My breathing becomes steady as the lumps disappear from my body, releasing me from a pain I experienced for what felt like hours; the burning of my skin and a sharp pain starting from ribs until it spread through my entire body, never stopping as I gasped for air. It was hell.

I slowly wipe my tears off my face, glancing at Nova and Luca sitting next to me. None of them say anything, probably needing this moment to recollect their thoughts and convince themselves it's all over; that the pain has stopped.

Nova no longer has to be ripped apart by mother's as deceased babies fall onto her, and Luca doesn't have to fight the wind or waves for his life.

Not having the energy to say anything, I close my eyes and face the sky, soaking in this moment of peace. I should really appreciate it more, because I never know how fast it can be taken away from me.

My eyes open when I actually realise my situation; I'm no longer in pain, and Nova and Luca are here with me.

I look around me, confused to see mud brick walls and colourful tiles, some making the shape of a flower. A flight of stairs are behind me, leading to an unknown level of this house.

I move to my knees, holding this position for a while before having the strength to bring myself to my feet.

I look down at Luca, happy to see he seems to be okay and is starting to take in our surrounding as well.

Luca's eyes land on the staircase, and he makes his way towards them, passing me to do so. I reach my hand out to Nova, but lower it when she doesn't take it. She only looks ahead, staring at a painting of women running in a garden.

"Leave her," Luca says.

I turn around, feeling broken by how empty his voice sounds. However, he offers me a small smile, slightly lifting my mood, before making his way up the stairs.

Following his instructions, I leave Nova and follow him. My head feels a little dizzy, but I push on.

We reach the top to come to a level not very different from the first one. Although, this level has more wooden stools and tiny tables decorating it.

I follow Luca to a small window, looking out of it to see the most breathtaking view. A fruitful garden surrounds this house, enclosed within low brick walls.

Behind the walls are green mountains, stretching far beyond my eyes can see, and a small village. Not too far away, I hear the steady burble of a stream.

"Amora." Nova's voice is soft, and her sudden appearance gives me a fright.

"Yes?"

I want to do more; drown her in hugs and talk to her about everything we've been through. However, I feel doing all that might just break her. I think she needs to handle things for herself right now.

"I found something." She points down the staircase, not waiting for any of us to say anything before turning around.

We follow Nova, allowing her to lead us through the cold halls. We pass a bathroom, stopping by a door in the shape of a keyhole.

Luca and I look at Nova, but she looks straight ahead as she steps through the door. We do the same, feeling a change in the atmosphere when we do it.

We enter what looks like a lounge. In it is a flat, red couch, a footstool, and a few tables that carry brown and black vases in it.

"Look there." Nova points to a circle of light falling down from the ceiling.

I move closer to the ring of light, trying to get a closer look at where the light is coming from, seeing as there is no hole in the roof.

"Hades' Clutch," I whisper, but it's loud enough for my friends to hear me.

"It's the clutch," Nova repeats, and it sounds like she's about to cry.

"This can't be real."

"Amora," Nova makes her way to me and grabs a hold of my arm, squeezing them tightly, "do you think we're in the box?"

It takes me some time to process what she is saying, but I look towards the door and everything starts falling in place. I've never heard of a keyhole-shaped door, and I can't think of any other reason that someone or something would build it like that. This room must be Pandora's Box.

"Do you, Amora?" Nova looks at me with pleading eyes, begging me to tell her the answer she wants. "Did we pass the test the lady was talking about? Are we at the box?"

"Y—yes."

Her eyes light up, and I have to hold back my tears. It doesn't feel real; thinking we've made it after all the pain.

"We'd end up in walls if we didn't," Luca says, remembering the scare Edesere gave us.

He's right, though. We must have passed the test, or we'd be cursed to live our days in that gloomy place. It's how we ended up passing that I don't understand, but maybe I should just be glad we're here.

"What now?" Luca asks, focusing on the ring of light and taking in everything easier than I had expected.

"We need the clutch to extract the evil, right?" Nova looks at me, and I nod, happy she remembered what I told her before. "So we get it down."

She pulls a table with her as she walks towards the ring of light. We watch as she steps into the light, climbs on top of the table and reaches for the clutch.

Suddenly, Nova's feet start to glow, making me jump back in fear.

"Nova?"

She lowers her hand to look at me, and her gaze turns to her feet when I point to them. I watch her panic as her entire body starts to glow. She looks angelic, but given the situation, I'm sure she doesn't want any strange things happening to her.

Nova quickly jumps off the table. However, she physically can't seem to step out of the circular light. It's almost as if a wall surrounds her and blocks her from the rest of us.

Luca and I make our way to Nova, ready to pull her out. Unfortunately, we can't seem to pass through, keeping us away from her. I've had enough of invisible walls.

Nova looks at her arm, becoming even more scared when her Vessel mark starts to shine red.

Our eyes lock for a second, but I jump back when her eyes roll back. Luca pulls me to him, watching as rest dust seeps out of Nova's Vessel mark, floating into the air and surrounding Nova.

"Nova!" I scream, but it doesn't seem like she can hear me.

I can't hear any sounds from her, but it looks like she is in pain; almost as much pain as she was in during the test to get here.

