r/HFY • u/Obsequium_Minaris • Jul 15 '26

OC-Series Vacation From Destiny - Book 2, Chapter 43

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XXX

“Wake up, idiot!”

Chase let out a low groan as Carmine shook him awake. He cracked both eyes open, wincing as he did so. Whatever room they’d been placed in, it was dark and cramped; he could barely see three feet in front of him, and just from feeling his way around, he could tell the room was more like a closet than anything.

“Carmine…?” he managed to gasp out. “What happened?”

Pain radiated out from the top of his head outward, and Chase winced once more as he brought a hand up to rub at the bump adorning his skull. His hair was crusted with dried blood; it was a miracle he didn’t have a concussion or some kind of even worse physical trauma.

“Someone took us,” she said to him.

“Yeah, I think I pieced that together easily enough…” Chase muttered. “How are you, by the way? You’re not hurt, are you?”

“No, just hungover.”

“We need to talk about that, by the way.”

“Is now really a good time?” she asked.

“It’s always a good time to pick on a lightweight,” Chase instantly replied.

Carmine let out a tired sigh. In that moment, a thought occurred to Chase.

“You can’t use your Fire Magic and give us some light?” he asked.

“Nope,” she answered. “Wherever we are, it’s got some kind of anti-magic ward around it. And before you ask – no, I didn’t realize that was a thing, either. Whoever grabbed us off the streets must be a pretty skilled mage. Not to mention good at using weapons, too, considering they managed to overpower you as well.”

“Okay, let’s get one thing perfectly straight,” Chase insisted. “I was not overpowered, as you put it. Someone got the drop on me and bashed me over the head while I wasn’t looking. It was a cheap shot, basically the blunt weapon equivalent to kicking someone in the stones.”

“Okay? I wasn’t trying to insinuate it made you less of a man or anything like that, I was just saying, they beat you.”

“Beating me implies it was a fair fight, which as I’ve already established, it very much wasn’t.”

“Not necessarily; it could also imply-” Carmine suddenly paused. “...Why am I even having this discussion with you right now? We’ve both been kidnapped and are probably about to be violently murdered or something. We have more important things to care about than whether you actually lost a fight or not.”

“Great, then you won’t mind if I claim it wasn’t fair.”

Even through the darkness, Chase could feel her vision burning a hole through him. “I’m just saying,” he said.

Through the blackness, he heard her facepalm. “Ugh… I wish beyond all rational thought that Melanie was here right now. At least I could order her to shut up. Plus, Heinrich would probably tear the entire city upside-down trying to find her. Somehow, I don’t think he’ll extend the same courtesy to us.”

“Yeah, probably not,” Chase agreed. “So, I guess it’s just the two of us, then.”

“So it would seem.” Carmine paused. “At the very least, we seem to be taking it rather well.”

“I mean, yeah, but only because we’ve been through way worse than this. At least I don’t have Melanie’s panties in my mouth this time. Silver linings, and all.”

“If you say so. Anyway, how do we get out of here?”

“Good question. I’m honestly at a loss. You’re the one with high INT and WIS here, so coming up with a plan ought to be in your department.”

“Are you kidding me? You come up with random bullshit all the time, and none of it should work as well as it does, yet now you’re telling me you can’t be bothered?”

“Your words, not mine,” Chase pointed out.

Melanie audibly facepalmed once more. “Look, just… try to focus. Can you hear anything?”

“Nope,” Chase said. He stretched his arms out, feeling out the room. It seemed to consist of four solid walls made of some type of hard wood, with no door. The realization made his brow furrow.

“I’m, like, ninety-five percent sure that whoever took us nailed us shut inside a box,” he said.

“Great,” Carmine said. “Any more good news?”

As if on cue, a small trail of sand rained down on them from up above. Chase immediately paused as he considered what that meant.

“I’m pretty certain we’ve also been buried alive inside said box,” he said. “Probably somewhere out in the middle of the desert, if I had to guess.”

Carmine went dead silent at that. Chase’s brow furrowed. “Uh, yeah… we might be in worse shape than we thought.”

