Something was chasing Eve, its slow footsteps making her body shudder. The hallway was enormous and distorted, with a giant door at its end. The damp atmosphere made the door seem impossibly far for Eve.

As soon as she reached it, Eve jumped to grab the handle, but it was a great disappointment. When she opened it, Eve found herself in another place. It was a fragmented world, made up of platforms scattered apart, suspended in an infinite void. The platforms were square-shaped, some with broken edges, while others swayed precariously. Stairs were scattered here and there, twisting, ascending, and descending without any logic or order, as if defying the laws of physics. None of these stairs were stable; they moved slowly, as if every step could shift the direction of the entire world.

The surrounding walls, if they could be called that, were nothing but vast spaces of giant mirrors that reflected everything, but in a distorted and unclear way. Eve's reflections appeared fragmented or twisted—sometimes tall and thin, other times short and fat—making her feel trapped between reality and illusion.

In this world, there was no clear light or true source of illumination, only a faint glow emanating from the reflective floors, enveloping everything in a damp, cold mist. Doors were scattered everywhere; some hung in midair, others were fixed to invisible walls. Each door differed in shape and size—some made of worn-out wood, others of cracked glass.

The atmosphere here was suffocating, as if the air was heavier than it should be, and the humidity clung to everything, sticking to Eve's body and making her movements slow and difficult. Sounds were muffled, coming from far away, as though from the depths of deep wells, reverberating throughout this world without being able to pinpoint their source.

There was no other way to escape. She turned around to find a creature her size, completely deformed. Its body was like black mold, with two bloodthirsty red eyes.

"No escape… don't make me… use violence… Zero." The black mold spoke in a voice that was a mix between a girl's and a monster's.

Sweat drenched Eve's face. She couldn’t do anything to escape from this entity. Eve glanced downward and saw a platform with a door on it, a little far from her. An idea crossed her mind.

"It's a gamble… but… I have to try…" Eve thought anxiously and fearfully.

Eve quickly leaped, but the mold creature grabbed her hand with one of its tentacles. However, Eve squeezed the tentacle with her other hand, finding it so slimy that she managed to tear a part of it off the creature’s body.

Eve fell downwards, trying to grab the edge of the nearest platform, but she couldn’t.

"Impossible," Eve said, disappointed.

******

The creature glanced down, Eve had disappeared from its sight as she plummeted into the depths of the abyss.

"What a fool," the monster said, this time in the voice of a girl.

*******

Eve’s eyes snapped open. She was lying on one of those platforms. Eve felt something wrapped tightly around her head, as if something had crushed it. It was a bandage covering her left eye. She touched it with her hand, realizing she was resting on something soft.

"A bandage... this wasn’t here before... Ah... my head," Eve muttered wearily.

"That’s because I wrapped it for you… you reckless girl." As soon as Eve heard this voice, she jumped up quickly, distancing herself from it. She turned around to find a strange girl, with blonde hair, pale brown eyes, and worn-out clothes—an old green sweater and a long black skirt. The girl was sitting on the ground, holding a white ribbon. She smiled in a way that seemed cheerful, as if the freckles on her face gave her that gentle expression, and her bright features seemed unfazed by the strange, otherworldly surroundings.

"Sorry for chasing you like that… I had to hunt you… violently… Zero," the blonde girl said with regret and sadness.

Eve displayed a mixture of surprise and bewilderment, saying, "What...?"

"Yes… as you heard... I’m sorry… When I’m in that filthy form… I can’t control myself…" the blonde said, full of regret.

"Who are you?" Eve asked in confusion. "And why are you apologizing… this doesn’t make sense… what kind of monster apologizes to its prey… go on… attack me… I know these twisted assassination tactics… come on…?" Eve was both baffled and cautious.

"Don’t worry… it’s just a small wound," the girl reassured Eve.

"Where... am I?" Eve asked, still in shock, before recalling the fungus.

Eve glanced around: "Alright, I need to find the fungus... I have to leave... but… what made you chase me so brutally…?"

Eve began to stand and slowly retreat toward the stairs.

"It’s not here..."

"Huh...?"

"Stop moving… you jumped from above, and your fall was violent… yet… you only got a small scratch on your head. I couldn’t bring you here while you were injured… Please… don’t be reckless and act brave again… huh… what’s wrong with you?" the blonde girl asked.

