16. Steps and Secrets

Wood creaked under Lammy and Zayza's feet as they followed Mariel up a tall staircase. Now that the restaurant was closed, the lights high above the cave dimmed to a dull glow.

They had waited quite a while for Mariel to finish closing the store for the night. When she finally rejoined Lammy and Zayza and handed them their travel bags, she had flooded them with delighted comments about the "bug miracle"—If that swarm of insects hadn't appeared out of nowhere, she'd still be slaving away for several more hours before getting to head home.

Lammy made sure not to reveal that he imagined the bugs by accident, recalling that certain areas of Realistic Fiction Country can't know about consciousness powers. But even still, he had no idea why he was able to conjure up such a thing with his limited skills.

Thankfully, Mariel had stopped mentioning it for a moment, as she led them up to the front door of her wooden house. Once she opened it and they stepped inside, a fruit-scented vapor surrounded them. Loud music and booming sounds also filled the house.

"Can't you guys vape outside? I have guests over," Mariel called to her housemates. Four guys about her age sat on a couch and chairs in the dark living room, staring at a large, rectangular screen that displayed bright colors.

"There is no outside, we're in a cave," one of them said back.

Mariel rolled her eyes and turned to Lammy and Zayza, lifting the paper bag she held. "Let's head to the kitchen. You guys hungry? I made us some bowls."

"Thank you, Mariel," Lammy said, trying to downplay his utter delight. He felt like he was going to faint—he and Zayza hadn't eaten since that morning in Our Snowy Village.

"Oh goodness, thank you SO much!" Zayza exclaimed, holding back nothing.

Mariel laughed. "No biggie, it was all gonna get thrown out, anyways."

They sat at a table in the small kitchen—it seemed like all the rooms so far were fairly tiny. On top of having four roommates, it didn't appear like Mariel had much living space.

Mariel unpackaged everyone's food and grabbed utensils. While she dipped back into the living room to tell her housemates about the savior bugs, Lammy and Zayza instantly dug in. Though Lammy didn't recognize much of the ingredients besides chicken, his bowl was downright delicious—spicy, yet incredible.

"Okay, I have so many questions for you guys," Mariel began when she returned and sat down.

"Well…me too, actually," said Lammy shyly. "Um…what's making all the lights shine?"

Mariel and Zayza broke out laughing, much to Lammy's embarrassment. For the next few minutes, Mariel and Zayza attempted to give a crash-course on electricity: how the lights in the restaurant worked, along with the music playing over speakers, online ordering, the glowing screen—which was apparently called a 'TV'—and whatever else he didn't understand. Mariel was astonished Lammy was never exposed to any of this.

When she pressed him as to why, Zayza quickly changed the subject: "Mariel, pardon me if this sounds insensitive…but, why do you choose to work here in this cave? I only spent a few hours here, and if I wasn't fired, I would have quit."

"Believe me, I'd love to quit," said Mariel. "But I need to save up money so I can go to school. There's one not too far from here on the mountain, so I moved here to start taking those steps."

"That's admirable," said Zayza. "What are you planning to study?"

"Well, I want to be a nurse," Mariel shared. "I've always wanted to just do something helpful for people…but working here has kind of been a motivation-killer. The customers are entitled jerks, and none of my coworkers really have any ambition. I wish I could find a place where people actually appreciate each other—Maybe school will be like that, but it'll be forever until I can afford it."

Zayza glanced at Lammy with a twinkle in her eye. It seemed she had an idea. "Actually, Mariel, we know a little village with a beautiful community of people. It's called Our Snowy Village; they're very open to newcomers, and are always looking for an extra hand. I'm sure they could use a nurse."

Lammy was surprised Zayza would mention Our Snowy Village, when its residents clearly knew about the greater Multiverse. But then again, she technically didn't disclose that information herself. And it seemed she was eager to return Mariel's favors.

"Hmm…" uttered Mariel, a bit unconvinced. "That sounds nice, but it's not like I'm trained or anything…where is it?"

"Just north of here. If you hike down this wall of the mountain and keep traveling across the flat land, you'll reach it in less than a day."

"Wait…north of the North Mountains?" Mariel questioned. "But there's nothing else past the mountains—that's the edge of the earth."

Lammy smirked to himself—she sounded like him only a few days earlier, believing nothing else existed beyond Tailpiece.

Zayza smiled calmly. "Well, if you ever get fed up with this place, it might be worth the trip to find out for yourself. I'm sure you'd love it."

Mariel returned Zayza's smile and shrugged. "Maybe…" She laughed. "You two really are pretty weird. Where are you traveling to, anyway?"

Lammy explained that they had just come from Our Snowy Village, and were heading south to, hopefully, find his mother. As he spoke, he tried to conceal his ever-growing worry about her safety. Those two cruel men who tried to kidnap Zayza hovered in his thoughts and still gave him chills.

