It was always a relief whenever I set foot on solid ground again after a descent. Even if it was a small ledge, it gave me the slightest peace of mind. I looked up to see just how far we descended. A hole of pale gray in the darkness was all I could see, and I was thankful for our headlamps.

"Damn, I haven't been down here in years," Melva said, her gaze wandering about the tunnel we stood in. It was much larger than I expected. While the roof scraped the top of my head, that feeling was much better than crouching. Melva dragged a hand across the chisel marks on the gray-tan walls, evidence that it had been hacked at by many picks. "This place has definitely gotten a bit bigger."

"We've had a while to carve it out, at least for the first four-hundred or so yards. It'll take at least another decade or two to carve a single tunnel out like this to the Fourth Layer," Vio said. He looked right at home here, almost resembling a creature of the Abyss as his eyes glimmered in the light of our lamps. According to the depth gauge, the initial drop was about eighteen feet with no branching paths. Melva was right about not being able to adhere to a limit.

Already there was a division in the direction of the tunnel, heading left and right. It seemed that Vio and Melva had already decided which way to go before I'd joined them. For now, going deeper was the biggest priority for us.

"The Third Layer has had the least documented amount of recovered Relics, so we obviously need to look harder than usual," Vio said. "All I can say is prepare for a long walk."

Okay, that didn't sound too difficult. Compared to climbing and squeezing through cracks and fissures, a walk down a tunnel that only involved me bowing my head a little was nothing. It bothered me that we couldn't just jump into Relic-searching, though I felt the same whenever Melva and I had to make our initial descents at the beginning of each delve.

We began to follow the large tunnel down. Down, down, weaving left and right but always descending. There really wasn't much to note about the terrain since it was just carved-out rock. Sometimes thin streams of water leaked through cracks, and it was in these spots where moss would coat the ground like a thin blanket. Occasionally, we'd come across Neritantans—small, disk-shaped mammals that scattered with shrill squeaks when we got close—along with dark gray-green lizards that hid among the moss and could fit in the palm of my hand.

The further down we went, more smaller tunnels began extending off from the main one. My eye was drawn to almost every one of them, curiosity begging me to squint down these passages in hopes of seeing something. Unlike me, Vio ignored them, and Melva hardly acknowledged anything except for where she would put her foot next. The constant decline was becoming an issue, as my ankles soon began aching. Still, I bit my lip and soldiered on.

What made time pass by all the more sluggishly was the lack of conversation. During our usual delves, Melva would crack jokes while I would try not to get lost in the scenery. Of course, there wasn't anything interesting here. And in place of jokes, my old mentor was silent. The brim of her helmet shadowed her eyes, so I couldn't begin to guess what she was thinking about. A sinking feeling told me that it had to do with her misgives.

As for Vio, he seemed to be in constant, deep concentration. Was he trying to imagine a map of these tunnels? It wasn't like he had a physical one. I decided to let my mind wander to its usual fantasies to keep myself occupied.

After a long while we rested, sitting down in the middle of the tunnel to satiate our hunger and thirst. Like usual, we'd hardly encountered anybody else except the creatures of the Abyss. We only heard voices coming from a distant tunnel we passed by once, and that was it. Normally this didn't bother me, but down in these tunnels, the lack of other people made it feel more desolate and dead. We must have been walking for hours by now.

I could still hear the roars and screeches of the creatures flying about the main shaft, even with how deep we must have been in the caves. Unlike the previous two layers, these cries were wild and primal. They sounded like they could instantly tear apart any person that dared to leave the relative safety of the tunnels.

At one point I was startled by a horrible shrieking that I could hear through the stone wall behind me, and I almost choked on my water. They were abruptly drowned out by a deep but loud, visceral crack that made my hair stand on end. The shrieking then weakened before ceasing.

"Sounds like a Crimson Splitjaw just made a meal outta a Madojack," Melva commented, frowning. "Things compete all the time." She looked as disconcerted as I felt, and that was saying something since my hair still raised from the chilling sounds. I couldn't help but picture the two creatures in my mind's eye, a giant flying serpent along with another reptilian creature with membranous wings, one tearing the other to pieces.

