[IC/Reroll] Under the Hill: The Final Circle

[Notus]

Ellaria, Rose and the Mistery Man

Ellaria couldn´t know the man was looking at them, but the very fact that he spoke to them was enough to put her on the edge. She decided that it would be best to drop the invisibility by now, so she could save energy if they needed something more powerful. "Hello." she said, seemingly appearing out of nowhere and pretending not to be afraid. Something about the way he spoke those words got her interest though. " Have we ever met before?"

Kenny

As Edward suddenly dashed away from the young man, a grave voice came from behind him, where a very familiar old man was leaning on the wall. "Ha, and I thought he wasn´t leaving soon. Anyway, how are you doing lad?" Mr. Taylor asked Kenny.

[K_H]

Kenny was just about to speak to Edward when he sped off. He then calmed down, and was about to head into the Maze when he heard a strangely familiar voice, and balked.

Him?! it can't be!... could it?

Kenny then turned around with a surprised face, and saw Mr. Taylor leaning behind him.

"Mr. Taylor?!"

Kenny then smiled.

"Either I'm going crazy, or something really, really strange happened. Last I knew, you were gone for good! While I'm fine, what I'd like to know is what happened to you?"

[Notus]

Kenny and Mr. Taylor

Mr. Taylor answered Kenny with a grin. "Why, you didn´t expect me to lose for that kid Marcus, did you?".

It happened two circles before. Kenny, Mr. Taylor, Rose and Ellaria were advancing together towards the Circle´s Guardian chamber. Marcus had been following them at a distance, and tried to set a trap by calling the attention of the Guardian´s minions towards the group. The last time they saw Mr. Taylor, he was fighting the psycopath and two Minotaurs alone to buy them time to escape.

It didn´t seem likely at all, but here he was again, safe and sound. "So, want to walk along with an old man for a while?"

[Rosesong]

Ixidor

Mia beamed at Ixidor as she quickly wrapped the fur jacket around herself. A sigh of relief escaped her as warmth began to pool into her shaking body, giving her motivation and energy to walk up to the young artist. "Thank you so much Ix," she said with a small, genuine smile gracing her face.

As she carefully stepped onto the chariot, placing her hand on the boy's shoulder for support, she looked at the horses with some trepidation. "A-are you sure that we won't get hurt doing this?" the blond succubus asked, her voice shaking as she looked at the animals quietly awaiting their orders. Once fully on the chariot, Mia looked at Ix again. "It won't be easy to get out of the maze," she warned, lowering her voice as if she did not want to be overheard. "It's really smart, and you have to be able to overcome its challenges." Reaching out and taking the boy's hand in her own, she squeezed it lightly. "You're going to have to be very brave," she whispered, closing her eyes. The girl stayed that way, seemingly deep in thought about something.

Edward

Edward's plan to turn with the metal pike was brilliant; it had been working exactly as he had hoped-- until that last 180 that he tried to make. As the boy came to the final point in his turn, the pike had become frozen to the floor of the maze, unable to be pulled out again at the completion of the direction change. The resulting thud left quite a dent in the wall that the Boy Scout hit; however, it was able to heal itself quickly, glowing black for a few seconds, while the boy ended up lying flat on the floor.

All thoughts of the pain he was in quickly faded as the skipping of feet entered the corridor behind him, happily humming still. The steps got closer to Edward until they stopped, and a girl with shoulder length black hair and icy blue eyes looked at him. In her arms was a bedraggled bear that seemed almost frozen. "Mister Edward," Enya Gillespie greeted with a smile. "The maze is really grumpy at you for some reason. Why are you lying here?"

Rose, Ellaria, and the mystery dude

Rose gave the man a hard stare, unable to place having met him on their journey through hell. "I'd like to know who you are as well," she said slowly, cautiously hopping a step in front of Ellaria. "I'd also like to know how you were able to see us," the redhead added, narrowing her green eyes dangerously at the person. Allowing a hand to stay close to her bag at all times, she continued, never once taking her eyes away and doing her best to ignore the walls, which seemed to be flashing more and more frequently.

"We were just making our way through the maze and happened to hear your music," she stated, omitting Matthew and the other woman from her story completely and easily. Allowing the musician that lay dormant within her to come out for a brief moment, she added almost dreamily, "Your playing is fantastic; I'd love to know where you learned to play so sweetly and with such melancholy." Shaking herself, coming back to focus almost abruptly, Rose returned to the hard facade that she had been putting on, worried for a moment that she had let her guard down for too long.

