Islands

Blake stares dumbly at the murky water below us, not responding to me at all. Concern immediately grows as I move over to her and shake her, trying to get her to break out of whatever she is stuck in.

She doesn't react at first and only moves after I shake her rough enough to almost knock her off of our spot in this odd construction of wood. Blake frantically looks at me and screams.

"What the hell are you doing!"

I back up a bit as I try to explain myself.

"You weren't responding! You were just staring into the water! I thought you might have been gotten by the laughs…"

She looks at me, and I see concern appear on her face as she tilts her head.

"What do you mean? I was talking to you? And what do you mean by laughs? There is no one else here?"

I take a second to look around as I grow confused. She wasn't moving, let alone talking. What's going on here… I take a few seconds to look at her, and apparently, my focus lasts too long, and my confusion blocks out my sense of time as giggles appear in my ears. And as they do, I see her face twist, elongate, and darken in color. It almost turns into a kind of wolf-human hybrid, like a Rougarou.

Scooting back a bit, I swap my focus quickly, which makes the sounds and hallucinations change. What the fuck is happening! I try to explain myself as Blake raises her arms at me defensively.

"I think something here is affecting us. Or at least me. If I focus too long, laughs appear in my ears, and hallucinations appear that affect how I see you. I think we've been in the Laughing Reeds for a while, Blake, and that only now is it getting to us."

I use Rapturous, hoping that it will somehow block out the effect of whatever is happening, and it seems to work as the mist around clears just a tad bit, and I feel the pain in my temples subside.

Blake looks at me, even more confused as she tries to understand what is happening.

"Why is it only getting to us now? And when did we step into it? My sleep was… wait… I don't remember going to sleep. Did I fall asleep? I only remember healing you a bit, then everything went black until you knocked into me."

Bewilderment only rises as I try to make sense of everything going on.

"I think we might be resistant to whatever is happening. I know my Sigil helps me resist mental effects greatly; what about yours? And yes, I remember watching you go to sleep."

Blake puts her hand on her chin as she starts copying what I do, constantly changing focus and switching back. The woman is quite adaptable, but it does seem odd how much she is copying me and how quickly. I guess that's what growing up in Sinscreak will do to you, though.

"Mine does. Abbots are known to be the most resistant to external effects of just about any kind, but mostly mental. So your idea kind of works. Otto must have been the first to have the mist creep into his mind, making him disappear or leave us somehow."

Her eyes flicker up as she takes a small break from speaking. Her words make sense, though. I think I remember hearing about that trait of Abbots somewhere.

"The Hunters behind us must have been next either because they were further behind or because they were higher Sigils."

I nod to her reasoning but try to deduce where it started.

"Do you think we entered it at the den or after?"

Blake takes a second to think about my question as she looks to where she got bit by a snake, and her eyes go wide.

"I don't think there ever was a den. Look, my wound is gone! Like it was never there! This place has had us since before the den..."

Blake looks deeply into my eyes.

"We've been in the Laughing Reeds for a while. It's finally reached the point that it can affect our surroundings entirely."

Realization hits me as I remember that I never actually saw a corpse of a snake after we killed them. I remember Otto's face when he yelled about us being surrounded by Hunters and how hard it was to see. The mist definitely got to him earlier.

But what do we do now? If the world around us is possibly fake, how do we continue to the Crossroads? Are we in the Crossroads already? How do we find Otto and Johnny? Not many options exist for us to move forward with in complete confidence.

"What are the chances that we are already in the Crossroads, Blake? That the Laughing Reeds, the Devil's Grasp, or whatever it is, are all just a part of the Crossroads?"

Blake takes a moment to think before answering.