"Y-you mentioned that these tunnels weren't all naturally-made, Vio. Can I ask what created them?" I asked.

Melva and Vio shared glances before he began to explain. "There's a few small creatures that dig around here, and larger ones that live in them much further down," he started, "but the ones responsible for carving out the tunnels in the first place have officially been named Talpiclors. They're pretty bulky and stand about eight feet tall when on their hind legs, and they have six legs in total.

"How they hunt is more complex. They have claws that smash through stone and even soft metals like they're nothing, and they use those claws to dig out labyrinths to trap prey in. They're shockingly good at tracking prey despite not having eyes or visible ears. It's like they can sense their movement through solid rock. That's only speculation, however."

"I remember this," Melva noted. "Ya can hear 'em diggin' when they're 'round, like grindin' stone."

Uneasiness crept into me. I'd read about the creatures in the Third Layer's tunnels even before I got my moon whistle, and I hadn't heard anything about something like that. "This may sound moronic, but are they around... here?"

"Not likely," Vio said. "They move around every few years and leave the tunnels behind. These have been further carved out by us Delvers while their active tunnels are around five, five and a half feet tall. It depends on their size. This may sound like common sense, but we just need to be cautious."

With Vio's description now in my mind, I couldn't help but envision some hulking, clawed creature looming in the dark, its breath hissing as its claws dragged across the stone. I suppressed a shudder. I could never figure out what disconcerted me more: what could be in the dark, or the beasts that struck during broad daylight. Both took pride in how they attacked. If anything, that scared me the most.

"Are you okay?" Vio asked. "You've gone a bit pale."

I nodded. "My thoughts are merely running away like usual. I-I'm fine," I reassured him, then tried to change the subject. I shouldn't be worrying right now. "Are we going to start looking for Relics soon? It feels like we've been walking forever."

"And we'll keep walking for the rest of the day," Vio said, to my dismay. "These branching tunnels here have likely been searched, I can tell you that."

"A pain in the ass' what it is..." Melva muttered. She opened her mouth again but shut it a second later, perhaps to keep her next comment to herself. It wasn't like I didn't agree with that statement to an extent, it was that I didn't like hearing her say that.

I tried to smile. "I'm sure we'll find something soon." I said this for my own sake as much as Melva's, and she regarded it with a sharp exhale through her nose, no verbal response. At the moment, I really couldn't expect much else from her.

—~*~—

After a long, tedious night spent jumping at Neritantan squeaks, we set out again. On and on we went, still continuing deeper into the darkness in that horrible silence. Frankly, I was beginning to get irritated. How long were we going to go on like this?

"I'm sorry to ask this, but are we going to actually begin searching for Relics? Or are we going down more?" I asked.

Melva handed Vio the depth gauge, and he glanced at it. "We can start looking now," he said, to my relief. I was itching to do more than walk, even if my feet were killing me. "What we'll do is pick a tunnel, follow it for a bit, and then decide if it's worth continuing or not."

"Great!" I said, sounding more relieved than I should have. I looked around, trying to spy a tunnel worth entering. A smaller one, while less-comfortable to navigate, could prove to be profitable from that fact alone. I pointed this out to Melva and Vio, and they agreed.

It turned out that my guess was mostly wrong. We explored many different tunnels that were half our height and smaller, and the only thing we got out of it were aching backs and sore knees. I was the only one who didn't complain about it, and I thought Delvers were supposed to be willing to bear any pain to discover the truth. I insisted on one more before we moved on to another section, and they thankfully said yes.

This tunnel was so small that we had to crawl to go through, with our packs hardly fitting. For once I found myself wishing I was smaller. We followed this tunnel for a few minutes until Vio came to a halt at the front.

"What's the holdup?" Melva asked.

"The tunnel widens out a bit here. Give me a moment." Cloth scraped as he shuffled forwards, then stopped. "I think we could kneel here. Come on, this could be something." Like he said, we could kneel here. It didn't mean we still didn't have to crawl, but it was less suffocating. Sadly, we soon hit a wall. Literally. A small rockfall sealed off the passage in front of us. Frustration welled up in me, and I bit my lip to hold it back.

