“Are my eyes going bad, or did I just see flames shoot up high enough to warm my wings?” Moni asks with wide eyes and gray bark. She hasn’t changed back to her normal green yet, and with how this is starting out, I doubt it will anytime soon.
“I lost my hair tie,” I explain, or at least try to, knowing it doesn’t really explain where the fire came from.
JP raises his voice to be heard in the back, “Well, I definitely felt the heat, so it was close, even though it was triggered a ways away. So, let’s try not to drop anything accidentally or on purpose. Who knows how well this bridge is put together underneath and how many times a certain place has been burned before us.”
‘Wow. I wonder why I didn’t think of that. Let’s not get burnt to a crisp as we tiptoe across a bridge made out of floss and twigs suspended over a flaming toilet bowl. I see no problem with this plan, Boss. Let’s continue on.’
“I heard that,” JP yells back, amusement in his voice.
“Good,” I call back as I blow a wayward strand of hair out of my face.Ugh.I can’t see while my hair is trying to kill me.
“Here you go,” Zeke says, handing me another hair tie. I give him a questioning look as I glare at the plastic in his hand.
“Where did you get that?” I ask, taking it gratefully as he gently grabs my waist while I once again pull my hair up into a loose bun. I swiftly glance down his body, admiring the tight leather molded to him, and notice there’s no place for hair ties on his body.
“Knots,” I whisper in realization. I shift my gaze to the Door Knight for a brief moment and make eye contact before I quickly focus on my footing once again.
‘Thanks,’I say quickly and close my connection before I can hear his reply. I’m not ready to talk to him, but I’m not a complete bitch to ignore my manners.
We finally make it across the bridge in one piece and look over the landscape. Unexpectedly, the reddish-brown ground before us starts to change, magically seeping into the earth and replaced by white snow along with a severe drop in the temperature.
Shit, we’re going to freeze to death…in Hell. How ironic is that?
“Welcome to Illusion,” a voice says out of the thin air. We all look around to try to figure out where the voice is coming from since it’s obviously not being heard in our minds. I can’t determine if it’s a male or female, but at least it doesn’t sound like a robot. “My, you are a big group indeed.” The voice chuckles, still not giving away their sex. “I’m going to have fun with all of you. That is, if you can survive your own mind. You have twelve hours to find my stage, and there, I will meet you with my main trial and test.”
Well, that little tidbit confirms who we’re talking to: Balam, the Prince of Illusions.
“That’s it?” Lynx calls out.
“Hopefully, you can find your way,” the mysterious voice says as it fades out.
“Well, that was as helpful as a nail in the ass,” Lynx huffs out in annoyance.
“I doubt it will be that easy, Lynx, since that was Balam, and this is the level of Illusions. The freaking toilet bowl bridge proved that.” I point back to the bridge that…I can no longer see behind us.
“Well, that’s convenient. We can’t leave even if we wanted to,” Chester points out as he pushes up his glasses, and Moni scoots into his side.
“What’s this white stuff?” Moni asks, reaching down and picking up a clump of wet snow.
“It’s snow,” I say, taking in the flat expansion of land before us. “At least, I think it is. This is the land of illusion, so can we really trust what we see?” Plus, I can’t help but wonder which way we are supposed to go and how long we can survive out here without snow gear?
The land appears to be divided into three different sections. To the left it looks like an island paradise, with palm trees sticking high in the sky. And where there are big old palm trees, there should be water and hopefully shelter from the elements that this place will surely throw down on us. In front of us is land that looks inhospitable and dry. Of course, we can’t forget the snow we’re standing in that slopes off to our right. I can make out what looks like a few buildings from here, so that would at least provide us some shelter. We definitely aren’t wearing clothes built to handle this kind of weather.
“Have any idea which way to go?” I ask, hoping someone has thought this through more than I have.
“I’ve never seen snow,” Moni admits, and with glee, she lays down and starts to roll around in it. Laughing, Chester joins her, and I can’t help but giggle at their reaction.
“Do you not have it in Purgatory?” Lynx gives her a pitying look. “I thought you had all the seasons.”
“It’s in the mountains of Nova and some of the other parts, but you have to travel to see it,” Levi helpfully supplies as Moni continues to roll in it.
“Balam said that we have to survive our own minds,” Knots states, trying to change the subject and get us back on track. Despite the shared hair tie, it’s a punch in the gut to hear his voice. He looks like he’s doing okay and holding up, but I can’t help but be annoyed at how he’s speaking up and trying to lead the group. “What does everyone see? Are we seeing the same things?”
“Well, besides the snow, I see big white balls over there.” Moni pauses long enough to pop up from the ground and point off into the winter distance.
“You mean the taller buildings that tower into the skyline?” I clarify.
“Nope. The round bumholes,” she says, rolling up a snowball and poking her finger through one side before turning it to show me. “Like this, but big enough for all of us to go inside.”