Vanessa and Evan

The two had been walking in the same direction for quite awhile; Evan was in the lead, unknowing that Vanessa was silently tailing him from a few yards back. Apart from Evan seeing the disfigured, mangled, mutilated body of Noella Chimdale, whom he had realized later that he had encountered briefly in the 8th Circle, both had experienced a relatively quiet maze experience. The maze still flashed occasionally with their strange, glowing light that had become to feel almost comforting.

Suddenly, the silence was broken as a voice sounded through the air. Vanessa jumped, looking wildly around for the source of the voice. Her head whipped around to Evan, whom appeared not to have heard anything out of the ordinary. "Nessie," came the cry of a high, soft female voice. "Nessie, help." The voice seemed to be coming from a corridor that Evan had already passed.

Meanwhile, up ahead, Evan was getting twitchy. He never had acquired the patience that came with problem solving, and this maze was definitely beginning to frustrate him. Unbeknownst to him, a man stood in the shadows, observing his every movement. His ragged dark hair blew softly in the still breeze that had started through the maze again. He'd be perfect, the man thought, lips twitching into a smirk as he watched the boy turn another corner.

[K_H]

Kenny pulled the copper staff off of his back, using it like one would use a hiking stick, and smiled.

"Mr. Taylor, I would be delighted to catch up with you. Let's head through the maze while we're at it, shall we? I've got quite the tale to tell you about what happened in the Eighth Circle."

Kenny then walked into the maze, stopped, and waited for Mr. Taylor.

Edited October 3, 2015 by K_H

[CURIE]

And there she was. Somehow, deep down he knew he couldn't avoid meeting her. Or rater, "her". He didn't doubt for a second that she was (probably) an illusion of the maze. First of all, the last two times they met she tried to kill him on sight. The first time she almost succeded, and the second time he punted her accursed teddy bear to the bottom of a river. The same bear she's holding right now. And there's no way she could have physically keep up with him just now, except if she wasn't even there in the first place.

The reason he didn't want this meeting to happen, is because he had no idea how to respond to it. Should he destroy her? Laugh and tell her up front that he knows she isn't real? Pretend like he can't see or hear her? Act as if he was afraid she'd throw another train at him? If he's right and she is just an illusion, then it shouldn't matter what he does. But what about the possibility that she is real? Nah, what he'll do is act like the last two meetings never happened. Act like he did back when she considered him a friend, and hopefully she'll act the same way in turn.

"It's because it fears me. I've been moving through it faster than probably anyone it's ever seen, and being a maze it must hate the thought of someone finding the exit in record time." He was on his feet. "I'd love for us to catch up, we probably have a bunch of crazy stories to tell each other, but right now I- er, we need to get moving again."

And that meant he had to do something about the spike. It wasn't just stuck, it was frozen over like his fist had become when he tried to falcon punch the wall. He struggled trying to get it out for a bit, but even his superhuman strength could not make the thing budge. Did he have anything that could help get it out? No he didn't think so. He didn't think he had anything to act as a replacement, either. Closest thing was Atilla's blade, but there's no way it would last. The Falcon Punch wasn't a good idea for obvious reasons. Maybe the Supernova?

Wait, how about he takes this opportunity to test limits of the illusion in front of him? "Hey, do you think you could magic up something to help me get this thing out? Or better yet, something to replace it?"

[Notus]

Kenny & Mr. Taylor

They simply walked together for some time, with Mr. Taylor quietly listening to Kenny´s stories of the previous circle. Although their navigation in the maze was going smoothly thanks to Mr. Taylor´s navigation skills ("The colder this place gets, the closer to the center we must be, my friend.") , they soon found the first thing other than the smooth black walls.

In the middle of the corridor, there was a single pilar, about 1 meter high, serving as a support for a plain looking sundial. Although there was no sun light in the maze - what resulted in a lack of shadows for everyone - the watch did seem to be working properly, marking five minutes to mid-day.

Mr. Taylor stopped and raised an eyebrow. "That´s new. What do you think that means, Kenny? A trap?"

[Sutoratosu]

Ethic, a wizard on the edge...

