NOVEL FROG Chapter 101: The Protection
Leaving Frost and Kiwy to do all the fighting, Candy began searching for a way out of the guest room, reaching for the small window to take a look outside before taking off her heels to not have trouble walking. With Priscilla panicking over the gunfire coming from the hallway, she didn’t fully connect the dots until she tried to look at Candy and saw her getting on the window sill, with one foot already out on the ledge, and trying to get her to climb out as well. But as much as she gestured for her to follow, Priscilla refused over and over, growing more anxious the more Candy insisted.
–No! Are you crazy? We are going to fall right off! Get out of there!!– Priscilla shouted in terror, but as Candy remained persistent and committed, she got off the window sill to drag the princess out, who continued resisting, though she wasn’t strong enough to hold her ground.
–We’ll be fine, trust me. I’ll protect you, but we have to go now…– Candy replied reassuringly before facing the window fearlessly and stepping out once again without looking back, forcing Priscilla to reluctantly follow her. But before she got out, she watched Candy step onto the thin ledge out the window first to see if they were even capable of standing there. Once Candy had both feet on the ledge, she was able to stick close to the wall to prevent falling onto the steep, light blue roof that could certainly lead them to their deaths if they tried to stand on it.
–Alright, but you better catch me if I fall…– Priscilla complied in a hesitant and shy manner, still opposing the idea even when she saw Candy effortlessly sidle along the ledge. They were both scared, but the latter was able to hide it from the princess and convince her to step out the window again. Priscilla had more trouble since her long dress almost got caught on the handle of the window, and even when she stepped onto the ledge, she had to move her dress off her way to stand properly.
But with the help of Candy, the princess managed to follow her slowly. Despite them being in a hurry, Candy didn’t leave the princess behind and stayed right by her side, holding her hand to ease her worries while they inched through the ledge. They were very cautious, always keeping one hand on the wall and trying to grip it in case they lost balance, which seemed to help since they started getting dizzy once they looked down. They could see half the city below them, and one misstep could lead them to fall off the roof and down the mountain to the streets if the roof couldn’t break their fall, so it didn’t inspire much faith in the both of them.
–We are going to die! I can’t believe we are doing this. This is so dumb!– Priscilla screamed in fear, almost fainting after looking down at the mountain and up at the sky back and forth as she began panicking again. She kept glancing down, and the constant screaming was starting to make Candy anxious, even making her look down as well. But as she maintained her composure, Candy stopped advancing and took a moment to help the princess through her panic attack.
–It’s okay, just don’t look down… We are almost there, you are doing great…– Candy replied in her usual comforting and supportive tone, but not even her soothing and caring voice could stop Priscilla from screaming. Even Candy started hyperventilating for a while out of frustration, especially when she noticed that they would have to climb over the rail separating the ledge and the balcony of the middle tower. However, since they were closer to safety, she kept pushing through without looking down or even checking on Priscilla to not get nervous herself.
The wind got a bit rough for a moment, which only frightened Priscilla further, but Candy only stopped moving to not risk losing their balance. She was precise with her movement, unlike Priscilla, who wobbled and had to balance herself every second due to not being used to walking on her feet normally. She began tiptoeing for a moment, but a gust of wind almost blew her off the ledge, so she planted her feet firmly and only shimmied her way along Candy while closing her eyes. She began trusting her guidance as she pulled herself closer, almost hugging her side to not even face her greatest fears, and while it was a bit awkward, they were making good progress.
Soon, they reached the middle tower, where Candy took a moment to readjust herself, having Priscilla step back despite the latter not wanting to, and attempting to place one foot over the railing to get to the other side. Priscilla finally opened her eyes, but it was only when Candy had let go of her hand. Thankfully, she now had the railing to hold on to, which she didn’t hesitate to do, though she doubted following Candy as it looked like she was having trouble climbing over the rail.
After a while of trying to push her legs upwards but failing because of the flexibility of her dress, Candy risked it all for one jump to boost herself over the railing. Without thinking it twice, she hopped over it and tripped, almost falling face-first onto the floor. But now that she had a steady floor to stand on, she didn’t waste a second getting up and turning to Priscilla, not even getting to catch her breath since the princess was demanding her help. And so she did. Candy grabbed both of Priscilla’s hands, and, just like her, she had to jump to climb the low railing. She didn’t trip since Candy kept a steady grip on her hands and held her once she was on the other side, which quickly turned into a celebration hug as Priscilla let out a sigh of relief.
–See, we did it. You did great, that was very brave of you!– Candy complimented Priscilla with a sweet voice that flattered her but didn’t stop her from breaking down in tears again. However, it was only for a brief second, as Candy noticed something suspicious during their hug.
