-- James --

Flashes of memories flowed through me. Showing going through this dungeon over and over. Every time slightly different whittling away every failure until everything became a smooth dance. I remembered it all, although was vague and a lot of it fuzzy, but my body remembered. I moved on almost on instinct through the black arrows of death, no longer needing my own powers to dance completely unscathed.

When I looked up to everyone else I could see the same horror on their faces. I wanted to say words of encouragement, and let them know it would be ok. I wanted to but we all knew it wouldn't be true. We had already gone down that road before feeling hollow and empty when spoken. We had speculated a hundred times and now... everything had already been said. We had long lost count of how many times we had done this. Everything was like we were on autopilot.

I looked around looking in their hollow but resolved eyes and could see everyone waiting for me. They were waiting and I gave them what they were expecting. "Everyone let's move."

I felt like a marionette being a guide through the hall, as my body moved on its own through the hall as invisible fists flew through the air. None of us could see these attacks but I knew they were there. I remembered. I thought back to Rowan guiding us through the hall, slipping up and getting hit. We've been through the field so many times, Rowan leading the way was no longer necessary just a habit.

"What the Blight?" Someone shouted.

I nearly tripped over my own foot. 'What was that? I don't remember that.' I looked back not stopping to move but couldn't see anything, I allowed myself to be pulled back into a familiar pattern, the memory of the voice fading. We all weaved in and out till we reached the invisible forcefield 10 feet from the door.

"I hate this part," I said just like I did so many times before.

"What part?"

"You know the shocky bit." I looked up to find the voice. Catching a fading silhouette disappear. 'Who was that?'

I didn't have time to think before my mind fell back into the flow when Bay grabbed my and everyone else's chains. Bay Spoke "Move" lighting flew through all our bodies, locking us all in place. Bay had long figure out how to not injure herself flooding the power through her into the manacles. The current stopped as all our chains fell to the ground.

"Everyone good?" Violet asked.

Everyone sounded off with an affirmative, as we picked up our chains. With the forcefield down we made our way to the door. As we moved took in the door once more, standing 10 ft high, made of stone, and white except for the frame. Which sported 4 symbols in each corner like a child's scribbles. The slab of stone was the same as all the other times we passed through here.

But we weren't moving toward the door. We were moving to the side of the door. We were moving toward the symbols that stood as duplicates to the ones on the door. Each symbol sat 8 ft in the air each with their own protruding hook.

Letting out a tired sigh, I turned to the symbol I always go to and wrapped my chain around its hook. We long stopped syncing our timing as energy pulled out from us through the chains, and the door opened.

When the passage fully opened we moved as one, having done this many times by now. We knew the passage would quickly shut as soon as one of us stopped flowing energy to the door.

The door began to fall as Rowan spoke "Surprise". Rowan disappeared from his chain, appearing right beneath the door. I moved to slide into place below the slab with Rowan.

Right before it slammed down onto our shoulder Bay spoke "Stop"

The stone froze right above us. We moved up shouldering the door like 2 pillars holding open the gateway. Bay stopped channeling as we felt the weight fall onto our shoulders

We held the passage open as Violet and Bay casually walked through between us. Once through I gave Rowan a look asking if he was ready. Rowan nodded and at once we both shoved the door up off our shoulders and jumped to the new room.

"Oh, Shit!" I heard a shout right before... *BANG* The passage slammed closed.

"Mother Fucker!! My Leg!!" Again that voice shouted.

Looking over the now closed door I knew something was there but I couldn't see whatever it was. I could swear I could almost see something or someone struggling at the door. But I could never fully focus on it. I turned away to ask the other but as soon as I did the memory dimmed to almost nothing being cast to the far corner of my mind.

-- Aster --

'Can they see me or not!?' I've been trying to get their attention ever since they said it was a loop, but they don't seem to be able to hear or see me. At least that was what I thought until James answered me when I asked what part. I got really excited and tried to talk to him. But he didn't answer me he, only briefly looked over at me. I got more of a reaction from him when they were in that weird fugue state.

Without any better Idea, I decided to follow right behind them through the room. I was surprised when I saw little silver cannonballs fly towards everyone. The entire team moved smoothly and casually through this field like it was never there. I couldn't figure out how they were seeing the projectiles when I remembered they had been through this before. Based on how easily they all moved, it had to have been a lot.

How could they stand this? Going through the same thing over and over for...however long they had gone through it.

They even electrocuted themselves, which caught me completely off guard. The door on the other hand. I stayed back to watch them spring into action. Seeing Rowan teleport was interesting, I had seen him glow right before following a sliver of energy right below the open passage before he appeared. I saw how Bay stopped the door commanding it to stop.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

With Rowan and James holding like pillars I went underneath to get a look at the door. It was thick and heavy looking. I was too engrossed in looking over the passage that I missed when they decided to drop the slab of stone and didn't have time to move fully away. The damn thing landing on my leg.

I screamed out "Mother Fucker!! My Leg!!" if that didn't get their attention nothing would. I was going to have to think of a different strategy or just follow them through the rooms and hope for the best.

Pulling my leg the rest of the way out from under the door. I realized I had lucked out in that the door had not broken my leg. Though, to happen in the first place...sucked. Examining my newly freed leg, I found my pants torn away along with my top layer of skin. My leg might not have been broken but it was crushed and most likely fractured. 'First things first.'

I yelled out to Violet. "HEY, VIOLET! I COULD USE A HEAL!--if you can even hear me."

Violet started to move, but in the wrong direction. 'Well, I guess that wasn't a moment for them to see me.'

Letting out a long sigh, I focused on my injury. I closed my eyes looking inward guiding the flow of energy into and through my damaged leg. I felt all of it as my leg began to burn, deep, and hot. When the power penetrated the bone if found the fractures were deep and long. They were so bad if I had put any weight on my leg it would have shattered.

