Clutter shifts from foot to foot with nervous energy. He’s not shivering yet, so he isn’t terrified out of his mind, but the leeches gave him more of a scare than he’s letting on. Probably because it reminds him of the graveyard–and the tree that loves his people a little too much. Considering how close we are anyway, I don’t see a reason why we can’t get moving.

  I–wait, there it is. No indecision from that decision. It’s definitely the magic in the air steering us away from using our Class Cards. I have to keep my mind peeled for more of those… steering sensations. Just in case they’re hints instead of warnings next time.

  With a snap of my fingers, I dispel everything that’s left. “Remember–no taking out your Class Card, and definitely no opening it. And if you really have to, just tell me first and I’ll put up a shield.”

  He puts his whole back into a vigorous nod. “Unless the quest goes forward, I won’t even think about taking out the thing I’m not thinking of. Want to run? Or is it a good idea to slow down a little?”

  That last question isn’t directed at me–he looks at Pearl as he asks it. She hems and haws for a few seconds while staring daggers down the hallway, then slowly crosses her arms.

  “Whatever launched those leeches wasn’t in my awareness range–they just appeared somewhere in the middle of it.” She eventually says. “I don’t know if there’s a specific place they appear from, or if they always pop into existence at the same distance from you.”

  Clutter blinks. “Um… so… is that a ‘no’ to the running?”

  Pearl shakes her head. “Just be careful. Like the old saying goes; if there’s one magic summoning trap that shoots plastic leeches, there’s bound to be others that do other things.”

  “Is that a real saying?” Clutter asks seriously.

  I gently nudge Pearl’s shoulders with two fingers. “You know shellraisers; always with the completely random and archaic sayings that somehow perfectly fit the situation.”

  His eyes widen as his eyebrows shoot to his forehead. “Was she always saying stuff like this when she was in her shell? And I just couldn't hear it?”

  Pearl barely holds back a laugh that comes out as a snort. I sigh and shake my head; Clutter’s definitely a little too gullible when people say things with confidence.

  “No, she’s just messing with you, Clutter. So am I.” I pat him on the shoulder as I step over the splattered leeches. “Want to try identifying them? I can throw up another shield.”

  He shakes his head, then turns and starts to jog past me. I match his speed almost instantly, and after a few seconds of accelerating, we’re running at a blistering pace once again. A little voice in the back of my mind tells me to identify the plastic things, but we already know the hint this is trying to give; the plastic can be alive. Something I learned all too well from the graveyard and the two-legged monster mimic.

  Wisps of grey magic appear in the air as we run further into the tunnel, like little plumes of smoke drifting lazily on the world’s smallest updraft. I look around for the source of them, and for a second, it looks like they’re appearing out of nowhere. But upon closer inspection, it turns out they’re sneaking through the grout-like material that separates the tiles. A few more seconds brings us further in, where the smoke gathers right up on the ceiling.

  Clutter doesn’t even seem to notice. It’s… weird, actually seeing magic like this, not just ‘feeling’ it. Gives off a sensation that everyone else should be able to see this thing acting like real smoke, not only me and Pearl. I wonder if there’s a spell or skill that’d let Clutter see things like I do–without having Pearl squish into his brain, of course.

  A squishy hand smacks against my cheek to draw my attention. I turn to Pearl, who points at a section of the wall off in the distance. Maybe another ten or so seconds away. She locks eyes with me, and I give her a little nod to let her know I got it.

  “We’re here.” I say and slow to a jog. “Doesn’t look like it, but this is the place.”

  As Clutter skids to a stop, arms flailing to keep himself balanced, I take a good look at the wall that sure looks like the other walls. Except for the gouge exactly where Pearl pointed out, rectangular and perfectly even depth and width wise. I guess that’s how someone without a shellraiser with a strong awareness would find the end–because the line doesn't stop here. It keeps going into the distance.

  “Is there anything else further down?” I ask as I press a projectile up against the gouge. “Or is it a red herring?”

  “As far as I can tell, it’s nothing. Just a light.” Pearl leans in and gestures at the grey magic. “I bet that’s what this was actually designed to be; lights for the people in here. Even though it was already perfectly bright in here without any lights at all, which is definitely weird.”

  “Just like the houses the system made!” Clutter chimes in from thirty feet down the hall.

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  I nod in agreement. “Just like the houses. Maybe the system used this place as a template for them. You want to take a few more steps back?”

  Clutter thinks for a second, then takes a handful of huge steps back and covers his face with his arms. “I’m ready!”

  I’d meant that to be sarcastic, but whatever. With a thought I jump back and trigger my projectile–a little less violent than last time–and watch carefully. The coin bursts into salt and magic, whirling like a very angry dust devil to shear away the wall’s material little by little. It’s nowhere near as sudden and destructive as the blink-and-you’ll-miss-it monstrosity I summoned last time, but it looks like it’s getting the job done anyway.

