I’m not quite sure how long we lay here, surrounded by corpses. Something collapses to our side. A building giving way, as the charred support beams that held it up aloft collapse, as they burn through. A cloud of dirt and dust flies through the air. But we’re still here, we’re just kind of ignoring it. Raising my gaze, I look up towards Madison. She’s watching from afar, I’m not sure how I feel about it. It’s kind of an intimate moment, you know? Then again, everyone is always watching, so…

 

Hmm.

 

  She’s going through some stuff. The monk that is. It would be rude of me to interrupt that. It’s weird for me though, how I ended up here again. You know, ‘here’. In this weird sort of pinned down position with someone on top of me. Not to be that guy, because I know what kind of mind you have, but I end up like this a lot, actually. It’s just one of those weird patterns that keeps repeating itself, now that I think about it. I have a lot of those in my life. Uh… lives. I stroke her short hair, my fingers running over her scalp as I keep humming that weird sound and she keeps making her own weird sounds.

 

  She got lonely without me, so she’s causing trouble. Trouble for me at least. Though I guess it’s rude to call it trouble. Emotions are a weird thing. Remember when I was in the water? That was a good life. It was quiet. Sterile. Emotionless. I ate a fish, remember? Remember the fish, guy? It was nice. I hope you’re living a nice life, fish. I like this tune. It sounds familiar. I think I used to hear this a lot, but I don’t remember where. Maybe it was up on the apex of the world.

 

My head leans back and I look up towards Madison who is still just hovering around. I guess this is awkward for her too.

 

  A dinging noise breaks the silence. The monk’s head lifts up off of me and she looks towards it, her face contorting fresh as she sees it again. Her eyes twist from a deep sadness to a look I recognize. She’s lost in her mind, in her thoughts. Her thoughts are going Bmmmmm-. She has to listen to them. To understand them. I look too, usually this is important stuff. Usually thi-

 

 

Ah. Dang...

 

  I kick my feet out and turn around beneath her, trying to squirm myself free. My fingers claw into the dirt and I pull myself forward. They’ve come back. They’ve come back for her. They’re such good friends. To her at least. It’s broken, everything is broken. It’s not supposed to be like this. The hero-party never goes back up. I claw forward again and pull, but she’s holding onto the cloth of my robe. I strain and struggle. Crunch. Crunch! HAHA! They’re going to crunch me! She’s sitting on my back, her hands shaking. She doesn’t know what to do, that’s fine. I do. I know. I know. I know. You know? I know!

 

  The tips of my boots press down against the stones and I leap, something rips on the back of my robe near the shoulders. A wet yelp escapes her, as I push out and away, she didn’t expect this kind of force from my soft body and falls down onto her bottom. She doesn’t know that there’s no-one here but me. I land on all fours and scramble like the rat-hero, until I manage to get back up onto my feet and run in a full sprint. I’m not sure why, but my face turns back to look at her as I run. One of those weird hands is reaching back towards her again, but I move the legs. I move the legs, they skitter, they scamper and I run. She doesn’t know what to do anymore. I see them coming up behind her. They were running. Look how worried their faces are, isn’t that just NICE?! Some eyes are on me. Some eyes are on my purple. They saw. They saw! The priestess grabs the monks shoulders and inspects her. I turn back forward. Madison swoops down towards me, flying along at my side again. I look away before I have to see her eyes anymore. They look wet.

 

“Just let them kill you!” snaps the book to me with her dreamy voice sounding rather sharp. It hurts me to hear her say that, honestly. I thought we were friends.

 

“Dying hurts, Madison!”

 

“You’ll be fine!” she says, floating at my side.

 

  “Then you go die! I’m going this way!” I turn the corner and stop. Another pipe. I knock against it and listen, pressing my ear close for a second. It’s still there. It always has been. Haha! I keep running. I run. I run. The stairs. I remember the stairs. I came down them not that long ago. Well, ‘I’ did. You know what I mean, guy. Don’t be pedantic. I feel bad. Why do I feel bad? Oh. I know. I turn to Madison as we run. “Sorry Madison, I’m not trying to be a jerk. That was rude of me.”

 

  She looks at me somewhat confused, but simply floats along my side not saying anything else. It’s complicated. I don’t feel better. Was that not what was bothering me? I guess not. My boots kick a dead child as I run. Woops. Is that bad luck? I hope not. I don’t have any salt to throw over my shoulder. I jump over the next one. The hero-party really did a number on this place, haha!

 

  “Jump,” says a dreamy voice from next to me. I look at her, she looks at me. “Jump,” she says plainly and floats away on her own. I leap, not sure why exactly, and grab hold of another slanted roof, pulling myself up onto the construction just in time, as the world erupts below me. I dive to the side, slamming myself against the roof, as the wave of fire rises up, consuming and swallowing everything there was where I stood. Uf. I raise my head and look back at the wizard, she’s preparing another fireball. Her eyes are filled with an emotion that is indistinguishable from the flames in her hands, from the inferno rising up and reaching for me from below.

