“Oh my God, I’m actually right! There is an entrance here!” Penny cries.

It’s less of an entrance and more of a loose block of stone in the wall. She plunges Mira into the space between the loose rock and the firm one, before digging it out and sending it thumping to the ground below.

“There we go,” Penny says, wiping her brow of sweat.

Ren peers through the hole that she’s made. It’s barely big enough to crawl through, but if they wriggle about enough, then perhaps they can still make it. Vane may have to shave off that armour, though.

With Gridel’s help, they remove yet another block, then another, till the crawlspace is large enough to fit all four of them. Penny goes first, sticking her head into the black space and gazing about.

“How’s it looking?” Ren asks.

“Uh… we’re just going to straight up fall to our deaths if we try going down from here,” Penny says. “We need to walk a bit of the ledge to a staircase.”

“A ledge?”

“Yeah.” Penny withdraws her head, and gestures to the narrow ledge on the wall, barely visible in the darkness. “It’s wide enough to stand on, but if we tried moving quickly, we’d definitely fall. And it’s way too high up to survive that.”

“And there’s no other way to, you know, get inside?”

Penny shakes her head. “Unless you want to contend with the lava, I suppose not.”

The lava doesn’t look like it’s going to be stopping anytime soon, and Ren is starting to feel the heat permeate his tunic. Staying outside would, like Vane said, only lead to heatstroke.

“Okay,” Penny says, shrugging her shoulders, and she cracks her knuckles. “Let’s do this.”

Whilst Gridel insisted that she be the first one to enter, in case something dangerous lurked in the dark, Penny shuts her down with the power of her glare. She gets on her hands and knees, wriggling through the crawlspace and into the pyramid.

Ren follows closely behind, having to manoeuvre himself rather awkwardly so that he could slip Ifrit through the gap. Once he clears the hole, he stands, making sure to keep close to the wall, back pressed flush against it. He takes a deep breath, swallowing tightly. When Penny said that the drop is sharp and far, she was not exaggerating.

Despite the relative darkness, his surroundings are still visible. Flames dance on torches held to the walls, and braziers placed in corners around the single room this pyramid holds. Ren’s gaze snaps up to the single, unlit brazier hanging from the ceiling, a metal basket of charcoal and soot.

He will look down once they reach the stairs. Till then, he’ll keep his head up.

Penny begins to inch along the wall, heading towards the stairs. Ren moves as well, with Gridel and Vane climbing in one after the other. He wonders how strange they must look like that, four people hugging the wall behind them, limbs spread like starfish as they made their way along the ledge of a pyramid.

Hell, Ren isn’t even sure this is not prohibited. They could soon be cursed by the ghost of the dead person this pyramid is dedicated to just by being in here.

Sweat rolls down his forehead, coalescing on his chin, and dripping to the ground below. The soles of their shoes grate against the sand and dust gathered on the ledge. Never had five metres seemed so far away. Every second felt like an eternity, and every step felt so slippery, like he was going to fall off the ledge at any moment and plummet to his death below.

When he finally hops onto the landing of the stairwell, landing with a dull thud against the cracked stone tiles, he breathes a sigh of relief. Gridel and Vane soon join him and Penny, finally free from the death trap that is that ledge.

“Well, at least we made it,” Penny says, dusting herself of sand. “I think I saw a sarcophagus down there. We should go and check it out.”

“A sarcophagus?” Gridel asks.

“Like, a coffin. You know, where you put dead people in before you bury them,” Penny explains. “But since this is a pyramid, there’ll probably be mummies.”

“But this isn’t Egypt, though. They might not have the same rituals as us,” Ren points out.

Penny hums, as she makes her way down the stairs. “Maybe not, but wouldn’t that make it even more exciting?”

“Just so you know, we’re here to find the Horseman’s palace and to destroy his heart, not to sightsee in some pyramid-like structure.”

Penny chuckles. “Yeah, yeah, I know.”

