[X] Talk with your friends. Things are still pretty tense, maybe it would do some good to converse with one another to help ease your nerves. - Write In (Another action may be taken)
-[X] Talk to Sierra privately.
--[X] Make sure she's really fine, she seemed to be freaking out.
[X] Go down the path to the left
Right, you need to keep moving. You don't want to go back, as appealing as the allure of the familiar was. After all, you just escaped from there so for the time being you should err on the side of caution and put some distance between you and this hole in the wall. You looked down the left side of the tunnel, the path where you saw the glimmer of light for a split second, and decided that's the way you're all going. Frankly, you didn't like wandering your way through this place, but you don't have any choice.
"Alright," You speak up. "I've decided what we're going to do next."
"What's the plan, fearless leader?" Lucas quips, folding his arms as he looks at you expectantly.
"Uh, before we get going, I'd like to talk with Sierra for a second." You say.
Sierra's eyebrow arches slightly at you saying that. "With me?" She says, confused. "What about?"
"Just to check on something." You smile at her reassuringly. You turn to Lucas and say, "Mind giving us a little space? I just want this between us."
Lucas looks a little apprehensive at first, but nods his head in affirmation at your request. He turns and moves a way, putting a few feet between him and you. You look to Sierra and approach her, placing a hand gently on her shoulder. Sierra tenses up at your touch but doesn't break eye contact with you. You frown slightly at this, but shrug it off as you look at her with concern.
"Hey... Uh, are you... doing okay?"
"No..." She replies. "I'm really not..."
"Want to talk about it?" You ask. "You're my best friend, Sierra. I'm here for you if you need to talk."
"I know, I know... You've always been there when I needed you..." She sighs, her eyes drifting away from your gaze. "I don't know..."
"Don't know what?"
"I just... DON'T
know how to deal with any of this, Medea!" Sierra cries. "I don't think this is the sort of situation you can just
talk about!"
"Sierra..."
"I mean, for Christ's sake, Medea! You nearly
died! I almost
died! I would have been fucking dead had you guys not found me!" You could see that Sierra was starting to break down again, tears beginning to form in her eyes. "If something were to happen to you guys... If something happened to
you... I- I- I don't know what I'd do! i just- I just can't deal with this! And, and, and-"
You quickly pull Sierra into a hug, shushing her as you try to comfort her by gently patting her back. "Hey now, hey now. Everything is going to be alright... We're all going to be okay. We're going to get out of this. I promise."
Slowly Sierra wraps her arms around you, holding you close to her. "Do you honestly believe that?" She asks, her voice tinged with worry.
"I have to." You reply. "I don't think I could go on if I don't. I might just curl into a ball and cry."
"I see..." Sierra whispered. She's quiet for a little bit, her hug getting tighter as she stood there. "Hey, um..." she starts to say, uneasy. "I- I just want you to know that you're one of the best things in my life. Your friendship is more than I ever deserved. Regardless of what happens next, I- I- I just want you to know I appreciate it. And... I appreciate you."
You're taken aback just a little at her saying this. What exactly brought this on? You shrug it off, figuring it must be the stress of the situation, but it does make you happy hearing your friendship means so much to her. You smile softly, gently tightening the hug. "Thanks, Sierra..." You whisper. You break off the hug, taking a step back and smiled at her. She looks downwards, a sheepish look on her face as she takes a step back from you.
"I'm gonna lose the bet at this rate..." You hear Lucas grumble off to the side.
You turn to look at him, glancing at him confusedly. "Bet? What bet?"
"Nothing. Never mind." He sighs. "Let's move on, please?"
You give him a scrutinizing look but you can't read him as he doesn't budge under your look. Whatever. It doesn't matter you suppose, and you turn to look down the stone tunnel, the darkness of it spreading out at the edge of the torch light. You pick up the torch and nod your head to Lucas and Sierra and began moving forward, your friends following your lead. The three of you walk through the dark cave tunnel, the sound of your footfalls echoing softly through the natural rock corridor which seemed to ascended upward with a slight incline as you keep moving forward.
It doesn't take you long until you reached its end however, as your torch light illuminates a stone wall, with the only way forward appearing to be a hole within the wall, low to the ground but appearing big enough to crawl into. You kneel down, peering into the hole while bring your torch close enough to try and illuminate it. However, the torch light only showed so much as the small tunnel forward stretched past the point where your torch's flame to show you.
