"Remember, just ignore Achlys. She can't do any harm if you don't pay attention, but watch out for the poison."
"You didn't mention any poison!"
"Must've forgotten."
Anakin punched Tori in the side.
"Ow! Dude!"
"Usually, poison isn't the sort of thing you just 'forget' to tell people about!"
"Down here, danger's so commonplace that it is something you just 'forget' to tell people about." She paused for a second. "Your eyes are not lasers, Anakin. Stop trying to drill holes in my head."
In response, Anakin started punching her in the back.
"What- OW! Stop, already!"
"No! Mwahahahaha!"
"Do you want me to fall off the drakon?!"
Anakin stopped, harrumphing. He resumed glaring at the back of her head. Tori rolled her eyes, but Anakin didn't see.
After a little while, they finally emerged from the black mist to see a clearing. An old woman in the center was the only really distinctive detail. Remembering Tori's (rather late) warning, he averted his eyes.
"Hey, Achlys! Tissues!"
That was an odd battle cry. He dared to look, and realized that Achlys was being covered in tissue boxes. Immediately, the emaciated crone started grabbing handfuls, wiping her face, and tossing them aside, where they dissolved a a purplish river.
"Okay, then. Let's go."
Tori and Anakin quietly sidestepped rivers of stuff that he didn't want to identify (but the small voice in his head that had been giving him info the whole time he was here did it anyway). They made their way to the back of the cave, where it dropped off into an abyss. The strangest part was a black door with a slab of concrete jutting out from under it hovering three hundred feet below the edge.
"Now what?"
"Now's the fun part. You see the door?"
"Kind of hard to miss."
"We're going to jump to it."
"…Okay, then. What happens if we miss?"
"If we were normal, our molecules would be scattered and our soul would be trapped down there forever, eternally dissolving in endless agony. But since we're us, nothing bad actually happens - and, if you get deep enough, you can swim in it!"
"How would we get out again?"
"If we fall in, you'll see."
Anakin shrugged. "Okay then. So, we just jump to the door?"
"Yea, pretty much."
"Well then, what are we waiting for?! Let's go!" Anakin took a running start and flipped in midair, landing perfectly on the concrete slab. Tori followed close behind.
"Nine," she said.
"What?! Oh, come on! That was a perfect ten!"
"Riiiiiiiight."
"Anyways, come on. You said we had to get to Tartarus's heart, right? And that this is the best way there?"
"Yea."
"Then what are we waiting for?!"
Tori grinned. "Nothing, really." She pushed open the door and walked through. "Come on! It's not like it's going to burn you up." The black-haired daredevil ran into the darkness, and Anakin ran after her.