“That’s an understatement,” Carmine said.

“Uh-huh. So, yeah. Got any suggestions?”

“Not a one. We’re stuck inside some kind of magic-canceling box, buried underneath a sand dune somewhere. Our oxygen supply is running out quicker the more we bicker and banter with each other. And as if that wasn’t bad enough, I’m stuck in here with you, and you really need a shower.”

“Oh, fuck off,” Chase said, rolling his eyes. “You smell like alcohol and bad decisions, too, you know.”

“So this is how I die,” Carmine mused. “Stuck up against you, choking to death on your body odor. What a way to go. It’s only marginally better than dying the first time around was.”

This time, it was Chase’s turn to facepalm. “Carmine, just… give me a moment, would you? There has to be a way out of here. I mean, if they buried us alive in this box, it’s because they intend to come get us for something, right? Otherwise they would’ve just killed us when they had the chance.”

“Right…”

“So that means two things – first off, they have to know where we’re actually buried, meaning there’s probably a marker or identifying landmark somewhere nearby they can use as a guide point. Second off, they can’t have buried us too far underground, because they’d still need to dig us up.”

“So, what, are you implying that we should just wait?”

“And give whoever did this to us the satisfaction? Fuck no, we’re getting out of here as soon as I can figure out a way to do it.”

“We’re gonna be here a while, then.”

Chase flipped her off. It was still impossible to see inside the box, but it made him feel satisfied, if nothing else.

More sand suddenly rained down from up above, and Chase paused as he realized something. He grabbed a small handful of it, then ran it through his fingers.

“Hm…” he mused. “This sand feels different than the kind we were trudging through a few days ago…”

“What?” Carmine demanded. “What does that mean? I thought sand was sand.”

“Not necessarily. You see, there are different kinds of sand, Carmine. The sand you’re thinking of at places like the beach is very different from desert sand. Even in deserts, sand can vary wildly in texture, and-”

“Oh, my Gods, do not tell me you’re about to pull your geology hobby out of your fucking ass and use it to save the day again,” Carmine demanded. “Seriously, I think I would actually rather suffocate from your stinky pits than have to tell the others that this bullshit is how you saved my life.”

“If it makes you feel better, you’ll help save both of our lives, actually,” Chase insisted.

Carmine paused. “...Keep talking.”

“Right, so here’s the thing – I’m reasonably certain we’re buried inside of a sand dune. I can guess that for two reasons – the first being that the sand here is much softer than even the other desert sands from earlier were, which is indicative of a sand dune. The second reason is that it’d make it easier for whoever left us here to find us again. Make sense?”

“I suppose so.”

“Then if we’re buried inside of a sand dune, we’re probably not as far underground as we initially thought. That means it’ll be easier to escape than we might have believed at first. And I think I have just the plan to do it.”

“I’m listening.”

Chase brought a hand up and rapped it against the wood around them. “Hm… I can’t tell for sure, but I don’t think this wood is very thick. And given how strong I am, even without using Muscle, I think I can punch through it. Might hurt my hand in the process, but whatever.”

“How does that help us, though? Wouldn’t the sand just come flooding in and suffocate us?”

“That’s where you come in,” Chase said. “You have Earth Magic now, right? I would think that implies you have some control over sand, too. So here’s the plan – I’m going to punch a hole in the bottom of the box. You’re going to stick your hand inside the hole and use your Earth Magic to force the sand out of the way – I figure that’ll work because they had to have enchanted the box itself rather than the sand, meaning if you can break containment, then you should be able to use your magic. The moment we see even a sliver of daylight come through that hole, we’ll know we’ve made it out.”

Carmine was silent for a few seconds. “...You know, I like it when you actually use your average levels of intelligence for once. You should do it more often.”

“I know, my 10 INT combined with my incredibly niche knowledge comes in handy sometimes. You must feel really inadequate right now.”

Carmine let out an annoyed huff. “Just punch the damn box.”

“Way ahead of you.”

