CHAPTER#75

"Now you know why I'm stuck." Sofia cast her gaze toward the floor. Mike saw the hilt of her collapsible sword. "I tried to cut myself free, but there were too many of them. My sword is sharp, but not sharp enough, apparently. The few that grabbed me lifted me up into a whole tangle of these things."

"Right." Mike contemplated the structure of the vines again. If he wasn't careful, he could end up getting grabbed. He would have to cut selectively.

"I wish our positions were switched," Sofia grumbled.

"Oh. I'm sorry. Would you like someone smarter to come along? Seriously, what's your problem with me?" Mike selected another vine, slicing cleanly through. This vine retracted into the darkness like an elastic band, the other half dangling pitifully off of Sofia.

"I wasn't being rude," Sofia muttered. "It's my gift. If our positions were switched, I could have you out in a couple of minutes."

"Your gift?"

"Do you know why a cyclops only has one eye? We gave up the other for the ability to see the future. We were tricked, and the only future we got to see was our own deaths." Sofia let out a sigh. "However, after centuries of living with this curse, the magic has evolved some. Some interesting variations sprung up. Being able to see the death's of others was highly uncommon, but was a great moneymaker. My variation is one of the closest to what should have happened?"

"You can see the future?" Mike asked.

"Only about thirty seconds in, but not always. Something has to trigger it. My death, for one. I have seen myself die hundreds of times. Extreme emotional or physical sensations, like a bucket of ice water being dumped on me, or pain. All those things."

"All the traps that were set off." Mike looked back at the door to the Labyrinth. You set them all off, didn't you?"

"I was running from the minotaur. Tink got caught in a cage, and when he got near, I tried to lure him away."

"How did Tink get caught in a cage?"

Sofia shook her head. "It was such a simple trap. A stone pedestal in the middle of the room had her goggles on it. She got excited and ran up, only for the goggles to vanish and a cage to drop down and trap her. I haven't heard so many swear words before."

"And you didn't see it coming?"

"It wasn't my own death or pain. That is part of my issue with you."

"What did I do?"

"Not just you. Humans. You are obsessed with future sight, magical items, and the like. The main reason I am even in that library is that your kind wiped out my tribe so many years ago. I thought that I could get past it, but every new Caretaker eventually comes to me wanting to advance themselves, to become stronger. Emily certainly did it toward the end, and I knew you would be no different."

"Why, because I wanted to help Tink get her goggles back?"

"I caught you fucking in my library. Not the best first impression."

"So you're mad at me and not Tink?" Mike cut another vine.

"Tink is a goblin. That's different."

"So you're a racist then. Racist against humans."

"Like your kind has any room to talk. You've wiped out so many different creatures, magical or otherwise, and you can't even look past the color of your own skin...hey, why did you stop cutting?" Mike had stepped back, crossing his arms across his chest.

"Honestly? Because you're being a bitch." Mike stared away from her, trying to ignore the rising heat in his face. "I'm sorry about what happened in the Library. If I had known someone lived there, it wouldn't have happened. The only reason we were there was because I was trying to help someone else, and I'm not sorry for that.

"And you are right. Humans, as a whole, are giant pieces of shit. We do horrible things, and we probably always will. But you know what? Not everybody is a piece of shit. If I wanted to, I could sell this place, move far, far away and never have to deal with its problems. But I won't. Why? Because I actually fucking care." Sighing, Mike sliced another vine away. "I even care about you, despite your shitty fucking attitude."

Sofia had gone quiet, her own face turning red. Mike could hear her breathing change, a subtle shift that made him think that the vines might be squeezing her too hard. He reached behind her, carefully sliding the dagger beneath a pair of vines that were squeezing her ribs. The moment he sliced them, Sofia's whole body swung forward, pushing up against Mike.

"Mmm, gah!" Mike's face was not only buried between Sofia's breasts, but now the vines clutching her reached for him, pulling him tightly against her. He fought back, shoving hard against Sofia in an attempt to get himself free. He managed to push himself free, but the only part of Sofia he was able to push against that was vine free was her ample chest. The vines tried to pull him off his feet, but he cut himself free, stepping several feet back from Sofia. The vines settled, wrapping once more against her.

Sofia was breathing even harder now, her mouth open. Worried, Mike moved closer, but he could tell the vines weren't restricting her breathing. Puzzled, he noticed that her cheeks had gone very red.

"Are you okay?" Mike asked. Sofia remained silent, so he repeated himself.

"It's my breasts," she said.

"What about them?" They were threatening to break free, her flesh overflowing through the split in her shirt.

"They're really sensitive right now."

Uh oh. Mike scanned the sky, half expecting a mandragora pod, or something similar. He wasn't in the mood to fuck himself silly for the next several hours. "Is the plant doing something to you?"

Sofia didn't say, but she was squirming now.

"Hey! Is the plant doing something to you?" Seeing that she wasn't paying attention, he grabbed Sofia by the chin, forcing her to look him in the eyes. "Tell me what's wrong!"