Val (first person point of view)

The elevator continued its seemingly endless descent(moving downward.) into the depths(lowest parts) of the facility.

At first, we'd spent the time expecting another disaster.

Then another.

Then another.

After about twenty minutes, we had stopped expecting immediate death and started wondering whether this underground laboratory actually had a bottom. 

The shaft beyond the transparent walls was still nothing, but metal and darkness(Shaft is a long vertical passage or tunnel. An elevator shaft is the empty space the elevator moves through. Context: Through the clear elevator walls, Val can only see the dark metal tunnel around them.). Every now and then I'd glance outside, hoping to see something different, and every single time I would be in wonder in how deep it is.

At some point I had thought that if the facility kept going much deeper, we may actually discover an entirely new layer of the planet.

Fortunately, I'd prepared for exactly this situation.

Well not the endless abyss part. The boredom part.

Which was how the three of us ended up sitting on the floor of the elevator playing a game.

Technically, I wasn't playing anymore.

I'd already been eliminated.

Repeatedly.

Very quickly.

And with remarkable efficiency.

Which was exactly what I'd expected.

I'd taught them the game because I thought they'd enjoy it. It was simple: before every turn, both players slapped their thighs at the same time. Then they secretly chose one of three actions.

Reload.

Shoot.

Or Protect.

You had to reload before you were allowed to shoot, and every reload gave you another imaginary bullet. If you fired and your opponent failed to protect, you won. If they blocked the shot, your bullet was spent and you had to reload again. Simple.

Apparently, it was also a game that exposed exactly how slow my reactions were.

Mira had beaten me. Then Eclipsara had beaten me.

Then they'd started playing each other.

And somehow they'd both become terrifyingly good at it.

Honestly, I didn't mind.

I already knew I was terrible. Watching them have fun with something I'd shown them was worth losing every single match.

So I settled comfortably against one of the elevator railings and assumed my new role.

Commentator.

"Alright!" I announced dramatically. "Round seven! The rivalry continues!"

Across from each other sat Mira and Eclipsara.

Mira sat cross-legged(Sitting with your legs folded over each other.) on the floor, her fluffy pink side ponytail bouncing whenever she shifted. Her bright green eyes had narrowed(slightly smaller or more focused.) into the sort of serious expression people usually reserved for life-or-death situations.(Reserved for means "normally" only used for.)

Opposite her sat Eclipsara. Her long black hair spilled loosely around her shoulders(Spilled here means her hair naturally fell down around her shoulders.), the yellow tips standing out against the dark strands, while her single visible red eye remained completely fixed on her opponent.(completely focused on)

The two of them looked absurdly intense.

Which only made the whole thing funnier.

"Ready?" Mira asked.

Eclipsara narrowed her eye.

"Ready."

Simultaneously-

SLAP!

Both slapped their thighs.

Mira threw the reload sign.

Eclipsara threw the reload sign.

"Interesting opening from both competitors!" I announced. "A cautious approach. They're building ammunition."

Mira looked over at me.

"Val."

"Yes?"

"You don't have to commentate every move."

"I'm aware."

SLAP!

Both slapped their thighs again.

Mira reloaded a second bullet.

Eclipsara reloaded a second bullet.

"They continue gathering resources. A tense standoff."

"He's doing it again." Mira muttered.

"He is." Eclipsara agreed.

The next turn came.

SLAP!

Mira reloaded.

Eclipsara crossed her arms over her chest.

Protect.

I immediately sat upright.

"Oh! A defensive play!"

"I have two bullets," Eclipsara said.

"You also have fear."

"I do not fear."

"You absolutely fear."

"I fear nothing."

Mira pointed at her. "That is objectively false."

Eclipsara thought about it for a moment. "...Okay. I fear several things."

"Much more believable."

The game continued.

SLAP!

Mira immediately pointed her finger gun. Shoot.

Eclipsara blocked.

"BLOCKED!" I declared.

