Young Writers Society

Raising an eyebrow, Lyrth looked expectantly at Jennifer and Harry. Felix had an excellent point, besides his strange curse situation. Lyrth didn't know what he thought about that. Curses weren't common, but they weren't out of the question where he was from. He himself had been turned into a trout for a year or two, and a dear friend had been used as a dagger. He shivered. While these events made him more sympathetic to fish and daggers and people under curses, he kept his guard up. These strange beings did seem to have great power, and specifically within this place, and yet, for some reason, Lyrth and these three strangers had to pass some sort of trial to escape? It was rather suspicious in his book.

But he wouldn’t complain. Powerful beings were rarely reasonable, although Jennifer seemed enough so. And Lyrth never did turn up the chance of an adventure. But this new question was not all that he had made note of.

These two, Jennifer and Harry, had very odd names. Lyrth had never heard of them. And not to mention their long list of epithets. Siblings (at least he assumed they were siblings since they didn’t seem to be a couple and had matching surnames) who controlled the cold and the dark creating a place such as this, was of course, cold and dark. Lyrth could not contain all of his laughter, a small snicker escaping his lips. It was too ironic. Simply too ridiculously and painfully ironic. The darkness didn’t let him be, even so far from home on the surface world. And on top of those two similarities, tunnels? This was becoming nearly too much.

He composed himself. It was important to quickly grasp what he could of these people’s personalities. While being some sort of dark-related power, Harry seemed more of the lighthearted type, and Jennifer the reliable, intelligent sort. Lyrth could see himself warming up to them soon enough. What confused him was the contrast of their abilities: darkness and love, cold and friendship. And this Divine Host business worried him. Vessels of Divinity were often a lot to deal with, and when a vessel wouldn’t even say their deity’s name aloud, that was concerning.

Oh, and there was no brushing past Jenni’s use of mind-reading. Rune had mentioned nothing about being worried about titles, and yet she had commented on it. There was simply no other explanation. He smirked. Prying into people’s minds, are you Jenni? Do you mind if I call you that, or do you prefer Jennifer? And I suppose your brother can hear me too? It's a pleasure to meet you, Harry, and you simply must teach me that trick with the darkness sometime, my friend.

While waiting for the rose-colored angel to answer him, Lyrth walked slowly to Rune, not wanting to startle him and remembering that the man didn’t have night vision. “My friend, I have a simple charm that should help with the night vision issue, if you’ll take it. I'm not especially partial to using magic, and I'm not terribly adept at it, but this is the one thing I feel that I have a good grasp of. It’s easily reversible later on if you decide you dislike the design.”

He held out his left hand, palm up, to show Rune the symbol that was magically tattooed there. “This enhances my natural night vision and would grant you use of it for the time that we adventure here. And if the pain is deterring you, the magic is very gentle and shan’t hurt a bit.” Lyrth smiled warmly at Rune, waiting for permission to begin the spell.

"Hmmm," said Jennifer, "that's a bit of an ouch I suppose. Being honest, the shack would be fine, so would we, and considering we've got sorcerers in here, they'll probably be fine too, so that's just a terrible situation for you there, a bit of heat like that would be nice honestly if there wasn't the pesky side effect of you potentially dying."

"Also to answer your question, well I'm going to have to bust out proper lecture mode here," said Harry, "umm okay....so to understand why you're here...i'll take you back a day or so. So there was a gate blasted into here recently, a lot of brute force used by the Celestial of light, my uncle...he's a complicated one but he's one of the few with the power to just brute force their way into here without being condemned to come here of course. But anyway...we ran over here to fix the damage and stop the worst of the dead from you know...invading the mortal world, causing general cause...and so while doing that, we spotted four sorcerers from this other place having slipped through an old worker's entrance portal that we'd somehow forgotten to close down."

