“Fruits…mangoes!” Emre was about to flick his hand, but stopped himself. He’d already frozen Emilia, iced her, choked and dehydrated her…one careless move and he’d accidentally torture her again.
And yet Emilia still stayed with him. If he was a better person, Emre would’ve told her that battling the jungle alone was probably safer than another minute alone with him.
But Emre was a selfish, greedy man who sponged up the unwarranted kindness of others, the same way his amped attunement sucked up the moisture in the air around him. He wanted Emilia to stay here, with him.
“Madi ate them bloody mangoes and lost her fire magic. But I drank from this stream, before it disappeared. She lost her magic too, yeah. But I…” And despite the havoc he’d created, Emre felt a sort of…elation.
The elation was short-lived - because the threatening growl and crashing underbrush was getting far too close. Yet Emre just stared at the crashing noise, then at his icy hands.
But Emilia’s hand wrapped around his frosty wrist and she ran. Emre couldn’t lose her - inshallah he would not fucking lose her - so he had to follow.
He twisted so their fingers interlocked, and they ran together. Emilia pulling Emre, and Emre hacking through the growth with his cutlass, trying to make headway. And suddenly up ahead, Emre thought he saw a glimpse of blue between the trees - ocean blue.
“Look!!” Emre shouted. “If we can make it out, maybe it won’t come out of the jungle. C’mon.” They were so close. So fucking close, it seemed.
But so was the beast. Huge, sharp jaws snapped at Emilia, tearing at the back of her shirt. The beast was that close to them; Emre could feel its snorting breathing against his back. But he’d had enough.
He propelled Emilia forward, and turned and swung his cutlass towards the animal in a wide arc. “NO!!”
Time seemed to pause, as the humid air and small bits of dew coalesced along his blade, extending his cutlass into a wide, long scimitar of ice. It sliced cleanly through the beast, bisecting it so neatly that for a moment the beast didn’t even seem to realize.
Then a beat passed, and then the mutilated monster slid apart in a gushing, bloody schlump. Blood and guts spilled everywhere.
Emre turned to look at Emilia - they were both spattered with thick red blood. Emre’s eyes were huge and wide, but blank. “Go. We’re - we’re nearly there.” He took her hand again, and pulled her towards the ocean blue ahead.
Emilia had completely forgotten about the stream until Emre brought it up. When she came across the meadow she seemed almost immediately drawn to the fruit tree, not paying the stream any mind. Not to mention once she had eaten the fruit and realized what was happening to her, the last thought on her mind was what happened to the stream and what might have happened if she chose to drink from it. "That makes sense, as much as anything on this island can make sense." She wondered how many others had also been led to the meadow to make their choice and play the Labyrinth's games.
Not that there was much time to dwell on the thoughts of who may have chosen what, with the sounds of a snarling beast heading their way. The only thought she should be focusing on was run. The chill of Emre's skin didn't even seem to bother her in that moment, even as she felt his fingers interlock with hers as she panted and tried not to trip over a root, or a branch, or even her own feet and cost them their lives.
The sight of the blue water through the trees had given her hope. It was fair to believe whatever was chasing them didn't plan to leave the jungle, otherwise they would have done so by now. Maybe that hope resulted in her slowing down, or perhaps the beast was just that quick that she suddenly felt the sharp teeth tear through the back of her shirt, nipping ever so slightly at her skin causing her to shriek in terror. One moment of hesitation and that could have gotten a lot more than just a piece of her clothes.
Feeling him move her out of the way, she stumbled forward, but as much as she wanted to keep going and reach the safety of the beach, she wasn't going to leave Emre. Once she knew he was in here, she told herself as well as his brother that she wasn't going to leave without him. He didn't deserve to be here and getting her out wasn't something he should die for. "Emre!" She called out as she turned around, only seeing the large ice sword coming down on the monster and slicing it in two. She shut her eyes as the blood splattered across both of them.
Feeling it on her skin was a disgusting sensation, and when she finally opened her eyes to see the aftermath, she was frozen in place. This was surely the best outcome but she could feel her stomach churning, knowing she shouldn't look down at herself but couldn't help glancing at the gore that made it on her body. She had been able to stop herself with Matthew but right now she couldn't stop anything from coming up. Emilia held her hair back, out of her face as she bent over behind the nearest tree where the unpleasant sound of her throwing up could now be heard.
Once there was a moment of peace, probably because there was nothing left to bring up, Emilia was able to catch her breath as Emre suggested they keep going. "Ok...I just...I need a minute. I'm glad it isn't ours but...I can't handle all this–all this blood." She had to grab some of the nearby foliage to wipe off some of the bile and blood from her face. Taking a moment to catch her breath, she felt gross and a bit embarrassed by having such a visceral reaction in front of him, looking out towards the blue water through the trees.
It looked like a dream come true to see the beach and when she was ready and Emre pulled her along, she eagerly walked with him expecting their freedom. Though the water they had seen wasn't what they were expecting. There was a crowd of people, many of the people who must have been taken or ran in were there examining this glowing lagoon that she hadn't recalled seeing before. Her head tilted to the side as she stepped forward to take a closer look, her thoughts being interrupted by the sound of Esthers voice. "Jesus, what the hell happened to you two? Are you guys alright?" Emilia turned to her, waving a hand at her, not even wanting to recall what they'd been through. "We're fine...I think. I don't want to talk about it."
