NOVEL SIMPLE Chapter 18.2 Regret
His face haunted her.
As the floor gave way and Sade began to fall, the look of shock and horror on the face of the man she loved became forever burned into her memory. She watched helplessly as his form grew smaller and smaller until there was only darkness.
The sensation of falling in an endless abyss was an odd one. There wasn’t that feeling of her stomach slamming into her throat, no tingling in the back of her knees as the blood rushes to her torso. It was more akin to floating. A feeling of weightlessness amongst the void, only the rushing of wind to indicate any movement at all. It was such a strange thing for her to note in her final moments.
For once, her powerful mind, carefully honed over a full decade of practice and study, had failed to fully process her situation. She felt strangely numb. There were just too many things that happened all at once. Rick’s face flashed through her mind once more and she was filled with a profound feeling of regret.
She had hid so much.
She should have told him how much she loved him. She should have told everyone her vocation. She should have explained why she had worked so damn hard.
She should have told them her name.
It came as little comfort to know that soon her fall would come to a sudden stop, and all her regrets would disappear forever. Sade ground her teeth in frustration, tears torn away from her stinging eyes by the relentless wind as she hurtled towards her doom. She hated how many regrets she had before the end.
But she never once regretted falling in love.
She recalled the nights she shared with her lovers. Each of them panting, covered in sweat and all sorts of other bodily fluids. How they would each cuddle close together and bask in their shared warmth before falling asleep. Those were some of the happiest times Sade could ever recall. A smile broke over her face. She hoped to see them one day on the other side.
Suddenly, her whole body impacted against something cold and wet.
Sade tumbled around, the breath knocked out of her lungs. The chilly wetness enveloping her just as thoroughly as the darkness had. Why was she soaked all over? Was she in water? Her mind lit up like a forest fire. She was in water! She had survived!
The ache in her empty lungs told her that the situation could easily reverse back if she didn’t get out soon. Her mind raced to come up with a solution quickly. She was underwater, she had no idea which way was up, it was pitch black, and she was running out of air.
A flash of light broke through the gloom just off to her side. Sade turned to its source and saw a shadowy silhouette clawing its way through the depths. Recognition dawned on her and Sade knew what she had to do.
Her mana twisted throughout the channels of her body at a breakneck pace. The moment the pattern was complete, Sade let the magic take hold of the liquid around her. The water within her vicinity writhed and shoved her body forward, guided by the manipulation spell she had just cast.
Sade poured more energy into the magic. Her body flew through the water, aiming for the struggling figure up ahead. Sade wrapped her arms around Daniela and willed the currents to push them both towards the surface.
The two broke through, sucking in great wheezing lungfuls of delicious air.
“¡Mierda!” Daniela hacked out between coughs. “I thought we were fucking dead.”
“So did I.” Sade agreed, her own throat horse from expelling copious amounts of fluid she had swallowed. “But we still may unless we can find a way out of here.”
The blond woman raised her arm and pointed straight up towards the ceiling. Another bright flare of light erupted from the tip of her finger and shot up into the air, bathing everything around them in white.
“Not my first time flung overboard so to speak.” She chuckled then pointed somewhere off in the distance. “I see a shore over there.”
Sade did her best to blink away the spots in her eyes then focused on where Daniela indicated. She commanded the currents to once again carry them both along the surface until their feet pounded against the sandy edge of the underground lake. The two stumbled forward, collapsing down and shivering in the cool air.
Sade’s clenched fist erupted in flame and she slammed it down into the dirt beside her. Instantly, a roaring bonfire sprung up from where her hand impacted, already bathing the two sodden women in life saving heat.
“We need to g-get out of these c-clothes.” Sade said through chattering teeth. She could already feel the first symptoms of hypothermia setting in. The icy cold from the lake had seeped into her bones. Her mind felt sluggish, making it even more difficult to maintain the ‘hearth fire’ spell that was vital to their survival. “Let me h-help you. Then you c-can assist m-me in removing all t-this armor.”
Daniela didn’t protest. The two of them fumbled through undoing the buttons and clasps then removing the few layers of damp clothing altogether. Sade was considerably harder to undress. The thief’s nimble fingers stumbled around the ties of the chainmail and thick undercoat due to her constant shivering. Once Sade’s bountiful chest was freed, the boots and pants were quickly sloughed off.
The two sat together. Both completely nude and embracing each other tightly while the fire did its best to warm them. Daniela chuckled with dry humor. “O-of all the ways I d-dreamed of having you naked in my arms, I never imagined t-this would be how it happened.”
Sade felt her lips quirk upwards slightly. “Oh? W-would you have preferred to have s-seduced me properly first?”
The blond woman shivered in Sade’s arms, but the mage had a sneaking suspicion that it wasn’t entirely due to the cold. “You have no idea. The moment my eyes fell upon you, I was enamorada. Getting to know you these past few weeks has only made those feelings grow.”
Sade had no idea how to respond to that. Being suddenly confessed to while in their current predicament was certainly not something she had considered, let alone prepared for. “I… Do not know what to say.”
Daniela hugged her tighter. “You don’t have to. Even if we survive, there’s no way the others would let someone like me stick around.”
Sade leaned back so she could look the smaller woman directly in the eyes. “Daniela, you saved my life!”
