Chapter 11: The Labyrinth

Or,

The Winding Path of Fate

"The Littlest Things" - Streetlight Manifesto

Now that Fox stood at the bottom of the hill, the dune looked slightly larger than it had from a distance.

Slightly.

The sandy hill towered several hundred feet above him, the foot of which seemed to be angled at a 60 degree incline. But if the dune was all that stood between him and his friends, he would climb it no matter how steep it was.

The base appeared to be made from hardened sandstone, though grains of softer sand often rained down from above like flurries of snow. Setting his foot on the baked sand, he began scaling the hill, though it wasn't easy. Walking upright on such a steep angle was out of the question, and Fox resorted to crawling on all fours. As he made his way up, his feet and hands constantly searched for outcroppings or nooks and crannies to grab ahold of – an increasingly difficult task.

The higher he went, the harder it was to climb; for one, the angle of the incline became steeper and steeper, slowly approaching a 90 degree wall; for another, the sun-baked sandstone gradually turned into loose sand. With each new foothold he found, the more likely it was to crumble into a landslide of sand beneath the weight of his feet. Every time he reached up to grab onto a ledge or handhold, it would only remain solid for a few seconds before giving way and raining down on top of him.

But Fox gritted his teeth and pressed on.

It seemed an eternity before he reached the top. His arms and legs were aching, and his hands were covered in blisters and caked with sand. The climb had taxed him heavily, and he paused more and more frequently with each meter he climbed, catching his breath.

None of the cliff made any sense; from far away in Morpheus' castle, it looked just like any other dune, just slightly larger. From the bottom, it appeared to be a steep hill made from sandstone. And now, the hill had become a cliff face as steep as a wall, taunting him. Looking back down in disbelief, Fox's stomach did a flip in his abdomen and he felt a falling sensation even though he still clung to the side of the cliff. It would be so easy to just let go and fall back down; he could even feel it now, the rushing sensation of the wind, the feeling of weightlessness...

Fox shook his head to clear the tempting thoughts from his mind. He had to keep climbing.

Turning his attention back up the slope towards his destination, he noticed little shoots of grass waving atop the cliff. Grabbing a hold of the cliff side above him, his fingers dug into tiny networks of roots as thin as hairs, though the higher he got the sturdier they became.

He was just a few feet from the top when he realized he could go no further. The angle of the cliff had passed 90 degrees long ago, and Fox was nearly climbing upside down, clinging to the roots for his life. His arms ached and heaved, and his muscles were shaking from exertion. The end was just in sight, within his grasp, but it was still so far away.

Just when he thought his hands would fall off and he himself would plummet hundreds of feet to his death, a fur-covered hand reached down into his view.

Looking up, Fox saw a black-cloaked figure kneeling down at the top of the cliff, offering an open palm to him.

"What are you up to, little one?" Guide's warm voice said. "Hanging around?"

Fox didn't answer or accept his hand. Instead, the young vulpine clung to the cliff face, catching his breath.

"What's the matter, child? Take my hand before you fall."

Fox debated for a moment internally. He had made it this far already, all without Guide's help. He had held his own in Taihō city, stood up for Rem in his time of need, survived days alone in the desert, and even struck a deal that would finally get him out of this world. Morpheus' words also whispered into his ear, reminding Fox of all the doubt that surrounded Somniadux. He would have liked to finish the climb on his own, but...

Giving up, Fox let go of the cliff and grabbed Guide's hand, allowing the towering black figure to pull him up. When the taller vulpine set him down on the soft grass, he was immediately hugged by two jubilant creatures.

"Where were you, Fox?!" Rem cried, burying his head into his friend's side.

"We were so worried about you!" Lucid exclaimed, tightly squeezing the life out of him. "We thought you'd never make it out of the desert!"

"It appears young master Fox can fend for himself when the time comes," Sage commented, patting his back.

