Frozen in Time
Exploring the palace, navigating based on my old memories, we found some maids who seemed to have been rushing through the hallway. They had been frozen in place, their bodies preserved thanks to the stasis.
"There is no telling what side-effects they would undergo if the barrier is broken. Dare I say they might already be dead mentally?" Elysia, contemplating the worst-case scenario, jumped to a worrying assumption. We don't know the nuances of the barrier yet, so for all we know, they could be beyond saving.
"That may be true, but they are going to be released regardless. I would rather give my parents a proper burial than keep them like this." Overthinking the consequences won't get us anywhere, so I made my resolve to see things through.
Besides, the pope had some kind of plan for his ritual and destroying this barrier will put another wrench in his plan.
"Can't argue that."