I was scrambling backwards as I held my nose. It didn’t hurt that much, I guessed that was because of our difference in levels or his unwillingness to fully attack me. I guarded my face with my hands, mostly due to the shock. He jumped up. He looked like he might cry. Looking around, his eyes were desperately searching for something. I was still overcome with shock. I wondered what had happened to my party for them all to be acting like this, but there really wasn’t any way to know other than to ask.


    “Reid? What? Why?” I asked, I still hadn’t composed myself. It was all I could muster while my mind spun.


    “You! You!” Reid was pointing directly at me, his eyes were composing themselves and turning cold. The tears he was shedding before drying up as he glared down at me. “What did you do with her?!” He bellowed.


    I could feel Aureus’ anger, he must have registered my shock and small amount of pain. Master, what happened? Are you okay? Has a monster appeared?


    Yes, I’m alright. Reid seems delirious, he just hit me. Don’t worry it’s probably not his fault.


    “What are you talking about?” I asked while I started to get up again. His eyes were glowing brighter than before, the light burning with his fury. He stepped towards me again, I flinched backwards while I was standing and stumbled a few steps away.


    How dare he? This mortal surely has a death wish. I will come back and bite off the hand that touched you.


    “Where is my family? What did you do to them?” He asked coldly. I furrowed my eyebrows. Family? Caro? His parents?


    “What do you mean ‘do to them?’ Why would I do anything to them? Caro and Noel are outside that door… Or well where the door used to be I guess. They’re absolutely covered with monster guts and blood. It''s an awful smell, really.” I tried to make a joke about their unfortunate circumstances as I pinched my nose for emphasis.


    “A disappearing door huh?” He crossed his arms and stared at me like I was a kid covered in chocolate while claiming to have never eaten any. He wasn’t buying anything I was saying. Why did he suddenly not trust me at all? Why would he hit me like that? Suddenly I remembered what Aureus said, so I responded to him hastily.


    No. You can’t bite him, but it would probably be best if you come back. Maybe he’s been afflicted with some sort of psychic attack.


    What about smacking him in the head?


    No.


    How about I hold him upside down and then drop him but I catch him before he gets hurt? Or I can take his fingernails. Or just a finger? Oh or how about I burn all of his hair off? He seems to be very fond of his hair.


    What? Where did – No. You can’t torture him for this.


    “So you’re not going to even defend yourself?” Reid asked while I had been lost in communicating with Aureus.


    “What? Defend myself? What are you even accusing me of? What even happened? You know Caroline thought you were dead.” I was thoroughly confused, but I was so happy that he was fine that I couldn’t even get upset about how he was acting.


    “Ah, so she recognized you. I’m glad she’s so smart.” He said with a smirk.


    “Well yeah… I’ve known her forever? I mean she’s deaf right now, not blind.”


    “Uh huh… Sure. So where is your familiar if you’re here?”


    “Aureus? He went to explore, he’s on the way back now.”


    “Is that so? Then why don’t we wait here for him to come back?”


    “Uhhh sure okay, that was my plan anyways. Why are you being so weird?”


    “I think I’m behaving appropriately towards something like you.” He sneered as he looked down his nose at me. Something like me? I couldn’t help but feel offended and hurt. Even if it was because of the Underhollow or some kind of monster, the fact that he would say that to me was shocking.


    “That’s too far Reid. You’re being unnecessarily inflammatory now. If you don’t want to tell me why you’re upset at me and treating me like this then fine. Don’t. But don’t just insult me for something I don’t even understand.” I blinked a few times to rid myself of the beginnings of tears before they could properly form. I had always hated that I cried when I was angry. People never took me seriously because of it.


    “I think you know why. Disgusting.” his voice was painted with disdain as his face crumpled into a scowl.


    “What are you talking about? Disgusting? Is this because y’all fell down here and I didn’t? It’s not like I wanted any of this to happen.” I asked, something wasn’t adding up, what he was saying didn’t make any sense.


    “Sure, yeah okay. Keep pretending.” He sneered as he jabbed me in the shoulder with a finger, pushing me further back.


    “Pretending? I think you’re misunderstanding things. I’m going to find Aureus. I don''t want to talk to you right now. I don’t know what you think I did or whatever but I’m not gonna sit here for that.” I let out a low angry groan as I started walking towards the labyrinth. Trying to process what he said and my growing emotions that were nearly ready to explode.