I put the pain back to the back of my mind. Pushing forward flooding my leg with healing energy. The burning grew hotter and hotter, every fresh nerve cell screaming, adding to the pain. I had an odd thought through this experience.

'I really should be screaming.' I was experiencing it all with an odd sense of detachment. The pain was there but it was as though it was happening to someone else. Ever since going through my training pain has become strange to me. I could still feel pain but it was always distant, never important. This was a boon when mending my own wounds, it wouldn't disrupt my concentration.

I watched the skin on my leg begin to seal and scar. I didn't have the skill or energy to fully heal myself in such a short time, but just enough to be able to move and fight.

The whole process couldn't have taken any more than a few minutes. Though when I was finally able to look around everyone was gone. That's when I noticed the rest of the room.

"Whoa." The word just came out of me, as I took in the size of the room. It was more of a massive open warehouse, with... I had to do a double-take... hills? Low hills creating a straight line of color across the center of the white room.

The more I looked at the hills the odder they appeared. Each hill started white at the bottom increasing in saturation the closer it reached the top. It was like the hills were sucking up all the color in the room. That wasn't the only oddity with them as more energy cycled through my eyes I could make out the rest of the hill. There was a whole meadow on the hill that looked to be out of focus yet becoming clearer near the top. I would have doubted my eyes if each hill didn't have the same phenomenon coming into focus the closer to the top. It gave the top of the hill an otherworldly feel, yet feeling like the only real thing here.

Below each hill was a large gap, and between the gaps, I spotted the door to the next room. Seeing the gateway to the next room I expected to find everyone around it. When I didn't. I looked back to the hilltops finding them fighting--something. I was too far away to tell, but they all were fighting alone on different mounds.

'Guess I should do my part.' Moving forward toward the one unoccupied hill, I was able to get a better look at everyone's fight. Rowan teleporting around, Bay Casting spells. Violet...growing larger? How does that even work? And seeing James dance around the... 'Are they fighting giant Lions?'

Turning away I was close enough to the top of the hill that I could finally see the creature waiting for me at the top. A giant black lion sat proudly above waiting for me. I looked into the lion's eyes seeing a challenge waiting for me. Instead of feeling fear, I felt a thrill at the idea of fighting this giant creature. 'The others were fighting one, why couldn't I?' I paused at my own thoughts. 'That's new. Since when am I like this?'

I placed my mask upon my face, drew my dagger, and readied my chakram preparing it to throw. I was primed for fighting, as soon as I reached the top.

Cresting the hill, with the lion not moving I continued forward. When I readied to throw my chakram, and the Lion exploded into a cloud of possibilities. I stared dumbfounded at the creature, it was falling away from itself. I was momentarily frozen, giving the lion an opening to lunge at me.

Instinctively I fell out of the way, rolling under the lion's swipe. Hopping back to my feet, I felt myself smiling. Looking over the creature my cat's eyes were near useless when trying to focus on the creature, unable to penetrate the mist. To everyone else, it looks like a million unfocused afterimages, but to me, it was every possible move the creature could take laid out in a layer of silver. It might as well had been just a cloud with how thick it appeared.

I shook my head, realizing this train of thought was getting me nowhere. "My turn to Fall away." All inhibitions, uncertainties, only falling and moving on that razor's edge. I threw the chakram through the lion's cloud of death and lunged forward into the fight.

I heard the sound of slicing flesh as we collided together, my chakram striking home into the monster. Despite being injured we both moved with preternatural grace. Dancing in between each other strikes bobbing and weaving through strikes a hair's breadth away.

Knowing a single strike might mean my death, I whirled in closer than ever scoring strike after strike whittling its life away. The longer this tango the more ragged the lion became, with me somehow staying a step ahead. I watched as the beast began to tire, and wilt. Signaling, it was time to end this. I focused flowing energy into my dagger and moved. "Change" I spoke the command word for my dagger as it began to thin and elongate as I swiftly moved to the lion's head stabbing it straight into its brain. It spasmed throwing me off before falling still forever.

I landed hard the breath knocked out of me, as I looked up toward the beast I saw the rest of the team running to the hill. 'Took them long enough.' I fell back laying there waiting, trying to catch my breath.

-- James --

I was breathing hard as the white lion fell lifeless to the ground. It didn't matter how many times we came through the same fight, it was always tough. I reached down grabbing the key hooked on its neck and ran to the black lion hill. We only had so much time before the keys melted and disappeared.

Reaching the top of the hill something was wrong. The lion was already dead and laying on the ground. The key along its neck had yet to deteriorate, so it must have just died. I heard a gasp behind me. I looked over to see Bay reaching the top.

Bay looked surprised as I felt. Then she seemed to focus on something behind me. "Who are you?" Bay asked.

I turned to look to see who she was talking to and there standing was someone in a starlight cat mask surrounded by clouds. I instantly recognized him as the dancer in the mist and the person who gave me the sword I was using. He looked toward's us tilting his head.

"Can you see me this time?"

"Of course we can see you. What do you me this time?" I asked confused.

The man tilted his head and started to talk but he seemed to fade away as I remembered the time limit on the keys. I reached the lion's neck and grabbed it turning to Bay.

"We have the key we need to move." The conversation at the top of the hill was already forgotten.

Bay looked for another moment before shaking her head. "Yeah, Let's go."

Bay and I ran as we saw Rowan and Violet quickly catching up behind us. For a moment I could see a cloud of something appearing in and out of existence behind us. 'Have they always been there?' As the figure disappeared once more, so did the memory.

Reaching the door we all quickly used the 5 melting keys to open the door. The passage opened and the keys melted. As soon the door lifted high enough we all rolled under into the next room.