He paused to catch his breath while Jennifer continued," And so we the two of us along with our brother, he's the Celestial of the dead, so technically he's the owner of the place actually, had to destroy several armies of idiots, and then plug that hole. We also did a thorough scan for any more portals we could have missed. And so we found a couple more, and so we needed to plug all of it. At this point, plugging it all up haphazardly would simply weaken the overall wards surrounding the place so we had no choice but to basically recast the general defence ward scheme, and then dissolve the old one."

Harry picked up from there. "Now of course, keep in mind, the darkness spells and cold spells aren't a part of this, there's a whole separate area of spells designed to make this place inhospitable and just plain baad to be staying in. That's a different chain of spell.s But anyway, dissolving this old scheme meant the old anchor points for said spells would blow up with an interdimensional explosion to rip tears through the dimensions...now we thought it would open but the new ward layer would make sure it didn't actually suck anyone in...buut turns out the explosion was powerful enough to blast through both."

"And so, we had to improvise," said Jennifer," the rips would close themselves, so that wasn't an issue, but it did have the unfortunate side effect of sucking up the closest living being. We placed temporary portals inside the rips in the wards to send you guys here to this old storage shack rather than have you guys get stranded on the four corners. And then so it happened, the rips opened fully, you guys got sucked in and that action closed them and now we have a fully functional brand new system working."

"And that brings us to your question," explained Harry," the wards are now brand now and fully up, so nothing can go out anymore, and you only get in through the condemnation enchantment controlled by our brother. So there's no portal or anything that can take out here, there's only one kind of portal that works outta here, and its one through the highest spatial dimension...which we can open, but of course the issue is you guys would be ripped to shreds by the forces involved there, those things are meant to warp reality and just make everything go horribly for those without the ability to manipulate reality...so...the only way to get you guys out is to either risk releasing every single inmate of this place, which is not even an option, there's literal..how do you put it septillenia's worth of prisoners here, that's a number so big I won't even try to explain it right now. Just know that that number means we've got close to the population of multiple large planets stuck within this land compressed and contained, only a few dozen are allowed to walk around after all."

"To cut a long story short, the only way out is to go towards the center of this island, where the portal that is used to bring inmates in is housed. Its only accessible through a series of very complicated mazes and traps to keep the inmates allowed to walk from being able to get to it. Now inside that portal is the one place where we can safely open a minor reverse portal inside its frame and that will suck you to the underworld, and from there, we can just send you back using a regular portal," finished Jennifer.

"A bit of a loong explanation, but giving y'all the full picture seemed like a good plan," said Harry. "So to summarize again, yes we brought you here, yes it was a mistake, yes we control everything although technically our brother owns and gets final say on who goes in or out, and yes we brought you here, and no we can't just send you back, not without unleashing a horrible curse on the all of reality, and let's be honest, we're not risking the lives of countless billions for the four of you. Sorry but...yeah."

Harry suddenly picked up a very interesting surface thought from the side and grinned at Lyrth. You are kinda loud my friend, think a little quieter if you don't want every telepath in a fifty mile radius to read you like the newspaper. But hello, pleasure to meet you two, and well my sister there just picked up on Rune's annoyance, and wanted to give him a bit of advice. She can be like that sometimes.Heyy....what do you mean by that? Don't listen to him Lyrth. I just didn't want anyone here to be in a bad mood and feeling terrible about themselves considering once you step outside, the spells here will make you remember your worst memories and it just generally reeks of just plain evil so much that you feel horrible.

The annoyance that had been thriving during this entire conversation faltered when Lyrth offered him the night vision charm. He gave a little nod, ready to take him up on the offer. Even though this was a decently enchanted cloak, night vision hadn't been something that they had ironically thought of including. Maybe it was because they thought night vision should be reserved for some kind of special pair of glasses or mask. Rune didn't really know, but he also didn't really care to figure that one out right now.

But then he realized that he had never openly expressed his distaste for the titles.

He gave Jennifer a look—was she some kind of mind reader?—but the chance to ask that question was quickly lost as Harry and her launched into a long explanation of where they were and how to get out. Rune listened. He knew it was important to get some information on where he was in case he had to slip off at any point.

But then Harry said he was the person in charge of the dead.

