"So, Hera. How are you doing?" Sammy asked while they were inside yet another room in his 'office.' This was a smaller version of the central area that he only used when there was a number of people being treated. As a matter of fact, this was the first ti he needed to use this particular room. These sessions were going on since the beginning of the week, but this still felt very much like a novelty.
"I… I think I'm doing ok. I'm not thinking too much about… what happened," Hera shrugged while petting Daskka. They had decided that having the Herald here wasn't a bad idea, but she couldn't speak anything until the end of the session.
"Not thinking much or not thinking at all?"
"At all, I guess."
"And do you think this is a good idea? I understand why you were avoiding thinking about everything inside the mory and that, after it, you needed so ti to rest. But now, is this what is best for you?" Sammy pressed while making a small cup of tea approach her.
"I… don't know. It took a lot of to get over… that last ti."
"I rember what you talked about. This has happened in the past, correct? But it was a different situation. So kind of wide-range spell that turned a lot of people mad?" Sammy asked as Hera took the teacup.
"Yeah. It was a ss. A centaur ca for… I don't know, revenge? Hate? Whatever the case, it ca after us, managed to sneak past a bunch of people, and just started killing. I think it would be easier to show you, but I don't have an internet connection in here," Hera sighed.
"Oh. That's a good idea. I'll read about it later," Sammy nodded.
"You have access to the internet here?" Hera looked up from her cup.
Sammy frowned, "Well. Yes, but there are so limitations. For instance, I can't share things with all of you. It's more of a … closed network, so to speak. Also, I don't have access to any information since about two weeks before you and the… Royal Explorers?" Sammy questioned, trying to confirm if he got the na right. He could use spells and skills to make sure his mory was perfect, but doing so felt too impersonal, and he opted to rember things the old-fashioned way. Hera nodded in confirmation before he continued, "Yeah, so I can't talk about anything from between then and now. I have seen so things during that ti. After all, it's really boring to be here alone, but when you all arrived here, the mories I had about new things during that period were all locked away."
"I'm sorry about that…" Hera looked away, feeling a bit guilty about this. Having your mories locked didn't sound like sothing fun.
"Don't be. This is part of my job, and being soone who can ss with mories, having that done to is only fair. Now, back to you. While that was going on, the madness with the centaur, I an. You had an encounter, correct?" Hera just nodded after hearing Sammy's question, "Would you mind telling about it?"
"Again? I've already told you."
"Very well. I'll say what I rember. If I get anything wrong, please let know," one more ti, Hera nodded, hearing Sammy's question, "During that attack, people started fighting each other like monsters. They didn't stop unless you had a way of knocking them out or incapacitate them in so way. As you and Alex went back to the hotel in search of a notebook where Alex had written down so information about the curse, which, for the record, I think was a good idea."
"You do?" Hera tilted her head.
Sammy nodded with a smile, "I do. Despite her actual intentions, if you had left the notebook behind and it fell into the hands of soone else, then soone else might have ended up being cursed, and this whole ordeal you all went through would be for nothing. But let's move on. After getting the notebook, you rushed out, trying to find Helena and Bonnie, and that's when sothing happened. An elf attacked you when you were alone."
"And died," Hera replied.
Sammy paused, "May I ask you an uncomfortable question?"
"Isn't that part of the whole deal?" Hera chuckled.
"More or less," Sammy smiled, "May I?"
"Sure."
"Why do you always say it that like that? 'He died.' You always formulate the sentence by removing yourself from it."
"Why does that matter?" Hera shook her head.
"Because it's a way to deflect and avoid just like not thinking about what happened in the mory. Another reason is because of horror movies."
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"What?" Hera stopped and stared Sammy in the eyes.
"When you watch a horror movie, many tis, the monster is scarier when you haven't seen it. Because our mind does a much better job of creating sothing scary than most artists. It's the sa with words. If you are afraid of saying a specific word, your mind will make it even more dangerous, even more scary. Not to say that it isn't, but when you hide from it, you give it even more power."
"So you want to say what happened? What I did?" Hera asked.
"No. I want you to do well and get better. This is simply a suggestion. A… let's call it a tool that you can choose to use or not."
Hera took a deep breath, "I… I killed that elf. I killed Vulr Keller. And I killed Kadhan. It doesn't matter if it was in a mory. That doesn't change what I've done," when she finished speaking, she half expected sothing to happen. A weight to be lifted from her shoulders, a dark spot in her heart to vanish. Yet, nothing happened. There was no change, no difference between now and 30 seconds ago before she said anything. With a frown, she turned back to Sammy.