"Hmm… I think the chances are quite high, to be honest. But the thought is worrying. If we take a wrong turn that we wouldn't even know, we might end up in some different realm. Or forbid, if we are somehow sent to Hell…"

We both go silent at that thought for a few moments. This whole area is ten times, no, a hundred times more dangerous than anyone thought. Something tells me, though, that this isn't normal. Surely, Johnny or Alonzo would have mentioned it was this bad, right? They only talked about the potential otherworldly creatures that could creep through the Crossroads, not these bizarre effects.

And these effects seem to worsen over time while we're conscious. Blake doesn't even remember going to sleep either, whatever that means for her. Dakota is still asleep, and honestly, I'm unsure if I want to wake the little guy.

With our situation fucked and an incomprehensible timer ticking, I try to get us moving.

"This place only seems to get worse over time. We either find a way out, find a way to the Underworld, or die. Let's try to hurry."

Blake nods to my plan and slowly starts to slide off of the tree as I go to follow her, gingerly carrying Dakota to not wake him. We reach the water below, and I feel the cool touch of it burn my back through the bandages. This short trip has truly beaten me to all hell. I hate to say it, but I do miss the Bloody Palm helping me out. Maybe the periodic takeover attempts are even worth it.

We consider going back but quickly put that option away. Those Hunters are probably there, and I'd be willing to bet that Darkstep can brave this place. She is a Forerunner, after all. The lady is only below the Pillars in power.

I shake my head and change my focus as I keep Rapturous on, which seems to help a bit. I can keep my focus for a bit longer before having to swap focus compared to prior to it being active.

We wade through the high waters for a while as the mist grows thicker and thicker, colors shifting and changing, almost as if there are moving lights deep inside the fog.

Deeper, we go into the mist, searching for Otto and Johnny, but we stay silent as we do so. What lurks within the Crossroads, the Laughing Reeds, or wherever we might be is unknown to us.

And so, we continue to wade through the water, constantly on the lookout for anything that might appear and attack us, but nothing does. Seconds turn to minutes as minutes drift to hours in the mist. Splash after splash, and eventually, Dakota wakes up from his sleep, but the fox seems unaffected by the fog, at least at first.

After a while, he starts growling randomly, and I have to keep petting him to calm him down. Blake even pats him, but the fox doesn't react to her. Initially, I find that a bit odd, but I throw it away as there are more significant concerns.

The mist never seems to end as we move through it, and several more times, I am forced to hear the ominous giggles because it grows harder and harder to switch focus as I grow wearier.

My eyes resist the rapid movements as my legs move slowly through the water. But I continue on without complaint as Blake does the same. Eventually, though, our effort bear fruit as we enter an area with those odd finger-like constructions again. Only this time, there are more of them, and as we move past them, we find a small island type of thing at the center of all of them.

The island of black rock is, at most, only the size of a small house, but Blake and I grow ecstatic at seeing it. We spent a few minutes climbing to the top and looking around. As usual, though, our vision is blocked by the mist, but I end up looking down at the island itself. What I see throws me for another loop.

The entire thing is covered with writings that are inscribed into the stone that swirl around in madness. I feel something hot emanating from the rock as I use Chain Eyes. The skill gives me the ability to see Ether and not just feel it. And what I see answers a question and gives me a dozen more.

Misty Ether comes from the inscriptions on the rock. The Ether from the rock floats into the air before colliding with the Ether already in the air, creating tiny sparks and friction. That's where the heat comes from and somehow also where the mist comes from.

These inscriptions… is the mist man-made? Is someone maybe trying to block off the Crossroads to anyone else? Is that why the hallucinations exist?

I ask Blake for her thoughts after I explain mine, but she doesn't really have any idea either.

"I have no clue. This is all so weird…"

I bend over and put my finger against one of the words and get a bizarre feeling from it as I inspect it. The words are foreign yet familiar. I can't read anything written here, but I swear I've seen it before. How is that possible? Something is seriously wrong here. We need to move. My gut is screaming at me. Something deep within me is firing at all cylinders, but I can't make it out.

