Reflecting

Descending - Act 2 | Chapter 24 - Reflecting
Nine Hours and Twelve Minutes Since Juna Was Found Dead

It had become painfully obvious to Theo how much he'd undergone change since arriving in this treacherous place a week ago. No longer did the stone prison around him give him a sense of entrapment or unfamiliarity. Too many unexpected changes had happened for Theo to balance them all in his noggin. Somewhere along the line he naturally accepted all of the unknown and weirdly known of this world. That had been the correct choice. Holding onto what he used to know would only drive him mad.

Theo couldn't lose himself to madness.

The body on his back kept a constant pressure on his shoulders in reminder of such things.

Edgar, Aurelia, and Flavia were a frantic bunch, but since stepping into The First Layer they wore a different sense of action. The composure of those who understood the dangers of this place. Edgar led the front in stride, sword still sheathed and a hand on the branched handle. Aurelia and Flavia both were stationed about fifteen yards away from Theo on each side. Flavia on his right. Aurelia on his left.

Flavia had mentioned during her scolding that the Lift—in this case Theo—was to always be center of the group. The tunnel they currently walked through could be around forty to fifty feet wide, one of the largest they've passed through since Descending from The Entrance Layer.

The white light from Flavia's Stone had increased after a few hours, now being able to fully stretch from wall to wall and a little bit in front of Edgar. The Stone remained in her satchel, continuing to light the way. And of course, the light stayed behind where they had walked. Like a highlighter wherever Flavia stepped the light exposed and remained. If Theo had to guess the manhole they climbed down was still bright enough for the next group to shimmy down without worry.

Though Theo wondered if anyone really would follow. For a place that's supposed to be abundant in treasures called Fossils, the travel had just been like any other cave from Earth.

Excluding the eerie feeling and the decaying corpse on Theo's back.

Though even that was something Theo had grown to accept. He wasn't as stubborn as before, though he didn't know exactly when that stopped. At some point his instincts to survive overwhelmed his mind. A buildup of stress probably. An unhealthy habit. After seeing Juna's body, her death, the blood and hollow coated eyes, Theo threw away any unnecessary thinking that would get him slaughtered in the same manner.

He hated to admit it. But Radu was right.

“Would I be a bother asking why our Lift has a corpse on his back?” Flavia whispered close in his ear.

The sudden approach startled Theo. Flavia had closed the distance between them to about three feet. She continued to walk just a hair in front of him all while looking forward, occasionally letting a lingering glance meet the sack.

Theo pulled the strap on his right shoulder more towards his chest. “How'd you know?”

“That it's a corpse?” Flavia whispered. She placed a knuckle to her lips and softly laughed. “Radu really did mean it when he said you weren't well versed about The Chasm.”

“I'm a Corpse Reader,” she said, placing her hands behind her back as she walked. “Of course I would know if a corpse was nearby.”

Theo raised a weary eyebrow. He had just heard another unnerving thing down here. A Corpse Reader? And she could make out Juna in the sack? Flavia was a Gritborn, the lime DepthStone encased around her neck told Theo that much. Though she was a Corpse Reader as well, whatever that could entail. Could Gritborns be something other than a Gritborn? Like different classes in a video game? Or was Theo's observation of Flavia's detailed clothes correct. If so, then how important was she?

“You're not answering my question,” she said with a tilt of the head.

Theo caught her glancing back. Not at him. At Juna.

“Someone I need to save,” Theo responded.

“Oh? That so?”

He nodded.

Flavia smiled to herself and slowed her pace until she was right beside Theo. She then leaned in, pressing her lips almost to Theo's ear and whispered with a hot breath,

“The Chasm's Mercy.”

Though Flavia's face was an inch from Theo's own and her breath melted his ear, her eyes were peered back towards Juna. Seeing only the body as if Theo never existed.

Flavia peeled back. “I'm right, aren't I?”

Theo nodded. “Basically.”

“That's quite a journey, Lift. The Fourth Layer isn't something you can Descend into willy nilly. It's not even a guarantee we'll get you past The First Layer.”

“I know,” Theo muttered. He adjusted the straps. “Radu told me.”

Flavia smiled, looking at Theo for the first time while doing so, then glanced back at Juna. “She's scared you know.”

“Scared?” Theo asked.

“The body. It's a girl, right?”

“Yes…how…?”

Flavia pointed a finger at Theo's nose. “A Corpse Reader, remember. We have a stronger understanding of what death is. Or more importantly the state after death.” She nodded at Juna. “A Corpse Reader can more or less hear the dead speak from their decaying body. I heard her say she's scared.”

“You can talk to her!?” Theo yelled, forgetting to whisper.

“Quiet,” Edgar sternly ordered from the front.

“Are you two having a conversation? No fair let me join in.” Aurelia said.

“Stay in your position,” Edgar groaned. “You're not a Lift nor Corpse Reader so stay watching the flank.”

Aurelia looked at Theo and Flavia from across the far side of the cave and gestured a cutting motion across her neck with her thumb, then pointed at Edgar.

Flavia giggled. Theo didn't exactly find that funny.

“Talking isn't exactly right,” Flavia whispered. “It's closer to understanding how the dead feel. For someone like me, I can only grasp a general understanding of a corpse's feelings. If a corpse feels scared, then that scared emotion also resides in me. If a corpse is in pain, then I also feel that pain. Though the aptitude of the connection always depends on how in tune a Corpse Reader is with The Chasm. Or in most cases, how close a Corpse Reader is with the corpse itself.”

Theo really didn't know what to say. All of it was kind of—

“Kind of creepy am I right?”

Aurelia had slipped into the conversation while Edgar stood busy scanning their trail ahead. “It's also Flavia's job to send me and the old man off if we ever die in The Chasm. That's why someone like her gets all the important gear and stays near the back so we can protect her. Pretty creepy, right?”

“I mean, yeah I guess,” Theo whispered.

“Flavia here isn’t that great at reading the dead. But her Chasm aptitude is off the charts for a Corpse Reader.” Aurelia pointed at the lingering bright light behind them. “Hence why the energy she pours into that Stone stays in the form of light for a long time.”

“That’s not really a good thing,” Flavia mentioned. “A Corpse Reader who can’t properly read the dead can’t exactly be called a Corpse Reader.”

“That’s not true!” Aurelia yelled in a whisper leaning in front of Theo. “Without you me and Edgar wouldn’t even be able to Tune a Stone at all. I also feel safe knowing that if something happens to me Flavia will Depart us.”

“I agree,” Edgar said.

Both Flavia and Aurelia tensed up for a quick second at Edgar apparently overhearing the conversation.

“Lift,” Edgar said, facing forward, leading the group through the darkness. “When a person dies they aren’t technically gone. I don’t know what nonsense they teach in Ground Zero, but a person's unconscious mind remains when they die.”

Edgar glanced back.

“The dead don’t know it, but they feel pain, sadness, and hunger that last an eternity. They can feel their body but they have no conscious thoughts. They’re there. Suffering. Could you imagine wanting your body to move, but it can’t. Wanting to blink, but you can’t. Wanting to breathe, but you can’t. The dead are stuck in a state where they are no longer alive but crave the actions that keep them alive. Without them, all they can do is suffer until a Corpse Reader can complete a ritual to Depart them.”

“Where do they go then?” Theo asked.

Edgar shrugged. “No one knows. The screaming from corpses just stops.”

Theo looked at Flavia. She nervously grinned, then nodded in agreement.