Even beyond the rumble of lava pouring into molten pools, one could hear the boy’s heavy breathing echoing throughout the underground labyrinth. He was using the walls as a crutch, panting with his tongue hanging from his jaws, as he was quite unsteady on his feet. Lacerations from the cougar’s claws were scattered along his shoulder and head, but it wasn’t the pain that made him feel so groggy. It was what he had taken for the pain. Before he left the forest, he had eaten what he thought would be pain-relieving herbs. But, given his inexperience with herbal remedies other than the basics, he had ingested far more than he should have. Now he was struggling to form thoughts, and his mind was starting to play tricks on him.

Stones that lined the edges of the caves took on the shapes of small animals and plants, and his body felt heavy, as if his legs had turned into stilts beneath his weight. His stomach felt like it was in knots, bile rushing to the bottom of his throat before he forced it back down with heavy swallows. It was a very uncomfortable feeling… but the soft glow of the magma and the warmth it emitted was comforting, and he was drawn towards it like a moth to a flame.

Time ceased to exist in this state of mind. So Sephiran didn’t know how long he had been walking through the maze-like cave system. But eventually (which in reality, was only about 30 minutes of time), he entered a large cavern that must have been the heart of the labyrinth. The smell of sulfur was strong, or perhaps he was imagining that. It made him gag, given he already felt nauseated. His stomach contents, which consisted of the bones and flesh of the cougar, splattered across the floor in front of him before he slunk down against the wall to lay on his belly. He needed this feeling to go away.


"Speech"

Code by Sea

After her near death experience on multiple fronts, Aurelia immediately sought out supplies to treat herself with. While she had managed to ward off any unforgiving blows to her vital organs whilst fighting for her life, she did have some nasty punctures leftover from the mountain lion’s claws across her back and shoulders. It hindered her movement- causing a limp on the side where she had been attacked. Though, thankfully, her waning adrenaline supported by her instinctual drive of self-preservation did a lot of heavy lifting. Once she felt that had put a reasonable amount of distance between herself, the cat, and Sephiran, she began to seek out supplies to treat herself with. In a slower- meandering pace, Aurelia slowly worked her way off the mountain and bit toward the south, collecting useful herbs as they fell in her path. There was a method to her madness- ensuring that she took enough to treat herself immediately, as well as another time or two in the future as needed. Feverfew- a light, oral pain killer to work in tandem with the endorphins as they slowly began to fade from her system. Dandelion- a weed, also to be taken orally for its anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties. That, coupled with a topical concoction consisting of Marshmallow, Chamomile, and Yarrow to ward of any infection that might set in, and promote tissue regeneration. Once she got herself patched up and her overstock safely tucked away, her next urgent need was to rest.

As the adrenaline subsided, the fatigue began to set in. Each stride became heavier- less coordinated in the ground she covered. The further south she went, the more dry and rocky the terrain became- the more the natural warmth lulled her into a haze that threatened sleep. As she came to a narrow vent in the surface, she didn’t think twice about taking the leap to the other side- it was a gap that could be easily stepped over. However, what she hadn’t been expecting, was the earth to crumble away beneath her paws. Aurelia didn’t have time to grasp the sensation of falling. A yelp had already began to escape her lips before she hit the ground in a clatter of dust and stone. While it hadn’t been a long way down- it was still enough to force the breath from her lung with no good way to get back to open air the way she had came. As soon as she was able, she pulled herself back to her paws to shake the debris from her coat. It took a moment for her cyan gaze to adjust to the dull glow of the narrow cavern, though it did appear to run parallel with the over-world. Her only hope now was that she could find another exit.

It seemed that she had staggering through the network of hell-caves for quite a while. It was so uncomfortably hot, she could hardly stand it. She could feel her own mind’s clarity hastily slipping away. So when she odor of metallic blood and … vomit … cut through the overwhelming presence of sulfur, she wasn’t certain if her mind was playing a trick or not- but of course, that was when she saw him. Aurelia stood there silently for quite a while, staring. Gaping. Bewildered. Confused. Truthfully, a little curious. She could see the lacerations across his rigid frame- they were far worse than her’s. But based on his posture, that wasn’t his only concern. He swayed on his paws in attempt to balance, and was clearly nauseated based on what lay smattered across the cavern’s floor. She should have turned and run, but the urge to play their game was irresistible. “Oh, dear Sephiran. What is it that ails you?” She asked, remaining fixed to the shadows that she hoped did a fairly decent job at concealing her position.

"Aurelia Veratti"

Once his belly pressed against the ground, it was met with more of the other-worldly warmth that emanated from below. It enveloped him, seeping deep into his flesh until it felt like even his bones were heating up. It was comforting at first, and lulled him deep into these caverns. But now, it was just irritating, because he couldn’t find a way to cool down. He started to sweat and pant, jaws hanging open so his tongue could roll out and sloppily hang. The smell of vomit was strong, given it was practically baking from the heat. It made him want to vomit again just from the stench of it… along with his head which felt like it was going to spin off his shoulders. He closed his eyes, trying to collect himself. But it was futile.