It's almost… it's almost like… I don't know…

Laughs rip into my subconscious as an ominous cacophony touches my eardrums and tears my focus away from the ground. I stand straight as the laughs seem so close, almost like they are right in my ear.

As I draw Intervention, my eyes go back down to the inscriptions below me. I think the sounds are coming from this. They have to be, right?

"Back up, Blake, I'm going to shoot it."

"Why?"

"Just back up. It makes me feel off. I think it's the source of the laughs."

"Okay…"

Blake follows my lead and backs off to the island's edge as I let out all six blasts from the cylinder of Intervention. The world is consumed by red, yellow, and white as the lead and fire destroy large parts of the inscription. I take a quick second to eject the rounds and reload as I peer at the rock with Chain Eyes.

A smile touches my lips as I see no more mist from the broken inscription. I did it.

Blake walks just behind me, maybe a little too close, but I ignore it for now, and she congratulates me as I laugh out loud.

"Nice! Maybe it will stop the mist from growing!"

Her words make me look around as I realize another thing. There is no way this is the only place making this mist. No way at all. It was making far too little for how much there was here. And how is this even possible? How can words make Ether? I'm so confused… Too much is happening.

It has to be the skill of some Sigil or maybe even the effect of some artifact. Perhaps… maybe even a Power. No, that'd be way too coincidental even for me. And I'd be fucked if it was.

I just turn to Blake and start making my way off this island. Maybe if we destroy enough of these things, we will be able to find our way to the actual entrance of the Crossroads if we aren't already in it? Or maybe we'll just see the person or thing creating all these inscriptions.

"Let's find more of these to break."

She nods at my idea and follows me through the water again as we enter it. I start walking deeper into the mist, wading through the high water as I keep my eyes peeled for any more of those wooden structures or islands.

Another hour or so passes as my mind and body slowly become more ragged, but I cannot rest. If I do, something bad will likely happen. No, I'm positive it will. Some deep part of my mind tells me so. And when the entire world around me could probably be fake, I will believe my deepest gut feeling more than the world around me.

At the end of that hour of searching for another island, I found another one. But this time, this one is slightly larger, closer to the size of a large house. Not that it matters all that much, only that it is a bit harder to climb onto. The inscriptions will break all the same as long as I break enough of them.

I peer at the words and once again grow uncomfortable as they look familiar, but I still cannot pinpoint where they are from. I want to say from some book or something, but I cannot recall any book with letters like these. Or can I? I take a moment to sit and remember before breaking the unknowable words.

They are different from the words in The Cabin, that's for sure. None of the words in On The Shoulders fit either; those are all in the same language. So it's nothing recent. Is it from my childhood, maybe?

My focus switches as I am cognizant of the giggles and the pain to my temples they bring. I'm sure if I was any other Sigil other than Philosopher or Abbot like Blake, it'd be much worse. I quickly switch back, though, as I am determined to discover where these words come from.

I close my eyes and lower my breathing, trying to imitate how Abraham entered my mind and pulled out a memory. There is no way I can do the same, but I figure this technique might help recollection.

And as I sit there in remembrance, flickers of light come into mind. Short instances of fleeting memories past, most of which are unimportant. Either me reading under the tutelage of Ma or me reading things the few times we were in nearby towns. But eventually, something of import comes to the forefront.

It isn't an actual memory I remember having, though. It is from a hallucination caused by the Bloody Palm eating my mind while we were getting attached. Where Ma looked like an ogre, and the words on the paper were incomprehensible that she was trying to force me to read.

The words remind me of those that I see right now.

They are filled with spirals, hard-to-focus-on letters, and incomprehensible words. None of it makes any sense, and I can barely even remember anything from this previous hallucination besides a few of these spiraling words.

I open my eyes and immediately shoot at the letters below as I hate the connection even occurring deep in my mind.

Somehow Ma is connected to all of this. I'll have to ask her when I see her in the Underworld. She'll have to tell me about everything, then, right? There is so much she hid from me; it's incredible.