World's Last Hope

Eric couldn't move as he saw the heinous creature slowly approach him with a smile on its face.

Each step the creature took towards him changed the surroundings. There was what seemed like a lake of lava, and a giant skull, thousands of times larger than any human's, lay at the center of the lake, with three empty eye sockets.

Heads of corpses began showing themselves among the lake, staring at Eric with their lifeless eyes. Their mouths, despite lacking muscles to move, did. It was quiet, but it was clear what they were saying,

"One of us, one of us."

Their chanting got louder as what Eric presumed to be Grim Reaper came closer to him. The environment was becoming more menacing with each passing moment. Despite not needing to breathe, he found himself wanting to, but it was like he was suffocating from the menacing energy in the air.

[How do you feel?]

The creature asked, or Eric presumed it asked, as he couldn't hear what it was saying and was relying on the system for translation.

The chanting of the countless bodies in the lake become louder.

"ONE OF US! ONE OF US!"

[How does it feel?]

[To be where you belong?]

Eric wanted to move but couldn't. It was like he didn't have legs anymore. He wanted to scream but couldn't; he didn't have a mouth anymore.

All he was now was a soul... a soul about to be snatched by the Grim Reaper.

'Stay away!' Eric tried to cry, but it was useless.

The creature came closer and closer, centimeters away from touching him...

Until its smile disappeared, its face going from full of joy to one filled with unimaginable anger.

[No, NO! NOT AGAIN!]

Eric was confused about why the creature's mood suddenly changed, until he opened his eyes.

His surroundings were blurry, but he was able to make out that he was in a cave. He was alive, but something was weird… he couldn't breathe.

Feeling something press against his chest multiple times, he shifted his gaze, as much as his strength allowed him to.

He saw Aria using both of her hands to give him first aid. She had dissolved her armor and was covered in blood. Eric realized his armor was gone too, meaning he was naked.

'Did they take it off while I was unconscious?' he wondered. 'Well, good. At least I won't have to feel the pain of removing it.'

"26, 27, 28, 29, 30," Aria muttered under her breath, then placed her face close to Eric's, pinched his nose, and breathed into his mouth—once, twice.

Stepping back, Aria cried, "Switch!" Immediately, Olivia, who was using some kind of healing ability by touching his head, appeared in view and took Aria's place, beginning.

"1, 2, 3, 4, 5—" She wasn't in much better shape than Aria; she also had dissolved her armor and was covered in blood.

'Are they trying to revive me or something? This aid is supposed to be used only when the heart has stopped or the patient can't breathe... Oh, yeah... my lungs are burned, so I can't breathe on my own.'

*****

Aria had once again switched with Olivia. The plan was simple, while one was keeping Eric alive by delivering oxygen to his damaged lungs, the other would use her healing miracle to heal them.

But it was taking much longer than they thought. Was it because he was damaged too much? Or was it because they were using two different kinds of healing miracles and, in the end, they clashed with each other?

It didn't matter. All that mattered now was to keep Eric alive.

"27, 28, 29, 30." As soon as she was done, she moved her mouth to Eric's and breathed mouth to mouth. As she took a step back to continue the compressions, she saw that Eric had slightly opened his eyes.

"Thank God, he is alive. He just can't use his lungs," she muttered under her tired breath.

They had spent a lot of time trying to bring him back to life. His external injuries were now gone, but the most dangerous ones—the internal injuries—still remained.

Her muscles felt like they were about to explode, they had long ago reached their limit, but Aria couldn't stop. She had to keep going, no matter what. When the exhaustion became too much, she glanced at Olivia for the countless time and commanded her to switch.

Aria had now placed her hand on Eric's head, trying to heal his injuries. It was brutal. Now, she may not be using her muscles, but she was using something more taxing… her mental energy.

Using miracles often came with a price—most often, it was a person's mental energy. And she had used so much of that energy already that she felt like she was about to pass out any second now.

But despite all that, she couldn't… no, she didn't want to stop. She didn't want to let Eric die, and looking at Olivia's face, Aria could sense that she had the same thoughts.

After a few more minutes… or hours—it was hard to tell in the cave—Olivia suddenly stopped, which made Aria ask, "What? Switch again?"

"No," Olivia looked at Aria with a tired smile. "Listen."

Aria did as instructed, holding her breath until she heard a faint breathing. It didn't come from Olivia... it came from Eric. They had managed to stabilize him.

As both of the girls collapsed on the ground, exhausted, they closed their eyes and drifted to sleep.

*****

Opening his eyes, the first thing he noticed was that he was naked, with some kind of white coat placed on top of him. Adjusting his eyes to the darkness, he saw two women who, despite looking exhausted, still managed to look beautiful as they stared at him.

"What… what happened?" he asked, still a bit disoriented from the situation.

Olivia smiled tiredly before answering, "You just came back from the dead... so now we're even!"

"How do you feel?" Aria asked, her eyes fixed on Eric with concern.

He sighed and grinned like a child before answering,

"Alive, thanks you guys!"