11 Chapter 11: LAND VS. SKY
The cage door instantly slams shut, shocking Cristina and locking Jeric inside the cage. Then, the wooden door quietly opens by itself….
Cristina clenches the steel bars in front of her, stunned by Jeric's judgment. She glares at Jeric who is smiling at her reassuringly. "Are you crazy?!"
"I'm not crazy," Jeric retorts. "I've just… made the best decision."
"I can't believe this is happening. You're out of your mind."
Jeric lifts his right foot off button 'A'. "Go ahead. Just… go."
"No…. NO! I won't leave you. Why are you such a pain?!"
"You think I want to risk our lives behind that… steel door?" Jeric's face suddenly turns serious. "We won't stand a chance. It's obvious! You know we can't handle surprise attacks."
"But—"
"Listen to me…. Go ahead and see the end of the tunnel. Then go back in here if you want to stay… or… if you're afraid of being alone out there, okay? Now go."
"But—"
"Just go! I'm forced to stay here for five hours, but at least there's no monster in here…. Go ahead. And if you believe you have a golden heart, don't abandon your hero."
Cristina exhales audibly, keeps quiet for several seconds, and finally utters her plan. "Okay…. So here's what I'll do: I'll go ahead, scan the place outside, go back in here, report everything to you and then stay here with you for five hours."
"Good. But if you want to leave me—"
"I won't. I'll be back. I promise."
"Good. Now go."
Cristina cautiously dashes through the tunnel, turns right, then left, and finally reaches a blue wooden door, panting and profusely sweating. "This must be it," Cristina thinks as she grips the warm brass knob. As soon as she opens the door, blinding sunlight darts onto her, forcing her to shield her eyes with her arm. She steps out into the open and hears the door thump behind her. Shocked, she turns around and frantically turns the knob as she pushes the door with her body. Unfortunately, the door doesn't budge. She kicks the door repeatedly, almost ruining her gray rubber shoes, but it remains shut and unscratched. "Oh my God! Oh my God! Hey! What's wrong with this door!? JERIC!"
Cristina realizes that she's all on her own now. With her vision already adjusted to the new surroundings, she quickly spots two other doors—a yellow door stands a few meters on the right of the blue door; a red door, on the left. Then, she realizes that she's actually standing at the foot of a mossy gray concrete wall about thirty meters high and stretching about a hundred meters on both sides. She gazes at the wall's vastness for almost a minute, woozy and awestruck. She turns around and sees that a vast flat grassy field lies in front of her, so vast that the distant land seems to kiss the cloudless light green sky. Both sides of the field are fenced by thick forests stretching from both ends of the wall, making the whole place looks like an immense rectangular enclosure. Then, she notices on the grass, about two meters from the wall, a bright long red line of paint parallel to the wall. Beyond the line, she discerns that several large red circles are painted on the grass on random areas, and she assumes that more of these circles exist farther ahead.
The sweltering heat worsens every passing second, forcing Cristina to desperately try opening the other doors. But she failed. She hurries back in front of the blue door and repeatedly pounds it with her damp, clenched fists. "My God! I'll be scorched out here. Hey! Somebody please open this damn door! JERIIIIIC!!!"
Suddenly, a winged beast soars from behind the wall, spirals down, lands several meters in front of Cristina, outstretches its wings, and then blaringly squeals at her. It looks like an oversized eagle with purple wings like that of a bat, spanning four meters from end to end. It has a featherless green tail, wiggling like an annoyed rattlesnake. From head to tail, its body spans a length of seven meters. Cristina is so staggered that she shakily steps back and leans against the door as she looks at her surprise guest. "Oh my God…. I don't wanna die…."
The beast looks up the sky and lets out another deafening squeal. In no time, several others appear flying from behind the wall. Their number quickly escalates to several hundred, almost filling up the sky within seconds as they arbitrarily fly about forty meters above the open field like sluggish mosquitoes swarming a grimy, humid room. Cristina suddenly remembers the warm smiles of her three children, especially her darling, Pia, as she played with her in their sofa….
"How old are you, my cute, chubby baby?"
"Thweeee!"
"Yeeees. One… two… THWEEE!!!"
"What's your favorite food, baby?"
"Hmmmm…. Ice cweeeem!"
"Yeeey! Ice cweeeem. Chocolate ice cweeem…. Do you love me, baby?"
