She had made it home at last, guided only by the weary wings of Kaj, the Storm Bringer but her savior no matter his name. He had found her in the deepest depths of her misery, ready to turn and leave this all behind, for the safety of her friends. But there was a cure, he had promised her a cure and safety, and still she had lingered when they had reached the opening of the cavern. Flashbacks of the terror that had enveloped her on that terrible day had washed over her, freezing her in place, making her eyes grow wide and making her stomach churn. Could she really go down there? She had hemmed and hawed, swayed to and fro, but in the end Kaj had won, because Kaj would always win with her. He had promised her safety, promised her waters to drink that would prevent any chance of her ever turning back. So in the end the darkness became the thing that she feared more, turning back to a wraith was more frightening than the chance of meeting that demon hybrid in the caverns again, and she had followed him through the depths of the cave system to the room with the bubbling waters, so secluded, where she could have stayed forever under his wing, except he had to leave again- to find Lace where he had found her, back up above, where the darkness was likely to swallow him at any moment. But he was everyone's hero, not just hers, so she had been forced to let him go. And she was weary anyway, exhausted from all that had transpired, so she let him go, a smile on her face and in her heart as he went back towards the front.

With Kaj's leave, Kahlua was left to look around the room on her own, to see the cool waters and head towards them. She dipped her muzzle into the water and drank deeply, guzzling as much of it as she could. Alone, as she was, she couldn't help but feel like the darkness was creeping back up on her. She needed these waters to live, to be safe, to be herself and not some terrible monster that had attacked her friends and family. As she did so, the automaton scorpion that had been on her withers crawled back up the nape of her neck to settle between her ears, where it seemed most steady. She hardly noticed the thing now, though when she did she couldn't help but frown. It reminded her of what she had been like as a wraith.

Stepping back from the waters, the painted girl took a deep breath and began to stare at the wall. The images swirled and swashed before her, melding together into a strange story that made no sense. Perhaps it was because she was so exhausted. Her muscles were warm from the long walk from the Threshold, her legs were sore where scabs from the burns that Imogen (Lena's kitsune) had imparted on her were sitting. But most tired of all was her heart and mind, wanting to just turn off. But the way that the shadows danced on the wall would not give her peace. But she did not know where to go, did not know where her friends were, and didn't want to get lost in the expanse of this cavern that seemed to go on so much farther then she ever imagined it could. No, she was better off here where Kaj had left her, she decided, but that didn't mean she was going to get any rest.