I raised both hands in the air. "I'm innocent! Don't shoot me!"
Click.
The barrel of Isaac's gun hovered inches from my forehead.
Then—
"Hehehehehe."
Rona's giggle echoed from the side.
I turned my head slowly. "Rona!" I lit up, almost forgetting about the murder weapon still aimed at me.
"Lil!" Rona twirled in a half-dance, half-kung fu move that looked... vaguely dangerous.
Isaac sighed, sliding his gun back into the holster. "That's your reaction to a gun? Seriously?"
I shrugged. "What's the big deal? Why'd you even point a gun at me? What did I do wrong?"
He crossed his arms, eyes narrowing. "How did you end up at a cliff?"
"I followed my instinct." I puffed out my chest proudly.
He immediately replied, deadpan. "Don't ever do that again, you bozo."
"They say to follow a woman's instinct."
"Not yours. Most definitely."
Rona suddenly held something out. "Food!"
I looked down at the thing in her hands.
Long. Pink. Slimy. A disturbing gravy (?) pooled around it.
"Thanks, but no thanks. I'm not hungry," I said as politely as I could, backing away slowly. My stomach twisted. 'I'm not picky, but no way in hell I'm eating that. My intestines might file a complaint.'
I glanced at her blood-splattered outfit. "Nice shade of red."
Rona beamed. "Thanks, Lil!"
Isaac leaned closer to inspect the 'food'. "Look at it properly."
I did. I regretted it instantly.
"It's… long and pinky. Smells like blood." I turned to Rona. "…You didn't."
"Oh, she did," Isaac confirmed.
Rona shoved her hand into the 'meal' and began eating with a gleeful hum.
"…No wonder I smelled blood." I turned away and puked in the corner while Isaac patted my back.
"Your reaction is more normal than what you say," he muttered.
Wiping my mouth, I pointed at Isaac's arm. He was sweating, and a strip of cloth wrapped around his right bicep. Something wasn't right.
"You're injured?" I narrowed my eyes. "Why didn't you use a Health Potion?"
Isaac waved it off, but I caught the wince. "Burn. One of the worms snuck up on me. Acid saliva. Less potent than Monica Jr.'s, but still enough to do damage."
I winced at the sight as he unraveled the cloth. The burn was angry, raw, and blistered.
"Yikes. That looks brutal." I opened my inventory. "Tadaa!" I proudly held out an aloe vera leaf.
Isaac blinked. "Where did you get this?"
"Somewhere in the forest," I said casually. "There's no place I haven't explored."
"…Right." He scraped off the rind and applied the gel. The tension in his shoulders eased. "Thanks to that, it'll heal faster. How did you know aloe works on burns?"
"Oh, Ma taught me. Said it helped with burns and mixed it in her aloe mojitos."
Isaac looked at me like I'd just grown two heads. "Your mother mixed healing herbs into drinks?"
"It was healthy! …Probably."
He shook his head, then sat back against the cave wall. "Alright, listen up. I came up with a plan while waiting for you two."
"A plan to defeat that giant worm? In under two hours?" I raised a brow.
"Listen carefully," he continued, ignoring me. "Three of us. One splits off to find our mascot—Looney. The other two distract LM."
"Looney?" I blinked. "You're planning something to that poor worm?"
"Rona gets to eat Looney?" Rona lit up.
I stared at her, horrified. "Didn't you just have like ten servings of worm sashimi?"
"Rona knows that nothing is enough."
"…Oui…"
Isaac cleared his throat. "Focus. We'll use Looney as a bargaining chip. Trade his safety for Monica's surrender."
"LM = Looney and Monica Jr., got it," I said, nodding.
"So… who's the bait?" I asked cautiously.
Isaac pointed at me and Rona.
I grabbed his collar instantly. "What?! Are you trying to kill us?!"
"W-Wait—!" he stammered.
After a solid minute of aggressive shaking, I let him go. His face had turned a faint green.
"Ugh…" He slumped to the ground. "Look, you wouldn't know where to find Looney anyway."
"You don't either!"
"But I do have a guess. Remember what Mr. James said? He'd be waiting at the dungeon entrance."
I blinked. "Oh, right."
"I'm betting Looney's still with him. I'll go grab him."
"And you're sure you can handle that?"
"You burned Monica. I can kidnap a worm."
"…Fair."
"While I'm gone, you two stall LM."
"Fine. Rona and I will do our best. Right, Rona?"
…
Silence.
"Rona?"
We turned to find her curled up like a puppy, softly snoring.
"Zzzz…"
I laughed. "I'll tell her the plan later."
"Yeah, you do that," Isaac groaned.
I gently woke Rona up. We all equipped our weapons.
Isaac tore off the cloth from his arm. "We've got less than two hours. Make every second count."
"No need to tell me twice."
"Rona understood."
Isaac glanced at Rona and gave a small nod. "Good luck, Rona."
Rona spun her hammer and grinned.
I pouted. "What about me?"
Isaac looked at me.
Then looked away.
"What about you?"
"ACK! So cruel!"
Together, we stepped out of the cave… hoping it wouldn't be the last time.
[Llyne & Rona – Worm Hunt Begins]
Step.
Step.
Step.
"It's just the two of us, Rona. Excited?"
"Rona is super excited! Rona can't wait to meet LM."
"Oh… Me too…"
We walked for twenty minutes. Still no giant worm.
"Shouldn't we feel vibrations or something?" I asked, touching the ground.
Peace.
Too much peace.
Then—
"Lil!" Rona pointed excitedly at a massive hole in the ground. It looked freshly carved. Jagged. Still twitching at the edges.
"Oh… Never mind."
Ping.
[You Got a Message]
Isaac: Found LM yet?
Llyne: Nope. But we found a huge hole that might lead to it.
Rona: Rona found the hole.
Isaac: Good job, Rona.
Llyne: What about you?
Isaac: On my way.
Rona: Rona is bored.
Isaac: How can you be bored when our lives are at stake?
Llyne: You know what? LM has good hygiene. Shiny white teeth. If we're going to die, at least we'll die to a clean monster.
Isaac: …Did your brain rot from all the worm chasing?
Rona: 👍
Isaac: Is there no sane person here?
Llyne: Why'd you message, by the way?
Isaac: Worms react to ground movement. So if you're hiding, stay completely still.
Llyne: Heartbeats are movement. Are you asking me to die to hide?
Isaac: …Sure. At least my headache would go away.
Rona: Isaac is a meanie!
Llyne: We'll be busy. Later!
Isaac: Fine. Don't die.
Rona: Adios!
I closed the chat and looked down into the hole. Dark. Deep. Almost breathing.
"…Oui."
Rona turned to me. "We go, ya?"
I gulped. "Yup. We do."
"Alrighty!" Rona leapt in like she was cannonballing into a pool.
"…Eeeeh?!" I shouted. "Wait for me, you lunatic!"
And I jumped in after her.