I stand stock still as the gruesome and sickly eye stares at me through the window in reality. But the eye's focus is already on me, and I feel something rise within me as it stares unblinking at me.

My legs grow stiff, and I look down to see what's happening. The boots I'm wearing start to turn to stone, and I can only assume that my feet are doing the same due to their stiffness. This rapid change in my health makes me move as fast as I can toward the eyeball in an attempt to stop it.

As I do so, I hear the striking of stones against the ground as I force myself into movement despite the petrification that is happening to me. Behind, I listen to Otto and Blake try to follow me, but I just focus on stopping the floating eyeball.

The path becomes shaky and unsteady because of my now stone feet that lack feeling, and more and more rifts start to appear. So many appear that it is impossible for me to dodge them all, and some of the creatures that peek through get me with a quick claw, bite, or even blade. One of the creatures that peer through a rift in the air for a moment is a long lizard with a head that breathes out noxious fumes that I slide underneath.

Getting up is quite tricky as the stone has wriggled its way to my ankles, but I manage my recovery as I continue to shakily book it at the floating eyeball. More and more rifts appear that are other worlds, but my eyes stay focused on the Gate Of Death and that disgusting eyeball in the nearby rift.

I also realize another reason for us not using any Ether as we move through the fog toward the core of the Crossroad. The Ether here is so dense that it just flows straight into you like paper absorbing water. So rapidly does my Ether saturation rise that a headache blossoms while I run.

The pain, added to the headache that was just starting to fade, makes me stumble even further as I almost trip into an open rift with the waiting jaw of some coyote-like creature with black fur. Before it can bite me, however, a hand grabs my shirt from behind and yanks me backward.

Turning my head, I see Otto's angry and frustrated face as the man yells at me.

"Go, go, go! That thing is turning us all to stone!"

His words make me glance at his feet quickly before I start to run once more. All the way up to right underneath his knees is made of stone. Mine only go barely past my ankles while Blake, who is right behind him, has them going up to her calf. For some reason, I seem to be more resistant to this.

I don't question it, however, and take it in stride as I rush toward the floating eyeball once more. This whole cave has been deceptively big. When we first came through, it was large sure, but it did not run for multiple minutes without even reaching the center large. The density of Ether is either skewing our perception of the cave or the cave itself. Not sure which one is worse.

But I finally start to get close to the eyeball, or at least close enough to shoot at it. With my left hand, I pull out Intervention and level the barrel at the eyeball as I run, but as I do, I see stone start to curl around my hand. The eyeball's focus is directly on my hand while I move toward it, and I can see small writings appear on the stone that takes my fingers.

I'm only distracted long enough to read "Akotokwe" in a swirling script before I shoot the shotgun with my pinky finger, the only one that is not yet stone.

Fire and steel fly out from my gun, most of which barely even reaches the eyeball. Might as well call it the weird writing that is on my hand, so Akotokwe it is. As I get a bit closer, though, I push through the slight bits of stone that grow on my pinky finger and continue to fire as much as I can. I get all six shells out, including the last one, but I'm knocked on my ass from the recoil.

The stone feet and ankles significantly affect my ability to handle the recoil as I roll head over heels backward. As I do so, though, I hear a popping and a swirling wind before something catches me. I look up as I try to recover and see Blake struggling to carry Johnny as her legs turn to stone.

Despite her struggle, though, she reaches a hand down and helps pull me up. Then without saying a word, we hobble our way toward the center. The Akotokwe seems to have either died or fled from the final shot from Intervention. The only bad part is that now I'm down to very few bullets. Very few. Less than twenty shells now remain for my shotgun for the entirety of the Underworld. There is a good thing. However, the stone seems to be fading now that the creature is gone. I slowly gain mobility in my stony limbs as we move, flakes of stone peeling off as others are simply turned back to flesh.

Carefully, we hobble our way to the floating scene of the Gate Of Death, one that would be useless for anyone but us, people with Death's Lantern. All of us, including Otto, stay low to the ground as we move, and Dakota peeks his head through the bag, letting me know that he is fine. Apparently, the stoning gaze didn't affect him as he was inside the bag.

When we make it to the floating scene, we all take a short moment to look at each other, and I gaze upward at the crystals that are the center of this Crossroad. I squint my eyes and look deeply into them as Otto and Blake check themselves for everything they may need.

The core of a Crossroad is a truly mysterious and awe-inspiring sight. At the very center of this mystical phenomenon lies a cluster of glowing crystals, pulsating with an otherworldly Ether that hurts my mind just to look at and that seems to shift and shimmer with every passing moment. These crystals are what facilitate the creation of the rifts that connect different dimensions and realms and are the source of the immense power that flows through the Crossroad. These giant crystals are Ether collected so densely that it has become physical, something no human could ever survive having within them.

