okay, I'm back. sorry I am once again late. I'm trying to make a video for youtube, and it is sucking the very soul out of me.

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Lettuce is feeling numb. She cannot believe this turn of events. In fact, it probably couldn't get any worse, compared to, oh, say, 2 days ago, when Lettuce was making pancakes and Melody was listening to music and Pai was watching more television. What a normal day! How could Lettuce have taken it for granted!

Pai, meanwhile, is watching Lettuce, who looks homesick. He wants to reassure her that everything will be alright, but somehow, in reassuring people, he always makes them feel worse. So he stays quiet and wills comfort to Lettuce. Unfortunately, she doesn't receive it. instead, she reaches into her pocket for a tissue to dab her now-moist eyes. But instead of the soft feeling of tissue against her fingers, she feels instead... Paper? Lettuce grabs the piece out of her pocket and studies it.

It is the paper the girl in thr school desperately needed to give Lettuce. On it are those two words, Room seven. "Oh yeah," says Lettuce. "What?" asks Candy, jolted out of her mental map of the tunnel they're in. "Look," says Lettuce. "It's that paper.

Candy walks over and gently plucks it from Lettuce's fingers. She delicately examines it, and her face grows even paler than it was before. "Room seven," she mumbles to herself. "What?" asks Lettuce. "What? Is that where Melody is?" "I severely hope not," says Candy in her most morbid tone. "I pray she isn't." "How come?" asks Pai. "Room seven," says Candy. "Not a good place." "Why not?" Lettuce hopes to pry information out of the reluctant ghost.

"That was the church's sacrifice room," says Candy flatly. "Thats where they killed their victims for the sake of the ceremony." Lettuce almost faints. "WHAT?" she screams, as loudly as she can. Candy immediatly stiffens. "shut up! Do you want the arachnian bloodlust's to find us?" She hisses. Lettuce is quiet. But still, she cannot grasp what Candy has just said. What if Melody is there? what if they are too late?

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Meanwhile, Melody is skipping down the hallway, happily oblivious to the turmoil elsewhere. The doors on either side continue, but Melody doesn't stop. Not after room number seven. That was horrifying. But Melody took it better than most would. Actually, most would have died of fright. So Melody would be a ghost.

which reminds Melody, she has no idea where she is. She could be virtually anywhere. But oh well. Melody reasons that Artemis ought to be back eventually, and maybe she will know where Melody's mother is. At least, Melody hopes. But no one is perfect. It just can't be helped. So Melody just skips along. Until she sees it. 'It' being the goddess. She is painted on the wall in front of Melody. Her dark cloak again hides her face, but her eyes glare hatred into the very air. Her hand is now more revealed, and Melody realizes with a sick feeling that the demon has hoofs instead of hands. Thin, sharp, bone-like things protrude from the hooves.

Melody feels sick. She has to sit down. The false deity glares angrily down at her, Her very gaze weighs Melody down to the cool floor. Melody's hands close into weak fists, and her face is buried into the stone floor. Somehow the nightmarish figure above her is familiar, but Melody doesn't know how. She would remember something as terrible as the goddess.

"Now you see why we need help," says an eerie voice. Melody looks up, and in front of her is a girl in a black cloak. Melody can sense she is only seeing a projection, and that the girl isn't really there. "Who are you?" she asks. "You can call me Cali," says the girl. she hovers in front of Melody, a girl that clearly belongs with the living but is bound to the dead. Melody smiles at Cali. Cali nods back. "You see now how bad things have gotten," says Cali. it is a statement, not a question.

Melody nods. "Yes," she whispers hoarsely. Cali lowers herself to sit on the floor. "The goddess demanded blood," she says quietly. "The body you saw was one of her loyal followers. The church sacrificed her to the goddess and painted the church's symbol everywhere in blood." 'The wall,' thinks Melody. She feels like she isn't in her body anymore. She also feels heavy and dull.

"Yes. The wall was painted in the blood of the goddess's human sacrifices," says Cali sadly. "No one knew what went on at midnight in the church. They called themselves christians. They didn't see, but if they didn't, they wouldn't be dead." "What about you?" asked Melody, slightly lightheaded. "Are you dead?" Cali shakes her head. "I just can't age," she explains. Melody looks at her and nods. The girl can't be much older than Melody. "We need you to help us," says Cali calmly.

Melody nods, and regrets it. She becomes even more lightheaded. Not unpleasantly, though.

"what can I do?" she asks. "You need to go to the temple of the darkness," says Cali. "Keep going down this corridor, and when it branches off, you go to the left. Then, keep walking. You'll find another heart key. Use this to open the door. Then, you have to follow the hallway straight ahead. Just go through the massive wooden doors, and ta-da, you're there." Melody thinks for only a second before saying, "Of course." She begins to stand, the dust of the unwashed floors clinging to her.

"Good," says Cali. She smiles, and stands as well. "I have to go now. Don't worry, though. Just go to the temple of the darkness." Melody nods one last time as Cali fades away into nothingness. as she does, Melody returns to normal, and the dizziness disappears.