“Phew.” I landed in front of the stairs, just barely missing the magma. I went to walk up the stairs, but a sense of unease stopped me. Something was wrong, I just couldn’t tell what it was. Brushing it off as adrenaline, I continued on. As soon as my foot hit the first step, I felt an electric type of pain rush through my body, along with a draining sensation. I fell onto my back, as I was beginning to feel lethargic. I could feel my mana core tighten, as if it was trying to stop the contents from leaking out.

“Don’t fall asleep!” Akai shouted, taking up my entire vision. “If you do, the cooling magic will cancel and you will overheat.”

“Groan~” Sitting up, I focused on pulling the mana in the atmosphere into my core. Once it was around three fourths full, I crossed the pool of lava once more, using the same technique. After I crossed, I walked down one of the tunnels before collapsing. As I laid there, my vision slowly faded, and my strength with it.

“What? Is that the sky?” I woke to see a dreary sky that looked as if rain would fall any second. I tried to get up, but once again, my body wouldn’t budge. “This must be a dream.” Suddenly, my sight shifted, I was now sitting up straight. It was a strange sensation, your body moving without your consent. I could feel the gravel shifting underneath my legs, but I was unable to move them.

“What happened?” A voice that wasn’t mine came from my mouth. It was obviously a child's voice, it seemed to be a small girl too. Taking this opportunity, I looked at my surroundings. The first thing I noticed was that all the buildings were run down. The roads weren't paved, and the houses looked as if they would fall over if a wolf blew on them. The next thing I noticed was the fact that there were homeless people around every corner.

“Ah, I’ve gotta get home!” The child said, quickly getting up, bringing me with them. The sharp rocks on the ground poked my feet as they were dragged against their will, however, the child paid them no mind. As we walked, my body began to hurt more and more for seemingly no reason. Random stings and throbs covered me. We walked up to a random house and opened the door, rushing inside.

“Lisa, there yo- Who did this to you?!” As soon as we crossed the doors threshold, a woman ran up to us, dropping the basket she was previously carrying.

“I'm fine mom, I just tripped while I was outside.” That was a lie, I could feel it. The slight change in breath and the small twitch. “Come with me, I’ll patch you up.” Lisa’s mother took us further into the house. The room we were in was the kitchen. The room was mostly taken up by a table, but along the walls were counters and cabinets. Lisa’s mother reached into one of the drawers, pulling out some bandage. She called me over to the table and began wrapping the bruises covering my arms. The look in her eyes told me she knew, she knew Lisa lied to her.

“Remember, I’m always here for you.” She said, her stern voice making me feel safe and at ease.

“I know mom.” Once she was done wrapping my injuries, we were sent to bed, the sun was beginning to set. Before we fell asleep, we stood and stared at the mixing colors of the sky, framed by the forested horizon. The once gloomy and dark clouds now parting, showing what looked like an oil painting. We sat there until the orange and red turned to black and purple, until we eventually relaxed.

I woke back up in the cave. “Ugh- I don't feel rested at all.”

“Come on, let's get moving.” Akai said, picking herself off the ground.

“No, I don’t want to move.” I protested.

“Do you want to stay in this cave forever?” Akai asked, trying to drag me, resulting in her hands slipping through my shoulder. Her words made me think back to the dream I just had, to the beautiful sunset I had just seen. “Fine, Let’s go.” I relented, reluctantly pulling myself up to my feet.

My core was now almost fully filled. If I were to run up the stairs, I should make it to the top. “Let's give this another try.” I said, looking up the stairs. It was only one flight, and I could see the top, but there were around thirty steps. “In, and out.” I was taking deep breaths. After all, I was going to be running up stairs, one of the hardest things ever.

“Just go.”

Alright, I was stalling. After getting properly prepared, I dashed up the stairs. “WHAT!”

“AHAHAHAHA!”

The first step was the only one that had the draining effect. So I could just walk up the rest of the steps. “Did you know?”

“Yes.” Akai said, stifling her laughter. “Tch” Once I was a few steps away from the top, I noticed I was shivering. I could now see my breath as well. “Don’t tell me.” After getting to the top, I saw a similar scene to before, except the rocky walls were covered with a heavy frost. The first step I took on this level wasn’t a good sign either. I slipped on a piece of ice and fell down the stairs, landing back in the lava zone.

“Great, I’ll never be able to survive up there.” I said, getting up and wiping the dirt off my arms.