the Pain of Truth [Ray X Reader] (the Promised Neverland)

43

(Y/N) Pov:

I looked over at Natt, who was on the ground. "What's the matter, Natt?!" asked Emma, clearly worried. He pointed up, saying: "Uh... look... up there!" We followed the direction he pointed at with our eyes, immediately seeing what he meant. We gasped, seeing those... things up there, hanging on roots. Our eyes widened. Those are... I looked at Ray, with him saying: "So that's how it is..." His dark green eyes met mine and we both nodded, thinking about the same thing. "Emma, we're in big trouble." we said at the same time. Ray added: "This place... This forest is..." Emma suddenly understood what we meant and called: "Alicia, Jemima! Run!" She rushed towards them, pulling them out of the way of the roots. All of the children gasped, watching as Jemima and Alicia ran towards them. This is bad... "Look... The entrance we came from is gone!" stated Lanni, pointing at the way they came from. "No way... We've been surrounded!" "When did these roots block our route?!" asked everyone, clearly scared at the situation. Ray said: "This is most likely where this tree feeds. The trees around here live off the nutrients of live animals." "Live animals?!" I slowly nodded, adding: "I-It dropped us in here and lured us here. That's why there was such a huge space underground. And why there was only a single path." "In other words, we've all fallen for its trap!" noted Anna, holding a scared expression on her face. This trap... It's the reason no animals or beasts were in the area above. I should've seen that coming... I should've- "Everyone, get close together! Whatever you do, don't stray!" commanded Ray, cutting my thoughts up. He took my hand, looking at our surroundings, observing them. I took another look at the roots, and something in my head suddenly clicked. This place is... "What should we do?! Burn the tree!" asked Don in a scared tone. "No, that's too dangerous! We'd probably die before the fire kills the tree!" said Ray quickly, tightening his grip on my hand. I looked up at him, saying: "I know this." He stopped in his movements, before tilting his head slightly. "Emma, what should we do?!" asked Anna, nearly crying by now. Emma said: "I... I've read about this before!" Ray looked at her, then at me, still confused. Emma looked at us, saying: "This thing is 'The snake of something something'!" "What?!" asked Ray, not getting it. I quickly put my backpack down, grabbing the book from it. "This one!" I said, making Emma nod. She said: "These books really are our guide, after all! Minerva-san's adventure book!"

3rd Person Pov:

Meanwhile, the Demons of the Farms were on their way. "They're down. So we were too late." said one of them, looking at the trees. "There's an entire colony of bloodsucker trees down there. I've heard that some wild lowly organisms have been roaming this area recently. Whatever happens, we absolutely mustn't allow those humans to be eaten by anything besides our kind." The Demons scanned the area, with one of them asking: "Can you figure out which direction they went in?" "Yes, sir. They are straight down to our southeast." answered one of the others, all of them looking into that direction.

"This is it! I remember reading about it in this book... The story of those snakes!" said Emma, going through the pages of the book that (Y/N) gave her. "Ugh, I can't remember the details, hold on..." (Y/N) quickly said: "'The snakes of Alvar Pinera'." "That's it!" cheered Emma, nodding her head rapidly.

"The deep sea cave known as 'Alvar Pinera' turned out to be the nest of terrifying, poisonous snakes. The countless snakes intertwined with each other, as if they were tree roots, as if they were a single organism. They surrounded the walls all around us. The terror made the treasure by our feet feel all the more beautiful. Are these snakes protecting the treasure? Or did they simply use the treasure to bait us?" 

"Similar, right?" asked Emma after (Y/N) read the words of the book. "A cave, treasure, snakes... It's all talking about this tree!" said Emma, nodding and smiling, the hope back in her eyes. "This book was truly meant to be a guidebook for us!" she exclaimed. Ray said: "Hold it, (Y/N), Emma. It's true the two stories are similar, but..." He hesitated to continue, going through his thoughts first. "Well, I suppose it's possible. Let's give it a shot." "Yeah! If the book really is a guide for us, then the only way for this tree to attack us is..." Emma trailed off, then turned towards her siblings, saying: "Everybody, back up a bit!" The children watched as Ray took a mug and threw it at the tree. With that, the roots immediately attacked the mug, destroying it in the process. "Alright! It uses 'touch'!" exclaimed the three oldest children, smiling at their new found information.

Ray Pov:

These things can only find us if we touch the tip of its root! And these movements... Everything makes sense if you think about it. How those animals got attacked and how we need to get out of here. Damn... It's amazing how much of a difference a clear mind can make. Observe. Analyze. Read the Enemy. That's what Ugo consistently did in the book, too. Watch, think, and make yourself a way. We don't know, but we can learn. This is the one good thing about us being humans. "(Y/N), Emma. As you said before, this thing is probably 'The snakes of Alvar Pinera'." I stated, keeping my eyes on the roots. "Right?" asked Emma, still smiling a little. "Hey, the roots are getting closer by the minute!" called someone, making me look at him. "Ray?" asked (Y/N), making me nod. "Yeah." "Huh?" the rest of the children looked at us three as we walked towards the roots, stopping in front of them. "Emma?! Ray?! (Y/N)?!" asked Gilda, clearly terrified. We turned to face the others, with Emma saying: "See, it's fine!" "Huh...?" "We'll be fine as long as we don't touch them. The only roots that's actively come towards us are the ones coming from the wall. But look! They can't attack us anyway if we don't touch them. As long as we don't touch, the speed of these roots won't be affected at all." explained Emma, smiling at the children. "It's not scary. So let's all calm down first!" "Listen up!" I called, making them look at me. "Right now, our plan is to climb this trunk up to the ceiling as initially planned. We have to make our way up there before the roots from the wall reach us." "I-I know that we can do it!" chimed (Y/N) in, smiling at everyone. "All of you have trained climbing trees back at the House, so you'll be fine!" I smiled a little at her. "So we will escape." stated Gilda. She continued: "As long as we get up to the top, you're saying that we'll all be able to escape from this place." "Yep!" said Emma, lightening up the mood even more. "Then let's go, everyone!" "Yeah! "Let's get out of here quickly!" called Emma, proceeding to climb the tree.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Picture from:

https://www.otakumode.com/news/5e00cbd017d2a3851e807bfe/The-Promised-Neverland-Confirms-Season-2-For-October-2020!