Cleopatra's Charm

Everyone looked at me the second they hear me yell at them to get away from the paralyzed Finnley and Jin. At the same time, their frozen bodies jolted, startling both Aran and Urick who is closer to them than everyone else.

Pointing at Finnley and Jin, Urick looked at us and spoke,

"They moved, right?"

"Yeah, get away from them now!" I replied.

Slowly, they walked backward while still looking at Finnley and Jin. The jolting of their bodies became more obvious and almost exaggerated.

Aran looks at me. A worried expression is evident on his face.

"What should we do, Gray?"

"I... I don't know," I said while using my hand signaling everyone to back away.

"For now let's keep our distance."

I pointed at the distance where I saw fighting among players which is still happening.

"I think they'll go berserk like those guys over there."

Everyone glanced in the direction I was pointing at. While Finnley and Jin started moving. Their eyes are still pure white. As if it is all sclera, to begin with. To be honest, I get creeped out seeing those eyes, it sends shivers down my spine.

A minute passed and their movement became organized. They move like they're looking around for something. I said looking, but with that kind of eyes, they must be just feeling out their surroundings.

Being at a considerable distance, I said with a softer voice,

"Finnley?"

Finnley jumped like a dog whose attention is called. His white eyes moved in an erratic pattern then all of a sudden, he dashed towards me following the sound of my voice. His hands are stretched forward trying to take hold of whoever is in front of him.

"What the-"

I tumbled out of the way and managed to dodge his charge.

"Don't make too much noise, they'll attack!" I said loud enough for everyone to hear, then run off as quietly as I can. I'm glad that Finnley stumbled and Jin who heard my scream just became alerted and moved around trying to pinpoint my current location.

Hearing what I said and seeing Finnley's charge, everyone else became wary. Without making as much as the sound of their feet be detectable, at a slow pace they tried to back away from Finnley and Jin.

Like Finnley, Jin is also moving his head around trying to detect movement from his surrounding. He looks more intimidating and the thought of being caught by such a huge person made me remember the Mad Dog.

Thanks to the huge rocks around us, we managed to hide and peek at them from time to time. Amelka hid together with me on the same big rock. From our spot, I could see Urick and Aran at a distance, but couldn't see Fionn.

I was managing my breathing when Amelka grabbed me on my chin,

"Gray, look at them."

She then dragged my face to look at Finnley and Jin who is still moving around trying to find someone to attack.

Staring at them, a prompt appeared.

"Status: Charmed by Cleopatra."

Everything makes sense. As I thought, I have missed something that would be more entertaining than just using the second wave as a way to halt our quest. The facilitators or the people managing this stage will try as much as they can to make it more interesting for everyone that is watching.

Startled, Amelka who is also focused on Finnley and Jin forgot to let go of my face. Well, I also forgot. Soon as Amelka realized that she is still holding my head, she let it go and apologized.

"What should we do, Gray?"

What should we do indeed? The prompt only shows whatever status or condition Finnley and Jin have and nothing to indicate how to remove it. Not even a single clue. Amelka stares at me. She has the same almost expressionless face, but I could feel her expecting something intelligent to hear coming from me.

"Maybe... We just wait for another gust of wind from the tower?"

She tilted her head a bit to the left and I could see her eyes slowly look up. Then, with her index finger, she began tapping her glossy lower lip. Enticed, I didn't even realize that I was staring. After a couple of seconds, she turned her gaze towards my face in a swift. It startled me, resulting in a huge gulp and my eyes blinking at a fast interval.

"What about the pill?" she asked.

"Pill?"

With her silky-smooth hands, she reached for something in the pocket at the right side of her pants.

"This," she said.

Showing me the first aid pill that she pulled out of her pocket. Its description appeared.

"First Aid Pill"

"Heals any kind of injury or ailment in an instant."

Maybe because of her lack of words or maybe because I'd been distracted and kept on staring at her, I was a bit confused.

"What about it?" I asked.

The change is subtle and quick, but I am sure that I've seen her face become disappointed.

"Can we use it?"

Remembering how Aran and Urick tried to use the pill earlier to unfreeze them, I didn't think further and replied.

"No, we tried it earlier."

"They are moving now."

I heard a click in my head. What Amelka said pulled me out of whatever brain fart I'm having. We couldn't use the pills earlier because they were actual statues. But now they're moving.

It can heal any ailments or injuries. Seeing that they made it obvious that Finnley and Jin are affected by a certain status effect, it must work.

Now that I think about it. Everyone has a single first aid pill. Somehow, it really is a second life. Thinking about this, made me reconsider for a second whether I would use it on someone else or save it.

When I realized that I am contemplating whether to save a friend or save a pill that I may not use if I am careful, it made me hate and question myself even more. Would the self I know before I came into this hell hesitate in this situation? I guess I haven't been in a life-or-death situation before but I know my past self would do everything to save a friend.

And I'm sure that who I am now is still similar to who I was.

Hearing no reply from me, Amelka showed the first aid pill she was holding in her fingers closer to my face.

"So?"

"I think it will work."

With that in mind, I also reached into the pocket where I stored my first aid pill. Took it out and held it in my hand.

We both peeked out of the rock we are hiding to see both Finnley and Jin still walking around using all of their senses aside from their vision. They look like blind zombies that twitch when they hear or feel something moving in their surroundings.

"The problem is... how are we going to feed them these?" I said in a soft voice.

Approaching them without any thought is out of the picture. We might end up using the first aid pill to ourselves after being beaten to a pulp by those two. Especially Jin, we might not even have the chance to use the pill after being pummeled by those huge arms. Imagining about this made me feel bad about those zombies earlier.

One of the items that we have is the one-hundred-meter rope. Even Amelka thought that maybe we could use it to hold them down and make them swallow the pill.

There is still the possibility of their condition being lifted in the next activation of the tower. Still, it is wishful thinking. They could become worse, or die. Knowing that this is Hopeful Homicide, it might be the latter.

So with that, we proceed on trying to use the pill on them. I asked Amelka whether she is fine with using hers. She nods in response. I told her to keep it and we'll use mine first and see if it works.

Aran and Urick still hide behind the rock a couple of meters away from us. They were just sitting and staring far away. Aran took a glimpse at us and we tried to tell them that we have a plan by pointing at the pill in my hand.

Urick seems to understand. Next, I picked up a small rock and showed them. I was trying to tell them to distract Jin away with a rock so that we could try and use the rope on Finnley.

Forming an "X" shape with his hands, Urick tells us that it would be dangerous. He also took out his rope and waved his hands around trying to signal that they would also incapacitate Jin and use a pill on him.

With just the two of them, I don't think they could handle Jin. Even if Urick is also huge and muscular, against Jin, he'll lose. And I don't think Aran helping will be enough.

Again, in whatever way I could convey without making any sound, I asked them if they saw where Fionn went and tell him to help them subdue Jin. Aran pointed at his location, showed him the rope, and pointed at Jin. After seeing an answer Aran looked at us and showed a thumbs up.

On the other hand, I heard a bit of chuckling beside me. Seems like Amelka find whatever kind of sign language we're doing funny. Seeing her hold out her chuckle and realize what we just did, I also giggled quietly.

Using the same sign language, I told them to be ready. I counted down using my hands and mouthed it without any sound.

"Three."

"Two."

"One."