Or so they thought it was the exit...
Well, technically it was the exit. Except the entrance had collapsed, leaving only a few tiny holes to wriggle through to the other side.
They stood before it, listening to the distant chirping of crickets and other unknown creatures. Freedom—or at least the idea of it—was calling.
A few cracks let so light in, illuminating the path. Lysithea’s eyes glowed faintly in the dark, which was helpful... but also slightly ominous.
"How are we supposed to get out of here?" Seraphina asked, looking at Finn like he held the secrets of the universe.
"How am I supposed to know?! You ask like I know everything."
"Well... didn’t you ask a bunch of things and I kept telling you I don’t know?"
Finn’s eyes narrowed. "Nope. Never did that." He crossed his arms, staring dramatically into the void.
"You did... well, I only asked because I thought you were smart and would know how to—"
Finn spun to her, seizing the mont. "Why yes, actually. I do know how to get past this!" He planted a hand on the rocks like so kind of cavernous king.
"How?" she asked, intrigued.
He paused for dramatic effect, then pointed at Lysithea standing silently nearby. "She will help us."
Lysithea starred at him for a few seconds before replying with slow, weird drawl: "Ookkayy~~~"
Finn said nothing. He just noticed sothing strange: ever since Lysithea left that weird sli chamber, she’d been unusually quiet—barely speaking, barely moving. And she hadn’t tried to absorb him even once.
Weird...
But Lysithea obeyed his command. She started moving the giant rocks one by one. Finn felt his stomach twist with guilt—she was doing all the work. "Fine," he muttered. "I’ll help."
They pushed rocks together, while Seraphina hovered awkwardly, looking embarrassed about being useless. Finn struggled with so, grunting and straining, while Lysithea moved them effortlessly, her slimy form barely breaking a sweat.
Then inspiration struck. "Wait—Seraphina! Bless with strength!"
She hesitated for a second, then placed her hands on his back, chanting the sa blessing she had given him during his solo fight with the monster.
He felt a sudden surge of power course through him. Muscles bulging, determination restored, Finn flexed dramatically. He was ready to take on... slightly bigger rocks.
Both of them continued moving rocks while Seraphina watched. Before long, the path was clear—finally, enough room to step outside.
Finn’s relief quickly turned into crushing disappointnt. It wasn’t day. It was night. The cold light of the moon bathed the cavern entrance. He wanted sun, warmth... not this chilly lunar nonsense.
Seraphina, however, didn’t care. She stepped past him, arms raised, praising the goddess that she could finally feel the freedom of the outside again.
Finn watched her spin around like she was in a comrcial for laundry detergent. He almost expected sparkles to shoot out of her robe.
Finn couldn’t help but smile a little at her joy. They were finally out. He just wanted to face-plant into the ground... if it were soft, of course. He made a ntal note to do it back in Moistvile. Even Moistvile sounded luxurious compared to that sli cavern.
’Wait...’ Finn realized. Two nights had passed. And he had no money to pay for lodging. Life was officially not looking good.
’I guess I can just use Majestria’s butt as a pillow,’ he muttered quietly to himself.
No Sli lo. No rewards. Just two nights of hell with nothing to show for it.
He sighed, staring at the grassy ground, before glancing back at Lysithea—who was still standing in the cave.
"What’s the matter? Aren’t you coming? I said I’d take you out here, didn’t I?"
She remained in the shadows, staring directly at him. Then, finally, she spoke:
"Noo~~~"
Those words hit Finn harder than expected. "What do you an?"
"I am nott goinggg~~~"
"Why though..? You ca all this way with us—if you turn back now it’s pointless. Besides, you saw the state of that place."
She only stared at him, sli eyes glowing faintly in the dark.
"Yesss~~~ I will be fiiine, don’t worrry~~~"
"How will you be fine?! The whole cavern is collapsing, and that giant freak down there is waking up—or whatever the hell it’s doing."
"Yesss~~~ but I will be finee~ It’s warrrr, sooo warm down there~~~ I want you to stayyy and leave herrr~~~"
"You know I can’t do that. I told you before."
"Yesss~~ it makes so jealouuus~~~ but I have a thing for youuu~~~"
"You do—wait what?"
And then she revealed it. The holy grail. The one thing Finn had been desperate for—Sli los. Not just one, but a whole bunch. So dark blue, so even darker blue, and others a sky blue he’d never seen before.
’Huh... different flavors?’
She extended her hand, and Finn nearly wept as he accepted them, clutching them to his chest. His eyes watered with joy. He pocketed them carefully, then hugged her, babbling thanks over and over.
He was ready to propose marriage to a pile of sli at this point. Hell, he was two seconds away from writing their wedding vows.
"Youuu said you needed themm, so I gavvve you lotsss~~~"
"Yes—thank you so much!" Finn pressed his face into her warm, squishy stomach, saring sli across his cheeks. She let out a low, purring hum, oddly comforting for both of them.
But then—footsteps. Heavy. Multiple. Approaching.
Both Finn and Lysithea froze. They looked at each other. For the first ti, Finn felt a pang of guilt.
"I guess this is where we part ways then..."
"Yesss~~~ I will still watch youuu and miss youuuu~~~"
Finn managed a small, genuine smile.
"I promise... I’ll co find you again one day."
Her form lted back into the shadows, her glow swallowed by the cavern. And Finn turned toward the sound of footsteps, bracing himself for whoever—or whatever—was coming.
For all he knew, it could be bandits... or worse, Moistvile’s tax collectors.
But it was sothing far better...
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