"I love Mommyyyy!"
Cristina's attempt to petrify the monster in front of her with her death stare fails as her tears haze her vision. She slumps to the ground, trembling and dispirited to put up a fight….
Meanwhile…
"What happened here?" Vincent asks upon seeing Jeric lying on the floor inside a large cage. "Why are you—"
"Wait," Joshua says, stopping Vincent and Shaira from moving forward. "Something is not right…."
"Oh. You're here," Jeric says. He immediately stands up and looks at the newcomers through the steel bars. "Lucky bastards."
"Excuse me!?" Shaira says, immediately irked.
"Lucky you. The way I see it, I opened that door for you."
"What about it?" Joshua asks. "That door…."
"It's the way outside. A shortcut, actually. As you can see, I paid the price…."
"Are you playing tricks on us?" Vincent asks. "I don't trust you."
"I don't care…. I don't trust you either. Listen. Cristina is already out there. She said she would come back but she didn't. She must be in trouble right now. Go find her."
"Of course, she abandoned you," Shaira says.
"She can't do that."
"Really?"
"I don't want to argue right now, okay? Just go ahead and help her." Jeric checks his watch. "She's alive but I know she's in trouble."
"From what, exactly?"
"I don't know! Just go! What the hell is your problem? You think I'm in here just to play games with you? Someone must be locked up in here to open that damn door. Now use your common sense and get out of here. GO!"
"What about your common sense? I know you can destroy that cage."
"Isn't it obvious? I CAN'T!"
"What about the other door?" Joshua asks.
Jeric sighs. "Check it if it's open. Okay, look…. If you want to stay here, fine. Just don't ask me stupid things. And I hate loud mouths, in case you don't know…. And stupid faces."
"Okay. We're moving ahead," Joshua says, approaching Jeric. Vincent and Shaira follow. "Thanks for opening the door. I think I believe you now."
"You'd better be telling the truth," Vincent warns.
Jeric remains silent. Then, he lies back on the floor and closes his eyes.
"Did you kill Moises?" Shaira asks.
Jeric opens his eyes, sits up, and stares blankly at Shaira. "Who?"
"Moises. Don't pretend you don't know what happened back there. I just… want to know if you did it or—"
"The 'switch boy'? That eyesore? Yes. I did. To save everyone. Including you and your… friends. What about it?"
Shaira clenches her teeth and glares at Jeric. "You're a monster."
Meanwhile…
Jennifer, Mabel, Kriz and John Paul finally reach the wooden, blue door. Upon opening it, they notice a woman standing nearby, intently looking up the sky and oblivious of the things behind her. The sight of the swarming creatures instantly terrifies Mabel and Kriz, forcing them to turn around to go back inside, only to find out that the door cannot be opened anymore. Jennifer quickly recognizes the woman and asks her.
"What's happening here, Cristina?"
"Whoa!" Cristina yells, startled. "How long have you been here?"
"We've just… arrived."
"If I'd known you were coming, I would have had the chance to go back in there! I'm so stupid! This place is deadly, Jennifer!"
"What? I don't understand…. What about… the other doors right there—"
"They're locked. Help me. We don't have much time!"
"What do you mean?" Jennifer gapes at the flying creatures. "And what are those?"
"Monsters. And they're here to kill us…. And see those?" Cristina points at some things on the ground. "I turned some of them into stones. But they're too many and my power is too slow. DO SOMETHING, JENNIFER! STOP THEM!"
"But… they're not attacking…." Kriz cuts in.
"See this red line?" Cristina points at the red line in front of them. "Step beyond it and those creatures will attack you. I've tried it twice. We're safe in this area, but this line is slowly receding. I don't know how but it's moving. Soon enough we'll be standing beyond it, and that will be it for us." Cristina's eyes become teary again. "I'm glad you're here, Jennifer. I know you can stop them. DO SOMETHING!"
"I thought you can turn into stone anything that attempts to harm you."
"I lied. It takes me one whole minute to activate my power. But you can stop them."
"I can, but… I can't kill them. And… those hit with my power will just move after three minutes. Besides, where should we go?"
"Can I check your watches?" Kriz asks.
"Why?" asks John Paul.
"To know which way to go." Using the rank data from the watches, Kriz concludes and tells the group that the direction toward the castle is straight ahead.
"But that's too far…." Mabel complains.