Given the putrid scents floating all around him he didn’t pick up Aurelia’s perfume, even as she lingered in the shadows just out of his reach. In fact, she could have stayed undetected, if she hadn’t spoken to him in that sing-song voice of hers. His eyes snapped open, head twisting in the direction her voice came from. But there was nothing there. Another mind trick. Laughter erupted from his jaws, and he turned his head towards the center of the cavern, where the earth was hallowed out and magma bubbled to create a loud drone. It cast a soft glow over his face, lighting up his features which seemed far different than normal. Anyone who knew him, could tell by his expression alone that he was under the influence of something.

His lips quivered, fangs seeming to illuminate from the glow of the magma. “You aren’t real.” He practically hissed, talking to the molten pool as if there were demons in there, trying to corrupt his thoughts. “Because if you were,” He attempted to pull himself back up onto his feet, but quickly fell back down given how unsteady his legs were. “You would be anywhere but here.” The girl wouldn’t follow him into this literal pit of hell… unless she had a death wish.

"Speech"

Code by Shelby

While his initial response of laughter wasn’t exactly what she had expected, it wasn’t unlike him. It was rather tame as compared to his usual display of blood lust. The girl would have expected him to ravage the cavern. They were trapped in here, after all. Or at least, as best as she could tell. Though, as he turned to face her- the direction that her voice had originated from- there seemed to be a different kind of madness present. It was likely he lived his life in his own distorted view of reality, the sadistic, narcissistic psychopath. Even still, there was no denying the delirium that had taken a firm hold over him in that particular moment. Why? What had he done? What had changed? “I assure you, the fake me of your fever dreams doesn’t want to be here either.” She answered back a little more flatly than her usual exuberance. Concern would have been a very generous way of describing how she felt- morbid interest was a little more like it. Though, whatever it was, certainly peaked as she watched him attempt to pick himself up before toppling back to the ground.

As the magma light illuminated his face, she narrowed her eyes to try to bring clarity to the details she was missing by distance. Something was off, but in her own exhausted state, she couldn’t exactly pick out what it was. Were his eyes different? The pungent scent of evaporating stomach acid made her own stomach turn. It was with that recognition that the pieces started to fall into place. The longer she observed him, the more solid she felt in her assumption that his current state was not a result of the Cougar fight, but his attempt at trying to treat himself. “What did you eat?” Or more importantly, “What did you take?” Her tone- accusatory as her words became more sharp.

"Aurelia Veratti"

Bile continued to well up on his throat, splashing onto his tongue which brought on another bout of gagging. Which soon after morphed into dry-heaving, but given he had already vomited several times only a small amount of acidic bile dribbled onto the ground. Still, the smell mixed with the sulfur in the air was nauseating, and he had to swallow hard to keep himself from continuously dry-heaving. It was hard to focus on the voice that sounded like Aurelia, and he wasn’t convinced it was actually her. A mirage or hallucination was more believable, given his current state of mind. And the fact that she avoided him at all costs. Still, he wouldn’t pass up the opportunity to smite her, even if it wasn’t really her.

Another bout of laughter bubbled from his jaws, as his eyes narrowed towards the direction of her voice. His pupils were enormously dilated, so much that the amethyst and emerald hues could hardly be seen. “Wouldn’t you like to know., little witch of the north.” He hissed before attempting to stand on his feet once more. The act was clumsy at best, as he swayed back and forth on legs that felt like stilts, using the wall of the cavern to support him. “I can’t remember what it was.” His memory was failing him, given how distorted it was. “But it was for the pain.” The hue of the magma illuminated his body well, which revealed the slow trickling of blood that came from his wounds. They were quite painful before he had eaten the herbs, but now they didn’t bother him at all. In fact, most of him felt numb, which explained his inability to stay upright. “I didn’t want to feel anything.”  Was how he ended his explanation, which in itself revealed that he had eaten far more than he should have.

"Sephiran Saxe"

When he failed to identify what it was that he ingested- albeit a lot of it. All he could recall was he thought it was for the pain. “Moron.” She mumbled, watching him attempt to haul himself up to his paws. He made it this time, but require the support of the wall to prop himself up. It was then he made the comment about not wanting to feel anything, which made her snort in amusement. “You’ll be lucky if you feel anything ever again.” Without knowing exactly what it was that he took, she felt the best course of action was to treat it as a general overdose. Of course, options were limited trapped in the bottom of the cave.

At some point, something had drug some organic matter down in the hell-scape labyrinth. Dimly lit by the glow of magma, she noticed a few ties and limbs in near the far wall. They were cracked, and charred from the constant exposure to the heat. “If I were you- god what a miserable thought.” Her own hypothetical made her cringe and want to gag, she had to interrupt herself and make a second attempt. “If I were you, I would chew on that petrified limb over there, and swallow as much of it as I could stomach. It’ll help soak up whatever you’ve used to overdose yourself.” It wasn’t as good as prepared charcoal, but it was all they had at their disposal down here. And at the very least, it wouldn’t make his condition worse.

Whether he followed her advice or not, she didn’t care. If he didn’t make it out of this cave, she’d not lose a single moment of sleep over it. So rather than arguing over how he’d prefer to kill himself than accept instructions from someone else, she chose that moment to make her exit. She wasn’t going around him, so she would spend a little more time investigating the direction she had come from. Surely there was another way out of this place. But just before she left the large open space, she’d call out one last little tid bit over her shoulder. “And try not to aspirate on your own vomit … or do, I don’t care.” And with that, she was gone into the shadows.

"Aurelia Veratti"