Crimson Red, Cerulean Blue
Chapter 42

(Blue)

I didn’t even know what was going on anymore.

The scene around me was chaos, and I couldn’t find anyone I knew. All my attention was focused on taking out as many guards as I could, but I was getting tired, and that wasn’t good. More and more blades ripped into my skin, and I tried to focus on the pain, to concentrate, but it wasn’t working.

Where the heck is everyone else?!

I spun, creating tornadoes, but more guards just broke through them, swinging swords. One of them almost impaled me, but I blew it away just in time. I shouted, but it didn’t make any difference – no one could hear me through all this chaos. I was on my own.

Oh, crayik, am I going to die here?

My fingers were numb with cold, my nose running. It was freezing in here without Red and his magic, and I knew I couldn’t take much more of this, not on an Air day. My attacks were getting sloppier and sloppier, and I was exhausted, magic draining faster than I would’ve liked. Sooner or later, it was going to run out.

And when that happened, I’d be dead in a heartbeat.

I fired off another spell, momentarily clearing a gap in the endless ranks of guards, and burst through. Where are you guys?! Please, please send some kind of message or something already, please! Come on, come on…

At which point, the guards suddenly stopped fighting, and Red, Red slammed into the wall several feet in front of me.

My eyes shot wide. Sweet freaking cupcakes.

Normally, finding Red in this chaos would’ve made me jump for joy – but he was soaked with blood, covered in some green gunk that I guessed was acid. It was burning away at him right in front of my eyes, and the scariest part was, he wasn’t moving. Red always got up after a fight.

Before I knew it, I was blasting the biggest tornado I could muster up into the area and screaming my best friend’s name like there was no tomorrow. Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted Green, and shrieked at her to help, because there was so much blood, and I didn’t know if a person could survive that. Even if that person was Red.

I dropped down beside him. “Red! Red! Answer me, please! RED!!!”

“I’m o-okay…” he croaked, not opening his eyes. His voice was messed up and broken, and everything inside of me was afraid like never before.. “F-Fine… Think my ribs… broken again…”

Oh, crayik, you’re NOT fine, I wanted to sob, but instead shouted, “What did you do? Crayik, Red, don’t close your eyes, okay? I know it hurts, but don’t pass out. Please!”

His eyes open, and they were glassy, unfocused, which really wasn’t good. “Blue…” he whispered.

“Green!” I shrieked, wondering what the heck was taking her so long. “Crayik, crayik, Red, please don’t pass out, please!”

“Blue, I… We need… Explosion…” he choked out, making absolutely no sense whatsoever. I shook my head frantically, not knowing what to do.

“What? The last thing we need right now is an explosion, Red! Green, where are you, he’s already delirious!”

I craned my neck, looking for Green, but she and Orange were both fighting someone. With a shock, I realized it was Anton, and his left hand was wrapped around someone’s throat. I didn’t know who it was, but whoever she was, he wasn’t letting go. Under normal circumstances, I would’ve run to help, but Red was dying, and there was no way I was leaving him. I bit my lip hard.

What do I do what do I do what do I do what do I do…

Strangely enough, it was an Opposite who solved it for me. Specifically, that commander Lucas had been fighting.

“Leave them!” he shouted, his voice booming over the crowd. “Utilize escape protocols! Code 28469 has been activated, and the volcano is due to erupt at any minute!”

“Aw, seriously?!” Anton yelled back, sounding irritated. “But I was just getting started!”

“Now, Anton!”

He sighed. “Well, guess I’ll be seeing you then. Hey, Fallon! I can take a prisoner with me, right?”

“Do whatever you like, just get out of here now!”

Anton grinned. “Sweet! Well, sayonara, losers!”

And, to my complete and utter shock, he vanished into thin air, taking the blond girl with him.

“Wha – ” I gasped, but I hadn’t even gotten the entire word out when all of the guards and Opposites vanished, leaving us alone in the corridor.

The sudden silence was astonishing.

Green spoke first. “Wh-What – Where – How did they…”

Hearing her voice snapped me out of my shock. “Green! Red’s…”

She spun around, and her eyes widened as she took in the sight. She was next to me in a flash, healing him, but there was something wrong this time, something pushing against the magic. I could see her arms trembling, and every spark of magic took way too much effort.