Eve was in a state of shock, sensing something very strange about this girl.

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

"Familiar... she’s really odd… it’s like she’s a peaceful monster… no... don’t judge a book by its cover, Eve… she’s tricking me… without a doubt," Eve thought to herself, planning carefully.

Eve turned to a staircase that connected one platform to another. At the end of the stairs, she spotted a regular-sized door on the other platform. "This is my chance..." Eve hurried toward it.

"Wait, Zero... please don’t go!" the blonde girl called, following Eve.

When Eve opened the door, gravity shifted. She was about to fall; everything had reversed. Eve found herself coming out from the top, and luckily, she didn’t let go of the door handle. Eve looked up to find the door she had come through was now fixed to the ceiling. Her hand slipped from the handle, but the black mold tentacle caught her.

"You’re so impulsive… Good thing I caught you," the blonde girl said happily.

"No!" Eve looked around, spotting a nearby platform to her left with a door on it. Eve tried to swing to the left and squeezed the tentacle to cut it. She grabbed onto the edge of the platform.

"I made it..." Eve said, exhausted.

She stood on the platform and quickly opened the door. The blonde girl had transformed, her body now fully covered in mold, turning her into a deformed monster.

******

Eve kept moving from one door to another, and from one platform to the next. Everything changed the moment she opened a door, finding herself in random places, with each door leading to a different corner of this world. Eve suddenly felt overwhelmed—each door led somewhere different, and the blonde girl with the moldy tentacles kept following her as if she knew the place like the back of her hand.

Eventually, the girl caught Eve.

"Please… Zero… everything we’ve passed through is just a small part of this place... The Ferryman wasn’t wrong about you after all... You’re incredibly stubborn," the blonde girl said, shaking Eve with one of her tentacles.

'It's pointless to stay in this endless place... Fine… it seems the Ferryman has some sense in this... (a stifled laugh) now that I’ve checked… I need to escape… I need to distract her.' "Alright… I…"

"Listen to me... I don’t want to hurt you… or anything else… I’ve heard you’re very important to the Ferryman… No other child has ever gotten his attention like you, Zero... So… come with me," the blonde girl said, both pleading and overjoyed as she held Eve with her tentacle.

"Impossible… you moldy girl," Eve said sarcastically, trying to break free from the slimy tentacles.

"Do you want the creature to stay alive?" The girl asked, her voice filled with sadness and concern.

"What?… Damn it… she knows…"

"The moving mushroom fairy is your little friend… The Nomes are loyal but were not treated kindly… It knows the way out of this place… and I don’t think… you’d want to see it crushed, would you?" the blonde girl said, smiling.

"Nomes… she means the mushroom… So… she’s been watching me," Eve thought to herself. "What do you want from me?"

"Good… so you’ve accepted, then… My master wants to see you," the blonde girl said.

'This is what I feared… from the start,' "Sorry…!" Eve said calmly.

"And why are you apologizing, Zero?" the girl asked, confused.

"Moldy girl… it might be reckless of me to tell you this… but I don’t want to see the Ferryman."

"What… I understand the Ferryman plans to take you… but… I’m not his servant... Don’t be afraid," the girl said with delight.

"What…?" Eve was shocked.

"My master isn’t who you think he is, Zero… So… you can come with me without any obstacles… I hope you’ll join me, Zero… If you do… you won’t see that Nomes cooked up as a meal for my master."

'This girl… the way she speaks… it’s like she’s not even threatening me… I think she’s lenient,' Eve thought, both tired and perplexed.

The blonde girl started to squeeze Eve with her moldy tentacles.

"Zero… I don’t want to torture you… but I have no choice… I don’t want to hear your bones crack… so… come with me," the girl pleaded, miserable.

"No," Eve groaned in pain, feeling as though she was being crushed.

"You’re so stubborn… why don’t you want to come with me? That creature will be cooked," the blonde girl screamed, demanding.

"If that’s what you want… I suppose my master won’t mind breaking your legs," the girl said, applying more pressure to Eve’s legs.

'I can’t… take this anymore,' Eve began to feel her legs weaken. She kept resisting the pain, but her struggle only intensified her suffering.

"You don’t want to kill the Nomes, right? This girl… she’s sensitive…" Eve thought, enduring the pain.

"Of course… I don’t want to kill it… so… accept my offer," the girl said sadly.

"I can’t…" Eve resisted.

