"I don't know what any of those words mean," Ryn answered in a deadpan voice. "Saint Hu-ah-na prep? Was that your spawn site? I didn't know Eldritch could spawn in places like these. It does not look nearly haunted enough. In fact, in the first achta, there was a man named…"

Lexie shook her head as Ryn rambled, focusing on all the minute details in the space. "This is a school. My school."

Ryn paused. "Oh."

"Yeah, oh." She walked around the tables, running her hand over the wooden surface. The smooth, almost plastic feel of it was so familiar that it ached.

It felt like she'd been here just yesterday, sliding into a seat, pulling out a laptop to finish her paper. The memories were dropping into her mind one after the other.

She could still picture this place vividly, with the shiny door hinges and the trash can in the corner that would overflow with papers and empty Coke cans by the close of day.

The crest embossed on the wall was cleaned every single day till it shone.

It was like she'd never left.

"What is happening, Fae?" Lexie turned to Ryn. "Why does this dungeon level look like my school?"

Ryn raised one shoulder in a lazy shrug. It was a move she'd learned from Lexie, after Lexie had shrugged at one of her questions. Ryn had been fascinated by the movement and asked her what it meant and how it differed from a two-shouldered shrug. Lexie had ignored her at first, but Ryn was persistent. She'd bugged her until it was either give in or kill–you-know-who.

Lexie didn't want to end up in the ground again, so she'd told her.

Now Ryn wouldn't stop doing the one-shouldered shrug, and her ears would quiver in delight each time she managed it.

"It could be that the Eldritch origin of this dungeon once appeared on Earth, and it remembered this visual from that time. Dungeons can recreate scenes from places they've been, although not perfectly."

But that would only make sense if it had copied a scene from Victoire or Everstone Elementary. This wasn't Everstone. This was a school from a whole different dimension with a whole different Lexie.

"Can dungeons move between different dimensions?" Lexie asked Ryn.

"Not typically. During the creation of a dungeon–"

"Just yes or no, Ryn."

Ryn pursed her lips. "No. Although..."

"Although what?"

"A long time ago, while my brother and I were catching dragon fleas in the desert, we met a man who was once a Lych-Ta. They are minor experts on dungeons. He was a fascinating man and had many medals in..." She met Lexie's gaze and nodded. "Yes, of course. You do not care about that part. In conclusion, my former companion, whom you killed, also knew this man, and we bonded over our mutual knowledge. He then felt generous enough to tell me that this dungeon was formed from a spawn of Yasycht. As I have told you, Yasycht is in the beyond, but were he to break out, he and his spawn would have the power over the doors once more."

"I see."

"Yes. In that case, the dungeon would be able to access different dimensions. But as it is, Yasycht is restricted and tightly controlled. The dungeon would not have that power, unless he had somehow escaped his confines." She breathed her relief. "Luckily, we don't have to worry about that."

Lexie swallowed. "Luckily."

Internally, she was wondering if Yasycht had somehow escaped from wherever the Fae had put him.

Perhaps the Great Old One was now in this realm with them. A part of Lexie was excited at the possibility of facing and defeating a more powerful creature. But then she was reminded of Guaptyl and how she'd barely survived the fight with him.

She'd been beaten within an inch of her life and had her limbs torn from her body.

But what hurt even more than that was the despondency at the thought of an inevitable loss.

She hated losing.

She didn't want that feeling again. It was awful. Guaptyl had only been an Old One. Yasycht was a Great Old One.

So before she faced him, she needed to get stronger.

She wondered if she should warn Ryn about her suspicions, but she decided that Ryn might not be knowledgeable enough to help. Plus, she wasn't sure she trusted the Fae entirely. They might be honor-bound to tell the truth, but Dark Fae were inherently deceptive creatures, and she could not trust them.

She did not trust anyone except things who couldn't lie to her, like other Eldritch.

Like V'Sala.

She would talk to him at the first opportunity. But in the meantime, she thought about other reasons why the classroom was here.

"Could the dungeon possibly have taken this from my memory?" Lexie asked.

"Not unless you experienced a soul touch with it."

"Ah." So that was the more likely reason. Lexie wondered why she was almost disappointed to hear that. She shook it off.

"What do we do now?"

"I'm not sure," Ryn said. "In some Fae games, there is often a concept of El-Ocht, where everything is connected and things are like echoes of each other, but they differ in one way. For example, a ba-Lo is like a tyn-ka, but it's different in the leaves. A shyst is also like a go-ran, but it's–"

"To the point, Ryn," Lexie said.

Ryn paused, considered her words, and then spoke slowly. "The environment is different, but perhaps the point is the same. A maze. Perhaps the goal is still to find our way out of here."

'Alright." Lexie nodded.

As she headed to the door, a small part of her wasn't sure she wanted to leave. At least not yet.

Something urged her to sit at her desk and bask in the memories for just a moment.

At the same time, this whole scene made her uncomfortable. It made her want to run, escape.

It was like two forces were fighting inside her, one that wanted to linger in this space and reminisce, and the other that wanted to get out of here as soon as possible.

