Do you ponder the manner of things?

M  A   E    A I talked to God to no avail Said, "If you won't save me, please don't waste my time." The girl flinched violently at the appearance of the Voice. It was not who she had expected, nor the one she had wanted to meet... Maea swallowed, her mouth suddenly dry as the thing she had fled to the shrine to escape suddenly appeared before her, more physical and present than ever. Did that mean...? Had they managed after all? Those who went up must have, somehow, succeeded. Something awful lurched in the pit of her stomach and Maea pressed her lips tightly together. Fear was a dark beast that crawled through her chest, turning limbs to water and making it impossible to stand even if she had wanted to. "I should never have gone" she whispered. Her voice was cracked, hoarse from coughing and the awful burn of poison; not even Vai's magic would heal it all in one night. She had almost died, and for what? What kind of sin had she even committed this night? "If locking you in and leaving all those generations to rot was worth the price... Then we should never have dreamed of the outside. I wish I'd never set foot in the Spire."