While they stood next to the closed gate, they could see the hallway they came from empty, only catching a few glimpses of the fight going on behind. But it was on the opposite side, in the left wing of the castle, where they saw omens running down the hallway, past the library, reaching the rooms at the very end. They appeared to be inspecting the rooms in search of the girls, and while they were distracted looking in the wrong places, Candy knew they couldn’t stop moving. So, after cutting the hug short, Candy began running towards the hallway, bringing Priscilla with her by pulling her hand. At first, she was confused, but then she saw Candy’s commitment to getting her to safety and just ran with her without knowing exactly where they were heading.
–What are we doing now??– Priscilla asked with increasing worry after seeing the omens at the end of the hallway, but she was interrupted by Candy’s gasp of shock when she saw a group of enemies come out of a room right next to the entrance of the library. The two of them had just entered the room, and with the enemies coming straight towards them, they didn’t have another choice but to hide.
While Priscilla still looked for answers, Candy focused on searching for a hiding spot as soon as possible. The library was big enough to hide in different corners, but since they were right on the entrance connected to the middle tower, the rows of bookcases adjacent to them blocked their sides, forcing Candy and Priscilla to run forward to the nearest corner and turn right as soon as possible since the omens hadn’t spotted them yet. They ignored the bodies left behind by Kiwy, and while their footsteps didn’t give away their location, they could only run so far before the omens entered the room.
Because of that, they couldn’t risk heading for the corner of the library without being seen, so Candy brought Priscilla to hide under one of the tables right next to the straight path between the bookcases that the omens were taking to reach the gate on the other hallway. It looked like the enemy brought equipment to break open the gate, so they were more focused on reaching the other side. Regardless, Candy and Priscilla held their breath for a few tense seconds, avoiding making any noises while they held each other close under the table.
They could hear the small group of omens marching right next to them, with only a bookcase between them. The table didn’t have any cloth to hide them, so they could be spotted only if the omens looked underneath, though the girls blended in with the corpses left behind, so the enemy had nothing to suspect. They were in a hurry, so the suspense only lasted a brief moment, during which Priscilla started tearing up from the anxiety again, and Candy had to try to comfort her by holding her head. She seemed to be able to calm her down at first, and with the omens passing by, they seemed to be in the clear, at least until Pricilla spotted something that deeply disturbed her.
–Oh my-...– Priscilla exclaimed in dismay but was immediately shut up by Candy, who was caught off guard by her expression. She covered the princess’ mouth, but in doing so, she noticed that she was staring directly at a bloody hand that was dangling off the table. And just as they looked at it, one of the omens that passed by stopped and returned to check on his dead teammate, the very same one Kiwy had killed on that table.
The omen took a moment to mourn his fallen teammate right above Candy and Priscilla, prompting the former to cover her mouth and nose as well to stop herself from making any noise. She couldn’t stop breathing heavily; the omen's legs were right next to them, and it seemed like he wasn’t going to move any time soon, urging Priscilla to move. But before she could run off and expose themselves, Candy held her tight and waited for a second longer, and even once the omen finally ran back to his group, she was cautious and waited a few more seconds after hearing him leave. She let Priscilla go and peek out the table to see if the omens had left, and while they were right outside the library, no one was looking back, so that was the perfect moment for the girls to leave.
–Alright, let’s go, but be quiet…– Candy whispered to Priscilla, who nodded mindlessly as she tried to contain her nervousness and stop shriveling. After giving the signal, Candy carefully crawled out of the table without making noise before standing up and helping Priscilla do the same. She kept her eyes fixed on the omens as they left, making sure they didn’t turn around at any second. But just as they were both in the clear, Priscilla noticed the group of omens walking away from them, one of them in particular, who seemed like he was about to turn around, which made her panic.
Instinctively, the princess tried to head straight to the exit of the library. She began running and left Candy’s reach before the latter could even realize, but since she had an obnoxiously long dress, she ended up tripping and falling to her knees in front of another dead omen, the one set against the wall. The abrupt thud of Priscilla’s fall broke the tense silence that was tormenting both of them, but it was also enough to alert the omens right outside the room, who forced Candy to take action as they were now turning around with their rifles in hand.
–RUN!– Candy yelled at Priscilla with a mix of frustration and despair, but the princess struggled to get up and keep running for the exit. Seeing as she was having trouble, Candy distracted the omens by knocking over the large bookcase next to her, which took her a couple of seconds, during which the omens already began shooting. Bullets flew by her, but she managed to take some cover behind a barrier of bookcases as the piece of furniture collided with the other in front, blocking the omen’s path, though it wasn’t enough to stop them from chasing them.
