After I arrive, the stage was split in half and Diane's treasure was missing.

'How could something like this happen so quickly?!' I scream in my head, sweeping my eyes across the ground and finally spotting Diane, clutching her hammer and facing two opponents. Their backs were turned to me so they couldn't see me coming as I dive towards them, then nail the one not wearing armour in the back of his head. The one with armour that looked kind of like a pill creates a giant hole in the ground below Diane, which she falls into with a surprised yelp.

"DIANE!!" I shout, "SHIT!"

I'm about to dive after her, for all the good it'll do, when pill boy snatches the back of my collar and turns me around to face him.

"Who are you?" he asks. I spit on his helmet, then kick out below me and hit him between the legs. However, that spot is armoured too, and all I manage to do is make him annoyed. The boy I kicked already gets back up, rubbing his head painfully. There were most likely stars in his vision.

"Uh-- Wha...?" he asks, staring around in a dazed manner. I snarl, trying to loosen the pill's grip on me. Suddenly, for seemingly no reason, pill boy lets go of me and backs off a few steps. I  stop myself from falling and hover in the air, my fists raised in defense, when I notice a strange glow surrounding them. I take a moment to look at my hands and see weird, semi-transparent guards sitting about 30 centimetres in the air away from my arms, the points facing outwards past my fists. They were (F/C) in colour and had three short but sharp points, almost like short claws, and all of it had a rough texture, like a jagged rock.

"What the hell...?" I wonder, moving my arms around experimentally. The guards follow perfectly, seemingly bound to my movements. The knights in front of me get over their shock and dart forwards, ready to attack, and I raise my arms up in defense, protecting my face. The guards meld together into a jagged shield and their swords are bounced backwards, throwing them off balance. When I take my arms down again, they turn back into the claw-thingies they were before. I mess around with them for a while before the knights return again, this time attacking from above.

I raise one arm in defence, putting the energy guard on my right arm in the way, but stagger anyway from the force of the blow. It seemed they really were fixed to my arms and any force applied to the would also affect me. The ground below me fractures, making my legs click painfully, and a howling wind appears, whipping me up into the air. I cry out in surprise, feeling the air snatched from my lungs, and feel dizziness approaching from how much I was being tossed around in the sudden tornado.

Then, all of a sudden, it dies down and I fall a few metres before righting myself. My head was spinning and I couldn't see straight. All I could make out was a shape rapidly approaching and I only just manage to raise my arms in defense again before I'm sent hurtling to the ground.

I bounce from the impact, tumbling along the dirt before coming to a stop next to the canyon, near unconscious and bleeding from everywhere. I spit blood from my mouth and keep my eyes closed. Dirt coated my body like a second skin and the guards on my arms flickered and disappeared. Two pairs of boots approach me and stop next to me head. I try feebly to get to my feet and continue the fight but one of pill boy's feet step on my back and force me back down. I felt a growing rage in my chest at my uselessness.

"That's enough, she's beaten!" the other knight protests. Pill boy laughs.

"Is that so? I thought she was just trying to get back up. I'll make sure she knows not to move when she's not going to win." he says, then draws his foot back to kick me over the edge of the yawning chasm. I was too weak to save myself, and I knew it. Didn't mean I wasn't going to try, though. Using the last reserves of my strength, I jump forwards and grab his leg, holding on as tightly as I can and refusing to let go.

"Hey--" the blonde knight says, then gets drowned out as a loud thump resonates around us. I look up in surprise and see Diane standing above us, rage written across her face. She grabs the pill guy and plucks me off him, carefully holding me in her palm while she tosses the knight over her shoulder and into the chasm he created himself.

"(Y/N), are you okay?" she asks, concern dripping from her words. I prop myself up using her fingers as a back rest and smile weakly.

"I tried my best. Couldn't lay a scratch on them, though," I say, my eyes turning darker by the second. I could feel the tug on unconsciousness, but now wasn't the time. I couldn't give in now. Diane turns on the blonde knight, who raises his hands in surrender and steps out of the way. I finally lose the battle and fall unconscious.

~

When I wake up again, I'm being held in someone's arms. They were holding me gently, and rocking me ever so slightly, as if I was a baby being lulled to sleep. I could tell we were moving - walking along the ground. And I could also tell, by the coppery smell around us, we were both bleeding. I fought to open my eyes and immediately regret that choice, wincing as the sun spears directly into my eyes.

"(Y/N)? Are you awake?" a cool, soft voice asks above me, most likely the person holding me. I make a small noise in response, curling into him and realising just how tired I still was.

"Hey, are you okay?" he continues, his voice shaking slightly like he was embarrassed. I slowly open my eyes, allowing them to adjust to the light first, then realise I was being carried by King. My face quickly turns red and I try to stand up, but he holds me tighter.

"Hey, don't move! You're seriously injured!" he protests, keeping me still. My heart starts fluttering faster with each passing second and I almost collapse again with relief when the Boar's Hat comes into view again. King carries me up to my room and places me gently in my bed, like I would break if he made one wrong move. I mutter my thanks tiredly and roll over, my eyes already closed. I didn't sense him leave for almost a whole minute before he spoke again.

"I know this is stupid, but... could you... n-not do something so dangerous again? Diane told us what s-she knew and I got really w-worried..." he says, stuttering shyly and averting his eyes. I roll over again and open my eyes enough to stare at him before sitting up and swinging my legs over the edge of my bed, then grabbing him and dragging him towards me for a hug.

"No promises, but I'll try," I whisper, enjoying his warmth and feeling his heart fluttering against my chest, matching my own. He seems frozen and quickly leaves the room when I let him go, making me feel a bit sad. What I didn't know was that, when he closed the door, he sat against it and held his head in his hands, silently screaming with a face as red as a tomato.