The descent after that is quiet, the stairs take them down to the first floor dutifully. The entrance faces away from where the lava snakes from, so the place isn’t flooded with the stuff. However, Ren does still see the trails of lava cascading along beside them, but none of them actually enter the pyramid.

“So, this is the sarcophagus.”

Penny has wandered over to the single sarcophagus lying in the middle of the square room, several candles placed around its base. It looks no different from the sarcophagus that one would normally see back in their world. Gridel follows her with slower steps, careful not to knock over the burning candles on the ground.

The design on the sarcophagus is so intricately carved, depicting that of a human person lying face up. Their eyes are closed, their cheeks sunken and sallow. Their arms are shown crossed over each other, holding implements with a significance that Ren is not aware of.

Penny bends over the sarcophagus, gaze roving over it, as though trying to commit every line, every contour, to memory. She reaches out to touch it, but Vane stops her.

“Best not to do anything rash when we don’t know what it does,” he says.

“I don’t think it’ll do anything. It’s just a coffin.”

“The candles,” Vane says. “Someone was just here.”

Ren frowns. “What’s this about candles?”

“If this place has been abandoned for such a long time, then the candles wouldn’t be lit up. Someone must have been here recently, and that may have something to do with the coffin.”

Ren meets Penny’s eyes. “I can’t argue with him here.”

“No, but… if someone was here… then where are they now?” Penny asks.

Ren observes the candles—not enough wax has melted to indicate that their mystery visitor was here a long time ago. And yet, the lava had flowed past its entrances. Does this mean that whoever was here… is still here somewhere? In this pyramid?

Ren glances about, gaze flitting from shadow to shadow. There doesn’t seem to be anywhere to hide, with walls blank and as featureless, and floors with no hidden hatch or trapdoor, or anything. Where—

There is really only one place left, isn’t there? Ren turns his gaze back to the sarcophagus. That is the last place they’ve not checked.

“They’re in the sarcophagus,” Ren says. “Whoever it is, they’ve concealed themselves inside it.”

“What? But… there’s no way…” Penny starts, but Vane cuts her off with a firm tone.

“I think so too,” Vane says. “It is the only reasonable hiding place left.”

“In that case, opening it is an inevitability,” Gridel says.

Penny shakes her head. “Alternatively, we could just leave. You know, the lava’s probably going to stop in a couple of minutes…”

“I doubt it,” Ren says. “If you consider it’s velocity…” He trails off, and eyes her suspiciously. “Weren’t you the one who was so hyped about opening it earlier?”

Penny bristles. “Well, after giving it some thought and realising that whoever is inside might be very much alive, or undead, I’d much prefer not.”

“I’d rather we be the ones taking action instead of the ones being stabbed in the back when we least expect it,” Vane says. He approaches the sarcophagus, and he motions for Gridel to take hold of the lid on the other side.

“Be ready to attack should the person be hostile,” Vane says. Ren tightens his grip on his staff, and Penny reluctantly unsheathes her dirk.

On the count of three, and with a grunting heave, Vane and Gridel lift the cover of the sarcophagus. The golden lid falls to the ground, knocking over a couple of the candles, their flames extinguishing as soon as they hit the sand. Ren sidesteps the fallen stick of melting wax, careful not to burn himself on the hot stuff.

The sarcophagus… holds nothing but a black abyss and a rope ladder. A single hole carved into the ground, below the sarcophagus, descends through the sand. Where could this ladder lead? Into the catacombs? Some ancient civilisation below the ground? What could this mean?

“Well, no pain, no gain,” Penny says. She hoists herself over the edge of the sarcophagi, fingers gripping the rungs of the ladder. “Come on. Let’s go see what’s at the bottom of this whole pyramid.”

The implication is clear: they may discover civilisation living their daily lives underground, just like in Gravelle. There may be a bustling colony, or a quiet town, or an energetic Marketplace. And they will never know till they head down to see for themselves.

Ren follows Penny’s descent, before Vane and Gridel climb down after them. They lower themselves into the darkest chamber ever, even darker than the main room aboveground. Their only light, apart from the torches at the very bottom, is the light beam from the skylight above their heads.

