The being kept moving forward, steadfast, as the dense mass of currents loomed above, spiraling down to the ground just ahead.

  It was but moments away. Something the being had craved ever since it had followed the dark one in here. Something it had most likely longed for since far before that, in the deepest recesses of its instinct.

  And yet its mind wasn't entirely in the moment.

  Leaving had been the right choice. There was no doubt about that.

  But the sooner they could get back to their potential new friend, the better.

  Hopefully the low castle just ahead, so similar to the slime's lair, was the right direction. What could be felt wafting from its opening was a very good clue, let alone its location. But these places were always arranged in ways entirely obscure to intuition, so some doubt remained.

  If only the one that had led their travels here would bother to lead the way...

  The being had kept walking in the belief that the little light would correct course if they strayed from the right path, but wasn't sure anymore.

  There was a harshness in their connection that had never been there before.

  The little orb may still be spouting its nonsense...

  but there was a difference between when the nonsense was directed at the being or simply one of the orb's moods. And this was definitely not the former. The light was upset enough to try to shut himself off.

  As if he was the one that had been wronged! When it had been the one to try to force his friend to-

  ...Better not to even think about it right now.

  Better to leave it all for later, as planned. Now, if only the orb could be practical too...

  Yet even when they finally reached the entrance of the tunnel, he refused to acknowledge the being.

  But, again, there were more important matters than its friend's moods right now.

  The disquieting familiarity went beyond the simple height of the structure that the being had noticed from a distance.

  The tunnel had traces of that same indestructible material, arranged in complicated patterns and interacting with the currents' residue in similarly strange ways. But also much, much different.

  For one, this bramble had little 'brambly' going about it: it was sparser and preferred to cling to the walls where possible, and was arranged in far more... regular ways.

  The bramble was doing something... but really placing the feeling was hard.

  Far from getting sucked away, the essence's density down there was immense. Far beyond anything, anywhere. To the point that it wasn't clear if this was still essence, or something else entirely.

  The being had already been forced to push back the ambient 'mist' since soon after leaving their new friend. It was necessary for the older one's survival: otherwise, the little light would have been caught long ago. Or starved of its principle, which felt essential to its existence.

  Either way, it would really need to exert itself, if it wanted to protect the orb from this point on. Its new ability would be pushed to its limits.

  Maybe not even the being itself would be safe in there. It certainly wouldn't have been, until so very recently.

  Whatever the case, there was no way to know for sure. No safe one, at least. Though it should really think twice, considering its past experience, as always, the being welcomed the challenge.

  And most importantly, it was time.

  But just one step inside made clear how grossly it had underestimated the strangeness of the situation.

  The 'bramble' invading the tunnel was only the excess that couldn't fit anywhere else: every surface besides the ground - even that at times - was covered entirely. And this was only the outer layer. Blocked as its sight was by the strangeness of the material, there was no way to know how deep it went inside the walls.

  The degree of sophistication exhibited was astounding, especially in the growths hanging out from the walls that weren't constrained by a flat surface, and so could better express all of their perfectly ordered and regular absurdity.

  This whole construction... there was something very important about it. A purpose.

  Beyond intrigued, the being couldn't help but jump between clear patches of ground to get closer to a particularly big chunk of bramble, even denser than the rest.

  There was a... it was doing something. Acting as a consequence of a greater design. Yet it couldn't be anything other than natural.

  The being's hand hovered closer, an attempt to reach out to whatever was behind this. But hesitating.

  A slime could never have come up with this. The being itself could never have come up with this, not even with all the time in the world.

  Only a small gap separated its hand from the material, its existence from whatever this represented. Just one small-

  a finger darted forwards. It got stuck. A very unpleasant sensation.

  No matter how the being tried to yank back, it was no use: the bramble wanted its finger. Or maybe what it was made of.

  It wanted to steal this finger, and then flow it... somewhere. Somewhere ahead. And if it could, it would take far more than a finger.

  Brute force would only be a faster and more brutal way of surrendering its precious appendage, and it was doubtful if such a crude method could really break the connection, at this point.

  So it was good that the being didn't plan to use brute force.

  Part of it had known perfectly well that there would be a challenge, and that it should be able to triumph. That doing so would be beneficial.

  So the being turned its entire focus on the approaching immensity, and started to assert its will over the one inside the wall, denying its claim: The bramble didn't need the finger. There were so many currents around. What difference could this little chunk make? No, the finger belonged here.

  The will, if it even was that, didn't surrender so easily. It claimed back and hissed and fought. It really needed everything, even this little, insignificant offering. And it was stronger and bigger than the being.

  But with such a little point of contact, there wasn't much space for it to leverage its greater weight. And the being had grown assertive.

  Though it had started at a disadvantage, each moment they spent in a stalemate, its grip was growing surer and surer, its whole self aligning better to... aligning better.

  This had nothing to do with the principle - which was again completely absent in here - or with the spiral the orb had gifted, or anything else.

