chemical kids & mechanical brides

R I X E N The ground gave way slightly beneath my weight with each step, resulting in a soft crunching sound. Picking up my pace just enough to reach Kiada’s side, my own hooves fell into rhythm with her steps. The mare seemed thoughtful, ears flicking to an fro as we walked through the labyrinth, using the walls of bamboo stalks to guide our path. After a while, I lost track of what direction we had come from and even the one we were traveling in. We must have been deeply immersed in the maze, however, because I could hardly see the yellow sun anymore, even when I tried to peer through the dense foliage. The mist swallowed the Green Labyrinth. The silvery clouds licked at every surface, smothered the greens of the bamboo leaves, the grasses, and the underbrush. It leached out their color, turning everything a lifeless, stone-grey color. Despite the season being Scorch, here it felt like I was walking through a frigid steamroom with every breath. As we went along, the mist became increasingly dense. It was almost tangible, to the point where I could feel it gently pressing back against me, wrapping around me like a blanket as I forged along the barely visible path. My dark hair clung dankly to my neck. I could not help but feel like I too had been swallowed, erased, eradicated by this enveloping greyness. It hurt my eyes, everything was so white. Staring into the mist made me feel like I was staring at myself staring at nothing. My mind fought hard to drum up a thousand different descriptions to plaster across it. But there was nothing that could truly describe nothing. Each thought I had seemed loud and exposed, just like every movement I made in the silence that wrapped like the pale haze that surrounded us. Maybe the mist was somehow within me, just as I was within it.  "I hope so too." I couldn't help but feel disheartened, even as I agreed with Kiada. There was no evidence that spreading the hope had any impact on the land. Who knew whether or not the orbs even had any healing effect. It certainly didn't seem like it.  Though I was not familiar with Helovia and didn't fully understand how it was connected to the Rift, listening to Kiada speak her thoughts aloud made me question the purpose of the Rift. As time went on, I concerned myself less and less with problems that could not be solved, some of which being what the Rift was and why I had ended up in it. There were tasks at hoof whose carrying out I could actually contribute to in some way, such as spreading hope to the reaches of the Rift. Sharing the glowing orb with others allowed me to make myself useful. Or at least, to feel useful. There were few things I disliked more than sitting back when there was work to be done. It was easier to devote my time and energy to these types of things rather than brooding over what could not be changed. But that did not resolve the many questions still lingering in the depths of my cranium. "So this place came here from Helovia?"  Eventually the path split into a fork. My emerald gaze followed the mare's gesture as she told me of her encounter with the Magnus Metus. As I looked down the hazy path, it was easy to envision it lurking there in the gloom. Her description of the creature filled my mind with images of a vicious, bloodthirsty beast with snapping jaws ready to sink into its prey. To top it all off, Kiada detailed its rotating teeth. Those must be something else. Undoubtedly, as Kiada said, the Metus must be terrifying. "How did you manage to escape that predicament?" Attempting to lighten the mood that was as damp as the mist swirling around us, the question departed my vocals accompanied by a half-amused snort. I turned my head in the other direction as Kiada directed me to where she had found Khairi's egg, examining the area scrupulously, although it was difficult to make out too many details in the gloom.  "Talk." they heard me singing and they told me to stop quit these pretentious things and just punch the clock

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