Once they were inside Marika's strange tingling feeling went off the charts. It felt as if she had suddenly stepped into a freezer, but it was coupled with a creepy feeling that had nothing to do with her rational old world. The complete silence that seemed to enshroud the whole place made it even scarier.

"Marika!" Tate yelled out shaking her slightly.

"Wow, easy there why are you screaming in my ear? Do you want me to go deaf or something?" Marika asked feeling like she had been immersed in cold water. Then, finally, she could swim out of it.

"I've been calling you for a while," Tate said worriedly. "But you seemed to be completely out of it. Even your eyes were strange, it's like they went back into your head and all we could see were the white parts of them. It scared me."

From the look on his face and the lines between his eyes, Marika could tell he was telling the truth and she found it rather odd. While she thought of it as just a strange feeling on the outside it looked more serious and maybe it was. Marika needed to pay more attention to what was going on, even the smallest details could turn out to be important.

"Are you sure you are okay?" Tate asked having never seen her react to something as strongly.

"I'm fine," Marika said faking cheerfulness. "I guess it's just that someone is walking over my grave."

She had said the strange expression a million times before but saying it in that moment left a bitter taste in her mouth. It was probably because Marika was aware that there was a chance that she would soon be going to her grave permanently and the thought scared her more than she cared to admit.

"Really?" Tate asked not sounding convinced. "You're all covered in goosebumps."

"Yeah, there is just something unsettling about this place," Marika admitted reluctantly. "It's like we've entered one of those Egyptian tombs, the ones that come with a curse put on anyone who opens them up and disturbs their slumbering dwellers."

"You're not that wrong," Flufflala said perking up her ears. "Some restless souls are lingering behind, too bitter about their deaths to move on into the afterlife."

Great! Just great! Why did she need to tell me that? Wouldn't the not knowing make everything so much more pleasant? Now I'll feel whatever I do is being judged by an invisible grumpy audience.

"But don't worry," Flufflala hurried on to say. "They won't harm you. They only harm themselves by refusing to move on, to forgive and forget. Especially to forgive themselves for the mistakes they've made."

It was the saddest fate imaginable to be stuck in your regret without having the strength or the will to move on. Even if doing so could lead to far great things.

"That's so sad," Marika finally said trying to imagine how it was to be trapped in that odd place for eternity. "Isn't there anything we can do for them?"

"Sadly, no," Flufflala said quietly. "The only way for them to find peace is to fight for it with their inner demons. To deal with their issues and come out of them stronger."

Marika lowered her head, imagining the amount of pain and suffering they were feeling. Putting herself in their shoes made her dizzy with emotions and her ability to empathize with others working against her in that one instant.

"Marika, we need to keep moving," Tate said looking around the cave-like place cautiously.

He needed to be the voice of reason as Marika's emotions often got the best of her. Even though many people saw her as a cold and proud person, Tate knew that was just a facade she was hiding behind.

Marika was far more sensitive than most people who judged her but she did her best to hide her vulnerable side. After all, it was by having an open heart that she got hurt in the past, and having an armor of anger and pride felt like a necessity in a world that was looking for weaknesses to latch on before bleeding the person dry.

"Yes, yes, of course," Marika said clearing her head of any lingering emotions, putting them behind a thick wall that had grown only thicker after years of being her coping mechanism.

Going forward they realized that the space they were in was more like a hallway that led to many different places. It was like a crossroad inside a mountain and all the openings looked more or less the same.

"Which way should we go?" Flufflala said, looking at each entrance carefully but finding no difference between the three they could see in the dark tunnel.

It was lucky that they were all supernatural beings with enhanced sight otherwise the utter darkness surrounding them would have been terrifying. As it was they didn't want to risk attracting attention by using light sources as the vague outlines of things they could see were more than enough.

"I don't know," Tate admitted sheepishly as his eyes scanned all the entrances for danger and found none. At least there weren't any visible dangers.

"Didn't those survivors tell you which one to take?" Flufflala said her voice slightly louder than necessary.

"No, not really," Tate said his tone matching hers. "They were all confused and disoriented. They could barely tell me the horrible highlights of everything they had been through, giving me proper directions wasn't something they couldn't do in their shocked state. They simply said the guide will know."

"I do know," Marika said dazedly having just tuned into their conversation.

She was so absorbed in the strange feeling, the strange pull she felt from the middle opening that she only registered their conversation when they started raising their voices.

"It's the middle one," Marika said her nostril unconsciously flaring as if she could smell the strange energy calling her.

"Are you sure?" Tate asked, wanting to avoid any possible mistakes, knowing those could cost them a lot.

They could cost them their lives but more importantly, Marika could lose her life and that was one sacrifice he wasn't ready to make for the greater good, for the good of all the magical and supernatural beings everywhere.

"Yes," Marika answered robotically as she glided unnatural toward the middle entrance.

It looked like she was a puppet being led by the invisible strings attached to her whole body. The sight was quite a disturbing one making Tate's skin crawl as he hurried to be by her side, worried that whatever power had taken control over her might end up hurting her in the end but knowing that he shouldn't interrupt the trance as that could do more harm than good.

"What do we do?" Tate asked turning to look at Flufflala, his voice so shaky that it sounded like it might fall apart at any second.

"We follow the guide," Flufflala said impatiently. "You need to accept that she is here to guide us, this is her mission and all we can do to help her is follow her lead and get this over as soon as possible."

"We're here with you Marika," he said as he started walking in step with her. "You don't need to be afraid. I'll protect you."

You stupid sentimental man, why do you make promises you can't keep? I can't even protect myself. How are you supposed to protect me from the presence in my head? How am I supposed not to be afraid when I am losing control, and I don't know if I'm leading you to the hidden treasure you're looking for, the Turret of Supel, or your doom?

When they stepped through the passage it was like a whole new world burst out right in front of their eyes, unlike anything they ever expected to see even after hearing all the contradictory stories about beauty and horror that hid there.

Everything was so seductively enchanting that it had them on edge. The huge room was decorated in different shades of purple with beautiful arches standing guard over stunning fairy statues that looked stunningly beautiful and terrifying in their stillness at the same time.

Unnaturally big lilacs hung from the ornately decorated chandeliers, their intoxicating smell making them feel dizzy, and disoriented. Yet, somehow they also felt ecstatic, happy that they were alive. Content that they were there in that stunningly beautiful room to witness the miracle of magic and love woven into the very Abyss of Sorrow. Yet, as the name of the place suggested there was also that bitter-sweet feeling of sorrow for things lost, for words not said.

The feelings in that space were so overwhelming that the three of them simply plopped themselves on the ground in front of a fairy spreading her hands and wings as if trying to embrace them and they started slowly dozing off.

They were trapped in a middle way between dream and reality, unable to tell which was which only knowing that there was something they should be doing, that there was a mistake they were making, but they couldn't remember what it was. Then after some time they no longer cared.

They let go and embraced the illusion that simultaneously felt real and still completely fantastical.