"Excellent defense from Eclipsara! She reads the attack perfectly!"

Eclipsara sat a little straighter.

Mira pointed accusingly at me.

"You're encouraging her."

"I'm encouraging both of you."

"You're encouraging her more."

I glanced at Eclipsara.

She was trying-and failing-not to look pleased.

"...Because she likes it."

Eclipsara nodded once. "I appreciate accurate commentary."

Mira pointed dramatically.

"See?! She's fishing for compliments!"

"I am not."

"You absolutely are."

"I simply performed well."

I looked between them.

"...Eclipsara reads the play perfectly."

She looked genuinely happy. "Again."

"What?"

"Say it again."

Mira threw her hands into the air. "I KNEW IT!"

I laughed.

Mira laughed.

Eclipsara managed to keep a completely straight face for almost three whole seconds before she broke and started laughing too.

The elevator continued descending.

The game continued.

And for a little while, everything actually felt... normal.

Which was an incredibly strange thing to say considering we'd recently launched an elevator like a missile and flattened an nightmarish monster with it.

The next round began.

SLAP!

Mira reloaded.

Eclipsara reloaded.

SLAP!

Mira reloaded again.

Eclipsara protected, saving her single bullet.

"A defensive strategy!" I declared.

"There is no strategy." Mira said.

"There is always strategy."

Eclipsara nodded immediately.

"There is always strategy."

"Thank you, Eclipsara."

"You're welcome."

Mira groaned.

Several more turns passed.

By now both of them had multiple bullets stored up, which somehow made the game significantly more stressful to watch.

SLAP!

Mira shot.

Eclipsara blocked.

SLAP!

Eclipsara shot.

Mira blocked.

SLAP!

Mira reloaded.

Eclipsara reloaded.

SLAP!

Mira shot again.

Eclipsara blocked again.

Mira groaned dramatically.

"How do you keep doing that?"

Eclipsara's visible red eye gleamed triumphantly.(Gleamed: means shined brightly. Triumphantly: means with the feeling of victory or success.)

"Instinct."

"You're making that up."

"I absolutely am."

Then came the deciding round.

SLAP!

Mira reloaded.

Eclipsara reloaded.

SLAP!

Mira pointed her finger gun.

Shoot.

Eclipsara... reloaded.

Silence.

Mira slowly lowered her hand. A grin spread across her face.

"...You didn't block."

Eclipsara stared at her own hands. Then at Mira. Then at me. Then back at Mira.

"...Traitor."

"I won."

"You betrayed my expectations."

"I won, Eclipsara. Deal with it."

Mira then threw both fists into the air. "YES!"

"And Mira takes the round!" I announced, pointing dramatically. "An incredible display of tactical brilliance!"(Tactical means related to planning and strategy.)

Mira immediately bowed from where she sat. "Thank you. Thank you."

Meanwhile, Eclipsara slowly rose to one knee. Her fist clenched. Her visible eye closed. Her teeth ground together with all the dramatic intensity of a warrior swearing revenge against an enemy.(Ground together means rubbed against each other with pressure.
Context: "Her teeth ground together" means she was tightly pressing or grinding her teeth, showing determination.)

"I shall restore Val's honor."

I immediately sat upright.

"Whoa, whoa, hold on."

Both girls looked at me.

"There wasn't any honor."

Silence.

"Val." Eclipsara said seriously.

"I am very bad at this game."

"Your defeat wounded us all."

"No it didn't."

"It wounded me."

"I knew I was going to lose."

"It was tragic."

"Eclipsara."

"It was heroic."

"It really wasn't."

She rejected my argument immediately.

"I refuse this reality."

Mira nodded. "Honestly, same."

I stared at both of them.

"You both watched me lose."

"Yes." Mira answered.

"Repeatedly," Eclipsara added.

"You saw it happen."

"Yes."

Eclipsara pointed directly at me. "You'll get better."

I blinked.

The sincerity in her voice caught me completely off guard.