    “Oh? I thought you said we would wait here for him together?” He said mockingly. I whipped around angrily and glared at him.


    “Shut up! Things have been the worst lately! If you want to be a dick then just shut up. I’ll just sit over here and we won’t talk until Aureus comes back.” I yelled towards him, I was promptly wiping any tears that escaped before they could fall. I sat on the floor looking away from him as I thought.


    “Yeah ever since you showed up everythings been going wrong.” He said sarcastically. My face started getting hot with rage, I lost control.


    “Ok. Fuck you Reid. Fuck you. How is any of this my fault? I literally saved your ass from your dumb fucking friend and you say this shit to me? Seriously? What was I supposed to do? Fight the gods? Save the world?” I paused for a moment as he stared at me, I couldn’t read his expression. It almost seemed like his mood was changing for a moment, but I couldn''t tell. “Ugh. Just shut the fuck up and leave me alone!” I screamed and cried.


    This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.


    Everything had been going wrong, I nearly died, we almost got abducted, I killed people. It was awful. Overwhelming. How was I supposed to process all of it? How could he say that to me? None of it was making any sense. ‘Pretending to be’ echoed in my mind a few times. The pieces were slowly falling together, the image of that disgusting fleshy blob appeared in my mind. The limbs and flesh on it were reminiscent of humans.


    When the realization dawned on me I kept crying, but for a new reason. I didn’t know what to say. I couldn’t just argue that I wasn’t an impostor when I had just screamed at him to shut up. Plus part of my pride didn’t want me to, he didn’t even try to see if I was the real Mia. He just punched me in the face. I wondered how convincing the fake Mia was for him to not even consider whether or not I was real.


    Maybe he thought that since I was in here and wasn’t aware of that monster I had to be fake? I sighed. We would have to talk about it eventually, but now wasn’t the time. I decided to open the GGC and destress.


    [“Collector of Gems and Stones” whines that you aren’t taking his labyrinth seriously.]


    [“Seeker of Magic and Knowledge” expresses that you’re not being very efficient with your time or energy.]


    [“Whispering Playwright behind a Mask” smiles as they retrieve popcorn for the show.]


    [“Traveling Spring Painter” asks if you’re okay.]


    [“Playful Cat Hates Yarn” giggles about humanity and its stupidity.]


    [“Abandoned Bloodied Sword” complains that it''s easy to get mixed up with things when it comes to monsters that change their appearances.]


    [“Void Who Gazes Back” disagrees and says that “Abandoned Bloodied Sword” is a muscle head.]


    I skipped through the next several messages as “Abandoned Bloodied Sword” and “Void Who Gazes Back” argued about their points of view. I rolled my eyes at the Playwright clearly enjoying their new entertainment of our family falling apart. I read a few more messages, mostly random casual talk about what had just happened and jokes at my expense.


    With a glance back at the wall where the door previously was I looked back at the GGC and asked, “Why aren’t Caro and Noel coming through?”


    [“Collector of Gems and Stones” glares at the other gods and goddesses before daring them to speak up.]


    I looked at the chat window for a while, it seemed that “Collector of Gems and Stones” was a pretty influential god since none of them said a word after.


    “I see, so they must have entered into a different part of the maze… Or maybe there’s a limit on how many people can come in? I wonder if the door on their side also disappeared after we walked through it.” I tugged at my hair as I mused on the possibilities.


    [“Collector of Gems and Stones” groans stating that it isn’t a maze, it''s a labyrinth.]


    “Yeah sure, labyrinth. I mean they’re basically the same, just one has monsters and traps and stuff.”


    [“Collector of Gems and Stones” complains you’re doing this on purpose because you want to know about your party.]


    “What? I would never do such a thing!” I said with feigned sincerity.


    [“Whispering Playwright behind a Mask” snickers and adds that you are a very upstanding and honest person.]


    “Exactly.” I smiled, I was trying to get my mind off of Reid. It wasn’t working. The sadness that resulted from our argument wasn’t lessening with time, it was getting more significant. Flopping back onto the rock beneath me I groaned. What was taking Aureus so long?


    Aureus? Are you alright? What’s taking so long?


    I have gotten stuck in a trap.


