We made our way through several rooms of the dungeon, with Leonard handling most of the monsters at the front and Elizabeth contributing wherever she could alongside the rest of the team.

I could do basically nothing...

But time passed and, despite everything, things were going smoothly, though we did use some potions. We stopped to rest and recharge our spells many times. At one point, we reached what looked like an arena whose color resembled a clear ocean. In front of us: a passage, and beside it, a statue of a Deity; a Goddess.

"Is this... a checkpoint?" Leonard questioned, adjusting his glasses.

"It... looks like?" Louise replied uncertainly, frowning.

"There's something written at the base of that statue," Mika pointed out.

We all approached the statue. Despite the calm, the room did not convey a comfortable vibe; it was eerily calm. We were supposed to feel safe after so many chaotic rooms, but I didn't feel like that.

"I can't read these engravings..." Leonard murmured, his hand on his chin, pensively.

"I can..." Elizabeth said, clutching her wand tightly.

"You can?" he asked her.

She nodded. "It's... the same writing as my codex..."

"What does it say?" I asked, leaning toward her.

"It's... inviting me to place my codex."

"Huh?"

At the feet of the statue was a small rectangular slot. Indeed, a codex could've fit there.

"Should I... do it?" Elizabeth asked, turning to Leonard.

"If it's an invitation... then you probably should," he replied with a slow nod.

Elizabeth gradually turned back to the statue, and with careful steps, she complied. As her codex rested upon the surface, cracks spread through the entire statue and it shattered into pieces. A water figure emerged, graceful and beautiful as a Goddess, the Deity hovered high, humming softly. Then, a blue flame suddenly wrapped Elizabeth.

"Elizabeth!" I immediately stepped forward to grab her; the flame engulfed me as well, and everything turned blue. My vision blurred before it all faded into white, and then... I was with her, alone. "What...?"

"We... got teleported," Elizabeth murmured.

The room we found ourselves in was dark with no illumination. Elizabeth crouched, retrieving her codex, opening it and letting its blue light illuminate the surroundings. Thankfully, her codex provided quite a large amount of it.

"Elizabeth... what do we do now?"

Before she could even answer me, loud screeches could be heard coming from afar down a path in front of us.

"Selena... I need you to stay close to me." Though her expression was serious, her voice remained calm. "When my codex is open, it's even harder for me to control my spells... Stay close, so I won't risk hurting you."

I smiled, and gently hugged her from behind. "Go on, Elizabeth. Don't worry about me."

The monsters came into view, both rounded and thin, adorned with sharp claws. Elizabeth gave me a faint nod, and raising her staff, she cast. "Neptune."

Around us, two little shimmering droplets of water began to move in a circle, gaining speed until, swinging the staff around, they collided into a thick and solid bubble, enclosing us completely. Outside the bubble, a massive torrent of water surged, flooding the area relentlessly, sweeping the monsters in its wake without regard for their well-being.

The water continued to flow, sweeping the monsters away while we floated safely in the bubble. Elizabeth's expression remained tense the entire time, doing her best to guide and control the force of her spell with the best of her efforts.

"Kyaa! My love!" I squeezed her even tighter, letting my chest press against her back.

Her control wavered for a second. "S-Selena! Don't distract me!"

At her complaints, I laughed. She looked beautiful. No, she looked magnificent when she used her spells like this! Just like the powerful mage she is! "Don't worry, you've got this," I said softly. She mumbled at that.

The water kept going without rest, both hot and cold, erasing the monsters and turning them into nothing; exactly what they deserved for daring to land their ugly claws on the most powerful mage. As the current finally slowed and the water receded, the spell faded away, leaving the room soaked and littered with the remains of the fallen.

Elizabeth sighed. "Y-you can let go of me now..."

"Ah!" I loosened my arms around her. "Right, right."

"A-anyway... we have to get back to the others, somehow," she then added, redirecting the attention to the important matter. "If we keep going with the exploration, we'll encounter them again, hopefully..."

