Vwyx sat beside both of her unconscious friends, trying to wait with more patience than she had earlier in hopes that they would awaken soon. While waiting, she tried to consider what else could be done to help with the situation.

Riyxia’s specter took a seat beside Vwyx, trying to wordlessly lend support. Of course, even in such turmoil costing Riyxia all consciousness, her specter would still be wandering around. Communication though was much harder, considering her specter could not talk. Such still was not impossible, dramatic motions towards the remaining flame of the spilled campfire were enough to compel Vwyx to ensure that the flame was completely extinguished. Neither of them knew what state Sryine would awaken to, but having her lose control again before Riyxia could wake up would leave Vwyx in a very perilous situation. Vwyx completed the task and resumed sitting down next to the spectre.

“So, I’m thinking Sryine’s trigger was fear, just as your own has been rage and mine is pain. Sryine being terrified of fire, having her hand light up like that probably pushed her right over the edge. If that’s true, I’m actually really worried. There would have been at least one other thing recently that has inspired fear in her, the fear of burning and the fear of losing control and hurting the people she cares about. She’s just now done both, and I worry what state that will leave her in when she awakens. Will the fear of her own actions push her over the edge again? I know you’ve worked hard to make sure I don’t lose myself to pain, but protecting Sryine from fear is going to be a lot harder.” Vwyx contemplated this idea, Riyxia wordlessly listening. Riyxia actually agreed with most of what Vwyx said, though she would have brought up that Sryine had held on longer than Vwyx had in all technicality. She was also especially surprised at Sryine’s sudden collapse, an action of defiance and will which would have taken a surprising amount of effort.

“Her destructive impulse was really surprising though, forging a nightmare of herself using her own illusion, even throwing around all of her illusionary flames like that. Sure, you could probably say more about it than I, having stood up to her like that and everything. When engulfed by her fears, she had that laughter.. that crazy laughter. I can still hear it ringing in my head too, like it was a part of her nightmarish quality. Honestly though, your feral howling can be kinda intimidating too, just to be fair. I guess I was probably something to behold myself, but at least I didn’t make any strange sounds. … well, I guess the dead silence might have been weird too, wouldn’t it? Seriously, dead silence is awkward, especially when it feels like you’re just talking to yourself. I know, I’m sorry, not your fault, you’re kinda unconscious right now and everything. It’s just.. I hope everything works out okay.” Vwyx sighed, still concerned about this whole situation. Riyxia could understand most of her worries, even much of her spoken concerns. Nightmare Sryine was really hard to deal with, including that laughter. She hadn’t thought herself to have made any weird sounds while enraged, but maybe she had just not paid attention to those moments, it was rather difficult to track certain things while enraged like that, after all. Even Vwyx had seemed strange in her emotionless silence, so it was much of the same idea. She also wished she could help more, but there wasn’t much she could achieve just as a spectre.

It was at this point that Sryine started to stir awake, causing alarm for the other two. Sryine pulled herself up from the stone, sitting upright before breaking into a series of hiccups. She felt really dizzy at that point, but she was back in control. When the other two picked up on the same outcome, they started to relax a little. However, in the meanwhile, Sryine took account of the situation, both now and what had just happened. Riyxia was unconscious, and she could decidedly recall her own loss of control. Her hand had lit on fire, and the fear had taken over. In her fear, she had done some horrible things, unimaginable things. The memory of her playing with fire was itself unbelievable, the demonic terror she had inhibited by her own illusions couldn’t possibly have been her at all. Her head spun as the memories all came back to her, all the things that had happened. No matter how hard it was to believe, they really were things she had done, that was how her destructive impulse expressed itself. The worst part were the thoughts and ideas that had flashed through her mind in the depth of her madness. With that madness, she had stood up against countless beasts, including the leader, and had toyed with their lives before mercilessly destroying them. After that, she had turned on her friends, laying injury into Riyxia. They were only illusions, but illusions affected the mind. Seeing her down like that would have instilled panic in Sryine right away, were it not for the specter’s concerning gaze reflecting back to Sryine. Riyxia was alright, only resting to recover from her injuries.. the same injuries she had personally caused.

“I’m -hiye- very -hiye- sorry. -hiye- Please for-hiye-give me. -hiye-” Sryine’s hiccups constantly interrupted her as she tried to speak. Vwyx gave her a hug, prompting her a moment to calm down and recover from her hiccups. Once they had subsided, she went over the details of what happened, mostly out of concern of the perspective that was instilled in her. She felt horrible for having such thoughts, so wanted to be honest with her friend about the demonic thoughts that had consumed her mind. By the end, she felt as if she was going to be sick, her friends silently trying to lend comfort. She wasn’t alone, after all, Vwyx was well aware how all feelings of care had left her when it was her turn, she had held no care for anything at all, beyond vengeance at least. Both of them fervently hoped they could achieve the same control that Riyxia held, as soon as possible, so that they would not end up falling into such a state again.