Across from her, Mira nodded.

"Definitely."

I laughed. "You don't have to make me feel better."

"We're not."

"You absolutely are."

"We're really not."

I pointed between them. "You're both just way faster than me."

"That's true." Mira admitted.

"Painfully true," Eclipsara agreed.

"See?"

"That doesn't mean you'll stay bad forever."

I opened my mouth. Paused.

Then laughed again.

Neither of them looked like they were joking.

Which was... oddly sweet.

A second later, Eclipsara pointed dramatically at Mira.

"I demand a rematch."

Mira grinned.

"Oh? Coming back for revenge?"

"I shall restore balance."

"There was never imbalance."

"There was."

"No."

"Yes."

I pointed between them like an announcer introducing the final event of the evening.

"And the rivalry continues!"

Mira sighed.

"He's really committed to this."

"He understands the importance of morale." Eclipsara said.

"Thank you, Eclipsara."

"You're welcome, Val."

The two of them slapped their thighs again.

SLAP!

Mira reloaded.

Eclipsara reloaded.

The elevator continued its endless descent through the darkness.

The shaft stretched on below us without end.

And for the first time since entering this nightmare facility, I found myself lying back against the railing, happily watching the two most competitive people I'd ever met battle over imaginary bullets and finger guns while I commentated like it was the greatest championship match in history.

Even if I never won a single round, seeing them enjoy themselves this much made teaching them the game completely worth it. Plus commentating was fun.

---

Eventually, after what felt like an hour of playing games, surviving horrors, and questioning every decision that had led us here, the elevator finally began to slow.

The three of us immediately stopped talking.

Mira lowered her hands from the control panel.

Eclipsara paused in the middle of dramatically accusing Mira of using "underhanded tactical reloading."(Underhanded means unfair, sneaky, or a little dishonest. Tactical means related to strategy or clever planning. Context: Eclipsara is joking that Mira is using sneaky tricks while playing their imaginary bullet game.)

And I sat up from my spot against the railing.

The familiar metallic hum faded until the elevator came to a gentle stop.(A metallic hum is a soft, steady machine noise made by metal parts working together.)

Silence.

"...Did we reach the bottom?" I asked.

I looked toward the elevator display.

The screen, which had spent the last half hour alternating between life-threatening warnings and existential panic, now displayed a single, wonderfully boring message.

ARRIVAL COMPLETE

Mira looked at the display.

Then blinked.

"...I think we did."

Nobody moved for a second.

After everything we'd gone through, opening the elevator doors felt suspiciously dangerous.

Then, with a soft mechanical hiss-(A hiss is a soft "ssssss" sound.)

The doors slid open.

The three of us stared.

"...Huh," Eclipsara muttered.

"...That's different," I muttered.

The last floor had looked like the inside of some impossibly gigantic laboratory maze. Endless white walls. Sterile lighting. Giant rectangular doorways that looked more like industrial airlocks than actual entrances(An airlock is a special sealed doorway used to separate areas with different air pressure or conditions. Context: The giant doors looked more like heavy machine doors than normal room entrances.). Pipes running across ceilings. Ventilation fans humming somewhere behind the walls.

This place looked nothing like that.

The walls beyond the elevator were almost completely black, broken only by countless thin white lines running across them like delicate cracks or veins beneath the polished stone.(Delicate means thin and fine. Veins are the lines that carry blood inside a body. Polished means smooth and shiny. Context: The white lines look like tiny cracks or the natural patterns inside marble stone.) The harsh white lighting was gone too, replaced by a faint blue glow that barely illuminated the corridor ahead.(Faint means weak or not very bright. Glow means a soft light. Context: Instead of bright white lights, this area is lit by a dim blue light.)

The whole place somehow looked... quieter. 

And colder.

Not freezing, just unnaturally cool. The kind of cold that settled into your skin without any breeze to explain it.

"...Why is it colder?" Mira asked, hugging her own arms. 