He examined the hall as it slowly began to revert to the closest thing that could pass for normal around here; the architecture, dark and deceptive as it was, again slumbering like an attack dog under the shade of the porch, rather than straining against it's chain, foaming at the mouth as teeth like razors hungrily snapped at even the slightest sign of motion. The tall man's illusion was gone now. The maze may have the power to fuck with his area of dominion, but by no means did it have the force to change their fundamental properties. Not even Mr.Psuedo-Slender had not been immune to the impact his right fist.

"Yes..." He said simply, eyes fixed on the statues now. They had to be the focal point, no doubt about it- They were the only mechanisms he'd seen any trace of during the whole Shabang. "This thing most likely runs off of indiscriminate sight. Meaning that it's probably a more generalized type of trap that would either kill or force to halt anyone who managed to got caught... any form of visible motion at all is probably enough for it to sign a death warrant."

He turned his back to the blonde, again calling forth the Magician from the back of his psyche and launching into full operation. Within moments, he had successfully crafted two more veils and managed to instill the mental thoughtforms that would give them their function and properties. It was never so much of having to do hard calculation to account for how he wanted them to bend the light spectrum, as it was simply using a combination of Will Power and Visualization- like raising power and preforming a spell or ritual, someone versed in the occult and esoteric might say... and when you grew up surrounded with as much source material and exposure to Esoteric ideas and concepts as Ethic, versed is something you just become naturally.

"Try it now." He said, glancing back at the woman as he gave one of the veils it's final order- to shroud. The air rippled around her like a heat wave... then there it stopped, and Annie was gone from his sight, simply vanished like a wraith. But Ethic could sense it there, the veil. Could sense it running. He still could tell exactly where she was.

"Look down at your hands. They shouldn't be there now. Give the hall another try."

[K_H]

Kenny was giving the Sundial a curious look, like he couldn't decide just what to make of it, but thought it wasn't something very good.

"You know, Mr. Taylor, I'm not really sure. the last time I encountered something that seemed normal, it quickly became paranormal... Plus, the plaque at the start of this Labyrinth mentioned something about not trusting stuff, so I'm a bit skeptical about it. On the other hand, it might be those in Management messing with us by throwing a test at us and seeing how we do with it, but I'm not really sure."

Edited October 9, 2015 by K_H

[Rosesong]

Phantom

Meridian looked faintly amused, staring at Phantom. "Sorry," she mused, looking at the man in interest. "Apologies can be hard to give." Looking around at the walls, which were still glowing occasionally, she continued, "However, they can also be given incorrectly and unnecessarily at times." Beginning to walk down another corridor, the succubus paused, motioning for the tall, mysterious wanderer to follow her. Not bothering to see if the man had begun to follow, her voice floated to Phantom, just barely touching his ears. "We all need someone by our side, most of all in a place like this."

Edward and Enya

Enya skipped over to the frozen pick, looking at it carefully. "Don't worry Mister Edward," she smiled happily. "I can get it out!" With little trouble, the girl opened one of her spacial rifts within the maze, summoning a flamethrower from it. Setting Ace by the wall carefully, the child sparked her new toy to life, shooting several orange-blue flames toward the frozen pick. Leaving it on for about 30 seconds, her childish face portrayed the typical innocence and child-like amusement that had become almost synonymous with the girl. She cheerfully flipped the flamethrower off and allowed it to disappear, revealing a burnt, brittle stick that had once been the pick Edward used.

"Here you go Mister Edward!" Enya proclaimed, presenting the charred stick to him. After a few moments of silence, the girl looked at her friend, blinking her eyes wide at him. "So," she said happily, yawning quietly, "where are we going next?"

[SnowGlaceon]

"Oh! Uh...yes. Matthew, is it?" She looked at the blond man. He seemed friendly, but also a little intimidating. But almost everyone was intimidating to her. "I...uh. I'm Donna. I'm sorry for intruding." She fiddled around with her cloak.

Dammit Donna! This man could kill you, this is not the time to be intimidated! She thought to herself. Don't show weakness.

Calming herself down, Donna forced herself to look the man in the eyes. He didn't look hostile, but there was no telling what people were thinking. She would just have to prepare for the worst and hope for the best.

[Sparky]

"Well, nice to meet you, Donna." He answered in response as he glanced at the walls, 'Something just doesn't feel right when these things glow....' ran through his mind as he snapped himself out of his own daze, "I guess that we should get moving, standing around for too long won't get us anywhere." He added as he motioned for her to follow him as he proceeded to walk down the corridor they had been in.