Melva sighed irritably. "Well that was a waste of time." She attempted to push past me to turn around. "C'mon, let's go back." Through my frustration, my heart sank. No, this couldn't be it. I moved closer to the rocks, scanning them for oddities. There had to be something, if not to satisfy my own desires, then to relieve Melva's melancholy. I wanted to make up to her for this awful trip I brought her on.

I felt the faint sensation of something brushing against my arm as I examined the rocks, and it took me by surprise. It was almost like... wind. I got even closer to the rockfall, removing my glove and holding out my hand. I wasn't imagining things. A slight gust of air tickled my palm, like there was something else behind these rocks.

"I feel air," I said. "There's something behind here." Without waiting for a response, I began pulling away rocks. My pickaxe would have been better, but that might have created dust.

"Wait, those could've fallen for a reason," Vio said, and I ignored him. I wasn't ending today with nothing to show for it.

With a grunt of effort, I pushed aside a larger rock, clearing a gap that proceeded into more darkness. Shining my light inside revealed a section that was comprised of a sharp incline, tall enough that none of us could see the top. It was more like a vertical shaft, yet it had a slight give that kept it from technically being one.

"What do you know? You were right," Vio said. He checked the depth gauge. "We ascended two yards to get to this point..." He looked back at the incline. "How far do you think that goes?"

Melva frowned, her brow furrowing. "I dunno. Guess I'll find out since I just wanna find somethin' already." She roughly shoved past both of us again before pushing herself upwards, forcing her hands and feet into any kind of handhold the shaft provided.

Vio tried to intervene. "Wait, Mel, I'll go first since I'm more experienced with the curse here."

"Too late!" Melva said, making a point to quicken her pace. "You've already put yourself up front enough durin' this delve, so I might as well risk myself for a change." It wasn't like we could pull her down without chancing injuries, so we had to let her go. Melva was soon out of the reach of our lights, and the crunching of stone was all we heard.

For a little while, Vio and I waited at the bottom of the shaft, to the point where I began to grow concerned about how far up Melva was going. Hopefully it wasn't enough that the curse would be triggered.

"She'll be okay, right?" I asked Vio quietly. I didn't want her irritation to lead to her doing something rash and regretting it. I was one to talk, but that added to how unusual this all was.

"I... You know how tough she is," Vio replied with a sigh. We waited in uncomfortable silence for a few moments. That was, until Vio broke it. "I didn't think this would be how this delve would go," he whispered to me. "It's been so long since our last one. I can't blame her for her reluctance though."

"It has to do with your mentor, I know," I said.

Vio nodded. "The last time we delved to the Third Layer, we were ascending at some point, and of course we caught the curse. And Mel... saw Bell. Not only that, she almost fell down a shaft because she was so caught up in her hallucinations. It's likely yet another reason why she hates this layer."

Not once had I heard Vio mention his own feelings about Bellan whenever he was brought up. Wasn't Bellan his father? "Why is it that she seems so much more bothered about this than you? It's been seven years since she first told me about Bellan, and it's like nothing has changed. You were his son, yet you..." I quickly backpedaled, realizing how I'd made that sound. "I-I'm not trying to accuse you, I'm just concerned."

"No, I get it, and it's not like I don't care," he said. "I do, and I hate how I always seem like I'm dismissing Mel's feelings whenever she brings up Bell, but I didn't have what she had with him. Even though he had adopted me, I always saw him as my mentor, not my family. He tried to be like a normal father, but there was always this disconnect that made him stay a little distant. He had the same type of relationship with his own mother, so I guess it was just natural he brought me up the same way." He sighed.

   "Are... you okay?" I asked.

   He shrugged, smiling faintly. "I'm just thinking about the past now. I always wished Bell was more like a traditional father. He taught me so much, but there was still so much I had to figure out on my own. I never felt like I could tell him anything unless he specifically asked me to tell him, and while he gave me whatever he could, it felt more like a formality than something he truly wanted to do. It always seemed like he had his own troubles to worry about, which he did have in spades. Still, Mel managed to wring more than that out of him..."

   I wanted to ask the obvious thought that came to mind, but I was afraid to. That didn't stop Vio from sensing my worry, however.

