EnderOni, Loop One

Chapter Twelve:

Cinq Heures

-...-

Brice kept his breathing calm, his hand touching the walls so that he knew at least a bit of where he was going. Again, he had never seen any floor other then the first, but he had a pretty accurate mapping in his head of the other floors, mainly to what he's overheard from others. Actually, pretty much everything he knew was from what he heard. He did know what the Oni looked like from being attacked, but the deaths were only to be imagined, as well as the emotions on everyone's faces.

Brice was able to find the stair case, but instead of going up, he found himself going downstairs. A mental image of the first floor came into his head, and he found himself having an easier time walking. His hand still touched the walls, but his feet moved without what felt like tons of extra weight. He found the corner, and knew now that he was in the middle of the three hallways, and in front of the front door. This is where he was told Ant died. He couldn't see it, but the 1 on the wall was still there. The numbers never left. None of the blood ever was cleaned.

Brice turned the corner to walk down the hallway to the enchantment room. He remembered the room looked like a mess, and what was originally scared him off into running into the Oni. Brice continued walking forward, hand on the wall, when out of nowhere, he bumped into something, At first, he stepped back, tense and wondering if maybe it was the Oni. But, no, he heard a voice.

“W-Wha? Brice! What are you doing out here!?” It was Tyler, journal in hand, walking back from the enchantment room.

“O-oh, Tyler.” Brice spoke, sighing.

Tyler looked upset, and Brice could tell, but he ignored it.

“I'm sorry I startled you. But you left me alone, and I realized I wanted to help.” Brice said.

“H-help? You're putting yourself in danger out here! All alone!” Tyler barked.

“That's what you're doing too, isn't it. You went out by yourself. Didn't you think that hey, maybe you'd never return to the safe room either?” Brice asked

“Brice, Listen.” Tyler knew he was at fault, but wasn't going to argue on that. “You can't see at all. You're disabled, and the Oni is far more powerful then even what we understand him to be at the moment.”

Brice took offense to that.

“I can't see, but that does not make me any less able to work to finding an escape. I know you didn't mean it that way, but I want to help. And you told me that I could. So that's what I want to do.” Brice replied.

“Did you leave the safe room knowing that maybe, just maybe, you could die? Become a mess for us all to find. Become a loss of hope. Become a despair to us?” Tyler frowned.

“Yes, I did.” Brice said, his hand that touched the wall shaking a bit. “I did, but I did it with the intention of helping. Sure, I may not be the best when it comes to looking for a way, but maybe, just maybe, you'd need to see things another way to find the way out. Our attempts so far havn't worked. So it's either try and fail or try and die trying. And I'd rather risk myself for my friends then continue to watch them all die.”

Tyler hesitated to say anything. Brice was strong, but maybe a bit too strong. It hurt to think that.

“Three of us are dead, and that's three too many.” Brice said.

Tyler cleared his throat and looked down at his shoes.

“Fine. Do what you want. What you feel you need to. But remember that we fucking care about you, okay?”

Brice just nodded his head. Tyler leaned against the wall, blinking a few times. The amount of stress he had was horrible. They needed to get back to the safe room too. Before the group comes back. It's been long enough.

“Alright then.” Tyler crossed his arms and looked at Brice. “Let's go back. I won't speak of this if you don't.”

Brice nodded his head, and shifted where he stood. Tyler's eyes then picked up on something in the background, that he couldn't have seen before, when Brice was in the way. His eyes widen, and he stepped back. Brice felt the sudden feeling of stiffness, and looked confused. Then Tyler grabbed Brice's arm, and pulled Brice behind him.

“You s-stay behind me, okay?” Tyler said.

“O-okay?” Brice asked, wondering what was wrong. There was only one possibility.

Brice began to hear large footsteps, and the noise of a monster. A foggy neon purple smoke seemed to wrap around their feet, and Tyler stood on guard, eyes locking with the monster in question. About 10 feet away was the Oni.

“I need you to stay back behind me.” Tyler repeated.

“Tyler, what are you going to do?” Brice asked, still doing as told.

“I....” Tyler looked down at the book. He still had that spell. “I don't know. But I won't let you die. You're going back to the safe room!”

“O-okay.”

Tyler looked up at the Oni. It wasn't really moving yet. It was staring at them. Probably waiting for them to do something first. Tyler didn't have any weapons, and there was no chance at attacking the Oni with hands and feet and not breaking anything, assuming you don't die with the first blow. Tyler had the spell, though, and it was no or never.

Tyler stepped forward, Brice, whom was partly leaning on him, stumbling slightly. Tyler opened the book to the page that he had shoved the piece of paper with the spell. Gulping, he looked at the Oni, and with hesitation, began to cast the spell. His words came out with a stutter, and though at first it looked as if it were working, Tyler found that nothing happened, and he had failed.

