When will it end?

The Illusory Gardens

Artorias and Ciarin stood in the Gardens. Bright sunlight poured around them, as a fountain spurted beautiful water in front of them. Birds flew overhead as they gasped in wonder. Ciarin walked over to the hedge walls, where bright red fruits grew. Ciarin picked one, looking in awe at its appearance. It was bright red, and was covered in lots of tiny seeds. It was shaped like a cone, with a little tuft of green at the top. Lifting her mask, she took a small bite out of the tip. Her eyes widened as the juice ran down her chin. "MMMMMMMMMmmmmm." she groaned as she started plucking them by the dozens, fitting as many as she could into her pockets.

"Ciarin? What are you doing?" said Artorias as he walked over. His response was to get a fruit shoved into his mouth. He fell backwards as he was assaulted by the taste. Gasping at the flavors, he started to eat more of the fruits, but stopped. He remembered those who were still lost, and reminded Ciarin as well. They both sadly left the hedge, and wandered into the exit. As they walked, they both pondered over what would happen. Hearing a rustling, Artorias turned around and saw... nothing. Nothing but hedge. He ran back to where they had come from, but it was gone. Nodding to Ciarin, they both began jogging through the maze.

Ciarin was keeping watch, looking for any paths. Grabbing Artorias, she tugged him into a path that seemed to appear out of the corner of her eye. Just as they made it through, the hedge closed behind them. Looking on, they saw a rickety old wooden bridge in front of them. Ciarin began approaching the bridge, but Artorias stopped her, and went instead.

Artorias was tugged by Ciarin through a solid wall, or so he thought. He was rather surprised when they entered a simple clearing. In the clearing was a cliff, with nothing but a bridge across. Ciarin started to approach the bridge, but he stopped her, and went instead. He was the only person she confided with about her fear of heights. Approaching the bridge, he saw that there was nothing but dark bellow. As he stepped onto the bridge, he heard a threatning sound.

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CRACK

Ciarin rushed over to Artorias, but she was too late. The bridge collapsed, leaving Artorias hanging onto the edge of the cliff. Ciarin dashed over, and reached for his hand.

"nnnh." Artorias clung desperately to the cliff. The bridge had collapsed beneath him, and he had managed to get his right hand onto the cliff. Some of the cabling had latched onto his left hand, pulling it down and shattering his wrist. His right hand couldn't hold on much longer. He looked below, and saw a dozen pairs of red orbs staring up at him. He gave one last push up, but he fell.

Ciarin reached for his hand, and managed to grasp onto the edge of his fingers. Artorias looked up at her, a smile across his face. She tried to pull him up, but he was to heavy, and she fell forward, hanging onto the cliff with her foot catching a rock. "Not again. Please not again. You promised you wouldn't leave me." Tears fell down Ciarin's mask as Artorias began to slide from her grasp.

"I'm sorry."

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"Goodbye." He fell.

"NOOOOOOOO!!!" Ciarin dove after him, forgetting her fear. They fell, the darkness below ensnaring them as Ciarin clutched Artorias tightly, For if they would die, they would together.