The grinding rumble of the stone door echoed through the chamber, sending dust and small pebbles scattering at their hooves. As the wall slid away to reveal a passage beyond, Shion exhaled a breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding. The sequence of tiles had worked, and with the door now open, the dungeon seemed to sigh, as though welcoming them deeper into its ancient heart.

Logue stepped forward, ears twitching as he studied the newly revealed corridor. “Well, I guess we’re not done yet,” he smiled, his olive eyes gleaming with a mix of excitement and wariness. The pale light from his lantern danced across the walls, casting long shadows that twisted in ways that made the hallway seem alive.

"Always deeper," Fetch murmured, their silver mane shimmering as they moved to follow Logue. "The dungeon is waiting, listening." They grinned in that unsettling way, their eyes reflecting the strange, ghostly light.

Terrence, ever eager to push forward but still shaking off his earlier frustration, snorted. “Let’s just hope this isn’t another dead end.” He adjusted his stance, the clack of his hooves sharp against the stone floor. “Lead the way, Shion. It was your puzzle, after all.”

Shion gave a small nod and stepped into the corridor, her heart steadying with each step. The air grew colder as they moved deeper, and a faint, rhythmic pulsing—like a distant heartbeat—seemed to vibrate through the stone walls. The dungeon was alive, and they were trespassing in its veins.

The narrow hall stretched on, curling like a coiled serpent as the flickering light cast distorted shapes against the jagged walls. Shion felt a chill in her bones, but it was not from the cold. There was something eerie about this place, a lingering presence that felt like it was watching them. Perhaps it always had been.

After several minutes of winding through narrow, twisting corridors, the passage abruptly opened into a larger chamber. The group halted at the sight before them.

Two stone doorways stood at the far end of the chamber, each framed by intricately carved figures that now gleamed in the dim dungeon light. Above one doorway, a face carved from the rock smiled, its features smooth and benevolent. Above the other, a face frowned, the lines etched deep with what seemed like sorrow or anger.

The smiling face spoke first, its voice soft yet commanding, echoing through the chamber in a way that made the walls tremble. “Enter through my door,” it said, lips curving upwards in an unnerving, frozen grin. “Here lies the path of joy, of fortune, and all that is good. For your troubles, you have earned your way to the better side.”

The promise was sweet, alluring in its simplicity. For a moment, Shion could almost see it—walking through the door, finding answers, peace, something to fill the void that had been left behind. She could hear her mother’s voice, as faint as the whisper of wind through the dungeon. Could this be the way? Not only to the surface, but to what Shion had desired for so long?

Shion’s chest tightened at the thought, something about the faces stirring a forgotten memory—distant and painful, but still there, buried beneath years of trying to forget. It happened when she was barely old enough to understand. The faces reminded her of her childhood home, where the shadows seemed to stretch out and whisper her name. Of the nights she would wait by the window, looking for the figure she knew would never return.

Her hooves shifted on the cold stone floor as she wrestled with the sudden surge of emotion. The memory of her mother’s disappearance gnawed at her, a constant, nagging doubt. The dungeon’s winding corridors, its dead ends and mysteries, had always both reminded her of that loss, of the endless, futile search for answers that might never come as Father always said... but also the drive, the spite that fueled her to adventure onward, her reason for living.

But here, now, in front of these doors, the memory felt sharper—like a wound she hadn’t ever quite healed from.

Then, the frowning face spoke, its tone far more somber, almost melancholic. “Do not listen to the lies of the smiling one. Through my door lies the true path, though it may be difficult. Life is not always joy, but through hardship, you will find what you seek.”

Shion’s ears flicked back, her heart resonating with the truth she had learned long ago—that the road to answers, to peace, wasn’t an easy one. It was full of pain and doubt and moments where you didn’t know if you’d ever find what you were looking for.

Terrence let out a loud scoff, immediately stepping forward toward the smiling door. “Well, that’s easy,” he said, a smug grin on his face. “Why wouldn’t we take the one that’s offering us joy and fortune?”

Shion bit her lip, eyes narrowing as she studied the two doorways. Everything about the smiling face seemed too... perfect. Too inviting. She had always been drawn to mysteries, to places where the answers didn’t come easy. Her mother had taught her that—had always encouraged her to seek the harder truths, the ones buried beneath layers of falsehood.

Logue furrowed his brow, his instincts telling him there was more to this than simple promises. “Hang on, Terrence. You know nothing comes easy in this place.”

Fetch, standing in the center of the room with their head tilted slightly, hummed a strange tune under their breath. They stared at both doorways, their pale eyes flicking between the two faces. “Frowns, smiles, a play of light. But shadows dance in both, don’t they? Hee hee.”

Shion took a step back, allowing herself a moment to think. She remembered the day her mother vanished with a raw ache, that final, desperate plea for help echoing unanswered in her mind. The cold emptiness that followed was a void that nothing could fill. Her father's slow withdrawal to the mountain, where he lived alone as a reclusive, bitter hermit, and her sister’s flight into childish denial, escaping to play Marketplace on the surface, left Shion bearing the heavy burden alone. It was left to her to confront the depths of the dungeons and uncover the truth. She felt a deep, unspoken hurt, knowing that while she didn't blame them for their ways of coping, she couldn’t follow their paths of avoidance. Shion understood that facing the harsh, unforgiving reality was far better than living in a comfortable lie or pretending nothing ever happened at all.

Her mother had often spoken of wisdom in riddles, as though it were something to be uncovered, not handed out. Shion’s breath hitched in her throat as a memory of her mother’s voice came to her, soft and distant:

“Be wary of what looks too easy. The truth is often hidden behind the hardest walls.”

Shion closed her eyes, focusing on the weight of the decision. The smiling face promised joy and fortune, but those were the things that led you astray, the same way they had lured adventurers into traps countless times. The frowning face spoke of hardship, of a path that might hurt, but in the end, might lead them where they needed to go.

Terrence was already halfway to the smiling door when Logue called out, “Wait. Something about this doesn’t feel right.”

Terrence rolled his eyes. “Or maybe it’s just the right way, and you’re all overthinking it. Not everything is a trick, you know.”

Logue stood firm. “But most things down here are. Think about it. We’ve seen traps, illusions, puzzles. Why would this be any different?”

“The truth hides in the shadows,” Fetch murmured, barely audible, but it gave Shion more confidence in their train of thought.

Shion glanced at the frowning door, her heart steadying. “I think we should take the harder path—the one the frowning face guards. My mother once told me that the truth is hidden behind the hardest walls. Sometimes joy can be a mask.”

Terrence huffed but eventually backed away from the smiling door. “Fine. But if it turns out we could have just walked into paradise, I’m gonna be pissed.”

Logue smiled warmly at Shion, urging her on.

The group gathered before the frowning door, and Shion, with a steadying breath, stepped through first. As the darkness enveloped them, the smiling face's voice echoed faintly behind them, growing weaker with each step. "You have chosen... poorly."

A thought that for so long had nagged at the back of Shion's mind. The missed holidays, the familial tension, the way she felt she was no closer to uncovering the truth than when she first started.

Still, the mare didn’t look back.

For the first time in a long while, she felt certain they were on the right path. The dungeon, with all its trials and tribulations, was a reflection of her own journey—a path paved with pain, but one where she was determined to uncover the truth, no matter how harsh it might be. The weight of her family's denial, her father's abandonment, and her sister's refusal to confront reality pressed heavily on her, but she understood that facing those truths was her burden alone to bear. In that acceptance, she found a strength she hadn’t known she possessed.