Cuckoos and Chalk Marks

Spoiler

i love the irony of sorenson saying that to a ghost who's limited to possessing things and his mortal form most of the time

I looked up at the ceiling, a thought occurring.

"...Couldn't you have done this earlier?" I said. "Back when we were trying to climb the walls in that first room?"

Sorenson thought for a moment. "Hmm. Hadn't thought of it back then. Wasn't feeling particularly restrained just then. All these ceilings and roofs have me feeling a bit antsy."

(Same. We've got an interesting pair here!)

I thought that over.

"So your powers work on anxiety?" I asked. I could get that. My own powers were within my control, but had a tendency to act on their own when my emotions got too strong. It happened to anyone with abilities on Aroun. I didn't know why. That was just how our powers worked.

"Well...no." He pushed off the ceiling, drifting down into the pit. "I just didn't think of it, is all. I had the sky to look at, after all." His voice grew more echoey and distant as he floated gradually away from the top.

So maybe this was more like all of the times that Lockwood and Co. went against instructions to not do a thing. They would have been fine not doing it when it wasn't even an option they were aware of, but suddenly had to go against the rules when they were told they couldn't. When Sorenson looked at this place and saw a ceiling instead of the open skies from that very first room, he suddenly remembered that he could fly.

It was an interesting thing to realize, but I didn't really care that much about it right now. I had another thing on my mind.

"Can you carry me across?" I asked.

Sorenson burst into laughter, floating back up so he was level with Skull. "Of course not! What do I look like, an orc? I'm only as strong as I look, old chap, so not much at all." He shook his head, still chuckling. "Can I carry you..."

I crossed my arms and gave him a dark, irritated look. In the moment, I thought it looked rather intimidating. In retrospect, I just looked annoyed.

"You're the one who didn't mention being able to fly earlier," I said. "For all I know, you're stronger than you look."

"That's not my area of expertise." Sorenson floated reluctantly back to the ground beside Skull. "You're in a bit of a pickle if you want to get over there, aren't you?"

I gave him a deadpan look. I suddenly felt like I understood what Nathaniel and Asmira thought whenever they gave me looks like that.

He looked down into the pit. "There's a bottom, you know. Might take you a few minutes with my levitation spell, or you could do free fall, but the inertia when I cast the spell might snap your neck from this height."

"Great," I said drily. "I'll keep that in mind when I try flying."

I wasn't usually this irritated, but I was growing frustrated with our lack of options. Sorenson could fly across this pit. I couldn't. I was stuck on this side looking for nonexistent resources. Maybe I could have tapped into my ghostly abilities and levitate myself across, but I doubted I'd be able to get all the way before my body kicked me out and I went crashing to the ground below.

The temperature dropped; I could see my breath and feel the chill. I was starting to feel desperate.

Sorenson shivered. This was happening a lot. Was this a function of the maze, or was it a feature of his grouchy companion?
"How do you feel about walking on thin ice?" he asked, an idea coming to him.

Spoiler

I'm glad Sorenson is finally figuring out where the cold air is coming from

Thin ice had a tendency to break, but I could see what he was getting at. A bridge of ice was probably all that I needed to cross the chasm in front of me.

"It's better than staying here," I decided. "I'd use it."

(He's not a total dummy)

"We would have to do several layers. It could take awhile." Sorenson huffed out a breath and caught it, drawing it out until it was a long, thin cylinder that spanned the pit. Then he froze it and laid it down carefully. "Give me some more."

Spoiler

True true. And in his defense, this place does have a tendency to be very weird and very unexpected.

I nodded.

It was dangerous, pressing my powers like this, but I had technically been trying to test the limits of my powers earlier. I just had to be careful with how I lowered the temperature. I couldn't do it too suddenly. I had to do it gradually.

The temperature dropped ever so slightly. I breathed in, breathed out, breathed in, and then breathed out again. I repeated the process several times, trying to see if I could maximize how much my breath formed if I kept dropping the temperatures right around me.