Three of them stood around the well. Liam's body was still shaking from what seemed to be pain and shock of seeing his friend being sucked inside something he wanted to enter himself.
Erik finally moved away from Zephyr, not giving Liam a single glance. He stepped in front of the well and focused on the place where Ludwig started to get sucked in. Turning around to the other, he asked, leaning on the well's edge with a relaxed posture.
"So? Who goes next?"
"W-what the hell are you talking about!" Liam stuttered as he managed to get on his feet and pointed a finger at the well. "Didn't you just see Ludwig go inside? It's over."
"Master said that we needed to go inside, and you two blew it! Why did you stand on the side without doing anything?"
"Because." Sitting down on the fresh green grass, Zephyr answered as he plucked out one of the flowers. "She doesn't want us to go in."
"...What?" Liam, baffled by the two of them, mumbled under his breath before letting out a snicker.
"Ha." He walked over to the well, grabbing onto its ledge with both hands, his body readying to jump inside. "You think I'm going to believe you? I knew you were close, but seeing how nothing surprised you made it painfully obvious. You two are working together."
But a hand stopped him, holding him by his wrist so tight that he almost groaned. Liam shot a glare at Erik. "What are you doing?"
He didn't let go, only shrugging with his shoulders.
"If you want to fail, then jump, but don't blame us later." His hand retreated, hiding under the walls of his pockets.
Fools
A triumphant smirk appeared on his tired face.
Though he jumped inside it, he wasn't the first one to go in, as Ludwig had disappeared out of their sight. There was no way that they wouldn't know that everything was already over, so they could only give up on the chance and let him go, even if there was nothing to gain. But he found a loophole in his master's words.
The first person to jump inside the well would receive a one-on-one lesson. 'Jump' was what she asked them to do, but Ludwig didn't jump inside it; he fell inside by sheer coincidence. Even if he planned to jump earlier, he had no intent to actually fall inside the dark tunnel.
That's why he would be the one to win for the first time. His mind was only focused on the well, to be swallowed by it, to enter the place Ludwig did.
Liam jumped over the little wall inside the aged well, thick darkness rustled at its bottom as if it had come to life and tried to bounce off the walls. His legs went straight inside the well, preparing to disappear somewhere...
!
His eyes widened right after his torso passed the bucket; he could feel water pouring down on him.
There were no special effects, no force pulling him somewhere, no bottom he could press his feet against. With a body two times smaller than that of Ludwig, he disappeared inside the well without any sound coming from his mouth.
Only a look of betrayal was etched in his eyes, looking at the smirking Erik from below.
...
Looking down at the place where Liam sat, he thought about his actions, how he shouted at everyone after the Master left them all alone.
It was different than his usual demeanor, though; it was too late to ask him about that. He had already disappeared, just like Ludwig, in the bottomless well that would consume us all eventually.
I wonder, did she use magic to make it function like that?
"It's just us now."
Shaking him from his thoughts were the calm words of Erik, who sat on the well's edge. His sharp almond-shaped eyes were focused on Zephyr's body, inspecting him with an uncanny feeling to it. The hem of his white shirt was covered in dirt from the well, making him frown at the messy look.
"I need to ask my mother for a new one." He replied after noticing Zephyr's stare.
Jumping down the wall, he brushed his pants a few times before standing straight and turning to go back to the village. He glanced at Zephyr with the corner of his eye before explaining.
"I give up. If both of them are already inside, then they're probably discussing what to do next."
"Why?"
Erik stopped, both of his hands still hidden in the pockets as his torso turned to face Zephyr.
A smile tugged at his lips as he started to walk away quietly.
"Why not!"
His shout was carried by the wind as he soon disappeared from the field, leaving Zephyr standing there by himself at the well.
The light wind felt heavy on my skin; it was starting to get dark already. I couldn't think of a way to complete her task; it was as if she was hiding everything on purpose.
Whatever, at least I can look around without any problems
Unlike others, my approach was uneventful. Without any eyes on my back, I checked every corner, every crevice of the well's structure. But there was nothing different from a normal one, as if the traces of anything were hidden or even erased by her.
Maybe there's something wrong with the water?
No, that would be too simple; if it were, then Liam and Ludwig's attempts would have worked ages ago, resulting in both of them going back out.
"Maybe-"
As he finally seemed to find a clue, a sharp pain pierced his mind like a needle going straight inside his brain.
"Ugh!" He groaned, barely holding himself, his body leaning on the well's edge without him noticing.
The pain started to seep in from each section of his head, slipping deeper into his nerve system and striking from inside. Each little movement was like walking deeper inside a bush of thorns that kept striking at his temples with relentless intensity.
What... the hell!
Through his squinted eyes, he noticed a silhouette next to him, shrouded in the well's shadow. It didn't say a word as it watched him helplessly fall on his knees.
He wanted to say something, plead for any kind of help, maybe even call the villagers inside the village. But instead of helping Zephyr stand up, the figure started to raise his body, right towards the well.
"B-bastard, let go!" Zephyr hissed at the figure and grabbed onto its hand, which was coming to grab his neck.
The figure tried to take it back as if it were something simple, but after tugging at it twice, it started to shake terribly. Shadow dissipated into thin air as a figure of Erik revealed itself, trying to free himself from Zephyr's overpowering grab.
He glared at Zephyr through a strange, dark cloak. "How are you so strong?!" Gritting his teeth so hard that his gums started to bleed, a flash of light flew from his pocket before landing inside Zephyr's arm. "Just go inside!"
Erik's voice cracked with surprising urgency as he stabbed Zephyr's forearm with a metal dagger. Blood dripped on the lively green grass, tainting it in a new shade of life.
But Zephyr couldn't feel the pain inside his arm, not even his migraine seemed to influence his thoughts as he lifelessly stared at the sky before-
- Crack
His eyes blinked with a tiny crack before locking onto Erik, his body still shaking from the strain of pushing Zephyr back into the well.
"What do you think you're doing?"
An almost monotone voice devoid of emotion left Zephyr's lips as he looked deep into the boy, his grip tightening on Erik's arms, making him let out a pained groan.
Moments ago, it looked like Zephyr would be thrown inside a well with no way of winning, but by some miracle, the strength which had infiltrated his body, overwhelmed Erik who didn't skip a day of training.
His face wasn't calm like he always acted; it was desperate, a desperation to seek strength from his Master.
- Bump
Hitting the wall with his back, he had already figured that he had lost a long time ago.
Through his pained groans, his eyes, which held no resemblance to his previous self, turned soft, soft enough to make a regular person rethink their actions and let him go.
But Zephyr wasn't a regular person.
He was a kid who had everything but used nothing.
He was a contestant that already lost.
Just a person who gave up on any means of overcoming him.
Not because he was weak, but because he was too strong to worry about winning.
And with a not-so-gentle push, Erik's body was shoved down the well, his head hitting the bucket with a dull thunk before falling deeper and deeper.
A gleam of radiant sun reflected in his eyes.