"Eek!" Howard let out a shriek that was closer to Eris's pitch than his own. To his credit, it was an excellent Eris impression. If Howard was auditioning for an Eris Halla impression, the judges would've given him a 9.5 out of 10 on the Erisometer. It didn't take long for Howard to retain his composure—maybe half a second—and return to normal.

"No, of course not!" Howard beamed at Eris with absolute confidence. "What's a house of mirrors compared to walking to the bathroom at night without turning the lights on? I'm simply..."

He couldn't say anything too embarrassing, especially in front of a thirteen year old kid! He had a public image and sense of dignity to maintain. If he lost it here and now, he would throw himself into the pond that the Magikarp Fishing Game was hosted at and drown to death. It was a vastly preferable fate to admitting that he was lost in a freaking house of mirrors.

Especially when someone as young as Eris was involved, even if Eris did have Reiner along for the ride. Maybe it was her parents' Pokémon! Such a little girl couldn't be too threatening?

Right?

"Performing an act! For the carnival. The organizers were hoping I would do a bunch of scary noises to freak out people passing through." Howard took a knee to reach Eris's height. "Did it work? Were you scared? Frightened? Mortified? Utterly frazzled?

---

STAMP GET: Play a part in a carnival performance.
Eris Halla

"Wait! Waiiiiiiit!" Howard said as he got to his feet and followed Eris, almost clonking his head on a mirror as he did so. "I was lying! I'm lost, really lost. I don't actually work here. Could you imagine the pay they'd give to scream in a hall of mirrors? It'd be next to zero!" Howard took a deep breath, before looking down glumly.

"I know my exact position! I'm one hundred and fifty steps from the entrance, sixty two steps to the left. I figured I'd get myself lost to see if I could get myself out of a sticky situation. But..." Howard slumped down and tapped his bandaged eye. "I don't have any depth perception. All the mirrors look the same!"

The man wilted even further, as if his soul had evaporated completely. Admitting this to a young girl was absolutely humiliating, but if Howard yelled and a ride operator came in to find him, they'd laugh in his face, scold him, then throw him out of the house with his pride left out to dry. If he could get Eris to help him, that would at least let escape with two of those things.

"So can I team up with you? I'm no 'Mister Performer', either! I'm Howard Slayte, archaeologist extraordinaire! Howard struck a pose that was thoroughly lame.

---

Eris Halla

"But if I do that, I'll smudge up the mirrors! What if they send me back in with window cleaner and force me to scrub down each mirror?" Howard shuddered in fear as he envisioned the community service he'd have to do in service to the carnival. What if they didn't have any window cleaner, and he had to run over to the Magikarp Fishing Game, steal some water, and run back here?

His pride was already in shambles. Could he really allow it to sink that low? No, absolutely not. He'd rather throw himself off a cliff.

"I've got it!" Before Eris could blink, he was standing tall and beaming down at her and Reiner. "What if I buy you a cinnamon roll or something if you lead me out? A pretty fair deal, if I do say so myself! They're pretty tasty!"

Despite his beaming smile, Howard was internally screaming. Pleasesayyespleasesayyespleasesayyes...

---

STAMP GET: Mention the Magikarp fishing game!
Eris Halla

"Dimensions? In the mirrors?" He looked at Eris with a mixture of skepticism and worry. Was she punking him? Was this one of those Funtasia Social Experiments he had heard so much about? Howard frowned at the mirror, before peering closer at it, as if expecting the mirror to ripple like a portal. Instead, his forehead hit the mirror with a dull thunk. "Ow!" Howard yowled, reeling back before grinning. "Juuuuust kidding! My head's very hard, see."

Eris drove a hard bargain. Howard was decent at the elusive Magikarp Fishing Game. Plus, it was cheaper to play in something rigged than it was to buy someone a cinnamon roll. Plus, it wasn't like Howard could tell her no! Eris was so small and innocent, after all!

"You've got yourself a deal, little lady!" Howard took off his hat and did a mock bow. "Lead the way!"

---

Eris Halla

"I wanted a challenge!" Howard beamed at her with a bright expression. An expression that quickly melted into horrror. "Plus, I'm banned from the Tauros-Rodeo for life."

The Tauros Rodeo Incident (2023) was a historical event that would never be spoken of again. The Tauros Rodeo involved screaming, explosions, and using Cosmic Power on a mechanical bull. Howard knew one thing: he could never return to the Tauros Rodeo without several layers of clothing, a new identity, and an emotional support Shirley to hold onto.

Frankly, it was the third worst moment of his life.

"Eh? No, no dare. Only terrible regrets." Howard looked in a mirror, only to see he had become as white as a sheet and was shaking. "Guh... What happened? Are we lost?" Howard stammered towards Eris, before trembling even more. "We're never gonna get out of here!"

As Howard experienced the regrets of Tauros Rodeo mixed with a mental collapse, they reached a corner. To the right was something truly incredible:

The exit.

---

Eris Halla

"Cosmic Power... Explosions..." Howard muttered to himself as he continued suffering through his traumatic flashbacks. Upon looking up and realizing they were at the exit, his expression quickly melted away and he returned to a relatively normal demeanor. He was a grown adult, and didn't need to be consoled by a little girl all of the time. Only sometimes.

"You did it, little lady!" Howard beamed at her as they exited the hall of mirrors. It didn't take long for them to find the game Eris had been mentioning. Howard nodded and scratched his chin. "Oof. Yeah, Magkiarp fishing is rigged in a thousand different ways. The rod is slippery, the string too delicate, and the Magikarp too heavy... Hey! Who are you texting?" Howard leaned in, before shrugging. It couldn't be that important. Maybe she was just telling her parents that a cool stranger was going to utterly ace a rigged carnival game.

The game had a prize counter to the side, featuring Magikarps of all shapes and colors. There was even a Shiny Magikarp plush available, though nobody had been skilled enough to claim it. "Which one do you want, little lady?" He asked Eris.

---

STAMP GET: Successfully find your way out of the hall of mirrors!
Eris Halla