Sid had run into another dead end. This time, he turned around and pressed his back against the wall. Steadily approaching him were the gnashing jaws.

An intercom crackled before the voice of the old scientist said, "Too bad you had to go and be so stubborn. If only you had enough self-preservation to follow orders."

Sid bent his knees slightly as he seemed to ignore the mocking voice as it continued to berate and mock him. Closer and closer, the crushing jaws came towards him. But Sid wasn't one to simply give up.

At the very last moment, he threw himself forward into the maw. With a fist raised, he slammed his hand against the back of it as hard as he could. But as soon as his knuckles made contact, a strange blue aura surrounded it. For a moment everything seemed to slow down, and then the aura exploded outward and flung Sid back.

His back slammed against the wall, and in an instant, the wall shattered as he passed through it. His body flew back through an empty abyss. None of the rest of the corridors of the maze seemed visible at all, almost like the shattered wall was the only door into this new room Sid was falling through.

For a brief moment, Sid closed his eyes and let out a short sigh.

Then, he was immediately disoriented as he was lying down on the stone floor. But this time, he wasn't in a cell. He was in a room in the castle below the floating island. He quickly took in his bearings and ran his hands all over his body.

His wounds had disappeared. He looked perfectly fine.

"Curious," he mused to himself as he looked up at the glowing light on the ceiling.

He meticulously inspected the room he was in. He ran his finger along every place the walls connected. Not an inch was left undisturbed.

When he seemed content with the state of things, he cautiously stepped out of the room. The hallway was empty, and after a brief moment of hesitation he slowly stepped out.

Sid kept turning his head every direction as he crept down the hallway. It was completely silent around him. Not even his footsteps made a sound as he made his way forward.

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

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"You know, I had been meaning to take some time to myself," Narissa cooed.

She was still trapped in a crystal surrounded by the inky blackness. Yet, she didn't look bothered at all. In fact, she seemed to have set up quite the vacation spot.

There was a chair made out of the twisted trunks of a dozen saplings that were still alive and planted in a series of pots that seemed far too small for them. Next to the living chair was a solid tube of marble that was being used as a table. In the corner was a miniature cauldron on an elongated stand with a ladle slowly stirring the bubbling liquid without her lifting a finger.

Narissa crossed her legs as she reached over to grab a small nail file on the marble table. She looked down at her gloved hand and scowled.

She reached for the fingertips of the glove, and then hesitated. After a moment, she reached for it again, but stopped before she actually grabbed the glove. She gulped and then gingerly grabbed a finger of her glove, and slowly slid it off.

She audibly gagged as her hand was revealed. It was covered in liver spots and large wrinkles like thick tree roots that dug through shallow soil. The wrinkles weren't only on her hand, as they went halfway up her forearm. Her fingernails were long, and a dark yellow color. They were unnervingly thick, and the ends were covered in cracks and chips.

Narissa turned from her own hand and shuddered. She closed her eyes and slowly breathed in and out.

She turned her head and carefully peeked out of her right eye. When she saw her hand was still exactly as she left it, she quickly turned away again and shuddered again.

After a few more minutes of repeating this process, she finally managed to force herself to not look away. With a shaking hand, she brought the nail file down to her yellowed fingernail. Slowly she started to try and file it down, but before she could really get started, the nail file cracked, and then crumbled into dust.

Narissa let out an annoyed groan as she glared down at her fingers. "Oh, Ican just hear their cackling now."

Narissa creaked in a nasally voice, "Foolish girl, real power always has a cost."

She changed her voice slightly as she said, "You have to make a choice, and it shouldn't be that hard."

She lowered her voice and scrunched her head towards her shoulders as she said, "Looks fade anyway, so who cares."

She let out an exasperated groan and covered her eyes with her still gloved arm as she leaned back in the tree chair. "This is so frustrating. All my work, and it leads to this? Ugh, it wasn't even worth it. That ungrateful little..."

She sighed again. After a moment lying there, she took in a sharp breath and sat up straight. She regarded her aged hand for a moment, before she slid on her glove again. As soon as the fabric covered her skin, even the wrinkles underneath disappeared. At least, that's what it looked like as her silky white gloves seemed to hug her perfect skin.

She glanced over at the cauldron, and then stood up with purpose. She walked over and looked down at the bubbling liquid. She lowered a single finger in-between the slowly stirring ladle. As soon as it touched the surface of the liquid, the color inside changed. It flashed a rainbow of colors before finally settling on a light purple.

Narissa retracted her hand and grabbed the ladle. She filled it with the liquid and lifted it to her lips. She held it in front of her face for a moment, and then, in one swift action, brought it to her lips and drank the entire thing.

Her body instinctively tried to purge the foul liquid from her, but she managed to hold it down with sheer willpower. Although, she did lurch a few times while she struggled with it.

She looked down at the cauldron again as she put a gloved hand around her throat and rubbed it gingerly.

"Ugh, I hope the next step isn't quite so foul." she murmured in a deep, raspy voice.