Chapter Text
Luna wasn’t sure how everyone else felt as they stared at the fire, but what they were sure of was that they were horrified. The one adult in their life that hadn’t hurt or outright neglected them was the one to go up in flames, and they just didn’t know how to feel about that.
It wasn’t fair. Why couldn’t Edmond have been the one to—no, that’s not right. They didn’t want him to die. They just didn’t want him to hurt them anymore. What a weird thought to have, especially now.
Riley was their one chance at salvation. Now, they’d have to face Edmond alone, and who knew what would happen to them after that? That possibility had always scared them, but they’d been confident that it wouldn’t occur now that they had their friends with them.
However, they didn’t have Riley anymore. Riley was down there burning. Riley was gone and so too was their hope of a better life. They had to accept that. They wished they could’ve at least given them a proper burial though.
They dropped to their knees and just stared at the fire. As much as they wanted to ball up and cry, they just couldn’t. Their lack of feeling wasn’t from a lack of love, but they just didn’t know how to process the sudden shift in everything. One moment, everything was fine; the next moment, it felt as if they had lost everything.
Someone had dropped down beside them and wrapped an arm around them. They didn’t really know, nor care, who it was. It wouldn’t have changed anything. It wouldn’t have changed how they felt. It wouldn’t have changed the almost certain outcome they’d have to face soon. It wouldn’t have—
The pillar disappeared just as quickly as it appeared, like it hadn’t just claimed a life.
They fully expected to see nothing but maybe a remnant proving that Riley was once there. What they saw instead was Riley still alive.
Wait, alive?!
Though their eyes were closed, Luna could tell by the fact they had a death grip on the lantern that they were alive. Their status was only supported by the fact that they were trembling in fear, which was definitely something that could only be felt while alive.
“Holy sh—crap…” Jamie muttered. Surprisingly, Jade didn’t chastise them this time.
Once Riley opened their eyes and caught sight of the children, they immediately dropped the lantern and crossed the pit while it was “safe.” They then presumably grabbed onto the pillar and started climbing, but Luna failed to get a good angle to confirm.
Following Riley’s near-death, a lot more negative thoughts crept into Luna’s mind with the former once again out of sight. What if they ended up slipping and hitting their head or maybe they miscalculated a climb and fell into lava or…
Well, at least none of those thoughts would be a reality, since both of Riley’s hands soon appeared and clasped the edge. Everyone stayed back just enough so they’d have space to pull themselves up, but close enough to catch them if something went awry.
They peeked up over the edge but stopped for a moment to quickly scan everyone. In that time, Luna noticed that their breath had become quick and jagged, which was not really ideal given the circumstances. However, they assumed that any attempts at remedying that would just not be effective at the moment.
Once Riley caught a glance at everyone again, they finished climbing up and threw themselves on the ground. They didn’t say anything, instead opting to curl up into a ball and muttering to themselves.
Almost immediately, both Jamie and Luna attempted to swarm Riley. However, Jade stopped both of them in their tracks. “I… don’t think that’s a good idea right now. Just give them some space to breathe.”
That advice completely went against how Luna would’ve approached the situation, but they weren’t exactly in the mood to argue over it either. They were too tired from the rollercoaster of emotions to take any interest in an argument.
Jamie, on the other hand, seemed to back off immediately. They gave Jade an understanding nod and swiftly relocated to the other end of the platform. Luna only caught a quick glance of their face as they did so, but they seemed a bit… upset?
Since Luna wouldn’t get anywhere hovering over Riley, they decided to follow Jamie to their spot. It seemed they needed someone too and the two of them could also get some scouting done while Jade tended to Riley.
“Oh, hey Luna,” Jamie sighed.
“Jamie…?”
Luna sat down beside Jamie and folded their hands in their lap. They did see that Jamie left a stray hand near for the taking, but they didn’t want to push their luck.
Though… Jamie kept creeping their hand a little bit closer. Did they want it to be held?
Then it suddenly hit them: Jamie was looking for comfort. Luna grabbed their hand immediately upon making that realization.
That seemed to prompt Jamie to continue. “I, uh… if it wasn’t for that lantern…”
”It’s… not w-worth thinking about w-what could’ve happened… t-they’re alive so…” Hypocrite.
“Yeah, I guess so.” Jamie grimaced as a random pillar of fire bellowed elsewhere, then sighed. “We can’t stay here much longer. We’ve gotta get to whatever that is…” They then pointed over towards that structure. “We can probably actually rest there.”
Luna hummed in agreement. That was probably for the best considering one them almost lost their life here. The quicker they could escape this nightmare, the better.
You think this is a nightmare? Wait until I get my hands on you!
They subconsciously gripped Jamie’s hand tighter, prompting a concerned glare from them.
“Okay, your turn.”
“M-My turn?”
“Yeah. You’ve been acting weird since we left camp. What’s up with that?”
“It’s…” Don’t you dare. They already know too much. “Nothing.”
“You—” Another pillar of fire erupted much closer, scaring both of them. Jamie sighed. “Fine. I can’t make you talk to me. We should probably get going again anyways.”
