CHAPTER#76

"Fucking human," she muttered.

"One eyed bitch." He looked for another vine to cut, but saw that Sofia was rocking herself in a specific pattern. Circling behind her, he saw that when her body had swung forward, the only vines keeping her from hanging completely vertical had wrapped themselves between her legs, spreading out over her hips. Every time Sofia swung forward even slightly, most of her weight was concentrated on the thick leafy vegetation that had wedged itself between her legs.

He saw the problem now. Looking at where she was suspended, it occurred to him that he could try and cut that part of her free first. At the same time, she didn't seem to be complaining, and it would be safer to cut some of the other vines first.

"Hey." Mike looked at Green, who was gently circling overhead. This may take a bit. Can you go watch the halls and warn us if the minotaur is coming?"

Green hovered in place, transforming into a fairy long enough to give him a salute, then flew away. Mike watched the fairy go, then let out a sigh. If she had been bigger, he would have put her in charge of cutting the cyclops free so he could watch the hall.[a]

Mike sliced one of the other vines, moving away when it reached for him. Sofia's body shifted her weight even harder onto the offending vine, and she let out a moan.

"Ok, let me take care of this one," he told her. He touched the edge of the blade to the vine.

"Wait."

"Excuse me?" Mike asked. He moved to where he could see her better. Her eye was closed, and she was breathing shallowly through her mouth.

"Don't. Not yet." Sofia opened her eye, and he saw that it was shimmering with an inner light. Was she seeing her future? "That one needs to come later."

"Oh boy," Blue whispered in his ear. Mike startled - he had forgotten the fairy was still on his shoulder. "Can you smell that?"

Mike sniffed the air. It still smelled of smoke and stone. "Nope."

"Cut them in a certain order," Sofia told him. "I'll tell you which."

"How can you... oh, right. Future sight." He got ready to cut one of the other vines.

"Not that one."

Mike moved to a different one. Sofia didn't say anything, so he pushed the knife against it.

"Nope."

Mike finally understood. He couldn't wait for her to have a vision. He had to commit to an action for her to see it. He moved to the next one, and started cutting. The vine parted, and Sofia's body shifted to the left. He repeated the process, slicing through a few more vines. The process was slow - every time he cut one vine, it seemed to reveal a couple more beneath it. They were so tangled together, that it was hard to tell which ones were which.

"Yes, that one," Sofia told him, and he was about to cut the vine when he realized it was the dead piece of a vine he had already cut.

"What the fuck?" he muttered, pulling on the vine and then unwrapping Sofia. Holding the spare vegetation, he saw that Sofia's weight was somehow further concentrated on her crotch, and his effort at cutting the last vine had simply rocked her back and forth. "What are you trying to get at?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Blue hopped off his shoulder, standing on top of Sofia's buttocks.

"Shut up, little bug," Sofia hissed.

"She's trying to get off." Blue made a show of sniffing the air. "Her arousal. It's like a perfume to fairies."

"She's trying to get off? What the fuck?" He pushed Sofia, swinging her around to face him once more. "We don't have time for this shit!"

"Oh!" Blue cried out, sniffing the air again. "Oh, I get it!"

"Shut up!" Sofia wriggled, trying to dislodge the fairy, but Blue held on to the fabric of her pants. "Shut the fuck up!"

What's going on?" Mike stepped back, refusing to cut another thread. "Tell me."

Sofia looked away, but Blue just laughed. "She is so turned on right now!"

"By the vines? Because she's tied up?"

"That's only half of it!" Blue hopped onto Sofia's head. "She likes it when you're rough with her!"

"Seriously?" Mike squatted so that he was eye level with the cyclops. "I thought you hated me."

"I do!" Sofia spat, scowling at him. "Ever since I saw you fucking that dirty little goblin!"

"You bitch!" Mike shouted, his whole face burning. He didn't care if Sofia hated him, but he refused to let anyone talk that way about Tink. He was about to launch a verbal assault when he saw Sofia's cheeks flush, and the cyclops let out a small moan.

"Told ya!" Blue hovered above Sofia when she shook her head. "She's trying to get a rise out of you!"

"That doesn't make a whole lot of sense." Seeing an opportunity, Mike grabbed Sofia's chin again. This time, he pinched her chin when he swung her toward him, watching her reaction closely. "Tell me the truth, Sofia."

Sofia looked past him, defiance on her face.

"Now!" He shook her. Sofia gasped, her eyelid fluttering.

"The vines," she whispered. "I feel so powerless when they're on me."

"And?" Mike shook her again.

"I was trying to get myself off." Sofia slumped. "I didn't want you to know."

"It's not really that big a deal," he told her. "All you did was waste my time."

I know, but..." Sofia fixed him with a hard stare. "I liked it. When you got mad at me. It made me feel even more powerless. A cyclops can see the means of their death from the day they are born, but I'm different. I can see the future constantly, and I can change it. My whole life, I've been changing my fate, thirty seconds at a time. When I see the future, I actually live it, it actually happens for me. I have died so many times, just running through this cave, I have experienced pain nobody should live through, and each time I change my future, it's like remembering a faded dream."