Lexie decided to listen to the latter instinct, as that aligned more with her goals. She got to the door, but before she could open it, it was pushed open by someone else, and two human boys walked through.

Lexie backed up quickly, so as not to bump into them, but she needn't have bothered. The boys walked right through her like she wasn't there, like she was merely a phantom rather than a real person.

"Dude, you should have been there," the sandy-haired boy was saying. "Steph B wore the tiniest bikini known to man, and Jared drank so much Special Kool Aid that he threw up in the pool."

"Sick," the one next to him, with jet-black hair, said. "I wish I could have made it, man, but you know how my dad is. I bombed the PSAT, and so I'm grounded until further notice. He even has his dumb ass PA babysitting me so I don't sneak out."

"Bummer. So are you resitting?"

"Yeah, in a week."

"Bro, I told you just to do what I did. Get Tate Reynolds to write it for you. There's a reason they call him the Whiz. His test-taking skills are like magic."

The other guy crumpled his face in thought. "I don't know. Sounds risky."

"It's totally not. I've been doing it since my Junior year. He writes my papers, does my homework, and takes any online test. I haven't gotten anything below an A– in ages."

"Yeah, but taking the PSATs is a whole other thing."

"Don't worry about it. He knows a guy who can hack into their computers. Just sit down and pretend to click things, and he'll do all the work."

Stolen story; please report.

"Seriously?"

"Cool, right. And wanna know the best thing?"

He nodded.

"The kid's desperate for money. Like, real desperate. His family's broke, and his dad is an abusive piece of shit who gambles everything they earn from that gas station of theirs. Don't have a clue where his mom is. Not only that, the dad took out a bunch of loans in Tate's name and wrecked his credit, so he can't get student loans or anything. There are loan sharks after him."

"Jesus. How do you know all this?"

"Remember Gretchen's party last summer? Cody invited Tate as a thank you for all the homework help, and for some reason, Tate actually went. We got him drunk, and bro basically spilled his guts. Gave us this whole sob story. It was kinda sad and pathetic. Anyway, that's how we found out how desperate he was to make money. He'll do just about anything," he said. "You could ask him to kiss the ground and he'll probably do it."

They snickered, and Lexie's eyes narrowed. She suddenly felt an overwhelming urge to kill them, and the urge was worse than usual.

Before, it was just a primal drive.

Now, it was mind, body, and soul that wanted to kill them.

Unfortunately, she couldn't touch them. She tried sending a fireball at them, but it passed right through. <Out of Hand> didn't work either.

Lexie snarled. Damn it.

Ryn walked up to her. "Did you just try to scorch his head?"

"Yes."

"Why"

"Because I wanted to."

"Ah, I see." She nodded solemnly. "That's not a typical human greeting, is it?"

Lexie shook her head. She suppressed her frustration and stared at the door.

She reached out to it, wondering if her hands would pass through. It didn't. She closed her palm over the door handle, and she opened up into a hallway that she had definitely seen before.

A few students were walking up, chatting amongst themselves. The sound bled into Lexie's ears slowly, like someone was turning up the volume on a television set. And it looked like people were appearing out of thin air, too, filling up the previously open space.

Lexie wandered down, passing through the bodies, as Ryn and the Fae child, whose name Lexie did not know, trailed her. Daily gossip floated past her, but she didn't care enough to retain any of what they were saying.

The exit. She needed to find the exit.

As she walked, she expected the paths to start twisting into each other, or for her to get to a dead end, or get lost. But everything was still so straightforward.

Left at the end. Past the teacher's offices. Round the janitor's closet.

She knew the way out of here like the back of her hand.

But when she got the door under the large exit sign, the doors wouldn't open.

She sighed. "What now?"

"Perhaps we are not supposed to leave," Ryn suggested.

What do you mean?"

"Maybe if we were to walk out, we wouldn't be able to find our way back," she said. "I've heard that it could happen."

"If so, why would the dungeon try to protect us?"

Ryn did not have an answer. Lexie took a deep breath.

Think, Lexie.

The dungeon would not try to protect them. But it might be trying to protect itself. The dungeon, first and foremost, wanted them gone. So it would either be trying to kill them or keep them from progressing deeper within it.

Keep them going in circles.

Was that why Ryn and her companion hadn't made any headway even after completing a hundred levels?

But that also didn't make sense. If the dungeon wanted them out so badly, then shouldn't it make it easier to escape? Why was it bent on keeping them in here when that was antithetical to its wishes?

Think, Lexie. Think.

There was something strange going on here, both with the dungeon and with the test, and she got the feeling that figuring it out was the key to making it out into the Other.

This test was supposed to be a maze, but so far, nothing appeared to be maze-like. If anything, it gave her more of the experience of an escape room.

"Alright," Lexie said, "Let's explore more. Maybe then we'll find a way out."

Ryn nodded, and the child nodded too. Lexie began walking, and they followed her lead back through the pool of people and the familiar surroundings.

Everything looked the same. She passed by the chemistry lab where someone had once exploded a large test tube and triggered the emergency smoke alarm. The wall still had a dent from people slamming the door into it while running out of there.

The walls by the lockers were freshly painted, which meant it was near the beginning of the school year. One of the water fountains was out of order.