    What?! Are you okay?


    Yes, I just can’t get my wings free, I’ve been trying for a couple minutes now.


    Okay how far are you? I’ll come get you.


    I’m almost back, I think I only had a turn or two left before I got back to you.


    I jumped up, and started sprinting towards the left turn ahead of us. It was the first time I had actually noticed my surroundings. I had been so focused on Reid’s physical injuries and then my emotional ones that I never looked around.


    The inside of the labyrinth was so different from where we’d left. The walls of the labyrinth stretched up for what seemed like hundreds of feet. They butted up against a ceiling coated in various minerals and gemstones. It was pretty, but didn’t feel very intentional. It felt as though the decorations on the ceiling were placed randomly, but not in a way that made it look worse, it almost felt like it was bringing out the natural beauty of the gems.


    The walls were made of a similar dark rock as outside, but inside it was most smooth and polished. Along the bottom of the path there were runes that were carefully inscribed and every turn on this stretch of path the corners of the walls were capped with some sort of metal with swirling designs etched into it. The floor beneath us was also made from the cobblestones we had seen outside. Overall the whole labyrinth gave the feeling of natural beauty and was well put together.


    “Where are you going?!” Reid hollered after me.


    “I’m going to Aureus, follow me if you want. I don’t care.” I snapped back without bothering to turn around.


    I continued running and took my first left, a long path with several diverging paths on either side opened up before me. Just as I was turning into the next left, a stone I stepped on sunk beneath me. A portion of the ground I stepped on gave way underneath me. A simple pit trap. Instinctually I kicked off of the corner of the walkway I was turning into, sending myself flying back into the wall of the corridor I was on prior.


    I groaned as I stood and looked towards the path I needed to take to get to Aureus. Most of it was crumbled away, if I could get past the pit the rest of the path behind it seemed to be fine. Maybe? I’d never been in a labyrinth before, but it wouldn’t make sense to put the traps too close together. I browsed my inventory, I had a rope and a grappling hook, but unfortunately there wasn’t anything I could see that would allow the hook to get hold.


    If only Aureus were here, he could fill the hole… I thought to myself as I was trying to find a way to get to him. The pit was only about ten feet across, but I couldn’t see the bottom of it. The walls were connected to the ceiling so I couldn’t hook onto them. Maybe I could coat the hook with mana, if I could get it embedded in the wall I could get across.


    I was deep in thought when Reid’s voice pulled me out of it, “Where’s Aureus then?”


    “I think he’s close, this way and stuck in a trap.” I said pointing past the pit in front of me.


    “Why don’t you jump it?”


    “I’m considering that as an option, but I have to be safe… But I could maybe anchor myself before I jump. Then if I don’t make it I can climb up the rope and think of a new plan. Yeah. I’ll do that.” I was busily setting things up for my plan as I thought through things aloud.


    “Isn’t that dangerous? You could die.”


    “Sure, but this is the Underhollow. I could die tomorrow, might as well try today.” I continued as I smashed the hook into the wall opposite the pit. “Well here goes nothing.” I continued as I ensured there was enough slack on the rope before taking a running jump towards the pit. I hesitated. Skidding to a stop before I could jump and nearly fell directly into it. Teetering on the edge I sighed.


    “You’re not very good at jumping,” he joked. I half smiled. Well, that was better than the previous snark.


    “It’s scarier than it looks.”


    I backed up breathing deep and steading myself again. If I hesitated I would fall. I needed to jump properly. I closed my eyes and centered myself. I needed to go get Aureus. He was relying on me. I opened my eyes and took off again, my feet hit the ground firmer with each step. Finally I pushed mana into my legs as I jumped. I took off. I was flying solidly twenty feet from the ground. Laughing I looked back at Reid’s face, he was slack jawed.


    My elation was short lived when the rope ran out of slack and I was promptly jerked back and fell to the ground. I spent likely two or three minutes coughing on the ground as I tried to compose myself. The rope was untied and attached to an arrow that I jammed into the rock. I caught Reid’s gaze as I turned to walk around the next left corner, he was confused.


    I flashed him a huge grin as I said, “Now if you don’t mind, I’m going to get my dragon. If you want to climb over the rope and follow, feel free.” I nearly skipped around the corner, but my mood fell when I saw the dragon in question.