The golem rubble still trembled faintly. In the underground passage, where the dust was slowly settling, only the sound of four people breathing echoed. "[crying]Why the hell did you go running off to Gerda's place the second after you said you were leaving, you absolute idiot!!" Dot's shout reverberated off the stone walls. Their golden eyes were a mess of tears. "I didn't have enough cream puffs." Mash pulled a half-crushed cream puff from his pocket and spoke in a flat voice. His large, round brown eyes were half-closed as usual. "[crying]Is that seriously your reason?!" "Yeah. That's it." Finn slowly stood up, cradling their bandaged arm. Their light blue semi-long hair still trembled faintly. "[crying]...Mash, you came back for us." Their yellow-green eyes were reddening, welling up. They had so much they wanted to say, but their voice wouldn't come out right. "No, it's not really about coming back or anything." That's when it happened. "[crying]You idiot...!" Lance pressed their forehead against Mash's back. Their waist-length silver hair swayed softly. Face a mess of tears, they pressed it tightly against his white shirt, trembling. "[crying]You've always been such an idiot...!!" Mash tilted his head slightly. "When Lance cries, my muscles get restless." "[crying]Give that emotion a name!! Name it, right now!!" Dot screamed, wiping away tears. "[crying]Why are you like this, you idiot Mash!" Finn was laughing too, before they even realized it. Face still wet with tears, they laughed softly. Lance still had their face pressed against Mash's back, blushing bright red all the way to the tips of their ears. "If you're not going to eat the cream puff, I will." "[laughing]What the hell?!" In the underground passage, where stone fragments danced in the air, the sound of four people laughing echoed. But. Beyond the shattered golem, the dark passage continued. The darkness of the underground ruins waited, its mouth open wide. The four of them, amidst the rubble, shared the half-crushed cream puff. In the cold underground air, the cream puff was sweet. --- The passage grew more ancient the deeper they went. Strange, unfamiliar patterns were carved into the stone walls. The pale blue light of the Aethera lamps stretched their four shadows long. "[serious]There are traps ahead. This matches a pattern from the ancient texts." Finn said, staring intently at the patterns on the wall. Their slightly drooping yellow-green eyes were dead serious. "[angry]Hey, wait. Is this another one of those situations where your explanation comes after—" Rumble, rumble, rumble... Cutting off Dot's words, the stone walls on both sides began to close in. The entire passage was trying to crush the four of them like a giant vise. "[scared]Wha—!" Without a word, Mash thrust both hands out to the sides. Thud. His right and left hands simultaneously stopped the approaching stone walls. Dead stop. The stone walls halted. "[angry]I've never seen a person stop walls before!!" "Looks like they're trying to move." Strength visibly surged into Mash's arms. Creak, creak, creak... Cracks ran across the surface of the stone walls. "[scared]Trying to MOVE them?! Not just pushing them back?!" CRASH!! Mash's hands shattered the stone walls from the inside. Stone fragments rained down into the passage. "That last trap corresponds to page thirty-two of the ancient texts, the 'Corridor of Constricting Pressure.' The pressure-sensitive patterns on the floor are the activation mechanism—when weight above a certain threshold is applied—" "[angry]Too late!! It's already over!!" "[crying]Finn's explanations are always after the fact..." Lance said, voice close to tears, clutching their silver hair tightly. "[sad]Sorry, but this is the best I can do..." They pressed on. "Next, the floor tiles are rigged with magic arrows. With every step you take, from three directions simultaneously—" STOMP! Mash stomped the floor with all his might. Fwoosh, fwoosh, fwoosh, fwoosh!! Countless arrows shot out from the walls. Mash caught the incoming arrows with his bare hands. Snap. He broke them all at once in one hand. "[scared]Normal people DODGE those!! You're not supposed to catch them?!" Lance shouted, their violet eyes glistening. "Catching them is faster than dodging." "[crying]Your common sense is completely messed up!!" "Ugh... and my explanation came after the fact again..." Finn's shoulders slumped. A single springy lock of their light blue hair drooped sadly. --- Further in. The air in the passage suddenly grew heavy. The ceiling creaked unnaturally. "[serious]Wait. That sound—" Rumble, rumble, rumble... CRASH!! The stone ceiling collapsed all at once. "[scared]Lance!!" A massive chunk of rock was falling directly above Lance. They couldn't move. Their legs were frozen. —BOOOOM!! The rock stopped. Mash, holding Lance protectively, had caught the rock with one hand. Stone fragments pattered down, and then it was quiet. "You okay?" Point-blank range. Lance looked up at Mash's face. His large brown eyes stared down at them blankly, as always. Their heart skipped a beat. "[crying]Why... why didn't you just run away? Why