"There's no other way. We have to run," Kriz says.
"That's impossible," John Paul says.
"Then we need to fight… as we run…."
The line is now less than a meter away from the wall, and everyone is now practically leaning against the wall, their hearts pounding like crazy.
"Okay. I'll fight," John Paul says. Immediately, lots of glowing green ropes shoot up the sky and strangle a beast in midair. John Paul controls his weapon and tightly constricts his struggling victim until its bones shatter and its blood squirts out of its ruptured skin, like water squeezed out of a sponge. "One down…." Then, the ropes loosen their hold, dropping the dead beast until it splatters onto the ground. "Here's another!"
Jennifer's and Cristina's jaws practically drop in amazement, their gaze swimming between the prey and the half-naked predator.
"Wow. That was cool! And terrifying…." Jennifer breathily says. "I've never thought you could do that…."
"We've seen it several times already," Kriz says. "But he can't run away. See those ropes wrapping his feet?"
"Oh. That's…."
"And he can't attack those behind him…." Mabel adds.
"It's amazing, but it's too slow. We're running out of time," Cristina says. She looks at Kriz and asks her. "What about you? What can you do?"
"My body heals itself very fast, and I can heal wounds. I'm sorry, I can't attack those things," Kriz says.
"What about you?" Cristina asks Mabel.
"I can attack them if there's water around. I'm sorry," Mabel replies.
"Oh, God. This is not good…." Cristina looks at the red line and starts to panic again.
"Please don't say that," Mabel says, terror coating her every word. "I don't want to die—"
"We badly need that arrogant Jeric right here. That stupid guy!"
"But what about those red circles right there?" Mabel asks Cristina. "Maybe… maybe… it's—"
"I don't know," Cristina says.
"I'll check it out," John Paul says. He deactivates his power and looks at the red circles. "The nearest one is just about ten meters away…. I'll check it."
"Are you insane?!" Jennifer objects. "Those could be traps!"
"You have a better idea?"
"But… it's—"
"I'll give it a try. I'll run back if that circle means nothing."
"Are you sure?"
"No…. But those circles must be something. Who knows, maybe they are portals to somewhere safe."
"Or somewhere more deadly. And your arm is not yet—"
"I'll be okay."
Jennifer exhales hard. "I don't feel good about this…."
"Cover me, okay? Be careful not to shoot me." As soon as John Paul steps out of the line, ten beasts dive toward him from different directions. Jennifer shoots them with a barrage of red balls of light and manages to hit five, freezing them in midair. The remaining beasts continue diving like homing missiles, but as soon as John Paul steps inside the circle, the attacking beasts change direction, soar, and then rejoin their swarming allies.
"They back off! Yeeees!" John Paul joyfully shouts at the rest of the group. "Come on! Run!"
"So this is how it goes," Cristina mumbles.
"This is doable," Kriz says. "We just keep hopping until we reach the end."
"Guys, come on! This circle is big enough for all of us!" John Paul yells.
"He's right," Kriz thinks. "The diameter of that circle is about three meters. Now it's clear to me what this place is all about…."
As soon as everyone enters the circle, the blue door swings open, exposing Vincent, Joshua and Shaira. Spotting the newcomers, John Paul immediately yells at them at the top of his voice. "RUN! GET INSIDE THIS CIRCLE NOW!!!"
The three quickly sense the danger, bolt toward the group, and finally step into the circle, panting and terrified.
"I'm so glad you're safe!" Kriz tightly hugs Shaira, almost teary eyed. "I'm so happy to see you again, guys!"
"I'm glad to see you too," Shaira says.
"What's happening?" Joshua asks.
"Listen very carefully," Kriz says. "I'll explain everything…."
About thirty minutes earlier…
"Congratulations on winning against five opponents! Wow. You defeated not just one, not two… but FIVE strong ex-players!" Victor tells Ryan. "I knew from the very start that Liezel couldn't win against you in a one-on-one match. It was obvious. Now that you managed to exit the room, I guess you're surprised that you're in yet another room. But… this one is different. As you can see, there is a huge steel cage in front of you. All you have to do is get inside it and press one of the push buttons protruding from the floor. That simple…."
"Then?" Ryan asks.
"Then something will happen."
"Like what? What if I don't want to push any of those?"
"There's no other way. You have to choose one. Or else, the EXIT door won't open. And you can't destroy it."
