”Oi oi—“ A young male voice had called out to Kye from behind him. ”—and where do you think you’re going?” the figure asked.
Unlike the ‘Connor’ Kye met earlier, this man had two sheaths of swords on him; one was colored black and one was colored white. His eyes were glowing blue and his hair was a swaying style with shades of black.
(Do you remember this gud boi? :P)
(I do.)
Kye spun on his heel, his hand going instinctively back towards his pack. He froze and studied the figure in front of him. "I came here in search of my mother," Kye explained calmly. "Who are you?"
Again with the appearing behind me.
Just don't die.
Keep the shield up and we will be fine.
”Well, if you want the duty name I’m a Knight of this place and if you want the real name—“ the figure yawned a bit, using his right hand to cover his mouth while reaching for one of his blades, the white one, with his left, holding onto its handle ”—it’s Aisen Faltur… anyways, you’ve probably heard the rules already so—“ the figure disappeared almost instantly, appearing again above Kye ”—you and I need to play by the rules” he came down with his white blade at hand, attempting to cut off Kye’s throat.
Kye ducked away and looked at the guy again. "That will do nothing," he said calmly. "Notice the purple glow." He gestured to himself, and was indeed glowing faintly purple. "Why exactly are you trying to kill me? What did I do?"
”Call it ironic, but the Soul Labyrinth lacks… souls” the Knight accepted, not yet sheathing his blade but not in his hostile manner anymore it seems.
”With peace going around all over the realms, it’s hard to find… you know, souls or spirits to fill up the place. What’s left are just us Knights, the other officers, and some million spirits scattered which isn’t a lot at all” the figure sighed when he finished and turned back to Kye.
”Which was why we were given this duty. Heaven and Hell aren’t happy with how we’re performing however” the man shrugged, eyeing Kye again. His irises softened a bit.
”Also, what’s a demon doing inside you?”
Fuck!!!!
Language!
He knows I'm here! How?!
I do not know, watch your mouth.
Kye didn't relax and moved a little farther back from Aisen. "He is my abidance demon," he explained calmly. "He requires a host body to survive. By residing within myself he stays alive, and in return he protects me."
”A controllable demon? Sounds a bit far fetched to me but I’ll let it slip…” Aisen said with a bit of clear hesitation.
”We’re on the look out for demons and angels right now so it’s good to be on edge with someone like him inside you. My advice? Don’t let the other Knights find you, they won’t be as kind as I am. Good luck finding your way out… or wait until the clock chimes” the Knight said before jumping up above the maze and landing somewhere else. He put clear emphasis on the words ‘like him’ when refer to the demon that resides within Kye’s body. More than likely, he views these entities as people like him and not to a different class or level.
"I am not in control of him," Kye muttered as Aisen disappeared. He turned and started moving again, now at a faster pace.
I'm taking it upon myself to mask my presence behind your soul.
You should have done that earlier.
I didn't think of it earlier.
As Kye moved through the maze, the walls and floor changed every now and then.
The number above decreased drastically at one point, going from “46” to “32” within a second or two. Something was clearly not wanting living people around.
Now he was faced with a decision. There were sounds of happy screams coming from somewhere near and the number above him changed “32” to “30”. He was met with a three-path route and one clearly led to an exit.
(Where will you go?)
(The Front Path)
(The Right Path)
(The Left Path)
”The Soul Labyrinth, home to Phantoms—“ the figure had to cough once before continuing ”—sorry, uh, you may have met one of the hundreds of thousands of us before, we do roam different realms to do different things whether for mission or just for rest and new adventures” the figure answered quite thoroughly. It was true, the locals of the Labyrinth loved travel more than anything.
"The… what now? Soul Labyrinth? Why on earth do you travel to different realms? Other places suck!" She flung her arms out, indicating the landscape around her. "I mean, why would you come to this place? It's awful!" She knew that she had heard of them somehow… but from where? And she hadn't answered the… Phantom's… question.
”Inviting people like you… who miss someone from the dead…?” the figure answered quite easily.
”Look, I’m sure it’s confusing for you to comprehend but—“ the figure’s eyes flashed once ”—you’ve met one of us Knight before…” the figure froze a little before speaking again:
”Aisen, does that name ring a bell?”
"I don't miss someone-wait." Her blood boiled. "What did you just say? Who?" Her heart thumped wildly, and she felt a thrill of fear go through her. "You must be joking."