"I was literally about to ask the same thing." I admitted.

Eclipsara looked around cautiously. "I don't like it when mysterious underground facilities become atmospheric."(Atmospheric means having a strong mood or feeling, often mysterious or creepy.)

The three of us slowly stepped out together.

There were no pipes. No exposed wiring. No massive ventilation fans. No maze of corridors stretching endlessly into the distance.

The air itself felt different too. Wrong in a way that I can't explain. And the silence...the silence was wrong. Back on the upper floor, there had always been some kind of noise. Machinery. Air circulation. The distant groan of old metal.(A groan is a long, low sound.
Context: Old metal structures sometimes make creaking or groaning noises as they move or settle.) Down here, there was almost nothing.

Just us.

Our footsteps echoed softly as we approached a simple black doorway, but there wasn't actually a door. Just a dark frame cut into the wall leading farther inside.(A frame is the outer edge or border of a doorway. Context: There is no actual door, only an empty black doorway leading onward.)

We exchanged a glance before walking through.

Beyond it was a single hallway.

Short. Absurdly short.

Mira stopped walking first.

"...Wait," Mira said.

"What?"

She slowly pointed forward.

"...Is that it?"

I followed her finger.

One hallway. Just one.

It stretched straight ahead without a single intersection, ending at a large machine console built into the far wall(A console is a control station with buttons, screens, or equipment. Context: At the end of the hallway there is a machine that probably controls something important.). Several monitors sat above it, but every single screen was dark.

On either side of the hallway were only three doors.

Three.

That was it.

I looked left.

Then right.

Then back toward the corridor.

"...No endless maze?"

Eclipsara slowly looked around too, her visible ruby-red eye narrowed suspiciously beneath the bangs covering the other. Her long black hair, with its golden-yellow tips, shifted gently as she turned her head.

"...No endless maze." she confirmed.

The simplicity of it somehow bothered me more than the upper floor.

Then, without warning, another memory surfaced.

Five doors. Five impossible doors. The ones I'd stepped through before, the ones that had somehow carried me across entirely different places in Daemina.

I stared at the three silent doors lining this hallway.(Lining means arranged along the sides.)

"...I don't like this."

Mira looked over. "What?"

I pointed toward them.

"The last time I found a bunch of mysterious doors in this place, they definitely weren't normal doors."

Eclipsara blinked, then her eye widened slightly as she remembered. "Oh."

Mira looked between us.

"...Oh?"

Eclipsara nodded toward the doors.

"Remember what Val told us? About those five doors he found before? The ones that somehow led to completely different locations?"

Mira's expression slowly changed. "...The weird teleporting ones? That lead you to experiencing very dangerous things."

"Yep. Those weird teleporting ones."

Silence.

The three of us looked back at the hallway. Then at the doors. Then at each other.

"...You know," Mira said quietly. "I was actually starting to feel better."

"I wasn't." I admitted.

"Neither was I," Eclipsara added. 

The blue lighting cast long shadows across the floor as we cautiously walked forward, and I found myself glancing over at Eclipsara.

She stayed close beside me, one hand resting near the hilt of her axe.

The black jacket I'd given her had definitely seen better days. The short white sleeves were still recognizable, and the golden-yellow zipper stood out against the dark fabric, but the fights that Eclipsara endured had not been kind to it. A massive slash ran across the back, and much of the lower part of the jacket was simply... gone. Her black skirt wasn't in much better condition, still marked with dust and old dried blood from everything we'd survived.

At least the medicine had worked.

Her skin looked healthy again as there were no visible injuries and no fresh blood. 

"...Hey," I said quietly.

She looked over.

"What?"

"...Are you cold, Eclipsara?"

She blinked.

Then she awkwardly tried looking over her own shoulder toward the damage across the back of her jacket, twisting just enough to fail completely.

A few seconds passed.

"...Maybe a little."

I pointed at the damage.

"I mean... there is kind of a massive hole in the back of your jacket."