It was at this point where Riyxia had started to wake up as well, opening the three of them to the comfort of each other’s arms in an embrace. They had recovered from that dilemma, but they were still stuck down there. Actually, that wasn’t exactly accurate, they were well aware now of tunnels that might lead to a usable exit. She looked around at each tunnel, trying to estimate the most useful. She pulled out her map, giving her a better estimate based upon elevations. They had no idea how the tunnels each wound around, they couldn’t even expect such to remain straight lines, but estimates were at least better than nothing. They would have to also be ready for more ambushes, a threat she could only dread to consider. Twice now she had tried to protect her friends, only for circumstances to have taken them and their control in the process. She could not expect to continue to protect them from further pain and fear against all future threats, she needed to mitigate even the concept of threat as soon as possible.

“According to my estimates, our best way back is to take one of the tunnels, probably that one there.” “But, the tunnels are pitch black, how are we going to see where we’re going? Oh, please don’t tell me we’re going to use torches!” “Of course torches are completely out of the question, that’s just a disaster waiting to happen. Fortunately, our gear comes with a few helpful inclusions.. including...” Riyxia pulled out a small instrument and turned it on, a luminescent red glow shining forth from it in response to Sryine’s concerns. These lamps weren’t the brightest of options, but they did run much longer than a torch, only consuming small portions of the gift in order to remain glowing. The fact there was no flame at all made them currently a superior option over torches. Riyxia pulled out two more and passed them on to her friends for their own usage before leading the way into her chosen tunnel.

A short distance along, the tunnel intersected with a flowing stream of water, providing a way for the girls to clean themselves up. Dust had collected to them through their travels, but the worst was the blood and death which yet clung to them. Vwyx went over to check out the stream, suddenly feeling really thirsty, but dipping her hand into the water revealed to her just how cold it actually was, having her then fall back startled. Sryine giggled at the playful act before her as a chill ran up everyone’s spine, a similar laughter ringing through their minds. All three of them put the moment into context, Vwyx deciding that she wasn’t as thirsty as she thought anymore, Sryine deciding that things weren’t actually very funny. Riyxia took control of the situation, ensuring that the water they had found got proper and careful usage. She knew just how dangerous things actually were, water in this darkness could have any number of threats, beasts in the shadows, slippery stones that lead from anything from concussions to drowning. With the number of ways circumstances could lead to even minor injury, the number of ways circumstances could lead to frightening situations, a large threat looming over them still remained themselves.

Once ready to move on, Ryixia took the lead again and guided them along the tunnel. She was tempted to try and have her specter watch their backs too, but her specter couldn’t carry a lamp, and the split distraction would slow her down a bit. Since her specter couldn’t even defend them from behind either, it wasn’t exactly worth the effort. They made their way along, stopping at every split of the tunnel to calculate which direction might be the best to go. After the seventh similar stop, Riyxia just gave up on her estimates, finding it too difficult to pinpoint enough details of their location and direction at this point. Vwyx had found out that their cells didn’t even have reception this far underground, removing any use they might find from that idea. Progressing further along a new portion of the stream, Riyxia eventually paused in alarm, as the area before them suddenly filled with a bright white light and a voice.

“Oh, perfect, finding such quality specimens right off the bat. Yes, yes, I know, my stay here isn’t welcome, I won’t be here long. Let’s get this over with quickly, who here wants to volunteer for some important experiments?” A woman’s voice could be heard echoing in a room further ahead, amidst a flutter of beastal snarling. Riyxia’s specter had wandered ahead into the room filled with light as the girls otherwise tried to conceal their own lamps. Her specter found a woman in a long white coat, carrying a supply of unusual instruments that she couldn’t quite identify, least of all because one of them was the powerful light shining brightly. The beasts she had been addressing didn’t seem to especially like the bright light either. One of them rushed towards her, jaw snapping, only for a large white disc to open up before it, consuming the beast entirely as it passed through. Her victim chosen, the woman opened up another similar disc of white for herself to pass through, leaving the room dark once again. The room though was still agitated, the beasts concerned by the sudden loss of their own, frantically searching for their missing companion, even the enemy that had beset them without warning.

