We're all in this virtual space together.
Yilduz

You are tense. You are silent. You try to meld into the spacearound you without having any idea what it looks like. Seconds pass. Momentspass. What seems like days and days pass. Nothing happens.

Thankfully, agonizingly slowly, your eyes adjust to the brightnessaround you. You stand up straight and scout for an enemy, seeing none. You seeno sign of either of the twins either, nor the tome they had carried with them.What surprises you, though, is the space that now surrounds you. It is notlined or ringed or racing with coding. Not one scrap of the thin ribbons ofgibberish can be found. What stands around you is a blank white room of amaterial you cannot hope to guess. The walls are solid around you, and thefloor is sturdy beneath you. You want to cry out in joy, but you know you arenot back to whatever reality you originated from because the memory loss thathas been itching and clawing at the back of your mind has not returned to you. Youcannot know its loss, though, so you suppose you take that in stride.

You do know the loss of your companions though and it pains you tobe holding their treasures now. You know your party members should be here withyou but it was their sacrifices that got you here. Though you are lost inthoughts, a slight humming sound beginning to buzz jolts you out of it. Youthink it is coming from the center of this wide, dome shaped room.

What do you do?

Myos in the lead, his emergencyred hair blazing their path, the group walked down the corridor to what wouldundoubtedly lead them to the Empress. The walls were solid gold, gilded withdesigns of strange figures that were foreign to the quintet. Strange angelicbeings, fantastical creatures, forested imagery - all dancing across the wallsin almost unsettling displays of grandeur. It was fit for the delusions of Godthe Empress had, and Myos scoffed internally. This woman was about to discoverhow mortal she really was.

As the path continuedon, the angelic figures began to devolve into horrifying demons, fallen deitieswith gruesome disfigurations. Sharp protrusions jutted from the walls, and theyhad to carefully navigate the walkway as it became studded with spikes and curved,beast like claws. Amaya pressed closer to the core of the group, huddling closeto them as if to protect herself. Achernar curled up her lip in disgust,muttering curses to the Labyrinth’s owner.

“Who would makesomething like this?” Amaya whispered, hugging the starchy fabric of the tallerman’s vest tighter around her as she hunched over on herself. Myos wondered ifshe had been here before, now knowing her past and what she’d been through. Whatother sorts of rooms and chambers lay hidden in this Labyrinth?

Myos shook off thethought, hand reaching up to hold his headphones in place. Their shoes were theonly thing that could be heard, smacking and thudding and clicking against thesmooth, polished surface of the golden floor. Even their breathing seemed todisappear within the enormity and the emptiness of it all. After what seemedlike eternity, they finally reached a large, ornately carved door, gilded withgold leafing and studded with sparkling gemstones. It was unmistakably theEmpress’s lair.

“Let’s get this fuckingover with,” Achernar growled, her teeth bared like an animal. Biting the handthat feeds you indeed.

“We can do this,” Amayasaid brightly, some of her enthusiastic spirit returning as the warmth of thefire forged companions washed over her. Her pink lips stretched into a widesmile, pulling the ring around the bottom one flush to her skin.

The rest of the groupreturned the smile with varying degrees, save for Razzy. The girl just lookedblankly at the door in front of her, twirling an alabaster lock of her bobabsentmindedly as if she were in a trance. The bluenette grabbed the smallergirl’s slender shoulder softly, as if not to startle her. She was thin as awillow branch, and just as fluid - without much effort she turned to face theother as if nothing had been wrong. Achernar furrowed her brows and pursed herlips, once again asking in silent worry if the other woman was alright. Razzyshook her head, long bottom lashes brushing her cheeks and making her vibrantblue eyes seem wide like a doe’s, almost comparable to Amaya’s own amethystgems.

“I don’t think I can goin there,” Razzy said at last, startling the others. “I’ll just wait out here.I can keep guard.”

“We’ve come so fartogether though,” Myos said, exuberant personality appearing in full force ashe gestured almost comically in his upset. “This is something we all have todo! We’ll be heroes!”

“I don’t care aboutbeing a hero,” Razzy said flatly, leaning away from the door slightly byshifting her weight onto her heels just as Zeke had done earlier. Her armscrossed over chest, the fur on her jacket seeming to enclose around like somesort of impenetrable jungle foliage.

Myos was just about tocontinue his protest when Zeke held an arm in front of him to stop the assaultof words. “Let her stay and keep guard if she wants to. We don’t want to betaken by surprise, do we?” The inky haired man looked down his nose at theother as if in accusation, but the girl did not rise to the bait. Zeke brushedhis hair back habitually, showing he was unfazed by the other and to maintainhis illusion of nonchalance. “Are we going in, then?”

Myos nodded, waiting forthe other three to nod in confirmation, and stepped forward to shove open thelarge door in front of them.