Chapter Text
"Eugeo... Eugeo!”
I heard somebody shout my name. With my eyes still closed, I started analysing my surroundings. Dimmed lights, soft texture of whatever I’m currently laying on, someone’s presence to my right.
“Eugeo, wake up!”
Ah, and a very strong feeling of exhaustion, immense tiredness. Wherever I’m right now, it must be night, and that person definitely wants something from me. But I want to just close my eyes and dive into a long sweet dream. But the problem is, my eyes are already closed! Plus, something tells me that I've been sleeping for quite a while. Then why do I still want to sleep?
“C’mon... please, Eugeo!”
Their voice seemed to stutter, as if they were crying, and a hand was gently placed on my shoulder, starting to shake it to make me wake up. Looks like they won’t let me sleep peacefully. I tried to open my eyes, but it was almost impossible. My eyelids... they must have weighed a ton! Only with an immense force was I able to do this.
What I saw shocked me greatly. There was Kirito standing in front of me with his eyes filled with tears. I’d never seen him crying... especially in such a situation. “K-Kirito...” was the only word I said.
I was still laying on what seemed to be my pillow. I tried to get up, but it wasn’t any easier either. My head started to hurt like it was going to explode, and I instinctively touched it trying to make everything stop rotating. What happened to me?
“Eugeo!” Kirito leaned forward and put his hands around my neck. He was sobbing quite hard. “You okay?”
I could have sworn I wasn’t. I felt like shit. No exaggeration.
“Umm... Not really,” I said, clearing my throat. “My head is ringing and... wait, what is that smell?”
Our room on the third floor of the elite disciples’ dorm seemed to be perfectly fine, except for a cracking noise going from somewhere outside and that strange smell like something was burning. It was also too hot for spring in Norlangarth. I quickly examined myself and found out I was in my uniform, now sitting on the coach in mine and Kirito’s common room. I looked towards the window. It was dark outside, so it must have been about two or three in the morning. I looked back at Kirito, waiting patiently for the explanations. He still had tears in his eyes and looked very anxious in general, making me worried. What is going on here?!
“That is actually the reason why I was trying to wake you up,” he still sounded nervously. Scratching the back of his neck, he probably was thinking whether he should continue or not. “I guess you have figured it out already, but... the dorm is on fire.”
“What?!” I shouted, and in response my headache got even worse. I shut my eyes trying to cope with it.
“We must get outta here as soon as possible, Eugeo!”
I could tell he was panicking, so was I. I mean, anyone would be panicking in this situation, but it was so strange to see always calm and levelheaded Kirito the other way round. And it struck me for a while.
“Can you stand up?”
I tried. Honestly. But the success didn’t last for more than five seconds. My legs felt like jelly, and I had to hold onto him so I wouldn't fall down. “Sorry, K-Kirito,” I apologised.
“It’s okay, hold tight,” he said, trying to sound reassuringly, and put my right hand around his neck and his left hand around my waist. We looked at each other simultaneously; our faces inches apart, and I felt myself heat up. Luckily, I averted before I would have accidentally made something that I would regret. Kirito didn’t say anything, and we started walking. Well, it was mostly my partner going, since I could barely move my legs for an unknown reason. We reached the door and opened it. The noise, as well as the smell, only intensified. I couldn’t see any fire flames... yet. Probably because I couldn’t see anything because of the smoke. Speaking of it...
“Shouldn’t we lie down?” I asked, trying to outvoice the cracking noise of burning wood. He didn’t seem to have heard me, but I couldn’t repeat the question then, as my throat was aching with each word coming out of my mouth, so I needed some time to recharge.
It was terrifying. The long round corridor with the identical doors to other rooms and nothing more. Only me, Kirito, noise and smoke that was blocking the whole atrium, which probably was why I couldn’t see other disciples, or, at least, our mentors. But even with that factor it looked like everyone had left ages ago, and only Kirito had been waiting for me. Maybe I am still sleeping? Now that I have thought about it, it’s unlikely. Everything was too real to be a dream: my headache, general weakness and Kirito holding me.
