The mad dash of the cohort had been a blur of tension and confusion. Everyone—except Sunny—was blind to the fact that we were still being hunted. But somehow, before I knew it, we'd reached our destination. It wasn't how I remembered it from canon. This entrance to the underground exit from the Dark City must have had multiple paths leading to both the surface and the Carpet.
I zoned out. I already knew this part.
As we made our way through the tunnels, we ran into those damned skeletons. Caster and Nephis took point, carving a path with relentless offense. Sunny and Saint provided support from the flanks, while Kai and Cassie covered the rear. Saint and Sunny protected them—not to mention me. Naturally, Effie led the charge across the bridge that plunged deeper into the Carpet.
"Hmm… no point in helping much. No blood to eat," I muttered, weighing the pros and cons of lending a hand in the skeleton massacre.
Swish—
One of the undead swung its sword toward Cassie. Sunny and Saint were tied up on their own fronts.
"I guess I don't have a choice. Silly Father should've come more prepared."
From within my rocky body, six limbs burst forth—forged from blood stored in a crystalline form. A strange consciousness of blood moss growing in my soul had begun to change the minerals of my body into blood crystal.
[Bloody Will.]
The limbs extended, diverging and splitting into more limbs—my mental command sending them flying forward and sideways. They crashed into the skeletons' skulls with a thunderous burst, expanding in a storm of blades that shredded bone into powder.
We kept pushing.
Just like in canon, Father eventually told everyone to cross the bridge. He, Saint, and I stayed behind to hold off the wave of the dead.
As Cassie and Kai made it across, Sunny severed the rope. Saint held the line, even as she took damage—enough to slow her, not destroy her. Seeing the opening, Sunny dashed, summoning his [Prowling Thorn]. He jumped, flinging the blade. It latched onto the ledge above, its thin steel-like thread—normally invisible—slicing into his skin as it compressed around him.
He didn't flinch. He endured.
He dispelled Saint. He dispelled me.
But before I vanished from the material world, I shouted—
"Father! Call me—I'll carry you!"
He actually listened.
Summoning me once more, I climbed onto his back. Using [Bloody Will], I formed six limbs: one to hold Sunny close, the rest to claw into the stone surface. Inch by inch, we crawled upward as the string of [Prowling Thorn] shrank with every moment.
After what felt like a mind-numbing climb, we finally reached the ledge—safe.
"Don't make a grave for me yet," Sunny muttered in that cold, distant voice of his. Still determined to remain the outsider. A haunted blade, not a true member of the cohort.
"But you can make one for me. I'm dead exhausted," I replied, mirroring him.
"Dumbass and pebble made it!" Effie's voice rang out, playful as always. "Fell off into the great unknown, huh?"
"No need to worry about me, honey. I ain't leaving you a widow yet."
"Yeah? And who said we're married, you dumb rock? Don't spout nonsense—you're more like a pet."
"Huh? Pet? Pet-zoned? That's a new—"
My senses faded mid-retort.
I lost consciousness.
The murmurs of the cohort echoed around me—still audible, but already slipping into static.