Jamie swiftly got up and tucked their hands into their pockets. They seemed to have a mix of annoyance and betrayal on their face and their body language seemed to support this.
Was that not the right thing to say…?
It was, you—
“Hey, you two doing okay over there?” Jamie beckoned to Jade and Riley.
“Yeah, I’m fine. Just a little shaken up, but fine,” Riley responded.
“’kay. I think we’ll have a better chance to coddle you or whatever when we’re out of here. We can’t stay here much longer.”
“Right… the fire,” Riley sighed. “And, I’m fine, seriously. That was abit too scary for my liking but… I’m fine.”
“If you say so. Lemme figure out where we’re going and we’ll head out.”
Rather than paying any attention to that voice, Luna decided they’d contribute to scouting. They’d be far more useful, and have less suspicion on them, if they could help their friends instead of moping around and zoning out.
Almost immediately, they saw another tall pillar close-by. Thankfully, this one could likely be crossed simply by jumping, so the possibility of anyone being cut off was minimal. From there, they saw a large flat platform a little further away which seemed to stretch out until it was quite close to the structure.
How convenient. An easy way out of here! They definitely needed to tell their friends about it!
“W-What about… this way, Jamie?” They then pointed towards the same path they found.
Jamie stared at the path for a moment before responding. “Huh. That’s… actually really easy, I think. Probably gonna need to actually walk over there to make sure but it gets us way closer.” They patted Luna on the head. “Good job, Luna!”
Luna felt a lot better after getting that praise from Jamie. It also seemed to lift a heavy burden off of their shoulders, which—
You freak! You’d side with them over—
Maybe that’s what the heavy burden was. Was a little praise all it really took to get them to stop giving that voice space in their head?
Well, no. Realistically, it was spending enough time with nice people to make them realize they were better than what he told them they were. The praise just happened to be enough to push that voice out of their head.
Luna took the hand that Jamie had offered, with a much gentler grip this time, and then swiftly departed for the path they found.
Thankfully, it was as simple to cross as it seemed, as they very quickly ended up at large platform. Even better, it ended up leading almost right up to the base of the structure. They did have to clear a small jump to get to a smaller platform jutting out from the wall, but it seemed simple enough.
After clearing the jump to the next platform, they had reached the base of the structure. All that stood between them and the top now were the three levels of walls they’d need to scale. Thankfully, the wall had plenty of stones sticking out of it to guide them up. Hopefully the others would treat them as nicely.
Riley followed the protruded rocks to a tee which allowed them to effortlessly scale the wall. Once at the top, they scoffed. “Man, if only the rest of the mountain made it this easy.”
“If only you didn’t suck at climbing,” Jamie grumbled.
Riley raised an eyebrow. “What was that?”
“Nothing!” Jamie then scrambled up the same path that Riley took.
It wasn’t until Luna started climbing the wall themselves that they fully realized what Riley was talking about. The stones that stuck out from the wall really did make it a lot easier, giving them something to both grab and stand on. Had they had something like that from the start, maybe they would’ve already been off of this island.
Though… given the time they’ve been able to spend strengthening their relationship with their friends, maybe leaving quicker wouldn’t have been a good idea. They almost certainly would’ve ended up going back “home” with Edmond in that case.
They scaled the second and third walls just as easily, which made Luna increasingly suspicious about what was at the top.
There had to be a catch to this. Nothing was ever this easy without a catch. Every time they saw some food just sitting out, there was always someone close-by to run them off. They knew better than to believe this wasn’t rigged.
Once they made it to the top, they couldn’t believe what they saw.
There was that weird stone statue again sitting near the middle of the platform, but what really drew their attention was the abundance of luggage surrounding it. It all just seemed too good to be true though. The luggage had to be rigged with poison or maybe the statue would explode if it was tampered with…
That possibility didn’t seem to bother Jamie though, since they immediately charged towards the statue. Riley, on the other hand, started looting all of the luggage. It seemed that Jade was the only other person that was skeptical about this since they stayed back with Luna.
However, when they noticed nothing had happened with Jamie and Riley tampering with everything, they decided it was safe enough take part in checking everything out. Not “be reckless” safe enough but… safe enough.
They walked up to the lone suitcase that hadn’t been opened. It was bright orange and larger than the others. Since it stood out so much, it just had to have something nice in it, right…?
Or it could be—
None of these are trapped, Luna…
Okay, so that was their own voice that time. Good. They were starting to miss their own internal monologue.
They hesitantly grabbed each of the latches holding the suitcase shut, still uncertain of what would be inside. Once they removed the latches from their place, all that was holding it shut were their hands. They let go and immediately jumped back as it swung open.
They returned to the suitcase and peered inside. What they found inside was not a trap, but a rescue claw! It was red and gray and… had a claw on it. They remembered seeing one of those while working on their First Aid badge, but never really got the chance to mess with it. Something about accidentally hurting themselves or breaking something, but also…
They glanced over at the others, but they were all preoccupied. Riley was observing the statue, while Jamie was bragging to Jade about what they found.
Well, nobody was stopping them from grabbing it now so, that’s exactly what they did. It felt weird to be holding something like that, and they’d definitely need some practice, but they did recall hearing that it only had three charges so they wouldn’t really get to.