And even though he never outright said this was the afterlife's prison, Rune could put that together. He tried to keep the same annoyed look on his face he knew he already had on. Jennifer could read minds, and Harry looked like he could have a similar power set. He couldn't let them figure out how freaked out he was.

But could he really hide that? It didn't seem like the sort of thing to hide. He knew he was already walking a dangerous line just thinking about the lie, but maybe Jennifer couldn't see that deep. Maybe she could only tell the very beginnings of a thought, and not the roots that went far beneath it. She hadn't commented on how he kept focusing on his side. She hadn't commented on his connection to the cult.

So what if he did let his fear show a bit, but hid the reason for it?

I hope I don't end up here when I die, he desperately thought, annoyed look still going strong on his face. A necromancer would end up in a place like this after mocking death for so long, wouldn't he? I wonder if any of the people I've brought back belonged here.

He shuddered, almost like his facade broke for a moment.

...This better be the only time I see this place.

Ok things here apparently liked spinning out of control, dimensions, portals, something like several planets worth of overpower-full dangerous prisoners,
All housed on in this one crazy place.
That definitely confirmed he was nowhere near Viterra.
So could he take off his coat? Was he out of there reach?

No that wasn’t a risk he was willing to take, he had to stop thinking about it before he did something foolish, or just got a headache.

“Alright well I’ve lots of experience with mazes, and I'm assuming you two know what and were the traps are.’
‘So not to seem impatient but, can we get going?”

"Hmm, excellent question once again Felix," said Harry, "and well, sure we can get going, I wouldn't mind, ready whenever you guys are, I'm just waiting to see if either of you have anymore questions, as for the maze, sadly its not that simple."

"Yeah," said Jennifer, "because you see, the folks contained here are all dead, so if they are destroyed by a trap we put up, they can't die, not really, they kind of....uhh for lack of a better term, respawn, like a video game of some sort, so they can sort of eventually figure out each trap and escape if the traps were constant, what we've done is make a constantly changing maze, so its not possible to tell what kind of trap is operating at any one time. It constantly cycles through an infinite series of combinations, well functionally infinite, its not actually infinite, the number's just so large it might as well be infinite."

"So that way, we're going to have individually figure out the way that won't kill us, its not terribly easy cause the mazes down there aren't meant to be solved," said Harry, "those mazes are meant to be a punishment, they look like a way out that can eventually be solved but they are meant to impossible to solve by design. Cause after all, no one here is ever allowed to leave. Its just there to give them hope and then squash. A bit cruel, I know, but trust me, those folks, totally deserve it. At any rate, the only way we're surviving the maze is by a couple of very sneaky...uhh glitches shall we say, to put it in a way you might understand...we have to sort of trick the maze a bit, we'll explain in more detail once we get to it."

"Yup, sorry for all the long explanations but ehh, you guys do need to know everything, now so you're ready to leave Felix, but Lyrth, Rune, what about you guys? There's one final warning we need to give before stepping outside this shack, so if you guys are also ready, I can begin with that," said Jennifer, looking expectantly at the two of them.

"I don't have any questions," Rune said. He glanced over at Lyrth for the briefest of moments before turning to their guides. This kind of place would theoretically be a good place for testing his necromancy's limits, but he also wasn't sure he could risk pushing them too far.

He wasn't going to let himself get trapped here. He still had far too much to do. He still had to find her—and that was the only thing he needed to stop himself from trying to play gods again. He'd solve any puzzle this place threw at him and find a way out of this mess. It might have been impossible to solve most of the time, but his life was one impossibility after another.

Lyrth brushed his hands together, satisfied that the charm was working properly as the final blots of magical ink settled into place on Rune’s palm. He had worried that his underlying sense of unease would interfere with it, but it seemed to have taken well enough. Jenni’s comment about reliving their darkest memories had shaken him, truthfully. He had more than his fair share of those and had done his best to forget them. He struggled for a moment to suppress a wave of unwelcome images that swirled to the surface of his mind, trying to focus on the task at hand. Not to mention their strange mention of Vyd'eo games. Lyrth had never heard of a Vyd'Eo people, let alone if a culture like that involved games. More mysteries.