"Wow…I'm so sorry your mom might be in danger, Lammy," said Mariel. "If you're heading south past these mountains, the fastest way is through the rest of the caves."

"The rest?" Lammy and Zayza asked simultaneously.

Mariel nodded. "There are three more caves past Food Town, inside the mountain walls. They're all connected, so if you pass through them all, you'll end up close to the south side of the mountain. The only other way is to leave the caves and climb along the outside, which would take forever. Not to mention it gets insanely dangerous."

Taking forever and possibly dying both sounded like pretty undesirable choices to Lammy. He needed to get home as fast as possible.

"Are all the caves like…this place?" asked Lammy with a slight shudder.

"They're not all restaurants," said Mariel. "But…well…"

"What?"

"The uh…third and fourth caves are pretty cool…one's a school and the other's an amusement park…" Mariel was clearly reluctant to say whatever was next.

"And the second cave?" inquired Zayza.

Mariel suddenly sat back and removed her work hat, adjusting her hair tie. She avoided eye contact with Lammy and Zayza with an awkward smile. "The second cave is, um…kind of horrible," she uttered practically under her breath. After sighing, she leaned forward again and returned her attentive gaze. "Alright, here's the thing. Don't hate me, but I won't tell you what's in the next cave over."

"Oh…why is that?" Zayza questioned as her eyes widened.

"I think, if I tell you," she began slowly, "you'll be too afraid to go."

That sent shivers down Lammy's spine. What was so horrible about it that Mariel wouldn't tell them? Could it be worse than Food Town? Or even Snowdust? He exchanged nervous glances with Zayza.

"I'll say this," Mariel decided. "When you go…just make sure you know how to make people agree with you." She stared at them intensely, before quickly shaking back into her calm, friendly demeanor. "Don't stress too much about it, though!"

How am I supposed to not stress after all that?! wondered Lammy.

After they finished their food and chatted a little more, Mariel showed Lammy and Zayza to their sleeping arrangements: Zayza would use Mariel's bed, and she pulled out a spare mattress for Lammy (she kept it around in case her coworkers would come over for drinks and go a little too overboard). Mariel insisted on sleeping on the couch, whenever her roommates were done binging shows on the TV.

Though it felt a bit intrusive, Lammy wanted to look around the room and try to understand all of the strange light-up devices and decorations he saw—but by now, he was far too weary to remain curious. Apparently Zayza was just as beat, because practically the second after she returned from changing into nightclothes and lay down, she was fast asleep. Lammy searched through his travel bag and discovered blue pajamas the Our Snowy Villagers provided, and after stepping out to change, he too, fell asleep within moments.

~

The next morning, Lammy awoke earlier than he would have liked—while he couldn't tell exactly how early it was, he could feel it in his still-heavy eyes.

Even after pure exhaustion from yesterday, his ongoing journey kept him constantly worried. He was so used to waking up in the same bed for thirteen years. Now, he didn't even know where he would sleep tonight. He tried to repress thoughts of his mother and those two sinister men as he sat up, realizing his journey was just unfolding.

After Zayza awoke, the two of them took turns showering and changing into different clothes from their travel bags. Thankfully, the villagers had provided lighter clothes than the winter attire they had been wearing, and given that they'd be traveling in the caves for a while, Lammy and Zayza opted for these. Lammy chose an outfit that reminded him most of his Tailpiece clothing—a black shirt and gray pants, with his original shoes. Zayza dressed similarly in green and black, with a knitted gray beanie.

They met Mariel in the kitchen for a simple egg and toast breakfast. Apparently Mariel had work again in just an hour, but she offered to guide them to the cave exit and see them off. She seemed half-awake, so Lammy assumed her roommates must have kept her up late, but she remained cheerful, nonetheless.

Soon enough, they were on their way. As Lammy followed Mariel and Zayza down the long front steps of the house, he noticed all the Food Town lights were back on. In fact, customers were already forming a line, waiting for the restaurant to reopen. Lammy recognized several of the same people from the night before.

"Man, I was hoping the bug incident would keep these pigs away," Mariel said with a sigh. "I guess nothing can stop them…we don't even open for another two hours."

As they crossed Food Town and passed customers, Lammy and Zayza held their heads low, hoping no one would recognize them and start yelling again. Thankfully, they reached the far wall without incident.

Mariel guided them to a tall, neatly carved hole in the stonewall. Above it a large sign read, "Come back soon!" Peering into the exit, Lammy saw nothing but a dark, narrow tunnel with no clear ending.

"Well, here we are," announced Mariel. "Just follow this tunnel, and you'll end up in the next town. And don't take the left when it splits—that just leads to the outside of the mountain."

