Sleep. Rest. You need it more than he does. Close your eyes and allow your consciousness to be whisked away. He will stand guard and watch over you. Sleep, because you can afford such luxury. Not him. Not anymore. He's now afraid to close his eyes. He's afraid of what lures in his subconscious.

.

.

.

Bell's eyes rapidly flickered about, searching for any potential threats. He seemed less vigilant and more paranoid. The silence scared him more than it did to comfort him. Silence usually meant peace. The quiet came with tranquility. But not in this place. Especially not in the lower depths.

Monsters could be lying in wait, patiently biding their time till the slight second he lowers his guard to pounce on him and Ryu. Or, more frighteningly, they could be already traversing the dark, beyond what his senses could perceive, closing in inch by inch. But he was far more terrified of simply shutting his eyes and drifting to sleep.

But it wasn't for any "practical" reasons. He wasn't necessarily thinking that if he dozed off, the elf girl lying behind him would surely perish. And everything he had done would have been for naught. Instead, his selfless act of protecting her was just a charade used to hide his cowardice. But at least some good was coming from it, right?

Why are you so scared?

Ryu began stirring in her sleep, shaking and tossing back and forth. Bell immediately knew what it meant. She was having a nightmare. Grabbing a hold of her shoulder, Bell did a single, strong shake to wake her. She hadn't slept long enough to enter a REM cycle. That, along with her heightened senses as an adventurer caused her to immediately jolt back awake. Unlike him, it only took a few moments for her to recompose herself.

She dreamed of her familia, her companions—her friends. She dreamt of the last mission debriefing they had as a familia. Reports and rumors had been overheard that suspicious activities of the Rudrea familia had been sighted on the lower floors. Their objective would be clear-cut, straightforward. Investigate and deal swift and righteous justice if need be.

If only it were that simple. If only fate were kinder.

Bell didn't say anything. He didn't want to waste his breath on fruitless words and questions like "are you okay?" and "It's okay, it was just a dream". She was awake, that was all that mattered. He wouldn't bother to inquire about what she had dreamt of. He figured it was better to allow whatever it was to become but a distant memory.

Seems you two have a lot more in common.

They sat in silence for a short while before Bell spoke.

"Ryu-san. Please. Heal yourself."

She had no more excuses to give him. He was in far better condition than she was (relatively speaking). And her rest had given her enough mind to perform her healing spell. The only thing she had left to stop her was her own nihilism and self-destructive desires.

Bell unbuckled his knife's scabbard and pressed it against her leg, letting it act as a splint. She opened her mouth to further argue with him. She should heal his forearm, not her leg. But Bell shot her a look before she could utter a word. Knowing what she was going to say, he brought his left hand up and cranked his wrist three-hundred and sixty degrees.

Did it hurt? A little. But must have felt far better than whatever pain Ryu's leg was currently in.

Ryu brought her hand up to her body and began quietly chanting. Bell watched as her hand and her wounds began to glow. He didn't avert his gaze until he could clearly see that the flowing of blood had been staunched, and her leg had more or less been straightened. It was crude, patchy at best, but it would suffice. It was only then that he turned away.

Good. She had finally listened to him.

They needed to get moving. It was a miracle in and of itself that they hadn't been attacked yet. Giving one last scan around the cavern, Bell turned back to Ryu and crouched down next to her.

"In light of our current situation," Ryu began. "We should head for the tunnel that leads up to the thirty-sixth floor once we get out of here."

"The thirty-sixth floor… so, the lower floors?"

"Right," Ryu affirmed. "The deep floors' first safety point isn't until the thirty-ninth floor. Climbing down two floors in order to reach a safety point would be a far more difficult endeavor."

It was two floors. Just two. Such a small number. But it made a world of difference in the matter of life and death.

"Of course, even if we make it there, we won't necessarily be safe."

It wouldn't be like the eighteenth floor. There wasn't a crude but quaint little town of adventurers there like in Rivira. Safe, in anything, was just a relative term.

"But at least the lower floors have water, nuts, and berries. Fruit, too. That gives us a much higher chance of survival."

A small hum of a laugh escaped her lips.

"I guess you might say that the lower floors will be a bit more kind to us… compared to the deep floors."

It was odd to say such a thing, especially from her, but it was comforting.

"But we're not entirely sure how to get to the connecting tunnel from here, are we?" Bell asked.

Ryu shook her head.

"No. And the journey will probably be an unpleasant one."

Unpleasant? That was one way to put it.

"From here on out, each of our choices could mean the difference between life and death."

From here on. What about all those times on the twenty-seventh floor? It was his choice to side with her against Jura's word; his choice to stand up and fight, even after losing and regaining his arm. He didn't even need to think when he allowed himself to be swallowed whole by the Lampton to save her.

