Grazing The Sky

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Lance's eyes snapped open, a jolt twitching his body inwards. He stared, the earth and the trees tilted sideways, and realized he had fallen asleep. There was no exhaustion in him; only a very deep numbness. Like someone had left ice on every muscle, every bone.

He looked ahead of himself again, finding it almost odd he was laying on his side. Curled inwards slightly, one hand by his face. Zidane was sitting by a tree, his body upright but limp; head tilted to one side. His eyes were still closed, those breaths that were almost alarmingly long the only movement he made.

He was away. Escaping from whatever this place was. He was somewhere better.

He'd left Lance here.

The human turned his eyes back, passing them along the blades of grass. A wince suddenly sounded, prompting Lance's stare. He looked up, seeing Zidane's face clenched. A tsk shot out between the crossbreed's teeth, and his head bowed, entire body trembling.

Lance pushed himself upright. What in the f.u.c.k...?

"Zidane," he called in between a shout and a whisper. "Zidane!"

No response. Lance saw something dark bleed onto Zidane's jacket, the space to the left of his c.h.e.s.t. Panic came into Lance, easing in the smallest of ways when he realized hearts were on the other side. But this was still a pretty damn big problem.

Another spot formed on the opposite side and half-a-foot downward. Lance stood up, and fire suddenly consumed him.

He was standing in a room, barely having time to register a large bed before a force pushed him back, a door slamming as he passed through.

He blinked, body wavering slightly as he stood in a hallway. With his brain swimming and trying to catch up with what had just happened, Lance turned around, spotting movement.

Zooka ran down the hall, instantly being stopped by an invisible wall. The wall rippled upon contact, more ripples forming as she slammed her fists against the barrier.

"Hey!" she yelled. "Hey!"

His heart quickening in his throat, Lance spun around. "I think there's a way out here—" But as soon as he walked forward, a barrier greeted his foot. Dammit.

"Another one?" Zooka asked.

Lance thought hard, watching the ripples reach to all four sides of the barrier. There had to be a way out...

"Excuse me."

He spun around, seeing her and feeling that bolt slam against him. This wasn't the time...

"Do you speak English?"

Why is she... And then Lance realized: his eyes must have brightened, upon seeing her...

He quickly nodded. "Yeah. I'm a friend of Zidane's." Wanting to avoid every question possible, he looked up to the barrier behind himself again. "I'm sure there's a way out of here."

The statement of comfort slipped from him; like running water through your hand. It was... natural, wanting to ease that worry.

I can feel how much she's worrying. Dammit; this isn't the time for the soulmate bullshit.

He kicked the barrier, feeling an equal amount of pain crack up his leg. He bit down a scream, speaking through gritted teeth while holding his leg.

"What happened?" he asked.

"He was stabbed," Zooka answered, and Lance could tell from her voice she was sliding down into a sitting position. "Twice, by Arzo."

F.u.c.k.i.n.g figures...

Lance shouldered the barrier, screaming out his next question. "Do you know where the bastard went?"

"Arzo?"

No, the f.u.c.k.i.n.g muffin man. "Yeah, Arzo."

Lance stepped back, looking up at the barrier again. "I need to punch him in the face."

Zooka paused for a moment. "I'm... Not sure where he went," she said finally.

Great. Lance sighed, running both hands through his hair. "F.u.c.k..."

"Wait a minute..." Lance felt his soul drop. Did she figure it out? Who he really was?

Lance spun around, relieved to see that she was staring at the hallway instead of him. Then the location of where they were hit him.

"This is..."

Zooka turned around, looking over her shoulder. "Ezyta's castle."

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