Candy turned back to help Priscilla, but the enemies didn’t hesitate to run after them despite the bookcase blocking their way. It was only a temporary obstacle, but it was still enough to let the girls run straight down the hallway to reach the stairs at the end. The omens behind them jumped over the fallen bookcases, and while some tripped or slipped with the books and blood littered on the floor, the others started shooting. Candy and Priscilla ran for their lives, both screaming, and the princess even started crying with her eyes closed. They jumped every time the omens managed to hit the lanterns next to them, causing more panic but luckily not harming them. However, after distancing themselves from the enemies, it didn’t look like they were in the clear yet.
Right as they were about to reach the staircase, more omens came out of the corner and rooms nearby, blocking their only path downstairs and surrounding them in a tight corner. They ran straight into them but didn’t realize they had the princess in their reach quick enough, which Candy took advantage of to pull Priscilla to the side, entering the nearest room as soon as possible. They both jumped through the door, which Candy promptly closed and locked behind, though it would only stop the omens from entering for a few seconds. They were safe for a while, but with the enemy already banging and starting to break the door, they had to think quickly, and it was too much stress for even Candy to take, making her panic as well.
–What are we going to do now?? Is there another way down??– Candy asked as she frantically looked around the room, which she just noticed was the princess’ bedroom. But as pretty as the decoration and furniture were, it didn’t look like it hosted anything useful for their escape, not even a window to get out of since the ones in the room were too small for them. But just as Candy started to lose it and break everything around in a desperate attempt to hide, Priscilla went quiet as she thought for a moment, searching around the room as well until she remembered something.
–Actually… There is a secret exit around here. I-I think it takes us underground…– Priscilla replied with a hopeful expression but sounded hesitant, though it was enough for Candy to believe her and start searching for this secret exit right away. The omens continued banging on the door, pressuring them even more as they could hear more enemies gathering right out the door since they knew the princess was inside.
Even when she could hear that they were all coming for her, Priscila managed to remain calm for a while as she focused on finding the secret exit. Now Candy was the one too nervous to control herself and was starting to lose hope by the second. She grew frustrated while looking for a lever or button around the walls of the room to no avail, but Priscilla remained close to the floor, looking for the exit around the luscious, round, purple carpet that surrounded her queen-sized bed. She tried to drag it out but couldn’t move the bed, so after a while of blindly running her hands through the smooth fur of the carpet, Priscilla turned ecstatic when she felt a protrusion right next to one of the legs of her bed.
–Here, I found it!– Priscilla exclaimed as she grabbed the edge of a secret trapdoor on the floor, opening it instantly to uncover a narrow but deep hole going downwards. Candy was shocked but relieved at the same time, though she allowed the princess to take the exit first since it looked like the omens were about to break in at any moment.
Pricilla successfully hid in the hole and tried to get Candy to follow her, but for some reason, she remained looking around the room for a moment. The princess looked at her in confusion but realized what she was planning when she saw her opening the small windows behind the bed before running to the trapdoor and hiding with her. She pushed her to make room for her body as she tried to close the trapdoor as fast as possible, managing to cover the secret exit right as the omens barged into the room. The sound of the trapdoor closing left the girls anxiously waiting, holding it with both hands to stop the omens from opening it. But instead of checking the floor, the enemy went straight to the windows to look out for them, and they believed the two had jumped as they sent some of their troops downstairs.
–Alright, we are safe now… But we have to make our way out of here quick…– Candy claimed with a relieved sigh as she and Priscilla crawled down the steep hole until they reached a narrow space between floors. It was completely dark, but the girls stayed close to each other, with Priscilla holding Candy’s hand, not only to know where she was but to prevent her from moving as she caught her breath.
–Can’t we just wait for Frost to come rescue us? I don’t even know where to go…– Priscilla objected nervously, prompting Candy to think for a while. She couldn’t see her, but just from the way she was talking, she could tell that she preferred to stay hidden in the obscure spot. And while it did sound like a viable option, Candy refused to take the easy way out and kept pushing through.
–No, he told me to protect you, and that’s what I’m going to do. We’ll find a way to get you to safety, we just have to look…– Candy replied adamantly, with a fierce voice that caught Priscilla by surprise, though it was her persistence and resolve that ended up convincing her to follow Candy through these narrow and dark corridors to find a way out of the castle.