"Seems a bit…shady," commented Lammy.

"The tunnel's not as shady as the next town…" Mariel uttered quickly, to herself.

"Huh?"

"Oh, nothing. You guys will be fine, just keep moving!"

There she goes again...thought Lammy uneasily.

"Thank you for everything, Mariel," Zayza said. "You've been so sweet. I wish we could repay you."

"You kidding? Seeing you give it right back to our customers was the ultimate blessing," said Mariel with a spirited laugh. "Maybe we'll meet again, if I ever get out of this place."

Lammy and Zayza nodded. With kind waves and goodbyes, they turned to face the next phase in their adventure.

~~~

A day passed since Deon and Skrili completed their training. Still recovering from the strain the fighting put on both of their bodies, they restarted their mission to search for Pang and Phillip…

A squirrel scurried away from Deon as he joined Skrili under a tree along No Man's Land's path. He removed his backpack and sat down beside her. Skrili was leaning against the tree trunk, resting her sore back.

"Time for a really late breakfast…or just a late lunch," Deon announced.

Yesterday, when the two finally had enough energy to at least relocate, they dragged themselves over to some bushes and lay down to rest. Despite the possibility of confronting robbers or animals, both were exhausted and fell asleep. It was only early in the evening, but they were wiped out enough to sleep soundly through the night and into the early afternoon the next day.

Upon awaking, they had decided to head back in the direction they had come from the day before. Skrili figured that since Pang and Phillip were looking for more teams to beat in order to unlock the certification, they would be wandering that way.

Skrili crossed her arms and closed her eyes as she sat. The sun shined down on her in spots through the leaves above. "Do we have any food?" she asked.

"Not technically, but I am an Imaginer, you know," replied Deon cockily. "If that thug could imagine real pineapples, I'm sure I can figure it out."

He focused on the space in front of him, and pictured a pineapple similar to the ones the boss had made, but smaller. He imagined it into existence, and it appeared instantly. But something was wrong as he took it into his hands—it was incredibly light and felt similar to hollow wood. "Dangit, a dud," he realized.

Skrili opened one eye to observe the issue.

He tried several more times, to no avail. Soon he sat in a pile of inedible, mock pineapples, grumbling to himself.

"It'll take a lot more practice than that," Skrili said.

"True…" Deon admitted, de-imagining all the fake pineapples around them. "I guess I can't imagine us food, then…"

He decided to dig through his bag and see if there was any food he missed on his first day in No Man's Land. With a shout of triumph, he discovered some grain bars he had grabbed the night of his escape, buried at the bottom.

"My dad made these. They're pretty great, I must say. Pick your favorite," he said while reaching over to hand it to Skrili—but as he did, the bag slipped out of his hands and fell into Skrili's lap. All the breakfast bars poured out of the bag and rolled into the dirt and grass.

Skrili wordlessly observed their ruined meal.

"Oops…" uttered Deon. "Sorry…that was all I had." He was already bracing himself for her shot of anger.

Skrili picked up the bag and calmly handed it to Deon. "It's fine," she told him, and she leaned back against the tree, crossed her arms, and closed her eyes again.

Deon sat there holding the bag and blinking with confusion. It was like expecting a splash of icy water to the face, but never getting it.

It's…fine? Deon repeated in his head. Nothing? Not even a judgmental glare? What's with her?

His question lingered in the air as the two sat under the tree for a few more minutes. Eventually they stood and continued searching.

~

The next day wasn't much different: Skrili and Deon walked along the path, stopped for a break every once in a while, and then walked some more. They happened upon an area of trees that grew green grapes, so they stocked up Deon's bag and continued walking.

They never directly crossed paths with other consciousnesses, and when Deon spotted any teams from afar, Skrili was sure to avoid them to stay focused on finding Pang and Phillip. Their travels involved minimal talking. While Deon couldn't stand his constant lack of conversation, he found himself getting used to the silence. It allowed him time to really think.

One thought that crossed his mind particularly often was the Conscious Competitions. Nothing seemed more exciting than the idea of participating in fighting tournaments for skilled consciousnesses of all kinds. Deon wondered about what the fighting areas must look like, and where they might be located. He envisioned hundreds…no, thousands of people cheering him on as he fought.

He knew it was something he had to do—he simply needed to get registered, earn a hundred wins, and fight in the competitions. If he could manage to get Skrili's TeamTrack back from Pang, perhaps that would convince Skrili to start a new team with him.

The other thing Deon found himself pondering over was how Skrili had been acting for the past two days. She was quiet and impassive as always, but ever since Deon defeated her in training and they had that brief discussion, something was off about her. She never insulted him when he did something foolish (which was often), or even expressed impatience with him.

