¡! The Forest of No Return. ❞ ˚｡‿‿‿‿‿‿‿‿‿‿༓☾‿‿‿‿‿‿‿‿‿‿ﾟ｡*ﾟ+ Pain. That was all Norton felt as Orpheus's fists pummeled his body relentlessly, still under the drug's influence. Through eyes blurred by blood, Norton could barely make out the face of the man he once admired above him - now contorted with rage and madness. As he floated in and out of consciousness, flashes of his bleak life played.

Imaging himself as a boy, working the fields from dawn to dusk just to earn a few measly coins. His calloused hands began toiling before he was even of age. There was no time for play, for laughter with other children. Only work. The images shifted. Now a young man, he delved deep into treacherous mines, risking life and limb with every swing of his pickaxe. Day after hopeless day, he chipped away at the hard earth, praying for a glimpse of silver or gold. Anything to pull him from poverty's grasp. But more often than not, he found only dust.

Now nearly 30 years wandering this dark realm, and for what? He was just as alone, just as empty, as the very first day he entered those mines. No friends, no loved ones - Always chasing some shiny dream of riches. And along the way, How many lives had been collateral in his singular tunnel vision pursuit of escape from poverty? Their faces blurred together - nameless souls he'd trampled to climb higher, each step sinking him deeper. ˚*‿‿‿‿‿‿‿‿‿‿༓☾‿‿‿‿‿‿‿‿‿‿ﾟ｡*ﾟ+ He lay there, gazing blankly up at the night sky through swollen eyes. Darkness encroached at the edges of his vision. A single thought floated across his fading mind:

'Was it really worth it?'

All those years wasted, all the suffering he'd endured and inflicted upon others - what did he have to show for it in the end? Not a soul to mourn his passing. No peace, no joy found along the way. He wanted to regret it all, but his fate was already sealed.

And so, he accepted the grim reaper's embrace with open arms. for it was the closest thing to compassion he ever felt during his years alive.