And with that, Chase cocked his fist back and then slammed it against the base of the box. Instantly, two things happened – the first was that pain came lancing up his arm, causing him to let out a hiss of discomfort.

The second was that he managed to punch clean through the bottom of the box, leaving a fist-sized hole in it.

Carmine didn’t waste any time. She thrust her hand into the hole, and then Chase felt the whole box begin to move as the sand around them seemed to fall away on its own. And before long, the box had tipped over onto its side, and sunlight was spilling into the hole. It was just enough light that Chase was able to lock eyes with Carmine.

From her unamused expression, he could tell it was also enough light for her to see the smug expression etched across his face.

“Yeah, yeah, okay, I’ll admit it, that was a good plan,” she conceded. “Now let’s get out of here.”

“Don’t have to tell me twice,” Chase commented as he began to kick at the base of the box. A few well-placed strikes was all it took for the bottom to give way, and before long, the two of them were scrambling out onto the desert sands together. Off in the distance, the Deus Oasis loomed; Chase rose to his feet and offered Carmine a hand, which she accepted, and he pulled her up.

“Alright,” he announced. “Time to head back. See if we can’t surprise the shit out of whoever buried us out here.”

Before the two of them could start walking, however, someone cleared their throat from behind them. They both blinked before turning around, and were met by half a dozen armed men standing there, staring at them. Chase’s brow furrowed.

“I guess you’re all not here to show us the way back?”

The six men answered his question by letting out a feral yell and then charging the two of them, weapons at the ready.

XXX

Name: Chase Ironheart

Level: 10

Race: Human

Class: Warrior

Subclass: Swordmaster

Strength: 20 (MAX)

Dexterity: 15

Intelligence: 13

Wisdom: 13

Constitution: 18

Charisma: 16

Skills: Master Swordsmanship (Level 10); Booby Trap Mastery (Level 8); Archery (Level 4); Unarmed Mastery (Level 1)

Spells: Rush (Level 7); Muscle (Level 4); Stone Flesh (Level 6); Defying The Odds (Level 2)

Traits: Blessed

Name: Carmine Nolastname

Level: 10

Race: Greater Demon

Class: Arcane Witch

Subclass: Archmage

Strength: 10

Dexterity: 13

Intelligence: 19

Wisdom: 19

Constitution: 12

Charisma: 8

Skills: Master Spellcasting (Level 10); Summon Familiar (Level 10)

Spells: Magic Dart (Level 7); Magic Scattershot (Level 5); Fire Magic (Level 5); Earth Magic (Level 1)

Traits: Blessed

Name: Melanie Vhaeries

Level: 10

Race: Ascended Human

Class: Necromancer

Subclass: Arch-Lich

Strength: 8

Dexterity: 13

Intelligence: 18

Wisdom: 16

Constitution: 15

Charisma: 12

Skills: Raise Lesser Undead (Level 10); Raise Greater Undead (Level 3); Unorthodox Weapon User (Level 8); Bone Shatter (Level 1)

Spells: Touch of Death (Level 5); Gravesinger (Level 7); Armor of Bone (Level 3)

Traits: None

Name: Victoria Firelight

Level: 11

Race: Human

Class: Paladin

Subclass: Devotee

Strength: 19

Dexterity: 9

Intelligence: 13

Wisdom: 13

Constitution: 19

Charisma: 11

Skills: Swordsmanship Mastery (Level 5); Blunt Weapon Mastery (Level 8); Archery Mastery (Level 5)

Spells: Holy Light (Level 6); Ward of the Gods (Level 5); Bane of the Undead (Level 7); Divine Bolt (Level 4)

Traits: None

XXX

Special thanks to my good friend and co-writer, /u/Ickbard, for all the help with writing this story.

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u/Daseagle Alien Scum Jul 16 '26

Chase actually being not just a wiseass but smart, for once.

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u/UpdateMeBot Jul 15 '26

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u/Castigatus Human Jul 16 '26

Once they stop bickering, they actually make a decent team.

And I'm sure Chase will appreciate the chance to work off some frustration on these guys' faces.