SERAPHINA'S POV
I don't know how long I've been down here, but I can roughly guess it's been almost thirty minutes by now.
Thirty minutes of fading in and out of consciousness while the blazing sun manages to seep into the ditch and burn my skin.
At this point, I don't even know if the tournament is still on but right now, it's the least of my worries. I may or may not be rescued by anyone anytime soon, meaning I have to figure this shit out.
I try again for the third time since falling in here to sit up.
My back hurts insanely but I push through it, commanding my muscles to contract and push myself up into a sitting position. I'm successful but that's how far I can go on my own. Even now, my body still trembles due to how weak my muscles are.
I'm tempted to accept to my fate until I hear footsteps again.
Could it be the girl from earlier? Or maybe it's another player walking by. I wonder if it'd be wise to call out for help, not knowing if I'd be helped or ignored.
And for the briefest moment, Artemis comes into mind.
No.
No way he'd be here. By now, he'd have long passed the exit. Why is he even a possible thought in such a dire situation?
A head suddenly pops into view and it takes time for my eyes to adjust to the sun light before I recognize who it is.
"Need any help?" He offers.
I can just faintly see the grin on his face.
I look up at Jasper, wide eyed and dumbfounded. Out of the list of people I was expecting to see, he's not even on it.
"What are you doing here?" I ask.
It would have been slightly more believable if it was Artemis coming to taunt me, but why am I filled with a slight sense of disappointment?
"That's not the most pressing issue right now, don't you think?" He refers to my current position.
I'm forced to look down at myself again.
He wastes no time jumping right in with ease, landing squarely on his feet in the ditch before walking up to me. I'm completely hesitant the moment he draws close enough, taking my hand in his while he begins assessing me like a patient.
"Hmm, nothing's broken, thankfully. Just a twisted shoulder and multiply bruises."
"That's because I geared up before." I say, roughly pulling my arm out of his hold. "Seriously, what are you doing here?"
"Trying not to be offended by you constantly rejecting my kind gestures." He says, acting offended and placing a hand where his heart is.
I roll my eyes at the act, still heavily on guard with him next to me.
"Cut the bullshit. This is another prank, isn't it? I'm going to get my hopes up before you toss me into another ditch, right? Cause throwing me in this one isn't enough for you already."
"What are you talking about?"
This time, his eyes lose the playfulness in them, turning serious. He looks at me like he really doesn't know what I'm talking about.
Or maybe he wasn't in on the plan.
"Whatever, just leave me alone, I can crawl out of here myself."
He stares at me for a while before sighing in defeat and raising both hands in surrender.
"Suit yourself."
He gets away from me, slowly making his way back to the wall to climb out. I watch him until he suddenly pauses and turns to me again.
"What?"
"Nothing, I just think it's a bit disappointing, that's all. After going on about wining against Artemis, you weren't able to make it to the last and final round. Pity, I guess it just solidifies the fact that humans will always be the lesser species." He says, shrugging casually.
Ah, I see what he's doing - trying to crush my ego low enough until I finally give in and accept his help. A very tempting bait.
I want to say it won't work though, but damn it, he's right. All this effort, evading everyone that was against me, crawling in vents and almost getting killed, only to give up.
"Ah, look at the time. The game is almost over." He dangles it right in front of me again.
"Ugh, fine. Help me!"
"Where are your manners, Seraphina? Don't they teach this in human schools as well?" He taunts me continuously, smiling mischievously in my face.
I snarl at the bastard, biting my lower lip. I can literally feel a part of my pride being chipped away just by having to ask anything from him.
"Please, help me." I say through my teeth, feeling actual pain in my chest while saying it.
"Of course, I will."
He wastes no time, covering the distance between the both of us and lifting me in his hands as though I weigh close to nothing.
I want to ask how we're going to get out of here while his hands are occupied, but I am shut up when he runs up the wall on his own two feet quickly before the force of gravity can pull him down and we're out before I know it.
"Wow." I say unconsciously, bewildered by the strength of a wolf I have just witness.