When Lucid and Rem finally let go, Fox stepped back and took stock of their party. Everyone was present; the tall, dark figure of Somniadux with his faithful walking stick; Sage with his gray cloak, drooping ears, mangy fur, and crazy eyes; Lucid with her dreamsicle orange pelt and large, alert ears; the short, fat figure of Rem with his teal-green leathery skin; and the complete task force of moles known as the Infranimus Dreamscaping Service, – even poor old Alistair.

Behind the party was a large formation of rock spires and walls that stretched into the horizon as far as the eye could see. A large gray stone archway lead into the rocky maze, with strange fading symbols carved into each brick. Perhaps this was the location Morpheus had spoken of.

Becoming impatient and bouncing on the balls of his feet, Fox asked, "So, the Labyrinth is next, huh?"

Guide cocked his hooded head and stared at Fox, questioningly. "Yes, it is... but where did you hear its name?"

Fox froze awkwardly. He had made a mistake; he couldn't let Guide know of his meeting with Morpheus.

"That is curious," Sage mused, whiskered nose twitching. "But I'd also like to know how you found us here."

Thinking fast, Fox made up a lie. "I would have been lost in that desert forever, if I didn't come across an oasis not too far from here. Someone had drawn a map on one of the rocks and it pointed here, so I followed it. That's all."

Somniadux scratched his chin, thoughtfully, fixing Fox with a piercing gaze. "Well... from now on be careful of following guidance from others; you must only follow those you truly trust with your heart. The advice of strangers is often misleading and ill-intentioned. They will try to lead you down the wrong path of fate, and convince you there are other ways of reaching your destination, when there is only one. Anyone who follows a stranger is liable to become lost..."

"The map got him here, didn't it?" Lucid asked, jumping up and down happily.

Guide let out a sigh. "That it did, child. But come; we dally too long. The white rabbit is once again on the move, and his trail leads directly into the Labyrinth. Be careful; for none who entered the Labyrinth have ever returned."

At this moment, Foreman stepped forwards and removed humbly removed his hard hat. "Er, actually, sir, we 'ave."

"You... you what?" Guide asked in a low voice.

"Just a couple weeks ago, me and me crew got a contract to fix some plumbing in there. Tweren't much, mind you; just fixing some run-offs in the streams after Morpheus flooded the whole bloomin' countryside."

"Yes, but – how'd you get out?"

"Er, I believe we walked sir."

"Of course, but how did you keep your way and not get lost?"

The mole shrugged. "I don't remember it being an issue, sir."

Somniadux rubbed his head with his staff and looked over the workforce of dwarf-sized moles, at a loss.

"We might 'ave lost Alistair in there," Foreman added.

"Right, well, listen up all," Guide said, calling everyone's attention. "That will not be the case this time. The Labyrinth is a large maze that most have never made it out of. Sage and myself have only ever ventured into the first layer of passages, and even then we nearly got lost."

"Using the left wall tactic won't work," Sage said, picking up where Guide left off. "For one, there are multiple exits and entrances into the maze, but we have to be sure we find which one the white rabbit used – if he even left the maze at all. For another, the Labyrinth has the uncanny ability to ignore spacial geometry."

"What?" Fox asked, confused.

"Spacial geometry: it doesn't follow it. Oh, you don't know what geometry is, do you?"

After each of the three children simultaneously shook their heads, Oneir tried to explain. "Have you all ever seen the Penrose triangle? Don't know what that is, either, eh? Well, have you ever looked at books of optical illusions? Ah, good. Well, think of it this way. The Labyrinth is a giant optical illusion maze that isn't an illusion..."

Sage trailed off, noting their confused expressions.

Guide cleared his throat and continued. "Most importantly, the Labyrinth itself will try to mislead you. From its twisting tunnels to its hundreds of branching passages, it makes even the most experienced traveler all turned-around within ten yards of the entrance. Also, beware of the Labyrinth's temptations; it will try to lead you off the path with false hopes or treasures, all of which are merely bait for traps. Once you stray from the right path, you will never be able to find it again. We must only follow the white rabbit's tracks. Is that clear?"

