Pavane for Living Girls, Part 4

The fall lasted a long time.

The one saving grace was that, unlike the last time she'd fallen, there was a strong updraft.

Not enough to keep her airborne, but it slowed her descent considerably compared to a normal free fall.

The ground came into view.

"Azu, when you're close to the ground, kick off the wall! Roll sideways and curl up! Anything to reduce the impact!"

Kazusa shouted through a gap in the wind.

Azu followed the instructions. As the ground rushed up, she kicked off the wall.

The impact was brutal.

She channeled the force sideways, rolling over and over. Rocks on the ground tore at her body as the energy of the fall bled off through the tumbling.

She tumbled over and over until the momentum bled away, but Azu lay on the ground without moving.

After a stretch of silence, her body finally stirred.

She was covered in scrapes and wounds, but all those monsters she'd fought had raised her physical resilience considerably.

Nothing bad enough to keep her down.

She forced her numbed, aching body upright and took stock of the situation.

The area was lit by a faint green glow. Not dark at all.

A relentless wind blew, streaming through Azu's white hair.

If she stayed here, the cold would get to her.

She looked for Kazusa and found her collapsed a short distance away.

Blood.

Ignoring her own pain, Azu rushed over.

She rolled Kazusa onto her back and checked. Blood was streaming from her head, and her right shin had bruised a deep blue. A fracture.

"Ugh… Azu?"

Kazusa groaned in pain.

She'd hit her head, but she was conscious. No immediate danger to her life.

"Hang on, let me get a potion…"

Azu reached for the pouch at her hip.

But the bottles inside had shattered, and most of the contents had leaked out.

"No…"

She salvaged what little remained, tipping it into Kazusa's mouth, then turned the broken vial upside down and dripped the last drops onto her wounds.

The potion's effect closed the gash on Kazusa's head, and the bruise on her right leg faded slightly.

But there hadn't been enough potion left. Full recovery was a long way off.

"Thanks… that's a lot better."

Kazusa sat herself up.

Her large backpack had been thrown off during the fall and lay in the distance.

Between its weight and the hard objects packed inside, it had cratered the ground on impact.

"Thanks for the potion. Sorry. I'll pay you back later."

"Don't worry about it. The bottles were broken anyway, so the rest would've leaked out on its own."

"My leg still hurts, but the head wound's mostly healed. That's good stuff."

"My Mas… A tool shop I know sold it to me cheap."

Kazusa and Azu surveyed their surroundings.

A somewhat spacious hall. Empty.

No sign of monsters.

"This is still the Wind Labyrinth, right?"

"Yeah. I think the expansion caused this. The inside's definitely gotten bigger, but if it expanded downward, we're in trouble."

The Wind Labyrinth's lowest point was the tenth floor.

As a labyrinth born from an accumulation of elemental energy, the Wind Labyrinth had no master.

It was the type where the strongest monster simply occupied the deepest level in the master's stead.

The deeper you went, the denser the elemental energy, and the stronger the monsters it nurtured.

If new floors had been added below… how powerful would those monsters be?

"Let's move for now. Staying here isn't safe."

"Yeah. Can you walk, Kazusa?"

"Barely. Running's out of the question."

Azu wrapped a bandage around Kazusa's right shin.

The injury wasn't gone, so walking would only make it worse.

But these bandages were soaked in a medicinal salve that would help considerably.

Azu tried to wrap her own injuries too, but couldn't manage it on her own.

"Here, let me."

"Thanks."

"You're pretty banged up yourself, Azu. You should've used the potion on yourself."

"It looks worse than it is. I'm fine."

"… I know it's hard right now, but don't push yourself. There, done."

First aid complete.

Looking around the hall more carefully, Azu spotted several passage entrances.

"I'll lend you my shoulder."

"Sorry. Thanks."

"Mm."

They made their way to the large backpack first.

It was completely destroyed, its contents spilling out.

"This is done for. We'll have to leave it."

"Yeah… Let's at least take these."

Azu loaded the two Elemental crystals and the Crocodile's drops into the backpack.

"Right. Just the two crystals and that magic stone should be enough to keep us out of the red."

Still no sign of monsters.

Maybe this was a brand-new floor with no monsters yet.

Azu moved with Kazusa leaning on her shoulder.

Their progress was painfully slow.

They spent a long time navigating several corridors and passed through two rooms.

Nothing. No treasure chests, no monsters.

"What even is this place?"

"No idea. But no monsters is a blessing right now."

"Yeah. Honestly, I'd rather avoid a fight."

They ended up right back at the original hall.

From there, they took a different passage, but it was more of the same.

When Azu noticed sweat beading on Kazusa's forehead, she decided they'd rest once they reached a smaller room.

Kazusa insisted she was fine, but even Azu could see through that bravado.

They settled into a spot out of the wind and huddled together.

They split what was left of their water and rations between them.

It wasn't much, but it sated the hunger and thirst that exhaustion had made them forget.

Kazusa started to nod off, and Azu followed, the dull ache fading as her consciousness slipped away.

The absence of monsters must have helped them relax.

They fell asleep.

Some time later, Azu woke with bleary eyes to find a Skeleton staring down at them.