He chuckles to himself from my reaction, but luckily doesn't say anything more, seeing as I am so close to jumping off him and crawling my way to the exit.
The next moments are filled with silence, with him just carrying me through the maze and all I have to do is hang onto him.
I can't help but stare at the back of his head while we move, just wondering with great curiosity why any of this is happening, why one of my bullies saved my life and is actually helping me walk to the finish line.
There has to be a catch somewhere.
I just fucking know it.
He feels my eyes digging into the side of his head, but doesn't say anything still.
It's only a few more minutes of passing through the maze, passing by series of opened chests and knocked out participants. I guess I wasn't the only person targeted.
We finally come across the exit just a few feet ahead before he stops in his tracks, gently setting me on my two feet.
"There's no rule stating that someone on the outside can't help you, but I can't pass through the exit helping you." He explains now.
I nod my head simply, understanding what he means while staring at the exit, but I don't make a move toward it, my feet remaining grounded in the same position.
"You're not leaving." He points out after seconds of just standing there.
I sigh finally, turning to him.
"I don't have enough points to win." I confess.
With the short amount of time I was actively in the game, I only managed to score 3 points out of the 10 I need to win, and passing the exit has just two points.
What would be the point going through now and making myself a laughing stock at this point?
I'm lost in thoughts when I hear jingling sounds behind me, and I turn to Jasper again.
"Here."
In his outstretched hands is a small pouch of several silver tokens, all having roughly 20 points at least. That's more than I need to qualify.
My jaw drops the second I see it, doubting what's going on right now.
"Holy shit."
"These are for you."
"Are you insane?" I look up at him like he is.
He shrugs his shoulder casually.
"You want to win, right? You've already accepted my help, so there's no point refusing this either."
He takes my hand, placing it in my palm while I'm still in shock, so I don't refuse it later on. But it's still unbelievable.
When did he have the time to gather these?
He had to have ransacked half of the chests to have gathered this much.
"Why are you doing all this? And please, don't change the subject or deflect the question." I ask now, more seriously.
I can't ignore the fact that we don't know each other and aren't inclined to the other person in anyway. Doing a favor this big...
He sighs, looking at me more seriously as well.
"It's not me doing this, I only follow orders." He says vaguely.
I think for a moment before his words have more meaning to me.
"Wait, Artemis did this?"
N-no...
No way.
"But why? He- he hates my guts."
The words he left me with earlier ring in my head again- 'Don't be a nuisance'.
I had tried my best not to be in a position where I would need to be helped by him again, so he wouldn't rub it in my face as always, but this isn't like the brooding bastard I know.
"Why would he..."
Jasper shrugs, itching at the back of his head.
"I have no idea what goes on in his head most times, but I do know he doesn't hate you. You're more like an annoying worm than wiggles its way into things."
"A worm?"
"Don't think too much into it." He says, turning to leave before I can probe him further.
The revelation leaves me more confused than ever. I guess if I believe Jasper had helped me for no reason, it would have made more sense.
What archenemy helps his enemy win a match?
I ponder on it for a while before my head hurts worse than it already does. It's not like I can return the tokens, so I might as well win with them.
With that in mind, I cross through the exit finally, stepping to the other side of the wall where everyone else has gathered.
Bewildered eyes turn to me, with almost everyone too surprised to see that I actually made it out, and with a whole sack of point that immediately means that I qualify.
Olivia runs to me from the crowd, engulfing me in a tight hug the second she can and even though my body hurts, I let her, unable to hide my smile from how excited it is that I get to make it to the final round.
And while I celebrate, a strong invisible force pulls my eyes to the other direction at something.
Artemis stands a good distance away with a crowd cheering him on as well. His electric blue eyes, however, are directed at me, silently watching me across the room.
I freeze on the spot, Olivia's words becoming inaudible along with the noise around me - everything but him fades away.
Jasper's words ring in my mind again, and I find myself curious as to why he'd go so far just to help me.