"Just forget about this."
"Will do."
Putting on my mask again, we continued walking again.
An awkward silence bridged between us, making the atmosphere tense.
While Aria was probably thinking about the embarrassing hug, I had worse things to worry about.
She saw my face.
Although I understood her decision to remove my mask to look for the source of my sudden fainting, it still bothered me.
Judging by her reaction, I assumed that she didn't recognize my face, but there's always a chance that she'll remember some information about me, right?
Besides that, I could also throw away the identity of 'Lapsa', as she already knew that Voidwalker and Lapsa were the same people.
I sighed, feeling the incoming headache, as I started imagining all the trouble that I will have to go through.
"What's wrong?" Aria asked, trying to break the awkward silence.
Taking a deep breath, I calmed down.
After all, worrying about such things didn't help me in any way.
I shook my head, speaking in a reassuring voice. "It's nothing."
"I see," she responded, nodding, as she faced her head to the floor. "What did you experience while being unconscious?.. If it's alright for me to ask."
"Well," I laughed bitterly, my face grimacing under my mask, as I involuntarily recalled the experience. "..just some memories of my past."
"It looked painful."
It wasn't a question, but a mere statement she made.
"I'll get used to it. Adapting is my best biggest strength, after all."
"I don't think that's a good way to cope." Aria paused, turning her face toward me, as her eyes narrowed. "If these memories are so painful to you, then you should probably rather confront it than get used to it."
"I know."
Of course, I knew that.
Problems won't solve themselves, after all.
No matter how long it takes, if you don't solve the problem, it will catch up to you sooner or later.
But even though I knew I had to do something about it, avoiding them a little longer won't change anything, will it?
"I'll think about it."
"I just wanted to tell you."
"Thank you."
And with that brief conversation, we came to a halt again, walking in solitude through the rest of the way.
While I always knew about my tendency to avoid problems, having another person say it to me just made me realize the severity of my problem even more.
*
Following the lead of Aria, we quickly arrived at the end of the labyrinth, signified by the fact that this time, there was only a single path left.
And that was forward.
"We are almost there."
Aria stated, as a matter of fact, also noticing that this would be the last few steps we'll take.
"Brace yourself for a fight." I narrowed my eyes, enhancing my senses. "The last path could be dangerous."
Not something that was based on any real evidence, but it just made sense to me.
A single path that leads to the last room.
Didn't that sound kind of suspicious?
To me, it was quite logical to assume that whoever or whatever made that dungeon used that last path to stop anyone from getting to the last room.
"Yes." Aria nodded with a serious expression.
Contrary to my expectations, however, nothing happened.
No monsters or any hindrances — not even a single trap.
"What a relief..." Sighing, Aria lowered her guard as she approached the golden gate. "There were no difficulties on the way."
"...I suppose."
Instead of feeling a sense of relief, the fact that there were no traps made me worried.
Why?
Why would one even build a dungeon filled with traps, but build the last path without any traps or hindrances at all?
Wouldn't that just mean that whatever lays behind the gate didn't have any need for extra protection?
It just didn't make sense.
"Lapsa?"
Aria's voice snapped me back to reality.
"Yes?" I responded, turning my back to her. Aria, who looked at me with a worried expression, did nothing, but silently stare at me, carefully watching my reactions.
"You just seemed like you were spacing out." She shook her head, turning her attention back to the gate. "I just thought that you would be thinking about unpleasant memories again. But it seems like my worry was unfounded."
"I appreciate your worries."
Chuckling, I suppressed the urge to pat her on the head.
While it was understandable, as she was a saint, it was quite a surprise to me. I was already used to public figures not exactly being, as they always seemed to be, so my expectation for the saint wasn't very high.
However, while Aria and I didn't start off on good terms, I didn't take long to realize that the rumors about her were an understatement.
Even by the smallest of her gestures, one could see her honest intentions behind that.
I considered her a 'bunny'-type of person.
Someone you just want to pinch the face of.
I think that's what people call 'cuteness aggression'.
"Why are you looking at me like that?"
Aria, who didn't know about my thought process, tilted her head, looking at me in confusion.
"Nothing."
Turning my head back to the gate, I suppressed a smile.
Putting my hands on the handle of the golden gate, I gave it a heavy push.
However, the gate didn't move an inch, dwelling in its normal state as if nothing had happened.
"It doesn't move."
"Maybe it is the thing we need the key for?"
Putting her hand on her chin, she furrowed her eyebrows, critically scanning the gate.
While I agreed that it probably had some kind of mechanism, I doubted that there was a literal key for this gate. My theory was backed by the sole fact that a keyhole didn't exist for the gate.
Closing my eyes, I looked for another way to open the gate.
Aria told me that guards or paladins would repel the key, which means that it was probably a person.
There were no clear similarities between these two except that they're people, so I couldn't find a reason for an item to reject them.
And if we are going by that logic...that description would fit me.
"Oh."
I released a sound of realization, putting my hand on the gate in response.
"Did you find something out?"
Aria turned her attention to me, looking at me with wide eyes filled with curiosity.
"Yes." I nodded, letting out a heavy breath, before pumping my ether into the gate. "If my theory is right, then only this can be the solution."
If I really was the key, then a trait of mine would be the answer to opening the gate.
And what was a trait that only belonged to me?
Ether.
Especially inside the Depths, ether was a thing that played a big role, so it was quite logical that this gate would also have a mechanism that only reacts to ether.
Crrrrr
I was right.
"It is opening!"
Aria beamed, turning to me with a smile on her face.
With a large creak, the heavy door opened itself, revealing a completely golden room with nothing inside it besides a dark statue hanging in the middle of the room, shielding something behind its back.
The only thing that illuminated the room was a small ball of light levitating above the statue, emitting its weak light throughout the dark room.
I squeezed my eyes, pumping ether into them to heighten my eyesight.
Oh.
"What's wrong, Lapsa?" Aria asked as she saw me twitching in the corner of her eyes. "Is something wrong?"
I couldn't answer her question.
Bump-bump.
Bump-bump.
While I could physically perceive what she said, everything just faded into the background for me, as my attention was stolen by the lonely statue in the middle of the room.
Gulp.
Swallowing my saliva, I tried to calm myself down.
Bump-bump.
My heart raced against my chest, tightening as a sharp pain spread throughout my chest.
"..Lapsa..?"
Trying to stop my hasty breathing, I opened my dry mouth, trying to force the words out of my throat.
I was in a trance, unsure if I was still in the effects of the curse or reality. Only able to muster a silent whisper, I spoke.
"Mother..?"
The dark, black statue in the middle of the room resembled the shape of my mother.
Although I could only see her back from the position I was in, there was no doubt in my mind as to who that was.
The image of her in my mind and the statue perfectly overlapped with each other.
There was no other way.
That statue really was my mother.