Choose Your Own Adventure [Part 6]

Another part! What will the group end up doing? o.o

[Part 6]

“Don’t!” you shout as you grab Nini’s shoulder and pull her back. “This isn’t right!”

Startled, Nini stumbles backward a bit. You catch her, so she doesn’t fall over. With shaky hands, she rubs at her face, mostly over her eyes. Then, once she’s calmed down a bit, Nini takes a deep breath.

“Y-You’re right,” she mutters. “Something isn’t right, but… What can we do about it?”

The leviathan in the cove growls and then swims back to the rocks. Its scales flare, and its glares with golden eyes in your direction. “Apparently, librarians are just no fun. If you’re not going to get in the water, maybe I should just drag you in and see how you fare.”

The beast lifts its serpentine head from the water, its mouth wide, exposing its fangs. While it’s still a hatchling leviathan, the creature’s mouth is large enough to fit your head inside. [Academic Knowledge] Thankfully, you know leviathans aren’t venomous.

Unfortunately, you only have a book, rope, flint, rags, water, and a small knife on you. The knife—no longer than 3 inches—won’t work that well against leviathan scales…

Before you have to try your hand at awkward combat, another leviathan leaps out of the water. The other mystical creature bites down on the first leviathan, piercing through the tough scales and drawing blood. It pours into the cove, creating a dark patch of crimson among the ripples.

The leviathans thrash and hiss and fight each other with snake-like speed and severity. After a few bites, the spot of crimson grows larger, and the beasts splash water everywhere. Nini shouts and hides herself behind you.

It doesn’t take long for the leviathans to conclude their battle.

The first leviathan—the one taunting you into the water—screeches and then dives into the cove. Its sapphire scales shimmer, even under the water, until the creature goes so deep, you can’t see his shadow any longer.

The second leviathan has been bitten on the face, and one of its eyes is closed shut and bleeding. With a huff, the leviathan turns to you and Nini. Then, with a gentle tone, it speaks.

“Forgive me,” it says, feminine and regal, but somehow childish. “That trickster has been causing problems for me and my sisters. It… It appeared one day, when we were traveling through the waves. It’s followed us for some time, playing games on people who think they’re going to bond to a leviathan.”

Nini slowly steps around you, her courage returning at a sluggish pace. “You m-mean that wasn’t a leviathan?”

The leviathan in front of you shakes her head. “I apologize. That beast is nothing more than a mischief maker. I told it to leave us alone, but it persists.”

“What is it?” Nini asks.

“I don’t know. All I know is that it’s most certainly not a leviathan.”

You and Nini take a moment to absorb the information.

Out of the corner of your eye, you spot the “mischief maker” fleeing the cove. The leviathan slithers out of the water and onto the rocks, blood weeping from several bites across its long body. The creature doesn’t even glance back. It snakes into the rocks, disappearing from sight, but leaving a trail of scarlet in its wake.

Nini turns to you, her cheeks almost as red as her hair. “I, uh, want to thank you. If I had gone in the water…”

The female leviathan shakes her head. “Who knows what that trickster might have done.”

“Thank you,” Nini says again. “I really appreciate it.”

The leviathan lifts her head and flares her crest of fins, like a peacock preening. “Well, then. I assume you’ve come to prove yourself to me?”

What do you do?

A) “Actually, Nini came to prove herself. I’m just here to root for her.”

B) “Yeah, we’re here to take your Trial of Worth.”

C) “Uh, I think I’ve already proven myself, thank you very much.”

D) “Prove myself to you? Laughable. I’ll find another mystical creature.” Leave.

E) “Actually, I want to investigate that mischief maker.” Follow the blood trail.

F) “Uh, I’ll be right back.” Follow the blood trail.

G) Motion for Nini to answer.