"What do you see?" Sierra asks.
"Nothing." You reply, pushing yourself back to your full height. "It is too far for the light to show what's ahead, but we should be able to crawl through."
"I might not be able to..." Lucas mutters, rubbing the back of his head.
Sierra scoffs and rolls her eyes. "Dude, you're a freakin' beanpole. The hell do you mean you can't crawl through that?"
"Well, I'm tall..." He grumbles.
"Still not sure how that is going to stop you." Sierra said, folding her arms and giving Lucas a scrutinizing look. "It's not like you're a big guy like Eli."
"I don't know, I'm fucking tired..." Lucas sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose. "I stop making sense when I'm tired..."
"Have you ever made sense?"
"Guys, can you not do this now?" You plead. "Going back and forth like this won't help."
"It's not my fault he doesn't like getting on all fours." Sierra reasoned. "That's typically his girlfriend-of-the-week's job."
"
Sierra..." You give your best friend a scolding look.
"Sorry, sorry. I was just trying to lighten the mood. I'll stop." She raised up her hands defensively. She looked over to Lucas. "Want to take a crack at me so we're even?"
Lucas stares at her blankly for a moment, then looking to you as if to ask you if she was being serious. You just shrug at him and he turns back to Sierra. "Um, no, I think I'm fine. Thanks, though."
Sierra shrugs. "Suit yourself."
You sigh and shake your head. "We're getting side tracked... again. Look, I'll go through first, see what is on the other side and call to you guys if the coast is clear."
"Why should you go through first?" Sierra asks, her voice etched with worry. "What if something goes wrong?"
"Don't worry," You reply smiling. "I'm a badass wizard remember? If I get into trouble I'll just magic my way out of it. Or something."
"I think I speak for both Sierra and myself when I say we would both rather you
not use your mysteriously gotten powers so liberally." Lucas reasons. "Medea, pal, I love ya and all but I've seen when your spells go wrong and, uh, I'd rather that not happen when you are in a tight, confined space with little room to maneuver."
"We really don't have much in the way of options." You reply. "I need you both to trust me here."
They both go silent, each of them looking at you with a silent pleading look. A look that begged you to reconsider this choice, but you would not budge. You needed to move forward if you were to ever escape this godforsaken place. They continue their joint silent pleas, but in the end Sierra was the first to give in.
"Fine." She sighs. "I trust you, Medea. Please be safe, okay?"
You nod to her and look to Lucas.
He is hesitant at first but gives a resigned sigh. "Okay, okay... I trust ya, alright?"
"Thanks you, guys." You smile to each of them before turning back to the wall. You lower yourself back onto your knees, you place your free hand onto the ground before coming to a halt and look over your shoulder to Sierra. "Sierra, be a dear and keep Lucas from checking me out."
"Oh come on!" Lucas exclaims in mock outrage! "At least let me enjoy the little things before my possible death!"
"Easy boy," Sierra chuckles while tugging at his arm. "When we meet up with Dani, you can eye her up like you always do. I'm sure she'd love it."
Lucas sputters at the accusation, unable to form a response. You think he was try to deny it but you know he'd know he was lying and that both of you would know he was lying. You chuckle at your friends, shaking your head and facing back towards the hole in the wall. You gulped as you stared off into the abyss before you but willed up the courage need to push yourself forward. You duck your head down to keep it from bumping it against the rock top of the tunnel, keeping the torch as far in front of you as possible so you don't accidentally burn yourself. Fortunately for you as you moved forward the flame proved useful in lighting your way. Unfortunately the small tunnel seemed to get more tight as you crawled through, but you tried to move as quickly as you can go on all fours. You had made significant headway despite only being in there for almost a minute as you eventually see the exit at the edge of the fire's light. It takes you a good 30 more seconds before you reach the end, by then your poor knees that you've been dragging on the hard rock ground were aching quite a lot.
"Christ..." You grunted as your eye twitched from a brief jolt of pain as you rise to your feet upon exiting the hole. "I hope I don't have to go through that again."
"Worry not, I believe you won't need to."
You give a startled scream as you press yourself against the wall, dropping the torch as you face towards where the voice had come from. Before you stand a very familiar figure: an inky black cloud of mist, formed into vague human-like outline, which glowed with a blue aura and had trio of white lights where the "face"would be. Behind this being was a familiar ring of light, which shifted through a variety of colors.
