Shame is an unpleasant self-conscious emotion typically associated with a negative evaluation of the self; withdrawal motivations; and feelings of distress, exposure, mistrust, powerlessness, and worthlessness.[1]

Viox never thought about feeling shame about herself. Not till her mother made comments about her body and her eating habits. Especially after the incident. Violet was one who took the brute force of most of the heavily worded abuse from their mother, but Viox also received some as well. It wasn't a lot, but Viox did struggle with her eating habits to this day, but all of this she could keep hidden by saying she wasn't all that hungry and such. The body comments were the ones that struck a chord within Viox. The itching urge to touch her back burned in her mind, but she didn't dare do so. She could still feel the phantom pains of the hot oil that was poured onto her back, but it was never as strong as the day it happened. Viox was grateful that her parents had died although at when the twins had hit the age of fifteen. So Viox shortly stopped feeling the emotion shame.

Now, she was thinking about it and how it correlated with Albedo. Did he feel ashamed of himself? The way he talked about his creation as well as the creation of the others, it sounded similar to someone who was ashamed of themselves, even though he didn't know the emotion, nor sounded like he was, Viox had a gut feeling, that if he knew the true emotion, he would be feeling it as he spoke about his past and who Rhinedottir was to him.

"Albedo, did you still want to look for Rhinedottir?" She asked as the other was busy wiping dirt and dust from another amber-glassed creature.

"She is most likely not here, she may be located in a different area of this place." Albedo answered as he studied the weird looking Hilichurl.

Viox couldn't really argue there. This place was filled with creatures and plants, she hadn't spotted a single human-like statue among the few hundreds here. She wondered if they could really do this alone though, two people looking for one person in the sea of hundreds of creatures seemed impossible.

"I was going to have a look up towards one of the caverns, did you wish to follow?" Albedo asked as he pointed towards the first cavern near the Chasm entrance. A smaller pathway led up to the one Albedo was pointing at.

Viox nodded, "it's best we stick together right?" She replied, though she was a bit nervous to still be in this place.

"I have a small theory about why Rhinedottir may not be down here where the starting point of the Amber-glass explosion went off." Albedo stated quietly as they started their walk towards the entryway.

"Oh? And wha-?" Viox paused as her ears picked up the small sounds of growling. She felt Albedo pull her behind him as he slowly led her towards one of the statues, it was large enough to hide the both of them. Her front was pressed up against the statues as Albedo leaned into her back, so he too could be hidden, Viox leaned a little bit around the statue as her face morphed into sheer disgust.

Viox covered her nose as the first of the creatures crawled in. It was covered in a thick black mud like substance. The dampness of it smelt like moldy grass and food. Viox felt herself get queasy as it slumped into the cavern space. She didn't have a clue on what type of creature that thing was, but noticed it trailed the thick mud with every step it took. Viox suddenly felt a breath against her cheek as her eyes darted to the side, Albedo's face was resting next to her's, as his blank gaze was focused solely on the creature walking around the area. She flushed a bit at the close contact, she knew he was merely leaning over to watch the new thing, seeing since she was the one being pushed up against the statue. She swallowed thickly against the lump in her throat as more creatures piled into the cavern. All were limping in a half dead like state as they made their way deeper into the Chasm cavern.

"Something is off here. Creatures normally don't go here. In fact, the Chasm is off putting to all forms of life due to the dark energies here." Albedo whispered quietly

Viox bit her lip as his warm breath tickled her ear, she didn't want to admit that it made her heart flutter as she ripped her eyes from the blond haired man and back to the creatures. "So what do we do?" She asked.

Albedo carefully moved back behind the statue fully, "We need to make a plan to get out of here while we can."

Viox carefully turned around as now her back was pressed against the Amber-glassed creature they hid behind, "Any ideas?"

"A few, but for now, sneaking out will be the easiest. We need to report this to Zhongli and Adeptus Xiao before we can go on with searching for Rhinedottir." Albedo replied.

Albedo led the way back out of the Chasm entrance, he held onto Viox's hand as he did so, they didn't want to lose each other now that most of the floor was covered in the thick dark mud the creatures had dripped off of them. He did stop at some point to collect a sample. That's when he noticed something was off, although he couldn't feel the effects of the mud, Viox did. She had begun coughing after the first few minutes, as if something was hurting her throat or perhaps it was dry, but shortly afterwards, her steps started moving slower. She was dizzy and wasn't feeling the best as she had put it. Albedo had to act fast. Something in the mud was slowly poisoning the human of the two here. She started swaying as the Chasm's main entrance came into view as Albedo scooped the other into his arms. She was struggling to stay awake at this point, as her breathing became labored and harsh. Sweat was dripping off of her brow as she shivered in his arms.

"I'm fine." Her voice cracked harshly

Albedo knew better than to believe her. She had been poisoned by the dark mud in the cave. As they entered the bright outside, he was rushed by Zhongli and Adeptus Xiao immediately as the care for Viox was more important than that of the findings in the Chasm.

"When did this start?" Zhongli was the first to ask as he passed off Viox to Xiao, who took the Electro Vision holder into his arms before disappearing in a flash of black and green hues.

"Moments ago, we had to walk through the dark mud to get out." Albedo explained, watching the taller.

"You were almost too late to save her, the dark mud is another one of those things Rhinedottir created. All her failed experiments she couldn't feed to Humus. They morphed into the Dark Mud like parasites that attach onto humans and monsters alike. It feeds off of their health and is like a poison to the human body. Luckily the further away you are, the less likely it will cause permanent damages. Miss Viox is a strong one I will say." Zhongli explained

Albedo frowned, "Is this how Primordial was changing before they were fed to Durin?" He asked, curiosity was eating at his mind as he honestly felt a different emotion, Shame. He should be asking about if Viox would be alright now, but his mind was craving the understanding of the Ex project before him.

"Primordial was a different case, they were the closest to a human being, unlike your Golem state, they were able to feel emotions, something was different although when Rhinedottir begun to make you. Primordial was jealous of you. Rhinedottir was someone who cooed over making you, Cretaceus, or as your new name Albedo. Primordial didn't have the obedience like you do, which in Rhinedottir's eyes was a failure. That is why Primordial was fed to Humus." Zhongli replied as he crossed his arms, "You were her perfect Golem, her favorite creation. Obedient and always listening to commands, even to this day."

Albedo wanted to be shocked at the history of how Rhinedottir worked, but he couldn't. She was a cold and rough woman when he came to the day of his 'birth' as many would say. Shame flushed his form although, he remember Viox's condition as he looked up, his dull sea-green eyes connecting with golden-orange.

"Where did Adeptus Xiao take Miss Viox?"