The four of them sat in the living room. Little Tibia played with her blocks, George was reading a new fantasy novel, Lillie and Gerald sat in their favorite rocking chairs.
"Dad, I just realized you've never told us how you and mom met" George's voice pierced the comfortable silence.
"Really?" Gerard glanced at his son quizzically.
"I'm sure we've told you at some point. Still, I guess there's no harm in repeating the story" He looked at Lillie lovingly.
"It all begun..." but before he could say anymore his expression changed suddenly, and he slumped back in his chair.
"Dad!" the children screamed.
"It's okay" said Lillie slowly
"It looks like he's just lost in his memo-"
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"Sure, it's 1-833-21-" the woman suddenly started vomiting blood all over her pretty jacket.
"Oh,
" Gerard swore, and quickly pulled out his phone to call an ambulance. He was soon sitting in a doctor's office in the hospital.
"I'm sorry sir, I'm afraid there's nothing we can do." the doctor said.
"The vomiting and the subsequent coma seem to have been inflicted by a rare disease called
deasiesius raris; unless a miracle happens, she'll be dead in a week.
"Is there no cure to this illness?"
"Unfortunately, there have only been a few documented cases of it, and no cure discovered. Though on a second thought, I remember one potion rumoured to have worked in one patient's case."
"How would one go about brewing that potion?"
"I could brew it myself, but the ingredients required include vile mushrooms, pixie dust and vertebrae; they are exceedingly rare and only obtainable in the three dangerous biomes. The expeditions to these parts have been canceled ever since a large group of tourists was massacred on one such trip. I'm sorry. Now please, follow me; we'd like to have you examined. You carried the lady to the ambulance, and any contact with the ill might have terrible effects.
But Gerard ignored him; without another word, he turned around and run out of the building.
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A plane soon landed in Saint Francis, a small town right on the border with the inhospitable land of Corruption. Gerard came here prepared - he was dressed in camouflage clothing, and had a .700 Nitro Express rifle folded safely inside his military backpack. There was no time to spare; he moved out the very next day. Ever since the tourist massacre it was impossible to find a guide, so Gerard was on his own.
The first few miles were surprisingly safe and easy to get through, yet they quickly got more dangerous. He had to hack the spiky, rotting vines hanging from the trees with his machete to find an opening, but even then they tore through his clothes. The real danger, though, came from the giant flying beasts known as corruptors. Gerard was glad he'd taken that large caliber rifle with him.
Suddenly, he spotted the vile mushrooms growing under a big tree near a poisoned water spring. The air here was especially sickly; the mushrooms emitted an odor that made Gerrard want to vomit. He snatched a few. He was just putting them in his backpack when he heard a creature roar behind him – he turned around, and saw two of the corruptors.
"
" he swore yet again.
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The next stop was the Hallow. Gerard sat uneasily in the plane, looking at his injured arm bandaged hastily the night before. He barely managed to fight off these creatures, and the next two biomes were said to be even more dangerous.
Once again, he marched off into the wilderness, alone. Hollow seemed a lot more bright and cheerful, yet he knew it was just an illusion. He heard tales of people getting torn to shreds after disregarding a 'cute' unicorn.
Hours passed, yet he still could not find any pixies. Then, he suddenly saw the very woman he was trying to save sitting on a giant rock in the middle of the fairy-tale like forest.
"Huh?" He exclaimed, surprised. "What are you doing here? Has someone else brought you the ingredients needed for your antidote?"
Then he noticed something strange; there seemed to be wings sprouting out of her back. He took out his machete, hacked her head right off and went to collect the pixie dust she dissolved into.
---------
Crimson; the most dangerous of the three. What's worse, the ingredient needed from this biome was vertebrae from a face monster; a giant cyclop feeding on the corpses of the unwary and unprepared. The excess pixie dust sold for a high price; this time Gerard came equipped with a high-grade tactical shotgun.The sky here was permanently red. He had to hide from the Crawlers roaming the land during the day, but at night even scarier monsters woke.
He spent three days without seeing a single face monster. Each day he ventured out a bit further into this inhospitable land; after all, each day the girl was closer to dying. Finally, on the fourth day, he found his pray. The giant was drinking water from a little spring – the perfect moment to strike. He got closer, took out his shotgun, aimed-
and felt a searing pain in his chest. The monster was quicker than Gerard had expected. He fired shot after shot and even killed his enemy, but to no avail; the poison from the creature's fangs soon made him faint.
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When he opened his eyes again he was lying in a hospital bed back in his hometown. The doors opened and he saw the doctor enter.
"Who brought me here? I thought I would die back there!" Gerard shouted. But another person entered the room, and somehow muted out the answer. She came closer, and said: "As I was saying, my phone number is 1-833-215-9623".