I nodded. "What happened, anyway? Why did we get teleported here?"

"Hmm..." Elizabeth murmured. "That was Lala..."

"Lala?" My eyes widened. "You mean... the Deity?!"

Elizabeth nodded. "I think this is a trial... for me..."

"For you?"

"She greeted me," she exhaled, staring at the wet floor.

"She did?"

Elizabeth turned to face me. "Didn't you hear Her?"

"Huh, no..." I shook my head. "I only heard Her hum."

Elizabeth blinked, lowering her head. "Oh... so only I could hear. Still, I would have preferred not to have to deal with this again..."

"Again?"

She glanced at me. "Hm? Don't you remember?" Before I could even think about replying, her eyes went upward. "Ah, right... you were unconscious back then."

While I was unable to grasp what she was talking about, I still couldn't help but smile and pull her into my embrace once more. "The strongest mage acknowledged by the Deity Lala! Kyaa!"

"There is nothing to be happy about," she retorted. "You got swallowed by the flame because of me... You got caught in this because of me. You shouldn't have followed me! Probably, we're here because I have many of Her spells, and yet... I can barely control them..." she said, clenching her teeth as her fingers curled tighter on her staff. "This is not a good situation, Selena..."

I held her closer. "It will be alright," I whispered, gently stroking her hair. "You're here, and I'm here with you, so everything's gonna be alright."

She sighed softly against my chest, leaning into me for a moment before pulling away. "Come on, let's go..."

We continued through more rooms, with rare moments of high tension, and minimal danger.

"Elizabeeeeth..." I groaned at some point, slumping my body against her from exhaustion. "I'm tired..."

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"We can't rest, Selena... It's too risky," she replied, practically dragging me along.

"But I'm tired... and hungry... and thirsty..."

"You have your magic box for food, right?" she said, glancing at me.

"Yes, but what about water? We haven't encountered a checkpoint yet, and only a water bottle is left..."

"Hmm..."

Then, a genius idea crossed my mind. "Aha! Can't we drink the water from your spells?"

"I... don't know," she replied with a little smile. "I never tried it, but keep your guard high... we're almost at the next room."

I looked ahead, straightening up and setting her free from my clutches. The room ahead resembled a serene, ethereal water temple, with... nothing inside, except for tall and fancy mirrors on the wall. Just a circular, beautiful, blue-ocean room.

With careful steps, we moved forward. As soon as we reached the center, however, the mirrors, with a grating noise, detached themselves from the walls, floating toward us until they encircled us in a silent ring, hovering ominously. The water Deity appeared from above, humming once again before dissolving into shimmering water that flowed down and merged into the mirrors.

Images began to form in the mirrors' reflections, and we both glanced around in confusion. "Elizabeth, did she say something?" I asked her.

She nodded as her brows furrowed. "It's a puzzle... She asked: 'What do you wish to say, to the mirror, mirror on the wall you deem unjust?'"

"Oh? It's like one of those fable puzzles? Like, mirror, mirror on the wall, tell me, who-"

"STOP!" Elizabeth jumped at me, shutting me down with a hand over my mouth. "There may be a specific answer! You can't just say anything!"

"Ah, sorry," I mumbled as she freed my mouth. I refrained from laughing, though I couldn't hide my smile at her sudden agitation.

She released a long sigh. "Listen to me, Selena..." she said, glancing around. "This is a puzzle, alright? We have eight mirrors around us and one of them wants to hear an answer from us," she explained, pointing her staff at a mirror. "This first mirror... I... hate to say this, but this is indeed a test for me, and an embarrassing one. This is a memory from my past..."

"Hm? I don't see you in it, though," I interjected, blinking at the mirror.

She turned towards me with great confusion. "You don't?"

I shook my head. "I see... myself. It's my sixth birthday, and my parents are giving me gifts."

