Going back some time, to just after Fayette had disappeared down into the pit, the others were in some trouble.

Mireille’s ears were ringing.

She was shouting, but she wasn’t sure what. Hopefully something coherent. She couldn’t tear her eyes off the crumbling pit, rapidly closing between two shifting bits of rock. The floor was steadily crumbling inwards, gradually blocking off the entrance, shift by shift. With a final collapse, It ground shut.

Mireille felt herself being grabbed and dragged back. She fought back—until the [Doctor] gave her a sharp jab at the forehead. That cleared her head a bit. But it was still ringing—she couldn’t hear a thing. Just that first explosion, ringing on and on and on…

A glance to the side, and she saw Marie, hands held up in a glow of magic. The roof above them was still holding, but it did not look pretty. The bigger rocks and boulders were not falling, but dust and little bits were starting to flake off, and Marie’s hands were starting to shake. Mireille let up, and Olivia dragged her to the side, to more stable footing.

Slowly, letting the rocks gently down after her, Marie backed up. With the final step to Mireille’s side, the [Lady] finally sagged down, the glow of magic fading from her. And all the rocks fell in a roaring cascade. No sound she could hear, just the thumps roiling through the ground and air.

Mireille backed up until she hit the wall behind her, and she saw they were enclosed in a small chamber, the exit now gone. Suffocated. She coughed out dust.

Only the lantern light lit them now. The [Seamstress] looked down.

One lantern.

Well, that isn’t good. Her mind was finally working again.

“Hey, we need to help Fay,” she said, turning to the other two. She pointed at the collapsed rock behind. “She’s down there, somewhere—we have to hurry!”

Marie shook her head, mouthing something. Mireille almost felt outraged, until she saw the worry on her face, and then the [Lady] shook her head again, pointing at her ears. Oh, right.

Mireille waved her hands around, at the worried blonde and the frowning [Doctor], trying to communicate something. Olivia paused, then reached into a pocket. She took something out, then held it up, gesturing at her ears, and at the other two. A pill. Some sort of cure?

The pill was dark like a cockroach’s shell and smelled horrible. The [Doctor] saw Mireille blanch at it and held it out. Marie snatched it out of the hand, gesturing something in her notebook to the [Doctor]. Olivia wrote something in herself, showed it to the [Lady], then nodded.

Mireille was looking between the two of them, heart rate climbing. What are they doing? We don’t have time.

Then Marie ate the pill.

Her face colored instantly, and she seemed to almost retch, but she held it in and gulped. Mireille felt a pang in her core, watching that. What was in that? Crouching down, the [Lady] held her stomach. Olivia mouthed something at her, and the suffering woman nodded.

It worked? Marie can hear? Mireille perked up, but then the [Doctor] approached and touched the [Lady] on the forehead. Instantly, the woman rose back up, seemingly back to normal, and the [Doctor] looked wretched in turn. Then Olivia turned to the [Seamstress], holding a hand out.

Wait a minute, isn’t this that skill of hers, [Transfer Condition] or whatever? Is she going to—

Then the [Doctor] touched her and the ringing in her ears ceased—replaced by eerie silence and an ominous shifting in the rocks above. And her stomach was roiling. She bent down, hands at her belly, cringing.

“What the F-frick did you put in these?” She shouted at the [Doctor].

“Can you hear me?” Olivia replied.

Mireille looked up. Oh, right, she can’t hear me. She nodded.

“Good,” Olivia said, hand at her chin. “I was wondering whether that would work. Seems our [Lady’s] skill is useful indeed. Makes the chance of healing a lot greater.”

Skill? And chance?

Marie saw Mireille’s questioning look and explained. “I told her about my [Picture of Health]. Makes healing easier,” she said, enunciating her words carefully. The [Lady] still couldn’t hear, which meant—she’d have to eat one more of those.

Mireille shivered, then looked at Marie with pity. The [Doctor] took out another pill. “These are the result of my new skill,” she explained, her words slightly slurred. The gloomy woman smiled. “It’s better if you don’t know how they work.”

Mireille shivered, then watched the [Doctor] take out another pill and offer it to the [Lady]. She carefully ate it, then crumpled down again.

We don’t have time for this… The [Seamstress] noticed herself almost hopping in place, raring to dig into the rocks. The [Lady] saw her anxiety, then slowly rose up, gathering herself. Marie met her eyes. “Fayette is alive—I felt her with my boon. But she is far, far down.”

A weight left Mireille’s chest. Fayette is alive. She breathed out. “Do you know where?”

The [Lady] grimaced. “Not really—but. There was some odd mana signature I felt from down there, for just a moment. I can feel it now too, weaker. Like a scent trail. Fire-tinged mana.”

Stolen story; please report.

“The spiders,” Mireille spoke, realizing. “Can you find them? If Fayette is near their nest?”

Marie was frowning in thought. “It was an odd signature for just spiders… There’s something more… I think I can point the way.”

That filled Mireille with so much relief, that she sagged down, and finally took note of the [Doctor], who was glancing between the two, a bit out of it.

“Sorry you two, but my skill will be on cooldown for a bit, so I can’t swap more right away,” Olivia said, looking apologetic. “I won’t hear you for a bit yet. My pills aren’t guaranteed for me, I’ll have to swap with Marie.”

Oh, that’s a shame, Mireille thought. She’s willing to sacrifice and leave herself deaf… Or—wait a minute. She raised her head up, narrowing her eyes.

“You clever F—You’re letting us deal with this stomach pain, leaving yourself free.” She said, rubbing at her stomach. It was still roiling, maybe just a bit calmer.