“But inmediatamente after, we both ended up down here!” Daniela shot back, her eyes brimming with moisture. “I failed to spot the danger before we went in. I didn’t catch that monster that almost bit your face off. Fuck! I even screwed up our first meeting!”
She buried her face into Sade’s shoulder. The mage could feel the fresh tears carving blazing hot trails down her skin. “I’ve always been like this. I always manage to find the perfect way to fuck up a good thing!” Her petite body shuddered as her crying transformed to full on sobs. “Fuck, I’m pathetic. Not even mi familia wanted to deal with a failure like me. I should have just let myself drown to save everyone the trouble.”
“Daniela Mayte Graciela de Montoya!”
The dwarf visibly flinched at Sade’s harsh tone. She tentatively glanced up and winced when she beheld the fury burning in the human woman’s eyes, her own depressive episode forgotten in the shock.
“How dare you speak like that!” Sade snapped. “Yes, you made some mistakes. But guess what? We all have! Me most of all.”
Daniela could only blink in confusion at the sudden outburst. Sade didn’t relent. “I will admit that our first meeting could have gone a lot better. But the most important thing, the very reason we even bothered to let you prove yourself, is that you acknowledged your mistake, vowed to do better, and then actually did so!”
She placed a gentle hand on the thief’s cheek, her voice softening slightly. “From the moment we let you into our home, we have adopted a doctrine of ‘trust, but verify’. We have watched your movements, cataloged our belongings every day, asked probing questions, all to see if you were being genuine with us.”
She smiled. “And you have. These past few weeks allowed us to peel away the veneer and see the earnest, hard working, young woman you truly are. You, Daniela, are a part of our group. And when one of us falls, the others will be there to pick us back up.”
The shorter woman sniffed. “I-I never knew.”
Sade gave a soft chuckle. “You were not supposed to. Not until we victoriously came back after completing this mission.”
Daniela’s face gained a faint hint of pink and she hurriedly averted her gaze. “Anyone ever tell you how sexy you are when you outsmart people?”
Sade let out an involuntary snort. “No, you would be the first.”
“Well you are… so fucking sexy when you use that brain of yours. Makes mi corazón flutter like a caged bird every time I see it.” She said before resting her head on Sade’s chest.
“Oh, and your tetas are to die for.” She added while nuzzling her face deeper inside Sade’s cleavage.
The human woman grinned wolfishly then heafted her colossal globes and then smashed them together over Daniela’s head, nearly drowning the woman in a sea of boob flesh. “Well then, it seems that someone is feeling better. I am proud of my tits as well.” She said while jiggling her bountiful bosom to and fro.
Daniela eventually managed to free herself from the pillowy prison. “Fuck, you’re not shy about using those oversized weapons, are you?”
“And why should I? I spent a lot of time and energy to grow them. I have no qualms in using my breasts to help a friend feel better.”
Daniela couldn’t help but smile at the gesture. “Thank’s, that means a lot to…. Hold up! What do you mean by spending energy to grow them? Did you fuck Rick so you could have huge tetas?”
“In essence, yes.” Sade said simply.
The blond woman’s eyes bulged. “Seriously?! His vocation can do that? How extensive are the changes?”
Sade merely smiled. “Yes. Yes. And just about everything but my face and skin tone.” She said, gesturing to her form.
“Mierda. That’s quite impressive. Hrm… Could that have been why you didn't quite fit the characteristics of your house?”
Sade narrowed her eyes slightly. “Come to think of it, you never did explain why you thought I was a member of house Fulani.”
“What? Oh… Well, it’s not that complicated. I saw that you carried yourself like a highborn but lived more like a plebeya. So I simply looked up a list of fallen noble houses who specialized in magecraft and fit your general description.” Daniela explained. “House Fulani fit the best, but I wasn’t completely sure, since members of that familia tended to be more… waifish.”
Sade palmed her face and groaned. Waifish was certainly a word that could be used to describe her before meeting Rick. “And did you happen to learn why the Fulani’s became a fallen house during your research?” She asked, dreading the answer she knew was coming.
The thief scratched her chin sheepishly. “Ah, uh… not really?”
The human let out a great sigh of disappointment. “Of course…” She mumbled under her breath. She fixed the blond woman with a firm stare. “They were removed from the nobility because evidence emerged that implied house Fulani, among a few other minor houses, were making moves against the crown. In other words, treason.”
“Oh…” Daniela said dumbly.
Sade nodded her head. “Indeed. All members of that house were hunted down and executed, down to the last man, woman, and child.” She paused to let that little tidbit fully sink in. “So in light of that information, you can see why someone would prefer not to be accused of being a survivor of that house.”
“Mierda.” The dwarf breathed. Then her eyes grew wide. “Wait, fuck! That means I doubly fucked up that day! I’m so sorr-”
Sade stopped the other woman in her tracks with a finger to her lips and a sharp stare. “As I have said, I have already forgiven you. Thankfully, as you previously stated, I no longer have the ‘waifish’ characteristics of my house. Just remember to look deeper than surface level next time.”
“S-si!”
“Good.” Sade said and kissed the young woman on the top of her dirty blond head. “Frankly, I am tired of these caves. Let us find our friends and go home.”
