If I Had a Heart

Eira considered it. The likelihood of the contents being a weapon of any kind was low, bit it could always be something else of use. Even more alcohol could be useful for medical purposes, even if it wasn't ideal.

"Fine."

Raptor gave a nod.

He moved closer to the chest, trying - and failing - to stop himself from feeling so anxious. It reminded him of when he first summoned a demon. He knew that he was safe within his pentacle, but he knew the horror stories. He knew what could possibly go wrong.

His hand lingered over the lid of the chest.

He took another deep breath he no longer really needed.

Then he pushed the lid up, listening to it creak as the lid swung back behind the rest of the chest. He braced himself for whatever could be lurking inside of the chest-

-but nothing lunged out at him.

After a moment of hesitation, he opened his eyes again and peeked inside the chest. He would have smiled if he could. He reached his hands in and carefully removed what was lurking inside: a battleaxe, one that looked strong enough to easily beat a scorpion.

"We were lucky," he said. He held it out to Eira and Nikolai, trying to stop himself from geeking out about how cool this was. He was supposed to be better than that.

But he knew that May would have thought something like this was amazing, and would have probably even joked that he looked like a stereotypical tank or berserker kind of character with his tall build, dark armor, and newly acquired weapon.

"Personally, I think we should avoid unnecessary risks," Elias replied. "The Heart wouldn't be this close to the main cavern, would it?"

Nikolai had been holding his breath in anticipation as well. He didn't think he'd be too much help in a fight, but he'd been tense and alert as Raptor had opened it, ready to act if there was any danger.

But nothing came out of the chest. Raptor was pulling out a large weapon once they were all sure nothing would hurt them. Nikolai's eyes widened when he saw the battleaxe in all its glory.

"That is-- wow. It looks really cool, and also scary, probably more than a little dangerous too, but it's--" He realized he was gushing about it a little too much, and he cleared his throat, returning to his usual shy and awkward attitude. "I mean, it's really neat," he finished timidly, turning slightly pink with mild embarrassment.

Mel let Dr. Archer's words sink in, and she quietly teetered between the two options: open the chest and risk losing Aumrauth for a short while as he recovers, or don't open the chest and not obtain whatever is inside?

"We have to take a risk eventually, though," she said back. "We already took one by deciding to find the heart rather than escape. Besides, maybe the chest has the key to this door."

She loudly knocked on the metal door in front of her, only to reel back and wince, lightly shaking her hand. Ow, she thought to herself, not wanting to show weakness.

"Mel's right. We've got to do something." He turned to Aumrauth. "You're the one who'd open the chest, which puts you at the highest risk, regardless of your immortality. How do you think we should go about this?"

Aumrauth was sick of all the talking. His head hurt, and everything hurt, and whether or not more pain would come he preferred action as opposed to pointless bickering.

"This way!" He said, marching over to the chest and flinging open the lid.

With a pop and a flash of light, the chest and everything within a three foot radius combusted.

Ainsley dove in the opposite direction of the chest, landing just outside of its reach. The heat scalded his skin and his eyes watered as he clamped them shut, trying to orient himself on the hard ground.

Aumrauth was on fire.

It wouldn't be the first time, but still, the searing pain of his flesh burning was, as an understatement, unpleasant. He knew he only had a few mere seconds left before he passed out, and it would be a few minutes before he came to again, and even longer before he was actually fully healed.

Now, would he do it again? Open another chest? Yes. This pain was only temporary and the other pains were forever, and he'd long since learned to endure them.

"I'll be back soon!" He managed to rasp out as he fell back to the ground, quickly losing consciousness.

That was to say, if they put the fire out soon. Otherwise, it'd take quite a lot longer.

Ainsley stood on shaking legs, squinting into the flames. "We have to put the fire out!" He looked at the others. There wasn't any water nearby, at least none he knew of, so he hoped they had any inkling of what they could do.

Mel barely had time to take cover when Aumrauth opened the chest. Ideally, everyone would have stepped back in time, but instead she could only cower in the corner next to the metal door as the chest exploded, setting Aumrauth on fire while just barely missing her.

She felt a couple of her hairs singe from the blast, but other than that and the intense heat that her skin absorbed and booming noise that echoed in her ears, she was otherwise unaffected.

By the time her eyes adjusted from the brief blinding light and heat, Mel realized Aumrauth was on fire. Literally, on fire. She couldn't help but stare in shock for a second as he plopped on the ground like he was about to take a nap.

Hearing Ainsley yell that they needed to put the fire out brought her back to reality, and that was when she realized that she still had her usual items in the bag. Without wasting another second, she quickly in a frazzled manner fished for the water pouch in her bag while running towards Aumrauth, spilling the contents over his burning body, and then patting him down with whatever leftover random crumpled-up robes she had stashed in her bag from earlier.

She was visibly the youngest person in the entire group, but right now, she felt like the group's mom, suggesting things to do while offering water and clothes.

Raptor glanced over at Eira.

He didn't want to say anything off when he wasn't sure how the last member of the group would react, but Nikolai's reaction was...kind of comforting. He hadn't expected someone else to have the same reaction to the axe that he did.

After a moment of hesitation, Raptor raised the axe. It was clear that he was just testing its weight - he had no intentions of swinging it. "It's easier to hold than I thought it would be," he commented. Maybe that was because he wasn't himself anymore. He had doubted just how strong he would be right now, but apparently this body possessed supernatural kinds of strength.

...He wasn't going to question it.

"...I feel like a tank," he finally said, "or a berserker."

Then he faltered, realizing that neither of those comments was something that a magician was supposed to say. Worse, it gave an identifying detail away. He was just so desperate to have an interaction with someone like May that he wasn't thinking clearly - he wasn't following the rules that had been drilled into his head since he was old enough to understand language.

"You look-- powerful." Nikolai meant it as a compliment. "Like someone right out of a legendary story! It's super cool--" There he was, doing it again. Apparently there were some things that could make him stop acting shy.

Yes, the battleaxe was interesting, but should he tone down his enthusiasm a bit? He didn't want to annoy them with his excitement and awe. Social interactions were hard. His cheeks were still slightly flushed from his awkwardness.

"Sorry," he mumbled. "I got a bit eager there."

"You look like someone who's being prepared for a fight."

Whoever had left that ax there...whatever had placed these chests and set the traps, they weren't someone Eira wanted to meet. They had to get out of there.