0o0
I could feel the blood draining from my face.
"Oh.... my.... loooord..." I squeaked. Why was this kid here?! She was filled with gashes and gore dripped from...everywhere. Not to mention, was she missing an eye..? Tell me this kid...girl... ghost was NOT missing an eye. Also, why did it look like she had been ripped to shreds?
"Ever..?" Victor watched my face pale, and tried to move closer. The kid with the silver hair petted my head, and pulled me into his chest, glaring at the little ghost girl. She shivered and backed away. Collen looked between the ghost and us, and whispered a few prayers. She hissed and exited the room only to leer at us through the opening of the cave.
"Hey... you." Eliza glowered at me. I whimpered and looked over at him. "You said we were going to be sacrificed. How do you know? What did you see?"
"The ghost girl isn't enough of a clue..?" I buried my head back into the silver haired kid's chest.
"What ghost girl?" Victor asked. I paused, and looked back over at the spirit at the mouth of the cave. She gave me a toothy grin and waved. I shuddered, why did she look so menacing? She was a victim too, right? I could just imagine this girl walking around a town and being snatched from a hand appearing out of some random alleyway. She never had a chance to run away. Dragged into the darkness and only sinking deeper until there was no longer anything she could do. She became something else, maybe it was the horrible pain and suffering she had felt while she was being sacrificed- I mean, that couldn't have felt pleasant- and she went mad. The look on her face wasn't one of a helpless victim but a predator looking at their prey. Still, she never got to see her parents again, or her friends, or really the light of day. Had she been kept in here like we were? For days on end? Waiting in hope for rescue? I swallowed hard, trying to find my voice.
"Um," I paused not sure what to say to the ghost, before shaking my head, "No, never mind, nope. Can't." What was I going to do?? Talk to her?! No way! She didn't look like some victim! She looked hungry. Still, death was... I tried to remember. The feeling of a bus hitting me... that cliche that had become old too quickly. I was lucky I didn't become the villainess or the stepmother or mother of the villainess. I didn't become the heroine or hero. All of these were small miracles. I still wanted to run away though. Why? I was the male lead and although he was clearly traumatized by a dark past, he wasn't going to die either... I don't think. This role has me scared out of my wits for a completely different reason. Then again, I became the unlucky Everett... no, my life wouldn't be much better than any other unfortunate role. I sighed and curled up facing the wall, "Maybe I'll just escape from reality for a bit."
"Don't ignore us! What ghost girl?"
"Oh, look, there's a crack here..."
"Damn it, Everett!" Eliza growled. Collen sighed, and leaned back.
"Maybe we should focus on how we get out of here."
"Is there a way to get out of here?" Leo asked, crossing his legs. "Then again with a priest and a mage here with us, I figure there's at least a chance."
"A mage?" I sat up quickly, "Which one of us is a mage?"
"Is it that exciting?" Victor asked.
"Yeah! A mage! So cool!"
"Pft." the silver haired kid snickered. I looked over at him, "Cool, huh? Should I put on a show for you?"
"You're a mage?"
"Yes."
"Whoa...." I stared at him, "Whooooooooaaaaaa....." sparkles filled up my vision, "I am not worthy." Okay, maybe being Everett wouldn't be that bad.
"If I may be so bold as to ask," Eliza glared at me, and then moved his gaze up to the silver haired kid, "what is a mage doing here of all places?"
"Probably hasn't awakened yet." I sighed, "In any case, Silva is here with us and in the same predicament as we are, no use isolating him."
"Silva..?"
"Well, I can't keep referring to you as 'the silver haired kid' in my mind. You're a mage. The coolest existence...wait, no; the coolest existence would be a dragon."
"A dragon?" Silva looked at me like I was an insect, but my hardcore otaku couldn't be contained, "Yeah, I mean dragons are so cool! Especially the ones that can polymorph. Those are hardcore! Oh what I wouldn't give to pet a dragon!"
"What the hell are you on about?!"Eliza growled, "Honestly, this idiot." He shook his head as though he couldn't bear to even look at me anymore.
"Listen, dragons are awesome."
