What it was conflicted with what should have been,nor his brain interpreted it as such. If there was ever a time he doubted his eyes it was in that moment, before him was a strange abberation that seemed to be as real as he was.
"No, it really can't be. Did I hit my head on a rock?" He told himself, in deep confusion.
Standing a small distance away was a figure of a person dressed in a strange armament garment, the clothing looked like line as well as his eyes could see. They were a dark shade of purple with some over lines coiling around like a river or a snake, and they shimmered lightly. It stood at six feet and looked humanoid in all aspect that he could see since most of its body was hidden under its garment. But what struck him more than anything was it's head, it was huge and bright orange and most noticeably that of a fish. It had huge dark eyes and for some reason a strange tattoo on its forehead.
Em giggled slightly breaking the tension in the air, Aerith looked down at her unable to decipher if she was masking her fear or was simple amused by this strange creature but it did not seem like the latter. "Is that a talking fish." She said amidst a world of laughter.
Aerith noticed Nasha standing defensively by his side, as always her face was mostly indecipherable but he could tell she was tense. In one moment he felt like the only sane one in the trio, "My luck." He groaned inwardly.
He then turned to the tuna lady, fish person or was it just simply talking fish. It was hard to place his priorities at the moment, what could he possibly refer to this abberant. Mustering enough sanity he cleared his throat and spoke. "Hi there, miss tuna fish. You are not a figment of my imagination are you?" He tense voice was trembling in his lungs, he locked eyes with the fish woman trying to get an answer but every time their eyes locked he felt the urge to throw up. Not because she was not human but because he was not a fan of sea food, but then again did talking fish count as seafood?
There was a strange pause, as they waited for the strange abberant to speak, when she did her voice was slow and meticulous without any hint of emotion slipping through. "I am Sollen, groundskeeper of the tower. I am to give you passage into the tower."
Aerith sighed in relief, clearly pleased that she was not a figment of his imagination. He wanted to ask why she was well, a fish but decided not to anger the seafood queen. "That's great, if you can point the way out we will be on our way."
The trio stood there expecting an answer but they received nothing but silence. The tuna lady, or more correctly the groundskeeper Sollen simply turned and started to walk down the way she came disappearing into the pitch blackness.
Em tugged at his shirt, "Do we follow the fish?"
Aerith swallowed hard, he wasn't one to be reliable in any time of need. If he saw responsibility coming his way he would rather choose to go the other way, but considering their current circumstances his best choice was to follow the groundskeeper regardless of her species she was the only one who actually knew where they were. "I guess we don't have a choice." He said forcefully, he took one quick glance at Nasha and she simply gave him a nod.
She had to carry his weight around her shoulder as he could barely walk with his still weakened body. Walking alone was a pain unlike any other he had ever experienced in all his years in either of his lives. Despite having his blood sucked out to the point he was a thin paper carpet, new blood had been transfused into his body but his body had still yet to synthesise it.
Lifting each leg felt like pulling against a mountain, they would drag on the ground every now and then. His spine suffered even more, they felt like they would break off the more he stayed upright. But what perhaps had him more troubled was his head, it ached and felt dizzy with each passing second. Every few seconds he would slip into a sleep he feared could last forever, to prevent this he would bite down on his lower lip constantly. This led to him breaking the skin and bleeding it, Nasha did not notice it but it did not go unnoticed by the blood witch herself.
He could feel his body begin to circulate to his brain and through his body improve with every few seconds that passed. And could tell she was healing himself. He did not want to bother her since he knew she was still recovering herself, but the comfort he got from being able to feel the air on his skin was better than anything he remembered.
But where did the wind come from?
The tunnel which was initially dark would light up from strange magical torches attached to the sides as they approached them. They could see the strange tuna— Sollen walking in front of them, with a long steel staff always clinking on the ground. On the the hilt was the image of a dolphin diving down.
There was nothing but silence and the constant pounding of Aerith's chest thinking what the tower had in store for him or what the tower actually was. All his troubles were soon amplified by the huge gust of wind that came from the tunnel ahead, it felt like a whirlwind that threatened to send them flying had they not held on to each other. Sollen seemed unaffected by this wind, the torches which should have been extinguished if they were normal stayed lit.
Aerith groaned inwardly.
Then came the ear splitting road from a creature, it echoes like a million huge bells ringing loudly but growing much more deeper. It did not sound welcoming but rather primal and out of the world.
Aerith could not help but scream. "What the heck is that?"
Sollen paused for the first time since they started walking, cranes back slightly and said. "Your trial." On her fishy face was what looked like a wide grin. It was extremely unsettling and gruesome to look at, it almost made him gag. Who said fish did not have the most evils looks known to man.