[CURIE]

As he watched her burn the ice with her magically summoned flamethrower, and felt the heat of the blaze on his skin, Edward couldn't deny that this was a real, physical being he was talking to. Wether or not it was actually who it claimed to be, that was still up for debate. The most suspicious thing about her (aside from the fact that she seemed omnipresent a minute ago) was the fact that she's acting like she did before he "killed" her. Theoretically, if he had freed her from the evil force that was controlling her she should act differently, right? She'd be acting as her true self? But on the other hand, maybe the way she acted beforehand WAS how she normally was, and the demonic force only acts on her at certain times (like when she tried to kill him). If that was the case then he wouldn't complain Most people found that behavior and look of hers creepy, but he thought it was cute for some reason. Could it be that he- he pushed the thought out of his mind. It felt weird to think about that, the age difference between them was a bit much. Well actually, it looked like a five or six year difference, which is a big gap now but give it a couple decades and-

Wait, she was handing something to him. It was the metal spike, she had gotten it out of the ice. It was charred, but being made of metal it should still work right? Didn't matter really, since he couldn't do that awesome skating thing with her around. Yeah, whether she was a deception or not, he knew he would have to take her with him. He stood there, thinking, staring at the spike in his hand for a few seconds before realizing she had just asked him a question.

"Um" he stammered, trying to say something but unsure of what exactly he should say. Should he tell her what his goal was? If she was a trick made up by the maze, then it probably didn't matter if the maze knew why he was trying to get to the end of it. It knew he was trying to do it, and would try to stop him anyway. As a matter of fact, if he told it about his desire to keep bad guys away from the end, it might actually see him as an ally and guide him to the bad guys. "We're going to find the center of this maze. I'm on a mission: Keep the wish granting thingy at the end of this circle from falling into the hands of evil people like big talking rat guy or serial killer dude whose name I forgot or Taylor the time lord." Obviously, he actually didn't have to worry about serial killer; that guy got hit by the Shun Goku Satsu back in World 5, but she got the point so whatever. "Everyone else has a head start on me, so we need to move as fast as we can. Unless of course you can make a vehicle appear or something like that."

[Darvan Korematsu]

Vanessa whipped around to hear the shriek of a possibly feminine voice from in the distance, as well as the young man in front of her to pick up speed. She crouched doen to one knee observing the young man run away from her toward the voice.

[Flux]

"We all need someone by our side, most of all in a place like this."

Phantom followed the succubus in silence for a time, thinking over what she had said. She had called his apology unnecessary, yet he had been the one to kill her. As they walk, he spoke slowly and quietly, his ethereal voice echoing through the nearby corridors.

"...Why...?"

There were so many meanings behind the simple phrase. Why did they need an ally inn this place? Why had she forgiven him so easily? Why hadn't he learned anything more about himself? It all was so hopelessly vague for him.

[Rosesong]

Edward

Enya held Ace up to her ear, cocking her head sideways as though she were paying the stuffed bear her utmost attention. "Well, Mister Edward," the girl said, looking at the Boy Scout with wide eyes and a sweet smile. "Ace says that we'd better go on foot. Otherwise, the maze will make things harder when the the time comes." The girl looked completely unfazed by what she had just spoken on behalf of a bear that had been condemned to this very circle. Then again, it was easy to remember that the girl had spoken on the bear's behalf multiple times and never seemed fazed by any of the words that passed her lips.

Skipping merrily toward a pathway, she called out in a sing-song voice, "This way, Mister Edward!" as she dragged the large, ragged bear with her.

Vanessa

As the girl was crouched, hiding and observing the things, she noted with surprise that Evan completely ignored the corridor that the voice seemed to be coming from. The clear female soprano regaled Vanessa's ears again, and it seemed as though she was the only one that could hear the ethereal voice coming from the corridor. "Nessie," the voice cried with more urgency. "Nessie, help! Nessa!" At that last word, the voice, which had been calm, suddenly became frantic, calling for assistance. Still, no one but the dark haired girl seemed to notice the shrieks coming from that corridor.

Phantom

Stopping ahead slightly, Meridian moved near one of the walls, never actually touching it but allowing Phantom to see what was at hand. Ahead of them, the walls had growths of thick vines. Clearing her throat, one hand gestured ahead as the succubus began to speak. "Your intentions were good," she spoke, her eyes staring unwaveringly at the mask on Phantom's face. "You wanted to protect me, not knowing that you would cause my demise in doing so." Glancing away, unknowingly having answered one of the unspoken questions in the man's mind, she continued on. "The maze was designed to learn about those trying to make their way through. It evolves as it observes. The only way for a person to get through is by working in pairs, with each helping the other to overcome where they are weak."

