LIMINALITY

Chapter 12.

Sadie woke up, heat suppressing her body. She felt the dried tears still on her cheeks, "I-Ivory..?" She called out, half of her not expecting an answer. "Hmm..? Oh, you're awake.." Said Ivory, smiling weakly. Sadie gasped and ran towards her, hugging her. "I missed you so much, you have no idea.." She cried into her chest. "I missed you too..." Ivory wrapped her arms around her. They sat there embracing each other for a moment before they let go and looked around. It smelled really bad, like ammonia and acid. And it was incredibly warm, which discomforted the two. Their surroundings were similar to the insides of a human, which could explain the terrible smell of acid. It was slippery and slimy when Sadie stood up, "I already don't like it here..." She muttered, taking off her long-sleeved shirt. "If you want, I have a short-sleeved shirt in my backpack you can change into.." She took off her backpack and set it down. Ivory nodded, not wanting to stay in her tight long-sleeved shirt. She grabbed the backpack and dug through it until she found a dark blue T-shirt that was two times too big for her. She took off her long-sleeved shirt and pulled the T-shirt over her head. "Alright... should we start looking around now..?" She asked, "I guess.." Sadie replied, quite scared for what they were going to encounter in the level they were in. They started walking down the fleshy 'hallways' silently since they didn't necessarily know what to talk about. They were a bit shaken up about what had happened in the Throne Room. "So... what was your experience with The King like..?" Sadie asked, trying to strike up a conversation. "Not great. It was very dark and then my parents appeared and kept yelling at me for nonsensical things...then you appeared and The King took his sword and..." Ivory paused, tears welling up in her eyes. "Oh, Iv... I'm so sorry you had to go through that.." Sadie stopped and hugged her, trying to comfort her in the best way possible. "I-It's alright, I'm just glad it was all fake... I don't know what I'd do if you were dead.." Ivory cried. "I don't know what I'd do either.. I hate imagining you dying, it's a terrible thought to think." Sadie let go of her and looked her in the eyes, smiling, "I can't get over how pretty you are.." She sighed. "T-Thanks, Sadie.." Ivory's face turned a rosy shade of pink. "Let's go now, I don't want to be here for a while..." She turned around and began walking down.

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The level they were in was not pleasant in any way, shape or form. Occasionally, the intestinal tract would shake violently, causing Sadie and Ivory to be thrown around a lot. Which... wasn't helpful since Ivory has a very weak stomach and almost threw up. And it only got hotter the more they walked. They've already downed two bottles of water and have only four left plus six bottles of Almond Water.

Suddenly, Sadie noticed a small opening in the side of the 'wall.' "Hey, what's this?" She asked and pointed to it. "I'm not sure..." Ivory walked over to it, studying it. "Think I can crawl through it?" Sadie wondered and stood next to Ivory. "I wouldn't try it-" She got cut off by Sadie getting on all fours and crawling into the opening. After some frustration, she got through the hole. "Woah, what's this?!" She exclaimed, "Ivory, come on, there's something really cool in here!"

Ivory almost gagged, but reluctantly began crawling in. She had claustrophobia and hated small spaces like that, so she was struggling... like a lot. "SADIE HELP, I THINK I'M BEING CRUSHED ALIVE!" She screamed, "No you're not, Iv. You're over exaggerating. Here, give me your hand. I'll pull you out." Sadie held out her hand. "I can't get my hand through, it's too squishy in here." Ivory huffed, trying to pull her hand out from below her. Finally, she got it and held it out for Sadie to grab. She pulled for a moment until Ivory popped out of the opening and face planted onto the floor. "I'm never doing that again.." She muttered, "C'mon, it wasn't too terribly bad..." Sadie chuckled and wiped some of the mystery slime stuff out of her hair. "It smells so gross in this place.." Ivory rolled her eyes and stood up, dusting herself off. "Look, Iv!" Sadie pointed to a wooden cabin sitting in the middle of the hollowed out area they were in. "Why's there a cabin in a place like this..." Ivory muttered, "I dunno, but we should go check it out!" Sadie ran up to the mysterious cabin and opened the door, "There's nothing in here!" She yelled from inside of it. Ivory went into the cabin as well and looked around, "Yeah, you're right. It's completely empty in here.." She bent down and felt the floor, "It's real wood, too."
"I wonder who built all of this.." Sadie wondered and sat down, "We can take a break here." She said and patted the spot next to her. Ivory sat beside her and sighed, "I wonder how long we're gonna be in here."