When everyone in their party nodded, Somniadux smiled. "Good. Now, without wasting any more time, let us be off."

The tall cloaked figure lead the way through the entrance into the Labyrinth, immediately followed by Oneir, the trio of children, and the terraforming moles who brought up the rear.

On either side of the main path, scarred walls of rock rose steeply above their heads, blocking out the sky – though the bright warm rays of the sun still managed to slip between the crags and outcroppings, brightly illuminating the contents of the Labyrinth. Lime green moss had grown over the majority of the canyon floor, covering the ground like a soft, moist carpet. Ferns and large blades of grass sprang up from crevices in the rocks, while multicolored mushrooms hid in the more shaded regions of the valley. Along the cliff faces that hemmed the group in on either side hung long strands of vines, some of which were dotted with bright flowers.

Waterfalls, bubbling streams, and pristine pools intermittently haunted the maze, often filling the air with sprays of mist or covering the floor in shinning puddles. It seemed at one point in time the maze had been inhabited; square-shaped stones could be seen imbedded in the cliff side or sunk in the muddy banks next to pools of water; blocky houses were carved into the rock walls, all of which were abandoned and empty; the remains of stone bridges or dams often spanned the waterways throughout the Labyrinth; and strange symbols and pictures were carved into the majority of the surfaces not overgrown with moss, all of which seemed Incan in design.

And, just as Guide had warned, the stone valley was full of branching passages, caves, and ravines that lead off in every direction. The only thing that kept them on the right path through the endless maze was the footprints of the white rabbit, yet it wasn't long before alternate paths began to tempt them.

After rounding a turn in the valley, the path diverged in two. On the left was the passageway that the rabbit took, but on the right the passage lead to a cave sparkling with... gold.

Immediately, the brownish-yellow light caught the group's eye. Foreman, the leader of the IDS, seemed particularly attracted to the cave of treasure. At the sight of the mountainous piles of gold, his eyes bugged out, and his pupils melted into dollar signs. His jaw slowly fell open, and a drop of drool slipped out onto his overalls.

"Well blow me up and knock me down..." the mole murmured, as if in a dream.

Guide halted and looked back, rolling his eyes when he made the connection between Foreman and the treasure cave. "Give up, man. Once you go in there, you'll never get back out. It's better to be a free peasant than a rich king lost in this accursed maze."

Foreman licked his lips. "Still, that's a large sum of money, that right there. It would be a shame to just leave it here, when I've got such a lonely little bank account back in Icelus begging to be filled..."

Two of his own crew grabbed onto either of his arms and held the possessed mole back. "It's not about the money, Foreman! Remember, it's about the job we love! You're not in it for the money! You love gardening and building!"

"I could have a place of my own if I had that! I'd never have to fix up another man's property again! Unhand me, I say! Mortimer, Winston! Let go!"

"This is an intervention, sir!" the second mole replied, refusing to let him go. The two workers lifted their boss off of his feet and into the air, forcefully removing him from the treasure room and carrying him down the left passageway.

Once the group was a safe distance away from the gold, they took a minute to rest. Guide stepped into the middle of the party and spoke to everyone.

"Good job for avoiding that one... at least most of you," he added, eying Foreman. "The Labyrinth knows our weaknesses. By the end of this journey, I expect it to have tempted each and every one of us. Alone, we are weak, but together, we are strong. If you see someone wandering off after some fantasy, restrain them. Do whatever it takes, but don't let them get lost..."

At this point, Fox wasn't listening anymore. While seated on a crumbling, moss-covered stone bench, the strong smell of food caught his nostril's attention. As he breathed in the pleasant scent, the acids in his stomach suddenly bubbled, and his belly let out a powerful growl worthy of any of Morpheus' monsters. The last thing he had eaten was the foul cafeteria food of Taihō city, which had been three days ago. Even in the oasis, he had only filled his stomach with water, leaving him completely starving and weak without food.

