"Ugh, my head."
"Cough cough! My nose is full of sand."
The others slowly woke up, shaking their head and brushed off the sand sticking to their skin and clothes.
"Wait, we're already outside?! How about the trial?!"
Patricia jumped, turning her head right and left in panic. I showed her the red feather in my hand. She came closer and marveled at the red feather.
"Don't worry, we have passed the trial."
"Wow, it's pretty."
"The color kind of resembles your hair. It's beautiful."
"Hehe, is it? It turned this color as a part of my awakening."
I nodded. Patricia was indeed beautiful, especially her hair. It's not a fiery red like Xain, but a softer red with a blend of brown.
"Hm?"
Noticing the silence of my other teammates, I looked at each one of them. They had woken up and there's no visible injury so I thought they were fine, but I was wrong.
Each of them – excluding Patricia – had a pale face, some even trembling in fear. This tower's boss didn't attack physically, but mentally, so what would be the most efficient method to defeat a human's mind?
I turned to Patricia, "What did you see when you were unconscious?"
"Uhm… It wasn't something pleasant, you could say it was an unpleasant event in the past- wait, does that mean, they are also-?"
I nodded, and we immediately moved.
"Cedric! Hey wake up! Stop biting your nails!"
Patricia ran toward Cedric. Out of the four, there were two that needed our immediate attention. I turned toward the other, gently rubbing his back.
"Ilyas, breathe."
Ilyas was having a panic attack.
I grabbed his hand, trying my best to calm him down.
"Ilyas, look at me."
I cupped his mouth and that somehow gained his attention as he looked up at me.
"Breathe, I'm here with you."
Ilyas leaned into me so I took that as a cue to hug him. He trembled softly in my arms before taking deep breaths and calming himself down. I stayed in place while rubbing his back and patting his head.
From the corner of my eye, I saw Patricia trying to calm Cedric down.
"Don't touch me! You guys hate me!"
"We don't hate you. Look! We are all friendly here."
Cedric's reaction was aggressive, making Patricia, who tried to approach, slowed down on her step. Patricia slowly crouched down and met Cedric's eye level, trying to reach him again.
"Cedric, do you hear me? It's me Patricia-"
SLAP!
"I told you not to touch me!"
But this time Cedric slapped her hand, hard. He glared at her, his eyes carried a murderous intent.
The surrounding temperature dropped as his emotion was unstable, sending chills up our spine.
"Slapping a lady's hand? You really need to be taught a lesson."
Marcello's voice was the last thing I heard before Cedric was slapped across his cheek.
Cedric stumbled from the force, his eyes wide in shock. He touched his cheek and raised his head, meeting Marcello's unimpressed stare.
"Feeling awake yet or should I slap you more?"
Cedric rubbed his cheek, his eyes regaining focus, "No, I'm awake now."
Marcello smiled and turned towards me, "Seems like the guide can't guide us yet, let's take a break before we continue to the next tower shall we?"
Brushing Ilyas' hair, I nodded at Marcello's suggestion. Xain helped Cedric up, while Patricia thanked Marcello for helping.
We were ready to get back.
I tried to gently pull my body from Ilyas, but he refused to budge.
"Ilyas, I'll carry you back to the plane, so can you release your grip first so I can put you on my back?"
"... don't want to."
"Hm?"
He wrapped his arm around my neck, his eyes teary as he looked at me, "Carry me like this."
'Like this? He means front carry?'
Ilyas stared at me almost desperately, so of course I couldn't say no to that.
"Alright."
I held his body close to me and with one swift motion, I carried Ilyas on my arm while following behind my teammates.
Ilyas buried his head on my neck again, breathing softly this time. I smiled watching him, he had completely calmed down and was slowly falling asleep. Even though it would only be a few hours at most, I would take care of him so no one could disturb his sleep.
I whispered in his ear.
"Hope you have nice dreams."
.
.
The last tower was the tower back at our home country, the Obsidian Tower.
Munching on a sandwich that was served to us by a flight attendant, I reorganized my thoughts.
Because of the phoenix's spell, I was able to converse with the original Ethan, something I didn't have access to since the first time I transmigrated here.
Because of that conversation, a decision finally formed in my heart.
"Hnngh."
"You're awake?"
Ilyas, who was sitting beside me on the plane, rubbed his eyes and yawned.
"Is this suit jacket yours? Did you cover me with this?"
"Yes, I don't want you to catch a cold."
I covered Ilyas with it because there's no blanket available. I would definitely not let him shiver in the cold.
"Are you hungry? Want a sandwich?" I offered.
Ilyas spotted the sandwich wrapped in parchment paper in my hand and curiously asked, "What are you having?"
"Egg and tuna mayo, do you want the same flavor?"
He nodded soundlessly, so I called the attendant and another one was immediately served.
Holding the sandwich in his hand, Ilyas took a small bite at first, before his face lit up and he took a satisfying bite until his mouth was full.
I chuckled at his behavior, he looked like a small hamster stuffing his cheeks. It looked cute.
"Slow down, no one would take the food away from you."
"em hnngry."
Finishing his sandwich in a flash, Ilyas smiled in satisfaction. But I guess his statement of being hungry was true. His stomach still grumbled in protest, demanding more food.
"Want mine too?"
Ilyas shook his head, "Nono! If I eat it, what about you? You must be hungrier than me."
"Take it, I don't eat much anyway. Besides, watching you eat already makes me full."
I placed the sandwich in his hand, flashing him a smile to assure him that I didn't mind. But for some reason, Ilyas' face flushed red.
He turned his gaze away and fidgeted in his seat, bringing the sandwich to his mouth and munched it slowly.
Feeling proud after feeding him, I smiled. The last few minutes of the flight were me hearing Ilyas taking a bite after bite of the half-eaten sandwich.