You stared dumbly at this figure, your heart beating rapidly as you felt these being was familiar but you couldn't be sure as to-
Then it dawned on you.
"O-Orphiel...?" You muttered. Orphiel. That was this thing's name. It felt alien on your tongue but saying it filled you will a sense of reassurance. Almost like saying the name of a friend you haven't seen in many years. "Is... Is that really you?"
Orphield nods.
"B-But I saw you die!" You exclaim, removing yourself from the wall. "In the dream! I mean I saw you fade away after you gave me this gift! And, and..." You go silent and stare at the mist being as a new, and frankly worrisome, question formulates in your brain. "Is this a dream?" You ask. "Is this all one sick dream I'm having?"
Orphiel doesn't responded as it just continues to stare at you with its still white lights.
"You got to tell me this is a dream, Orphiel!" You begged, taking a step closer. "I'm going to wake up at that cabin. I'm going to wake up and Sierra is going to be next to me. I'm going to wake up and Dani is going to poke fun at the two of us for sharing the same bed, we'll all have a good laugh, and the old man..." You go quiet again before forcing yourself to continue. "...and the old man... He'll just be a kind if creepy guy living in the woods and he didn't trap us in some murder dungeon, and he'll take us to get Dani help, and... and..."
No response.
"Fucking answer me!" You shriek at it. "The only times I've seen you are in those dreams I had! Did I even wake up?! Is that second "dream" still going on?! This is all in my head, right?! RIGHT?!"
Silence.
"Please..." You begged. "Please, Orphiel, tell me this is a dream. Tell me everything will be alright."
"No."
"What...?"
"No, I don't think so." It says, its voice lacking any sort of emotion.
"Y-You don't think-"
"Everything will not be
alright, child." It says. "This is all very real. You are in grave danger."
Orphiel saying this felt like a punch to the gut. You felt a tinge of despair as you sunk unto your knees before the mist creature that had visited your dreams. You look up to the creature before you, your eyes growing moist from tears that began to form on the edge of your vision.
"You... You have to help."
"I can not." It replies coldly.
"Why?"
"It is not my place to interfere in the lives of humans." It explains. "I have already given you all the help I have the authority to give."
"But... why now?" You question. "Why are you just now appear to me outside my dreams?"
"To give you a warning." It says curtly.
"A warning?" You repeat. "Then you have to tell my friends! They need to know if something is going to happen!"
"I can not."
"Why?!" You rise back to your feet, glaring angrily at the mist creature. "They have a right to know! They are at as much a risk as I am! They have a right to know!"
"I can only appear before you, girl." Orphiel replied, unmoved your outrage. "And because the warning is this:" It leans forward slightly. "One of your companions seeks to betray you."
"What...?" You felt numb. One of your friends wants to betray you? That's ridiculous! You've known them for years! No way any of them would-
You felt a pain in you head and quickly place a hand on your forehead as your vision swam and-
You turn your attention to the paper covered wall and approached it, taking very tentative steps toward. Looking it over your eyes widen at what you see.
The papers that covered the walls... they were missing persons posters. Of you. Of your friends. Every last inch of the wall, covered in them. You see your smiling face, one you recognize as being from a photo from your house that your parents took the day before you went off to Seattle to go to college. The posters of your friends were all of them smiling, looking at the camera so full of hope, joy, and life. Your eyes scan over the information listed on the poster. Names, ages, number to call, and the date that says you went missing... was the day you all left to go on this trip.
As you try and process what you are looking at another flash of envelops your vision. Once it clear there you noticed that the posters have changed. Specifically the information. It was all gone save for single words, each unique to each set of posters.
Eli's poster had the word LIAR.
Lucas' had DEPRAVED.
Danielle's had WHORE.
Sierra's had TRAITOR.
Your eyes widen, and you felt a pit in your stomach form.
"No..." You whisper. You look up to Orphiel. "Sierra?"
"Yes."
Sierra... wanted to betray you? "No, I don't believe it." You said, glaring at it. "Sierra would never do that. We've been friends for years! She has been my
best friend for years! We've been through so much together!"
"I- I just want you to know that you're one of the best things in my life. Your friendship is more than I ever deserved. Regardless of what happens next, I- I- I just want you to know I appreciate it. And... I appreciate you."
You gritted you teeth as Sierra's word play through your head on a loop. "She would
never do anything to hurt me..." You snarled. "
Never..."