They didn’t feel entirely comfortable being in possession of it anymore. They didn’t really want that responsibility when they barely knew how to use the thing. Patching people up was more up their alley.
A question then entered their mind: who would they give this rescue claw to?
Well, maybe it’d be Jamie, since they were headed in Luna’s direction with their eyes fixated on the rescue claw.
“Woah! What’s that you got there Luna? Looks sick!”
Luna was taken aback by Jamie’s enthusiasm, but they realized they could use this as an opportunity to teach them. To be… useful.
“I-It’s a rescue claw! Y-You, uh… point it at someone, s-shoot it and… t-they’ll be dragged to you!”
Jamie seemed impressed by the explanation. “Oh, well, I guess that makes sense given it’s a ‘rescue’ claw and all that… anything else?”
“Well… y-you only get three uses with it and…”
“And…?”
“Y-You can use it to g-go up faster but y-you’d be leaving everyone b-behind…”
“So, use this thing only to rescue people then, got it. Using it to go up sounds kinda sick though… but yeah, I get it. Not a good idea to leave anyone behind.”
“It seems k-kinda risky anyways so… p-probably not a good idea.”
“So, uh—”
“Do you w-want it? Oh, uh… sorry.”
Jamie raised an eyebrow. “You… don’t want it?”
“W-Well! It’s not that I don’t, but… I d-don’t trust myself with it…”
“And you trust me with it more?”
“…Yes?”
Luna then held out the rescue claw for Jamie to grab. Jamie stared it for a minute then grabbed it. They then aimed it somewhere random as if they were going to use it. While Luna felt uneasy that Jamie was just playing with it, they did at least aim it away from everyone else.
“Sweet, thanks. I’ll make sure to use this if it’s needed,” Jamie said as they tossed their backpack on the ground. “I… uh, don’t have anywhere to put it. This stupid golden statue…”
“I can carry it for you if you’d like,” Riley offered.
“Sure, I don’t want it anyways. I’m more interested in this thing.” They then motioned towards the rescue claw by their side.
“It’s not a toy, Jamie…”
“I know, jeez!”
“Okay. I’ll go ahead and take the statue off of your hands then.”
Riley then took the statue from Jamie’s backpack and put it in an open spot in their own. They grunted a bit at the sudden increase in weight but otherwise slung it back on their back with no issue.
Jamie then shoved the rescue claw into their bag where the golden statue once resided. They put their backpack back on as well and seemed quite content with not having that burden on their shoulders anymore.
“Oh, by the way Luna, where’d you learn about that claw at?”
“I, uh, l-learned it with my First Aid badge!” Luna beamed in pride.
“Huh. I…” Jamie suddenly seemed a bit tense…? “Wasn’t there—”
Jade butted in. “What they really meant to say was that they weren’t paying attention and failed to get the badge.”
“I will strangle you,” Jamie threatened through gritted teeth.
Jade laughed. “I’m sure you will.”
“T-That’s okay! You’ll always g-get another chance!” Luna reassured, but then it dawned on them that they gave the claw to someone with less knowledge and experience. Oh well, Jamie would probably figure it out anyways.
“Hmm… nah. I’d rather just leave this first aid stuff to you instead.”
“Hey, uh, I don’t mean to interrupt but… I got another lantern from that statue,” Riley interjected. They were, in fact, holding another one of those white lanterns.
“Anything that’s actually interesting?”
“Nope. I guess that was it,” Riley replied. “Wait… the thing that saved me from getting killed isn’t interesting to you?”
“Uh… forget I said anything about it.”
Luna then looked around at all of the luggage which seemed to be looted. “W-Wait… what did y-you and Riley get from the other luggage?”
Jamie grunted in discontent. “Just a bunch of rope and some trail mix.”
“I mean… t-that’s still useful, r-right…?”
Jamie shrugged. “Better than nothing, I guess.”
“That’s more like it!” Luna beamed.
With the statue and all of the luggage looted, that just left them with… the volcano.
“Well, with all that done, I think we should get going into the volcano,” Jamie said. “The sooner we get outta here, the better.”
“What about… camp?” Luna then yawned and suddenly felt a little more fatigued.
“Do you see a camp around here? The closest thing to a ‘camp’ is what I think is a campfire in the entrance to the volcano, but do you really wanna sleep inside a volcano?”
As much as Luna wanted to object, they learned a long time ago to keep their mouth shut. Speaking out either got them an earful or a hand to the mouth so instead of objecting, they instead smiled and shook their head.
Sleeping in a volcano didn’t really sound like a good time anyways. Who knew what would happen if it decided to erupt? Maybe it was better to just keep moving even if they were starting to get tired. They weren’t going to be truly safe again until they’ve made it to the top.
Jamie stared at Luna for a little while longer then sighed. “You’re tired, I know. We all are. I just don’t think it’s a good idea to sleep in there.”
Riley nodded. “Agreed. It’s probably for the best if we just get moving. I’m sure we’ll have time to rest when we make it to the top.”
Everyone grumbled in agreement then set off towards what would hopefully be both their final challenge and their salvation.
Luna was still waiting for the catch though.