I didn't know how much time had passed, but we finally reached the staircase and began slowly going down. The second floor I could say had been burning for a while, let alone the first one, where most likely all this had started. The door right to us and the ones next by the corridor had almost evaporated completely, making visible the rooms of some other students. The fire was everywhere. There was a lot more smoke than on the third floor. Besides, it was just as black as Kirito’s uniform. I started lacking oxygen and had to keep myself together so I wouldn’t fall unconscious. But it was hard to. Kirito stopped and coughed a bit.
I felt guilty. If it wasn’t for me, Kirito would have evacuated with others and now been safe, but instead he waited for me to wake up, putting both of us at such a big risk. What if I didn’t wake up for some reason? Would he have left me or stayed with me... and died?.. I must be such a burden to him. And all I can do now is hold onto him, while we are going... wait, where are we going? We definitely are not going to exit the normal way, since the first floor... well, the stairs are blocked with fire. Damn, it’s too hot here.
Then happened something like an earthquake — I didn’t really understand. Just the floor suddenly moved back and forth. Or maybe I started hallucinating for the same unknown reason why my legs were like jelly, my throat was aching and my head was hurting like hell. But nonetheless it seemed that the building would burn down within minutes. I turned my head to say something in my partner’s ear:
“Kirito, drop me. You still can get out safely while it’s not late.”
“What are you saying? I won’t let you die, ever!” was his answer. He said that with such determination and look in his eyes that I shivered greatly, and words stuck somewhere in my throat. I held him even more tightly and tried to move my legs. To my surprise, I was slowly regaining control over them, but still couldn’t walk normally.
We stopped at one of the doors, and the ground shook once again. Kirito opened it and got us inside. There was a bit more oxygen than in the hallway and less smoke. I took a deep breath, so did Kirito. But why did we need to get in this room? The answer appeared before I asked the question out loud. Kirito sat me on the couch and got to the window, burst-opening it. There was a tree. The same tree he used to sneak out from time to time. Wait... Does he want to come down this way?!
“Kirito... are you... are you serious?” I asked, fear suddenly got the best of me. Though I’m not afraid of heights. It’s just that my current condition is not good — to say the least. He sighed and looked me in the eyes. The contact sent goosebumps to my body. The contact that was always so gentle and caring. It was too easy for me to drown in his eyes, but Kirito—
“I don’t want to either, but...” he said, interrupting my train of thoughts, and stared at the opened door. The visible part of the corridor became more and more enlightened as the fire approached. “But we have no other choice.”
I slowly nodded. He looked out the window and waved with his right hand.
“Hey, it’s Kirito over there!” I heard a painfully familiar voice.
“Get the ladder here!” said another familiar voice. “Kirito, is Eugeo with you?” I wasn’t completely sure, but it seemed to be... Tiese and the previous voice must have been... Ronye. Kirito didn’t say anything though. Instead, he turned around to face me.
My partner was truly concerned about my well-being. It hadn’t changed a lot, to be honest. My head, legs, throat... Besides, I somehow started feeling nauseous. He came close to me and gave me a tight hug. Then he let go and gently took my head in his hands, “It’s gonna be alright, I promise,” he whispered in my face and gave me a warm smile. I shivered slightly at the feeling of his hot breath and blushed a bit. Hopefully he didn’t notice it due to the high temperature in the room. Hopefully...
“T-Thank you,” I stuttered, fighting the urge to kiss him on the lips. He walked away, and I breathed a sigh of relief that I hadn’t made anything stupid.
“Alright, they’ve placed the ladder,” Kirito confirmed, looking out once again. He somehow regained his confidence and now sounded calm and steady. I wonder what it takes for him to maintain a cold state of mind...
“Kirito, be quick, it’s falling down any second!” I heard Ronye shout while my partner approached me.
I slowly stood up and walked a few steps towards him. My legs were still tingling a bit, making me feel uncomfortable, but I tried to ignore it. Kirito smiled seeing me walking by myself. “Are you better?” he asked just to be sure. I nodded, looking in his eyes.