"Let me guess. Those buttons will just make my situation worse…."
"No. Not really. Well… it depends on your point of view."
"What do you mean?"
"Don't worry. I will tell you what will happen if you press a button. It's a good thing that you're alone. If it happened that you were with other players, then things would get really messy. But since you're alone, you practically own that cage right now…."
"The buttons…. What will happen if I press one?"
"Listen very carefully. If you choose button 'A', the cage door will lock you up for six hours, but the good thing is… you will be sprayed with healing smoke. You'll regain your strength and you'll be as good as new. See that small spray tube at the top of the cage? That's what I'm talking about. But remember: you'll be locked up for six hours."
"What about the second one?"
"Okay. If you press button 'B', you'll be teleported to somewhere else near the castle. About 200 meters from the castle, actually. Sounds good right? But here's the catch: You won't be able to use your power anymore. Say goodbye to your precious glass. But try to look at the bright side. You will emerge near the castle. Then maybe you'll need just a little effort and that's it!"
"And the third one?"
"Oh. The third one is strange. If you press button 'C', you'll be locked up for one hour only, and you'll be sprayed with healing smoke. But your remaining time will be reduced by 12 hours, because a random player, excluding you, of course, will die after an hour. That unlucky player will freeze to death. Are you the kind of person who can sacrifice another person to get some advantage? I don't know…."
"What about the last one?"
"Button 'D' is just a door opener. Nothing special. If you choose it, you won't be locked up, the EXIT door will open, and then you're on your own. With all those wounds…. Any questions?"
On the open field…
"I can't… do this… anymore," Mabel bursts out crying as she pants hard, almost drooping to the ground. "I-I-I don't wanna… I-I don't—"
"Stop crying!" Kriz says as she helps Mabel stand up straight. "Hey, look at me. Look at me! We've managed to 'hop' five times already. And we're safe. And Cristina and John Paul have taken down many of them. But we have to keep going.… The circle is shrinking faster than we expect, so we need to go."
"I'm so tired. I'm so tired. I'm so tired of this…. I don't… I don't know if… if I can—"
"You're a strong girl, Mabel. I know you are. You've saved us many times already. You just can't quit. Not this time, okay? Not this time."
"We're already far from the wall. But this place...." Cristina looks at the vastness of the field, her strength draining fast. "I'm also tired…."
"We have to keep going," Jennifer says. "Sooner or later we will have to move. We're already packed in here."
"We're far from the wall…." Cristina thinks. "How can I tell Jeric to hop into a red circle? I'm so sorry, Jeric. I didn't mean to abandon you…."
"The nearest circle is…." John Paul says. "Right there. But it's not near at all. I think it's about fifty meters from here. Northeast."
"That's too far," Vincent says. "Too risky."
"But staying here is worse," Joshua says. "And we're really packed in here."
Shaira fixes her gaze at the target circle and mutters, "Good thing I'm a runner…."
"We have to go, Mabel. Please stop crying," Kriz says. "We'll help one another. I promise. I know you can run fast. I've seen you run. We can do this…."
Mabel wipes her tears with her arm and breathes hard. "I'll try."
"We will not try. We will do it. Fifty meters ahead…. We go there fast, okay?"
"Okay, guys. On my count…." John Paul tells the group. "One… two… three!"
Everyone dashes to the northeast, focusing on the target circle. Ten beasts spiral down and suddenly dive toward their prey. Jennifer points her palm upward and blindly shoots the attacking beasts with a torrent of red balls of light, eventually freezing seven of them. Three continue darting toward them like arrows, with claws ready to grab the nearest person. Fortunately, Jennifer hits two of them with her power. Almost everyone reaches the target circle when Vincent suddenly screams at the top of his voice. The remaining beast grabs him by the shoulders with its razor-sharp claws and immediately hauls him up.
"HELP ME!"
"VIIIIIINCE!!!" Joshua shouts in terror, eyes fixed on his best friend.
Good thing, Jennifer is quick enough to shoot another barrage of red balls of light and manages to hit the target, freezing it in midair. Then, John Paul uses his ropes to wrap Vincent's lower body and pull him down against the grip of the beast's claws. The friction instantly rips Vincent's jersey and lacerates his shoulder, making Vincent scream in excruciating pain as streams of blood drip down his body. Vincent becomes unconscious when the ropes finally lay him on the ground inside the circle.