The Oni found Tyler's attempts to do something only a sorcerer could do odd, and stood there, tilting it's head, confused. Brice didn't do anything, and Tyler felt stress build up again. Tyler cleared his mind from worries, at least for a few seconds, and focused on the spell. He did it perfectly in the enchantment room.

Oh. Yeah. He didn't have an enchantment table. Tyler realized that a bit too late. But nobody else had. All he could do was continue to try. Maybe if he tried hard enough, he'd still be able to do something. It wouldn't be as strong, but it looked like his first few words did something. So Tyler tried again, this time, closing his eyes, and never stuttering at all. But the stress came back to him, and he failed again. The Oni was tried of watching.

The Oni groaned, it' teeth showing. Brice knew this wasn't good, and reached out to touch the wall again. Tyler didn't have anything other the book. No weapons. He could stall the thing from killing them, and maybe the group would return in time to save them, but other then that, they were in no way going to survive this.

“Brice, I want you to step back.” Tyler spoke out, his voice shaking. Brice listened.

The Oni approached slowly, Tyler stepping forward and making the distance between him and Brice larger. The Oni's teeth showed again, and Tyler saw blood already staining the beast's claws. The Oni then stopped again, a few feet away, doing nothing.

“What are you waiting for?” Tyler asked, frowning. “Not the next on the clock, huh? Bodil isn't here, I'm sorry.”

“Tyler, d-dont do that.” Brice commented.

“KILL ME THEN!” Tyler shouted at the Oni. “WHAT'S THE POINT IN A SET ORDER WHEN NON OF THIS MATTERS!?”

The Oni's eyes narrowed, and it backed up. But not to run away. It's attacked was more of a spring. Tyler didn't move, and the Oni jumped out at him, Tyler crashing into the floor, and the Oni pinning him down. This was it. He was gonna die. Forget the journal full of things that made him think that he'd live. He wasn't the 13th person. He wasn't the main character.

“N-no! Get off him!” Brice stepped forward, his hand going from the wall to the Oni's side. The Oni's odd texture gave Brice chills, but that didn't stop him from trying to save Tyler's life.

The Oni turned from Tyler to Brice, knocking Brice away, hitting the wall to the side. The Oni got off Tyler, and turned to Brice.

“BRICE! WHAT DID I TELL YOU!?” Tylre gasped, scrabling to get up.

“TYLER! TRY YOUR SPELL AGAIN!” Brice shouted, moving to the side, throwing himself in another direction to get out of the Oni's kill path.

“IT DIDN'T WORK!” Tyler shouted back.

Brice stood in the middle of the three hallways, facing the Oni and Tyler. His fists were balled up, and he stood without any support.

“I remember when Seto was first learning magic. He didn't have an enchantment table yet, and so gave up on free-handing magic. But then I told him not to give up! Not to lose hope! And he listened to me. And look at the things he can do now! So all that I ask of you is to listen to me!” Brice shouted, tears in his eyes, hidden by the fabric still wrapped around his face.

“But I'm not a sorcerer like him!” Tyler shouted.

Brice didn't have anything else to say, and Tyler realized that. The Oni's sights were on Brice now, and Tyler had to stop him. But running after and getting his attention wasn't going to work. Tyler had to listen to Brice. So Tyler took his journal, and tried again. The Oni charged at Brice, whom jumped to the side again, and out of the way. Brice really just went in circles, at one point stopping between Tyler and the Oni.

Tyler said the spell, and as the last of the notes rolled off his tongue, he looked up from the book to the oni. His hand reached out, and the spell was cast, but there was a problem. Tyler's eyes widen when he saw that Brice was in the way, and as the clock slowed down, The Oni was in the middle of launching out at Brice, it's claws out and it's eyes on the blind. Brice had turned to Tyler, his eyes seeing nothing, and the magical spike approached him and the Oni. It was bright. So, horribly bright.

The Oni caught Brice, it's claws scrapping into Brice's shoulders. And the spell hit the two. It got even brighter, to the point where Tyler couldn't see anything at all. A shockwave was created, and the floor trembled. It became too much for them. The magic did it's duty, faded, and all was still.

The Oni was gone, and blood was splattered on the floor in the shape of a number. Two bodies were motionless. Only one was still alive.

-...-

The group found themselves rather silent as they headed back up from the basement with Jerome. Mitch carried Jerome, and Bodil walked with support of Ian. Sub, Sky, and Ty walked in the back of the group, while Seto lead them. They were all very tried and hungry, as well as depressed. Mitch was still a mess, more so then the rest. They walked on, though, back up the stairs, and into the left hallway of the first floor.

Seto was, of coarse, the first to see it. Two bodies across the hallway, as well as blood. His heart sank when he saw the familiar friends, motionless. He ran, away from the group, to the middle of the hallways, to find Brice and Tyler, knocked out cold.. Well, Tyler at least. A bloody five had been painted onto the floor next to Brice, and blood dripped from his shoulder blades. Sky and Sub ran over, Ty walking over, his eyes staring at the mess. Mitch hardly had any strength left to hold his friend when met with the sight of another fallen. And Bodil and Ian couldn't quite look that way, so leaned against the wall and helped Mitch.

