'THE GLITCH'

My heart pounded, louder and louder, like a wild drum trying to break free from my chest. Each beat echoed with a sense of urgency, as if my very body was warning me to flee from the unseen threat before me. The Kelpie’s presence loomed ominously, its intentions hidden behind that sinister calm. I didn’t want to know what dark plans it harbored, and every fiber of my being screamed to stay away.

"Take one more step toward that boy, and you’ll regret it," Oh snapped, his voice dripping with frustration. His face, usually composed, now twisted with a mix of anger and warning. But the Kelpie, unfazed, inched forward, a deliberate challenge in every step. For a moment, I doubted what my eyes were seeing. Was this real? I blinked, and suddenly, they were both gone, vanished from their spots. But there, at the well’s edge, I saw it—Oh had pinned the Kelpie to the stone wall, its legs dangling helplessly as it writhed in resistance. Its guttural grunts filled the air as it fought to break free, but Oh was relentless, holding a glowing orb of fire dangerously close to the Kelpie’s face.

"I’ve had enough. This creature needs to be dealt with," the Lamia spat, striding toward them with clear intent. Before she could get there, however, Odysseus beat her to it, separating the two with such force that they tumbled apart. His face was red with rage as he turned to Oh.

"Why are you so obsessed with the human?" he bellowed. "We agreed—no one gets hurt!" His frustration was palpable as he berated Oh for breaking their pact. Oh stood silent, leaving me utterly confused. Why would he go so far to protect me? What was my role in this madness? And more importantly, what was I doing here? The lack of memory gnawed at me, each unanswered question piling on the confusion.

Oh’s voice broke the tension. "I’m tired." His words hung heavy in the air. His eyes, usually sharp and focused, flickered with a desperation I hadn’t seen before. "I’m frustrated, alright? No one’s cooperating. All I want is for us to escape, but you all refuse to listen!" His voice cracked, and the weight of his words seemed to collapse on him as he sat down, defeated. He tried to catch his breath, but his anger was too raw to let him rest.

Silence settled like a thick fog, everyone staring at the Phoenix as he finally let his guard down. The others shifted uneasily, unsure of how to react to his sudden vulnerability.

"I’m scared," Oh admitted. The words seemed to surprise even him. "Yes, I’m scared. I don’t want to be trapped here forever. It’s suffocating!" He looked around, meeting each of our eyes. "Why is the human here? Have any of you thought about that? We shouldn’t be able to interact, yet here he is! Doesn’t that concern you?"

Odysseus sighed, his face softening. "We’re all scared, Oh. None of us chose to be here." He sat down next to him, his anger replaced with a reluctant understanding.

The Lamia, who had remained eerily quiet until now, crossed her arms and gave a slight nod. "I never wanted to hurt the boy." The wind whispered around us, the only sound breaking the tense quiet. We all turned to look at her, baffled. A laugh escaped her lips as if she found our disbelief amusing.

"What? You don’t believe me?" she asked, feigning innocence. The absurdity of her words—coming from someone who had moments ago tried to harm me—was enough to elicit snickers from Odysseus and Oh. The laughter spread like wildfire, their booming chuckles shaking the tension away, if only briefly. Even I couldn’t help but smile.

Yet, even as we laughed, the Lamia’s eyes darkened. "Believe it or not, I just wanted answers. But Oh’s obsession with protecting the boy—it got on my nerves."

Her confession sounded too far-fetched to take seriously, yet for some reason, her tone hinted at a truth I couldn’t ignore. She continued talking, her voice alternating between calm and fury as she tried to explain herself.

Oh, still half-laughing, finally composed himself enough to speak. "So... I made you want to attack him?"

Their interactions—these mythical beings laughing and confessing like humans—somehow melted away my frustrations. For the first time, they seemed less like untouchable creatures and more like people trapped in the same chaos as me. But the moment was short-lived, interrupted by the Kelpie’s cold voice cutting through the air.

"Your obsession with the boy needs to be addressed," it said, its gaze locking with Oh’s. Each word it spoke seemed to draw a heavy silence over the group once again.

Oh's face hardened as he responded, "Call it what you want. I have a duty to protect him, and I will."

"But why? Why did everything flood back to you the moment he appeared?" the Kelpie pressed. "Why is he the only one who can see and hear us? Why didn’t he arrive with us earlier? How did he get here?" The Kelpie’s questions matched my own internal confusion, but I stayed silent, hoping to finally get some answers.

Oh sighed, his earlier outburst now replaced with a weary resignation. "I don’t know why this is happening. But when I killed him..." His voice trailed off, and it was the Lamia who finished the sentence for him.

"When you killed the boy, our bodies disintegrated into golden dust."

My blood ran cold. *Killed me?* If I had died, why was I here? The memory stirred a deep unease, one that gnawed at the edges of my mind, threatening to unravel everything.

Before anyone could make sense of it, the ground beneath us began to tremble violently. The laughter and confessions vanished, replaced by sheer panic as the earth itself seemed to rise up against us.

"Oh!" Odysseus yelled. "What’s happening?!"

"I don’t know!" Oh shouted back, fear stark in his eyes. The ground split beneath our feet, separating us onto individual platforms, the very earth pulling us apart. "Get closer to me!" Oh commanded, but before any of us could move, the ground gave way completely. We fell—screaming, tumbling into a void of white light. The abyss swallowed us whole, the terror stripping away any semblance of control.

In that final moment, even the might of these mythical beings was reduced to nothing more than helpless cries. For all their strength, for all their power, we were all falling—falling into the unknown.

And in that endless descent, there was nothing but silence.