"You bastard. You're here talking to yourself while I'm mourning my lost one," she said while Zoi rubbed his cheek.
"Wait, what'd you want me to do? Cry? Why would I cry for someone who tried to arrest and kill me for what reason only God knows?!!!!" Zoi yelled back as Eleanor wiped her tears, her expression cold.
"I can't believe I, for once, thought you were actually a good guy. But you just acted out of your own selfishness," she said, disgusted.
"What's with that fucking expression? I risked my fucking life to save you guys and this is how you repay me?" Zoi yelled.
"I and my comrades would have been just fine without your help," Eleanor yelled as Zoi burst into laughter.
"Comrades? Hah. I laugh in Spanish. Where are the so-called comrades of yours? Oh right, they're gone. Or is it that gal who's literally a human toast? A monster can't even eat her — it'd leave a bad taste in its mouth," Zoi yelled as Eleanor swung her hand, about to slap him.
But swiftly, he blocked it and countered it with an even faster and harder slap of high velocity, acceleration, and magnitude.
She felt her face in surprise as tears slowly rolled down her cheeks.
"Did you just say physics slap?" Lumina asked.
That was the first time someone had ever slapped her. Her life flashed before her eyes. In everything, she was always favored and pampered. She fell to her knees with a lifeless expression.
"Holy shit, what should I do?" Zoi wondered, shifting away from her. "I'm sure I held back," he added, sweating profusely.
"I have never been slapped before," she said.
"Ooh, thank God she's alive," Zoi thought, relieved. "Guess I'll be on my way then," he said, about to leave.
"_Ding! New mission: Help the elven princess and her subordinate get to the castle.
Reward: Two levels up, Sword of Gehazzi, ??? Egg.
Failure penalty: Penalty Zone_."
The system screen popped up as Zoi fell to his knees. "Whyyy?" he yelled. "Why won't you let me rest?" he added.
"Just shut up and do it. Stop being a baby," Lumina said as Zoi tisked and stood up, walking towards Eleanor.
Noticing his shadow, she looked up and immediately flinched with a slightly terrified expression, noticing Zoi's malevolent smile. Swiftly, he gave her a rabbit punch, making her go unconscious.
"Lumina, why do I need to take her subordinate who's dead, by the way, with me?" Zoi asked with an annoyed expression.
"Well, who knows what'll happen on your way," Lumina said as Zoi's expression changed to a not-so-surprised one.
"Of course," he said.
"Although, there's a way to bring her back," Lumina said, attracting Zoi's attention.
"And what's that?" he asked.
"A resurrection elixir. Its ingredients are: the tears of a cyber-toothed tiger, the blood of a werewolf, blood of a mermaid, blood of a human, and a leaf from a Life Tree," Lumina explained.
"Oh, the first 3 are totally easy to get. Just the remaining—" he paused as he held his chin and looked at the sky. "Where the fuck am I gonna find a Life Tree?"
"There's a Life Tree at the top of the mountain," Lumina said.
"Wow, that's a long way up," Zoi muttered as he rested Eleanor's body against a tree. "Hey, I can use my blood for both mermaid and human, right?" Zoi asked.
"Yeah, since you're a hybrid," Lumina answered.
"Great. Get me my Cyger's body, quickly," Zoi commanded.
Cyger's dead body appeared behind him, half-mangled- metal plating torn, blue circuits still faintly sparking in its ribs.
"Alright big guy, time for a family reunion" Zoi paused as he turned to face the body. "AZON."
Thick, purple liquid seeped from his fingers- phantom ichor, cold and humming. It coated bone, slithering through the metal frame and weaving between ribs like veins.
The skeleton rattled. Then it rose.
Purple phantom energy coiled around the frame, filling in muscle and sinew that wasn't there. Cyger's empty sockets ignited with faint violet fire. Steam hissed from its joints as the undead tiger towered over him, purple wisps leaking from its jaws like smoke.
"Congratulations, you've resurrected Cyger as your soldier and has been registered in your elite forces, would you like to change its name or leave it as it is" the system screen displayed "leave it as it is" Zoi said as the screen disappeared.
It looked at Zoi… and whimpered.
"Yeah, yeah, I know," Zoi muttered. "I killed you. My bad. Now do me a favor and cry."
Cyger tilted its massive metal-and-bone head, violet fire flickering in confusion.
Zoi clicked his tongue. "Don't look at me like that. Work with me here." His voice dropped, low and deliberate. "You remember those pups, right? The ones the Flameingos took? Little ones. Couldn't even roar yet. Just imagine how it would've been if they were still up and kicking, you would've been a grandfather."