We reached the ladder. Kirito decided he would go down first, then me shortly after him. I looked outside. There were a lot of people. They kept a safe distance from the burning dorm, and only a few were right below us, near the ladder.
I couldn't look at it anymore as I started to feel dizzy, and turned around to face the burning room I was still in. Something unpleasant and uncomfortable formed in my stomach and went up to be released through my mouth, but I managed to keep it inside. Something gently touched my back. I turned to see Kirito, very concerned, “You okay?”
“Sure,” I lied. “Coming right behind you.”
He seemed convinced. I put my legs outside the window and stepped on the ladder. Then closed my eyes and cautiously went down.
Hardly had I touched the ground, when someone put their arms around my waist and squeezed me a bit. “Eugeo, you’re safe!” they exclaimed. I turned around and saw my page Tiese. I smiled at her and gently rubbed her head. “Thank you, Tiese,” I said, hugging her back. I looked up and saw Kirito tightly holding Ronye not far from where I stood. He gave me his warm smile and I calmed a bit. Though I still felt slightly jealous: I wanted to be the one who Kirito would embrace. I knew it was a bit childish and even egoistic, yet this knowledge didn’t help in any way.
“RUN FOR YOUR LIFE!!!”
“It’s falling down!”
“Everyone, step back.”
People were screaming, panicking and running in every direction where they wouldn’t be hit by the building. I decided we also need to hurry, but Kirito was first to say that:
“Ronye, Tiese, run to Azurica,” he demanded. “We’ll be following.”
“But—”
“No buts!”
They hesitantly nodded and ran away. Then Kirito gently grabbed me by the elbow and asked:
“How’re your legs? Can you run?”
“Y-Yes, but not too fast...” I replied after a quick inspection.
“Alright, let’s go then. Tell me if you need a break.”
It could have been called peaceful running, almost like jogging, if the burning dorm hadn’t made a terrifying dying sound before actually falling down. It was like thunder — the thing I’d always been afraid of. That’s why I almost tripped over and instinctively squeezed Kirito’s hand. But it was only the beginning of a more great action: the collapsed building provoked a small earthquake, and the shock wave of the touchdown sent us flying a good few mels. We landed just before Miss Azurica. Thanks to Kirito holding my hand, I didn’t fall down. There were a few primary trainees around her, including Tiese and Ronye. Though I didn’t see it, she must have used Sacred Arts to suppress the wind caused by the building in order to protect herself and the primary trainees. Speaking of it: why neither she nor other mentors tried to put out the fire using Sacred Arts? That would have prevented the dorm from falling and causing huge damage...
“Kirito, Eugeo,” she addressed, as if our appearance hadn’t surprised her at all, “please, look after my trainees while we are trying to extinguish it,” Miss Azurica ran to the other mentors, who already started dealing with the fire, not waiting for our response. I guess they did plan this from the beginning, but for some reason not until the dorm had fallen down did they start putting the fire out. Wait a second. What if it was a deliberate ignition? Did someone actually want to kill all of the elite disciples?! But that scenario would have gone against the Taboo Index. I felt a slight pulsing pain in my right eye all of a sudden and pushed those thoughts away. So many questions, so few answers. Besides, I have a strange feeling that we’ve forgotten something important there...
“Eugeo,” Kirito called and, followed by my shy “yes?”, grabbed my shoulder and turned me around, making me look towards the group of primary trainees, while he stood in front of me gazing at the fire... no — at me, my eyes, making my heartbeat rise dramatically.
“Can you tell them something... you know, to calm them down a bit... please?” he whispered, looking somewhere at my arm that he was still holding. Honestly, I was distracted by that sudden request and how unconfident it was...
“Of course,” I replied and started moving towards the group, having heard a quiet ‘thank you’ in my back. I giggled inwardly. Kirito can be such a cutie sometimes.
The group indeed looked frightened. They were whispering to each other, fear clearly imprinted on their faces. Sixteen-year-old primary trainees. Not that I’m accusing them or something. After all, their journey at the Academy started not long ago, and they already have to experience such a situation. Okay, here goes nothing...