ᓚ₍ ^. .^₎

Glory's remaining guard drew a knife, but either had a bit more to drink than Glory'd thought, or was seriously unskilled, or both. Probably both. She dodged nimbly, or, as nimbly as her body would let her, everything felt like it needed WD-40 or something. She tried to punch his mug again, but he somehow half fell, half dodged sideways, and Glory punched the stone wall instead. With an audible crack, one of the bones in her hand snapped. She hissed in pain, trying to ignore it and just use the other one. That's why people have two hands, right? Eventually, with a good amount of injury to both parties involved, the guard was conked out on the floor like the other one. Keeping her injured left hand to her chest to avoid accidentally using it, she grabbed the guard still outside on the floor and dragged him into her cell, dumping him unceremoniously next to the other. One had a ring of keys, which Glory stole, before robbing them of their weaponry. She locked them in the cell, muttering "Later bitches" as she left.

Since it was late, there were fewer guards out than during the day, aiding Glory slightly. This was going to be the hard part, she realized. She had no clue how to get out, and with the Corrupted, it was like playing Pac-Man blind and mostly deaf. Fun times. She'd stolen three daggers and a sword off the guards- less than she came with but better than nothing. She'd have to find her weapons too. There was no way she was leaving them with the Corrupted. That brought on a new train of thought, about where a lot of things had been left before all this shit. Lucy in the Sector 1 common room, Jaws on her bed, Mephisto with him, lots of bodies on the floor of Libobon. Lovely.

Logically, if she was underground - which was only a guess based on the air, it was like her hidey hole basement bunker at Libobon but with more bodies crammed into the space - the way out was up. Of course, that was based on a guess, and the Corrupted had probably built this thing like a damn maze, the fucking backrooms if you will, so logic could be considered out the nonexistent window.

The good thing was, she could feel some of her powers trying to come back slightly. Mostly the nigh vision, and it was like a flashlight with an almost dead battery trying to turn on, but still. Good sign. She wandered around a little, keeping careful track of her route as best as possible.

ᓚ₍ ^. .^₎

It felt unimaginibly nice to have a sword in her hand again, even if it wasn't hers and her other hand was out of commission. Glory eventually came across a small room with a group of Corrupted surrounding a table, playing some card game. Glory didn't stick around long enough to find out what, and slunk past the door without being spotted. After some time, probably a good two or so hours of wandering, she caught the barest breeze from a sort of crossroads where hallways converged. It was gone soon though, and Glory couldn't tell if she'd imagined it or not. Even if she hadn't, she couldn't tell where it'd come from, and a heavy despair was settling in her chest. She was fucking trapped among Corrupted, a rat in a snake's den, and this was it. She'd never see Leo again. The Corrupted probably already killed him, and all this was for nothing. No. Glory forced herself to get out of that hole before it swallowed her. If he was dead, then she'd fight for vengeance. Simple as that. Not a single Corrupted would crawl this world once Glory was through with them.

There it was again; that little breeze. From the right. Glory just barely caught the wonderful scent of outside, though the triumphant feeling it brought was dimmed as she heard voices, too. Shit. Creeping along close to the wall, she pulled darkness around herself, hoping what little she could do would be enough that it'd give her an extra moment if she had to run or fight. Eventually, the hallway widened into a cavernous space, with a group of about two dozen Corrupted in full armor standing at attention. Looked like they were getting ready to head out, though Glory didn't see any entrances or exits. Then she noticed the Corrupted were bathed in a pale swatch of moonlight, and looked up. The entrance was up. In the goddamn ceiling. For dragons. Shit.

After a moment of silently cursing these asswipes, she saw a passageway on the opposite wall, with the smallest pinprick of light shining from it. Yessss. The only thing between Glory and it was a gaggle of highly trained Corrupted already ready for a fight. Easy peasy. Not at all. This was gonna be fun....

(saving the other 500 words for the next post because my fingers won't behave x.x)

ᓚ₍ ^. .^₎

Now, logic told Glory that this couldn't be the only way out, no way. The base was probably divided into sections, got the POWs, the lower Corrupted's housing, the higher-ups' places, the boss's cavern, and some little miscellaneous rooms. That meant if Glory wanted to get out another way, it'd probably be through the boss's rooms, or the higher-ups. Either way was not an option. This was her best bet.

Now, to run in guns a-blazin' and get skewered, or try to sneak around? Or... there was a third option she hadn't thought about until now. Hope and pray her illusions were strong enough now to wear someone else's face and hope they wouldn't notice the fact her armor didn't match theirs - all black versus Glory's dull stormy graey - or that she was stumbling and limping, or her broken hand, or her utter lack of preparation, or the fact she was just wandering out alone while they were all there waiting for the command to leave. Yeah, that sounded good. But, given how stupid her last four guards were, maybe it'd give her an extra second to run. Glory sighed quietly, deciding that that extra second wouldn't be worth the effort if it meant using the last of her energy and getting thrown back into a cell.

She crept from her spot near the wall, taking care not to scrape against it, around the edge of the room, using the crates and barrels and god knows what else to hide behind. The way she chose took her around a slightly longer route but kept her from the Corrupted's line of sight longer. A pretty fair trade. She got about two thirds of the way around before she felt the weight of someone's gaze on her. Glory froze, tightening her grip on the darkness, hoping they'd think whatever they saw was a trick of the light.

After what felt like ages, nothing happened, and she continued forward again, achingly slowly. Then the sound she dreaded: "You there! Stop right there!" Followed by the clanking of metal on stone as they ran toward her. Shit shit shit.

Glory straightened, let out a low growl, and threw one of the knives she'd pilfered earlier, nailing one of them in the side of the neck. Her throwing arm was still good, at least, but it wasn't enough. One of them managed to grab Glory by the left forearm, and she winced as she ripped her arm free of his grasp, her broken hand not appreciating the jostling. She stabbed one guy in the lower thigh, destroying his knee and sending him toppling, at least 5 of his own comrades tripping over him as he howled in pain.

Glory seized what little opportunity she had and made a mad dash for the tunnel, but all forward momentum was stopped as she felt something pokey and heavy - sort of felt like a mace - slammed into her side, probably fractured a few ribs, and someone else threw a knife, missing her neck by mere millimeters. Gasping for air, she forced herself forward, and used the Corrupted's number against them, weaving in and out of the stuff on the ground. A few tripped, got stomped, and fewer still didn't get back up, though any less was a good thing. Eventually, she made it to the passage, her ticket outta here. The narrow hallway funneled the Corrupted in slower, giving Glory a little extra time. The incline was steep enough that Glory's exhausted body, already on the verge of giving up on her, protested; everything fucking hurt and the stone floor looked like a damn good place to lay down and die, but she pushed on. There was a door at the end, and while she fumbled to open it, the Corrupted got ever closer. Her useless left hand was throbbing, as was her head and ribs. Finally the door opened, and Glory scrambled out, slamming it behind her and, since it opened inward, jammed her sword in the doorhandle, the blade locked against the stone wall so that the door was held shut. With the top entrance, this really only forced them to retreat, regroup, and exit from the main opening, but that was still extra seconds that could mean the difference between life and death. Glory stumbled away from the stronghold, into the woods in a random direction, hoping it was the right one.

(762 words, if I hadn't broken it up I'd have had a 1150 word post xD

also don't be sorry, I needed an extra bit to smash her bones and maybe a few more days for her to get sick af and possibly infected wounds lol)