   "Don't worry, I don't harbor any resentment towards her," he said. "Envy, yes, but she had that abrasive personality of hers even back then. She made that push to connect with him while I sat by and accepted what I was given. It just makes me want to do all I can for Lissy now, even though I spend all my time down here." A chuckle escaped him, though it was strained. "That makes me quite the hypocrite, doesn't it?"

   I shook my head. "It's difficult to not want to spend as much time down here as possible. And as long as you do everything for your family in the time on the surface, I'm sure they won't mind."

   His smile grew. "Syele and Lissy always tell me that, but I appreciate hearing it from you as well. Another opinion from an outside perspective." I nodded, smiling myself. He then arched a brow. "Has Mel ever told you about her family?" I shook my head, and he looked like he regretted his words. "Th-then you shouldn't ask. She told me, I didn't ask her."

"I haven't considered it that much since I'm sure she would have told me if she wanted to," I said.

Vio sighed. "Respectful as always," he said. "I can tell you that even if it doesn't look like I care about Bell, I do, and I care about Mel. I pulled her back on that last trip, and I'm more than willing to pull her back again. After all, besides my wife and Lissy, Mel's all I have for family." Then of all things, he looked impressed, slight as it was. "I'm surprised you even managed to convince her to come on this delve."

"Convince" was certainly a word to use for this. "I don't know why she did, since she clearly didn't want to." I felt myself tense up as guilt again began to well up in me. "Why she has to feel this way right now, i-it's my fau—" I abruptly stopped myself, going silent as Melva began talking.

At first, I thought she was trying to call down to us, though it didn't make sense with how quiet she was. Her faint words were mixed with a lot of curses and were something along the lines of, "Shit... No, you're not here... Get the hell away, ya ain't here..!"

"It's too high," Vio mumbled, and real worry struck me. But she'd be okay. She was Melva, after all. That changed when the disgusting sound of a retch bounced down to our ears, and Melva came plummeting down a moment later. I dove to catch her before she could smash into the stone, and we were knocked to the ground. Fear hit me fast and hard, dulling the pain in my backside.

"Melva, a-are you okay?" I gasped, eyes widening at the sight of her. She lay limply in my arms, not responding, only gasping for breath like she'd run a mile. The light of our lamps reflected off her glassy eyes while vomit trickled from the corner of her mouth. It was like she was seeing something we weren't.

"Bel... I-I ain't... I wasn't..." she stuttered, her words slurring with little coherence.

I tried to get her attention, resisting the urge to shake her since it would likely result in her vomiting on me. "Melva, try to—" I paused when Vio held up his hand.

"Please, let me," he said grimly. I nodded, and he gently grabbed Melva's shoulders, squeezing them firmly. "Mel? Mel, speak to me," he urged. "Come back to us, you know Bell isn't there. But I'm here, and so is Len. Please." Only then did she seem to respond, blinking confusedly as the light returned to her eyes. She gritted her teeth in pain as she roughly wiped her mouth.

"Vio? I... I-I'm fine," she croaked, grimacing.

"No, you're obviously not. Take it easy for a moment," Vio said. "Len, lay her down carefully." He didn't have to tell me that. I did as he said, taking her back into the passage with Vio following right behind me.

For a few moments Melva laid on the ground, still gasping. "Damn curse... D-didn't think it went so high." She gagged, coughing once or twice.

"Are you sure you're going to be okay?" I asked.

She nodded, taking a few deep breaths before propping herself up on her elbows. "Yep, and sorry for takin' your role there, klutz. I'll give it back now." She mustered up a sickly grin as she wiped the vomit from her cheek. I tried to return it, struggling to despite knowing she was okay. "But I saw somethin' at the top of the slope, a blue glow," she said, turning to Vio. "Y'know what that means down 'ere."

"Blue shining grass." The concern faded from Vio's face as he smiled. From what I knew, that was a bioluminescent plant that only grew on the Third Layer. "Are you sure that's what you saw?"

Another nod from Melva. "Couldn't be anythin' else."

"Then that means there's a cavern up there. Pockets of Relics are usually stored in caverns on this layer. You were right about there being something, Len," Vio said brightly. "We need to get up there."

"Do... do ya want me to try again?" Melva asked with a note of reluctance in her voice, to which Vio instantly shook his head.