He knew what he was getting into. Well, the rough gist of it. It would be certain hell. But she wouldn't have to suffer through it alone.

Hell. You don't even know the meaning of the word. Or, at least, you don't remember.

"We'll have to use my magic sparingly. We'll try to save it for when death is the only alternative."

"Understood…"

Ryu's 'Noah Heal' magic was the only form of healing they had and it frankly wasn't as potent or effective as a standard healing potion. Still, it was better than nothing.

"And unfortunately…" Ryu paused. "If we're going to traverse this floor, we'll need to procure more items and equipment. And water if possible."

Bell's eyes widened for a brief moment before he sorrowfully closed his eyes, fully understanding what Ryu was suggesting.

"We have to strip them of their gear."

It was rational. It was for survival. The dead no longer had any use for the things they had left behind.

Much to her surprise, he gave a single, somber nod. Without saying a word, he walked over to the corpses and placed his hand on one of them. As his fingers grazed the bare bones, his vision began flashing rapidly. If he were epileptic, he surely would have suffered from a seizure.

Images flashed and fazed and blended with one another faster than he could blink. He could make out the charred remains of bodies and the wisps of smoke emanating from them. He could see the blackened clouds that hung in the sky, which churned and swelled and began pouring out drops of rain. Standing near the bodies was the figure of a man standing there, staring at him. The man had a pair of thick, circular, black sunglasses covering his eyes, suggesting he was blind. But Bell knew that he was staring at him. The man began mouthing words to him, but they were deafened and muted.

He had seen this place before. He knew exactly what words the man was speaking to him, despite not being able to hear them.

It was the dream. The one he had dreamt of all those nights ago. The one he had been forced to remember when he was trapped in that labyrinth. Everything was the same. All except for faint sapphire light that glowed and hummed in the distance.

Bell gasped as he was snapped back to reality. He looked at his hands to see he was holding a worn backpack with various rusted tools and weapons and stale ration supplies. He looked back up and saw the corpses had been stripped bare and thoroughly searched. His body seemed to have been put on autopilot, simply fulfilling the task that was given to him.

Bell shook himself as if to confirm that he was indeed awake again—that he had returned to reality. Though, it was growing more and more difficult to differentiate what reality even was.

He turned around to look back at Ryu. He stared at her, his eyes dulled to the point they were nearly blank. She would be his anchor to reality. So long as she was there, he wouldn't slip. It was all the more reason to protect her.

My, what a selfish, little boy you've become.

"Cranel-san?"

"Sorry," he quietly mumbled. "Here."

He presented to her the items and scraps he managed to salvage. Ryu scanned the pack. It wasn't much but asking for more would be outright just petty and puerile. It was more than nothing and that was enough. Ryu fished into the pack.

"Our most valuable discovery… might be this."

She pulled out a rolled-up piece of parchment paper—a map. Which corpse had Bell scoured to find it? He didn't know.

Ryu spread open the map. Only a third of the page had been inked. There was a thickened, crooked line that zig-zagged at various angles that ran up and down the page. There were smaller squiggles and lines connected to it at different points. A large 'X' was drawn next to the path, presumably a given objective or crucial location.

"It's incomplete, but it covers a fairly large area, and it depicts the details of the surrounding area."

Bell nodded as his eyes studied the map.

"I can't even imagine how hopeless they must have felt…"

Ryu didn't know why she said those words, or who she was saying it to. Bell? No. The tone in which she spoke made it seem as though she was directing those words to herself. She felt something that she hadn't felt in some time, especially not when she pursued Jura and her sadistic desires. Empathy.

"But it's going to be a big help to us."

As quickly as the emotion came, it passed.

Unlike the lantern that had withered and dimmed, the piece of parchment paper Ryu held would be their guiding light. In their hands, it would be given purpose once more. They would put it to good use. Not only out of necessity's sake, but they also felt obligated to. They owed this find to the barren bones that never stood a chance. Bell and Ryu would not waste their "sacrifice".

"If we know which routes are dead ends, then we won't have to scope…"

Bell blinked and shook his head before pinching the bridge of his nose. He looked back at Ryu to see her mouth moving, but he couldn't hear the words she was speaking. His vision stung and began to blur as the strange heat he had felt within himself began swelling inside his chest. In his peripherals, he could see bits and sparks of cinders blowing over his shoulder and past his face. A thick smell of black smoke filled his nostrils. He could hear the crackling of embers just behind his ear.

Crack. Snap. Fizz. Pop.

He shut his eyes tightly trying to shake off whatever cruel tricks his mind seemed to be playing on him. But as he reopened his eyes only to feel his heart seize. He looked at Ryu—his anchor, his guiding light, his friend—to see her entire head engulfed in sapphire flames. Her smooth, pale, porcelain skin was burnt, blackened, and charred. The flames completely replaced her short, blonde hair. It flared and swayed back and forth. Bell felt his gut twist and churn as she continued to talk, oblivious to how her cracked skin crunched and cleft in his eyes.