"Where are we going?" Ryn asked.

"To the janitor's office," Lexie said. "If the front door is locked, then the key to it should be there."

Lexie thought Ryn would dissuade her from trying to leave again, but the other woman simply asked, "What's a janitor?"

"Custodial staff. He cleans the school and keeps all the keys."

"Ah. I understand."

"Yeah," Lexie responded. She turned the corner, but only took a few more steps before she froze.

Headed her way was someone very familiar.

Mickie. Lexie Evan's best friend.

Lexie was hit by a wave of something indescribable, something so strong that she couldn't suppress it. She also couldn't understand it. All her emotions were tangled together in a chaotic mess, and she couldn't sort through them.

She wanted to scream. She wanted to cry. She wanted to laugh. She wanted to die.

But she just stood there, riding the wave as the girl got closer, her Louis Vuitton tote banging on her hip as she dance-walked. She had earphones in both ears and was probably listening to music.

Story of Us by Taylor Swift, Lexie realized. That was the song Mickie listened to every single day after recess.

Why did I remember that? Lexie's hands curled into fists. I'm not supposed to remember. It's meaningless to me.

It didn't feel meaningless, though.

She bit her lip so hard it bled, and the itching was so bad she wanted to rip off her own skin.

Kill her. The urge pulsed in her veins.

But Lexie didn't understand why she wanted to kill the girl. The human Mickie was weak, and she wasn't currently attacking Lexie. She had never attacked Lexie except verbally on the few occasions they'd fought. Their arguments were always because Lexie spent all her free time studying, and Mickie felt neglected.

I did neglect her.

More unrecognizable emotions crashed into Lexie.

She was determined to ignore them. She stood there waiting for Mickie to pass through her like everyone else was.

But Mickie didn't.

Her eyes came up at the last minute, and she jerked to a stop. She frowned, looking straight at Lexie.

Not through her.

At her.

"Lexie?" She plucked both earphones from her ears and slid another hand into her purse to pause the music. "What are you doing here? You're not supposed to be back till January."

"What?"'

"Did you sneak in?" Mickie asked. "Or did your mom manage to convince the principal to let you back?"

"What?" Lexie said again, feeling dumb.

"It was her, wasn't it?" Mickie rolled her eyes. "Unbelievable. You're supposed to be resting after your mental breakdown, and all she cares about is you passing the PSAT."

"Mental breakdown?" Lexie had never had a mental breakdown before. She'd come close a few times, but she didn't think she'd suffered something like that.

Had she?

"You look terrible, by the way. I know you've never been one to tan, but I've never seen you this pale. And your hair's a mess. You could have at least brushed it out of your face. What are you just locked up in your room all day? Do they even feed you?" Mickie cocked her head. "Also, are you shorter?"

Lexie frantically searched her memories as Mickie ranted, and waited for the particles to fall in her head.

But nothing came to her. This was a completely foreign scenario.

Where did this come from? Was the dungeon playing tricks on her? Why?

The thinking distracted her from the ferocious itching, so her brain kept working.

Was it some kind of clue? Had she forgotten something about a mental breakdown, she might have suffered?

Nope, nothing came to her.

And then another strange thing happened.

A boy was about to walk past Mickie, but he did a double-take, stopped, and stared at her quizzically.

"Who are you talking to?" he asked.

"Lexie, obviously," Mickie responded, pointing at Lexie.

"No one's there," the guys said with a slow smile.

"Um, someone is. What are you blind?"

"No, I'm not, but you might be losing it, Sullivan. Lay off the gummies."

He laughed to himself as he walked away.

Mickie gaped, then grabbed someone else and pointed at Lexie. "You can see her, right?"

"See what?"

"Her." She jabbed a thumb at Lexie again.

"Um....there's no one there."

Mickie paled.

Lexie didn't know what to do. It was all too much. Sh turned and ran.

She heard Ryn calling behind her, but she didn't stop. Her heart was beating fast.

She did feel like she was on the verge of a mental breakdown right now.

What was happening? Why was the dungeon showing her something she'd never seen before?

This was not a memory. This was new.

What was the point?

Lexie eventually stopped running when she reached the end of the hallway. She took a deep breath, calming herself.

Think, Lexie, Think.

This could all be a trick, she thought as she glanced around her. A game in the dungeon.

But what if it wasn't?

What if, for example, Yasycht had escaped and was recreating a scene from a different dimension? With a different Lexie Evans?

Because this wasn't a scene that Lexie had lived through. None of this had ever happened. She'd never had a breakdown and had never had to leave school.

But...Naem had once mentioned that there were microdimensions, even within the major dimensions. Dimensions created by the different choices made by different people.

He stated that that was one of the reasons why it would be difficult for Lexie to contact Logan through her dreams. Finding out the exact microdimension Lexie came from would be complicated, he said.

What if the dungeon knows?

What if it can take me there?

Lexie swallowed. She was getting ahead of herself. She didn't even know if all this was real yet. More importantly, she didn't know what the point was.

Why was the dungeon doing this?

What was the goal of these tests, and what was she supposed to do to make it to the other side?

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