He listened intently as Harry and Jenni described the true depth of their predicament. A place where the worst of the worst were sent to die, over and over again. Another prison. That horrid, heavy feeling settled onto his chest and a shudder ran through the dark elf’s frame. In all honesty, the thought of being trapped once more terrified him more than death and failure ever could. Helplessness was Lyrth’s least favorite feeling.

He plastered a smile across his face, attempting to kindle the emotion that usually accompanied it. The familiarity of the action was calming but too empty for him to feel any sort of real tranquility. Nodding reassuringly at Rune regarding the tattoo, he ran a searching hand over his belt, checking and rechecking that all his things remained where they should be.

Lyrth turned the brilliancy of his smile on the angel twins, “I believe our task is rather straightforward. All that we must do is solve a few dastardly riddles, defeat the odd horrifyingly evil monster, and escape an inescapable prison. It isn’t nearly as arduous as getting a dwarf to admit he’s wrong, and if I can do that, we can surely defeat your brother’s little maze. And although I am rather curious as to how your family tree is constructed, what with your dark love and cold friendship combinations, and an uncle of light and a brother of death, I have the stronger urge to get outside and see what this place is all about, if you don’t mind.”

"Heh, when you put it that way, it does seem like a regular ol' Tuesday," said Harry, "oh the number of inescapable prisons I've had to run out of in a pinch. Anyway, let's not go down memory lane right now, we'll do plenty of that later. And on the subject of that family tree, phew, its a complicated one. I do think the powers are a reflection of sort of how we kind of appeared, its a long story, but yeah, my uncle, the light guy, is in charge of the force of hatred, which honestly suits his style of living but it is wonderfully contradictory. Anyways....those are all ridiculously long stories, but since you're also ready to get out of this shack here, let's get to that outside then."

"Yes, so the mandatory warnings first, I suppose, those are important. First of all, the cold, its going to get mind numbingly cold, well not really, I think the spells we used her in the room should mean you guys will experience just a bit lower than freezing, I'm sure you'll do fine in that. The darkness shouldn't be an issue now that we all have some form of night vision, although giving a fox directions is surprisingly something I haven't done despite having lived for so long, well I've helped several fox deities, but that's different I suppose," said Jennifer, "Anyway, the worst bit is the fancy punishment spell. Now we do have this spell that makes you relieve every horrible thing you ever did to anyone and make you feel their emotions and pain, but that's only for the high security areas."

"So basically, if any of you guys are secretly responsible for mass murder or something, feel free to breath a sigh of relief now," said Harry, cracking a smile. He didn't expect anyone here to actually be a mass murderer, neither of them seemed the type, but it was a fun little statement to toss out there. "Anyway, the thing you do need to worry about is the fact that you will constantly be reminded of your worst memories, and that shall sucketh, we're kind of used to it now, we've spent so many centuries worth of time here, but you guys are going to be hit full force, so we would advise just thinking happy thoughts at all times, Lyrth seems to have gotten the gist of that idea already. Just try to remember your best memories, don't give into your past, cause remember, its the past, it can no longer hurt you, literally, the dimension of time doesn't flow through this spot, so, no time travel surprise attacks happening here. But jokes aside, just try to think of your best moments, or your worst moments will haunt you so bad that you won't be able to function."

"And we certainly don't want that," said Jennifer, "soo, anyone have anything to say after that warning, any clarifications? If there's nothing, then we can walk out the door, well, not door I guess, this place has a trapdoor you'll have to crawl out of, but we'll get to that when we get to that. So, again, anything you need clarified about that warning?"

Lyrth froze at Harry’s attempt at humor. This could be a problem. It wasn’t that Lyrth had murdered anyone who didn’t deserve it, but the circumstances of said deserving deaths may have been... more unpleasant than necessary. Besides, it had been a them or him situation every time. Well, most times.