"Medea!" You hear Sierra call from the tunnel. You look towards the source of her voice. "Are you alright?! We're coming through!"
"I have given my warning." Orphiel says. You turn to glare at it, catching only a brief glance of it as it starts to fade away. "Do what you will, Parth."
Before you could yell at it some more, it complete disappears from view, leaving you standing alone in the dark. You felt drained. That encounter with Orphiel and what they said made you feel numb and sick to your stomach as you thought over their words. No way they can be true... can they?
"Medea?!" You hear Sierra call again.
You take a deep breathe to compose yourself, then keeled by the hole in the wall. "Y-Yeah, I'm fine!" You call back "Just got startled by a, uh, a bat is all!"
God that sounded like such an obvious lie, even to you. You don't know if Sierra will believe it, but you honestly just hope she doesn't try to pry the truth from you. About a minute passes and you see Sierra shuffle her way through the hole. Once out you offer a hand to help assist her back to her feet, which she gladly takes.
"Thanks." Sierra grunted.
"No problem." You reply, giving her a sheepish grin. You look at her and you could help but hear Orphiel's words play through your mind. Try as you might you couldn't just pretend they were never spoken... but... Sierra looking to harm you? You just couldn't believe it. Even now, looking at her you desperately hoped it wasn't true.
"Something wrong?" Sierra asks, looking into your eyes.
You blink. How long have you just been staring at her? "Oh, uh..." You looked around nervously. "I was just... Are you okay?"
"Huh?"
"Physically, I mean." Wow that sounded rather awkward. "Err, that is, your knees. Mine kinda hurt after doing that crawling and I just want to know if you were okay."
Sierra raises an eyebrow, giving you a questioning look. "I'm... fine?" She says, sounding confused. "I've spent a lot of time on all fours." There was a long pause as you just stared at her. "That was a joke."
"Right..."
"Guys, mind giving me a hand now?"
You both turn to look back at the hole, seeing Lucas struggling to pull himself free. You mutter a quick apology and began to help him out of the hole, pulling him to his feet.
"Thanks, Medea." He says.
"No problem. I hope that wasn't too much of a problem for you."
"Nah, I was fine." He shrugged. "My only problem was my lack of night vision. For obvious reasons."
"Yeah, yeah..." Sierra rolled her eyes. "It's so you can check out my ass and yadda, yadda, yadda..."
"No, it was because it was dark." He grumbled annoyed. He rubbed at the back of his head with a pained expression. "I banged my head because I couldn't see where I was going..."
"Sorry, Lucas." You say, shooting him an apologetic look. "I should have left the torch with you guys."
"It's fine." He shrugs. He looks around, scanning to his left, then to his right. "So where are we?"
Good question. You were so caught off guard by Orphiel's sudden appearance that you neglected to look where you were. Looking around you noticed that you were all in a sizable chamber, in fact you could see some old rusted tracks along the floor a few feet away from you, going from one tunnel to another which was blocked off by a few rotting boards of woods. Further off on the other side of the chamber was an old wooden ladder leaning against the wall, leading up to an upper level of the chamber, but what was up there you couldn't see.
"I think we are in a mine..." You say, as you take in the sight.
"I didn't know we had mines in Washington." Lucas said.
"There are a few." Sierra spoke up. "This one must be an old abandoned on from way back when."
"Well, if we're in a mine then there must be an exit!" You proclaim. "We won't need to wander around aimlessly any more!'
"True enough, but remember abandoned mines can be dangerous." Lucas reasoned. "We have to be careful. We don't know why this one was abandoned and some of the supports might be falling apart."
"Right. Need to be careful." Sierra nodded in agreement.
You nod in agreement with them, since getting out safely is a priority. Still, the prospect filled you with a renewed sense of hope. Maybe, just maybe, you'll all get out of here in one piece. Part of you wanted to go back as you have yet to find Eli or Danielle, but if you manage to get to the surface you'll be in a better position to help them. Maybe even bring back help! You weighed your options...
[ ] Take a moment to talk with your friends to get their input on the situation. (Another action may be taken)
-[ ] Speak with Sierra alone.
-[ ] Speak with Lucas alone.
[ ] Climb up the ladder to the upper level.
[ ] Go through the unblocked tunnel.
[ ] Go through the blocked off tunnel.
[ ] Go back through the hole. You still need to find the rest of your friends. Hopefully you can remember you way back here.
[ ] Cast a spell - Write In (Secondary option may be taken)
