Zero Escape: Chambers of Nightmares

... So Ocellus lost her mind. How am I supposed to reason with her? Think, Silver. Think...

"Her snapping was way too sudden and didn't happen in most of the other timelines I've been to. It had to have been caused by something from the last timeline she went to before she went wild."

Right. It would have to be something that happened here. I have to acknowledge that she can access the Morphogenetic Field at this point. Even considering that, she was perfectly sane when we got here and at the start of most of the timelines. So what happened that made Ocellus snap?

"You okay, Silver?"

"Yeah. I'm thinking."

She called me a selfish brat. Was there a point I was being selfish?... The last set of doors in the last timeline I went to. I wanted door 6 and shamed her when she wouldn't let me go there. Honestly, I was just upset because I knew something would go wrong. In hindsight, I can see why it came off as a selfish demand. And what happened after that...

"What I meant to say was, you aren't the one that needs to worry about me."

What happened after that...

"COZY GLOW! YOU BITCH! HOW DARE YOU!"

What happened is...

"SIIIIIILVEEEEER!"

Exactly why she snapped! Cozy Glow killed Sandbar in that timeline, then Ocellus killed her, Rain, and Smolder before trying to kill me! For all she knows, Cozy and I worked together to kill him. That's why she's treating me like I'm just as bad as Cozy.

"Did you realize something?"

I nod. "It's just a matter of if I can use it or not. I don't want to say the wrong thing and make it all worse."

Yona's scratching her head. "She keeps blaming you. Is there some way to throw that back at her?"

"How would that help?"

"If she thinks she's at fault, she might blow up for a bit, but she might go back to normal after calming down."

Huh... Can I blame her for this at all? That might work, but I can't think of anything-

"HEY!" She's banging on the tube again. "WHAT ARE YOU TWO SAYING?"

"Quiet down!" Think, Silver! Think! Is there some way you can make her think it's her fault? Think. Think...

"I choose... door 4"

!!! No! Wait! It's entirely her fault!

"HEY! DON'T TELL ME TO SHUT UP! YOU'RE JUST AS RESPONSIBLE FOR HIS DEATH AS COZY WAS!"

"By that logic, you're also responsible for his death!"

Silence. Fully expected that.

"WHAT? WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU SAYING?"

"I knew things would go bad if I went through door 8! That's why I wanted to go through door 6 in the first place! But you prevented me from keeping him safe!" Okay, it was Cozy I was trying to protect, but still. "So, by your own logic, you're responsible for his death!"

Waiting for a response...

"YOU FUCKING PIECE OF SHIT!"

Uh oh.

"DON'T FUCKING BLAME THIS ON ME, YOU ROTTEN BRAT!"

Shit. I don't think this will end well.

"I WASN'T TRYING TO FUCKING SPITE YOU, YOU SLUT! I WANTED TO MAKE EVERYONE ELSE HAPPY! I WAS TRYING TO SATISFY AS MANY OF US AS I COULD, AND MAKE AS FEW OF US UPSET AS POSSIBLE!"

I lift my claw to smash the top of the tube. She needs to shut- Yona? "Wha-" Her hoof is on my beak!

"I WAS TRYING TO MAKE EVERYONE HAPPY! STOP BEING SELFISH!"

Why did Yona stop me? Why won't she let go?

"I WANTED WHAT WAS BEST FOR EVERYONE! I WANTED... I... I..."

Ocellus is... coughing?

"I wanted... I... everyone..."

She's crying.

"I wanted... I wanted to make everyone happy, and then I... I... Waaahhhhhhh!"

She's... really breaking down, huh?

"Why would I... Why would I do that? What is wrong with me?"

I gently move Yona's hoof off of my beak and place my claw on the tube. "Ocellus? We're going to get you out, okay?"

She doesn't respond. I can still hear her crying. It's strange. Just a few moments ago, I was terrified of her, even with all of that metal between us. Now? I want to hug her.

I look at Yona. She's smiling at me... I smile back. I did the right thing. Not in the way I intended, but she should be back to normal now.

Yona and I take the keys she's already got and try them on the locks until they work... Ah! This one doesn't fit any of them.

"What? Are there fake keys?"

"No." I head over to the panel with a locked glass case over it. "This key goes to a different lock." I unlock the glass case and lift it up, then I press the button to open the door it's next to. "I'm going into this room alone. If the door closes, press that button. Hopefully, that will open it back up." I already know that it'll close on me. I just wonder if this is what Rain did in the other timeline.

Yona just nods... wait. Did she hear what I said to Ocellus? Did she stop me because she thought I was talking crazy? Or did she somehow know that would work? Did she know what I was talking about?... Uh, door door door. Don't worry about that, Silver. Just stay focused.

I walk in and open the box at the far end of the room.

*Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr*

That was the door closing. I put on one of the masks that fell from the ceiling.

"Plea-" *Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr*

Wow. Yona was fast about that one. I take the key from the box and head back towards the door. OW! Right. I should take this mask off.

I step out of the room and share a look with Yona.

"How did you know that would work?"

I shrug. "I didn't. I just figured it would be a bad idea for both of us to go in at once."

She looks away from me, then nods. "Let's get Ocellus out."

I nod. It looks like we only have two boxes to open up now. I start unlocking one of the boxes while Yona handles the other one.

It doesn't take too long for us to open the boxes and unlock the last of the locks. We slide open the tube. Oh no!... "She's just asleep."

I hear Yona let out a sigh. "Let's go."

I lift Ocellus onto Yona's back, then open the door out of here. As soon as I step through, I see Smolder, Rain, and... Sandbar.

"Yeah, the needles didn't pierce my scales at all. It's almost like they didn't-" Smolder looks right at us. Rain and Sandbar both turn to look once they notice where her attention is.

"Ocellus!" Sandbar rushes over to Yona. Or rather, to the changeling Yona is carrying.

"It's alright. I managed to talk her down. Somehow."

Sandbar grabs Ocellus like she's a plushie, closing his eyes and rubbing his cheek against her's. It makes me feel good that they... He's... staring at me. It looks a bit like he's mad at me. But I saved Ocellus! That should count for something, right? He's looking at his girl... His eyes are closed... He's breathing in...

"Thank you." Ah! There's his smile! That makes me feel fuzzy inside.

"Mmph. Sandbar?"

Sandbar looks at Ocellus. "I'm right here."

She's nuzzling up to him. "I'm sorry. I don't know what happened. I learned something horrible, and I just-"

Sandbar is shushing her. "It's okay, Ocellus. It'll be okay. We'll worry about that once we're out of here. Alright?"

Aww. She's smiling. "Alright."

I guess- AHH! Please tell me that was the first! Please tell me I just watched their first kiss!

"Silver, what was that sound?"

"She's a hopeless romantic. That's all."

Hehe. They know me so well.

"Uhh."

?

"Ahh."

That sounds like... "Bramble?"

He's looking me right in the eye. "I... I..."

Wait. Someone's missing. "Where's Gallus?"

His eye is twitching. Did something happen?

*Whump*

!!! Oh no! Is he alright? "Bramble! What's wrong? Did you hurt-"

"I... I couldn't..."

I lift his head up. "Talk to me, Bramble. What happened?"

"I... I..."

"I've been with him through all of the doors." Cozy Glow? But she's- "In every one of them, he wasn't able to do anything."

That's right. In another timeline, Cozy mentioned that he can't do the puzzles on his own. Which means...

Oh, no!

"Silver! Wait!"

Gallus isn't here, and Bramble can't do the puzzles! That means that Gallus is... Gallus is...

That's... not pretty. It's not as bad as I expected, but it's still not pretty.

"Oh. Oh, no." I look at Rain. "That's... not good."

I look back at Gallus. At least, what's left of him. "It's not. Go tell the others. I'll get his bracelet."

... Have I really been exposed to death that much recently? This is hardly getting to me now. Either way, we have to keep moving.

There's no sign of damage on the bracelet, even though it got soaked with acid. Though they're probably just coated in something that keeps them safe from acid. Or maybe they're made out of bone since that's all that's left of Gallus! Ick! There's not a bit of flesh left on him! Ugh... I guess I'm not as used to this as I thought.

I head back through the door, bracelet in claw.

"But if I hadn't killed Cozy Glow, she would have been there to help you with the puzzle."

"But I should have gone in that side room before he did!"

What a thing to return to. Ocellus and Bramble are both trying to take the blame for Gallus' death. I look at the other's reactions. Sandbar is biting his lip, Yona has her head tilted, Rain isn't looking at them, and Smolder looks annoyed.

"I, uh, got the bracelet." That's not gonna stop them, but I at least want to get their attention.

They both look at me. The look in their eyes can only be of guilt. That doesn't make me feel any better than whenever it's of accusation.

"Silver," Ocellus speaks first, "Who do you blame for his death?"

"It's me, right?" Bramble is practically asking me to blame him.

I can't have them acting like this. Not right now. "Gallus should have known better. He told me a while back that he wouldn't trust Bramble to solve a puzzle to save his life." Okay, Gallus didn't actually say that, but they don't need to know. "We can work out the details once we're out. Let's just focus on getting out of here first."

The two of them look at each other.

Ocellus sighs and looks at me. "You're right. We should keep going."

Bramble lets out a soft groan. "The sooner we get out of here the better."

*DING DING DING*

There's the next chime as if to remind us of how long we've been here. And how much longer we could be here.