The rest of the tour took longer than Vatra would have liked. Much to her dismay, she didn't see any sign of any other guest. It was too much to ask, she supposed. Brian did warn them some of the guests were high profile. They weren't likely to just stumble upon another guest enjoying their time in the resort.

They were all shown to their separate rooms. Vatra was surprised they all had a room to themselves. Though the resort was massive, it was difficult to tell how many rooms were designated for guests. Let alone how many guests were staying there. Yet, they were all allowed their own room.

How private, Vatra thought as she was shown to her room.

The room wasn't particularly stand-out compared to something she'd stayed in on Earth. It was unquestionably better than some of the suspicious motels she'd stayed in before. Since she'd taken over the Agkistrodon, Vatra hadn't stepped foot in anything worse than the room before her. Average was the word that stood out to her.

The decorations were bare. There was a single painting of indiscernible shapes that were a mix of blues and greens hanging above the bed. Vatra dragged her gaze from the painting to the dark, wooden dresser and table tucked in the corner of the room. The natural lighting filtered in through an open window above the table. As soon as she stepped fully into the room, Brian closed the door behind her and continued on down the hall.

Vatra looked at the closed door over her shoulder. A frown tugged at her lips.

"Impeccable service," Vatra grumbled. She turned back from the door to the room.

Inhaling, Vatra followed a burning incense smell to its source, tucked away on the white marble of the small kitchenette counter. She prodded the thin bamboo with her index finger before looking around the small space.

There was just enough amenities to keep herself hydrated and fed on the bare minimum. It was clear they wanted their guests to spend most of their time at the buffet Brian had shown them.

"More ways to take our credits," she observed. "Sneaky."

She wasn't sure what was expected of her at that point. Was Brian going to return once everyone was shown to their rooms? Was she allowed to leave? No, if she was allowed to leave at any point, then they would have bumped into guests around every turn.

Vatra wandered back to the door and tested her theory. The handle didn't budge. She was stuck until Brian came back for her.

Great.

Exhaling as loud and dramatically as she could muster, Vatra thudded her forehead against the wood of the door. She ignored how much more it hurt than she thought it would, and repeatedly bumped her head against it again and again. After a moment, something caught her attention from the corner of her eye.

She pushed herself from the door, slinking her way across the slick wooden floors to the side table by the bed. There was a laminated paper neatly centered on the table. It was an itinerary.

Vatra picked up the paper, eyeing the small print that appeared as if someone took more time choosing out a font than actually planning out the schedule. She noticed her entire stay at the resort was planned down by the hour. Including her sleep.

"Gods," Vatra breathed out.

Skimming up and down the list, Vatra narrowed on when she was supposed to expect someone to release her from her prison. One more hour.

What the hell is self-reflection? Do they expect me to meditate?

Her eyes flashed over her watchface. She didn't have much longer to wait. Barely twenty minutes.

"I can waste twenty minutes," Vatra said aloud. She shuffled over to the bed and

flopped down on the neatly made sheets.

The red comforter tucked fervently under the mattress barely shifted as she bounced a few times before settling in. With her face pressed into the bed, Vatra inhaled deeply and exhaled just as long, allowing her body to sink into the mattress. It only took her a few seconds to fall asleep.

She wasn't sure how long she'd been out for. Twenty minutes may as well have been hours. Vatra hadn't bothered setting an alarm on her watch, she'd expected whoever was supposed to come get her to wake her up. But, no one did. Instead, she was lost to sleep.

Her dreamless nap turned into an inescapable darkness. Vatra had never truly been self-aware during a dream, but it didn't take her long to realize something wasn't quite right. She wasn't supposed to be conscious in her sleep. Yet, she was quite aware of her thoughts. Of her movements.

Well, if she was in fact moving. It was difficult to tell if her arms were actually waving out in front of her though she was willing them to do so.

"Um, what the hell?" Vatra questioned aloud into the shadows of her own mind.

Her voice echoed, as if bouncing off the walls of a cavern. Dark. Empty. Cold. No, not cold. Vatra's outstretched hand touched something, and it was warm. Her fingers pressed into a rocky wall, shifting up and down the uneven texture of a natural formation that brought back an image she'd pushed down into the recesses of her memories.

Vatra hesitated. There was no way this could be the intended self-reflection. How was it even possible?

"Hello?" she called, her voice less confident than usual.

