CYPHER

Fairest in the Land

Dean had walked off after the people from earlier stumbled around to thank him before running away .

They had not even been able to look him in the eye .

What were they doing playing a game like this when they could not even look at a fellow player ?

He headed back the way they had come and soon heard the others as they walked behind him .

They joined him soon after .

" I watched you climb up the golem to stab it ".

Dean turned to Jade .

" Weren't you busy saving them ? "

Jade shook his head .

" Yeah , but it was hard not to . Clarissa and Pat watched you too , I think that's why they were scared of you ".

Clarissa and Pat , the people from earlier , they had such normal names .

The kind of names you would hear from people teaching kindergarten .

May pushed Jade aside as she came to walk between them .

" I watched you too , it was impossible not to ".

Dean was about to answer when Blade threw his arm around Dean's shoulders .

" I should apologize , I didn't realize what you were doing till I saw you almost fall from the impact of my grenade ".

May came around to push Blade away .

" Yeah , what were you thinking ? We call them steels because grenades have no effect if you just throw them around . You have to get it in and you watched Deanie do it twice already , but you still tried to kill him ".

Dean noticed that as they walked into the woods , May had begun throwing down the small red flags .

She left Blade's side and came back to Jade .

" I should apologize to you too , I'm so embarrassed thinking of how I was telling you that we were all formidable and we didn't need you when I knew the truth ".

Dean was too hungry and tired , his head was also hurting like someone was drilling a hole at the back of his head .

All he could think of now was eating and sleeping this terrible headache off .

He missed Jay terribly , he kept wondering what she was up to .

She would hound him for stories about this place if he left ...

...when he left .

It was a when , had to be when because he would leave here .

" Deanie , you continue to surprise me every so often . Yesterday when we met , you thought this was all CGI and now you are taking down golems without help ".

Dean sighed .

" You all helped me ".

May scoffed as she leaned into him .

" Deanie , I know what help looks like and neither of us delivered . Only fair and white over here did anything worthwhile with you , that's why I'm apologizing about what I said earlier . It was rude and uncalled for , especially considering that after I rushed in to the gauntlet , I froze up and it ended up being Deanie that saved my ass again ".

Only May would genuinely apologize to someone while still throwing a dig at the person but she was right .

It had not been noticeable last night or this morning when they were in the church but the outdoors was making it hard to dismiss .

Jade was deathly white , paler than a sheet , he looked like he had never been in the sun or outside at all .

Blade chuckled and turned around to slap Jade's back .

" You could easily get a role in a Disney movie".

May laughed loudly .

" Do you actually think because of that one Snow White movie everyone there is pale ? You are just so stupid ".

Blade hissed .

" Well , he could be a model , he has the looks for it and his paleness would make him stand out ".

May cackled , the trees around swooning in the wind .

" Stand out ? Of course , stand out as a patient you mean . And what looks ? His face his needlessly pretty while he isn't even as tall as I am and his body is like a middle school girl's. I read Playboy to see men that could fit properly in Calvin Klein briefs and not myself and every other little girl's sad chest before mother nature invited sister puberty for Thanksgiving ".

Dean turned to her sharply .

" That's enough , you're being a b***h ".

May blinked and then looked around , she exhaled softly as she turned to latch on to Jade

" I'm sorry Jay , I didn't mean any harm ".

" Yes , she's only jealous cause you are prettier ".

Dean turned his sharp eyes on to Blade who was rekindling May's embers.

However , Jade laughed over it all .

" It doesn't matter how it happened , it was you I saw run out to save me and I'm really grateful . Maybe it's because of how honest and crass your words are but they don't hurt me and you still apologize , I think you are awesome ".

May hugged him and then punched him .

" Do I need to tell you to start dropping off the flags or do you want to be responsible for us getting lost ? "

Dean stopped , they had been walking for a while but he could not recognize where they were or where they were headed , they had run out yesterday , so everything was still a blur .

" Do you guys recognize the way back ? "

He was referring to the two of them but it was May he turned to look at .

A smile blossomed on May's face , it creaked at the edges , exposing her teeth that were grinding hard against each other .

" What do you mean by 'you guys' ? "

Dean hurriedly looked over to Blade who looked more confused than normal .

He turned back to May .

" When you suggested that we return , I thought you knew your way back ".

May's eyes widened .

" Why would you think that ? When you had no objections , I thought it was because you knew your way around ".

Dean chuckled bitterly .

" Why would I know my way around ? First, I was robbed after being knocked unconscious, then Blade threw a grenade that threw me to the ground and then I had to fight yet another golem before running out of here. What time exactly did I have to ' know' my way around ? "

Jade cleared his throat to gain their attention and they both turned to glare at him .

" Oh , I'm so sorry that you were too busy fighting to save your life and the life of the man who robbed you and put you in that dilemma in the first place ".

Dean rolled his eyes .

" What ? Was I supposed to leave him to die ? You know that's rich coming from someone who ran into an organized fight to save someone she had never seen , at least I knew what the guy I was saving looked like ".

May moved even closer , her fists in the air ,Blade rushed between them .

" Now , now children , No PDA please".

Dean and May gagged at the same time .

When Dean lifted his head , he realized that they stood at a really familiar place .

As he turned around to examine it , he realized that May was also looking over it .

Something caught Dean's eyes and he ran over to check what it was .

The blade from a saw or more precisely , it was the blade from the saw they had used yesterday .

He turned around with the blade in hand and saw Blade and Jade standing next to a sack.

" How long have you guys been holding that ?"

Jade looked from May to Dean .

" About two minutes now ,I tried to tell you guys severally ".

Dean threw the blade down and ran forward , May did the same .

" Did you guys feel the bag ? "

Blade and Jade nodded , Dean looked at May.

" I'll open it ".

May took a step back , giving him enough room.

Dean began to unwind the twine that had been used to hold the bag closed .

He rolled it around clockwise and then anticlockwise but the twine did not seem to be disentangling .

Dean kept at it for about a minute , his frustration mounting .

Finally when he could not continue , he grabbed the sack and forced it open , ripping the sack in the process .

The contents of the sack spilled over and Dean hurriedly closed his eyes .

If it wasn't what they hoped , Dean would be having his first heartbreak .

He finally opened his eyes to check the others expression and found their eyes closed too .

Seriously, those cowards .

Dean mustered courage and looked at the spilled contents of the bag .

He yelped loudly , the loudest he had done in a while .