At the sound of Jay's shout, every Serpentine in the cavern swings around to look in your direction. You stand there with the keys to Jay's cell in your hand and try to think of a way out of this. Unfortunately, none are coming to mind at the moment.

"Get her!" One of the Serpentine yells, pointing at you. As ordered, Jay charges forward and rams you with his shoulder, flinging you backwards. You use a gust of wind to cushion your fall, and land on your back, hitting your head against the ground. Jay starts trying to hit you with his nunchucks.

You roll back and forth, trying to find a way to get to your feet, but Jay keeps dodging your attempts to trip or disarm him. Even with your elemental powers, you can't get him to stop. Sooner or later, Jay's going to hit you, assuming one of the group of Serpentine surrounding you doesn't do it first. One of Jay's swings hits your shoulder, and you wince. That's going to leave a bruise.

The Serpentine surrounding you are slowly closing in. Just when you think you're going down for sure, one of the Hypnobrai breaks free of the group and tackles Jay to the floor.

"Slithraa?" you ask incredulously.

"Get going, y/n!" Slithraa calls. "I'll hold him as long as I can."

You use your air powers to once more launch yourself up to the walkways. There are a few Serpentine up here now, but you're pretty sure you can handle them. It's Jay you're worried about. You can't hurt him, but he clearly doesn't have any problems with hurting you. From below, you hear the sound of shouting voices.

"Nya!" you yell over the noise. "Hurry!" You hear a grunt of pain from Slithraa as one of his fellow Serpentine pulls him off of Jay. Jay immediately scrambles over to a ladder attached to a stalagmite and starts climbing.

You jump to the next walkway, using your powers to give you a boost. While Jay sprints around toward you, you look around for Nya. You can't see her anywhere, though you can see a large group of Hypnobrai. The next thing you know, Jay tackles you. You only just manage to keep from rolling off of the walkway.

"Hang on, y/n," either Nya or Slithraa shouts from below. "I'm coming!"

You use a blast of wind to push Jay off of you. You roll to one side to get to your feet and realize your mistake too late. You flail your arms, trying to grab the edge of the walkway. Somehow, you manage to grab on with one hand, but you yelp and let go when something—probably Jay's foot—smashes down on your fingers.

Desperately, you use the air beneath you. It cushions your fall, but you still land hard. You fall onto your side, crying out when you feel your ankle twist.

The sound of running footsteps echoes down from the walkway at the same time that Jay lands on the floor nearby and rolls to his feet. You stand up slowly, wincing at the pain in your injured ankle, and brace yourself for more of Jay's blows.

"Come on, Jay," you say, your voice breaking. "It's me, y/n."

Jay doesn't seem to hear you. He just advances on you and raises his nunchucks. You try to back away, but your ankle twists again, sending you sprawling to the floor.

"Jay..." you whisper, raising one hand to try and fend off the blow you know is coming.

At that moment, a billowing white vapor descends over you and Jay. It's even lighter than mist, but feels cool against your skin. Jay blinks, lowers his nunchucks, and shakes his head.

You slowly get to your feet, being careful of your ankle. "Jay?"

"Y/n?" Jay asks, sounding a bit dazed. "What happened? How did I get here? How did you get here? Where is here, anyway?"

"Jay!" You take two steps and almost collapse into Jay's arms, hugging him tightly.

Jay's eyes widen when he sees you limping. "Y/n, are you all right?"

"You're back, Jay," you whisper, tears of joy trickling down your cheeks. "You're back."

"Well, yeah," Jay says sounding confused. "Did I go somewhere?" His voice seems to be receding into the distance. "Y/n? Y/n?"

You don't hear what he says next, because you drift off into a deep, peaceful sleep.