Elizabeth's eyes widened. "Oh..." she murmured. "And what about the second mirror?" she asked afterward, turning towards the following mirror on her right.

"It's... Jerald," I murmured, a hand reaching for my chest. "He's... walking away from me?"

I turned back to Elizabeth; she looked extremely pensive. "So we're seeing different things... What about the third one?"

"Aha!" I clapped my hands together. "This one looks like a gorgeous purse! It can hold everything I've ever wanted! Roomy and classy! Oh... I'd actually love this one..."

"Hmm..."

Glancing back to Elizabeth, I noticed a faint flush on her cheeks. "Elizabeth?"

"Ah, n-nothing," she stammered, shaking her head violently before clearing her throat. "Okay, I think I understand what this puzzle is about. Could you help me, Selena, by telling me what you see in the mirrors?"

Nodding, I clenched my fists with determination. "Of course!"

"Then, what about this one?" she asked, pointing at the next one.

"Oh, this... this is when I turned down an offer."

She side-eyed me. "An offer?"

"Yes. Before joining your guild, I actually received a propitious offer elsewhere in Zafferbridge. I... spent a lot of time thinking about what to do. My life would've been easier if I had accepted that, but that would've meant spending less time with you, so it was a big no-no."

Elizabeth's eyes returned to the mirror. "A lost opportunity, huh...?"

"Hmm..." My eyes drifted high thinking for a moment about it. "Well, I suppose."

She sighed. "Alright. What about the next one?"

I returned to the mirrors as well. "Oh, I like this," I giggled, posing proudly. "This is when I showed two bastards at school who not to mess with! They got what they deserved!"

"O...kay?" Elizabeth murmured, clearly thinking hard, scratching her head with her staff. "And the following one?"

"About this... I'm not so proud of this," I admitted, looking at the reflection. "It's about a lie I told back in the day, always at school. But... at least, I made up for it. Still, I feel bad about it."

Elizabeth nodded. "Alright, last one."

I explained once more what I saw inside the reflection to my love, and after a moment lost in deep thoughts, she turned towards me. "Okay, Selena. I think I understood this puzzle," she said, pointing her staff towards yet the following mirror. "So, we have to give it an answer based on what we saw in the others, and it'll probably show us the door, or set us free, since there's nothing in this one."

I looked at her with a hint of confusion. "Huh? But I still see stuff in its reflection, though..."

Elizabeth completely froze, as if I had turned her entire theory to dust. "You... do?" she asked with wide eyes.

I nodded. "It's... me and Jerald," I replied, my heart warming at the simple thought. "We're... inside a new house, together. It's beautiful... We saw this; we're thinking about choosing this one. It seems like the one..."

I brought my eyes back to Elizabeth expecting to see her lost in contemplation once again, instead, I found her with her face deadly pale, her hand trembling slightly as she withdrew it. Quivering, her lips pursed together tightly, and she scoffed bitterly. "Talk about unjust..." she murmured, her voice shaking as her grip tightened around her staff.

"Elizabeth...?"

She turned to me with a soft smile, but her eyes... they were glistening. "Selena..."

"Elizabeth, wha-"

"I'll do anything in my power," she said, cutting me off, "to make sure you'll see that bright future. And I'll do anything to make sure... you get out of here."

"Elizabeth?" I followed, feeling a sense of unease filling me. "What do you mean? You scare me if you say it like that. We're getting out of here together."

"I've figured out the answer to this puzzle," she continued, nodding with a gentle smile. "And... I know what I wish to say to the unjust mirror, if you allow me."

"Of course I do," I reassured, resting my hand on her shoulder. "You're the genius here; I'll follow whatever you say."

She offered another nod. "Lalabubble," she then cast, letting giant bubbles envelop us like a shield. "This will protect us in case something bad happens."

"Alright."

She then took a deep breath. "Mirror, mirror on the wall... I'll make sure you crack and fall."