Mavis returned back by the rope, standing next to Ash as Tristan hopped down from the rope, landing on his feet with an audible thud against the ground. He blew on his hands, shaking them in the air and letting out a playful gasp.

"That rope stung like hell!" He complained as he looked at his hands, the skin on his palms was bleeding slightly.

"That complaining doesn't match your appearance, big guy." Ash teased, slapping Tristan on the back.

"What's wrong with speaking the truth? Those ropes really do sting! And hey, it's not my fault I grew like this." Tristan sighed and brushed his hands together.

He stopped for a moment and looked at Mavis, a glimmer of sadness appearing in his eyes before he walked up to him.

"Uh, sorry if I got a bit pushy back there. It all happened so quick and you know-" Tristan began to apologize to Mavis before being cut off.

"Don't worry about it. We're all in this together, it's reasonable that people would lose their cool during a situation like this. I mean, we all have a lot going on in our minds, right?" He smiled and patted Tristan's shoulder.

Tristan nodded, looking at the ground briefly before turning back to look up the wall. Soon, the others all reached the ground floor, landing on the outside of the wall.

Seven of us. I was put off by the sudden increase in our group before, but now that we're all here, I think this is the better way.

Abigail seemed better now but still shaken up as she stayed close to Misha. Recon stretched and caught some air while Tristan made sure Lena was alright.

"Let's get going," Mavis said as he clapped his hands softly.

"Where to? It's the dead of night right now, is it really our best option to go deeper when we can't even see anything?" Recon asked, raising an eyebrow as he stood up straight.

"For today, yes. Right now we aren't in the dangerous parts of the outside yet, so we should just head deeper in since we won't reach the second layer by daybreak anyways." Mavis responded.

"Second layer?" Lena walked closer and asked curiously.

Mavis nodded and pulled the journal out from his pack, flipping to a set of pages and showing it to the group.

"This journal describes these layers that separate the levels of danger of the outside world, with the deeper you move in, the more dangerous it becomes. Right now, we're in the first layer which is labelled as the "Tranquility Zone", due to the effects of the spell on the walls, it keeps more powerful beings away. So the only thing we have to worry about in this layer are the monsters to weak to even be recognized by the barrier." He explained as he pointed to the sketch on the page.

"Makes sense, but how big are these layers? Like how do we know when we reached the second layer?" Lena asked.

"From the notes in here, apparently there are different symptoms you will experience the deeper you go." He answered quietly.

"Symptoms?" Recon asked now, glancing at Tristan who had the same curious look.

"In the first layer, it seems there isn't really any side effects, but once you enter the second, you may begin to experience nausea or vomiting." Mavis furrowed his eyebrows as he glanced up at them, seeing that they wanted to know more. "For the third layer, paranoia sets in as hallucinations become frequent. The fourth layer completely negates magic."

"What the hell? Why didn't you tell us this before?" Tristan asked as he shook his head.

"No magic for the fourth layer? We're basically helpless babies at that point." Recon clicked his tongue.

Mavis sighed and slapped the journal shut, looking up at the group. "You all came here knowing how dangerous it was, if this information is enough to make you waver then you're better off climbing back up that rope right now!"

They stayed silent, seemingly agreeing with his words as Recon clicked his tongue again. Ash sighed and brushed his hair to the side.

"Anyways, it seems the second layer will be completely underground, so be prepared for that. Let's move out." Mavis ordered as he turned around facing the great beyond waiting for them.

"Are you sure there's nothing else left you forgot to tell us?" Recon scowled, crossing his arms.

"Come on, Recon, you're on edge." Lena tapped his arm, giving a small smile.

"We all need to just need a bit of time to process everything, that's all." Misha said quietly, holding Abigail's hand.

Mavis looked over at Abigail, who was looking at him with those same eyes of despair. That look sent a shiver down his body, making him feel regret he had never felt before as he bit his lip, the pain that arose from it felt deserved.

I'm sorry.

