Those of Us Alone

Chapter 24: Digging Ourselves Out of a Hole

Midori's POV

There was a deafening silence as the villagers took in the unmasked Seiryuu (still not me—I've done a pretty good job of not allowing them to know my lineage, apparently.).

"The mask. . ." A villager spoke in fear.

'Oh, no! Is the mask possessed? . . . No?'

Another villager spoke, "Lord Seiryuu's" Well, at least he gets some respect here. . . "mask has. . ."

'Oh! Here is talk of the killer mask again.'

There was a trembling villager on the other side of Yoon, "Ah. . Ah"

Yoon, bless his soul, inquired upon the idiot beside him, "What's wrong?"

"If. . . If you look into his eyes," the man was rather feeble looking—I bet Yona could take this man down without a weapon, ". . . You'll turn to stone. . !"

I blinked, there was no way that was true. I met my brother's eyes before the villager spoke again.

"He. . . He came to. . . Kill us."

While I could have inserted my opinion here, I decided I wouldn't help the current situation. But, I will state here that I would have been supportive of Nii if that was what he came here to do.

Instead of voicing that, I instead said, "Bulls—!"

"Seiryuu rescued me!" Yona was quick to cut off my curse, and Yoon—though he seemed to hit me with disapproval—offered his hand lower that Yona's line of vision for a high-five. I had a certain sense of satisfaction when I knew I had Yoon's approval.

It seems I get a bit angry when I suffer from immense pain.

Besides Yoon and Yona, Nii is also a very kind and gentle soul. Rather than argue with the doofuses around us, he simply placed his mask back upon his face as a sort of peacemaker.

Kija then asked the question we all seemed to be asking, "What are you doing here, Seiryuu?" He stared at Nii, "You have no intentions of leaving with us, an I right?"

Nii seems, to me, as a man of few words. In order to correctly get his point across, one must observe him fully.

So, when he picked up an axe that was strewn across the floor and headed towards Kija, there was definitely some misinterpretation in his actions. It got even worse when Nii swung the axe down.

Everyone was soon set at ease as it turned out Nii just meant to hit the wall.

"Arg. . ." Kija, who was on the receiving side of Nii's action, blushed, embarrassed, "If you came to help us escape, why didn't you just say so! That was very misleading!"

In the spur of the moment, my delusional self let out a melodic laugh.

Kija snapped to me, still very red, and exclaimed, "Can it, Midori! You're not helping!"

The air was lighter thanks to the three of us, but there was still some confusion, "Um, Seiryuu?" Whack! "Where are you digging? The entrance is over here."

Nii innocently turned to Kija, "This spot is connected to the outside." Surprise covered the latter's features, "It's quicker to break this down."

Kija turned to me for conformation, and when I nodded, he spoke loudly, "Well, why didn't you say something sooner?!"

"Well, maybe it's because you're always overreacting, Kija," I spoke nonchalantly.

Annoyance covered Kija's face as he spoke to me, "Don't act like you couldn't have said anything sooner!"

My hands were up in a surrendering motion as I grabbed a dagger from my sash. Yona and Yoon both stole daggers of their own, and we began to stab away at the wall. All the while, I was praying that we were not about to cave in the cavern the rest of the way.

~~~~~

I'm not sure when I collapsed. I did—that was for sure—but that was the least of my concerns.  I was more concerned that Yona would find herself in a similar state.

I awoke slowly. I seemed to be leaning on someone, and we were sharing Nii's blob.

As I became more aware to my surroundings, I realized I leaned upon Yona, and that she was crying, "It's not fair!"

Her loudness jolted me from whatever portion of my consciousness that wanted me asleep, "I'm sorry, Midori."

"That's okay," I said straining my voice from the pain, "I'm okay."

Seeing as I was, in fact, okay, Yona turned to Nii, "It's not fair for you to be alone!" She looked down, and I placed my arm across her shoulders comfortingly, "We just met. . .and for me to want to become your strength. . . is that. . . arrogant of me?"

Pulling her close, I whisper into her ear, "No, it's not."

"Alright." Pulling herself to her feet, I watched as Yona made a tough decision, "I can still do it! I. . . Can do the best that I can!"

Nii stood, trying to get her to rest—She must not have been down here long, "Ah?"

"You know, Seiryuu, I," Yona said effectively stopping Nii's movements, "didn't go outside for fifteen years. I kept that small happiness in a small world. That was all. . . Taken away from me." I smiled at Yona, she was growing up–right before my eyes, "I won't let them say that it's useless for you and I to keep on living. That's why we'll," we shared a look, "bust you out of this darkness. We'll take you to where you can be free. Without a doubt."

Yona left the two of us alone, and I shrugged. I had no control over what was happening, and the two of us understood what Yona was trying to do.

As I was about to step out of the room completely, I turned back, "She'll do it, ya know. She did it for me, and if you let her, she'll do it for you as well.

~~~~~

Everyone who was digging were now running on fumes. There was hardly any energy left in all of us.

But who comes to save the day?

Why, stubborn old Hak, of course! He literally came barreling through the other side of the wall.

It didn't take him long to locate Yona and myself, as we were standing next to each other for support.

My brother's loving and caring embrace covered the two of us, and safety was now achieved, so I could truly rest.

Oh, how our lives have gotten exciting!
___________________________
Whelp. . .

I figured I had waited long enough to update.

I wanted to do so in Christmas, but as you can see I did not. It'll be a late Christmas present then! 🎁

Or a present for whatever holiday you observe. . .

Anyway, I wanted to share some important news (important more so to me than you, but important nonetheless). . .

I got into Baylor University! Yay! And it looks like I'll be able to pay for it as well so—hopefully I won't have to take out loans! Yay!

Um. . . I am also not sure whether you guys are aware but if you thought that the fall semester for me was busy, just wait. I do so much in the spring, so do know that I cannot always update.

Not that I think you guys will blow up on me if I don't.

There's a lot of understanding readers—and I'm glad you guys are apart of that group.

So, I will try to update again soon!

~Ashley