The second female lead Dual Cultivates

"You shouldn't have come. This is not a sight for your eyes" Nao's voice cut through the numbness Maria was feeling. It was like hearing underwater but somehow duller than all that. Maria felt her heart give out a painful lunge as her eyes tried to make sense of what she was seeing.

Nao looked bad but not in a general sense. Her skin looked like it was melting away from the bone or maybe it was the heat and the sweat that was making her look like that. Her torso was half-lying in the pool while the other half did its best to keep Suna out of the pool.

Suna was in a marginally better physical condition but Maria was not sure if her mental condition would be any better than Nao's. There was also a head wound there that was bleeding rather badly for Maria to feel comfortable with.

"Don't move. I'll get you both out" Maris jerked into motion and her chains managed to get a hold of Suna to drag her out. She only had the strength to drag one of her companions out at a time and Nao could not be pulled up as long as Suna was there.

"Good. Maria, do take care of yourself and don't let this encounter change you. Remember, I love you" Nao replied and her voice came out calm and sincere. Maria instantly hated that voice since it sounded too much like a farewell. There were no farewells inside here.

However, Maria was spared from answering since she had to catch Suna. The chains had gotten her to a safe distance but Maria wanted to physically hold her to assure herself that she was here and alright. Her hands brushed against Suna's and instant relief filled her being.

"Nai, it's your turn" Maria called out as she put Suna down but Noa was nowhere to be found. Her hand that had clutched the edge so tightly no longer held the ledge and Maria dashed toward the edge to have a look.

Her eyes met Nao's closed ones and her throat felt like it was about to stop breathing. Her hand extended toward Nao and despite all the sensations telling Maria to pulp back, she continued ahead. Her hand brushed against Nao's and her body instantly froze at the realization.

There was no life inside the body. It had been sucked away by the blood pool, just as it was sucking away Maria's. If she did not get her hand away in time, then she would be dead as well.

But despite it all, Maria did not move her hand away from where it clutched Nao's body. It was too difficult to pull away from her friend and Maria could only feel a whiplash of emotions inside her chest.

They haven't even talked about their fight yet, and haven't resolved the air between them. So how was Nao already dead? How could she possibly think that it was alright to just up and die like that? There had to be more here.

Maybe it was a prank and Nao would come back any second if Maria waited here. She and Suna could wait here and then get Suna to a medic to get her wound treated? It would all work out well in the end, just as it always had, and then they would move on to the next node to do what Nao had wanted to and-

-Suna groaned in pain which made Maria's heart lunge in pain. Nao was likely gone and here Maria was, wasting time when Suna was fighting for her life as well. Hope was a terrible feeling to have and Maria hated how it had taken hold of her in the end.

Maria had thought that she had been ready for whatever life was going to throw at her but that was not the case here. Nao's separation felt like a step Maria could not come back from. She had no will to even move, much less save Suna or herself.

The cave around her was beginning to give a healthy glow and the feeling was becoming stronger. The node had been revived but the sacrifices needed to be had been too much for them all. Even the arrival of Samuel at her side did not make her flinch.

"Let's get out of here. This place is going to seal itself and we'll be trapped without the key'' Samuel asked as he grabbed Maria's shoulder. But he neither had the power, nor the influence needed to make Maria move.

"Leave me be. Take Suna and get out. I'll wait for Nao" Maria replied, her voice hollow. It was the exact voice one used when they had lost all hope and Maria felt eerily like the child that had first been hospitalized and had gradually lost hope

She had thought she had gotten better, stronger than her last life but her brush with the node had reminded her that she had been wrong to think so. She was still that weak brat who could do nothing but sit here and lament her choices.

"No. You cannot stay here since I promised your friend that I would get you out. Both her and my brother made a choice that we need to acknowledge. We can't be selfish here" Samuel argued and Maira felt her jaw clench in irritation.

Of course, the man had to go out and say exactly what Maria had not wanted to hear. Selfish? Had what Nao did not been selfish. She had chosen death without consulting Maria first and it felt like a nightmare now.

Maybe Maria was dreaming it all up and was about to wake up any second.

"It's foolish. But if you've decided to die anyway, you can. I'll take your companion out and get her treated" Maria agreed but somewhere inside her, something decided to rebel. She found herself between the man and Suna as a defense agent.

She had not even felt her body mode but she had Suna on her back before she knew it. It felt like such a fluid motion that Maria could not help but flinch.

"No. I'll carry her'' Maria decided and she felt the magic around her pulse in pleasure. The node was finally coming alive. It was a bitter-sweet victory Maria could not appreciate.

'You have my gratitude. As a reward, let me help you continue your quest to stop the war. Just as that demoness asked me to' Maria heard the voice and heard the yelp but it all faded away into white light.

Maria felt something soft and cold beneath her and she positioned Suna so that she did not touch the surface before passing out.