Level-Up Apocalypse: Surviving With The Assimilation System

"Nova, wait–we don't know–!" Jasper reasoned.

"Yeah, listen to us, Nova. Don't rush into anything–" Charlotte said, softly reaching her hand out.

While they tried to warn the energetic, irrational bard, she seemed only to be rushed into a reckless decision the closer they drew near.

The glint in Nova's eyes brought Finn to lung forward right as she brought the fruit to her lips, having no other choice but to grab her. Just as he grabbed onto her shoulders, he watched as the girl took another bite of the fruit, a heftier chomp before gulping it down.

"Hey! Spit it out!" Finn urged.

"Nova! Don't–!" Jasper yelled.

The assassin released his hold on the girl, seeing as there was nothing else he could do short of reaching into her throat as if she were an unruly pup. He watched amongst the others beneath the divine tree, looking at the bard as she stood there before wearing a proud smile.

"See? It's fine–my level is shooting up," Nova claimed brightly. "We just have to keep eating–"

Amidst the silver-haired girl's words, she suddenly hurled, grabbing her abdomen as veins pressed against her skin.

"Bleeugh!—" Nova spat out, keeling over as a black substance spilled from her mouth.

The once bubbly figure collapsed onto the ground, convulsing as her body seized up and grew pale.

Charlotte immediately rushed over, dropping to her knees as she grabbed onto the woman's arm, "Nova…! Hey!"

"Shit…! What do we do?!" Jasper asked hurriedly before swinging his gaze to the assassin. "Do we have any ambrosia left?!"

Finn shook his head, kneeling by the seizing woman as he tried his best to comfort her, "No—we're out—"

"Please, we have to do something!" Charlotte pleaded with tears.

"Dammit…!" Jasper sharply said at the world itself as he tried to keep the convulsing girl still.

Finn pushed his brain to the depths of what he knew, thinking of anything he could. Looking around, there was absolutely nothing to be found—not a fragment of a miracle.

"We need to get her out of here…get back to Gurmo's place," Finn pieced together, getting up.

"Will he be able to help—?" Charlotte desperately asked, clutching the sleeve of the afflicted woman.

"I don't know—maybe? Where else can we go?!" Finn questioned in a hurry.

Jasper removed his helmet as he desperately moved closer to the bard, "—She's not breathing! C'mon…!"

Without much else to do as Nova garbled on the unknown substance that seemed to endlessly leave her orifices, the knight began to perform chest compressions.

"C'mon, Nova! Work with me here!—" Jasper begged, pumping his hands against her chest.

While the man desperately tried his best, Finn could only watch as there was no response from the afflicted. Seeing Jasper come to a mess of tears as he fruitlessly tried to aid the girl, it became a sorrowful view.

Charlotte's face was in her hands as she knelt there, left to grieve in the moment.

"Hey…Jasper, she's…" Finn quietly said.

"C'mon—!" Jasper pleaded, continuing to press his hands down.

"Jasper! That's enough," Finn said, grabbing the shoulder of his friend.

The monotonous attempts were put to an end as Jasper sat there on his knees. Silence filled the tucked-away garden as the sky-blue leaves gently drifted down.

It was over so quickly that it almost didn't feel real. Seeing the usually energetic woman laying there lifelessly filled him with dread.

"Goddammit…Why didn't she listen?" Jasper said with a mix of frustration and sorrow, clenching his fists.

There was nothing that could be said about the unfortunate situation as silence gripped them each. What felt like a victory quickly felt bitter–an all too common taste these days. All around them, the walls of the temple groaned, rumbling with an ominous force.

Finn looked up as dust rained down, feeling another wave of the trembling coming, "--We need to go. I think this place isn't long for this world."

It took a moment for him to get Charlotte and Jasper to their feet before they seemed to take in the urgency of the situation.

"Come on—we need to get back to the surface!" Finn said, leading the way back out of the treasured garden.

As he sprinted out, the walls quivered again, this time both hearing and seeing cracks form along the foundation of the temple.