He averted his gaze from her, feeling his cheeks warm up as tears began to well up inside. Fighting the urge to let those tears fall, he took a deep breath before looking back up and putting a smile on his face.

What I did is something I can never forgive myself for. At that moment, I became irrational and made an impulsive decision, one that I had no right to make. My own insecurity led to feelings I never knew I could possess crawl their way out, seeing Michael with her, it made my mind flip upside down. It doesn't make any sense to me, I know myself, I know I would never do something like that. Yet I did. Would I do the same to the others if they got in my way? I would never like to think that, but I just don't know anymore. Right now, the best thing I can do is continue to lead them and make sure we survive, that is my role. They've entrusted their future, their lives to me, following my own aspirations and choosing to follow me down this path.

After drifting away in thought while moving forward through the dark, thick forests, Mavis felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned to see Ash with his usual brooding expression, walking up next to him in front of the others.

While Ash always questioned my decision first hand, he was also the one I could rely on the most. As little kids, we were often spiteful to each other, acting as rivals. At a certain point, we both seemed to realize by working together, we could accomplish more. Our minds just seem to operate the same way, for better or worse.

"It's not like you to brood like this, especially now that we're outside the walls. I thought you'd be pretty ecstatic." Ash remarked, glancing at Mavis as they pushed through some low hanging branches of the surrounding trees.

Mavis glanced at Ash out of the side of his vision, narrowing his eyebrows in suspicion, "Don't play games with me, you don't have to beat around the bush. I know you still suspect me of letting Michael go on purpose."

"Maybe I'm just checking up on my friend."

"I doubt that, that's not like you." Mavis sighed and gazed up, his vision blocked by the overbearing trees hanging in the sky.

"That stings." Ash gave a dry smile before jumping as Recon suddenly bolted up next to them.

"What're you so hyper about?" Mavis asked Recon, looking at their tall companion who seemed to be twitching with excitement.

"We never got to fight anything back in the walls, never got to use magic. Now I can finally let loose!" Recon answered, gritting his sharp teeth with a smirk.

Mavis and Ash glanced at each other with worried expressions then looked back at Tristan, who only replied with a shrug. Mavis walked up next to Recon, looking up at his white hair before deciding to speak.

"I guess you'll be our enforcer in the group."

"Enforcer? What's that?" Recon asked, stepping over a fallen over log.

"It's sort of like, the person who engages in fights for the group," Mavis replied with a confident smile, knowing how to play Recon now.

"Heh, sounds good to me. I don't really care as long as I get to fight." He cheered, pumping his fists in the air as he stomped forward through the forest.

Ash tapped Mavis again, causing him to turn to him once more with a disgruntled expression. "What is it this time?" Mavis asked with a playful sigh.

"You should talk to Abigail." Ash noticed Mavis' eyes widened as he told him that, then his gaze softened into a look of sadness.

"I should give her some time, we all should," Mavis replied quietly, rubbing the back of his head as he looked up at the tall styx trees, watching the lesser spirits fill the darkness of the night.

"So you can give her room to become resentful to you? So she can come to her own conclusion of what happened? Is that really what you want, Mav?"

"Of course I don't want that!" Mavis yelled in a whisper, glancing back to make sure nobody heard that. "I just can't look at her right now, I can't."

Ash rubbed the bridge of his nose, staring intently at the ground before looking back at Mavis, "You're our leader, the leader of "The Seekers" and I'm the one who is supposed to set you straight. If you can't even face your own companions when they need you the most, when they need to hear it from your mouth directly that everything is okay, then why did you step up to the position?"

Mavis stopped, nodding as he took in Ash's words, letting them sink into his mind as he let them resonate within. Running his fingers through his soft grey hair, Mavis smiled at Ash.

"Sometimes you really drive it in, you know?" Mavis let out a wry chuckle before a confident smile spread across his lips. "I'll do it."

"That's our leader," Ash replied with a sigh, turning back and waving his hand.