Sidequest

Even Alyss put aside her annoyance to join the others in crowding around Luce expectantly and with weapons raised. Luce slowly pushed the door open and... nothing happened.

Blaze poked her head into the room and glanced around, “I don’t see anything...” she said, pushing past Luce to step into the room, nearly identical to the one they were in.

“Wait up!” Alyss called out, reaching out a hand to grab the back of Blaze’s shirt. She followed on Blaze’s heels into the room as Mom lumbered in after them Luce raised their foot to follow then suddenly stopped and put it down. With a look in their white eyes that was somehow dark, Luce turned quickly, their long white braid brushing Hiro’s nose. They fired an arrow into the dark back corner of the chamber. Instead of striking a creature of Darkness, the arrow revealed a large hole up by the ceiling. A figure in white disappeared into the tunnel. In its place a huge spider crawled out of the tunnel.

The door slammed shut separating Hiro, Alphonse, and Luce from Blaze, Alyss, and Mo. Luce fired another arrow at the spider but the shot missed as the spider dropped from the tunnel to the ground in front of them. The ground shook with the force of its landing. Hiro stumbled, falling back against the door. On the other side he could hear fists pounding and Alyss’s voice calling out, “hey! What the fuck! Why won’t it open!?”

Luce glared up at the tunnel, clicking their tongue in annoyance.

“Look out!” Alphonse shouted, grabbing Hiro’s arm and harshly dragging him to the side out of the way as the spider reared back and spat something at the three of them. As he was being dragged away, Hiro could only shout Luce’s name to try and spur them to move. Finally, at the last second, Luce snapped out of their glare and rolled out of the way of the attack.

Where the three of them had been standing there was a puddle of bubbling dark purple goop. Luce raised their bow and pointed it at the spider, “perhaps I was wrong about the boss room.”

*

The door slammed shut shortly after Mo stepped into the room. “What did Luce do...” Alyss muttered before she started to bang on the door and shout to the other side.

With her back to Alyss, Blaze looked around the room. It was a perfect mirror of the other chamber only there was a door on the other side rather than a hallway.

Even the hole in the wall by the ceiling was mirrored. And out of that hole crawled a giant spider.