  This was between the being and the essence of the world.

  Things inside were gradually getting better. A little imperfection that it hadn't known needed to be smoothed out. More than one, much more than one, getting better and better... until something undefinable shifted into place.

  And the being felt right.

  It was something both momentous in its significance and implications, and small. The being had known, deep within, that it would happen.

  It retracted the finger as if it hadn't been stuck in the first place, sure that it could now plaster itself against the pseudo-bramble and have no problems at all.

  Though it felt a little miffed: if the experience had lasted a bit longer, it could have squeezed out a little more improvement.

  Alas, that wasn't to be.

  The deeper, true secrets of the bramble were beyond its understanding. For now. But clearly it was stripping the principle and essence out of the surroundings, funneling everything further ahead.

  At least, this confirmed that there was no gigantic, monstrous slime waiting deeper inside, since a creature like that would have been dissolved immediately. Not that the being would have anything to fear from one, anymore.

  After this, no creature of this world could stand against it: just one disappointed glare, and they would be undone, their very essence rebelling against them.

  But then, if not a slime, just what had made this place?

  The deeper they went, the more the being's mood soared. Until it turned to reverence.

  The pseudo-bramble, while still unnaturally orderly, had become so complex and dense that it made the actual bramble of the tunnel back then look approachable. Yet the being always knew how to move. There was always just enough space, and the most efficient way through was always clear.

  More worrying was the mist, getting so impossibly heavy even the being's immense new control might not be enough to keep it entirely back. Seeing what would happen if it came crashing down would be interesting, and part of it even relished the thought. But it would be the little light's end. And that couldn't be allowed.

  It hurt deeply, so very deeply, to even consider it, but... if things kept going like this, they would have to turn back. Because the being wouldn't ever risk a friend's life if there was any alternative. And it would have already left, if not for the fact that right here, just behind this corner...

  They both entered a wider cave and stopped dead, staring at what lay in front of them.

  The pseudo-bramble had reached levels of density and fineness such that it looked like solid chunks of rock jutting out of the walls. Only the being's now deep awareness of the flowing essence allowed it to know that wasn't the case. Despite its feelings, this definitely couldn't be natural.

  But what really ensnared its attention was the veritable wall barring the biggest opening out of the space they were now in.

  It had an undefinable texture. Far too hard and stable to be air, but not so much so as to be solid. Maybe the closest thing would be the slime's flesh, but even that comparison wasn't quite right... Truly an enigmatic existence.

  Again, only the being's profound awareness let it know this was essence. Technically. But compressed beyond even mist.

  The being needed to touch it.

  Once again, it was moving before even realizing. Only, this time, it wasn't completely sure it would really be fine.

  This denser mist, this blob, looked so profound and all-encompassing! It might be the most empowering experience of its life; it might overwhelm its existence and incorporate it into a greater purpose; it might be nothing at all. Whatever was the case...

  The being couldn't wait to find out.

  As it marched forward, mustering its new control as much as it could, there was that sense of assuredness, that no matter-

  It was impossibly hard to resist this temptation, even for a little while...

  but the orb was its friend. And this was the first he had communicated since their spat. And with such urgency! There must be a reason.

  And it was him that had led the way here in the first place.

  Somehow, even though it made no sense, the being felt confident that it would have found its way here on its own in the end, after the chasm had barred its way.

  Though there was no reason to believe so, it did.

  But the little light had helped. It must have shaved away quite a lot of pointless journey. Probably. Knowing for sure was hard if it also counted the time they'd spent wandering about between castles, but -

  Their connection spiked suddenly, and kept getting stronger, to levels that reached the intimacy of when the spirally thing had been implanted into its wrist, and then beyond. Which left the being feeling proportionately uncomfortable.

  The being was aware that it was making the orb angry, now more than ever, but it still couldn't hold back from rejecting him, keeping him away from some areas. He was really trying to invade everything! That felt too much.

  It pushed back gently, so as to not hurt its friend. But that meant leaving some places vulnerable. And the light proved far more resourceful than expected.

  Though it was understandable that he would have more control over its own little thingy, the being still marveled at the ease with which the little light's touch went over the spirally thing inside, and from that, it slipped through. Reaching for something that…

  that absolutely SHOULD NOT BE TOUCHED!

  ...

  It was a testament to the being's advancement, to how far it had come since first crawling out of its little world, that it managed to rein in that first instinctual reaction, only flicking its friend away a little bit.

  Clearly the little light wanted desperately to repeat what it had tried before, uncaring of his friend's thoughts on the matter.

  And his clumsy efforts in forcing his way were messing with something far more delicate and forbidden.

  Better to let him have this small win, before his inane prodding caused the being to do something it couldn't take back.

  One moment of intentional weakness and it was done, the orb's awareness retracting as fast as it had come.

  But not the connection.

  In the same way as back then, but in a measure completely beyond, parts of the being slipped out of control, tendrils unraveling from its body.