”Aisen Faltur? You know, the man with two swords, is a wholesome little dork who’s also damn hot… even as a straight male I’ve got to accept that anyways—“ the figure murmured the last part out ”—you know him, right?”
(Well he has changed a bit, you might like him better now)
”Really?” the figure was fidgeting with the pocket watch they had.
”Can I hear it?” the figure asked before giggling softly.
They soon, while waiting for an answer, played with their watch like a yo-yo and they seemed pretty skilled at it as well.
Hinata raised an eyebrow at the giggling, wondering what this person had found amusing.
"If I addressed everyone who followed me like this, I'd never have a moment's rest." She put the cigar back in her mouth, smoke obscuring her face for a moment before it drifted elsewhere.
"N-no. Never heard of him. What do you want, anyway?" She clenched her fists, feeling the familiar wave of fire roaring up beneath her skin before it met the barrier that had been upon her the moment she had stepped through the portal. She ground her teeth in annoyance.
The figure didn’t stop his play at the yo-yo and did not turn back to face Hinata neither. He just eyed her a bit.
”Well, how about this, we might know each other by name but not in person… name’s Cronos, Cronos Flynn, the first recorded Time Manipulator and you are—“ his eyes flashed silverly once at the female figurine ”—the Balance Keeper… great honor to be standing next to you” the man said, pressing the watch he was playing with twice, closing it up.
”Back to business… you were missing someone meaningful to you just earlier, correct?”
”Your body language says otherwise but okay… I just want to give you another chance to meet that person, whether it be the person who died or… you know, him, up to you” the cold figure stated, breathing out a cloud of white mist that was at a freezing temperature.
"I'm going to have to respectfully decline," Adara said through clenched teeth. "I just want to get back to my world. Can you do that? I don't want anything to do with the dead, or-or Aisen, whoever that is."
Hinata tilted her head a bit with Cronos introduced himself. She recognized the name, but just barely.
"Likewise," she said, just to be polite. In reality, even with her age, she had never been one to pay attention to history which she did not need to know for her work. She found it best to forget unneeded information; once a job was done, she refused to let herself dwell on it long. It was how she stayed sane.
"Yes, I had been. But what concern of it is yours?"
”I can’t… unfortunately I can only open portals to… uh, the Labyrinth. I was sent here, not that I wanted to be here” the cold figure shrugged as he spoke the last part out.
”It might satisfy you that you can find portals to your home realm at the Labyrinth…?”
Adara's jaw clenched. "How handy, that you can only open to the Labyrinth. You must really want me there." She sighed, her breath clouding in front of her in a puff of steam. "Fine. I'll go. Anywhere is better than this hellhole." She slung her bag over her shoulder. "As long as I don't have to see… some people."
”Oh you know, I can bring you to them again if you’d like that” the time manipulator stated, throwing the closed pocket watch up and catching it as it comes down.
”You might also be happy to know that we can offer you quite an adventure” he added, throwing the item he had up again before it went back into his hand.
A portal had opened behind Hinata.
”Now we’re talkin’” the chilly figure opened a portal by casting a mist smell, forming the opening on the dead end’s wall.
”After you” he gestured towards the portal with an inviting smile.
(Note: The entry ways of each character will be… a bit different, you’ll see)
(Ooh, cool!)
Sending him a suspicious look - she had never trusted overly nice people, especially ones who said a name she had never wanted to hear again - she stepped toward the portal. She hesitated at the entrance. Was she really going to listen to him? The last time she had gone through a portal, she had ended up here. With a sigh, she squared her shoulders with determination and stepped into the portal.
As soon as Adara fully passed through the portal, the passage closed.
She was in a clean white room, representing that of a hospital room. There was really only one door that led to anywhere outside the room. Despite that, it was clear that she wasn’t alone here. The sound of footsteps can be heard walking outside with mild frustrating complaints. Through the glass implanted in the door, a black-haired bespectacled male figurine wearing a doctor’s white coat and a surgery mask can be seen just outside Adara’s room, standing still to reread the documents in his hand while making notes on it with pen in his other hand.
(You [and the others as well] might be able to recognize this character almost immediately, hopefully XD, if you can’t, it’s fine!)
(Is it… it is!)
Adara's eyes narrowed at the figure. She clutched the strap of her bag and looked around. This was the Soul Labyrinth? Not what she had been expecting, but… it was so clean! And white! And quiet! What kind of place was this? She was already regretting this, and the guy who had sent her wasn't even around. She couldn't see him anywhere.