"Nrhk!"

Guila groaned as she rolled to her side and onto her back. She wasn't knocked out. But in exchange, her already aching body now felt worse than it already was.

She was back on the cold hard floor, once again. But this time, she couldn't see nor hear anything other than the sound of metal screeching.

Still, she knew that the floor was now tilted by around 30 degrees towards where Ariel was.

"... A-Ariel…!" She called out as her thoughts raced.

One bad warp would seal them here. The room might’ve even caved in and she was unlucky enough to still be alive.

She had been at death's door multiple times now. Each time worse than the last. But never once could she have imagined an end so bleak and…

"Mistress…" An answer came and seemingly her worries eased. "I'm here, Mistress… I'm glad you're okay."

It took a moment for Guila to pinpoint the direction of her voice, yet she was sure. Ariel's bed was right in front of her.

"But I can't move. You should leave quickly, before they come."

“Huh?”

“Please, quickly. Get away from this place and find Master, as soon as possible.”

"... What are you talking about?"

"I can hear screaming, Mistress. They're distant, but they're getting quieter."

Of course, Guila couldn't hear anything. However, a Vulpina's ears were several times more sensitive than humans. They could even hear high frequencies similar to those that dogs can. She didn’t have any reason to cook up some crazy lie right now, so she had to be telling the truth.

But Guila couldn't believe it.

"Please, Mistress. Quickly. I don’t want to hear you scream like them too."

She just couldn't.

"Something is cutting off their voices."

"Stop mewling!"

She yelled, then rolled back on her stomach and pushed herself up. Her shoulder still ached and she couldn't move it properly - but she could use it and so she did.

Even as she screamed through gritted teeth to do so.

"But Mis-"

"Shut up!"

She grabbed onto the bed railing and used it to support her weight. After a solid two minutes, Guila was standing against Ariel's bed - looking down at where the Vulpina should be strapped and immobile.

"How dare you…" She said through gritted teeth. "You think you're allowed to sulk, just because of what I said?! Stop being an immature brat! Your life belongs to my husband, and until he says otherwise, your priority is to get back to his side!"

"Now grow up so that we can find him quickly!"

Although she nearly fell over after letting go of the railing, she bent down at the waist and used her stomach to keep herself up. Her hands landed on Ariel's stomach and she felt the toned abdominal muscles beneath her thin dress.

From there, it was easy to find her wrists. Even easier to loosen the belt and buckle strap around her left wrist. But then, she found out that Ariel’s right wrist wasn't held down.

Not only that, but Guila actually found the torn off buckle where her wrist would've been.

"What is wrong with you?! If you were already free then why-"

"I can't move, Mistress!" Ariel cried back, just as another accusation was about to be thrown her way. "They injected something in me, this time!"

"I'm worse than just useless now!"

Of course, Guila realized. Vulpinae weren't only able to hear much better than humans, they were stronger and tougher too. The cloth that connected the strap with the bed, would’ve been easy to tear apart. So when she escaped the first time, they made sure she couldn't do so, again.

'Why, then?' Was a question that she didn't need to ask. For the answer had already been given. And now, after what she had told Ariel...

"But your only priority still doesn't change! So beg, Ariel! Beg me to help you return to the one person that desires you. Scream and curse at me if I even try to walk away!"

"... Mistress…?"

"If you really have no other reason to live then prove it to me!"

“... But I…”

“Do you dare believe that your life belongs to you?!”

“No…! I don’t! I would never-!”

“Then beg!”

"... I... P-please…! Please help me, Mistress! Don't leave me behind!"

"Finally!"

It took a while longer than last time, but Guila's eyes finally acclimated to the darkness, granting her a red-hued night vision. Only when it happened, did she learn why.

A massive crack ran across her now scuffed up left field of vision, effectively blinding her in one eye.

But it was enough.

Luckily, the room didn't seem deformed beyond now tilting, and the furniture had all been bolted to the floor. However, all tools and medical equipment were now gathered against the wall. Some of them were under Ariel's bed, too. But those were probably from her side of the room.

It took a few seconds before she was able to organize her thoughts and come up with a plan.

"Physical inhibitors always come with an antidote on the other end. But they're specific to each type, depending on the duration, and are slow to take full effect! They would've left it here in case someone like Corteza found you with a complication." She explained while going to her knees and crawling towards the pile.

"So what did it look like, Ariel? What type of syringe? What color?!"

"It was yellow with two black stripes! There were letters on it but I don't know what it said!"

"That's good enough, Ariel! Great job!" It was honest praise, given that she was able to remember that much, despite what was happening to her physically and mentally.

Guila activated the color correction by focusing on one of the icons in her periphery, but it stung terribly because of the post processing it required, even when her eyes were in perfect condition. Now, her left eye felt like a hot iron searing into her brain.

But she gritted her teeth through the pain. Screaming here would just distract her and make the pain last longer. She crawled and sifted through metal tools and shattered glass. Nearly cutting herself several times.

“-ahk!”

It took an agonizing thirty seconds before she finally found it under a metal tray, in the middle of a water and disinfectant pool.

"I found it!"

"Really?!"

She quickly turned off the color correction, grabbed the plastic syringe and confirmed that the liquid in one end had indeed been spent. Which meant that the other end was the antidote. At least, that was what the writing said.

She nearly fell over again when she tried to stand, but thankfully she grabbed the railing just in time. With one last grunt, she managed to inject the antidote into Ariel's left breast.

"Aiek!" Ariel jolted, having not seen it coming.

"It'll… take a day before you can move fully. But you should be able to stand and walk again in twenty minutes. You can't overexert, though…" Guila gasped, trying to repeat what the directions stated "Your organs were also paralyzed, but to a lesser degree. Your lungs might not be able to handle it, if you ran or jumped… Do you understand?"

"Y-yes! I do!"

"Good… good… I'm just going to… ngh…" Having actually succeeded, she pulled the syringe out, and let herself fall onto Ariel's stomach - her injured leg finally giving up.

"Tell me…" Guila whispered, while staring at Ariel's chin and hearing both of their heartbeats. "What's happening outside? What can we expect?"

"... metallic, or something like it. I heard many loud bangs and pings…"

"Those must've been weapons… the bangs are probably powder-based ones for civilians. The pings would be military grade lasers."

"Really? They sounded horrible… Well, a few minutes after they stopped, the screaming did too. Then, everything was replaced with, I think, chittering."

"... chittering?"

"Yes… like things that keep hitting each other very quickly. That kind of sound."

"... is it still there?"

"Yes… Actually, they're everywhere. From above and below. Left and right… it's coming from every direction. What are they, Mistress?"

"... I… have no idea. Maybe it's just part of some emergency protocols. The fact that people are now using their firearms is the real problem, though. It might be a war zone out there now… We’ll need to keep out of sight…"

"..."

"..."

"... How long has it been, Mistress?"

She glanced at the clock in her periphery and sighed.

"Almost four minutes. Still sixteen more to go."