"I'm fine, I'll get something off Charon if I need to," he says, rubbing some blood off the corner of his mouth with the back of his wrist. "And I am trying, trust me I do not enjoy this poison thing."

“I-right, I’m sorry, I don’t mean to snap. I’m just worried. Maybe stand back and we slowly blast everything to death from range....?”

She doesn’t expect him to go for this at all.

He sighs. "No, it's fine, sorry for snapping back. And... I suppose we can try that but I reserve the right to scrap that strat if it doesn't work or I get too frustrated."

"Yes, of course. Thanks for trying. Uh," her mote of shadow exits the shoulder skulls and forms back into her more human shape. She offers a shy smile, and opened arms. "... hug?"

Sure, hug, why not.

Hug!!

"I suppose taking breaks so you can have a nap and recover a bit while I figure out a way to heal you is probably not going to happen. Or you hanging back while I go scout ahead as a little mote, either," she mumbles, into his shoulder.

"My father is sure to find me if I stay still anywhere for too long and send a horde of his minions homing in on me."

"Your father sucks," she grumbles.

"This is the whole entire problem I am having here, yes."

"Yeah, just. It's worth saying again. Because he sucks. We'll get you out." Squeeze. "Okay, let's go?"

"Yeah, let's."

They still have a ways to explore, anyway, and they soon start finding more nasties: the satyrs these tunnels are known for, disgusting little creatures that worship the rats and make poison-coated weapons; snakestones, clusters of souls the satyrs shape into floating crystals that shoot deadly lasers; and bothers, spirits of the restless dead who band together into unassuming ash urns in an attempt to sneak past the entrance of the Underworld and maybe coalesce into life for another chance.

"It is incredibly creepy to have groups of souls shoved together into objects that shoot deadly lasers. Or launch bombs," says Yvette, from her shoulder spot, once everything is dead. "Why would they want their soul to become a little bomb-launching urn."

"I have no idea. Maybe they just want to be unobtrusive enough to manage to sneak past Cerberus."

“And the explosives are, what, in case they’re spotted? To make themselves a new exit in the earth by blowing things up? Bah. I suppose that makes some sense, but I’m still not going to be happy about it.”

"I do wonder what the surface must be like, that so many want to go back to it... I have my grievances with the Underworld but I would have thought them more personal."

"Having been to a surface, I can probably guess. Sunlight! Friends and family. Lots of open sky. Plants. Uh, everything not being on fire, that seems like a really good reason, considering."

"The fire part is pretty recent, it's some blockage downriver, I understand Father is trying to figure out a way to deal with it."

“Okay, but the river was and always was a fire river, correct? Compared to a nice river of water that you can swim in. Like what you’d find on the surface.”

"...I suppose so."

“Oh, oh, you know what would go well with your fire river? Hot springs! You’d get way less shades trying to run if they could soak in hot springs heated by your fire river!” Pause. “I guess getting the water might be a problem.”

"Surely not, the Styx is water before it... becomes fire."

"It... becomes fire. Okay. That's. Well I have no idea what to do with arbitrary god physics, so."

"Are you not basically arbitrary god physics yourself?"

".... Touché. I have no idea what to do with foreign arbitrary god physics, how about."

"I am sure you can figure it out!"