Looking at Phantom again, Meridian sighed. "The maze changes, creating obstacles that it feels are appropriate for venturers. This, it would appear, is your first."

[Notus]

Annie & Ethic

Annie looked at her hands - or rather, at the place they were supposed to be - realizing that Ethic used the same trick from when they met. She quickly understood the situation, nooded and proceeded in the statue´s direction again.

This time there was no reaction at all. It seemed lke Ethic´s little scheme was working. She calmly walked past the statue, but then changed her mind and walked back towards it. She bit one of her fingers and turned her right arm into a hard, sharp form; using it as a sword, she struck the gargoyle´s neck, sending it´s head flying away. It´s glimmering eyes all blacked out.

"Nice one, Ethic. Looks like it worked." Annie said.

Mr. Taylor & Kenny

"Ok then, let´s suppose this is some kind of trap. We should test it out right?" Mr. Taylor took one step towards the clock, but then seemed to reconsider. "...Actually, you´re more resilient than me for this kind of thing, Kenny my boy; would you be so kind to serve as lab rat for this once?" the old man asked.

[K_H]

Kenny nodded, and replied.

"OK, then... Here goes nothing..."

He then tentatively stepped closer to the Sundial, ready to jump out of the way should it be a Trap.

[Flux]

Phantom gave a slow nod before walking forward. He didn't know what the vines meant, but if Meridian believed they were an obstacle to him, he'd have to find out. He placed his right hand onto the sword at his side, ready to draw it in an instant if need be. He was approaching the vine-covered area, moving cautiously as he waited for some sort of response.

[CURIE]

Oh great, and she was still talking to "Ace". That must mean she's a deception, right? Because he had destroyed Ace, right? Well actually, if humans could respawn when killed down here then it's not too big a stretch to say demonic teddy bears could too. Another thing that made him suspicious is that he couldn't "sense" her like he used to be able to. But that could have a logical explaination too: Remember how Kenny severed Smaug's psychic connection to his gold by destroying it and putting it back together? Maybe the same thing happened to his Enya sense when he killed Ace.

Oh look, and now she claims to suddenly know the way and wants him to follow her. That's not suspicious at all. If she really is a trick and he follows her, she'll probably just lead him in circles for all eternity. But then there's the chance that his attempt to make the maze an ally actually worked, and she'd lead him to one of the bad guys. Okay fine, he'll go with her for a while, but if they didn't run into something soon, he'd ditch her.

She had a bit of a head start, but he had no trouble whatsoever catching up to her. "So, I bet we both have lots of cool stories to tell ever since we last saw each other. I know I do, but you first. How have things been going for you?"

[Notus]

Ellaria, Rose and Mistery Guy

"Your playing is fantastic; I'd love to know where you learned to play so sweetly and with such melancholy."

"Melancholy is something one learns from Life... And from Death as well. As for the playing, it is a rather long and dull story... Anyway, thanks. You make this humble man honored with such honest words of aprecciation." The man bowed in a rather exagerated motion, and kept that position for a long time. The girls actually had started wandering if he had fallen asleep when he suddenly stood back up, a smile on his face showing perfect teeth, in great contrast with the rest of him. "But you kow, it hurts me that you don´t even recognize an old companion after we travelled together for so long. I know I was way cuter as a teddy bear, but hey - what´s inside is what really matters, right?"

Ellaria didn´t understand what the unknown man meant by that. Teddy bear? The only teddy bear she knew in this place was Enya´s Ace, but that didn´t make sense... Confused, she stepped closer to Rose.

Kenny & Mr. Taylor

Kenny took one step towards the sun dial. Then another. And then another. And then...

"...Actually, you´re more resilient than me for this kind of thing, Kenny my boy; would you be so kind to serve as lab rat for this once?"

The next Kenny knew, he was back at Mr. Taylor´s side, once again hearing his request.

[K_H]

Kenny responded the same way as he did previously, thinking it was merely deja vu. However, when it occurred again, he stopped, a puzzled expression on his face as he looked at himself, then at Mr. Taylor, then at the seemingly Time-bending Sundial, and headed back around the Time Loop again, an eyebrow raised as he did so. Then, his eyebrow lowered back to normal as he thought to himself during the fourth time around.