Closing his eyes and sniffing repeatedly, Fox followed the sweet aroma using only his sense of smell. The enticing scent lead between two large boulders to a hollow in the rocks, through which Fox could make out a red-and-white checkered picnic cloth covered in mountains of food; hotdogs smothered in relish and mustard, sizzling hamburgers topped with pickles and cheese, smoking plates of barbeque drowning in sauce, slabs of steak dripping streams of meaty juices to rival the Labyrinth's own waterways, pitchers of lemonade laden with ice cubes and lemon slices, cases of glass root bear bottles covered in condensation, steaming pies freshly taken from the oven...

Without another thought, Fox began squeezing through the gap in the rocks, mouth already watering. But before he could slip through, a paw grabbed onto his sleeve and stopped him. Looking back angrily, he saw Lucid earnestly clinging to his arm, determined to keep him from going any further.

"What are you doing, Fox?" she hissed. "You know not to stray from the path!"

"I'm not straying from the path – it's not even that far! The food's right there!"

"Please, Fox! It's just a little food. You can go without it!"

"I haven't eaten in three days! Three days!"

"If you go in there, who knows what might happen!" Lucid persisted. "These rocks would probably close us off! You're only just able to get through them as it is!"

"That's just a chance I'll have to take!" Fox stated, finally breaking free from girl and slipping further between the rocks.

"Please don't go, Fox!" Lucid begged. Then, getting an idea, she reached into her pocket and pulled out a tan-colored lump. "Look, I have food! I can share my rations with you!"

Fox halted in his tracks, halfway between the pain path and the picnic hollow. He glanced back and forth between the hard-tack biscuit Lucid offered with pleading eyes and the seven course meal that awaited him on the other side of the gap.

Finally, he summoned the strength to turn away from the piles of food and slip back the way he had come. He gratefully took the biscuit from Lucid, hastily devouring it within seconds. It wasn't much more than stale bread – it tasted and felt like rotting wood, in fact. Still, the biscuit did its job and managed to fill his aching stomach.

Wiping his mouth with his sleeve, Fox said, "Hey, thanks Lucid... for keeping me from going back there. I would have gotten lost without you, I guess."

"Aw, don't mention it, Fox," Lucid as she swayed back and forth on her feet. "Just do the same thing for me if I ever get tempted away. You know, what the moles did; an indenation."

"Uh, an intervention? Sure. You can count on it."

In the time it took for these events to transpire, Guide had finally finished giving his speech, and once again turned around to lead the way through the Labyrinth.

It wasn't much longer until the group came across a gaping hole in the Labyrinth's floor. It stared up into the air like a large black eye, and must have been ten meters in length across. There was no sign of the bottom, as the hole was increasingly consumed in shadow the further down it went.

Curiously, the group gathered around the lid of the opening and stared down into its depths, wondering how far down it went.

"My friends," Guide announced, sweeping his arms around the gathering, "May I introduce you to Infranimus' one and only bottomless pit!"

"D-does it really go down f-forever?" Rem stammered, kneeling at the hole's side.

"What do you think? It's called the bottomless pit. I had heard travelers speak of it before, but I dismissed it as mere rumors. None of them had actually seen it, of course, but you – gentlemen and young masters – have now had that honor."

Picking up a small rock, Fox tossed it into the pit and listened as it clacked against the stone walls until it disappeared into the darkness. As one, the three children whistled in awe.

"Can I have some of it?" the blind and mostly deaf mole Alistair asked.

Guide looked at him, a confused expression covering his face. "What?"

"The banana split," Alistair explained. "You said there's a banana split in front of us."

Somniadux smacked his face with his palm. "No, I said 'bottomless pit'!"

"Oh, baked chicken grits? Can I have one?"

"Bottomless pit! Bottomless pit!"

"Barbeque spit? Let me at it!"

"Will somebody stop Alistair before he..."