"I'll go this time, and I'll lower a rope for the two of you. You can tie yourselves to it so you won't fall if you lose your balance," he said. "I'll... try to tie it to something, or make something to tie it to." He made sure he had his tools before beginning his own climb.

When he was out of sight, Melva's arms gave way, and she flopped back onto the ground. She removed her helmet to run a hand through her sweat-dampened hair, sighing. "I knew this was gonna happen... This is why I don't come down 'ere," she grumbled under her breath.

Guilt panged me. It was clear that I was the cause of her pain. I wasn't sure about asking about the definite truth, worried what her reply would be.

She glanced at me. "I'm sure you're curious... I've never told ya how Bellan ended up bringin' me to Orth," she said. "Who I left back home, what they thought of me... They usually just stick in my dreams, but down 'ere, they become a helluva lot more real. Wish Bellan was the only person I saw."

Along with her family, Melva hadn't told me much about her life before she came to Orth. All I'd been able to glean was that she wanted a better life, and Bellan had saved her from her old one. "I... I recall you telling me you came from poverty," I said.

"Yep, just like your pops," she replied. "My life was horrible, always was. Eatin' trash, pickin' rags, all the shit ya see in the poorer parts up in Orth." She was talking about the Wharf District when she said that. I had never been there myself, but I knew it was inhabited by illegal Delvers along with the city's poorest. Father had told me it was just like where he had come from before, and I honestly hoped I'd never have to see that district for myself.

"Was it just you and your parents? Or did you have any siblings?" I asked.

Melva shook her head. "There were ten of us," she answered. "There were three more 'fore me, but they all died. Somehow I managed to live the longest to take care of the rest of my siblings, an' I did everythin' I could for 'em." She gave me a small, hesitant smile. "They didn't deserve that shitty life, to not always be covered in dirt an' wearin' rags. Every day I wished they could've been someplace better. I wished so much so that I... was even willin' to let 'em go with a stranger, long as they were promised a better life."

"Who?" I asked, surprised.

"Bondrewd the Novel. That was when I learned 'bout the Abyss," she said. "He came to my town one day askin' if there were any kids that wanted to go back to Orth with 'im. They'd 'parently become Delvers under his instruction. I managed to get three of 'em to go, that's all Bondrewd would take since there were so many of us. I didn't go 'cause I was too old, an' I still had to take care of the youngest." Her gaze grew distant. "Mari, Rem, Darren... I've... never seen any of 'em since I came 'ere. I wonder how they're doin' sometimes, but nobody I've ever talked to knows of 'em. Whatever life they got was surely better, though."

I hoped they were okay as well, though that could only be an assumption if the Abyss was involved. But what she said confused me a little. "I understand why you would want them to go, but didn't your parents care as well? They're supposed to have some authority, after all."

Melva's eyes narrowed, her smile gone. "Our parents wanted us to stay. If we lived long enough, we were supposed to take care of 'em, that was how it went there. Why shouldn't we have better lives if they couldn't too? So they disowned my siblings when I told 'em they left." Her voice grew sharper. "What kinda family does that? Aren't we supposed to want better lives for our kids? Every livin' thing does, so why don't some people, honestly!"

I reluctantly processed that information. Parents should want better lives for their children, so why didn't Melva's? Every parent was different, I would have been an idiot to not know that, but the point of being a parent was to better the next generation.

"They left when I was twelve," Melva said, catching my attention again. "Then two years later, I met Bellan. He came 'cause he wanted to come sightseein', actually. Wanted to see the culture. I'll admit I was sick of takin' care of kids an' dealin' with my Pa, so I begged to go back with 'im. He'd wanted to help anyways, so he agreed, an' I left right then."

"You didn't tell anyone?" I asked, in slight disbelief.

She turned her glare to me. "An' have my siblings tell my parents, then have my parents punish me? Hell no. I knew they were gonna disown me once they found out, so I'd rather just know rather than hear 'em tell it to my face." She scoffed before spitting, "Only one of 'em knew, an' he stuck behind to take over. Never understood that, but it's whatever. It's his loss. Meanwhile, I was gonna finally make somethin' of myself! I wasn't passin' up a chance like that again!"