With a nod that Candy couldn’t see, Priscilla started moving, and they both began making their way out of the crawl space. But without a clear direction of where to go, they spent a couple of minutes trying to get out of the castle. There wasn’t much to see, so they just followed what they felt was the right way, only focusing on making their way down. They got a sense of where they were approximately when they heard the muffled sounds of the omens running up and down the stairs repeatedly, which would place them somewhere behind the wall of the staircase. And while they had enough space to crawl around, they took their time to make their way down since they didn’t know how much room they had below them.
Once they were under the first floor, they used the rocks and beams sticking out of the walls to safely climb down until they reached another floor, which was much tighter than the one below the second floor, especially further down once they reached the same level as the dungeon. It was then that they began growing fearful, as they couldn’t hear much. They were slowly panicking, but since they were right next to each other, they found some comfort in crawling safely, or at least until they stumbled upon some rats that freaked both of them out. They feared for their lives for a brief second but broke into a brief, nervous laugh after realizing there wasn’t any danger, though the more they crawled around, the more exposed they appeared to be.
They were reaching the surface as some light began poking through the ceiling, but that wasn’t necessarily a good thing since they could now hear more of the chaos going on around them. They grew anxious when they found an exit in the form of another trapdoor, hesitating to open it in fear of running into the enemy once again. But after a bit of doubt and careful listening, Candy gathered the courage to open the trapdoor in front of them, being the first one to pop out to keep the princess safe. They were indeed outside, but to her surprise, they weren’t exactly far from the danger.
Candy and Priscilla found themselves at the side of the castle, in the garden full of colorful flowers and large bushes, which served to take cover in case there were enemies around. They weren’t too far from the path to the front door, but they didn’t focus on the nearby danger right away, as their first reaction was one of pure joy. They hugged each other again, but they were not both letting the tears roll freely as they gratefully stared up at the sky. It was getting dark, but for them, it was brighter than ever, especially after crawling around the darkness for minutes. They had managed to avoid all the omens and reach the safety of the lush garden outside, and despite both being complete messes, with their dresses covered in dress and shredded from all the crawling, they couldn’t help but cheer for their successful escape.
–We did it! Finally! I can’t believe it, thank you so much!– Priscilla exclaimed with gratitude and pure elation. Candy responded with a big smile and tried to cheer for her as well, but as flattered as she was, she had to focus on getting out of the garden to bring her to a safe building. She began scoping the area to locate the exit, but in the process of figuring out where exactly they were, she found probably the best thing she could have asked for.
Running back to the castle, Indie was now carrying her rifle and wearing her regular combat clothes, though she was still wearing a few accessories that she forgot to take off. She was about to head into the castle seemingly alone to confront the omens inside, and since nobody else was outside, or at least not near the main road, Candy was surprised and relieved to see her captain coming to the rescue. However, Indie couldn’t see them while they were hiding in the garden, so Candy tried to drag Priscilla out of the bushes near the hidden trapdoor to reunite with her. At first, the princess refused to move, but she then saw Indie and gladly followed Candy, who ran over to the gate of the castle, ignoring the dead guards littered around as she met with Indie right next to the statue in the middle.
–You got the princess out of there, great job. I thought we would have to get you out of there…– Indie said, both relieved and impressed but more thankful towards Candy for her accomplishment, which she definitely appreciated. She tried to reach for a hug, but Indie refused since she was in a hurry, prompting Candy to come back to her senses and worry about something else.
–Frost and Kiwy are still there trying to fight the omens. I didn’t see Tricky or Nitro leave, though, t-they might be still in there. We have to-...– Candy replied with the same urgency, becoming increasingly nervous for the safety of her team. But before she could grow any more anxious about her teammates or Priscilla could step in to voice her worries as well, Indie cut her off, grabbing her by the shoulder to draw her full attention before pointing at the exit.
–It’s okay, they ran back to the shops. I’ll go help inside, but you have to take the princess somewhere safe, okay?– Indie responded in her usual decisive and firm demeanor but spoke calmly to let Candy understand her instructions. With enough time to process the information, Candy made up her mind, and while she didn’t fully agree with her orders, she nodded affirmatively and grabbed Priscilla’s hand to take her away, but not before turning back one last time.
–Please don’t let Finn do anything stupid…– Candy begged with genuine concern, staring directly into Indie’s eyes to get the answer she needed for a brief moment. The princess seemed almost indignant to see Candy’s priorities, but she couldn’t say a word as Indie didn’t hesitate to answer.
–I won’t. Now go– Indie replied reassuringly, easing Candy’s worries with the conviction and fortitude in her eyes, allowing her to leave without further questioning. And with both of them having a clear objective, they split up, running in opposite directions. Candy ran in search of a safe place with Priscilla, who looked back before leaving the garden, seeing Indie take a big breath to ease her nerves before entering the castle to face the army of omens that was wreaking chaos inside.