Cyger's jaw trembled. Its claws dug into the dirt, but no tears came out. Zoi stared. "You're kidding me." He snapped his fingers in front of the tiger's face. "Come on. Sad eyes. Waterworks. I know you've got it in you."
Nothing. Just a faint, metallic growl and more purple mist hissing from its teeth.
Zoi dragged a hand down his face. "Of course. I bring back an OP murder-cat and it's emotionally constipated."
"Hold on," Zoi said as he went to Eleanor and started searching her body. "C'mon, she's gotta have one somewhere," he murmured.
"Aha, found it." He raised a bottle and faced Cyger. He immediately gave it a hard knock to the head.
Without wasting time, a tear dropped from its eyes. Swiftly, Zoi slid the bottle beneath it, catching the glowing violet drop.
"Perfect," Zoi said.
"How the heck is that possible?" Lumina asked.
"That's the power of a knock," Zoi said as he kissed his fist.
"Just so you know, a drop won't be enough," Lumina explained. "You need at least 100 drops. It's the tears that determine the amount you're making, 'cause you can't put water in it."
"Oh,wait, water?" Zoi paused as he looked inside the bottle, noticing there was water inside, then looked at Cyger. "I see," he said as Cyger whimpered.
*Some minutes later…*
"Now it's perfect," Zoi said, shaking the bottle. "For my blood—" He paused and looked at Cyger, whose head was now covered in bumps, then stretched his finger toward it. "Make a small cut," he said.
Cyger raised its claws and slashed Zoi's hand. Deep cuts tore open, and blood splashed out like a busted hose.
"You bastard!" Zoi yelled as he gave Cyger another knock, driving its head into the ground. He quickly shoved the bottle under the spray to catch some.
"Yo, Zoi, you're gonna die of blood loss if you don't cover that up quickly," Lumina said.
"And how the fuck am I gonna do that?!" Zoi yelled, pissed off.
"Just go to the system's black market and buy a healing potion," Lumina said.
"Fine, give it to me. Quickly," Zoi said.
"You'll need 30 stat points to buy it. You have 50," Lumina said.
"I fucking know that. Just give me the damn potion!" Zoi yelled as a potion appeared in front of him.
"Fine," Lumina said.
Swiftly, he caught it, popped the cork, and drank it. Immediately his injuries closed up, stopping the bleeding.
Letting out a sigh of relief, Zoi fell to the ground, sitting and breathing heavily. "Phew. That was close," he said as he glared at Cyger.
"I'll deal with you later," Zoi growled.
Cyger immediately bolted and hid behind a bush, violet fire in its sockets dimmed to nervous embers. Only its metal-plated snout peeked out, still staring at Zoi like a guilty dog that ate the couch.
Zoi scoffed, corking the bottle of tears + blood. "Don't look at me like I'm the bad guy. Anyways it's remaining, the blood of a werewolf and the leaf from a Life Tree. Let's get to the top quickly!" Zoi yelled, his voice filled with fake enthusiasm.
-4th Day, 7 days to the Awakening ceremony-
Zoi spent the night walking to the top of the mountain and had to carry two people with him. His eyes were drowsy, like he could collapse at any second, and dark circles had carved themselves under his eyes.
With a tight grip, he dragged Eleanor by her hair through the bushes and carried Tabitha on his shoulder. He struggled through the forest, climbing as gravity tried to shove him back down.
Sleep finally took over. His eyes slid shut and his knees buckled — but he slammed his foot into the dirt and forced himself upright.
"Not on my watch," he murmured, lips cracked and dry as his stomach growled.
Yeah. He hadn't eaten in three days.
"When the fuck did I turn into Elijah?" Zoi wondered. His hands weakened, and Eleanor slipped from his grasp, sliding back down the slope. Luckily for Zoi, a tree stopped her before she went too far.
"This bitch," Zoi grumbled. "You're really enjoying your sleep, huh?" He trudged back down, grabbed her leg, and continued up, dragging her with him.
His stomach growled again. "Aaah, I'm seriously hungry," Zoi murmured, his voice lifeless.
Right as he was about to take another step, his body gave out. He hit the ground hard, turned to face the sky, and sighed.
"Dammit," he said as his vision blurred.
A girl wearing a red hood walked up to him.
"Red hood? But I ain't in a fairy tale," Zoi slurred. He tried to confirm the person's identity, but his vision was too blurry to see her face.
"Whatever," he mumbled. "Guess I'll sleep for a while."
Yeah, he blacked out.