All eyes watched helplessly as the unfortunate mole took a blind step forward and tumbled with flailing arms and legs into the pit. Following his plunge, the moles stamped their feet angrily, muttered words of disappointment, and shook their heads disapprovingly.

"Well, I should have expected that by now," Guide admitted. "Anyway, let us not tally here. I'm sure he'll stumble upon a way out, bottomless pit or no bottomless pit. The white rabbit waits for no man; we must hurry."

The next challenge that presented itself to the group was a large creek that filled up the entirety of their path, stretching from wall to wall. The rabbit's tracks led directly into it, however, so they had no other choice but to follow.

One by one, the members of the party waded into the cold yet gentle creek, sending ripples of light across its smooth surface. While the water only came up to the knees of Guide and Oneir, the three children and the moles were submerged up to their waists.

"Keep a look out below the water," Somniadux advised. "Some areas are deeper that others, so if you stick to the right paths and banks, you won't get anymore wet than you already are. And someone tell Alistair for God's sake not to drown again – oh... he's already gone. Well... watch where you step..."

Suddenly, Rem let out a cry of fear and frantically splashed backwards through the water.

Arriving at his side, Fox asked, "Rem, what'sa matter?"

Pointing with a trembling finger beneath the surface, Rem explained, "Th-there's st-st-stuff below the w-water!"

"Stuff?" Lucid asked. "Like what?"

"J-just look!"

With some effort and a little amount of time, Fox forced his eyes to look at the clouded green water underneath the bright surface reflection of the clifftops. What eventually met his eyes was an array of aquatic life – none of which looked too welcoming. Giant catfish with trailing whiskers and large, gaping mouths floated underneath the current, curiously drifting closer to the children. Huge crayfish and other crustaceans poked their swaying antennae, snapping claws, and wriggling legs out of gaps in the rocks and clumps of roots and algae. And, what the group had once mistaken for large rocks, began to move about lazily, sprouting scaled arms, legs, and heads, until the full forms of snapping turtles were visible.

"I can't go through that!" Rem exclaimed, backpedaling further. "Those things will eat me alive!"

Looking back over his shoulder from the front of the party, Guide called, "Come on you three; we don't have all day!"

"They can't eat you, Rem!" Fox tried to encourage his friend. "They might bite your ankle a little, or snap at you feet, or just feel weird..." the more Fox thought about it and stared at the aquatic creatures swimming beneath the water, the more uneasy and scared he himself became.

"Yeah!" Lucid agreed, picking up Fox's slack. "They're too small to do any real harm! It may be unpleasant, but you can get through it."

"No-no-no-no!" Rem exclaimed. "I can't go. There must be another way!" The amphibian's bulging eyes searched around frantically for any mode of escape from the creek bed. Suddenly, his eyes fixated on a series of round holes in the cliff wall that lead away from the stream. "There! I can go through there!" And he immediately scrambled off after the alternate path.

"No, Rem! You've gotta face your fears!" Fox and Lucid grabbed onto his shoulders and held him back.

"Everyone else made it passed them; so why can't you!"

"But we're just kids! They'll eat us alive!"

"Push through it, Rem! Just don't look down at them and you'll be fine!"

"Come on; we'll do it with you," Lucid insisted.

Grabbing onto either of the frog's slimy arms, they pulled him away from the dry paths leading away from the creek. Closing his eyes, Rem gingerly stepped forwards, bracing himself for the inevitable brush with the aquatic creatures.

Fox, meanwhile, followed his own advice and oh my god that is a giant freaking spider looked anywhere else besides the water teaming with unnerving creatures. At first they walked with Rem at a slow, careful pace; but, as Fox and Lucid brushed against more and more scaly wildlife, they picked up the pace until they were running as fast as they could through the teal-green water.

By the time they caught up with the rest of the party and reached shallow water, the three children were completely soaked and dripping with water.

Shaking herself dry, Lucid said, "See? That wasn't so bad. No incidents at all."

