Extra's POV: My Obsessive Villainous Fiancee Is The Game's Final Boss

The crew gathered on the ledge they'd spotted earlier, a narrow shelf that looked like it had been carved into the base of the cliff.

It was just high enough to escape the cavern's sea, but low enough that a sufficiently giant wave generated by any large enough beast can sweep anything off it.

Thorn staggered to a stop, his breath coming in ragged gasps, shoulders hunched and soaked clothes clinging to his bruised body.

He lowered the unconscious Elias from his shoulders onto the floor.

"Wait." Zuzu frowned. "Why didn't you just use your cape to carry him?"

Thorn paused. Then, he groaned loudly, slapping himself in the forehead. "I'm an idiot."

Zuzu snorted.

"How is he?" Lilith asked as she and Ren landed on the ledge.

Thorn didn't answer. Instead, he lightly slapped Elias' face.

Elias groaned and shifted.

"He's waking up." Thorn said as he continued tapping Elias's cheek. "Hey. Hey. You alive in there?"

Elias blinked. His eyes were unfocused for a moment, then cleared. "What happened?"

"Big fish happened." Thorn said. "You met a rock. The rock won."

Elias sat up slowly, wincing. A shallow cut on his forehead was bleeding, but not heavily. "Feels like I got kissed by a wall."

"You did." Zuzu said gently. "But you'll live."

"You're lucky Lilith blocked the blow. If you'd taken the full force, you'd have been blown to bits." Thorn added, eyeing the bloody water below. "I'm glad she killed it. That brainstem bit? Still one of the most terrifying things I've ever seen. And I've seen Ren shirtless."

Ren chuckled. "Keep talking and you'll be the next fish she guts."

"Jokes aside," Elias said, rubbing his temple, "are we safe here?"

"Safe-ish." Ren replied. "Safe enough to rest. But not for long. The fight was big enough to attract other large predators. And this ledge isn't exactly a fortress."

Once Elias was stable and everyone had a chance to sit and breathe, they looked ahead.

The cliff wall before them wasn't just solid stone.

A massive cleft split the rock. Sitting open on it was a jagged vertical wound. And inside that wound, pouring endlessly down, was a waterfall.

But not like any waterfall they'd seen.

It was dark. Oily. Opaque. And silent.

A wall of liquid shadow that roared with no sound. It fell without froth. Without splash. Like a curtain drawn between this world and the next.

"That doesn't look right." Thorn muttered.

"Nothing in the Deep does." Elias said quietly.

Ren stared into it for a long moment. Then he turned to the others.

"There's no turning back."

Silence filled the air. No one argued or said anything. No one needed to.

They rested. Ate what remained of the fish, cold, slimy strips that no longer felt disgusting, only necessary. The taste had grown familiar now. Strangely comforting. Even Thorn didn't complain.

Afterward, they rose.

One by one, they approached the waterfall.

Ren stepped first. He didn't flinch as the dark water swallowed him. It rolled over his shoulders like a shroud. He vanished.

Lilith was next. She didn't pause, and didn't even blink.

Zuzu stood before it. She took a breath. And another. She closed her eyes. Then opened them.

"Alright." She whispered to herself. "Let's find the heart."

She stepped in and vanished.

Elias looked to Thorn. "Ready?"

"Never." Thorn muttered. "But let's go anyway. If I die, tell the world I was handsome."

"Sure. I'll put it on your gravestone. 'Here lies Thorn. Brave, brilliant, devastatingly good looking.'"

Thorn grinned. "Now you're getting it."

They stepped together.

Surprisingly, the dark water didn't cling. It rolled off them like mist, leaving their skin cold but dry.

And when they opened their eyes, they were standing on stone.

A new platform.

The cavern around them had changed completely.

It was vast. Wider than any space they had seen before.

The ceiling rose impossibly high, disappearing into more mosslight that shimmered in bright greens and golds.

It was brighter than the entry cavern by far. Almost... beautiful.

The air in this cavern felt cleaner. Like they'd been breathing adulterated oxygen before.

Before them rose a structure unlike anything they had imagined.

A maze.

It stretched across the stone like a massive, living puzzle. Walls of rock wound around, some in curves, others in straight lines, and most of them rising higher than a city wall.

There were three openings at the base of the maze, each framed by glowing moss as if they were the entrance to paradise.

Ren was immediately reminded of his first adventure. When he'd gone to claim Unfettered Enhancement.

The doorway into the groove had been designed similarly.

But there was one thing about the maze that could not be ignored.

Water.

Knee deep water filled the pathways of the maze, flowing around the edges, branching in strange directions.

"Why does it look like a god got bored and started doodling with rivers?" Thorn said.

"Well, we'll never know." Ren said, before turning to Zuzu. "This is your operation now, Zuzu. Feel the water. Lead the way."

With a nod, Zuzu stepped forward.

She knelt at the edge of the water, one hand trailing through it.

She closed her eyes.

Everyone waited.

Unlike the water of the entry cavern, this one was normal, clean water.

The glow of the moss flickered gently as they were reflected on the surface of the water.

After more than two minutes, Zuzu opened her eyes.

She pointed to the center opening. "That way."

Thorn frowned. "You sure?"

"I followed the current."

"But the water's flowing in that direction." He said, gesturing at it. "Are you saying the water's flowing toward where it came from?"

Ren stepped forward. "It doesn't work like that. The Deep isn't just a place. It's also a system. The water flows like blood in a body. It comes and goes from the heart."

"And this current... it's coming and going." Zuzu said. "But the strongest pull leads that way."

"Alright. You know better than me anyways." Thorn smiled. Zuzu returned the smile.

Elias adjusted the strap on his sword. "So, what are the chances that something's guarding the heart?"

Ren glanced at him. "A hundred percent. But let's focus on the journey before we get to the destination."

"Do not be fooled by the docile nature of the beasts in the entry cavern. That cavern kills people by being dark and docile. They don't know which direction to go, and if they get food from the meat, they either keep to eat later, or cook it, poisoning and killing themselves."

Ren looked at each of them in turn.

"The Deep doesn't follow the same logic as the world outside. Don't assume you're safe. Don't assume anything. We move fast. We stay alert. And if something comes, we fight together."

They all nodded in response.

And so, Zuzu stood.

She turned back to the entry she'd chosen.

"Follow me."

"Lead on, Tidecaller." Thorn said, flexing his fingers.

And with that, she stepped into the water.

The current swirled around her legs in strange but beautiful patterns.

The rest of them followed after her.

And one by one, they vanished into the maze, and into the Deep proper.