June March was still taking up the rear of the group, the girl adjusting the way her arm was sitting every few moments because she felt uncomfortable with the position. Her shoulder felt like it was killing her, the phantom pain of the needle and thread that had seen her uo and also the pain of the bullet itself that had hit her making her nauseated. She also couldn't shake that feeling from when she was underwater, an involuntary tension in her body as she looked ahead.

"Oh, no, no, no."  June felt her stomach drop and disappointment in her entire being as John B exclaimed, the three of them walking into what seemed like the end of the kind. There was no other ways to go, June letting out a small gasp as they entered the tiny dead end.

"Does it just end here? Maybe we missed something." Sarah said, looking around at the walls for any sign of anything else but walls. June already felt the weight of failure in her again, trying not to accept the fact that they had managed to get nowhere at all. Just deep into a cave. But then she remembered the hand above the entrance, and she wasn't sure if they were in the wrong place anymore.

"This was the only way to go. There's nothing. That's it. That's it." John B said, looking back at the two girls.

"You can't just give up, there's gotta be something. The hand, John B...the hand. This is right. We're just—" June started, looking around as she said it. Sarah was nodding along, not at all convinced that this was it.

"Nothing." John B said again, Sarah being the one to speak this time.

"I don't know. Just keep looking."

"Sarah, it's a dead end. It's a dead end. There's nowhere else to go." John B said, completely defeated as he slumped against a rock to rest and take in the news of this. June was feeling discouraged again by the fact he had given up, her stomach in knots as that familiar feeling seeped back into her bones for the second time. "Maybe this isn't El Dorado. Maybe my dad was wrong, I brought you here and put you in danger for no reason. You were kidnapped for nothing."

"Well I wasn't kidnapped for nothing...he thinks I killed his cousin but that's—"  June murdered to herself mostly, shrugging slightly and nodding her head at her own words. Sarah cut her off, June looking to her with glazed over eyes as she spoke.

"Stop." John B leaned forwards and June sat against her own rock behind the two of them, feeling the condensation of the walls on her neck, and closing her eyes as she waited for the decision to be made. "Even if all of this leads to nothing.  If all it leads to is this godforsaken hole in the ground, I'm glad I did it even if you aren't."

"Sarah, I got you shot. I mean, you're basically homeless because of me. You lost everything, Sarah, because of me." June felt her heart swell at the conversation, seeing how different their love was than hers. Sarah shook her head and spoke again, June feeling a pain deep in her body.

"Not everything." John B looked at Sarah with so much love in his eyes and absolute regret and sincere gratitude, even though he was so sorry.

"I'm sorry." Sarah moved forwards and closed the space between them, pressing a kiss to John Bs lips.  June closed her eyes again, sitting her head back against the wall and feeling a burning deep in her body again. I'm sorry. Hearing him apologize to her was like a knife to her heart, knowing and hearing how much he meant it. June wanted to hear those words too but from JJ, and she wanted him to mean them just  as much as John B did. She felt a sensation start at the bottom of her stomach and slowly overcome her, the feeling being that funny one that you sometimes felt when you were missing something but  didn't know what, when you could see the end of something you held so dearly. June knew that JJ would never apologize the way that she wanted, he could say sorry a million times and it would never be the way she wanted. And it wasn't that she didn't want them to go back to normal, that she didn't want things to be right with them...it was that she knew they couldn't. There was no world where she could see them getting through this unscathed and happy again. She wanted relief from this terrible cloud that was constantly hanging over her, but she knew that in order to get that, there were some things she would have to let go of.

"Hmm, wait! What was that thing your dad said?"

"My dad, mmm my dad, my dad says a lot of things so that's—"

"No, no! That clue, that clue." June stood again, walking over to the two of them with widened eyes as she recited what Big John had said.

"The true and patient seeker needs not light to see." June said, Sarah quickly repeating what she said.

"The true and patient seeker needs not light to tinder. Put that out." She said , reaching for the flare in John Bs hand.

"Sarah we only have so many—"

"John B put it out. She's onto something." June said, pulling the flare from his hand and putting it into the water.

"It needs to be dark."

"Guys—"

"It's okay we can relight it." Sarah reassured John B, June gearing up for a snarky remark.

"What's wrong Johnny? You scared of the dark?" She laughed to herself due to the fact that she was in fact afraid of the same nowadays, but knowing the other two were there calmed her already fast beating heart once the light went down.

"Ha ha...you're a dick." John B said, Sarah laughing a little bit too as June tried to keep the smile on her face. If she was smiling maybe it would take away from the fact that she was being swallowed whole by the darkness, maybe she could ignore that sinking feeling. It was only  about 10 seconds before a blue light started to illuminate the cavern, June staring in amazement as light filled the room.

"Sarah what's happening?" John B asked, June looking at the glowing stone in the walls rather than as the two of them. She was shocked and surprised and a little confused, the girl chuckling as she realized exactly what the clue had meant.

"Home. It's phosphorescence." The glowing resembled a hand and Sarah pressed her against it, June not even pretending to know what phosphorescence meant. There was a cracking noise and some shaking and June stepped back from the wall that was cracking. She looked at it in pure awe as she realized there was no possible way that this wasn't it. All of this trouble for nothing made no sense.

"Oh my god." June said as the door stopped, John B pressing a kiss to Sarah's cheek. The March girl did not look back as she started through the doorway, her mouth hung open as the most intense curiosity she had ever felt in her entire life overcame her. She climbed into the hole and they lit the flare behind her, the red casting that eerie glow again. She could hear her heartbeat in her ears as she walked, every step reminding her that they were going to find El Dorado. Surely they would find it. She was grasping onto the certainty. She kept her eyes straight ahead,  feeling the best she had in awhile. She didn't watch where she was walking, the girl taking a step and not finding ground beneath her. Her body jolted and she felt instant panic, seeing the chasm below her and a yell leaving her lips. Before she could fall into the darkness below she was grabbed by two hands, pulling her back to safety. She was basically on John Bs lap, her eyes wide and terrified as they both let out heavy breaths.

"John B!" Sarah exclaimed, relieved he had grabbed her. "Oh god."

She stared straight ahead and then considered the fact she almost died, her head turning to look at John B who was staring out at the cliff with wide eyes. She looked back and then couldn't help but laugh, the two of them looking at her like she was crazy as she stood back up. She helped John B up and he looked at her like a madwoman, her head shaking as she gestured towards the cliffside.

"Are you kidding me? Do you know how lame falling to my death would've been?" John B and Sarah didn't think it was as funny as her, both of them letting out uneasy chuckles at her joke about death. She was almost teasing it, her self preservation not seeming too in tact. However they knew now was not the time to worry about her mental well-being, all three of them walking to the edge of the chasm and looking down.

"Okay. Don't look down."