"Is there anything that beats a dragon?"
"No. Dragons are life." Silva pinched my cheek. I flailed for a bit like a fish before allowing him to abuse my face, who am I compared to a mage? I sighed, and took another peak at the mouth of the cave.
"Maybe this is a curse?"
"I often think that you're a curse on my existence." Eliza glowered. I allowed the insult to roll right over me, and shook my head.
"No, I mean, the reason we're being used as sacrifices. A lot of curses need special blood to be spilled in order to effectively curse someone. For example, the blood of a virgin or a newborn. There are all sorts of curses that need specific types of sacrifices, right?"
"Ever?" I looked over at Victor. The look on his face was serious, I flinched.
"Yes?"
"How do you know that?"
"About curses?" Obviously from years of reading manga and internet novels. Right, like I could say that.
"Yes. About curses." Victor looked serious. I tilted my head, confused.
"Is it that big of a deal?"
"Those kinds of rituals are closely guarded secrets among the mages of the tower." Silva looked down at me.
"Really?"
"Temples also have pretty extensive knowledge on that too, but usually from the opposing end." Collen added.
"Ah. You mean how to break them, right? Is true loves kiss really an effective cure all for curses?" I looked over at Collen, who smiled.
"I wouldn't say that its the kiss that is powerful, but more the love of the person who wishes to break the spell." Huh. Guess so.
"I wonder what kind of curse this could be. Ones that involve human lives are supposed to be pretty ugly. I don't suppose you've learned how to send the curse back to the caster?"
"You say some pretty morbid stuff with an innocent look on your face." Silva grinned. I shivered and scooted away from him a little. He only grabbed my hip and sat me on his lap. He petted my head and I squeaked, "What an interesting little pet." he mused. I swallowed hard. I can't with this.
"Why would deflecting a curse back on its caster be morbid?" I asked, shaking.
"Ever, think about it." Victor sighed, rubbing his temples. I tilted my head. Eliza sighed, and leaned back.
"If someone shined a beam of light at you and you used a mirror to reflect it back at them, what would happen?"
"They'd be hit with the light instead?"
"Right." Leo crossed his arms, looking serious, "Then, imagine instead of a light you deflect a death curse. You'd be sending a death curse back their way." I paled.
"I see. In other words, we'd be killing them." I sighed, "Sorry, I said that too lightly."
"So, what?"
"Seriously? Should we go around killing people?" Collen asked.
"They'll kill us. Wouldn't it be better of scum died instead of us?" Collen's face turned ugly.
"You-!"
"He's not wrong." I sighed.
"Ever!" Victor yelled.
"Think about it." I gathered my thoughts, "I'm not telling you guys that killing is okay. In fact, we shouldn't forget that we are talking about murder. However, what happens if they succeed? Who are they cursing?"
"We don't even know if they're cursing anyone." Victor said. I shook my head,
"You're right. And maybe someone just might find us at the knick of time. Still, are you willing to risk turning into a ghost while you wait? I saw the magic circle in there, I saw the number of spirits in there. There are at least seventy, and that's only because I'm trying not to over-exaggerate! Still, that many kids are being brought here and dying. Why? Could be to summon something, but what type of creature could be summoned with the lives of children? Nothing good. We're trying to save ourselves, but we also may be saving the world from something worse."
"Like heroes." Bernard said. I shook my head.
"There's nothing heroic about murder. What soldiers do on the battlefield is their duty. They challenge morals and overcome difficulties because that's what they believe is the lesser evil. They think they can keep the people they care about alive if they take the lives they've been asked to take. What I'm talking about us doing is not heroic, it is something that might be a possible necessity to keeping more people alive."
"So, I take it you're not looking forward to watching our captors be ripped apart by the thing they've been trying to contract?"
I stared at him.
"It's fine. Whether they get ripped to shreds by the beast after having their spell deflected or by the mages when they get their claws on them, they'll look the same in the end."
"What mages?" Just then, a large quake shook the entire cavern. Screams erupted from everywhere as a white light engulfed all of us. It took me a while to realize, as my eyes darkened in Silva's embrace, that I had been screaming the loudest.