OK, now I know what the Sundial does.

Kenny then walked towards the Sundial, and once he came back through the Time Loop, he spoke up right before he knew Mr. Taylor would.

"If I remember correctly from my past five trips too close to the Sundial in front of us, you're about to say the following: 'Actually, you're more resilient than me for this kind of thing, Kenny my boy; would you be so kind to serve as lab rat for this once?' And before you even ask how I knew you were going to say that, it's because that Sundial warps Time, as far as I can tell. More specifically, it sends anyone who gets too close back in time, but they keep their memories of the events that happened before they got warped back."

Edited October 26, 2015 by K_H

[Ragnar]

Ixidor

Mia beamed at Ixidor as she quickly wrapped the fur jacket around herself. A sigh of relief escaped her as warmth began to pool into her shaking body, giving her motivation and energy to walk up to the young artist. "Thank you so much Ix," she said with a small, genuine smile gracing her face.

As she carefully stepped onto the chariot, placing her hand on the boy's shoulder for support, she looked at the horses with some trepidation. "A-are you sure that we won't get hurt doing this?" the blond succubus asked, her voice shaking as she looked at the animals quietly awaiting their orders. Once fully on the chariot, Mia looked at Ix again. "It won't be easy to get out of the maze," she warned, lowering her voice as if she did not want to be overheard. "It's really smart, and you have to be able to overcome its challenges." Reaching out and taking the boy's hand in her own, she squeezed it lightly. "You're going to have to be very brave," she whispered, closing her eyes. The girl stayed that way, seemingly deep in thought about something.

"Don't worry it's perfectly safe, you have nothing to worry about." Ixidor answered with a smile on his face and placed his other hand on top of Mia's. The artist paused for a moment as he turns his back and takes a deep breath, grabbing the reins and takes his place in front of the chariot.

"Well.. just hold on tight and just close your eyes, just in case something goes wrong." Ixidor said, prompting a last-minute warning to the girl before tugging the reins.

"Hiya!!" without waiting for the girl to respond (or to object), Ixidor commands their ride and tugs the horse's leash.The stallions in front suddenly became lively as they stand on their hind legs.They seem to be startled as they frantically brush and stomps their hooves into the ground while heavily breathing through their nostrils.

after a loud neigh, these horses suddenly took off without warning, pulling the chariot with all of their might. Almost throwing the boy off balance from the sudden start. It was a rough ride for Ixidor and Mia as these frenzied steeds races throughout the corners of the labyrinth. It's like a roller coaster ride for the two passengers.

The artist holds on for dear life and struggles to steer these savage stallions while thinking of Mia's safety. The chariot swings wildly from side to side, oftenly bumping and colliding into these black walls as they go through the corners of the maze.

Eventually, Ixidor managed to handle their ride as it gets a little less rough and turns into a mild gallop. "Are you alright back there? sorry, that happen. but I think I got everything under control, Hiya!!" Ixidor said to Mia, without looking at the back while focusing on the road ahead.

"ACHOO!!" Ixidor sneezes as he felt the temperature suddenly turns frigid. "I think we're close, ACHOO!! maybe I should drawn myself a jacket before getting he.her..ah..ah..ACHOO!!" the boy sniffs and shivers while fast approaching their destination.

[Rosesong]

Phantom

As the masked man began to make his way toward the path that inexplicably had vines growing over it, a soft slithering sound could be heard. The soft ssssss sounded as though it were coming from all over the general vicinity. It was in the blink of an eye that the passive vines that had been growing on the walls had suddenly become active; within moments, the plantlife had begun weaving itself into intricate patterns, forming a thick, impenetrable green wall that had a few stray leaves poking out from folds every now and then.

Meridian took the few steps needed to stand at Phantom's side again, looking at the newfound obstacle with boredom. "Challenging, but not particularly difficult," she stated simply, looking at the vines covering their means by which to continue through the maze. "I'll be of more help on the other side, where we can get the full perspective." Closing her eyes and letting out a shuddering sigh, jagged jet black wings unfurled from some place on her back, partly transforming the girl into her true form. With a couple of flaps, she seemed to be headed to soar straight over the vine wall. Then the newly made roadblock struck back, a vine lashing out from the mass and striking the succubus squarely in the chest at a downward angle. With a shriek that sounded inhuman, she skidding along the icy ground and slammed against a wall.