I sat there, in shock at Melva's outburst. She realized her harshness and closed her eyes, drawing in a hissing breath through her teeth.

"Call me selfish, I don't give a shit. It was either I leave or I die... 'Course, Bellan took the place of my parents, an' now he's dead." Silence, then she muttered, "You're lucky t'have the kinda family ya have, kid. If ya can't 'preciate the sunlight, at least enjoy them."

She gazed at me grimly, and I stared back, not sure how to reply. But what I did want to say was an apology, and one began to take form. Before I could speak it, however, something slapped against the ground behind us. I looked to see that the rope had been thrown down.

"Ya can go next," Melva said, slowly sitting up. "In case anythin' happens, I'll be down 'ere." I glanced back at her, nodding stiffly. "Remember, whatever you'll see ain't real," she added.

"Believe me, I won't forget that," I said, taking hold of the rope. After confirming it was stable, I tied it around my chest under my arms, cinching it snugly. Nervousness churned in me as I looked up at the darkness. No, I couldn't hesitate. I could do this. I took a deep breath before planting a foot on the incline and pushing myself up.

I ascended slowly, squinting at the rocky wall. Even with my headlamp, it was difficult to see any possible handholds. As I climbed, I tried to keep track of how high I was going so I could brace myself. We had already ascended two yards to get to this point in the first place, and I might have climbed up... three, four more by now? I couldn't tell.

"Wish I had the depth gauge," I muttered to myself. "It'd be better than waiting for the inevitable."

"But that doesn't make it as exciting!"

I froze, a shudder running through me. Did someone just speak?

"I don't like surprises, but you do, don't ya?" I recognized it, it was unmistakably Aedia's voice, sounding like it'd been spoken directly into my ear. I couldn't help but look around for her, only to flinch when I saw her right beside me. My headlamp cast a sickly green glow on her pale face, making her look undead. With a gasp, I pushed myself away from her, only for her to dissolve into the darkness.

   I exhaled forcefully, chiding myself for getting startled like that. She wasn't here, she was up in Orth with Mother and Father. I regained my grip on the tunnel wall and reached for my next handhold.

As my hand was about to grasp the jutting bit of rock, everything seemed to shift as a violent dizziness overtook me. My hand slipped as I reached, and everything around me seemed to fall, warping and blurring before my eyes. I could barely see my hands, only aware I was grabbing anything by the rocks digging into my glove. I clenched my eyes shut as my insides knotted, and I tried to regain my other handhold. This was even worse than the dizziness I'd felt when I got a concussion a few years ago.

"Be careful, Len. So much can happen in three weeks."

My mother's voice rang out clearly. It was like she was right next to me. I blindly grasped at the wall, trying to find something to grab. Pebbles clattered down the wall, dust gathering in their wake.

"Do you need help?"

Was that Father's voice? Vio's? Perhaps even both? I couldn't tell, there were several voices speaking at once. My gloves became coated with dust as I continued to struggle, and I choked on the growing plumes. I couldn't climb without actually seeing the wall. The dizziness persisted even while my eyes were shut, so I risked opening them just so I could get out of here. That was a mistake.

The very tunnel seemed to blur and spin before my eyes. Yet moving about the walls, at a speed I could keep up with, were spiders. They were about the size of my thumbnail, and there were dozens of them. I shuddered and tried to push myself away from the wall, my stomach churning as nausea twisted it.

I watched as the spiders skittered around, seeming to move in all directions as my vision shifted between doubles and triples. Still, they seemed to be moving towards... the hand I still had grasping a handhold. While my mind was swift to realize the situation, my movements were sluggish. Before I could truly grasp the situation, the spiders gathered and swarmed onto my hand.

The voices of my family continued bombarding me, and I furiously resisted the urge to cover my ears against the noise. All I could do was let out choked gasps as I slapped at my arm. But the spiders didn't die, didn't even slow. They continued up my arm, small legs scraping against my skin as they climbed onto my jacket sleeve and scuttled under my shirt. It felt real, too real. They had to be there, the sensation was unmistakable.