"ntal health is not that easy, unfortunately. There is no spell or trick to make everything better. What I hope is that this will make things easier. With ti, at least," Sammy could tell that Hera was still uncomfortable with the entire situation, so he decided on a different approach, "Let's change topics for a mont. How are you doing with the rest of the party? You all have been through so traumatic situations together, and so events were not that positive. Between Alex attacking you all and Adriel's secret job, how is everyone?"
"Hard to say. Alex is trying to act as if everything is normal, but she tends to overcompensate. Either being too nice to everyone, or just doing her own thing as if she didn't matter to us, or as if she didn't want to bother anyone. Adriel told everyone about his job, as you know, but I don't know if anyone processed enough about it. On one hand, he was lying to us and trying to use us. On the other hand, he didn't actually do anything bad or wrong. No one got hurt, no one got anything stolen. It was just part of his agenda, and it didn't affect us so far. I still don't know how to feel about it."
"And how do you feel about Alex attacking you? You talked about what she is doing but not how you feel about it."
Hera stopped for a mont. She didn't do this on purpose, it was just how she felt like she should talk, "I trust her. I still do. But it's not the sa. Not yet, anyway. When we were fighting, I still felt worried every ti she tossed a spell that seed to go in my direction. I know it's not fair, but…"
"But it's an instinct. She attacked you, and now you are weary. This is not sothing unexpected."
"I don't like that."
"We hardly like the results of trauma. Yet, the scars are still there. They will heal, and with ti, you won't even notice them, but unfortunately, it's sothing that you will carry with you forever."
"So you an that once trust has been broken, it can never be fixed?" Hera asked.
"Not quite. Trust can be fixed, but just like a vase, it will never be the sa as it was before."
"A bit heavy-handed with the taphors today, aren't we?" the Empress chuckled.
"Well, the topic is a bit complicated, and taphors help us understand more subjective things."
They continued their conversation, which was a daily thing, and at the end of the hour, Hera left the office. During the past week, this was their routine. Everyone would have between 30 to 40 minutes sessions with Sammy, then they would explore the Temple of Sands. Trying to find sothing else in the Thermal Waters didn't sound like a good idea. The entire place was too peaceful, and the monsters were starting to be annoyed by their presence. If Hera and the others found one of the nests, things could beco a problem. Even the most calm of creatures would beco aggressive when its ho was threatened.
In the Temple of Sands, they found a dungeon, the sa one that Hera and Adriel saw before finding the right doorway. That one wasn't that exciting. In essence, it was an escape room where the solution was to match the things in the area they were in with one of the paintings in the hallway just beyond the entrance of the dungeon. The main issue was that the quest only showed up after they left said hallway, and they couldn't go back, which ant they would have to figure out by following so very cryptic ssages that barely were any help. However, thanks to Adriel's new skill, he was able to rember everything in the paintings, and they quickly completed the dungeon. It was a sha that soone else had completed it before them, but they still got quite a bit of money as a reward. Also, each of them got a piece of a painting, but no one actually took the reward out since carrying a piece of a painting didn't seem like a good idea here. Not much because of whatever they might actually be, but because they would have to carry it around a place where high tides could be an issue, and if there was one thing that didn't work well with a painting was water.
They already spent a bit over a week here, and everyone agreed that there wasn't anything else to do. Sure, they could keep trying to search the Temple of Sands, but traversing that place was a nightmare. The only one who could move around without any problems was, again, Adriel. All thanks to his new skill that improved his mory. Aside from him, everyone had to go through so many hoops to avoid getting lost that exploring that place beca a slog. Worst of all, they found the doorway they had to go to in two days, by almost complete accident. This only made Blue even more anxious to leave. Soon enough, the rest of the party also started to feel restless, hoping they would go back ho soon.
Knowing that, Sammy tried to press everyone to have longer sessions, but this was still the last day of it. At least the last day for most of the party. Shane and Hera would be able to continue their sessions with the help of the guides. They could only do so in their private rooms, and it would be, essentially, a video session. Both of them were very grateful, not just because they could continue the sessions, but because they would be able to talk with soone who they could completely trust. Unlike people, beings that were part of the MAZE were bound to a set of rules, and they would not go against that no matter what.
Hera was the last one to have a session that day, and they all took a break before gathering in the central rest area. If this was the last ti they would see Sammy, this could only an one thing. It was ti for a goodbye party.
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