Then, he heard a whisper from behind his ear.

"You left me… so I'll burn all those around you in return."

He needs to warn her. He needs to speak up and tell her. The flames, the fire; they want to take you and consume you! But he couldn't bring himself to say anything.

Why? Why could he not tell her? What was it that stopped him from telling her? What was the thing inside of his very being that stopped him from warning her?

You're afraid. You don't want her to abandon you for the monster you are. Just like how the others did.

The faces that had flashed in his mind. They were all so angry. So scornful.

"-san? Cranel-san? Cranel-san!"

Bell jolted himself back to reality as he turned to Ryu, her eyes glistened with concern and care. He hated this. He hated being such a burden.

"Yeah, yeah…"

His voice was quiet and distant.

Ryu furrowed her brow and glared at him. It wasn't like him to be so distracted, especially during lectures (the life and death factor also didn't help his case). Something was wrong.

"Cranel-san, what's bothering you?"

Her voice was soft and gentle. She didn't want to poke and prod him more than necessary. He never did that to her and she wouldn't allow herself to be a hypocrite. Not to him.

"I…"

Damn his tongue and his tone! They always seemed to betray him, especially in these situations.

"I'm just worried about my familia."

My, haven't you gotten better at lying.

Ryu sighed before a soft smile curled on her lips.

"Don't worry. I'll help you return back to them."

For once, he actually managed to lie. Well, it was a half-truth at best. Maybe that was why it worked so well. Or maybe it's because the mentioning of his familia seemed to have hit a bit of a sweet spot with her.

To throw off any further suspicion, he simply repeated what she had said. Despite the harrowing hallucination he had witnessed, he was still somehow able to read her lips and perceive the words she spoke. The map would guide them back onto the intended path. From there, they would rely on Ryu's memory to guide them to a safer area.

In preparation for the arduous journey ahead, Bell began placing the gear back into the pack while Ryu reapplied and replaced the bandages over her chest. Nearly finished with his task, Bell looked up at her. Ryu's back was towards him, giving them the illusion of privacy as she did the rather shameful and brazen act of readjusting what was essentially her bra. He normally would have felt flustered as he let his eyes wander. (A natural reaction for a boy his age, not helped by the perverted influences in his upbringing). Instead, Bell looked at her with a sorrowful and guilty gaze.

He had lied to her. He hated how he had done it so thoughtlessly. But it was for the best, wasn't it?

He didn't understand what was fully happening to him. He found himself stuck in a perpetual existential crisis. On one hand, he wants to feign ignorance and maybe it'll all pass over as if it were nothing but a terrible dream. But he already knew it was foolish to cling to such wishful thoughts. On the other hand, however, he's too scared to bring himself to come to terms with the fact that he is changing. Any preconceptions he once had of reality were unraveling at the seams. The life he knew and had led was practically already gone. He was simply clinging to it because that certainty of his identity gave him comfort. All he wants is nothing more than comfort. Even the illusion of it would suffice.

There is so little he understands, and even less that he is willing to allow himself to understand. But he knows one thing for sure. He would protect Ryu. He would save her from this place. He would prove her innocence to all. He would—

And how do you intend to protect her from yourself?

He looked back down at his hands. He blinked to see they were smeared with blood and ash. He blinked again to see them restore back to normal. He barely had time to comprehend what had even happened, let alone give a reaction.

Keep it together. Please, just for a little while. Until we leave this place.

Ryu turned back to face Bell as she dawned on one of the jackets they had managed to salvage. He looked just so different. And it wasn't just the newly acquired black strands of hair on his head, no. It was the image she had always portrayed the boy as being. That child-like innocence and curious naivety—both were all but gone.

Was she the one that had robbed him of such things?

It was her desire for vengeance, after all, that had unwittingly dragged him into his mess in the first place. She would atone for that. She would make amends. And she knew only one way that seemed just and fitting to do so.

After the two finished equipping themselves, they took one last look at the bodies they had scavenged. They didn't know who they were or where they came from. But they were grateful to them all the same. They both clasped their hands together and gave a silent prayer to them as one final thanks.

They weren't able to find salvation in the dungeon, but perhaps could at least find peace in the life after this one.

With no point in delaying any further, the boy and the elf made their way out of the cavern, map in hand and their wits about them. Unbeknownst to the both of them, the lantern they had left behind relit itself back to life—a single spark of a sapphire flame upon its wick.

"Wait—! Please—! I'm sorry! Come back!" it cried in little more than a whisper. "Please… please don't leave me…"