...

"Silver. Please don't waste her death."

...

"Come on. Let's go."

...

"We can't do anything now."

... I get up.

"Let's get going. I already have the key."

I watch Sandbar walk over to the exit door, then look at me. It takes me a moment to realize he wants me to follow him. So I... do. I walk behind him. He opens the door.

"Mister Sandbar?"

Bramble is standing there. He looks upset. I'm tempted to hug him. I think I need a hug.

"Silver? Are you listening?"

"Huh? What did you say?"

"Cozy Glow died, and Gallus needs our help."

"Are you okay, Miss Silver?"

I look at Bramble. He's looking at me. What's with his expression?

"Let's help Gallus." I move past him and into the open door.

"Yo, Silver!" Gallus immediately draws my attention. "You okay? You look like you just saw a puppy die."

I pick up the fake leg as I pass it. "I did. Her name was Ocellus."

"Oh. Shit. She died too, huh? Here's hoping Rain's team is good. I'd hate to lose half of us only halfway through this."

I put the fake leg up to his stump.

"Wait, Ocellus died?" I guess Sandbar didn't tell him.

"Yeah." I don't feel like going into detail.

There's pressure on my head. "Well, let's get out of here. That way, their deaths won't be wasted."

"... Sure." I think his leg is on right.

"Let's get going." I follow Gallus out of the room. We loop back around to the infirmary.

"Sandbar, take the keys and find the door they lead to."

"Huh? Why?"

"I need Bramble and Silver. Something went wrong in room 1."

It says assist. I follow Gallus over to it, then through the door. We go around a wall, and find an exam room with three metal tubes in it.

*Bang Bang Bang* "Let Yak out!"

Yona must be in one of them. Bramble steps from behind me as Gallus heads over to the tubes. I look over at a door in the room. I head over to it. There's a panel next to the door. I press a button on the panel.

"Please wait while the room ventilates."

I guess I have to wait.

"Silver, what did you do?"

I sit down in front of the door.

"Miss Silver?"

Just have to wait.

"Unlocking door." *Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr*

... Fuck. They're dead too. I step in and grab the key from Smolder's body, then I leave the room.

"Oh, no! How did they die?"

"Don't know, don't care." I unlock the last lock on the tube Yona is in. It slides open.

She looks me in the eye. "Silver? What happened? You are Silver, right?"

"Yeah, why?"

Something pulls me back a bit. "She's a bit out of it right now. Cozy Glow, Ocellus, Smolder, and Rain all died."

"What? Oh, no!"

"Uh, Mister Gallus? I got their bracelets."

Gallus' claw hits his face. "We forgot Cozy Glow's! I saw Sandbar with Ocellus' earlier, but we need all of them!"

"I'll get it." I unlock the exit, head through, and make my way to the room Cozy died in. I see the skeleton lying there on the other side of a door. I look it over. It's Cozy Glow's. I see the bracelet. I guess they're made of something incredible. And expensive. I pick it up. It still displays a 9 on its face.

"Silver, talk to me."

I look at Gallus. "There's nothing to say. I got Ocellus killed. End of story."

His ears perk at that. "You what? How?"

"I messed up the puzzle."

"Then it's not your fault. Blame Zero for her death, not yourself!"

"I tried that last time this happened. It didn't work then, either."

"... What do you mean?"

I take a deep breath. "My uncle. My father's brother. He died because I lived."

"What?"

"When the Storm King attacked, I was at the tail end of the evacuation. I was running as fast as I could when I tripped. A couple of storm beasts came up to me when I did. I couldn't move. I was paralyzed with fear. That's when my uncle yelled at me. He held them back as I got back up and ran. When I looked back, they decapitated them. Whenever it came up, my parents and aunt lied and said it wasn't my fault."

He's gawking. "I had no idea. All this time, and... Hey, Silver? Could you do me a favor?"

"What is it?"

"Once we get out, promise me you'll get help for that. Professional help. I know something that can."

"Sure. As long as our friends don't know."

"Promise."

I walk towards the exit. "Let's get going." Wha-... He's... soft. "Thank you."

"You're welcome."

We break off the hug and get going. We get to the infirmary just in time to see Bramble's butt disappear through the door out. We quickly fly out the door.

"Wait up!"

The others stop. "Hey. You got the bracelet, right?"

"Yeah, but how were we supposed to find you without any way of knowing where you went?"

The three of them share a look. "Good point."

"Also, we have a bigger problem." Gallus holds out the bracelet he has. "There are five of us left. The remaining doors are 4, 6, and 8. That means we either have to leave one room alone, or one of us has to go alone."

They all look at each other. "I say we leave one of the rooms for now. That makes it less likely for any of us to run into a situation where we have to die."

We all nod at Sandbar's suggestion. "That's a fair point."

"May I ask, in that case, to go with two of you? It would make me feel more comfortable."

Gallus looks at Bramble. "That depends on how things add up."

"It's 4, 6, and 8, right? 3 and 6 make 9, which means Bramble can go with you two through door 8, and I can go with Yona through one of the other doors."

They all look at me.

"I... guess that works."

"Is that alright with you, Bramble?"

Gallus is tapping his talons together. "Actually, it's either that or you go with me and Yona through door 6."

"Um... I'll go through door 8."

Gallus nods then holds out bracelet 7. "You can take this bracelet through door 4, or you can take bracelet 9 through door 6."

I swap the bracelets. I'd rather go through door 4. "Are we all good?"