"Why did you do that!" Joshua yells at John Paul.
"What?" John Paul asks, startled. "There was no other way!"
"I don't care! He's going to die because of you!"
"You think you could do better? There was no other way to save him!"
Joshua quickly removes his shirt and attempts to wrap it around Vincent's wounds.
"I think I can use my power now," Kriz says. "Let me handle it."
Everyone's eyes bulge in amazement as they watch Kriz heal Vincent with her bluish-white light. Even Vincent's jersey turns back to normal….
"Wow. So that's your healing power," Cristina says. "Amazing."
"But I need to wait another hour for me to be able to heal another person."
"Really? But still…. It's really incredible."
Vincent opens his eyes, stands up, realizes what has just happened, and thanks Kriz. "You've healed me twice already. Thank you. I feel… great. Thanks!"
"No problem. Glad to help."
"Thank you very much," Joshua tells Kriz, sniffing and tears dripping from his eyes. "Thank you!"
"Hey, it's okay. I'm happy that I can help you guys. You can now wear your shirt…."
"What should we do now?" Shaira asks.
"The nearest circle is right there," John Paul says, pointing northeast.
"Not now, please…." Mabel complains.
"I notice several things we need to take note," says Kriz.
"What?" asks Cristina.
"First, those creatures don't attack all at the same time. Only a few of them attack every time we step out of the safe zones. Even if some of the attackers are frozen, the number of attackers remains fixed. Second, the distance between any two red circles becomes farther apart as we go farther from the wall. Third, there are also blue circles around. And it's possible that there are other colors too...."
Everyone looks around and spots several blue circles.
"But we don't know what the blue ones can do," Cristina says.
"I know. But I think we have to try," Kriz says.
"It's risky," Joshua says. "I think this is not the time to test those things."
"I know. But we still need to know what those circles can do. And… Jennifer, why is it that those frozen creatures don't fall to the ground?"
"I don't know," Jennifer says. "But I think they can be moved if someone pushes them hard enough…"
"How do you know that?"
"Because she dragged me before… after she hit me with her power," Shaira cuts in. "Do you remember it, Vincent?"
Vincent scratches his head. "I forgot."
"How dare you," Shaira says.
"Hey guys," says Mabel. "The circle is shrinking fast. Guys!"
"Oh my God!" Cristina says. "Where should we go next?"
"There! Northeast again," John Paul answers.
"It's too far! We can't make it!" Cristina panics.
The frozen beasts are able to move again. Immediately, they soar high and join their allies.
"Guys! The circle!" Mabel cries.
"Let's try the blue one. It's near," Kriz suggests. "If something weird happens, let's hop into the red one."
Suddenly, the circle shrinks extremely fast, turning itself into a small dot on the ground. Everyone bolts toward the blue circle and reaches it in no time.
"I swear, this is killing me," Cristina pants, totally drenched in sweat.
"Oh my God!" Jennifer says, puzzled and anxious.
"Why?" Kriz asks.
"My power…. It's not working anymore! This is a trap! Let's get out of here!" Jennifer steps out of the circle and tries her power again. This time, several red balls of light shoot out of her palms. Relieved, she turns back to step into the blue circle again, but something is on her way, as if an invisible thick wall is blocking her. "What's happening?!"
Realizing what a blue circle can do, Kriz shouts at the top of her voice. "RUN JENNIFER!!!" GET INSIDE A RED CIRCLE. NOW!!!"
Jennifer frantically runs toward the nearest red circle within sight while the rest of the group watches her nervously. Jennifer screams in terror as she blindly shoots the beasts darting towards her, luckily freezing seven of them. Realizing that Jennifer has no time left to handle the remaining beasts, John Paul runs out of the blue circle, looks up, and immediately makes his ropes shoot high up the sky to strangle his target. He manages to constrict one, and Jennifer accidentally hits another one.
"JOHN PAUL, BEHIND YOU!!!" Kriz screams. "BEHIND YOU!!!"
Suddenly, a beast snatches John Paul's shoulders in a deadlock and immediately pulls him off the ground. But since his feet are firmly wrapped with ropes from deep underground, John Paul's exposed torso rips open within seconds, finally leaving only the lower half of his body on the ground while the squealing beast hauls the rest high up the sky....