She tried looking over her shoulder one more time, apparently determined to inspect the damage despite it being physically impossible from that angle. Finally, she gave up and let out the smallest, most defeated sigh. 

"...I was hoping nobody would mention it."

"I was going to." Mira admitted.

"I can lend you my jacket." I offered.

Eclipsara stared at me for a moment. For a brief moment, the faint blue light caught her face.

Then, very quietly, a tiny smile appeared.

"...No."

"You sure?"

She nodded once and lightly held the front of the torn jacket with one hand, fingers brushing against the golden-yellow zipper.

"...You already gave me this one."

For some reason, she said it like that alone answered everything.

Something about the way she said it made me pause. Before I could ask what she meant, Mira suddenly looked between us and grinned.

"...You know," she said. "I don't think Val realizes just how attached you are to that jacket."

Eclipsara froze.

"...Mira."

Mira completely ignored her.

"When that creature ripped the back open, she completely lost it."

"...Mira."

Eclipsara reached over and grabbed Mira's shoulder.

"Mira."

"I am serious." Mira continued. "I shot the thing, it dropped dead instantly, and then Eclipsara ran over screaming every curse word I think has ever existed."

Eclipsara immediately started shaking her by the shoulder.

"Mira."

"No, actually, not screaming," Mira corrected. "Cursing. A lot."

"Mira."

"A concerning amount, honestly."

"Mira, stop talking."

I blinked. "...Cursing?"

Mira nodded enthusiastically.

"Oh, you have no idea. She hit that thing with her axe and yelled, 'YOU PIECE OF SHIT!' and 'THAT WAS MY FAVORITE JACKET!'"

I slowly turned toward Eclipsara.

She looked absolutely anywhere except at me.

Mira wasn't even close to finished.

"Then she started slamming the axe into it over and over while yelling, 'I FUCKING LOVE THAT JACKET!'"

Eclipsara made a tiny strangled noise(A strangled noise is a small sound that comes out when someone is embarrassed, shocked, or cannot find words.), grabbed both of Mira's shoulders this time, and started shaking her much harder.

"Mira. Please."

"She chopped that poor dead monster over and over while screaming about how hard it was to find an awesome jacket."

"I was emotional."

"You were terrifying."

"I was making a point."

"You were committing a second murder."

"It deserved it." Eclipsara muttered.

Mira immediately pointed at her.

"I tried to stop her!" Mira said, pointing accusingly at Eclipsara despite currently being held in place. "I literally had to pull on her arm because she kept trying to hit it again! I was telling her, 'Eclipsara, it's dead already!'"

"It deserved it." Eclipsara repeated with complete seriousness.

"It had already been dead for like thirty seconds!"

"It knew what it did."

By now Eclipsara was shaking Mira hard enough that the pink-haired succubus was wobbling back and forth( Wobbling means moving from side to side unsteadily.), but somehow Mira kept talking anyway.

"And then." Mira continued with an absolutely evil grin. "she started ranting about how it wasn't just any jacket."

I looked over at Eclipsara.

She very suddenly found the floor fascinating.

Mira's smile somehow got even wider.

"She kept shouting that it was a gift from Val."

Silence.

The tips of Eclipsara's ears slowly turned red beneath her dark hair.

"...I may have mentioned that once."

Mira stared at her.

"You mentioned it at least 10 times I think."

"...I was bleeding."

"You were."

"I was under a lot of stress."

"You absolutely were."

"And that creature ruined my jacket."

Mira folded her arms.

"It almost killed you."

"Yes," Eclipsara said with complete seriousness. "But it also ruined my jacket. Thats important." 

"And then, after all of that, I pointed out she was bleeding everywhere, and she looked me right in the eyes and called it-"

She had to stop for a second because she was trying not to laugh.

"-'fashion damage.'"

Silence.

I looked at Eclipsara.

She stared back at me.

Then, very, very slowly, she covered her face with both hands.