*A deep sigh* "It seems you’re a selfish girl… Zero… I wanted to convince you the easy way… but… that won’t work on selfish people like you… disgusting," the blonde girl’s expression shifted from kindness to sharp intensity.

"It’s a perspective… but..." When Eve heard this, she was shocked. Being called a selfish girl made her reflect: 'If I really think about it... I am quite selfish… I used the mushroom to guide me... and left the real world without saying goodbye to my parents… and also... I abandoned my friend... Lily… Isn’t this really ridiculous…? I’m not even the cause… I had nothing to do with their disappearance… but… why do I feel this guilt...?' "This feeling has come over me… I’m being foolish and convoluted right now… I’m seeing myself as a heroine for this foolish ambition… and a nasty parasite of this feeling of guilt… even though I wasn’t the cause of their entry… a part of me… wants to live for them… and another… exploits my stubbornness and selfishness… to find a way to end my life," Eve said, remembering her friends.

"I don’t have time for this nonsense… I’ll break your legs," the girl started to apply pressure on Eve's legs. Eve screamed in agony. "Please… let me go… I don’t want… to see you forced to harm me."

"I’m sorry… I have to do this."

Eve couldn’t endure the pain; breathing was becoming difficult. Her strength was fading, sweat pouring down her face, her groans loud. She could no longer bear it. Her vision was becoming increasingly blurry.

Suddenly, she noticed a light emanating from her chest. The pendant around her neck was glowing brighter and brighter. Eve noticed this glow and remembered the last time when its light weakened the Ferryman.

'I weakened the Ferryman with it… if I use it…' Eve thought anxiously.

"What… what is this thing… why is it glowing…" the moldy girl said, extending one of her tentacles to touch it. Eve, distracted, shouted, "Don’t touch it..."

As soon as the blonde girl touched the pendant, it began to shine with intense light, like a flare. The light weakened the moldy girl, and both girls fell to the ground. The mold began to fade from the girl's body, returning her to her human form. Eve quickly stood up and looked for an escape. She spotted a familiar door below. The platform was far away, so Eve started jumping from platform to platform with agility and grace.

'That door… maybe it will get me out… huh… I’m starting to get used to my body now… this is good… but… what’s the secret of this pendant…?' Eve thought, looking at her pendant.

******

The blonde girl stood on her feet, watching Eve. "Stop… you don’t know the way out," she cried out, trying to use her tentacles but unable to manifest them.

"Where are the tentacles… what happened… agh…" The girl took another route through the doors.

*****

Eve reached the door, and as soon as she opened it, she found herself in a different place. The distance to the ground was very far; there was an ocean below, with strong waves and fierce winds. Eve’s foot slipped, and she grabbed the edge. The door was hanging on a round wooden wall, as if it were suspended from a tree. Eve’s hand slipped, and quickly, the blonde girl grabbed her hand. The girl looked extremely worried. Eve looked at her in shock.

The girl began to pull Eve up, saying, "You’re such a reckless girl… please… stop this thinking, Zero." In that moment, Eve realized something.

Both girls fell from exhaustion. Eve lifted her head and said, "Thank you… moldy girl."

"Hah... Pain."

"What...?"

"Call me Pain... Zero... You asked who I am."

"Yes," Eve thought, 'Pain... this girl is strange... revealing herself so quickly... huh...' Eve stood up, looking at Pain with sympathy, and extended her hand, saying, "Come on... I’ll help you up."

Pain raised her head and reached out to Eve. Quickly, she moved to embrace her, saying, "Please... come on, Zero... the Nomz won’t be harmed... I promise."

"Pain... but," Eve said, surprised.

"Please."

"But... if I leave... I might not be able to save the mushroom... or the Nomz... and I think... maybe... I won’t get another chance if I leave Pain..." Eve thought, "Alright."

"Really... that’s great!" Pain said, jumping with joy.

'What a foolish girl,' Eve thought to herself with a laugh.

"Hah... what’s wrong with you, Zero?" Pain asked Eve.

"Oh... no... nothing important," Eve said, shaking her head.

"Oh... alright... follow me," Pain said, heading toward the stairs.

'She’s really foolish... she hasn’t even restrained me.' Eve thought, looking at Pain with confusion and admiration. "Alright, I won’t lie to myself... but her behavior... feels very familiar to me... I’m coming."

'She reminds me of someone.'