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It was nighttime on Halle's bit of Lysithea, the scent of fresh rain and flowers that lingering in the air. He sighed with relief that it'd ended by the time they arrived, it'd suck to track mud inside the lodge. The building in question was just behind them, and the forest towered before them.

There was a path to his piece of the Code through both, but this time he figured it'd be better to take the shorter route. The other one, with that secret, maybe even magical path through the forest felt...personal. Like it was a secret he'd die with, and possibly be reborn into. Turning to his brother, he waved at the forest, "Most of Halle is this forest. There's a lot of interesting creatures that have started appearing but nothing too dangerous as far as I know. But we're gonna skip the forest today and get to my code through the basement here," he waved back toward the lodge.

"You probably won't fall through the floor now, it's really improved a lot from my long stay actually. But if you feel the wood start to sink underfoot, move fast, okay?"

Near the steps leading up to the porch, a torch suddenly burst into light, as if it sensed his intention to enter. The light was stronger and steadier than on his first visit, more welcoming than creepy. The porch was a lot less shabby as well, now that he gave a lookover with Lisse beside him.

He'd been worried that the Code situation might have damaged it, but maybe he'd gotten off lightly with this one.

"There's been touch and go moments," Halle admitted. "Especially when there were just...holes in the floorboards." The place wasn't in the greatest condition now, but way better than when they'd both first visited their wonders.

Walking up the stairs, only slightly creaky now, he approached the door and held out his fist, touching signet ring to wood that lit up upon contact. There was a map of sorts briefly revealed, along with symbols that included the unicorn crown of Lysithea. Quietly, the door swung open.

As they entered the lodge, candles and torches dimly lit up along the passageways. "They didn't use to do that," Halle felt the need to mention. "But they started a little after we became squires. I think the place uh...liked that." At least as much as places could like things.

There was an ancient kitchen of sorts, and a door that revealed stairs going down into a presumable basement. "I wasn't really looking for my code piece when I found it," he finally explained. "It just happened to be near where my signet ring was hid. It took me forever to find that stupid ring, but you found yours right off." His brother had always been a lucky sh-...snot. "Maybe your code piece will also be hid near where you found your ring. Or at least there'll be some hint there?" Hopefully! Maybe Lisse of the Past wasn't as into puzzles as Halle of the Past had been, and bless him if so.

The cellar was large and mostly empty save for some lacy spider webs and broken casks. Actually a lot of broken casks. A lot more casks and a lot more broken than he remembered.

With a sigh, he began feeling over a wall for a slightly raised bit of stonework. "Since it's underground, I have a feeling that..." The wall swung open, revealing a tunnel full of rubble. Passable but it probably won't be very pleasant. A louder sigh, "That whatever it was messed up things down here."

He tried not to think too much about whatever it was. More super powerful forces he knew nothing about, maybe a thread. Maybe not. Maybe forces they'll never encounter again. Or that had stealthily already taken seed here. Schrodinger's Space Entity.

"I still have some of my old gear in storage," Halle offered and then made a face. "Uh...from back in fifth grade." It'd been awhile since he upgraded to his current set, which managed to be both lighter and larger to accommodate his teen-sized self. They'd been camping together often enough that he forget that...the camping aspect of that was more his thing, while his brother was more interesting in stargazing. Two very different sets of equipment that hadn't seen much use within Destiny City. "Or I can help you pick out some new stuff? I bet mom would be thrilled if she thought you were going camping on weekends with new friends." Well, Julian. But he wasn't about to say that specific name outloud. Halle just didn't trust himself not to have a smug tone when saying it.

He was a little surprised to be honest, that Lisse hadn't been up on his wonder with the clockwork regularity Halle had. But then, maybe it had seemed kind of lonely, or boring, to go by himself?

The underground passage got worse instead of better, the two having to navigate around fallen rocks and boulders, as well as support beams and several deep fissures along the ground. But they eventually made it to the Code's room, the door showing the unicorn crown above, a bluebell symbol below. This was further than he'd managed while trapped here, the invisible force pushed him away before he even stepped into the underground passages. And from both entries.

Now he felt that force rising again, just outside the door. "Ugh, it's trying to push me away now. I guess this is where we...I have to stop and meditate." His voice turned apologetic, because this was gonna be boring for everyone involved.

And it was, with Halle sitting cross-legged on the ground in front of the door, eyes closed and trying not to scowl. But after awhile, he opened his eyes and gave a blank gaze before wordlessly standing up to face the door once more. Raising a hand he began to trace a path around the two symbols that Lisse wouldn't recognize, but Halle, if he was fully conscious, would. It was the path to this room that required going through the forest. A strange and magical one, where a wrong turn would change his perception and leave him off the trail, having to start again from the beginning.

The force lessened slightly, and with the touch of his ring, the door swung open. And then he stopped, once again meeting that pushing force, and once again having to trace a path through the air. This time a different one, something to discover later. Another step inside, and now Lisse would be able to see the dim sphere, floating above a table in the middle of the room. Another period of Halle having to trace through the air followed, allowing him another step toward the Code. Again and again until over an hour had passed and Halle finally was close enough to reach out and cup the orb in his hands. He didn't touch it, but the connection was made palpable by the sudden shake of the chamber, followed by the orb brightening to it usual glow, it's power pulsing steadily before him.

Blinking, Halle turned to look at Lisse, his expression complicated. "Well I can't say that was fun, but it was kind of interesting."

"Yeah, everything feels...settled. Steady." Halle took his brother's hand with a grin, "Past memories kinda took over." He still felt a little giddy and dazed from them, honestly. "They guided me through it."

The connection between himself, his code piece, and his past life felt more real than before. Like he'd planted his feet firmly in the life they'd stumbled into half a year ago.

"Alright, let's go."