A light radiated in front of her, beyond the curve of what she could now tell was a rocky tunnel. It burned an orange glow, flickering as if a great fire was being prodded. Vatra's heart thudded. She stopped walking, but something ripped her forward by the ankles.

There wasn't time to scream. To fight the imminent death she was about to be plunged to. Again. Vatra shut her eyes as tight as she could and accepted what she was about to face.

Whipping around the corner of the tunnel, Vatra was thrown without care. She rolled until her body was halted by an unseen force. Her eyes shot open. Beneath her hands and knees was a rolling river of magma. She was inside a volcano. More accurately, hovering above the innards of one.

Vatra noticed something the longer she stared down into the bubbling magma. The heat was bearable. There wasn't an overpowering stench. In fact, it was almost like she was in another room altogether.

What the hell is going on?

She tested her theory. Pressing her palms into the unforeseen ground, Vatra pushed her weight into her hands. Then, her knees. After a moment, Vatra stood to her feet.

"Does it frighten you?" A disembodied voice, silvery in tone, carried from somewhere beyond Vatra's line of sight.

Despite her best attempts, Vatra couldn't find the source. She glowered into the shadows. "Why are you toying with me? I thought this was supposed to be therapeutic. This feels quite the opposite."

"Usually I would want my patients to face their biggest fears at the end of our sessions, but I felt like you should meet yours head-on," the voice continued.

Vatra's fists clenched. "I'm not biting. This has Ares written all over it. He put you up to this, didn't he?"

As if the god's very name summoned her unseen tormenter, a figure appeared before her. The wavering image of a woman looked at her with a smug grin, eyes dark and lifeless. She wasn't really there, not any more than Vatra was, but it was clear her place in the simulation was even more fabricated than Vatra's. Her body, her clothes, were almost fully transparent.

Narrowing her eyes, Vatra tried to make any recognition of the woman. She couldn't place her in a line-up.

Not a god I know.

"Who are you?" Vatra questioned.

"I'm called Hakora. Don't worry, you don't know who I am because I'm not a god of your world. If you thought your planet was the only one where ethereal beings lived, then you are foolish," Hakora said.

Vatra held up a hand. "Woah, no need for the insults. I never said that. You gods are so full of yourselves wherever you're from, you know that? No wonder you and Ares seem to be getting along just swell. So, he sent you to get into my mind under the ruse of self-reflection healing? He really took advantage of your place in the resort. I need to have a talk with Brian and the employment problems around here." Her words trailed off as she glanced about, but her head snapped back around when Hakora shouted at her.

"I'm not doing his bidding! Once he told me about you, I didn't need any convincing on what needed to be done. And once I got a peek into your mind, it was child's play. You have some real problems, you know that?" Hakora prodded. She neared Vatra, floating just above where Vatra's boots touched the invisible floor.

"Yeah, so I've been told," Vatra dead-panned. "Look, you can replay my trauma for me all you want, but it's nothing I haven't watched a thousand times before. This might work for someone else. Did Ares forget to mention what I was?"

"An annoying little bird?" Hakora cocked her head to the side, her outline fading before taking shape again. "No, he didn't. Besides, you can't cause me any harm in here. My physical form is with yours, and I can keep you here as long as I want."

Vatra grinned. "Oh, you're with me right now?" She leaned back on her boots, as if enjoying the reveal of a surprise party.

Hakora hesitated in her response. "Yes."

"Since Ares told you what I am, then you know what happens when I die? The thing is, when you're alive as long as I've been, you get pretty good at dying. I've been slowly suffocating myself since we jumped into this hellscape," Vatra stated, her expression losing all hint of enjoyment. She was serious.

"You're bluffing," Hakora said. Her shape wavered more than usual.

"Try me," Vatra urged. "It's about to get very hot, very soon in the real world. I hope you can handle it."

In an instant, Vatra was ripped from the simulation of the volcano. She awoke to her bed, staring up at the ceiling. A small grin crossed her face. Vatra sprung to her feet before the figure just in her peripheral could get to their feet.

Hakora was in full reality. Her dark hair flew out around her in every which direction as she spun for the door, but Vatra was faster. The goddess was slammed against the wooden door, her head hitting first, before she slumped down to the ground.

"You can't kill me without your godkillers," Hakora groaned.

"Maybe not," Vatra paused, "but there's a few dozen things in here that can kill me, and I am a godkiller. So, how about we have a little chat?"