Looking down at his feet, Fox suddenly noticed a crawdad that had latched onto his foot. Screaming like a little girl, he yanked the crustacean off by the tail and flung it back the way they had come, only for it to be swallowed whole by a catfish that poked its head above water.

Rubbing his wounded foot, Fox said to Guide, "You didn't have to wait up for us."

"Actually, we had a bit of a holdup ourselves," the leader of the group explained. Pointing with his wooden staff, he gestured towards three different passages filled with carpets of water that opened up in front of them. "We have no way to know which one the white rabbit took," he went on. "And we can't split up and explore each one, or we'll lose each other."

"Then what are we going to do?" Rem asked.

"We are going to wait here and look for any sign of rabbit in the nearby area," Sage answered. "Keep your eyes peeled; he may have left some tracks above water, say, on a rock or a pebble bank."

The members of the party spread out and searched the nearby area for the tell-tale white powdery footprints, but with no success. Fox himself awkwardly looked for the prints, but his heart was only half in it; he had doubts about the whole idea. Then, down the middle valley, he noticed a small black lump emerge from behind a rock.

Squinting, Fox was able to make out the head of Morpheus' own black rabbit, along with its floppy pair of ears dripping with black goo. Its whiskered nose wiggled for a moment, as if it were testing the air; then, it turned around and displayed its cotton-ball tail before hopping off down the passageway.

Once again, Fox was forced to make a crucial decision. At the moment, it seemed like the golden opportunity to carry out his own plan; all he had to do was lead Guide down the path the rabbit took, and Morpheus would take care of the rest. Then, the odd scientist would show him the way out of Infranimus, and he would wake up again... or come back to life? Fox's head became filled with hordes of nagging questions. Was he really dead, and trapped in some afterlife, or was he merely sleeping? Was Somniadux really as miscreant as the scientist made him out to be? And, most important of all, would Morpheus uphold his end of the deal?

They're not real, Fox thought, repeating his newly adopted mantra. Whatever he did in Infranimus was of no consequence to anyone at all; no one would blame him for taking advantage of and betraying imaginary figures that only existed within his own subconscious.

And with that last thought, Fox made up his mind.

Turning around to face the others, he jumped up and down and waved his arms. "The white rabbit! I see it!"

"Eh? Where?" Sage asked, peering through squinty eyes down the three passages.

"Where do you see it?" Guide said, stepping over to Fox and placing his hands on the vulpine's shoulders.

Pointing down the middle path, Fox said, "It took that one! I just saw it jump behind a rock."

"I don't see anything," Sage muttered, frustrated.

Stepping away from Guide, Fox ran ahead of the group, splashing through the shallow creek bed. "Come on! I'll lead the way! It's just around the corner!"

As Fox dashed down the center branch of the stream, the rest of the party was forced to chase after him. The moles made a humorous sight, slipping and tumbling over one another to keep pace with Fox, while Guide, Oneir, Lucid, and Rem trailed immediately behind him.

Morpheus' rabbit handled the group expertly; it traversed the Labyrinth at just the right pace to always stay within seeing distance of Fox while always remaining invisible to anyone else – not too fast, and not too slow. Yet all the while, Fox felt an uneasy feeling in his stomach, and kept second-guessing himself through the entire length of the chase.

The party spent the last remaining rays of daylight chasing after creature, but they never could catch up to it. As night fell and Fox could no longer see the black hare, Sage advised they find a place to sleep for the night.

Pressing on a little further, they came across a large, open gorge in the Labyrinth, at the center of which were the ruins of a cathedral or some similar building. Its domed roof was partially caved in, allowing the silver light from the moon to pour in and spread across the floor. The moles were quick to setup several campfires, which were used to cook what little of their provisions could be cooked, while the rest of their food was consumed cold.

After their meal, the members of the party all curled up inside sleeping bags and blankets to get a good night's sleep after a long day of hiking. Fox was the first to drift off...