And as far as happy memories go... all of his reminded him of a not so happy one. Perhaps this journey would be more of a problem than he anticipated. But no matter. It was clear, he had no choice in this. If he wanted to return to Faerun, this was the only way.

Steeling himself against any hardship that would await him outside this building, Lyrth answered, “I believe my curiosity has been sated. Let us begin on our journey.”

Felix sat down, this could be a problem
"uh well I did kinda kill like...several raiders, three pirates, and somebody's private army, but that was my job, and to be honest I've never felt guilty about it......they all deserved it"

but did they? sure the pirates and stuff were pretty bad, but what about that team of over-optimistic sailors, they weren't really after any riches,
but what else was he supposed to do, this kind of self-doubt had never happened before, maybe it was just the thought of being guilty that lead his thoughts this way.

suddenly he wasn't as impatient to leave.

he looked around at everyone, were they having the same thoughts as him?
had they done equally "bad" stuff and only now thought if they could have done something different.

suddenly something one of the statutes had said to him once "you can never change the past but you can change the future"

simple maybe but it always seemed to have an inner meaning to it.
"hm well ok let's get this over with, I'm ready when you are" he transformed into a fox, slightly bigger than normal, he didn't want everyone walking all over him,
"oh, and by the way I can talk normally and communicate fine when I'm like this," he said looking at Harry.

Think happy thoughts, ok soon he is outta here and back to his life on a small island with only a bunch of boring statues to talk to, paradise.

Rune felt a pit form in his stomach.

He hadn't ever killed anyone before, but necromancy wasn't exactly the kindest kind of magic around. Rune didn't know too much about his specifics. He had never thought to ask—never wanted to ask. But if it involved bringing souls back into bodies to bend them to their will...

That was bad.

And there were other ways to be horrible, too. Other ways to hurt people. All he could think of was Chima, with her leaf green eyes and alabaster hair and a smile that had made it so so so hard to leave her on that doorstep years ago.

As for his worst memories...

...This was going to be a long adventure, wasn't it?

Rune couldn't help but give a shaky sigh.

"Well, looks like you guys understood that warning perfectly judging by those facial expressions and sur...yeah...the expressions," said Harry, "do not look good. But anyway, like I said, you guys won't be going near the whole pain spell, so that should help, that one works based on guilt at any rate, so should we run into that by accident, as long as you're not guilty about anything you guys did, you'll be great. As for memories...well...not much to do besides power through with those happy thoughts. Trust me, happiness is more powerful than you think, especially if its gotta do with someone you care about it. Trust me I know, I do control the love force after all." He gave them all a smile.

"Well, on that lovely note, let's get going then, let's you guys can all fit through this whole...Felix, you might have to switch away from fox mode to be able to crawl through," said Jennifer, "follow us then. Let's get outside, and then I'll show you guys which direction we are going to be headed in."

The two of them made their way out towards the entrance and gestured towards the trapdoor they needed to crawl out of.

"There are cushioning charms lining this entire area so even though some parts might look a bit jagged and well...sharp, nothing should prick you. Hopefully you guys all fit, sorry about the tiny exit. Lyrth, I hope you don't get a cramp from this," said Harry, "anyway we're gonna go first just in case something outside has changed somehow."

A bit of crawling later, Harry and Jennifer were outside the shack, dusting themselves off. Harry shook his head as the spells all hit them full force. The cold and the darkness didn't bother him. It never had. The memories were another story. The ill fated last voyage of the altroyon, that one day looong ago in school. It all came flooding back like it always did. Ghosts of a past he had to face everytime he had to visit this hellhole. Next to him, Jennifer looked the picture of confidence, to the untrained eye. But he knew his sister. She was experiencing plenty of horrible memories of her own.

Turning away from that, he looked out towards the land in front of him. A dark jagged plain of rock, leading towards a towering mountain range that shot up far enough into the sky that most mortals would not be able to see its peak.