"...I would like to formally request that this entire conversation be erased from history."

I couldn't help it.

I laughed.

Eclipsara peeked through her fingers, looking absolutely horrified.

"...You're laughing."

"A little."

Then she lowered her hands, pointed accusingly at me, and somehow looked even more embarrassed.

"...I am revealing a deep and personal emotional vulnerability."

"I'm trying not to laugh." I said, failing completely.

"You are failing."

"I know."

She let out a long, dramatic sigh and pulled the jacket a little closer around herself, carefully avoiding the torn section across the back.

"...It was a really nice jacket."

Hearing her say that made me smile.

"...Well," I said. "when we get out of this place, I'll find you another one."

She looked at me for a moment then shook her head.

"...No."

"No?"

A tiny smile returned to her face.

"...I want to fix this one."

I couldn't help laughing a little.

"We'll fix it."

Her visible eye flicked back toward me.

"...Really?"

"Really."

The embarrassed look on her face softened almost instantly. She gave one small nod.

"...Okay."

Mira looked between us again. Then she covered her mouth, very obviously trying not to say something.

Eclipsara noticed immediately.

"...Don't."

"I didn't say anything."

"You were about to."

"I was."

"Mira."

"I'm stopping."

A pause.

Then Mira leaned over toward me and whispered in the quietest voice imaginable,

"...She was really angry about that jacket."

"I HEARD THAT!" Eclipsara cried.

She immediately grabbed Mira by both shoulders again and started shaking her much harder this time.

"Mira!"

"I'M JUST STATING FACTS!"

"MIRA!"

"You were cursing at the monster!"

"MIRA!"

"You said fashion damage!"

"I WAS UNDER STRESS!"

"You said it had committed crimes against jackets!"

"IT HAD!"

I was laughing too hard to help.

Mira pointed at me while Eclipsara continued vigorously shaking her back and forth.

"Val! Tell her!"

I wiped a tear from my eye.

"I'm sorry."

"You have to help me!"

"I really can't."

Eclipsara groaned in complete defeat.

"...I knew I shouldn't have told you it was a gift."

Mira immediately looked triumphant. "Aha! So you admit that you do regret it!"

Eclipsara froze.

"...I would like to retract my previous statement."

"Denied."

"...Mira."

"Denied."

"...Mira."

"Nope."

Eclipsara let out the deepest, most long-suffering sigh I had ever heard.

Then, despite all the embarrassment, she gently held the front of the jacket again, her fingers resting over the zipper.

And for just a second...

She looked strangely happy.

---

Eventually, the laughter died down.

Eclipsara finally stopped shaking Mira's shoulders. Mira stopped teasing her. I stopped trying-and failing-not to laugh.

For a few quiet seconds, the three of us simply stood there in the dim blue light.

Then all of us slowly looked down the hallway again.

The cold was still there.

The strange silence was still there.

And waiting for us at the end of the corridor was the large machine console with its dark, lifeless monitors.

"...Right," Mira said, clearing her throat. "We should probably get back to the whole mysterious underground laboratory thing."

"Unfortunately," I agreed.

Eclipsara looked from the console to the three doors lining the hallway.

"...Shouldn't we check those first?"

Mira followed her gaze.

"The doors?"

Eclipsara nodded once.

"What if touching that giant machine does something terrible?"

I looked at the console again.

It certainly looked like the kind of machine that could accidentally release horrors if we press something wrong.

"...You know." I admitted, "that's actually a very reasonable concern."

The three of us looked back toward the hallway.

Three doors. One strange machine console. And absolutely no idea which option was less dangerous.

"...So," Mira said after a moment, "do we investigate the mysterious doors first..."

"...Or the mysterious machine?" Eclipsara finished.

Silence.

The three of us stood there, thinking.

Then, almost at the same time, we all pointed in different directions.

"...Well," I muttered, looking at our completely different choices. "This is going to be one of those moments again, isn't it?"