Time Maze

Tunnel Vision

"We can't. My friend is losing it." Tyson said, pointing at Marcus.

"Oh, my. Let me fix that," the woman said, pulling out a yellow ball from her bag.

She threw the ball at Marcus' head, and golden particles sprinkled down on his face merging with his skin.

"What was that?" Tyson asked, startled.

"The Time Eraser. This one is a 5-minute wipe. It wiped away the last five minutes of his memory," the girl explained.

Before Tyson could ask more questions, two guards started approaching them. Thus, he grabbed his friend by the elbow, and with the woman's help, guided him into the secret tunnels.

Once they found themselves in the safety of the tunnels, Tyson turned to the girl trying to determine whether she was a friend or foe.

"What's going on?" he asked.

"Oh, you don't know yet? It's all a game. The last one standing wins the game," the girl said cryptically.

Then she proceeded to disappear into thin air before Tyson could learn anything else about their predicament.

"Did an odd chick just vanish? Also, where the heck are we? I don't remember anything after leaving the delicious food behind," Marcus said, rubbing his head in an attempt to stimulate the missing memory.

"She sure did. We are in the secret passages of the castle. I guess it's true what they say about all castles having at least a few of these." Tyson said, looking around.

Before Marcus could wrap his head around what was going out, Tyson noticed that there were spiderwebs all around them, indicating that the passage wasn't used in a long time. At least the girl left a lighted candle in the candle holder, which was mounted on the wall. So, they didn't have to worry about being attacked by the thing that was after them.

It was clear from many candle holders mounted on the walls that the place was nothing like the oppressing darkness of what they referred to as tunnels, as the place where the monster dwelled. The notion was further confirmed by the set of stairs leading downwards.

"Okay, but why don't I remember how we got here?" Marcus asked persistently.

"Well, the girl thought you looked dangerous, so she hit you with something she called a Time Eraser. She said it just deleted the last few minutes of your memory and that she was terribly sorry for panicking like that." Tyson lied.

White lies were a necessary part of life. Besides, Tyson needed Marcus at his best, not crumbling under the pressure of what he had done, what Tyson failed to prevent him from doing. Even the choice of lies was construed to keep their chances of survival at their highest.

"Oh, I see. Well, it sounds like we helped a damsel in distress." Marcus concluded.

"Sure," Tyson said, ready to agree to any theory that would steer Marcus away from a complete meltdown.

For the moment, Tyson was just content to sit in the cold passage, contemplating all the information he did have. However, once again, his friend failed to allow him the necessary peace and quiet to think.

"What do we do now?" Marcus asked, sounding like a whining child.

"Now we think through our situation and what we should do," Tyson said.

"That sounds rather dull. Why don't we just follow those steps down there and see where they lead." Marcus said.

The problem with Marcus was that he didn't think any better when he wasn't hungry. Tyson found that he was even more energetic and unpredictable when he wasn't hungry, and that didn't bode well for two friends in a strange place and time. Especially having in mind that something was after them and that they had no idea how to evade its pursuit.