did you come back for us..." Their voice trembled. Tears spilled over, unbidden. Mash tossed the rock he'd caught to the side. A heavy thud echoed as it embedded itself into the wall. "Muscles exist to help people. That's what my dad always said." A flat voice. His usual way of speaking, with little emotional inflection. But. Something tightened deep in Lance's chest. (He really believes that.) Mash had already noticed the next trap and was starting to punch the wall with his bare hands. He hadn't noticed Lance's emotional turmoil at all. Lance stared intently at Mash's profile. (I...) Their face flushed hot. "[whispers]...Idiot." They murmured quietly, and tightly grabbed the sleeve of Mash's shirt. So they wouldn't let go. From behind, they could hear Dot and Finn whispering. "[whispers]Ah, he's completely clueless." "[whispers]Yeah, he doesn't see it at all." "[angry]I can hear you!!" --- The passage opened up into a slightly wider space. A small hall. Ancient crests, faintly glowing, were carved into the walls. "This place seems a little safer. Let's rest for a bit." Dot leaned their back against the wall and let out a sigh. That's when it happened. "Mash." Finn stopped walking, facing Mash's back. Their voice was trembling. "What I said earlier... about relying on you too much. I'm really sorry for that." They bowed their head deeply. Mash turned around. "I think Finn was just telling the truth." "[crying]But even if it's the truth, there's a way to say it..." Finn's yellow-green eyes wavered with tears. They couldn't put it into words well, but they felt they had to say it. "Hey, you. Mash." Dot pushed off the wall and stepped forward. Their golden eyes looked straight at Mash. "[crying]You idiot. Don't you ever disappear on us again." Their voice trembled, just a little. "I only disappeared because I really hadn't eaten enough cream puffs." "[crying]Stop ruining the emotional moment!! Say something that actually fits the mood!!" Dot's scream echoed throughout the hall. "[laughing]...Pfft." Finn burst out laughing despite themself. Seeing that smile, Dot's eyes widened. "...I feel like that's the first time I've ever seen you laugh." "[surprised]Huh? That's not true at all." Finn replied, smiling a little shyly. "[crying]You two, save that for later!!" Lance yelled, wiping away tears. The atmosphere between the four of them was much softer than it had been just moments before. --- The entrance to the deepest part yawned open before them. "Beyond here is the source of the miasma." Finn's voice turned serious. The four of them passed through the final door. —It was a vast hall. The ceiling was high, making them crane their necks to look up. Ancient script was densely carved across every wall. And in the center of the hall. A black stone device, about two meters tall, sat enshrined. Countless crests were carved into its surface, pulsing with a reddish-black light. From the center of the device, black miasma continued to gush forth relentlessly. "This is..." "A Miasma Curse generator. A relic from the ancient Orphan period." Finn desperately traced their memories of the ancient texts they'd read in the forbidden archive. "To stop this device, we need to directly channel Aethera into the crest receptacle in the center. But—" They choked on their words. "But what?" "[sad]The cost... is that the crest pathways of the person who does it could be damaged." Silence fell over the hall. "[serious]I'll do it." Dot stepped forward. Their golden eyes stared straight at the device. "I was a guy originally, so I'm prepared for this." "[angry]No, you can't! Dot, you didn't get hit by the curse, so your crest pathways are intact! There's no point in deliberately damaging them!" "[sad]I'll do it." Lance said quietly. Their silver hair trembled faintly. "[sad]I've already changed in so many ways... so even if something else happens to me—" "[angry]I can't let Lance do it when you've just been injured!" "[angry]Then who's going to do it?! Mash has no crest, so he can't channel Aethera, right?!" The three of them argued, their voices overlapping. Meanwhile. Mash stood quietly in front of the device. "I don't have any crest pathways to break, after all." All three of them gasped simultaneously. "[surprised]You don't have a crest, so you can't channel Aethera—" Mash had already placed his hand on the device. The back of his left hand. A blank space, with no crest. But— The device reacted. Rumble, rumble, rumble... The red light running across the surface of the black stone slowly began to turn white. "[scared]Why?! You don't have any Aethera?!" "I don't know, but it feels like the device is absorbing something on its own." Mash's voice was as flat as ever. "[crying]Is that even safe for you?!" Lance shouted. But. Mash didn't answer. He just stared at the device. The core of the device shifted from red to white, and then to a pale blue light. The gushing black miasma gradually began to weaken. "[whispers]...Mash." Unconsciously, Lance tightly grabbed the sleeve of Mash's shirt. The light from the device dyed the entire hall a pale blue. It wasn't over yet. This was only the beginning.