“W-what happened!?” Seto felt tears in his eyes, kneeling down to Brice, and trying find any signs of life. “W-What DID YOU DO!?”

“TYLER!” Sky shouted, trying to wake up Tyler. “T-Tyler!”

Tyler moaned, and slowly came back to reality. He was overcome with the sound of shouting and just so much going on. He slowly got up with the help of Sky, and he looked around, his vision blurry, as he tried to remember what happened. He stumbled, rubbing his eyes and looking down. He saw blood, and then followed the blood to a body. Brice's body.

“GAHHHHHHHHH!” Tyler let out a scream, falling back against the wall. He remembered everything, and his head throbbed.

“Tyler!” Seto gasped, jolting up and running over to him. “WHAT HAPPENED!?”

Tyler's eyes kept staring at Brice's body, his hands scratching at the sides of his own head. Seto frowned when Tyler wouldn’t pay attention to his questions, and so he hit Tyler.

“WHAT HAPPENED!?” Seto yelled and Tyler whimpered, tears sliding down his face.

“I-IT'S MY FAULT!” Tyler screamed, remembering Brice being in the way of the spell. “I KILLED HIM!”

“What do you mean you killed him?” Seto looked very upset.

“BRICE WAS IN THE WAY! HE WOULDN'T MOVE!” Tyler continued in panic. “I SHOULD HAVE GIVEN HIM A WARNING.”

“Was the Oni here?” Seto asked.

“Y-YES!” Tyler sniffled.

“The Oni killed Brice. Tyler's just lost it.” Ty sighed, standing a few feet away. “Tyler didn't draw that bloody five, i'm sure of it.”

Seto nodded his head and stood up.

“NO!” Tyler shouted, looking up at Seto and Ty, Sky and Sub shifting awkwardly. “I-I HIT HIM WITH THE SPELL. HE COULD HAVE LIVED IF I DIDN'T LISTEN TO HIM!”

“Spell?” Seto frowned.

“T-Tyler.” Sky walked over and sat down in front of Tyler. “Calm down, please.”

Tyler looked at Sky, whom grabbed his shoulders and was doing their best to make something of the situation. Sky found that Tyler's whole body was shaking in it's place.

“Can you tell us the whole story? From beginning to ending, what happened?” Sky asked.

Tyler hesitated, but knew it would be worse not to.

“I-I left the safe room to go t-to the enchantment room t-to test out t-that spell thing I found in th-the piano room. W-When I headed back, I ran i-into Brice. He told me he wanted t-to help me. He didn't like being s-so useless. W-We were going to head back t-to the safe room, but the Oni appeared.” Tyler's memory was getting fuzzy again. “I...I think he jumped in between us. I cased the spell again, because he told me to, and then I messed up and hit him.”

Tyler then gasped for air again, the tears becoming too much. “I-I DIDN'T MEAN TOO DO IT! I FUCKED UP! IT'S MY FAULT.”

“You left the safe room yourself!? You let Brice by himself!?” Seto growled. “WHAT COULD POSSIBILY MAKE YOU THINK ANY OF THIS WAS A GOOD IDEA!?”

“Seto please.” Sky turned to Seto.

“NO! BRICE AND JEREOME ARE BOTH DEAD BECOUSE OF MISTAKES WE'VE MADE AND IF WE DON'T CORRECT OUR THINKING, THIS WILL CONTINUE!” Seto shouted.

“J-Jerome?” Tyler gasped. “JEROME IS DEAD!?”

“That's why there is a five next to Brice, not a four.” Seto crossed his arms, looking down at Tyler.

“It's all my fault.” Tyler whimpered, hiding his face in his knees. “I put Bashur on the three, he became three. I didn't think about Brice and now there is no need to worry over him anymore!”

“Stop it.” Seto frowned. It wasn't Tyler's fault, and Seto knew that, but his voice came out as disappointed, and that alone made Tyler feel horrible. Sky motioned for Seto to stop, and they did.

“Let's head back to the safe room before the clock strikes the next hour.” Ty dipped his head and Seto walked past him.

As so they did. They took Jerome and Brice to the safe room and let the rest in peace on the beds. Tyler sat in the corner, still a daze from what had happened. Everyone was upset with him, mainly for leaving the safe room. Nobody believe it was Tyler's fault, but they understood how the building insanity could make the poor thing think that.

The clock had struck five, and the number of the living slowly decreased. Not only that, but as the time went on, ideas and opinions changed. Mitch and Seto, both in the same position. Their closest friend, dead. The reason to fight on was slowly changing. Their will to stay strong was losing it's stability.

-...-