Penny hops down the ladder, landing with a light thump on the sandy ground. Ren drops down after her, then their other two companions. Around him, all he sees is a narrow corridor, one that spans a fair distance between the ladder and a corner that turns to the left.

“Yeah, that doesn’t look ominous at all,” Ren says.

“Well, all these torches obviously means that someone’s living here, right?” Penny says. “Come on. We should go.”

Ren glances at Gridel and Vane, neither of whom seems to be extremely enthusiastic about it, nor are they extremely against it either. At this point, Ren doesn’t think they’re particularly surprised by Penny’s antics anymore and are just taking it all in stride.

Penny sets off down the lit hallway, and Ren takes off after her. Surely, he cannot let her venture into potential danger herself. The corridor takes a sharp turn, and they follow it. Soon, however, they come to a fork in the road, a T-junction, if you will. On the wall ahead of them, all Ren sees is a plaque, with blocky writing that reads: “Let fear be your guide.”

“What the heck does that mean?” Penny wonders, touching her chin.

“I don’t know, but I don’t particularly like the sound of letting my fear guide me,” Ren says blandly. He glances from one path to the other: one is dark, and the other is lit by torches. Don’t tell him…

“This is a maze, isn’t it?” Ren adds. “We’re in some kind of catacombs, and there are going to be dead people all around.”

“Well, that is a distinct possibility,” Gridel says. “In any case, I believe we need to take the darkened path.”

Penny turns back to her, confusion drawing her brows together. “Why?”

“Because we naturally fear the darkness. If we are to let fear be our guide, then we must choose, against our instincts, the path that we would fear.”

Penny grins, a little trembling though. “Oh, aren’t you a smart cookie?”

Gridel averts her gaze. “It was a simple case of deduction.”

“Okay, so… uh… Ren, I totally volunteer you,” Penny says, grabbing Ren’s shoulders and dragging him to the mouth of the dark corridor. It’s absolutely pitch-black, with not even a single source of illumination. What if there’s something there, in the dark? Peering up at him with beady eyes, or ready to make a grab at him from the ground?

“Why don’t you go?” Ren complains.

“Because I… uh… gentlemen first.”

Vane sighs. “I’ll take the lead. Gridel, make sure to watch the back.”

Gridel hums. “Don’t need you telling me twice.”

With that, Vane sets off down the dark hallway. He marches on, as though he were unafraid of what lies beyond. The whole atmosphere reminds Ren of the haunted house that he and Penny went to when they were younger, at an amusement park. Hands grabbed at your ankles, and fake skulls and spiders hung from the ceiling. Ghosts chased you from the back, and the front? Jumpscares galore.

It was an embarrassing memory, really, though it certainly was more terror than embarrassment at that time. Penny cried so loudly, even sunk to her knees and bawled her eyes out, that they had to stop the experience altogether. They were escorted out by staff who apologised nonstop, even with Penny’s father’s reassurances.

“Boo.”

Ren screeches, drawing both Vane and Gridel’s attention, the two of them snapping their heads over to look towards him. Penny giggles, a wide grin on her face, the white of her teeth visible even in the dim light of the torches.

“Don’t scare me like that,” Ren snarls.

Penny purses her lips. “You looked like your mind was so far away. It was the prime opportunity.”

Ren bristles at that.

“So, what were you thinking about?” Penny asks. She’s trying to sound confident, but there’s no hiding the tremble in her voice. Penny’s always been scared of the dark, afraid of ghosts that would grab her shoulder with their icy claws, afraid of the Bogeyman hiding in her closet or under her bed.

“What am I thinking about? I was thinking about the time you were in a haunted house and—”

“That’s not my fault,” Penny cuts in. “They shouldn’t let kids into something so scary. I nearly shit my pants, I’ll have you know. And you actually peed.”

Ren’s cheeks flush. “You really didn’t have to bring up our past embarrassments.”