Edward

Enya skipped on merrily, never once stopping as she responded to Edward's question. "Well Mister Edward," the girl responded happily, "After you got Ace wet in the Fifth Circle, I wasn't sure what to do anymore. I couldn't think, couldn't speak. It hurt him a lot and I didn't like feeling that. He doesn't like you very much for that, but apparently if we don't partner with you we'll all be stuck in the maze for all eternity," she proclaimed, her face taking on a slightly seriously feature before instantly dissolving back into the young, happy-go-lucky features that commonly graced her face. "Anyway," she merrily went on, taking a right turn, "Ace decided Miss Rose and Miss Ellaria were bad people, so Ace told me to stay really still and pretend that I was dead." Scrunching up her face into a slight frown, Enya added, "I really liked Miss Rose and Miss Ellaria; they were always nice to me and Ace. But Ace is never wrong."

Quickly hanging a left at another turn, the innocent-seeming girl finished her story by saying, "When Miss Rose got separated from Miss Ellaria and lost hope that I was alive, she laid me to rest in the Seventh Circle. From there, Ace and I just made our own way here." Turning to her semi-reluctant companion, the girl blinked her blue eyes. "What have you done, Mister Edward?"

Rose, Ellaria, and Mystery Man

Rose hugged Ellaria close to her, trying to make sense of what had just been said to them. "T-teddy bear?" the red head stuttered, frantically retracing the long journey that they had taken in order to get to this point. "That doesn't make any sense, sir." Looking the weird well-fed hobo in the eyes, she almost winced and looked away. His eyes were just so dark, so... soulless, despite the magnificent playing he had just done. It scared her to no end, giving her chills that ran up and down her spine like tiny arcs of electricity racing back and forth. Struggling to refocus herself, the girl thought about teddy bears, wondering if there could possibly be a cipher that she was missing and if 'teddy bear' was a clue to it. "The only bear we traveled with was the property of a little girl..." she murmured, uncertain of what to make of the situation at hand and only able to think of Ace at the mention of 'teddy bear'.

Ixidor

As the horses roared to life and began to yank the chariot in the intended direction, Mia's grip tightened by a thousandfold. She tried to speak, only for her words to be lost in the rushing wind that left her breathless and with an increasingly tight chest. In her haste, she had thrown both of her arms around Ix's waist to steady herself. Tentatively, she removed one of her arms as the horses took yet another turn through the maze, intending to try to tap the boy's shoulder or hoist herself closer so that she could whisper into his ear.

Luck was not on her side. As soon as her arm was clear of any place to safely grab onto, the horses let loose another surge of energy, racing around another corner posthaste. The girl was flung from the horse drawn ride, skidding a couple meters before something brought her to a stop. Lifting her head up to find out what the soft mass was that had caused her to come to a rest, a look of pure horror crossed her face. The scream that followed could be heard throughout the entire maze, even above the frantic clipclop of the horse's hooves.

[Ragnar]

"hey Mia, you seem to be oftly quiet all of sudden back there. rest assure, I have everything under control now, I won't let anything bad happen for the both of us, I promise. Besides we're almost close to our destination" Ixidor said despite the irony that just happened to his unfortunate succubus passenger.

Ixidor continues to drive the chariot without Mia, his eyes was set on the road ahead, unaware that his only passenger has been thrown overboard and that he's talking to no one at the back.

"hey, Mia..say something..we're almost there.." moments after, the boy asked again as he felt uneasy from the unsettling silence at back. He decided to turn his head to check upon Mia, only to find out that the demon girl has gone missing. "Oh, shit..." Ixidor started to panic. The artist immediately yanks the reins with all of his might as the horses skidded their hooves from the sudden command and finally comes to a complete halt.

"Oh, dear this is bad and we were so close.." Ixidor sighed.

The blood curlding scream soon follows and went pass Ixidor's ears as it echoes through the hallway. The artist winced and fear started to fill his thoughts. Oh, man what should i do? what should i do? should go back to look for her or just keeping pushing forward? wait what am i saying? of course, I'm going to look for her...i'm not gonna leave her behind now. I have to go back...

"Oh man, I got a bad feeling about this.." Ixidor thought to himself and sighed, He tugs the reins once more as the horses pulls the chariot and turns around to a full 180 degrees turn. The boy decided to retrace his steps and drive his chariot at full speed. Ixidor went back to look for Mia before anything else happened to her inside this maze.

Edited November 1, 2015 by Ragnar