My gasps were now screams as panic engulfed me. Where were they coming from? Why wouldn't they stop? They were on my neck, then my face, pricking my cheeks. I closed my eyes again, but that didn't stop them from entering my mouth as I gasped, forcing themselves into my nose, my ears..! I clawed at my neck and face, gagging and screaming. The scraping, the itching, I could feel them in my throat, inside my head!

"Kid!" Melva's echoing call pierced my ears and drove nails into my skull, snapping me back into reality. My eyes flew open in shock. The wayward voices dissipated, and the spiders vanished in the blink of an eye.

Stable again, I dug my fingers into a nearby crack in the wall, finally able to grab on again. Coughs and ragged gasps tore themselves from me as my heart painfully slammed into my ribcage. They were gone, they weren't real. But while Melva had driven the hallucinations away, the vertigo was still there, spiraling the tunnel. My throat tightened as my nausea finally overcame me, and I vomited before I could stop myself. I hoped Melva wasn't standing directly at the bottom of the shaft.

"Kid? Hey, klutz, answer me!" Melva called up. I stifled a groan and clung to the wall. I couldn't stop retching, feeling like I wanted to curl up into a ball. While my instincts told me to not move until I didn't feel so sick, the rest of me begged to keep climbing. It caught me in a stalemate. "Vio, try an' help him!" Melva yelled. Vio couldn't pull me up on his own, I knew that for certain. I forced myself to climb as the Black Whistle pulled the rope with all his strength, and I finally made it to the top.

I didn't need to say anything for Vio to figure out the gist of what had occurred. After untying me, he leaned me awkwardly against the tunnel wall. "Steady now, don't move," he said. I couldn't help but squirm as the stone dug into my shoulders and neck uncomfortably. Trying to adjust my position resulted in my vision weakly pitching itself down like I was falling. I dry-heaved, and Vio grabbed my shoulder before I could actually fall over. "I told you to stay still! You really were Mel's apprentice, huh?"

Reluctantly, I gave in and slumped back, putting up with the aching in my neck while I rested. I just wanted the ground to stop ebbing like a tide. The soft blue glow emanating from further down the tunnel was soothing and a welcome change from the green of our headlamps. Thankfully, at that point the remaining pricking sensation from the spiders had faded. It still didn't stop me from shivering, though.

A few minutes later, Vio tried to give me a canteen. "If you can handle it, try to drink something." Cautiously, I took small sips, appreciating the coldness of the water against my burning throat. "You did as well as you could have for your first experience with the curse here," he said. "This is why we delve in groups, to pull people back from the brink."

From the brink? He'd said that like I was going crazy. Then again, what would've happened if I was allowed to remain in my hallucinations? I clenched my eyes shut, swallowing thickly. There was no way I was going to consider that alternative. I was just relieved that I made it to the top.

Melva made it up not long after that, looking a little worse for wear herself. I quickly looked her over, relieved to see that her clothes had only acquired a new layer of dust, and nothing else. By then I'd recovered enough to sit up on my own. Melva's gaze found me the moment she was free from the rope.

"Dammit, kid. Ya had me worried," she said. "But I guess you and Vio were in the same spot when I went up before, huh?" I nodded, just relieved she made it up herself. "So how're we all doin'? Wanna rest here for a bit, or just keep goin'? I still feel like shit, but I can go on."

"If you both are okay, then we should continue. I have a feeling we're close to something good," Vio said. "Are you feeling any better, Len?"

While my stomach still felt a bit rocky, I was in a much better spot now. I pushed myself away from the wall, turning to face the bend in the tunnel behind me. "I will when we find something," I replied.

"That works for me," Vio said before taking the lead again.

It turned out that the vertical shaft had been the last obstacle we had to deal with. Around the bend was a straight shot a few yards long to some kind of opening. It was a circle of pure, bright blue that flooded the tunnel. I would've mistaken it for the open sky if we weren't miles underground. This sight seemed to invigorate Vio, as he picked up his pace and made it to the opening before us.

"Now this is what we've been looking for!" he said before vanishing out the opening. With him gone, I could see better into the apparent cavern we found. Yet again, I was amazed by a sight the Abyss had provided.

———————————~*~———————————
We have more Melva fanart, and it was drawn by the amazing RosettaThorn! I still can't get over how beautiful this looks. Thank you again for drawing it, and I hope you keep enjoying this story!