"Where do we go—?!" Charlotte asked while running. Explore stories on m,v l'e-m|p y r

"I don't know, but we need to at least get to the elevator!" Finn responded.

Passing by the last standing monuments of the throne room, they rattled like vases as another tremor came. Just ahead was the stone-forged elevator, rattling amidst the now frequent rumbles.

He practically slid himself into the lift, having his toes slam into the back of it before he spun around. Charlotte ran in right after him, though Jasper lagged behind.

"C'mon!" Finn shouted, waving his hand for the knight to hurry.

Chunks of the throne room began to rain down as everything shook, landing down around Jasper as he ran.

As pieces crashed down around him, the hurried knight was forced to leap the last few strides as he practically crashed into the lift.

"Gah!" Jasper winced.

"Uff!—" Finn let out, finding his armored friend landing right against him.

As all three entered the elevator, it closed itself off before beginning its unorthodox ascent. From inside, all that could be heard were the tremors beyond, bringing the lift to shake the entire time it rose.

"Dammit…" Jasper mumbled in distress.

It was barely a whisper loud enough for Finn to hear as his friend was still slumped over against him. As the elevator rumbled with the entirety of the old temple coming down, he helped Jasper up before giving him a reassuring embrace.

Recalling what Charlotte did for him at his lowest moment, it was the only thing he could think to do at the moment. After all Jasper had done for him, he wanted to help him with his sorrow.

"I couldn't do anything…Not a damn thing," Jasper muttered with a broken voice.

"I couldn't, either. It's not on you or me—it's this fucked up world to blame," Finn said before releasing the hug.

For the man that had his back through thick and thin, the least he felt he could do was comfort him in that moment. Even as the structure crumbled, maintaining one's strength to move forward was vital.

The ascension of the lift seemed to accelerate as they each suddenly were forced to balance themselves. It sounded as though the wind carved from outside of it, shooting up much farther than it seemed to have initially descended from.

"This thing is off its course—it's rocketing!" Finn realized.

He held onto the sides of the interior, prompting the other two to do the same as suddenly—it seemed to begin tilting. It was hard to tell, being closed off inside what was practically a stone box, though the forces of gravity did not lie.

"Waaaaooo—!" Jasper let out.

"Ghh!—" Charlotte struggled.

Finn pushed his hands and feet out like a spider just not to go flying around the interior. Even so, it didn't prevent the others from crashing right into him as the elevator came tumbling down.

"Uff—" Finn gasped out as the steel helmet from the knight landed right against his chest, with Charlotte falling against his stomach.

With the way it had landed, they were each left practically upside down.

"It's done moving…?" Jasper groaned.

"Get off me, would you?" Finn breathed out, being pinned by the others.

Rather than anybody getting up, the side door of the stone box popped right off as an unexpected light flooded in. A brief amount of soil sprinkled in on their heads.

"We…made it?" Charlotte rasped out.

Rather than being crushed any longer, Finn decided to roll himself out through the opening, leading to them all landing outside.

"Gah!" Charlotte winced, landing face first.

Finn felt his face smack right into the relieving sensation of dirt before picking himself up. To his surprise, the mystical elevator had somehow escaped the crater entirely.

He glanced around as he picked himself up, brushing his pants off, "Well, that's awfully convenient…"

Behind him the view of what used to be the old kingdom filled him with a sense of grandeur. Just a few steps shy of the canyon's edge, he peered down to see that there was no longer any temple to be seen.

"Man…That's a feeling I won't miss," Jasper groaned as he straightened himself out.

Despite coming out alive from the subterranean temple, hardly any feelings of triumph surfaced. Looking up at the unnatural sunlight that existed without stars brought a certain sense of relief, still.

Charlotte breathed out while adjusting her gloves, "What now? Should we head back to Gurmo's?"

"I haven't thought about that yet…It's a long walk, and I think we're all already tired," Finn said.

"You want to set up around here for a bit, then?" Charlotte asked.

"Should be fine," Finn said.

There wasn't much input from Jasper, though it wasn't surprising considering what just transpired. A short hike led to finding a nook near a grassy mountainside west of the crater, with trees that acted as good concealment from the wilderness.