Entering the Labyrinth

The Third Hour

Alexis has her muscles clenched and prepared to book it at the first sense of danger. The first thing she smells is a floral aroma, and her body freezes in confusion about how to respond to the incongruent data. Still standing by the open door leading out from the tower, she looks all around to assess this new threat because even though it doesn't feel like a threat, she is learning not to trust a single part of this place. 

This new area is lined and covered in arching thickets of green leaves, the vibrant flowers nestled between the shrubbery all kinds of colors and sizes. A warm daylight trickles through the thickets to paint the colors even brighter and create a pleasant warmth in the air. Alexis can also hear small animals with her heightened sense of hearing, and they sound no different than the common garden creatures back home. Nothing outwardly seems wrong with this place, and it actually is more the type of place Alexis had imagined seeing here. 

Not knowing how to proceed, she looks over to Cleo, who is already walking past Alexis to head closer to the garden. Cleo's body language is very relaxed- walking at a slow pace, no tension in the muscles, and even peacefully closing their eyes under the sun's rays- and gives no impression of being anything more than content in this place. There are no signs these flowers would curse them into beasts, though Cleo is already a beast. So Alexis allows her body to relax and release a sigh, even doing a few heel raises to get out the tension. But she cannot get her jaw to unclench as she walks up beside the griffin. 

"Have you been here before?" Alexis asks, loading up the question, and the griffin nods. If Cleo seems so comfortable here, at least it means it is decently safe. Alexis follows Cleo's lead, wandering around the garden, admiring the beautiful flowers and smelling the wonderful aromas. The garden has multiple hedges and archways, making it a nice little walkaround attraction. The time continues to tick in the back of Alexis' mind, but she decides a few moments to ground and enjoy herself in this slice of paradise as they find their way out would be ok. And those distracting thoughts keep her and Cleo from noticing the perfume spraying out of the flowers as they walk around.

Alexis does catch more potent wafts of the floral scent but figures some areas with more flowers would have a stronger scent. Her heart is so light and full looking at all the vibrant petals- this is the kind of beautiful sight she had hoped to see in this fairytale land, to be surrounded by ethereal visions and magical wonders. And as the happiness takes place in her heart, so does the guilt for having any joy while Kit is suffering. 

Alexis wishes she could be here on a mindful walk with Kit. This is the kind of place Kit has spoken about many times in session, dreaming of beautiful places that are the extreme opposite of their harrowing existence. A place like this could only bring up feelings of peace and wonderment, which Alexis and Kit both have expressed they were always searching for. Now feeling the mix of awe and melancholy, she wonders if Kit is feeling and seeing the same things here, and Alexis doesn't know whether to hope so or not. 

As Alexis' mind wanders as she continues to wander around the garden absently, she returns to the moment realizing things are blurring around her. She leans against a shrub to hold herself steady as she tries to breathe and regulate to stop the growing spins, and then her vision becomes fully obstructed. She rubs at her eyes, physically trying to clear them, and she feels more anxious when that does not work to clear up the blurring world around her.  Alexis then catches notice of her body and plants her feet on the ground and swivels it around to feel and hear the sound of the dirt and stone. One breath, then two, longer out than in...  

When she opens her eyes, colors blend into unrecognizable shades, and her skin flushes. Her heart rate starts to spike as she begins to panic over if she is having a full-on panic attack. Hoping she can still catch it before it turns severe, and not having anything she could eat or change her temperature, she starts humming a melody to stimulate her vagus nerve. Alexis continues to hum and leans into a flower to smell and touch it, trying to do all she can to redirect her mind.