[TBATE] -More Than One Godspell-

Caera Denoir

"Are you sure?"

"Yes." Arthur replied, without turning.

"It could be a trap!" I warned.

He stopped, but only for the span of a single breath. He glanced over his shoulder, looking a little annoyed with that infuriating, deliberate calm of his. "Look, if you're scared, feel free to stay behind and wait for us." His voice was smooth, almost lazy in its arrogance. With that said, Arthur continued to follow... whatever that thing was.

I didn't stop. My legs kept on moving, keeping pace behind him. I turned to my mentor, who doesn't seem to want to talk to me for now. Her gaze fixed forward as she walked ahead of me, composed in that infuriatingly distant way of hers.

"..." I sighed.

Yeah...

Right...

Maybe I was overthinking things. Maybe I was worried for nothing.

After all, I'm with the strongest Lance and a Scythe.

What bad could happen down here?

***

Arthur Leywin

What a mess...

Almost everything is pink.

I stepped carefully through the wreckage, boots crunching over shattered ice and broken branches, my eyes darting from one side to the other, taking in everything around me and the path ahead.

I hope this thing actually knows where it's going.

'Yeah, I don't want to stay here any longer than we have to,' came Regis's voice, curling through my mind like tendrils of smoke.

'Same here.'

"Wah!" A sudden squeak snapped my attention forward. The thing skidded to an abrupt halt in front of me.

I stopped short. "What is it?" I looked around and saw nothing to be concerned about—no. Aether began to vibrate, oscillating all around the little thing as a central point. Each particle spread, and without any sign of warning, they turned blindingly bright.

'Shit!!'

"Shit!!" I turned my face and threw up an arm to shield my eyes—and then right after, I was already somewhere else...?

"Arthur..." Caera's voice snapped me out of my daze.

"...What? "

"Where are we all of a sudden?" Seris spoke.

There were a few odds and ends scattered here and there among the ruins that had fallen here, which clearly show that someone must have stayed here for a while.

'To figure out how to get that thing to work.' Regis murmured.

'What?'

'Look behind you.'

I turned.

"Huh..." And there it was.

An arch made out of stones fused with lines of runic etchings, stood crooked just a few paces away from me. Half of it had lay crushed beneath the weight of a boulder that must have fallen moments ago.

"...Can it be fixed?" Seris came up from just behind. Her question was dry, yet... also very anxious, even though she didn't make it obvious.

I exhaled, slowly stepping toward the arch. "By the looks of it... I don't think so." I crouched, slipped my fingers under the edge of the boulder, and flipped it off to the side. Dust clouded the air. "But I'll try to rebuild it. Just hope there's still enough of it left to do so. Especially the parts with carved runes."