I pull myself away from Luca, preparing to break down the invisible wall separating my friend from me. We've come this far, and I can't let Nova die here.

"Amora, wait!"

I ignore Luca, and my leg makes contact with the invisible wall. Unfortunately, my kick has no effect, leaving Nova still trapped inside there.

However, before I can try again, Nova's body returns to normal, leaving me stunned as I look into her hazel eyes. I thought she had been trigged, mainly because of the red dust still surrounding her.

We remain silent for a moment, clearly all surprised that Nova is still standing in front of us.

My eyes move to her Vessel mark, and my jaw drops even lower when I see it start to fade. Nova looks just as stunned as me.

Luca walks next to me, looking more taken back than I'd ever thought I'd see him. His lips curve into a smile, and I smile as he chuckles.

Before I know it, I start laughing, loud enough that anyone would think I'm watching a comedy show. Nova joins in, holding back tears as she does so.

I fall forward, gasping when I realise the wall has now disappeared and the ring of light is gone. Nova catches me, and I take this time to throw my arms around her.

She pulls me back, eyes focused on the red cloud of dust floating past us and towards the wall. We watch it, confused as the cloud settles near a small painting of a warrior that I hadn't noticed before. Under the warrior is the number two.

As if we haven't had enough surprises for the day, the dust passes through the wall. It jumbles before our eyes before it makes out a painting of a child, and under it lies the number fifty-six.

"Nova."

"That's my number." Nova walks towards the painting, not able to reach it but staring at it with a sort of admiration.

I follow closely behind her, amazed by how everything is working out.

"I think that's your evil," I say, but I'm sure she's already figured that out. It can't be anything else.

She turns to me and throws her arms around my shoulders. I hold onto my friend, happy that we have finally made it.

"Thank you, Mora."

I smile, but I can't help but look past her.

"What is it?"

"Well...if a painting happens when an evil is returned, does that mean someone else made it here?"

Nova pulls away from me to look up at the painting of the warrior.

"Vessel two," Luca calls out from behind us. "I wonder what happened to the person. You'd think someone would tell the world about this place if they could."

"It would help," I say, wondering about what happened to that Vessel.

There might be a chance that the person can't actually say anything about this place, just like I can't speak about how I got Hades' Clutch.

I just don't know how that would work out, because people who know that person to be a Vessel would definitely have questions about how the mark is gone.

I shake my head, unable to figure things out and too tired to.

I look up at Luca, smiling as I watch him repeatedly stick his hand under the clutch and pull it away.

It doesn't take long before a ring of light shines down from the clutch again. Thankfully, I'm able to catch Luca off guard and push him through.

"You're next." I smile at him, feeling butterflies flutter in my stomach when he smiles back.

"Don't watch."

"Are you going to cry?"

He laughs, and I think he lifts his hand to take mine, but the now-working invisible wall just has to ruin the moment.

"I don't want to watch that, anyway."

Thinking of how scared I was for Nova, I don't want to see Luca in pain. At least I know he'll be alright in there, and he'll be more than alright stepping out.

When Luca's body starts to shine, I look away, knowing what will happen next. If he is screaming, I'm happy I can't hear him.

Nova walks towards me and falls onto the ground. I can't blame her, though. It's been an exhausting trip to freedom.

I take a seat in front of my friend, feeling a bit weird for acting casual as Luca experiences the same pain she went through.

"I want to travel, Mora." Nova smiles. "It wasn't an option as a Vessel. I was always scared being out there would expose me to things that would trigger me, but now that's gone."

She shakes her head in disbelief.

"You deserve it, Nova."

"We deserve it! You're coming with, and I won't take no for an answer!"

I laugh, knowing it will be difficult to get her off my back.

"You can even bring the eye-candy." She motions towards Luca's direction.

I roll my eyes, hurrying to my feet when a cloud of red dust floats above me. Nova stands up, too, and we turn around to see Luca staring at his now bare shoulder.

We watch as red dust seeps into a spot in the wall, making the painting of a cloud next to the one of the child. The number forty-nine lies under it.

"Your turn," Luca whispers, gently pulling my arm until I stand under Hades' Clutch, waiting for the ring of light to appear once again.

"Mora and I are planning to travel after this."

"Really?" Luca raises his eyebrow. "Where to?"

"We haven't thought about that yet, but that's not the point. The point is," Nova smirks, "I told Amora you could travel with us, but I'll have to set some rules since you've been giving each other heart-eyes."

Luca laughs, not taking his eyes off me as the light from the clutch returns.

"Should we look away?" He asks, already turning his body away from me.

I look between him and Nova, happy to see them free but sad that I feel I can't have the same for me.

"Amora?" Luca steps towards me, surprised he can slip his hand through what is supposed to be an invisible wall.

The absence of the wall confirms my fears, but a part of me wants to wait to see if my body will glow. I turn to my arm, praying for something I doubt will happen. Nothing happens.

Luca lifts my chin up, locking his worried eyes with mine.

"It won't work for me."

My words are rushed, because it's hard to say this at all. Everything I've worked so hard for can't work for what's inside me, and it's just something I have to live with.