Slugterran Saviours

Chapter 27

Author's Note: feeling dead lets go!

Cyannaise Sparks sat on her hospital bed, staring out the window.

Earlier, her nurse had come in, and Cyan had pleaded her to tell Cyan how her teammates were doing, if Tiffy was okay, if Johnny survived his wounds, if her slugs were okay. She reassured him that they were fine, showing her their medical reports and explaining what kind of injury they had received, before telling her where else she was injured besides the huge cut on her stomach, what her injuries were, how many stitches she had, all the things she was used to hearing from her days as a Defender. She nodded, sighing in relief as her two signature slugs, Micheal and Lucent, hopped from slugtubes under the nurse's coat onto her lap. She thanked the nurse politely as she placed a tray of food on her bedside table, leaving the room to tend to other people.

The food remained untouched.

She looked out the window, admiring the tops of the shorter mushroom trees, dark green vines falling in elegant curls as she saw nearly the entirety of the forest from her window. She could see the glowing crystals from underneath the ponds, causing the water to seem bioluminescent, she could see every slug hopping on the treetops, from Hop Rocks to Vinedrills, from Tormatos to Slicksilvers. The Lumino Crystals that littered the cavern ceiling weren't neon green, like they were in the 99 Caverns. Instead, they glowed arctic blue, reminding Cyan of the skies back in the Surface. Arctic blue wisps she hadn't seen before floated in the air outside, flitting from tree to tree. She noticed that the caverns seemed much more alive than they seemed when she came here three years before. Lights shone brighter, slugs gained back their colour, bigger smiles on their faces. The plant life wasn't thriving, but it seemed much better than before, when the undersides of mushroom trees glowed a weak red instead of bright, arctic blue. But she couldn't find it in herself to be happy about it.

Because all she could think of was her fallen friends.

Leo would have loved how the caverns looked like right now. He would be exploring the caverns, looking around the forests, riding around the caverns with an awestruck expression stuck on his face. He would collect a collection of things he thought Alana would like, and he'll go to her, asking if she would like them. He would get a little something for her, his excitement shining in his eyes. But he couldn't now.

He was dead.

And she knew it wasn't completely Alana's fault. She knew that Alana didn't mean to kill him, she knew that Alana loved him with everything she had, with all her heart, with every bit of soul in her body. And she knew Leo wouldn't want anyone to blame Alana for his death, no matter what she did. But that fact still haunted her every time she lay eyes on Alana.

And when she saw her former best friend, all she could think of was the blank look in the eyes of her best friend.

And Amber's death hurt almost as bad.

She remembered their walks in the forests, their passionate kisses in the dark, the way Amber's hand fitted perfectly into hers. She remembered how everything about her vanished into thin air when she indulged in a character, able to turn from a old, grumpy man to a cheerful young lady in seconds. She remembered the late nights spent talking to each other through a computer screen, Cyan trying to stifle her laughs so Johnny and Tiffy could sleep as they joked around. She remembered the first time they met, when Cyan saved her from a collapsing building, then brought her to the hospital. She remembered how she held stacks of scripts in her hands, how she refused to leave them alone until the floor nearly gave out under their feet, how her touch sent tingles of warmth throughout her whole body.

She would have loved the Northern Caverns, too.

"Is she okay?" She heard a familiar voice outside, and her head quickly darted to the door, all her attention transferring to the conversation outside. She strained to hear the quiet voices as her slugs hopped forward to listen.