But it wasn't only that: Skrili spoke softer, walked slower and just all around looked less intense—less like the fighter she was. Often Deon would catch her staring off and would have to say her name twice to get her attention, to which she would respond with a spacey look in her eyes.

He kept reliving the moment he was icing her back for her, and how he could feel her trembling. Now every time he looked at her, he was sure the trembling had never stopped.

"I'll fight Pang," Skrili said. By now they were walking down a long, flat dirt path surrounded by particularly tall trees.

This sudden declaration startled Deon. Not once had they previously discussed what the fighting arrangements would be if they could find Pang and Phillip. "Huh?" he wondered.

"This time I'm fighting Pang," Skrili told him. "You can have Phillip." She was staring at the ground before her, as if talking to herself instead of Deon. Nonetheless, her eyes reflected her determination: her decision was final.

"Wait, but…" Deon tried to think of how to respond. HE wanted to fight Pang. She had humiliated him in their last fight and he wished to redeem himself. Plus, he had another problem with this proposal: "Do you really think you're in any condition to put yourself against her?" he asked.

"I'm fine."

"No you're not!" denied Deon. "You keep saying that, but you're not. I can tell you're still too tired, you've been acting all weak and soft lately."

"It's not that," Skrili quickly negated.

"Then what is it?"

"You wouldn't understand!" she snapped at him, making furious eye contact. They both stopped walking. Deon welcomed her intensity: it was a hint of the Skrili he was used to—but she still looked too fragile to handle a fight, let alone one against Pang.

"Well what I do understand is this: unless you get yourself together, there's no way you can beat Pang," Deon told her. "I bet right now you can't even take me."

Skrili lunged at Deon, tackling him to the ground. Once they fell, she pinned his arms flat against the dirt with her hands and stood on her knees, which were firmly planted on Deon's chest.

Deon was shocked. He hadn't seen that coming at all. He could flail his legs around, but that was just about the only movement he could make. His chest was pressing in from the weight.

Skrili looked down at him with hard, adamant eyes. Some of her straight hair dangled down from her towards Deon, like an array of needles ready to fall into his skull at any moment.

"You hardly know me. Don't act like you do," she commanded.

Deon found it impossible to avert his eyes from her stern gaze. He still didn't get it—why did her behavior change so drastically after their last fight? She had opened up to him briefly that day, but now she was even more closed off than before. And clearly, with his current approach, that wasn't improving.

"Fine…" Deon grunted reluctantly. "You can fight Pang." He hated having to humble himself, but he certainly didn't want to stay on bad terms with Skrili—not if he wanted any chance of convincing her to become a pro team with him.

"Well isn't that cute?" they heard a familiar voice say from a slight distance.

Deon and Skrili's eyes widened in perfect synchronization. They looked down the path, and there stood Pang and Phillip, as if posing for a dramatic entrance.

Even from a distance, Pang's bright golden eyes were distinguishable as clearly as if she was only a few steps away from them, and they looked as fearless and all-knowing as always. Phillip stood as an expressionless black and white statue.

Pang and Phillip began to make their way towards Skrili and Deon. "Skrili dear," Pang began as she walked, "I know you're not used to having friends, but that's not how you're supposed to treat them. Gosh, you're such a hopeless girl. Poor Deon…"

Immediately, Deon noticed Skrili's demeanor shift. She made no distinct indication, but somehow she now seemed to make herself small, like a dog with its tail between its legs. It was just like the first time they encountered Pang and Phillip; Skrili became timid. She crawled off of Deon and stood to her feet. Deon was relieved at the weight being lifted off his chest, and after taking a few deep gasps he joined her.

Now Pang and Phillip stood just before them. "I'm sorry Deon; Skrili just doesn't know how to express her feelings," Pang said coolly. She looked at Skrili with pretense sympathy. "Sweetie, he's too good-looking for you. It would never work."

Skrili glared at Pang and her eyes narrowed. She murmured something softly.

"I can't hear you," said Pang. "You need to speak—"

"I said SHUT IT," Skrili accentuated firmly.

Pang smiled warmly, as if Skrili had just expressed affection towards her. It sent shivers down Deon's spine. "Oh wow, Skrili, you've never said such a thing to me. Does this mean you don't love me anymore?"

"It means I want my bag," Skrili affirmed.

Pang glanced down at the two bags around her shoulder, both identical but one red and the other blue. She sighed dramatically. "How many times to we have to go through this?" she complained. "I can't give it to you."

Skrili reached for her hair and tore out the elastic holding it up. As her hair fell, she aimed the bullet-like band at Pang's face and stretched it back until it was four times longer.

Pang gazed back at the impending attack, unfazed. Her smile returned. "Hey Phillip," she said with her eyes set on the elastic.

"Yes?" came Phillip's soft voice.

"I think these two want to play with us again."