One of the higher states of Ether manipulation is simply condensing Ether into a gaseous state from its normal incohesive state. That requires one to be a 5th Sigil to do so, and I imagine to handle a plasmic state of Ether like Johnny's mentioned within your body would need to be an Angel, those on the path to Godhood. To possess physically condensed Ether would kill any living man; that is something I can feel just looking at it. Not even a monster such as the Prime could survive something such as this. I just can't imagine it being so. The power within… it's… otherworldly.

I have no idea how that Ogre managed to do this, nor do I know how my father learned the technique of doing so. I only know it is rooted in insanity and exploitation of the power hidden within souls.

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Looking closely at the crystals, I notice that they are not simply transparent or translucent like glass or quartz but rather seem to be infused with swirling patterns of light and color that are constantly in flux. These patterns hint at a depth and complexity within the crystals that are beyond the understanding of my mind. My eyes try to follow the complex designs, but I quickly lose track of what I'm looking at in a daze.

I take one step closer to the crystals, my curiosity unwilling to let this opportunity pass by. As I get close, close enough to touch them should I reach out, it feels like standing on the threshold of something vast and unknowable. A great weight falls upon me as if the very fabric of reality is pressing down upon my body. No wonder this thing can create rifts in the world. How could it not?

But despite the unsettling nature of the crystals, they are also undeniably beautiful, radiating a powerful and entrancing light that won't let my eyes do anything but be drawn inexorably toward them. I feel some deep connection with these crystals. Like… like family. I don't know how else to describe it. They feel warm yet cold, kind yet forceful, safe yet dangerous, like a usual mother-father dynamic. I suppose that is something I always lacked with just Ma.

I start to move my arm toward them, reaching up toward the glittering crystal, but before I can get close enough to touch it, a hand yanks mine away. Dumbly, I am pulled to see Otto's screaming face.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing, you fucking dumbass! Don't touch that! Do you have no sense of self-preservation!"

I stutter as I try to explain myself. The crystals don't feel… antagonistic.

"Th-they aren't…."

Otto interrupts me with another yell as he pushes me toward the rift to the Gate Of Death.

"Shut up, you psycho! It's an it, not a they! Let's just get the fuck out of here. Standing next to these crystals makes my heart beat a thousand times per minute, and I'm running out of saturation to spare."

His words bring me to focus as I realize what the hell I was doing. I was about to touch the center of a construct that creates rifts in reality. What the fuck! How could it feel like family? What in the hell… I also notice that my headache has grown exponentially and that Dakota is groaning in pain in my bag.

"Sorry, buddy. I don't know what came over me."

I watch Blake toss a rock through the rift as it lands safely on the other side in front of the Gate Of Death. The gate is a bit hard to see through the rift, but some features, like how it is made of stone, steel, and skulls, are pretty obvious.

Blakes nods at the two of us before speaking.

"I think we're good to go. I don't want to wait any longer in case something else peeks through one of the rifts again. Best if we just go through now."

Otto agrees with her and steps up first to go through. The man cautiously puts a hand against the rift before abruptly disappearing and reappearing on the other side as he falls to the ground with bits of skulls flying up into the air.

He turns around, confused and peeking around, but it seems he can't find where he came from. Blake and I look at each other worried about our way back, but Otto leans down and picks up a bunch of rocks before throwing them in the general direction he appeared from.

A shower of stones flies through and lands on Blake and me. At that, we have our answer. The rifts must be invisible to normal sight, but they are still there. Hopefully, my Chain Eyes can see them, or Johnny's specialized marksman vision can see them when he wakes up.

Blake gives me a nod before doing the same as Otto, putting her hand against the rift. Instantly both she and Johnny, who is tied to her back, disappear and reappear on the other side of the rift. I'm up next.

As I step up to the rift with the giant gate made of stone, steel, and bone, I give the crystals one final look. But as I'm about to leave, I give it a special one. I activate Chain Eyes, Ether flowing from the back of my skull into my eyes as the world around me changes completely.

Metallic chains of every color of the rainbow hang in the air around me, with bundles of very dense chains being the locations of rifts. Some rows of chains even seem to have knots flowing along them before a creature peeks through. The extreme density manifests even before my wakeful eyes. They look almost real in their density and creation despite the fact I know they aren't truly physical constructs. I ignore the chains in the air, however, as I focus on the crystals behind them. And the view I see makes my jaw drop.

