*Thump!* *Thump!*
The sound of Gray's heart pounding grew louder and louder, the expression on his face darkened as a shadow loomed over it.
The next words which he spoke struggled to come out of his mouth.
"She's... Not breathing."
Aurora's heart sunk as she heard his words. She didn't want to believe it.
With her strength recovered from the effects of the very strong potion quickly healing her injuries, she quickly rushed to performing a check up on her.
Just as Gray had mentioned, she wasn't breathing but although faint, she still had a pulse.
Aurora sighed in relief as she confirmed it. But her relief itself only lasted but a second as she realised that she had to get moving.
Violet had fortunately managed to gulp down the contents of the potion so her injuries were healed, leaving only one thing left to do.
Rescue Breathing.
Aurora quickly moved to act in order to begin CPR, but she was interrupted by Gray who was a step ahead.
*Push* *Push* *Push*
With her back to the ground and him crouched down beside her, Gray quickly made his move pressing down on her chest at regular intervals.
Although it was a long while ago, Gray was trained in first aid just as Aurora was. Gray knew that Aurora would have most likely been the better one for the task, but he couldn't just sit back and wait.
The fear of losing Violet, just the thought was unbearable.
'If the person is not breathing but has a pulse, give 1 rescue breath every 5 to 6 seconds or about 10 to 12 breaths per minute.' Gray repeated in his mind.
It was the most basic instruction which he recalled from his memory.
He was so focused that he had become completely unaware of what was happening in his surroundings.
Aurora watched Gray do the compressions and watched him make contact with her lips as he breathed air into her lungs.
Gray repeated this over and over, the look of desperation in his face was apparent.
While she watched she prayed, she prayed for her breathing to return to normal, for her to go back to being her bright healthy self.
"Please Violet... Breathe...!" She implored. "I'm sorry for arguing with you before...! So just please... Breathe!!"
*Compress* *Compress*
Gray continued to carry out chest compressions filled with focus. It was the first time Aurora had ever seen him make such a scared, desperate expression.
She could tell just by watching how much she meant to him. She understood fully well, after all, Violet meant just as much to her too.
For the first few moments there weren't any signs of anything happening or changing, but they kept pushing on.
Whilst this happened, resounding groans approaching them echoed out in the distance.
Aurora looked down the tunnel in the way they had come from.
"That sound... It's Zombies... Did the sound Gray made from coming here attract them?"
"I thought the monsters had killed all of them." She muttered.
She glanced at Gray, he showed no signs of realising this. That or he simply didn't care.
Seeing as how he was completely focused on resuscitating Violet, Aurora got up in order to do what she had to do.
Orm ore specifically, the only thing she could do in that moment.
"Don't worry about the zombies... I'll deal with them."
The air around Aurora grew colder once more, her hair and eyes glowed bright blue and surge of cold wind blew in their direction.
The ice below began to freeze, creating a trail which moved down the tunnel to where the zombies treaded.
Aurora stretched her arms out and three giant spears of ice manifested before them.
The spears dug into the ground, strengthening the rate and speed at which the trail was progressing as it ran in the Zombies direction.
In the far distance, the figure of the zombies could be seen.
From just a glance she could tell, these weren't just any Zombies; they were abnormal mutants.
The reason why she reached that conclusion?
There were many who were running alongside the walls and ceilings with their disfigured figures.
Their jaws were wide open with dark purple blood spilling out, it was both disgusting and terrifying.
The Zombies which had continued to tread on the ground were left behind as their legs had frozen completely onto the ground.
Aurora glanced back at Gray who was still doing the compressions before glancing back ahead.
The zombies were quickly gaining up on them, the nearest one was just a little over a hundred meters away, and at the speed at which they were coming, there was less than 5 seconds before collision.
Gray gave zero attention or care in regards to the situation, as of this moment, saving Violet was his only priority meaning it was all in Aurora's hands.
Strangely enough, that didn't scare her.
The fact that he was relying on her, even if it was indirectly, it still gave her the courage, the push she needed to grow yet again.
Aurora let out a deep breath, tiny snowflakes manifested from her breath and slowly floated downwards to the floor.
[3 Seconds until collision.]
The groans of the mutated abnormals following behind it grew louder and louder, their starving growls was enough to send even the bravest of people into a world of fear.
But strangely enough, Aurora wasn't scared.
'It's strange... Compared to the fear of losing Violet... They...'
[-2 Seconds until collision.]
"Don't look scary at all." She muttered as her finger twitched.
*CRACKLE!!!!!* *SWOOOSH!!*
Giant ice glaciers, bigger than anything Aurora had ever manifested from the ground before her freezing and pushing everything back and away.
All it took was a second.
In just a second, the tunnel in the direction they had come from had been completely blocked and walled off by the ice glaciers which had emerged.
[Ice Manipulation: Giant Ice Glaciers.]
Aurora let out a deep breath, before turning to Gray.
The moment she did, she felt a sharp jolt in her heart, a stinging pain which for a moment made her think she was having a heart attack.
After looking down however, she realised that wasn't the case.
Both her arms had turned pale white with snow frost flakes covering them entirely.
Aurora slowly walked up to Gray, shivering before crouching down beside them.
He was still compressing and the correct intervals to... So why?
'Why won't you wake up!?'
'VIOLET!!' Aurora cried inwardly.
*COUGH!*
*COUGH!* *COUGH!*
After receiving one other compression Violet suddenly began to violently cough.
Aurora's eyes widened, her heart which was plunged into despair suddenly felt as if something was pushing it upwards and warming it up.
Gray stopped and watched as the coughing slowly subsided and transitioned into a slow and faint breathing pattern.
Aurora's swollen eyes grew even more teary than before.
"S-She's breathing,,,"
"Heuk... Heuk... Thank god...!!" She cried out, holding herself back from giving her a joy-filled hug.
The sense of relief she felt was like nothing before, Violet was finally breathing again, and her pulse was stable too, it all worked out in the end.
It all worked out... However.
Her sense of relief was cut short, it was overtaken by a different emotion.
Her human survival instincts were screaming it.
Danger, death, a spine chilling blood-lust which knew no bounds.
Aurora didn't even need to look to know what the source was.
"Gray...?" Aurora called out to him in a shaky tone.
"E-Everything okay?" She asked as she slowly turned in his direction.
There he stood with the same dark shadow looming over his face. It was strange, seeing him this mad, she recalled it happening once before.
-Memory
She recalled it last happening in the Labyrinth when they reached the floor where his sister was at. His sister was gravely injured, and as a result when they had reached it.
'A blood bath... What... What happened here?' She wondered.
Blood was painted all across the Labyrinth floor's walls and Arena.
Not a single living being was in sight other than Gray and Ria who had been paused with an arm sticking out of her hand.
The expression on Gray's face on that day, it was something she could recall clearly even now.
-Memory end.
It was just like the one he was wearing now.
Only this time, the one now feels slightly more ominous and intense.
Was it because he was late? Did he blame himself for not arriving in time?
Aurora didn't know, but still she knew she had to say something. Something to at least try and calm him down.
"Gra-"
By the time she had finished calling out his name, he was already gone.
A blink? No she hadn't even blinked.
And yet the frost flakes which were all over her arms had vanished as a surge of heat passed by them.
And as for the ice glaziers blocking off the path behind them-
*SHATTER!*
They had completely shattered, sending a cold breeze rushing her way.
Aurora hesitantly and slowly turned around.
Her pupils dilated when she did.
There Gray stood, holding onto the body of the monster they had just killed. It's body was in pieces but progressively regenerating.
"It... Hadn't died...?"