"Well, guys, we're going to have to get to that mountain range over there, that's step one, the area the shack is built in, is the...best part of this asteroid, the calmest, so...uhh...well compared to the area we're headed to, this is paradise,"said Harry, "Enjoy it while it lasts. Here there shouldn't be anything to attack us, not until we get to the base of the mountain range at any rate. So, everyone ready for a nice long walk through a desolate jagged plain while contemplating their worst memories?"

Lyrth grimaced at the size of the tunnel he was expected to crawl out of. He wasn’t exceptionally tall back in the dirty alleys and taverns of Luskan, but in comparison with the exit, it was needless to say he was apprehensive. He was scared of few things, but small spaces had been an exception. Since he was a small boy climbing and exploring the depths of Menzoberranzan, he'd hated them. As he squeezed through the crushing black rock after Harry and Jennifer, his mind wandered back to those cold, loveless years.

Israh had raised him, all though she hadn’t been happy about it. When Matron Dustkarn had issued the order, she had been only five years from full priestesshood. Being forced to teach her useless second-brother his rightful place in drow society was especially torturous for her. Naturally, Lyrth was the one who got the brunt of her annoyance, in the regular forms of abuse that drow males were accustomed to. His explorations of the city and surrounding areas had been the only respite from her grating tone and stinging whip. It had only been ten years from his birth when-

Lyrth forced his reminiscing to a halt, seeing the end of the tunnel and remembering he was supposed to be thinking happy thoughts. He scowled. Don’t have too many of those on hand, do you? He raked his brain searching for something to dwell on that didn’t leave him furious or too melancholy. Here’s one!

The years following the fish incident had been some of his best memories. He thought fondly of that season, sailing through the Cursed Sea with Irana and Elysia, searching for the latter’s pod. There was one day in particular that never failed to bring him joy. The air was crisp and clean after a brutal storm, and it filled one with a wonderful sense of freedom.

Elysia’s legs had finally begun to heal. Lyrth was helping her traverse the deck on her own two feet. When he tripped over a pile of ropes, Irana laughed at him, her mass of thick curls bouncing with each peal. She was on the other side of the ship, cleaning her well-worn armor. “Struggling to bear the weight of a tiny girl like her, are we Lyrth? Those years as a sea trout must have taken a real toll.”

“You’re one to talk! I’m surprised you didn’t start rusting after the first week!” He had shot back at her, unable to stop a wide grin spreading across his face. A contagious tinkling laugh burst from Elysia, who was now leaning against the railing. Lyrth couldn’t help but chuckle after that, and it only devolved from there. Soon enough they were sprawled on the rough wooden floor, backs to the side of the ship, trying to gain back their breath. Never had he felt so at home as with the two of them during those sweet days on Wraith’s Song. The only earlier memory Lyrth had that brought a smile had been-

A wave of suffocating despair slammed into him as he climbed from the tunnel out into Aster-Oyde. Lyrth stumbled, trying to get his balance as his eyes adjusted to the somehow darker exterior. The only reason he could see Harry and Jenni was their gently glowing eyes. Slowly, too achingly slowly, he found their silhouettes, and then surveyed the land with a growing sense of horror. Plains of black stone stretched as far as the eye could see, except for directly in front of them. Masses of jagged rock reached for the sky as if longing to rip a hole in its jet black fabric, exposing this hellscape to the light of day.

But it wasn’t the land that made him feel as though he would prefer the Underdark. It was the memories. He was plunged back into the worst moments of his life, clashing together at once. He tried his best to muffle the cacophony of sound that he was sure the angels could hear from within his mind. But there was no resisting it. He had tried to think of his best memories, but these were so much more vivid. They came in flashes, never dwelling on one for too long.

The roaring of a bloodthirsty crowd, eager for early deaths. Rust-colored sand soaked in young blood and the passing of betting gold. Deep green eyes filled with tears, closing with an awful feeling of finality. Melodic chanting pierced by the screams of unwilling victims. The crushing weight of endlessly flowing water filling his lungs. A child shuddering under the shadow of a salivating beast. Blade to the flesh, the marriage of destructive beings, the nauseating sound of muscle ripping like paper, and the clanking of heavy chains. Thrown deep into the farthest corners of his mind, he hid. Silence.

