"he-lp m-e", a faint voice spoke, Axel looked down, blood smeared on the rock floor, the person he saw groaning in pain, "What's going on?!", he asked in shock, "HELP ME!", the person screamed in pain as the figure leapt onto him.
...
Axel woke up in cold sweat, he asked himself what that dream was or at least what it meant, it's been about a week since he was brought here, and Roya has yet to return, he was worried, that maybe that person in that dream was her, asking for help, but he couldn't think of that, he shrugged off the dream and tried to do his normal routine, but he couldn't shake off the feeling of that dream may foreshadow an event, maybe even a crisis, he tried to tell himself that his dream was just a collection of negative thoughts he had built up over his anxiety these past few days, but he knew that there was something odd about it, like there was really a person screaming for help, begging to be saved. With that, he couldn't shrug off the feeling, he packed some food and things he will need, and said to Darius that he will be back shortly, he waved goodbye as he left.
...
About half an hour has passed since his leave of absence, he traced back his steps and found that there was a note placed onto the rocky floor, he crouched and read, "Come find her~", Axel felt there was something odd, he leapt back in reflex, the ground underneath the note started to crumble, in a matter of seconds, the ground was shattered, leaving the note lost to the abyss, but Axel knew that someone had took Roya, then had hidden her, someplace that they want him to find, Axel knew it was a trap, but he couldn't think clearly because the person who had saved him is now in danger because of a mistake he made, he just couldn't let Roya die because of his fault, if anyone was to die, it should have been him, but he just couldn't let his anger lead him to a trap, so he stood still, thinking, he thought that the world had slowed the more he devised his strategy, but that was just probably his adrenaline, after a few minutes, he devised a way, he noticed something odd, there were two strands of hair on the ground, fortunately, they weren't swallowed to the abyss along with the note, he examined that one was Roya's and the other one must have been the one who took her, he examined the hairs when a small window appeared onto the hairs, the blond hair the he found was indeed Roya's but the red hair was to an anonymous person who was apparently registered onto the guild named Cobra, he thought, "Does she have a connection to this?", but he already knew that Cobra would be involved, he saw details on Roya's hair, "Is currently in The Slehu Dungeon.", Axel moved his eyebrows because of how questionable these places were, but he deviates from that thought, he opened his menu and clicked the map tab, he saw that the Slehu Dungeon is not too far away.
-About an hour passed-
Axel neared the Slehu Dungeon, he saw that it was a castle like shape with a steel door blocking any intruders, he already knew it was going to be barricaded, but there had to be an opening, he examined the building, he opened his menu and clicked examine on the building, a blueprint of the building appeared in his hub, "Now, who would leave their blueprints unprotected? There must be some kind of trap not shown, but their weak spots are still visible.", he thought, he readied himself, he took a deep breath, and moved like a shadow.
There was a open vent into the dungeon, but he knew it was trapped, he had to find another way in, so he did, at the back of the warehouse, there was a open window, it wasn't closed and the blueprint wouldn't show it as broken so he knew it must have been overlooked, he entered through the window, and sneakily went down to the floor, a trapdoor laid down, most likely to be the entrance, Axel opened it, ready for some sort of trap, but there wasn't any traps, he threw a rock down at the bottom and no trap triggered, nothing but a silent alarm.
...
'He got in... This is getting exciting...", a woman said while scratching her arms, "Yes, yes...", she added.
...
Minutes went by like they were seconds, time moved faster and faster as Axel's mind continued to go numb from searching, so many doors, he read all the signs anxiously, he noticed a door named, "Yaro", he put the pieces together and knew it was Roya's room, he put his ear close to the walls, he heard nothing but faint whispers, there were no other entrances, other than the door, he tried to silently open the rusted iron door as it made a creak sound, there were two people guarding near the door, Axel went in silently after opening the door, one of the guards noticed that the door was slightly askew, "Hey Jeffrey, wait here, I'm gonna go patrol area c.", the guard said to the fellow guard. The guard walked to the entrance, Axel hid himself on one of the walls, he thought of a way to silently takedown enemies, he had a skill in his menu named Shadows Creep, he read it silences and takes down enemies, he tossed a rock infront of the guard and prepared to use his attack, with haste, he quickly disposed of the guard, "Wow, I am so glad that worked.", the guards radio spoke, "Check in, James.", Axel knew that they will know something is up if he doesn't answer, "Ghoul's devour", Axel remembered, he never wanted to use it, as be thought it was disgusting, but he had to, he chanted, "Ze, Ka, Ra He Ki", a monster like ghoul appeared and swallowed the guard whole, leaving only the radio, Axel picked up the radio and said, "Yeah, I'm here.", while perfectly imitating James' voice.", apparently, Ghoul's devour is a skill where the user can use anything that the devoured body had, the user can shapeshift or even use their voice, and of course, their abilities. Axel shapeshifted into the guard, and roamed the halls in silence, trying to avoid anyone, he then found where Roya was kept, she was tied to a chair while gagged by a piece of cloth, she sustained a lot of injury and was on the verge of death, Axel shapeshifted back to his normal form and Roya's eyes were filled with surprise, he quickly removed the restraints, Roya fell but Axel caught her because she was weak from being tied to a chair for so long, "Hey, you're going to be okay.", Axel informed, "Oh, is that so?", a woman spoke, "You should really be more wary of more than just plain to see traps.", Axel remembered, back in that trapdoor, she could have easily put a silent alarm, he was a fool to forget such a detail, "It's been nice to see you two reunite, but you both need to die, right now.", the woman said, "Shit, I still haven't had enough time to develop any skills.", Axel thought, but even without that, his face already told the story, "Ra, Za, Ka'Ler", Roya softly whispered, a white ring beneath their feet appeared, "No!", the woman screamed, she tried to chase Axel but she was too late, they had already gotten out.
...
"DARIUS!", Axel shouted while carrying Roya, "FAY!", Axel shouted, "Oh he-", Darius was about to reply when he saw Roya brutally injured, "AXEL, BRING HER TO FAY NOW!", Darius shouted, Axel laid her down on a bed and brought her to Fay, "No, you are not supposed to use magic if you are this injured, it will only strain your body more... She needs someone to give her will.", Fay spoke, worried to the bone, "Will?", Axel asked, "The greatest sacrifice, to sacrifice your own life for the other one to live.", Fay replied, "Then transfer mine.", Axel replied, "But you will die...", Fay replied, "It doesn't matter, I wouldn't even be here if not for her.", Axel replied, "What is this?You have multiple souls in your will. We can just transfer one of them to her.", Fay replied, "Really? Do it now, we are losing grasp of her.", Axel told Fay worriedly, "Got it. Za, Te, Ka He Ri!", Fay chanted, "WHY ISN'T IT WORKING?!", Axel shouted, "Just wait, it takes more than just a chant for it to happen."
A soul shaped orb flew out of Axel's chest and was transferred onto Roya, "It's done, but you may not like the results... Don't ask me, it's easier for you to understand if you see, but will be harder to bear."
...