anyone left a map for us!" He looked back to the doctor. "And oh - bring that satchel with you! We may need it."

Even if they did stumble onto other monsters in the tunnels, Raptor knew he would eagerly take them over the one searching for the statue's heart. He turned back to Eira, not even bothering to give Aumrauth a response at this point. He was tired of being goaded and taunted by people like him.

Then he went over to Dr. Elias and took the rope.

"If the group looking for the heart is taking the satchel," he said, "then I think we should be able to take the rope. It's fair."

Magicians didn't think of fairness. If anything, he should have been trying to steal that bag - it was likely more useful. But he had seen Aumrauth in a fight, and he didn't have any demons at his disposal right now.

Rope in tow, he returned to Eira's side.

"Let's go," he suggested. "I have no preference on what tunnel we go into - as long as it's not the same as theirs."

Nikolai glanced between the two groups, taking a deep breath before walking over to Raptor and Eira. “I’ll go with you,” he said softly. “I think both of these options are dangerous, but this one might have a higher chance of success, and would probably be more rewarding. Who knows if that... thing should even be awakened.”

“It shouldn’t be,” Eira said firmly, “We should get out of here before the morons over there screw up any chance we have to get home.” With that, she turned on her heel and headed down whichever tunnel was nearest. She didn’t really see enough of a difference between them to care which.

Raptor gave one last look at the others before following after Eira. It looked like it would just be the three of them. He didn't know much about Eira or Nikolai, but he wasn't sure how comforted he felt about their group being so small.

He readjusted the strap to his bag. He couldn't feel the strap with the armor, but the action felt comforting and familiar.

It was time to see what the tunnel had to offer.

Elias shouldered the satchel, straightening his tie. "It seems the four of us ought to be on our way, then," he said, quirking an eyebrow. What an odd little group they were.

Nikolai hesitated before waving to the others one last time and catching up to Eira and Raptor. They needed to pick a tunnel. He scanned the ones ahead of them, unsure how to make his choice. The blue-gray ribbon on his hand was glowing just brightly enough to light their way in the tunnels, just like Eira’s purple ribbon and Raptor’s whiteish one. He hoped that would help them find their way.

“Where to?” he asked quietly.

Aumrauth gave one sharp nod to the doctor and, in agreement, started leading the way through the second tunnel. He kept his knife in hand just in case.

Elias followed briskly, taking out a pack of cigarettes as he walked and sliding one into his mouth. He kept a firm grip on his cane as he replaced the pack and fished out his lighter. He trusted nobody here just yet. Most of them seemed like fools; the few that didn't seemed too smart to be safe or too cautious to be helpful. The odds of getting out of here alive appeared to be gravely slim.
Elias took a long drag on the cigarette and puffed out a ring of smoke, frowning as he and the others came to a fork in the tunnel. He could see light at the end of one, and the other seemed to turn them back around.

Mel hesitated for a brief moment before following Aumrauth down the tunnel he chose, mostly because it felt wrong to split the group with hostility towards each other. Their chances of finding the heart or escaping would be better if they stuck as one group, but it was a shame they couldn't come to a consensus.

Oh well. No point in dwelling in what-if's and but's. Mel kicked some pebbles in front of her, hating that she could only see so far in front of her due to the limited light. Still, she continued to follow the other heart seekers in the tunnel, and eventually, they stopped at a fork in the path.

She looked at the tunnel with light at the end of it. "Is that... the exit?" she asked, baffled by the complete irony of the situation if it was.

Aumrauth's eyes widened and a small grin spread over his face as his gaze fixated on the light. "Oh, it could be many things. Exit could mean many things. Sometimes the light is good, sometimes the light is bad. Light could be a way out, or it could just as easily be a lure. A trick. Something to give us false hope before we're swallowed up." He paused. "Or it could be the heart. Maybe the heart glows!" His smile spread as he glanced back at the others. He was only joking, but with his current luck, maybe he was right.

"In any case, why don't we keep quiet and you all can uh," he paused, already ahead of them all. He waved his hand away from him. "You know. Stay back, a bit. Let me take this one. Like I said before. Better the immortal gets stabbed than you guys, right?"

He didn't know why he was being so generous. Granted, there were downsides to them rushing in together. If it was a trap, they'd all get trapped or attacked, and if it was something else... well, the mortals would only drag him down, you know?

He adjusted the sleeve of his robe, pulling it back up to his shoulder, because it kept slipping down. That was the only downside to wearing the equivalent of a blanket.

Maybe he could invent something like it with sleeves. That would be genius.

The thought came and went though, getting lost in the swirl of pain constantly buzzing in his brain.

He pushed forward towards the light as stelthily as he could, on bare feet, with his dagger ready.