Lyrth felt as though he might die. Far away, he heard a voice that sounded familiar. “...ready for a nice long walk through a desolate jagged plain while contemplating their worst memories?" He couldn’t move, trapped in a haze. He felt his body stumble, knees hitting cold stone, but he couldn’t react. He wished someone would shake him awake from this strange, detached nightmare.

Rune wasn't scared of small spaces, but he was scared of what moving through them could potentially reveal. He made sure his cloak was carefully wrapped around him as he started to crawl through after Lyrth. If anyone asked, he could pretend it was just because he didn't want to freeze.

He tried to keep his head empty as he crawled through the tunnel. He didn't have that many happy memories, so he had to make do with the next best thing. But he had never been good at dismissing thoughts. It was something he had been berated for years ago, back when he actually attended the weekly meditation sessions the cult put on. He hadn't ever been able to sit still back then, and couldn't stop thinking of all of the adventures he'd sneak off to go on after the sessions.

Now his mind was conjuring up memories of sitting on the hard, stone ground. His body had felt...whole, back then. He didn't have the same lightness he had in some areas now. And he had even been able to wear short sleeves back then.

Igni and Finix, I wish I could do that again, he bitterly thought. It wouldn't been good to wear something like that in this place, but he hated how suffocating this outfit could get sometimes-

As he crawled out of the tunnel, he was suddenly hit with a wave of despair. There were other things, too, but it was that existential dread that stuck around the longest and the strongest. He could feel it aching in his bones. No, that wasn't the reason for the ache. His body was remembering something he wanted to forget. It was remembering how the magic had seared through him—how it had felt like his skin was melting and how it felt like someone had set his bone marrow on fire. It had been the only option if he wanted to see Chima someday. But Finix and Igni knew that he was committing heresy. They knew that he was messing with something sacred, and they wanted to remind him of it with every new burst of pain.

The weight suddenly shifted underneath the bandage covering part of his face.

...That was different. That had been the first thing to become lighter, not heavier. He reached a hand up and touched the bandage—touched the eye that was now comfortably nestled underneath it. The realization that it was there brought him back to the present. The pain still lingered, but it wasn't nearly the same.

He got up, finally giving Felix the space he needed to slip out into the land beyond the tunnel.

Harry and Jennifer were up ahead. Felix was behind. And Lyrth was...

He scanned the area around them.

Lyrth was on the ground, knees against the stone underneath Rune's feet. It looked like he had stumbled. The memories must have started to affect him, too.

Without saying a word, Rune walked over and hoisted Lyrth back to his feet—holding Lyrth so his back was supporting and one arm was slung over Rune's shoulder. He knew it was dangerous to have Lyrth so close, but Lyrth was probably too deep in a memory to even notice anything was off with Rune's body.

coming out of the hole Felix was hit with memories, mostly it was of when he was cursed which, he was more or less over, but it still hurt him and probably would always, he also started having memories of the terrified faces of all the people hed traped, faces hed never remembered before, rune was just in front of him with truth hoisted over her shoulder, Lyrth looked unconscious or, more likely just overcome with bad memories and if Lyrth was barely able to walk, he must have some horrible memories, which either meant hed had a horrible life or had done some horrible things.

Felix shuffled a little away from them, then realized being farther away from the people he, if only a little, knew was probably safer.

"well, we're all in this together so as soon as we're all out I would like to get moving"
he turned and tried to look Lyrth in the face "look, whatever your remembering, just open your eyes and spend your time thinking about whatever you see, examine your surroundings mentally, try to think of a riddle, anything to get your mind off of bad memories cause if you can't keep up with us your probably not getting out of this place"

hopefully lyrth would take his advice, Felix had spent enough time alone with his thoughts to, one learn how to control them, and two, understand how thoughts can circle unto one unstoppable thought over and over again until you can't think anything else.