I couldn’t breathe. “Green, is he… Is Red…”

She didn’t answer, and the silence was the worst thing I’d ever heard in my life. Tiny green sparks of magic slid from her fingers into him, but the wounds were healing so slowly, and I squeezed my eyes shut.

No. Not Red. Not my best friend.

Please, not my best friend.

I felt Orange’s presence as he appeared next to me, and when I turned to look at him, his expression was awful. His voice was quiet, and I could tell he was barely holding it together when he asked, “Green, can you…”

Green’s face crumpled. “I don’t know. Caelin’s acid does things to my magic. I just don’t know.”

Another person came into view, and there was a gasp, little Violet clamping both hands over her mouth. “Oh…”

Tears prickled the edges of my eyes, and I brushed at them, but they just kept coming. I hated this, didn’t want to break down in front of everyone, but Red was my best friend.

The first person who’d ever genuinely smiled at me since I’d been left behind.

The last cut slowly closed up, and Green let out a shaky sigh, nearly toppling over. Orange caught and steadied her, demanding, “Did it work?”

She shook her head. “He-He’s lost a lot of blood. I don’t know if this is good enough. It’s all up to him now.”

I bit my lip so hard, it almost bled. I could see him fighting for breath, and my heart stopped in between each one, terrified that he might not take the next.

At which point, Lucas appeared.

I hadn’t even seen him coming. He appeared next to Violet like a ghost, and took a look at Red. His gaze lingered for a while before he spoke.

“Violet. Can you help?”

I blinked and turned to stare at him, just like everyone else. Violet’s amethyst eyes were huge when she asked shakily, “How?”

“If it’s up to him, could you give him a little push in the right direction? Get in his head and tell him to wake up. Can you do that?”

She hesitated, thinking it over. “I-I think so.”

“Try.”

“But… His eyes are closed. I don’t… I can’t…”

“You can, Vi. Think about it. Just give it a try.”

She swallowed. “I… I don’t know… But I will. I’ll try it.”

Lucas nodded. “That’s all anyone can do right now.”

Violet turned to Red, and squeezed her eyes closed in concentration. I could see her trembling, pushing her magic to its limits, and my heart practically hopped out of my chest. Please, please, please work…

And suddenly, Red twitched. sᴇaʀᴄh thᴇ FɪndNovᴇl.nᴇt website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

Violet gasped, her eyes flying open. She swayed on her feet, but Lucas was there, grabbing her shoulders and steadying her.

But I wasn’t paying attention to that. My eyes were fixed on Red, heart in my mouth, hoping like I’d never hoped before.

His finger moved, then lifted. Then the entire hand opened and closed. And slowly, ever so slowly, his eyes opened, blazingly red and full of confusion. They settled on me.

“… Blue…?”

Before I knew what I was doing, I threw my arms around him and held on tight, shaking and gasping his name over and over again. He stiffened for a second, but then his arms were around me, and he was laughing, sounding exactly like how he was supposed to sound.

“What’s all this for? You seriously thought I was done for?”

I buried my face in his shoulder, not wanting anyone to see me cry. “Oh, crayik. I… I thought… Red, you’re back!”

“What do you mean, I’m back? I’ve been here the whole time. Where am I supposed to be, Yellowton?”

I lifted my face and gave a watery smile. “If you weren’t this badly hurt, I would freaking punch you. What happened?”

He shrugged, like it was nothing. “Eh. Ticked off a couple bad guys. Got my behind kicked. Nothing all that bad.”

“Geez,” I sighed. “You really are an idiot.”

“I’m inclined to agree,” Orange said before Red could respond. “What exactly did you think you were doing back there?”

“They were making me mad.” he replied nonchalantly. “Hey, did that bomb ever go off? Because I’m pretty sure it’s been twenty minutes already.”

Silence.

“What bomb?” I asked slowly.

Red stared at me for a while. After a long pause, he gulped.

“Oh no.”

At which point, there was a gigantic BOOM, and the entire cavern jerked, dumping us all on our backs.

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