In the dead of the night, Fox awoke with a start. A large weight was sitting on his chest, effectively pinning him to ground. The object had forced all the air out of him, and Fox didn't have the strength to inflate his lungs under the pressure. He tried to call out to Guide or Sage, but he could summon no breath to his lips. He was entirely at the mercy of the creature upon his chest.

At first he thought it was one of Morpheus' own foul experiments, but, as his eyes adjusted to the dark, Fox saw that he was wrong. A large arctic wolf lay curled up on his stomach merely feigning sleep; its eyes were open and carefully searching the darkness around Fox, reflecting the wavering orange light of the campfire in their irises. The white lupine's tail flicked back and forth attentively, almost like a cat's.

Initially, Fox felt fear begin to overtake him, and his heart began to beat at lightning fast rates. But, as the wolf fixed its glowing eyes on Fox, the fear began to subside. It was like having a dangerous animal or monster watching out for him, with only the best of intentions in mind. The sickness of fear began to slip away, leaving Fox with a sense of safety and surrogate protection.

After trading glances with Fox, the wolf on his chest turned to stare into the unknown blackness once again, searching. It seemed to be protecting him from something, but what...

Suddenly, its eyes became fixated on something, and the beast curled its lip in a growl. Holding his breath, Fox looked into the darkness as well, only to freeze in terror as a pair of red, sinister-looking eyes materialized.

With a swift movement, the arctic wolf leapt off of Fox's chest and bolted into the shadows beyond the campfire where it ferociously attacked the newcomer.

Rolling over on his side, Fox peered into the darkness to watch the two beasts battle, only catching brief flashes of teeth, claws, and eyes locked in a frenzied tornado.

Before he could cry out to the others, a series of rope nets suddenly fell from above and entangled the members of the party, rudely waking them from their sleep.

As Oneir was hoisted into the air by his net, he wildly flailed his arms and legs about, shouting, "I say, what's the big idea! Disturbing an old man during his beauty sleep!"

The moles were all entangled as well, and were lifted into the air after Sage. Fox quickly locked eyes with Lucid, only for her to be ensnared a second later and slowly raised up towards the top of the dome.

"Foooox!" the young vulpine cried as she struggled against the tightly woven ropes.

"Lucid! What... what's happening?"

A raspy laugh echoed throughout the ruins of the cathedral, followed by a blaze of orange light. The tall figure of Morpheus stood at the top of the broken dome, holding a blazing lantern in one hand and a struggling Lucid in the other. "Good, good, Fox; you've been quite a helpful hand."

Behind the plague mask-covered figure loomed Morpheus' mobile castle, positioned directly above the cathedral; an array of pulleys, ropes, and nets hanging from its underbelly.

"Hey!" Fox exclaimed, angrily clenching his fists and glaring up at the scientist. "You were only supposed to take Guide! You didn't say anything about them!"

"Well, well, I guess they're just an added bonus, then..."

Morpheus trailed off as Rem suddenly broke free from his net and fell to ground, scrambling to run away.

"Terrible, terrible; don't let the little runt get away!" the mad scientist shouted as he pointed towards the escaping frog. In response to his command, the mobile castle released a cloud of steam and shifted on its legs, firing another net at Rem. But the young frog avoided it, and managed to slip away into the darkness outside the cathedral.

"Dammit, dammit!" Morpheus cursed, stamping his foot on the ground like a spoiled brat. "I almost had him! Well, it would be boring if something didn't go wrong."

"Fox! Help me!" Lucid screamed once again, swinging back and forth in her net.

At the sign of her struggling, Morpheus shook her bundled net violently to quiet her down. "Now now, no struggling from you! After all, it won't do you any good; young Fox here is on my side!"

"Fox, what's he saying!?" Lucid screamed, clutching the braids of the net like prison bars.

With confused thoughts swirling in his head, Fox looked down for a moment, hiding his face. Then, after looking back up, he replied, "Morpheus is right. He said if I turned Guide in to him, he would help me escape this place."