Deep inside the center of the crystal is a heart. A human-sized heart that slowly beats despite its lack of a body. One wrapped so densely in vibrant magenta chains that it is almost impossible to even see it is a heart. Every single time it beats, the chains in the air vibrate, rifts appearing and disappearing at their whim.

This must be how the artificial Crossroad is made. It uses an Angel's artifact, which I assume is the color magenta for Chain Eyes, as where else can it go after the dark blue of the 6th Sigil? And with this artifact, it somehow condenses Ether. Sounds a bit simple when I put it like that, but I think that is the gist of it. Any more in-depth would be lost to my understanding. I'm no master of Ether, after all. I know few skills, and those I do know are shallow compared to others.

Before I have any more time to inspect the beating heart, though, in the corner of my eye, I see a large knot flow along a dark blue chain. I quickly stop the flow of Ether as I recognize the threat that is coming. It is likely to be a 6th Sigil, something I do not want to mess with.

So, I put my hand against the rift, and just as I do, a humanoid creature with spikes jutting out of every limb, including its head, lands right next to me with a stab going straight for my eyes. The last thing I see before the darkness of the Gate Of Death covers me is a bloody bone spike flying for my eyes at a pace I can't even react to. Really should have listened to the warning, eh?

Then almost as if it never happened, I appear in a pile of bones next to Otto, Blake, and the unconscious Johnny. I quickly stand up as I notice just how dark it is. I activate Nightvision, but even then, it is so dark I can barely see anything. The pitch-black makes me pull out the lantern at my waist and twist it open, dyeing us all with its blue light.

Otto nods at my actions and looks to make sure we're all here. Then he turns around, and our gazes follow him as we take a clear look at the Gate Of Death under the light of Death's Lantern.

"Looks like we all made it… what the fucking shit fuck…"

My eyes peer into the structure that is the Gate Of Death, and once again, today, I am stunned.

The Gate of Death is a macabre and imposing entrance into the Underworld, one that I was hyping up in my mind but not truly ready for. The sight alone makes us all take a hitched breath at once. The atmosphere is cold, ominous, and bleak. The feeling of finality pervades the area, and I can see our breaths enter the air from our mouths despite the lack of chill. The path that we are standing on that leads to the gate is lined with stone gargoyles, their twisted expressions conveying a sense of foreboding and death. Hundreds of skulls are piled up along the sides of the path, serving as a grim reminder of the fate that awaits those who enter the realm beyond. That's not even to mention the countless bones and broken skulls that crunch under our feet.

I take a short second to turn around, but all that I see after fifty feet or so of the tunnel is black, even with the light of the lantern. The lack of any other direction makes me turn back to the gate.

The gate itself is a massive stone structure carved with intricate designs that seem to writhe and twist in the flickering light from the lantern. The surface of the gate is rough and jagged, as if it has been worn down over centuries by the passage of countless souls.

We take a few steps closer together as a deep, powerful pressure descends upon all of us. It feels like we are being warned to not take another step. Otto and Blake both turn to me and speak in unison.

"Use the lantern."

"Can you use the lantern?"

I nod as I bring the lantern up and inspect it with my eyes, Johnny's explanation to each of us of how its basic powers worked running through my mind. You have to bathe someone unmoving in the pale blue light of the lantern for a full minute when they are either unconscious or willing. Then, their heart will be sucked into an open port in the lantern. Only six total ports exist.

I follow the directions from before, doing it first on myself. A full minute of pale light passes, and I don't feel much besides a growing feeling of uncomfortable heart palpitations. But after the full minute passes, something incredible happens. A glowing light that flickers like a fire comes from the open port and sinks into my chest, replacing my heart.

Once it does so, I instinctively get the feeling that as long as I can reach the lantern with my Ether, I can extinguish the light of whoever's heart I took. From there, I went on to do the rest of us, as we all knew what we signed up for when we began this trek. It's also not hard to remove yourself from the lantern. All you need to do is hold onto your heart within the port, what Alexos did in the few moments he had looting Hura's body. He couldn't rip off the lantern but could take his heart back.

The lantern works just as simple as it did for me for all of them, including Johnny and Dakota. Ten minutes later, five of the ports are closed off with beating hearts inside as the last one gives us light.

I take one last glance at the skulls surrounding us before stepping toward the gate and pressing my hand upon it. The pressure builds with every step I take before peaking at a terrible pain in my chest when my hand goes against the stone and steel of the gate, but as I look down, I see that there is nothing wrong with the light that has replaced my heart. At worst, it is a little dimmer.

So, I just continue and push open the gate, revealing the Underworld to us all.