  “So the walls with the gouges on them are actually a lot weaker than the regular walls.” Pearl notes thoughtfully. “I wonder if there’s a real explanation for that, or if it’s just for the quest’s sake.”

  “Hm. good question. Also makes me wonder if these hexagons were put here by the system, or if the city itself always had them buried in their walls.”

  Clutter lowers his arms and takes a tentative step forward. “Why would they be there in the first place?”

  I shrug. “Maybe they’re access panels. For… maintenance, or to control something in here that we’re not seeing yet. Hey, did the quest even mention who used to live here? Because it damn sure wasn’t the shellraisers.”

  Pearl scoffs at the mere idea of her people living here. “Our cities were much nicer than this.”

  “I know. That’s why I said it couldn’t be you. Oh, look, it’s done.” I flick my wrist, and my projectile dies out. Revealing a hexagonal stone plate that looks exactly like the first. “Clutter, you want to do the honours this time?”

  He eagerly nods. “I do. But… um… how do you know what shellraiser cities look like?”

  “I saw one for a few seconds. Definitely didn't look like…” I trail off as I gesture at everything around us, “This.”

  “You… saw… one. Okay. I guess I can believe that.” He says as he slowly walks up to the hexagonal plate. “I guess I have to believe it. I don’t really have a choice.”

  The plate flickers as he places his hand on it, grey magic outlining his fingers just as quickly as it had mine. He oohs at the sight of it, pulls away, and watches with rapt attention as the grey drips down to–and then outlines–the perimeter of the hexagon. We both stare at it for a few seconds as the magic does its thing, and then… then…

  Well, nothing. No new line appears, the old one doesn’t go out, and I can’t feel anything around us shifting. But both plates are activated. Something has to happen, even if it’s something as small as another light turning on.

  “Pearl, can you feel anything different? …Pearl?”

  She has her finger pressed tightly against her chin in thought, staring intently at the plate. Clutter looks at her, then shoots me a half-worried, half-excited, half-confused glance. Not all at once, but constantly shifting between the three options at a steady pace. I shrug back, which doesn’t do anything for any of his emotions, but it’s all I have right now. Pearl’s the one thinking, not me.

  Her head snaps all the way around to stare at the other wall. I flinch at the horrible visual, then remind myself that her body is entirely goo–she doesn’t have bones to snap or ligaments to tear. Even if the visual is just… yergh.

  “The magic is slowly leaking through the floor towards there.” She points directly across from us. “I think something’s going to open soon, but not right away. The quest is doing this really slowly for some reason.”

  “Probably to make us think nothing happened. Just like how the constructs didn’t appear for a while at the tower.” Clutter suggests. “Does it seem like it’s going to be dangerous? Should I go innvisible?”

  Pearl slowly shakes her head as I turn around, her head mostly stationary until she’s in the right orientation again. “I don’t think so, but I could easily be wrong. The plastic leeches appeared out of nowhere, after all, so even an empty room isn’t safe with this magic around.”

  Clutter nods and turns invisible. “I won’t slow you two down.”

  Slowly but surely, the magic from the hexagon makes its way down the wall and into the floor. A single line of grey magic that moves about as fast as a suburban dad after a huge thanksgiving meal, tracing through the grout in a winding path for seemingly no reason. It makes a left before one tile, then three rights around another to bisect its own path and go up around another tile right after it.

  After the third tile, I can’t convince myself that there’s no reason for this. “Pearl, can you note down the exact path the magic is taking? It feels like it might be important later.”

  “Already ahead of you.” She says as she traces her finger along her palm. “I’ll copy it down when I’m back in my shell.”

  I give her a nod of thanks, then go right back to watching the sluggish trail of magic. If I hadn’t taken a nap before this, I definitely would’ve dropped like a sack of bricks and taken a good fifteen minute power nap while this pointlessly slow schtick drags on. Hell, this is where I’d pull out my Class Card to see if anything showed up. Hey, maybe that’s the point of the wait. Or maybe I’m just desperate to think the quest isn’t just making us wait for absolutely no reason.

  Ten minutes later, the line finally hits the halfway mark. Clutter sighs in boredom from his spot sat up against the wall, his hands playing idly with the black wrappings he apparently decided to keep in his pockets–not his inventory. His invisibility faded five minutes ago without a single sign of a threat. He catches my glance and returns a pleading pout, but there’s absolutely nothing I can do to make this go faster.

  “Shelby!”

  Pearl’s energetic voice rips my boredom away, and wasps of adrenaline filter in to replace it. “What? Enemies Oh, god, please don’t tell me the line stopped moving.”

  She shakes her head and points at the floor. “Nope! Take a look for yourself!”

  I blink, then shift my focus to the floor. The grey line zips through the last half of the tiles like a slug that drank far too many energy drinks, and before I can even get a word out, smacks into the other wall with an audible creak. Clutter hops up eagerly to stand at my side as a circular door etches itself into the wall without so much as a touch from any of us.

  Whatever it is, we’re here.