Round 61 Transcript

Jeane's injured leg twists in agony as she strains against the current, her eyes fixed on the reflection pool. The water laps at her chest, threatening to pull her under. Her face contorts in a mix of pain and determination as she grapples with Seraphine, who clings tightly to her arm. The reflection pool's surface shimmers, its dark silhouettes beckoning with impossible promise. Jeane's gaze is drawn to the center of the pool, where a figure begins to take shape - a dark reflection of herself, its eyes blazing with malevolent energy.

I feel the water closing over my head, pulling us down with terrifying force. The cold is immediate, shocking, but it's not the temperature I'm worried about—it's what's happening inside me right now. The reflection laughs, a sound like breaking glass in my skull, and I realize this was a terrible mistake. It’s gaining strength from the water, feeding on my fear, on the pain in my leg that’s now a white-hot agony as we sink deeper into the pool. I can feel it pushing at the edges of my consciousness, trying to force its way out. I look at Seraphine through the murky green water, her face pale and determined even as she struggles against the current. She's trusting me to handle this—she doesn't understand what's happening inside me right now. If I lose control down here, we'll both drown long before we reach the bottom. The dark shapes in the pool resolved into more distinct forms as we sank deeper, and I recognized them with a sickening certainty: reflections of people we’ve encountered on this journey—people who died because they trusted us. Merrin’s face floated past, her eyes accusing, then Halie’s lifeless body being swept away by the underground river. I need to get us out of here, but climbing back up through that current is suicide now with my leg like this. The only way forward is down—into whatever awaits at the bottom of this pool—but I’m afraid if we reach the bottom, there won’t be enough of me left to fight off what’s trying to take control. The water presses in on all sides as we sink deeper, and I feel the reflection surge against my will. It wants out, wants to feast on the darkness it sees in Seraphine's heart—the same dark thoughts about Merrin that have been plaguing her since we left those bodies behind. I try to push back, to maintain control long enough to figure this out, but every second feels like an eternity as we sink deeper into the pool. The water is getting colder, darker, and I can barely see through the swirling green gloom now. Seraphine's grip on me tightens as she points upward—our only hope of escape is fading fast as we're pulled inexorably towards the bottom. Her lips form words I can't hear through the water: "Trust me," her expression seems to say, but how can I trust when I'm barely trusting myself right now? The reflection pool's surface shimmers with unnatural light as our descent continues. My leg throbs with each movement, sending waves of pain through my body that the cold water does nothing to dull. Every breath burns in my lungs as we near the bottom—it can't be much further now. I force myself to focus past the agony and fear, searching for some clue about what awaits us down there. The dark shapes moving beneath the surface seem clearer now—are they more reflections, or something else entirely? My heart pounds in my chest as we near the bottom of the pool, the water growing so cold it feels like liquid ice against my skin. The reflection laughs again, a sound that echoes through my skull and makes me wonder if I'm already lost to this. But then Seraphine's hand finds mine underwater, squeezing tight—a small anchor in the?. I return her grip, trying to convey everything I can't say right now: I'm sorry, I’m terrified, but we’re in this together no matter what happens next. The bottom of the pool rushes up to meet us, and as our feet touch down on smooth stone beneath the water, I feel a sudden surge of energy from the reflection. It screams inside my head—a sound that feels like it's tearing my mind apart—and then everything goes dark.

I feel my lungs burning as we sink deeper into the reflection pool, the cold water pressing in on all sides. Jeane's grip on me tightens, her injured leg dragging behind us, but she doesn't let go. My eyes strain against the murky green gloom, searching for some sign of what lies beneath this eerie surface. The dark shapes I saw earlier seem to resolve into clearer forms now—are they just more reflections, or something else entirely?
My heart hammers against my ribs as we near the bottom of the pool. The pressure in my chest grows with each passing second, a silent scream building behind my teeth. I try to focus on the cold sting of the water, using it to push back the rising panic, but it’s no use. Every instinct is screaming at me to fight, to swim back up towards the faint glimmer of light far above us. But Jeane is here, injured and vulnerable, and I can’t leave her like this.
Just as my vision starts to darken at the edges, my feet suddenly touch solid ground. It’s smooth stone under the water, surprisingly warm to the touch. A shock runs through me at the contact, and I look down, seeing a faint glow emanating from the bottom of the pool. It’s not just light reflecting off the surface—the whole area is bathed in an ethereal, pulsating blue radiance that seems to be coming from within the very stones themselves.
The moment our weight settles on the bottom, everything changes. A massive, ancient-looking archway materializes out of the gloom directly ahead of us, its stonework covered in strange, glowing runes that match the patterns we saw earlier in the tower. The water around us begins to churn, swirling in a hypnotic pattern that seems to be pulling us inexorably towards the archway. Jeane's grip on my arm slackens, and she starts to drift away from me, her eyes closed and her body going limp.
I lunge forward, grabbing her with both arms, trying to keep her upright. But it’s too late—she's already succumbed to whatever force is drawing us in. Her head lolls back against my shoulder, and I feel a sudden, cold realization: she’s not fighting this. She wants to go through the archway. The reflection inside her must be winning.
I struggle against the current, trying to hold onto Jeane and swim back towards the surface, but it’s no use. The water is like a living thing, pushing us forward with irresistible force. My lungs ache for air, but I know if I let go now, we'll both be lost. The glow from the runes intensifies, becoming almost blindingly bright, and I see shapes beginning to take form within the archway—dark, twisted versions of people I recognize.
A figure steps out of one of the shadows, its form shifting and flickering like a bad dream. It’s Merrin, but not as we knew her. Her face is a mask of pure malice, her eyes glowing with the same malevolent energy that emanates from the pool itself. Beside her, Halie appears, her expression one of sorrow and accusation. They aren’t just reflections—they’re manifestations of our guilt, our failure to save them.
I feel a scream build in my throat, but no sound comes out. The water presses in on all sides now, and I can barely see Jeane's face in the blinding light from the runes. Her eyes are still closed, her body completely limp in my arms. We're being pulled into the archway, towards whatever awaits us beyond.
As we cross the threshold, the world seems to blur and shift around us. The pressure in my ears becomes unbearable, and a sudden, searing pain lances through my temples. My vision flashes white, then darkens entirely. I feel myself falling, tumbling into an endless void of swirling water and darkness. Jeane is gone from my grasp, her weight no longer anchoring me.
The last thing I see before everything goes black is Merrin's distorted face, her lips moving as if speaking to me: "Welcome to the reflection." Then the world disappears.