"Wha... what?" Lucid asked, stammering.

"You're not real," Fox concluded.

Lucid's eyes welled up with tears before her body fell limp and began to shake with silent sobs. "Why Fox... why..."

"I'm sorry, Lucid," Fox continued, heart wrenched at the sight of his friend in tears, "I can't save you every time; it's... it's just too much. I've got to leave here, or I'll go insane." Setting his heart in stone, Fox turned to face Morpheus while mentally blocking out Lucid's display of grief. "Alright. I did what you said; I lead Guide to you. But you said you weren't going to kill him, right?"

"Indeed, indeed – but the jokes on you. Look:"

Morpheus raised his lantern above his head, illuminating the shadows behind Fox. Turning around, the vulpine saw a bundle of nets and fur on the moss-covered stone ground. The nets were pulled away, revealing two wolves – one white, and one black. They lay in a tangled heap on the ground, their fur stained with red stripes and gashes. The white one was the same wolf that had guarded him that night and sprang into the darkness at the first sight of danger, while the black one was the same monster that had chased them through the stone quarry outside Icelus City, and had haunted the streets the night before the summer festival.

"What... I-I don't understand," Fox stammered.

"Understandable, understandable," Morpheus repeated, adjusting his bird mask. "But study the white one's face more closely, child."

Fearfully, Fox stepped over to the shredded carcasses of the two wolves and peered at the facial structure of the arctic one. When he finally realized who it was, he stumbled back and let out a gasp. He had only ever seen Guide's face once – even though it was mostly hidden that time as well – but it was enough for him to recognize the identity of the arctic wolf.

Falling to his knees at the side of the white lupine, Fox laid a hand on its side and murmured, "Guide... are you alright? Guide? Wake up!"

"Heh heh," Morpheus chuckled. "It seems the old goat has done the dirty work for me and killed himself. Pity that I couldn't do the job myself, but that's the way it goes."

With tear-stained eyes, Fox looked up at the flickering orange figure of Morpheus. "Can you... can you hurry up please?" he begged the cackling scientist. "I just want to get out of here. There's nothing left for me here; I just want to wake up!"

"Right, right, I did promise you that, didn't I..." Morpheus trailed off, scratching his chin thoughtfully. "Let's see, let's see... if I recall correctly, my part of the bargain was to bring you back to reality, was it not?"

When Fox nodded, he continued. "Well that should be easy enough. The reality of the situation is... you just betrayed the entire lot of your imaginary friends and family. How's that for a wake up call?"

"What? B-but you meant you'd wake me up to the real world – "

"I meant nothing of the sort!" Morpheus stated, pouting obstinately. "Besides, I'm not sure I could wake you up if I tried. Sure, there's a doorway back in my castle that leads to the real world – but you didn't enter here physically, did you? Only yourmind is trapped here. If you walked out that door, there'd be two of you running around in the Lylat System... and we can't have that now, can we?"

"But you promised!" Fox sobbed, angrily.

"Promised, shmomised. If I recall correctly, you had no problem with betraying your friends for your own personal gain."

"But you said they're not real!" Fox shouted. "I'm real!"

"Ah, ah! A true philosopher asks the question, "Is anything actually real?" Who can tell. So, for now, I must wish you..." The scientist paused to reach into his lab coat and produce a thin glass vial filled with pink liquid. "...Goodnight."

Morpheus lobbed the vial at Fox, and it shattered upon the ground, emitting a sparkling cloud of mist into the air. Without thinking, the young vulpine took a surprised breath, and he was suddenly overcome with the strong urge to lie down... and sleep...

A/N: Alright, I admit I'm getting rather bored of Dream's Brink, but as of now there are only three chapters left in the story, so it won't be that hard or strenuous to finish it. However, the next episode of the Hunting Party will come before I update this again, and boy will it have some long-awaited reveals.