The others nod, and we go through the halls to the doors we need. It doesn't take long for me to find door 4.

"Silver? Are you alright?"

"I'm fine." I scan my bracelet and the loose bracelet.

"You can talk to me if you ever need to." Yona scans her bracelet then pulls the lever.

We step into the cafeteria and find the DEAD. It doesn't take long to scan into it and pull the lever. Well, better not waste any time.

TIME TO SEARCH!

My eyes lock on to a number pad in the room. I walk over to it. "Find the nines, and you may find your answer."

"What that mean?"

I shrug. "I guess it has something to do with the trays."

She turns to the trays on the tables... and starts drooling.

"It could be poisoned, you know."

She looks back at me, then rubs the drool off of her chin. "Yaks immune to poison!"

"Yaks bad liars."

"Yak hungry."

I sigh. "Yak can wait until we're out. If you can't help, just stay away from the food at least."

She starts pouting and makes her way to a corner. I look at one of the trays.

378/226/459
654/298/771

Hmm... The top corners add up to nine, so I guess I'm looking for that. I pick the tray up and move to the next empty one. I don't see any sets of numbers that add up to nine, so I leave it be.

I go through the rest of the trays on this first table, and put the ones I picked up by the number panel. Then I move to the next table. This is going to take a bit...

"Yak bored."

"How good are you at math?"

"Not very."

"Then quiet down and let me work."

...

"Are you done yet?"

"No."

"When will you finish?"

"When you stop asking."

...

"I stopped asking! Are you done yet?"

"Whine whine."

"What did you say?"

"Nothing. Just quiet down."

That's half of the tables. I might as well see if I have the right one before going through the other half. I go through the trays I set aside one by one, punching in the combinations that have more than one nine.

This tray...

369/459/144
882/729/981

All of the combinations add up to nine... Are you kidding me?

I punch the nine key six times.

*Ding*

... That was the answer. Really? Really? Alright then. Time to grab... The kitchen door is closed. Did Yona go through? I go up to the door and open it.

...

Fuck. She's dead. Crisp. And damp from the very late sprinklers...

Fucking SHIT! WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH ME? I KILLED TWO OF MY FRIENDS NOW!... Fuck...

I pick up her bracelet. The screen is cracked. I think the heat broke it. I drop it and pick up the key. Ugh. Why couldn't I be the one to die? Ever?

I unlock the exit door. It leads to a mass of hallways. I wander them for a bit, but I doubt I'll find anything here.

?

A box?

It's small but noticeable.

Was this here before? I lift the lid. There's a book inside. I open the cover.

'Dear Diary.

Two ponies arrived today. An orange one and a yellow one. It was the oddest thing since I haven't heard of anyone coming or leaving the Peaks of Peril in a long time, let alone a pony.'

Is this... Rain's diary? I keep reading. The rest of the entry is about the professors going on their friendship mission to the kirin's home. The next three entries are about how wonderful it was to have her voice back. The next one...

'Dear Diary.

I'm scared. I'm leaving the land the gods love. I don't know what to expect at this "school," but it terrifies me. I don't want to go. What if someone tries to hurt me? I want to stay, but I'm the only one they can send. Do they think I'm expendable? Or is it because I don't have any friends?

I don't like this.'

She didn't have any friends before coming to school? But she was so nice. Wait. If this is her diary... I flip to the back.

A number of pages are torn out. Darn. I thought she would have written about the rest of the memories we're missing.

I flip back to the entry after the one I just read.

'Dear Diary.

I met the nicest girl today. She even helped me reconnect with the gods. I never would have expected to befriend someone like her, let alone ever meet someone that wasn't a kirin.

Her art skills are amazing. She's not someone that knows my gods, yet she replicated them so well. It makes my room feel a lot more like a home. I have to wonder how my parents will feel when they see it.

Then there are her friends. There's Gallus, the sarcastic, Yona, the clumsy, Sandbar, the unnotable, Ocellus, the nerd, and Smolder, who is easily the most annoying of them. Even so, I'm looking forward to spending more time with her and her friends. This is going to be great!'

That's right. I was the first one to approach her, and I helped her make those statues of her gods. The next three entries are about... me? I can't tell. They almost read out like something out of a romance novel. If that's the case, then it probably isn't me. She was always so honest, so I doubt she would have... kept...

'Dear Diary.

I can't keep it bottled up anymore. I can't say it to anyone, but I have to let it out. I've been trying to lie to myself as much as possible. I can't. Not anymore.

The way she speaks always makes me smile because she sees the light when there's none in sight. When she dances, I can't take my eyes off of her. Her movements can be so hypnotizing. I've gotten lost in her eyes once or twice. The only thing more amazing than her gaze is how she doesn't mind.

I can't get close. She wants someone else. I can't get in the way of that. But I have to say it.

I love Silverstream.'

... Why?

Why am I learning this now?

Why am I realizing this now?

Those odd moments. I thought it was just her being... her.

I close the book and cry...

It's so... heartbreaking. Heartwrenching.

This whole experience.

Yona...

Ocellus...

Rain...

Everyone...

Powder? Oh. Of course.

"The others are dead, aren't they?"

I put the book down and wait for the inevitable...

I cough.

Blood.

I feel... dizzy.

He catches me as I fall.

"Who... are you?"

I can barely feel a thing... but I still feel his breath on my ear.

"You know."

Ending 2

Heaven

Author's Note

The next three chapters are going to be a bit... weird. You'll see why.