Maria clutched the key tightly in her hand as she picked herself up. The experience from before had left her shaken but not overly so. Somehow, it was not even the worst experience Maria had yet.

She hurried back over to her group as her heart raced. There were too many vampire rabbits around for her to not be worried. Plus, her friends were virtually helpless without a means to extract life force.

“Nao, Suna. I’m back with the key ” Maria felt herself relax as she took the alright form of her group. The other two were relatively unharmed and untouched. The vampire rabbits had left them alone as well. It was such a relief for Maria to see.

“You got the key? Wasn’t that too fast?” Nao asked with surprise and suspicion coloring her tone. It was understandable since Maria had barely been gone for over an hour and it was just not enough time.

Maria felt herself sweat as Nao’s question caught her off-guard. She had not expected the other to be so suspicious of her. But maybe it had something to do with this illusionary forest and Suna being in a less-than-OK state.

“Got lucky and caught the one with the key fast” Maria passed her key to the other two before they could ask any more questions to her. It had been an attempt on her to distract Nao and it did work.

The second Suna got the key, Maria could feel her magic trying to break into the key and it caused the illusion around them to shake violently. Maria could see the sweat on Suna’s face. She was giving it her all.

And with a violent burst of energy, the key cracked and so did the illusion around them. The budded field around them bloomed into different colors before wilting away into a sea of rot.

The field changed into a small pool with hundreds of red eyes looking at the group. The vampire rabbits had never left but had been hiding in plain sight. Their invasive eyes held a searching look and the three tensed. The vampire rabbits bared their teeth at the threat…

…And then the vampire rabbits turned and fled the scene. They left even when they had an advantage which confused the other two but not Maria. Trishula had been watching after all, or perhaps, he had given out instructions to his pets not to hurt their group.

“We-We’re saved. I cannot believe that those monsters left” Suna collapses in relief, tension bleeding out of her.

“That problem left at last but now we have another one. How do we find a fairy? They’re like myths and supposed to be small” Suna asked as soon as she had flopped down. All the tiredness hit her at once.

Maria watched her wiggle her body on the ground and instantly wished she had not. That was not a safe thing to see for anyone, much less for two people who had a potential attraction to her. Nao seemed to be having a similar problem since her mouth was hanging open in shock.

“Suna, stop moving around. We don’t have time for you to be acting like this” Nao yelled which caused Suna to flinch but finally stop. It did not instantly make the situation better for Maria but it did remove the source of her impulse.

Suna looked embarrassed as she took in the flushed faces of her companions. Her embarrassed ‘sorry’ did not cut the deal but it did take Maria’s mind off of her earlier indecent actions.

It caused Nao to break out into a speech about ‘responsibility’ among other things and Maria did feel refreshed to see that the speech was not aimed at her for the first time. It gave her the time to wander off and look around the place.

The other two did not even notice Maria moving away, too busy on their one would. It stung but this was the direction things were supposed to move in. Maria could see the other two being a happy couple.

Maria turned her back to the couple and instantly felt someone poking her in her leg. Maria turned back, only to find the couple lost in their own world.

‘Must have been a shrub that rubbed against my leg’ Maria could not help but be irritated at the interruption from her thoughts. Irritated and lonely as well. Nao’s attention on someone else was not a familiar feeling for Maria.

“Hey, aren’t you irritated seeing them flirt with each other? Are you feeling left out? Don’t worry. You’re really pretty and I can take you in as my wife if your friends don’t want you” Maria felt a scream build up in her throat as the voice reached her ear.

It was faint and melodic enough to put anyone under a trance. But Maria felt the touch against her leg again and the screen ripped was ripped out of her throat.

“MARIA! What are you doing that far off? Are you in danger?” Nao sounded angry with her, because why was she not angry at Maria? But she also sounded concerned.

Maria wanted to get up and reach her friends before the owner of her voice made a move but Maria felt her body betray her as it refused to move. Something seemed to be restricting her movement and Maria tried to open her mouth.

But a root climbed up her body and warped around her mouth. It was thick so Maria could not bite it off as well and it was strong enough to keep her in place. She looked down to find similar roots all over her body, constricting her.

“Don’t try to move around that much or you’ll end up hurting yourself. We should also leave this place for now since you are getting agitated. You’re such a pitiful soul, but don’t worry. I’ll save you” Maria wanted to bite the root off of her and have some choice words with her kidnapper.

But she felt more and more roots come up and cut her access off. They also sucked any magic Maria tried to use which was so much in character when you thought about this world. And since Maria was not an MC, obviously she was going to be restricted by this faulty logic.

‘Fuck this world and all the laws it holds. Why can things never go the second lead’s way?’ Maria cursed as her oxygen started to thin out. Her vision swam in and out of focus which was not good.

She was losing too much oxygen at an alarming rate and she knew she would need some external help to make it out of this one.

‘Hopefully, Nao and Suna would get me out soon’