The [Doctor] shrugged her shoulders, confused. Mireille suspected she understood.

Marie patted her on the shoulder. “Now now, she’s still healing us.”

Mireille sighed. Guess that’s true. She looked around her. They were backed away into a small nook, boulders blocking off the way they had come from. Seeing Fayette go back in for the fuse, their group had hesitated just a bit, and had not managed to get back to the entrance. Now they were stuck here.

“Can you get us out of here?” She asked, eyeing Marie. “Use that magic of yours to shuffle our way out, or down to Fayette?”

“Not down… Too unstable. And getting out might take some time. But I do sense the trail… it’s right—” She spun around, pointing at a corner. “—there!”

Mireille crept closer, bringing their single lantern with her. Olivia followed, looking over their work. The [Doctor] seemed distracted. Something about the pills? I don’t even want to know… She shook her head, then bent down and spotted it. Hidden behind a bulge in the ground there was a crack in the wall—forming a crawlspace of sorts. She peeked inside, holding the lantern out, but couldn’t make out the other end. It was long and dark, stretching forward like a wound in the earth itself.

“I guess that’s the way forward, then. But—”

She paused. There was the difficult question. Should they head inside deeper and search for Fayette, or try to make it back outside and face their betrayers, and only go after Fayette later? They didn’t have any supplies. She didn’t like the decision—both options felt bad. But not going after her friend immediately felt worse.

She had been giving the Fay just a bit of the silent treatment, hoping to teach a lesson, and then this went and happened… What were they meant to do now? She felt panic forming but forced it down. Plan. We have to discuss this and plan.

And making a plan of action without Olivia’s hearing…

Then Mireille paused. She had an idea. She gestured at Marie’s notebook, and the [Lady] nodded, took it out and set it on the ground. Together, they crouched around their single lantern, notebook in the middle, and began to plan.

—

Now Mireille felt calm. Her stomach was still aching, but this was good—planning. Listing things out.

She wrote first. On top of the page, she listed out two choices, then separated the note into two segments with a vertical line. On the left side, she wrote: Option A: we go deeper down and search for Fayette.

She put a big “or” in the middle, then on the right side she wrote: Option B: we dig ourselves outside for supplies, maybe face enemies, and then come back for her after.

Not going after Fayette was obviously not an option at all.

Olivia took the note, thought for a moment, then wrote in her own additions—short ones. Under the left side, she wrote: Supplies for surviving in cave??

On the right side, she wrote: Who are the enemies??

She handed the note to her side, giving Marie the turn. The [Lady] didn’t think long and made a quick list on each side in elegant handwriting.

On the left side:

· We can search for supplies underground. We need food, water, and light.

· Fayette has all the other supplies, she can last long. If she can handle the monsters.

· I can make a magic light if we find fire monster cores

On the right side:

· The betrayal on us was too unnatural, I think it was forced somehow, using a skill

· Culprit: either the [Lord] or the two strangers. The [Lord] has a motive, and I felt the other two were hostile to me. The [Lord] didn’t have skills for this.

· The [Miner Chief] is not guilty. The details of it all are too wrong.

Finished, Marie thought for a moment longer, then after adding a last bit at the bottom, nodded and gave the notebook back to Mireille. The [Seamstress] looked at the last note. At the bottom: Mireille, you should decide whether we go for Fayette now or later.

Mireille looked the other two in the eyes, and they both nodded. So, the decision comes to me? She felt just a bit of dread—it wasn’t a decision she liked making.

But she couldn’t let the other two make it either.

She closed her eyes, thinking long about the risks of both sides.

The two men had seemed dangerous, and if their attacker was the [Lord], who knew what else he had in store? Especially if he could hide skills. But facing the deeps ill-equipped as they were… she feared it too. Fear and fear. She did not want to face either without Fayette at her side.

And in the end, that decided it.

She wrote down her decision.

She handed the note to the others to read, then turned to regard the hole they were to crawl into. The plan she had written was simple. We go in and search for Fayette. If things get desperate and we risk too much, we turn back and try to sneak out and get supplies. Then we go back in.

They would make it up as they went. A makeshift plan—not the best, but what they had.

And regarding the food they needed to survive down here… Mireille had one free skill slot. Just in case of situations like these. She mentally sent out the command.

[Free skill slot available! Listing options:]

She went through the list in her mind, quickly finding the option she had considered many times. It had been unlocked after their trek away from Palogne. She chose the skill.

[You have gained a new skill: Survivalist!]

[Survivalist – In the wilds, finding food, water and shelter can be tough—until you get this handy skill! Get information on good places to search, potential dangers, and many other little perks. Toughing out the wilds has never been easier!]

She smiled at her foresight, then activated the skill. Hopefully I don’t need to put points into this. Skill dearest, where can we get food and water down here?

The skill provided the answer, information filling her mind, and the smile fell from her face. For the first time in her life, Mireille cursed.

“Fuck.”

She felt two reassuring pats on her back from Olivia, then Marie walked to her side. The [Lady] nodded at her. “We can do this, don’t worry.”

Mireille shook her head, a headache forming. “That’s not it, I know we can,” she answered. Need to move my thoughts away from that. She began considering a plan for going forward. “I’ll go in first. Then Olivia, then you. Marie, make sure this hole doesn’t collapse on us. And give me that boon if you can.”

Marie blinked at her authoritative tone for a moment, then laid a hand on her head and spoke. “[Boon of the Stone Bastion].”

Mireille blinked several times at that one. Hm? Interesting. Then she shook her head and faced the crack. She bent down and crawled inside.

The [Seamstress] and her friends delved deeper.