 

Shi-!

 

  I leap and clamber over the roof, as it erupts into a fresh eruption. They saw. They saw! They saw my eyes, guy! It’s so embarrassing. I clutch my blushing cheeks. It’s so embarrassing! I run over the rooftop and leap towards the next one, the ridge slamming painfully into my gut, as I just barely make the jump. This isn’t a very physically apt body, I bruise like old fruit. I sigh and pull myself up. She always yelled at me when she saw the blue marks covering my gut, but then I always yelled back at her and told her that they’re from her always hitting me. She’s not great at talking, you know? A real knuckle-dragger. I leap, shingles fly past me, as they are propelled like jagged shrapnel. She’s kind of immature, like, she doesn’t know how to open up. So she’ll just punch me instead, like a schoolyard kid with a crush who doesn’t know what to do with their feelings.

 

“Go down,” says Madison, floating down low.

 

  I drop down, the roof in front of me vanishes, disintegrating in an instant as the preemptive fireball destroys the house. This one larger than the last. She’s mad. I guess I’m not cute enough for her to spare me. That’s fine, I’m spoken for. Anyways, not everyone is as good at dealing with their emotions as I am, tell you what. I push my eyes back further in, are you sure these aren't loose, guy? I feel like they're a little jiggly. I run down the alley, chasing these strong feelings that reside in my body. I need to climb higher, I need to go further. I wish I had my spear, but I left it behind. But that’s fine. This is fighting too, right? My eyes go wide. This is what I need to do, too, right?

 

  “STOP!” calls a voice out from behind me at the end of the alley. The world in-front of me erupts into light, as a vertical wall of shimmering white-magic blocks the only path. I’m trapped. Trapped like a rat! I look back at the priestess standing in the distance, her hands outstretched as she keeps the wall in place. I squeak! Like a rat. Like a rat… Ratty-ratty-ratty. Rat-hero, are you well? The wizard slides around the corner, fire in her hands. There’s nowhere to go. There’s nowhere to go! I'm in the water! I'm in the water! I slam my hands down onto the ground, placing a fresh wall just in front of me, just in time as the fireball smashes against it. I’m trapped in a box. Stone walls to the left and right. Magical walls to the front and back. I’m trapped. Rat-hero, save me!

 

Clank. Clank. Haha! There’s that sound again. The sound of metal boots!

 

Wait. Metal boots…?

 

  I turn around and look through the shimmering wall behind me and see him. The hero. My eyes narrow again, which is good because they stay better in place that way. I want to fight him. I want to fight him. But I can’t. I can’t! There’s so much work to do! Haha! HAHA! The fire starts to dissipate and I let my wall fall, running back down the way I came towards the two casters. The wizard conjures up another spell. She’ll finish far before I make it past them. White magic courses through my body anew. Hallow! Hallow! The wall behind me vanishes as well, he’s coming. He’s coming for our eyes!

 

  I drop forward, slamming my hands down onto the rough stones once again. A new white-magic wall appears before me and I leap, grabbing on to the top rim of the glass pane as it rises upwards. I have places to go. I have people to be. My head turns back just in time to see the hero below me, his sword below me. His eyes... I stare at them as my boot presses against the wall that I hang off the side of and I leap again, flying over his head, flying over the sword that swings for me. That swings for my destruction. Though a hand reaching from my body reaches down towards him, reaching for those eyes.

 

I don't get them. Instead I make a second wall on the charred roof of the building and grab on to that, flying out of his reach and I leap again, flying down onto the next roof, now having come back on top. And I run. I run. I scamper like a rat. Like the rat-hero, the true hero of the dungeon, I scamper. Madison floats back next to me as I scurry.

 

“I’m surprised you got out of that,” she says.

 

  “Please Madison, I’m a professional, you know?!” I tell her and grab her again, holding her safe as we round the bend, getting out of the path of the fresh fireball that I sense coming. We bend down the way just in time, as the world behind us erupts into fire. They’re hot on our trail. Paper burns easily, you know?

 

The stairs. I see them. I see them! I run. I run. My boot steps onto the staircase, I made it. I did it! I did I- “AAAAH!”

 

I yelp as something grabs me.

 

I yelp as I expect to die. I yelp as we move higher, as my body is raised up towards the apex of the world. Huh? Opening an eye warily, I look at the monk who has literally swept me off of my feet and is carrying me up the staircase. Well, carrying us. I laugh, letting go of Madison to hold my blushing cheeks, as she carries me up the staircase, as I am delivered to floor seventy-nine. Held tightly in strong arms and warm hands. It’s so embarrassing!

 

It’s all just a little complicated, guy. Okay? I miss being a slime. But this is nice too, I guess.