“What’s this about a haunted house, if you don’t mind me asking?” Gridel asks. “Letting young children run wild in such a dangerous place is—”

“Proper exorcism techniques must be performed before even stepping into a place suspected of hauntings,” Vane states as a matter-of-factly, not even pausing in his rhythm as he walks. “How irresponsible it is of your guardians to have let you run in by yourselves…”

“Well, technically, it’s not dangerous,” Penny assures them. “In our world, a haunted house is not actually haunted. It’s just a lot of people dressed up as ghosts and zombies to scare you.”

She may be walking behind them, but Ren can hear the frown in Gridel’s voice. “Why would you want to be scared?”

“Maybe it’s because that world has fewer dangers than in this one,” Penny says. “We don’t have monsters, we don’t have magical creatures and Horsemen and that sort of thing. It wasn’t as exciting as it is in Zenthos.”

“It sounds nice, where you’re from,” Gridel says. There is a tenderness in her tone, like she’s thinking about it, even absently. “A world without pain or suffering—”

Ren shakes his head. “Nah. Doesn’t mean that we don’t have monsters means that we don’t have pain and suffering. It’s just… a different kind.”

“Like what?”

Like poverty, like bullying, like the pressures of society on—

Ren almost bumps into Vane, the man having stopped in front of an intersection. He hadn’t realised how far they’d walked till now. The intersection now boasts walkways in stone of different colours: white, grey, and black. Another line of words is printed on the wall: Walk the path of humanity before reaching the path of glory.

“What the heck does that mean? The path of humanity?” Ren asks.

“I’m thinking grey,” Penny say immediately.

“What, why?”

Vane clears his throat. “I’m curious as to the reason as well.”

“Don’t know. Just a feeling. It’s, like, how humans aren’t black or white, right? Like, we’re all good and bad in some ways, but we’re not all good or all bad,” Penny says. “So, yeah.”

“I agree with that,” Gridel says. “It sounds… right.”

Ren nods. “Same.”

“Then shall we go?” Vane says. Penny and Ren give him the go-ahead, and he sets off down the grey path. Unlike the path of darkness, this one is lit with torches, illuminating their way ahead. And unlike the path of darkness, the walls are actually illustrated in this one.

Pictures line the walls, drawn on the blocks of stone with crude paint. A man with the head of a red-feathered bird sitting on a throne, attended by his subjects. He holds a sceptre, and his servants, clad in armour like Vane’s, and carrying spears and swords. The next picture depicts an island plunging to the ground—that must be Heliola meeting its untimely demise—and multitudes of people falling from the island… or jumping to their deaths.

The final mural shows people heading underground, taking shelter in pyramids that must have been here before the fall even happened. And that means that…

“What is this?”

Ren turns to Penny, who is staring at the wall ahead of them—painted also with a mural. This one shows humans living alongside what looks to be oversized bats, the creatures of the night crawling about on their dark wings, like a quadrupedal species. They hold up what looks to be a trophy, the only item painted in gold in all these murals.

“Perhaps… the people who fled down here… made friends with these beasts?” Gridel suggests.

“Yeah, it looks that way, if we can trust these murals,” Ren says. But what he’s more concerned about… is the dead-end. Why are they at a dead-end? Did they choose the wrong path?

“Did we go the wrong way?” Penny echoes his thoughts.

“I don’t see another way forward, but…” Gridel hums, touching her chin. “We may have interpreted—”

“No, I think we’re right,” Ren says. “‘Walk the path of humanity before reaching the path of glory.’ That’s what it said on the wall, right? So, we’ve walked the path of humanity, now we need to walk the path of glory.”

“But what’s the path of glory?” Penny asks. But she need only watch, as Ren strides up to the mural, and touches the golden trophy. Upon contact, the trophy shines with a bright glow, blinding even Ren. He ducks his head, squinting at the ground.

With a rumble, the wall shifts. Ren can feel it under his fingertips. It moves and slides, clunking as it does so, moving apart sand and gravel as it slides.

Then, it stops, and Ren peers up.