Walking through the labyrinth now wasn’t as hard as it had seemed. The earlier passages he’d felt less confident, or been lost among that weird world of giants, but now he felt like he was… in his element. Yes, he couldn’t tell where he was going, but he was sure he’d find his way somewhere simply by following the plan.

“I don’t know if you are listening to this, Goddess, Lady Thesan Daybreaker. But I want to give you my deepest apologies. I do not wish for you, in any of your forms, to mistake what I am willing to do to atone for my breaking of your trust. You listened to me at my darkest hour, literally, and I ask that you keep me in mind.” Coney was chanting these words as he walked. He was trying to redirect the anger the goddess had, maybe use it to inflame further and more intense passion. A part of him wondered if it was cruel, and another part wondered what he could get if she continued to favor him.

Walking forward he felt an odd comforting feeling. Maybe it was his imagination, but he felt like his left paw was tingling under the soft warm light, and maybe even that it felt warmer and more comforting in itself. It was hard to understand why, but he felt her presence, as if she was hugging him even though he knew she had no avatar here, not even a spectral one.

Continuing to follow his instincts Coney took every left turn and backtracked whenever required. He found many rooms as he explored, but none of them felt important to him. Sure, he could look at another cache of hidden knowledge, but he still hadn’t gone back for the first one he’d found in the Undercroft. Sure, there was a treasure chest, but he felt like he caught the glint of ivory teeth as he walked into the room rather than bronze trimming.

Coney even passed up a warm looking fire, around which several tall figures sat. They didn’t seem hostile, in fact they waved at him as he walked by, but his gut told him that he didn’t want to talk to them. Maybe it was their resemblance to the creature that had hunted him in the archives, maybe it was just their eyes which roamed up and down his bunny body, but the vibes were off. So he walked away into the tunnels, seeming like he was getting lost, but in fact becoming more and more aware of where he was through spatial awareness alone.

After a particularly long hallway Coney found himself in a large cavern. There were doors in every direction. Of course logic said that he would do best to continue his search pattern and go to the door immediately left of him. But logic wasn’t the only part of himself that Coney listened to, he also listened to his gut. At the edge of the door way he patted himself down to find something to throw down the hall.

Coney’s robes were not doing too hot, having turned into more of a tunic through all the running he’d had to deal with and the occasional attack. However, this would be effectively ruining them as clothes. But still he did it, ripping a bundle of cloth off his arm, leaving himself in what was essentially a sundress with a miniskirt, one that did not leave much of his bunny figure to the imagination. Throwing the wad of cloth he was glad he did, as the floor opened up.

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Looking into the hallway Coney at first thought it was a pitfall trap. Those were simple enough, and so were the more intense spiked versions that were popularized by Vietnam and the experiences of veterans of that war. However, it didn’t seem right. For one, there were no spikes, there was nothing at the bottom but blackness. However, lowering his paw over, he saw that there were some spikes, they just stuck out of the wall.

Behind the spikes he realized what was down there, something he’d sincerely wished he’d imagined. It was pink, like the massive maw of a creature. Something he’d seen all too much in certain anime and video games that happened to play well to people with a certain fetish. “Fucking hell, that hallway is a mimic.” Coney said, leaping backwards. “That thing’s maw would eat me entirely, I’d be back at square one!” He shook his head. “Nope, I knew it, I couldn’t go in there.”

It took him a couple minutes to calm his own beating heart but Coney eventually climbed to his feet and walked back to the doors. That one was out, but the next one seemed fine. Of course, it could be just as bad as the last one, but… He decided he’d risk it to walk down the tunnel. His step was tentative, but when nothing came out to bite him he was happy and moved on.

This tunnel was not devoid of danger, it was filled with little traps that he had to avoid, but a part of him felt far more confident than he’d been a few seconds before. Sure he stepped on a floor trigger, but when the darts pierced his furred arm they didn’t do anything. “The poison must be expired.” Coney said with a sigh. Finally he reached the end of the tulle, which was an oddly unassuming door.

When he pressed his paw to the door it didn’t budge. He tried pushing, pulling, everything he could to get it to work. It wasn’t until his left hand touched the door that it suddenly clicked and allowed him past. It was odd, was it the magic? He wasn’t really sure what had put him here, but he was certainly in a place far different than he’d come to expect. This was closer to the buried church than any other part of the labyrinth.

Instead of stone walls and floor this new room was well taken care of and had a beautiful rug on the floor. Sure it was probably still stone underneath, but there was a sense of warmth that was far from physical. It was just such a nice place he wanted to sleep on the couch. Still, it wouldn’t be worth it if he slept and got attacked by something farther inside.

The room’s doors lead to other rooms. One was a kitchen, which he was thankful for. He was hungry, and not just in his digital avatar. Still his gut told him to move forward whether or not he wanted to eat. So he did, he pressed on, until he finally found a staircase. Walking up it filled him with confidence, especially the complete lack of attack.

The second floor was exactly the same as the first, not to the detail but to the general construction. It was a family home, something closer to Victorian than the medieval architecture that was popular above ground. Walking through to check in each of the rooms none of them particularly drew my eye, but one of them he decided to sleep in, hoping it counted as a safe zone, because he needed the rest. Both in real life and in this crazy game.