Through the searches, one of the beasts had managed to come up behind them, snarling at the discovery of another intruder. This amphibious beast drew the attention of the remainder of the pack with a shreek, forcing Riyxia to hurry into the wider space so that she would have room to act. As another iteration of the same experience, Riyxia knew her priorities. She had to ensure she held back her enemy, at least until the beasts gave in, while also ensuring her friends remained safe. Vwyx needed to remain essentially unharmed, while Sryine needed to remain similarly unafraid. Failing in either case would leave her to deal with some added, significant destruction all over again. Sryine had at least recovered her rapier, but for now she instead drew her bow, providing her with a protective distance. Vwyx pulled out her halberd, intent on making use of the long handle to keep her foes away from her. Riyxia held back from stepping into her own rage for now, not feeling comfortable in depending on it too much. She would make use of it if the situation demanded it, but she still felt there was a measure of risk in simply defaulting to it all of the time.

Their foes however were a bit more cautious in simply rushing their enemy, having witnessed what had occurred the last time a reckless charge had been attempted. Meanwhile, Riyxia wasn’t willing to just simply rush forward herself, not under the pretense of her natural ability. This immediately seemed to leave everything in the form of a stalemate, neither side willing to make the first move. Riyxia knew though that this couldn’t continue forever, the beasts had still cut off their means of escape, they were effectively trapped there if things continued like this. The beasts weren’t so inclined to the circumstance either, they still had intruders threatening them. The three girls searched for a suitable way to break this stalemate, but the beasts found a solution even quicker. By nature, the beasts were at home in water, but their invaders seemed much more inclined to the dry stone. The girls had no idea how the beasts had achieved it, but soon after waiting, the girls started to hear the sound of rushing water flowing turbulently. Within moments, water started to pour violently into the chamber, filling it rapidly and leaving the girls treading water instead of standing. If they waited too long, the room could very possibly run out of air, leaving the girls to drown if they did not make a move. The beasts meanwhile began swimming around them in circles, visibly much faster than they were in the water. Sryine swapped her bow for an illusionary crossbow, the actual arrows not being at all useful in the water.

The beasts were clearly gaining confidence with their new advantage, while the girls were starting to suffer their circumstances. The risk of drowning presented both a potential for physical and mental trauma, struggling for air could trigger Vwyx’s trance while desperation and insecurity could bring Sryine closer to a state of nightmares. Both of them needed a way to stay calm. Riyxia could manage the situation fairly well while enraged, the slowdown due to water wouldn’t even be noticed in her case with such a pure advantage, but the others weren’t quite so fortunate. However, her own gift might be able to shift things even further to their advantage. She directed her gift towards her friends, with the intent on magnifying their water movement. The complexity of such a design surpassed her own capabilities, resulting in her efforts being wasted. It was still a good idea, considering the other requirements of the situation. If her natural ability was finding such improvements to be too difficult, maybe her augmented ability would have more success. The situation was looking like she was going to need to make use of her rage either way.

Riyxia called upon her rage once again after taking a deep breath, letting her anger fill her. Once in this state, she made a second attempt with her gift, to provide her friends with a watery advantage. This time her efforts proved much more successful, the complexity of design required not being beyond her capabilities. She could even move a distance away from her friends and still sustain this advantage. It was unfortunate that she couldn’t actually provide them with the ability to breath underwater, her gift increased or decreased someone’s natural ability, but neither girl had a natural ability to breath water that could be improved upon. She at least provided them with an improved capacity to hold their breath, as that could help, and it wasn’t beyond her to include in addition to her already complicated improvement. She even included some fundamental improvements; speed, strength, durability. However, the combination was leaving her with fewer resources to work with in combat, she couldn’t expect to sustain such complex advantages while also having any efficient success in decreasing the abilities of her enemies, even her enraged state had its limits.

Another possible disadvantage to worry about was the darkness of the room. Without the lamps they were using, a design that was fortunately actually waterproof, they would be left in a blind disadvantage. These lamps were in fact designed for water usage, reportedly being originally designed with water in mind, a fact Sryine was deeply familiar with. It was also fortunate that Sryine didn’t personally have fears of things such as darkness or drowning, else they would be in considerable trouble right now. Even so, Riyxia knew instinctively that her enemies would prioritize attacking the lamps, something the girls would struggle to defend if they were to have concerns on other matters such as swimming or fighting. Her personal style of fighting left her hands free, so she would personally have to keep a tight grip on her lamp at all times, the one lamp that must endure no matter the costs. Sryine and Vwyx however had no alternative but to tie their individual lamps to their outfits, giving them room to effectively make use of their own weapons.

This would be a defensive battle with so many concerns at play, but the three girls were each determined to not fail their own expectations. The beasts however were themselves determined as well, unwilling to provide the girls with any easy escape.