Looking up, she reached for the lightning bug that was her Versalis. But she had fallen too far, it was gone. She saw herself that was no self: black and outlined, small pinpricks on her skin that she had never noticed before. She had fingers, but they looked oddly flat, like a drawing. Her hair was one mass, not a million strands.
She stopped falling suddenly. It was painless, and yet jarring at the same time and she twisted in the blackness, trying to figure out where she was.
There was something below her and she frowned, having not noticed it until she realised she needed to look for it. It was an opening in the blackness, a warm flickering red and as she approached it, it grew bigger. Or was it she was smaller? She didn't know, nor did it matter.
It grew into more detail and as her foot found the stone, a wash of cool air brushed over her and she looked down to find she was herself, pale and dressed in a soft grey dress that seemed to pour out of the band at her chest in a mass of fabric, bunched and swishing around her with a deeper grey ribbon tied just under her bust. She had never seen the style, and it looked quite pretty, girlish almost.
Looking up from what she was wearing, she studied the walls, and she thought they looked man made, with deep tool marks. Who could possibly have made a tunnel in the place that did not exist? She would have to ask, but who would she ask?
Starting down the tunnel slowly, Etani turned as a soft whispering started up somewhere behind her, close enough that she should have seen them but there was nothing. Not recognising the voice, she started back down the passage, and it started again, causing her to spin back.
Again, there was nothing and she frowned, scanning the walls and ceiling for a crack or opening that the sound could be coming through. There was nothing at all, just solid walls.
Deciding to just ignore the sound for the time being, she frowned as the passage seemed to simply end. She sped up, frustrated at the thought of a dead end, but when she reached the end, she found that there was an opening left and right that led into complete darkness.
Chewing on her lower lip, she couldn't tell which way was the way to go, and so she decided to go down one part way and then try the other. Picking the right-hand opening, she headed down it. But it looked much like the last one, and as she turned back, she found the entrance to the tunnel at the end of the one she had been in, unbroken and with scuffs in the dust to show she had come in that way.
"What?" she demanded of the tunnel, but it decided not to answer her. Cursing silently, she turned back to the dimly lit tunnel and decided to just try again, refusing to give up just yet.
Why would the tunnel just appear to her, but then mess with her like that? It didn't make any sense and as she reached the intersection, she turned left and glanced back, screaming in her anger as the entrance loomed several feet behind her.
"What do you want from me?!" she demanded, but again the tunnel refused to speak.
"Uzo, where are you?!" she screamed and then jerked around as a whisper came from behind.
Looking around, she squinted at the entrance and headed back that way, pausing when the whisper started again.
What was that noise? She looked around the tunnel, but it looked perfectly solid, and she took a step backwards, staring upwards and then down at the floor. Nothing looked out of place at all, except for her footprints in the dust.
No, it wasn't perfect. Her eyes found a tiny, almost invisible mark in the dust and she approached it slowly, trying to figure out what could have caused it. It might have been her, a disturbance when she turned the first time? No, the scuff of her turning was further along.
Looking back at the mark, and then up at the wall, she extended her hand and with a start, she watched as her fingers sank into the stone as though it didn't exist.
Standing quickly, she held out her hands and found the edge of the solid wall and felt along where the sharp edge turned into illusion.
She slid her arm in, watching as it seemed to have grown out of the wall, but the inside of the illusion was oddly smooth, perfect almost.
Her arm was through to the shoulder when she found the other side and she smiled, following the process with her foot, just in case.
It was polished smooth, and she decided to risk it, using her grip on the edge to pull herself through as fast as possible in case it was booby trapped.
Nothing happened to her at all, and she exhaled. Looking down the passage, it looked the same as the last one with one difference, the wall behind her was solid and there was no entrance.
Starting down the hall, she froze as the whisper sounded and backed up slowly until it sounded again and when she looked around, she found the same mark.
A little creeped out, she repeated the process of cautiously getting through the passage and as she walked through, a movement had her looking around sharply.
It vanished before she could see it, but she was after it instantly, disturbed by it not leaving any prints.
The whisper didn't come again, and so she assumed she was on the right path, running after the thing that seemed to be always just out of sight.
"Uzo?" she called out, but there was no whisper this time.
She didn't know why that might be the case, and so she ran faster, skidding suddenly as she saw another something crouched in the corner of a little offshoot of the passage.
It was tiny, black and only vaguely human shaped with enormous antlers. Approaching it slowly, she had a terrible thrill of shock as it looked up at her and it had huge, empty eyes that dripped blood. The thing was oddly transparent, flickering in and out of sight. Backing away from it. It only lowered its head again, and she watched it, morbid fascination keeping her there for a moment.
Moment caught her attention again, and she whipped around, streaking after the movement and leaving the flickering thing behind.
A whisper had her skidding once more, her bare feet leaving a long solid clear patch as she stopped and as she turned, and her heart began to race.
The figure was crouched in the middle of a little round alcove, and she watched as it drew a series of lines on the dusty floor, it flicked the spot and she saw a flash of movement, but she ignored it, instead watching the figure.
One step inside the offshoot had it going still, a second had it retreating its hand onto its leg.
Third step in had it looking up, and she sucked in a breath as she saw the empty eye sockets dripping blood. It stood, looking her over without eyes.
It stepped forward and as it passed through a film of shifting nothingness, he was grinning at her, pale and perfect with dark blue triangles under his vivid blue eyes.
"What took you so long?" he asked in a voice that tore at her heart.
"Uzo!" she cried and threw herself into his arms, the scent of him enveloping her and she clung to him while he crushed her to him, his face buried in her hair and inhaling deeply.