Being with Clove made Aurora forget a lot of bad things in life. Clove was like a drug for Aurora. The more time Aurora spend with her, the more she forgot about this world.
Maybe that was why Aurora did not notice when the earth started shaking quite violently. It was Clove that managed to pull Aurora aside in time.
Otherwise, Aurora was sure she would have been crushed by the boulders that were raining down from the ceiling.
“The ceiling broke due to the shanking. We will need to stay here if we do not want to get crushed.”
Clove sounded irritated at the notion of being stuck. The falling ceiling was doing a great job at reducing the insect population surrounding the pair but it added more to the overall danger surrounding the two.
Aurora cursed as she watched the falling boulders getting bigger and bigger.
“This shelter must be built underground. It explains how the monsters were able to enter the base undetected.”
Aurora had no recollection of ever being on the tower base on floor 8th. It might have been a brief encounter in her time or maybe Aurora bypassed this floor altogether.
But one thing Aurora could say for sure was that she needed to resolve the issue of this base.
The falling ceiling had done Aurora a favor and her system was more accurately able to tell where Quince was.
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Aurora was so used to being surrounded by people who respected her or feared her that she never expected the question of the system to come up in a conversation.
People around Aurora either knew how to operate the system or were polite enough to not ask. However, Clove did not fall into any such category.
Aurora was unsure about what to tell her. All she could do was raise her hand to not let Clove get her hands on the system screen.
“It’s nothing for you to worry about, Clove. It is just a tool that will help us find Quince faster.”
Aurora summed up the system’s usage in a few simple words. Although her system could do so much more, Aurora did not want to alert Clove about its real usage or even credibility.
“If you don’t want to tell me then just say so. There is no need for you to get so passive-aggressive with me.”
Aurora instantly felt bad when she heard Clove’s words. In Aurora’s opinion, she had not been that harsh with Clove but maybe her tone had come off as harsher than she had intended it to be.
“I apologize. This technology is top secret so I cannot show you how it is used. But I do know where Quince is thanks to the use of this technology.”
“Alright. If it is not something you can tell me about, then I won’t ask you to show me. We should start moving now or we will be surrounded by these insects again.”
Aurora nodded in understanding as she started moving again. The insects around her were getting restless which made it difficult for Aurora to make out their moments.
There was also a weird odor coming from the base that Aurora could pick up. It smelled vaguely familiar but it was not decent enough for Aurora to recognize all of a sudden.
But the closer she got to Quince’s location, the more intense the odor became. The underlining sweet smell caused Aurora to almost gag out in repulsion. It was just too bad and it hurt Aurora’s senses.
“Man, what is this weird smell? It is enough to make me gag.”
Clove’s question mirrored Aurora’s curiosity and repulsion. It seemed like Aurora was not the only person who was smelling the familiar odor.
Clove was not one to complain unnecessarily. So seeing her express her dislike for something was rare and a testament to how uncomfortable the odor made her feel.
“You can stay out here if you feel bad. I can go in alone and get Quince out.” Aurora assured Clove without missing a beat.
She did not want to put Clove in a weird position by asking her to enter someplace that made her feel sick.
“No way. Quince is in there all alone. I need to help him out.” Aurora’s offer was declined without even missing a beat but Aurora was not disappointed or even surprised.
Actually, it was something Aurora had expected to happen ever since she had caught wind of this situation. Quince was someone Clove would always favor so Aurora didn’t even take Clove’s answer to heart.
“Alright. If you are sure then we should enter the room at the count of three and do our best to get Quince out of there.”
Everything felt so familiar and foreign at the same time. Aurora was not sure if she wanted to be happy or sigh at the experience.
All she knew was that she had missed this rush of feelings that she experienced every time she was near Clove and she wanted to experience more of it.
‘I never actually managed to fall out of love with Clove, did I? Even now she can make me feel this way.’
===========================
Clove wanted to curse Quince’s foolishness. He just had to go ahead and try combating the monsters that were spread out in the base.
Clove had managed to track down the insect base as soon as she had started her rampage but she had gotten bored and given up halfway.
These monsters had been no match for Clove’s superior strength and they could not even make her move from her position, much less get her to take them seriously.
Had it not been for Clove catching sight of Aurora, Clove might have even ended up destroying the hole wing where the insect monster’s nest was.
After saving Aurora, Clove had the perfect opportunity to escape the base with Aurora. She had even purposed to leave Quice behind but Aurora had refuted her.
Aurora might not have said it clearly, but Clove had read the question in her eyes – what about Quince? Are we leaving him behind?
And Clove had no other choice but to relent her offer of running away. Saving Quince had to come first.
‘Darn that fool. He’s making my life difficult by just existing. If only he was not necessary for my plan, I would have ended up killing him.’
Clove knew she would not have been able to do that in a thousand years. Not because she loved Quince, but because of the necessity of keeping him alive.
Quince was someone who had too much influence on the tower. He would soon become a pillar of the tower and be revered as such.
To have him on Clove’s side would be a big help in the future and a sure-about way to take the tower down. That was what Clove was banking on forever.
And that was why here Clove was with Aurora. The primary objective of this mission was to take out Quince alive and destroy the insect monster’s base.
Clove was sure she had never worked with Aurora in this life before. But her brain and her instincts fell into the support role all on their own. The more Clove positioned herself to cover Aurora, the easier it was for her body to act.
It almost felt like she had done this a thousand times already.
‘Was Zoe right in her claim? I thought I would let the past be but it’s getting more and more difficult to let it go. Being in a relationship with anyone? I cannot even imagine that in my life.’
Clove shot down another insect while buffing Aurora at the same time. Her attention was spilt all the way but it was not difficult to defend herself.
Aurora was already covering the pair while heading toward Quince at the same time.
The teen had yet to see the pair but Clove had a feeling he was more than aware of their positioning.
‘It feels familiar to me. Even the timing of my buffs is something I cannot help but match with these people. I don’t want to admit it but it’s fun. Fighting together with those two is so much fun.’
The trio had fallen into a familiar rhythm. There was no time to think, just to act. All three of them were holding back to not destroy the base. But they were also looking after each other at the same time.
It was something that was out of this world, a kind of energy that could not be matched by fighting with anyone else.
“Quince, shield the area off. I am going to incinerate the nest now.” Quince raised the barrier without question. He was dependable in these times.
Clove even added her power to the barrier and Aurora finally let the flame burst out of her palm.
And the next exploded with a bang, taking all the surrounding monsters with it. When the fire calmed down, only one body stood in the center of the fire and that was Aurora.
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