Alice slowly woke up, she did not know what exactly had happened to her, she got launched through the portal, then some kind of guy had thrown dust in her face. The next thing she knew, she felt sleepy, Alice got up, glad she was not chained up, that is also when she noticed she was now wearing a white robe. She grunted, someone had changed her clothes.

She sighed, “Well, whoever changed my clothes truly violated my privacy.” Alice checked herself with energy, she had some minor scrapes, bruises, and cuts, but all in all, she was fine. Now that she knows she is fine, she decided to check her environment.

She is in some kind of cage in a cave, she noticed a slight stream of sunlight entered the cave, metal bars blocked her freedom, along with a metal door. There is a bed in her cell, a hole, and just outside her cell, two torches. Alice started pacing back and forth, what happened to her? The other burning question is, what happened to Steve and Abby, if he lets his rage go wild, then it is bad, she knew how bad it is to let your rage out.

Alice called out, “Is there anyone else out there?” No one answered her. Alice waited for a long time, then finally a man came to see her, he had cloaked himself in dark robes. “Hello, dear tiny woman.”

Alice looked at him, “Are you taking a dig at my size? I might be 4.7 feet or, if you are a foreigner, that would be 1.43 meters. I would still kick your ass.”

The man laughed, “No, that was not a dig at your size, You see, I like tiny women, now, stand against the wall, and don't try anything.”

Alice, realizing the poor situation she was in, did as she was asked.

The man called out, “Please put your hands behind your back.”

She sighed, “What is the idea, big fellow?” Alice felt the man cuff her. She grunted, “that is too tight, asshole.”

The man whispered in her ears, “I am just making sure that you are not going to pull a runner, I need you for something exceptional, without you, I will be alone for the rest of my life.”

The man turned Alice around and led her through the cave system, Alice kept looking around, for a way to escape, but she did not see anything. Eventually, she got led into a big room, A stone room that seemed to be carved out by this man, In the middle of the room stood a stone slab.

Alice started struggling, “Oh god, don't sacrifice me.” The man pushed her towards the stone slab and chained her to it. Alice could see a big statue of a woman looking at her while the man laid her down on the stone slab.

Alice gulped a few times, “please don't do this, I need to find Steve.” While she struggled to get free, the man seemed to be preparing some kind of ritual, or a spell. Alice did see a book, and all the materials indicate this ritual is for the big statue.

The man looked at her after he had prepared for his ritual, “You mean the man who got swallowed up by that frog? Oh yeah, don't bother with him, this will be over soon.”

Alice stared at him, “What did you just say?” The man went on his knees and clasped his hands together. Alice ignored whatever he was doing and screamed at him, “Please tell me what happened.”

The man sighed, “Please, have some respect and be silent while I pray.”

Annoyed, Alice let her head rest on the stone slab, it can't be true, Steve is dead? I think there is nothing I can do currently, Maybe I should listen to that man pray, perhaps I can find a way out of this mess.

The man started speaking out loud, “Oh mighty Arsay, I know you are in your beloved paradise right now. I wish I could be with you, but a barrier is keeping us apart, we had one magical night together, I know that you love me, my love for you is true. I have sacrificed whatever you have whispered in my ears. And now, I have brought this woman, a traveler from another reality. I had to enlist the help of a being from another mythology but, I sense that you would not mind if we can just be together.”

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Alice rolled her eyes, “What an idiot, thinking a god like creature can love him, As if the gods are actually real, they are just fairy tales.”

The man got up and drew a big knife, Alice looked at her reflection glistening from the big knife, “Oh god, I am not a virgin, please don't kill me.” The man just chanted some weird language while ignoring her, then he slowly cut one deep line across her face. Alice screamed in pain as blood dripped to the ground. The man drew a mark on Alice's robe with her blood.

Alice grunted, “I can handle a lot of pain but fuck you, that hurt like a bull getting his testicles cut off.”

The man smiled, “Now you have experienced it once, you will probably not mind the second time.”

Alice stared at him, “Please tell me that was a joke.” The man did not answer as he lifted his knife. Alice struggled more, “that was a joke, right?”

The man made another cut on Alice's face, her wounds formed an X on her face, she shed a tear from the immense pain she felt. She could feel her heart beat faster.

The man put the knife on her chest after drawing some symbols, Then the man went on his knees again and prayed.

Alice panted, she just hoped, that was it, The room started to shake, some stones fell to the ground, Alice thought she had a stroke. The big statue of the woman turned into a smile, a big gust breezed over Alice. But her blood did not move, It seemed to stay still for a moment as magic seeped into the ground. Then it made a blob of her blood, and it crawled over the ground as if it had a will of its own, it slowly formed into a portal.

The man walked over to a portal, “Oh beautiful Arsay, I am glad to see you again.”

Alice could hear a woman speak up, “Oh Russel, I cannot believe you made all these sacrifices for me, there is only one thing left for you to do, then you can cross over into my realm.”

Alice saw Russel smile, “Anything for your love.” Alice looked at a branding iron, that seemed to be extremely hot, come out of the portal.

The woman on the other side of the portal spoke up again, “Brand her with the mark that will make sure she goes to the place I cannot name when she dies.”

Russel took the branding iron. He looked at it for a moment, “For you Arsay, I would do anything, even as something as cruel as branding her with the mark of the unwanted.”

Russel walked over to Alice, “I promised I would not kill you Alice, but hurting and burning you, that does not bother me.” Russel lifted Alice's head enough to reach her neck, Alice just co-operated, She had this gut feeling, the burn would feel worse if she started struggling.

Alice screamed out in pain as she felt her neck burn, when Russel walked back to the portal, he sighed in relief as he saw the portal open up even wider, he let the branding iron fall to the ground. Russel walked over to the portal, Alice saw a female hand come out of it, then Russel took it and Russel got dragged through the portal.

Alice sighed, she was still cuffed to the stone table, She whispered to herself, “Alright, that being was real, at least, he did not kill me, but, he did leave me tied up, great, what now?”

Alice grunted as she struggled even more, alright, gods are real, why doesn't a god come and save me? She looked around, the statue had vanished as the portal closed, whatever this Russel guy was doing, he had found a way to get into another realm. She let out a deep sigh, she could be stuck here for a while. If she uses the ambient mana in the air, She could keep herself nursed while she thinks of a way to get out of this messy situation. Alice needed to check on Steve, if he unleashed his rage, then everything would be doomed.

Alice heard something brewing inside of her head, she had no idea what, or who it was, but it felt like something wanted to burst out of her. She inhaled deeply and started thinking about any way that she could escape from this place, she needed to check on Steve and Abby as soon as possible.