The Door of Pinches...

Splayed on the ground… graceful like a dead fish out of the water.

You guessed it! It's me! If you guessed at all…

"You're looking a little worn, Lilith!" Elise grinned, looking down while standing over me, "Wasn't it fun fighting through the horde?"

"Only you had fun, Elise! Even I, a fellow battle lover, hated it, Elise!" Lorraine moaned from her own piece of beach nearby, "How are you still standing?"

Helping everyone up, Elise shooed us along, ignoring Lorraine's question, "So there's a rest area up ahead… but since we moved like a group of SNAILS, a lot of people are probably waiting for us!"

Yeah, that's true, we spent so much time talking and talking and talking… you get the idea!

I don't mind taking all this time though, because everything is so damn pretty! Why is everything so pretty… the colors mix so well, a contrast in the right places, compliments in the other places. It's like someone made this! Plus, I'm walking along with my closest… Family? Friends?

Such inner peace, I feel like a certain turtle… one that knows kung fu...

Shaking Victoria's shoulder like a child tugging on an adult, I asked as she turned, eyes looking like she came out of 2 end-of-year finals in a row, "What are we going to be doing in the rest area?"

"Not really sure honestly… I'm just gonna lay down… usually, people have some fun games or competitions, because there's not much to do in the rest areas. Other than lay down and relax of course, which is my plan," Victoria murmured with a laugh, counting some mysterious numbers on her hands, "we might send some people to scout ahead, see if the next area is just the final boss."

"This quickly? Aren't dungeons usually longer?"

"Yeahhh, usually dungeons are a few days to week-long endeavors to conquer, but this one seems weird…" Victoria confessed, walking along behind the other three while explaining, "usually things like monster houses don't appear until right before the final boss. Yet we, with our amazing, or horrid depending on how you look at it, luck, ran into one immediately."

"So what you're telling me is… there's something wonky with this dungeon?"

"Yeap, pretty much," Victoria chuckled, brushing her hair out of her face, "To be honest, though, I wouldn't mind being able to finish this dungeon within a day… for me, dungeons aren't the most fun. I really enjoy exploring stuff, that's my real bread and butter."

"That sounds amazing! I can't wait then for when we can do that… maybe do missions or something for Selene or some other person we meet"

Or maybe I'll just get a bean bag chair and sleep… ahhhhh~, even if it's a game this stuff is surprisingly hard...

Meandering in silence along with the other four as we made our way through the luminescent caves, we made several… maybe more than several wrong turns before we came across a massive door.

Towering and shooting into the ceiling, the door had markings spanning the door up and down. Plus, it had… no real opening mechanism?

"So… uhm… what are we supposed to do here?"

Rolling up her map with a light yawn, Rebecca explained, "We just have to find a square that's on the door somewhere. By pressing down that square the door will retract into the ground letting us pass."

Tapping her foot while inhaling, Lorraine exclaimed with a fancy hand flourish, "C'mon!! We got this, why are you all so tired and worn out!!"

This… Finding the random square on a massive door thing… is not what I expected when I came to a 'dungeon'! I expected something like… a DUNGEON, not some brain-dead mobile game puzzle stuff…

Brushing my hair back, shimmying my way past Elise, I began inspecting the door, sweeping my gaze and my fingers up and down the door.

Though, this door is way too tall and wide…

-----

Ah~ She's so cute~

*cough*

Elise be normal… you're not some pervert! Lilith is just your friend from nationals a few years back!

Ah~ Her pouting expression~ really makes one want to teas-

ELISE! BE NORMAL!

Ah~ her tail and ears~ I want to pet them~

… What am I thinking about?! Just… just act normal! Cool and calm~! Cool as a cucumber, calm as a potato!

Walking to the left side of the door, where Rebecca was inspecting, I tapped her shoulder asking, "Need some help, Rebecca? I'm usually pretty good at this stuff!"

Grinning, Rebecca shook her head, "It's fine~! You should go help Lorraine… she's… really struggling, could you make sure she doesn't decide to just sit there?"

"Yes ma'am! Enforcer Elise on the case!" I saluted before walking over to Lorraine.

Tapping Lorraine on the shoulder, I explained, "I've been sent here by Ms. de facto leader of the guild~! Here to watch over and help you!"

… I kind of want to just go help, Lilith…

-----

"What is this! Stupid! Lazy! Total time waster of a puzzle!" Lorraine groaned, smacking the door, "What's the point of installing a random door inside of a cave?!"

"You're giving up awfully early Lorraine," Rebecca laughed, watching Lorraine starfish onto the ground and begin flicking at pebbles, "we've only been at it for 2 minutes after all! Elise! Do your thing!"

Oh, dear… Oh, dear… oh no… oh very no… the worst torture! What a shame~

I didn't know what to expect seeing Rebecca break out into a half devious, half teasing grin… but I don't want to be on the receiving end of that…

Having been pinched, many times, many… Many times, in quick succession, albeit not hard enough to leave a mark, Lorraine slinked back into feeling the wall. While on the other hand Elise, with a bright smile went back to searching the wall right with her.

Elise really is inhuman at times…

Feeling the wall for a few more minutes, Victoria, who had been quiet the entire time, called out in joy, "I found it!" Pressing the square in, letting the door slide down into the ground, revealing a pathway forward.

"Freedom!"

"We're finally here!"

"To the rest area!"

Running along with everyone else, we burst through some vines, at the end of the tunnel, only to be greeted by what I can only call a sanctuary!