Zèro

Chapter 11

Bladex stared at the wall in front of them, her eyes frantically looking for some opening. Losing the last bit of her patience she pulled out her blades one by one and attempted to slash open the walls or even make the slightest cut if it was possible- anything she could do that would make some difference. Not knowing any solutions and being unable to protect Azura and Zenon was slowly eating her up inside. If the wall was even slightly affected by her strikes, then she would stand there and slash it 10,000 times if the need arose. Unfortunately, the wall showed no traces of the slightest damage. "Goddammit!"

Zenon sighed and walked up to a Bladex who was clearly out of breath due to the constant strikes she had been making for the past fifteen minutes now. She grabbed Bladex's arms and turned her body to face her. "Listen, I know how pathetic you feel right now. I feel pretty trashy myself and not having Azura around is clearly not helping this situation but you need to get yourself together. This is not helping....you know it."

Devon cleared his throat, sensing the suffocating tension among the two girls. When everyone looked his way, he flashed an awkward smile. "We don't um know what happened to them...we don't even know what might happen to us any moment from now on."
Zenon sighed and released Bladex's arms from her tight grasp. "You're right. We've got no time to lose."
Bladex nodded in agreement as her gaze traveled towards the path in front of them. "Let's move. Whether we are walking towards the exit, Azura or moving further into this trap- we will get somewhere at least." She said after calming down.

The group slowly followed suit behind Bladex. They were quiet now and everyone had their heads facing the ground, lost deep within their thoughts. Each of them still remembered what they had seen when they were fastened on the metal chairs a while back. They had seen flashbacks that they would rather forget. Living somewhere far from people, each of them had forgotten about the reason they were caught up in XEED in the first place. It was a nice and comfortable place and life was peaceful but at the end of the day, they were locked up in there. They were prisoners. They were monsters. They weren't normal. Having rewatched their lives before they came to XEED had caused mixed feelings inside each of their minds. They weren't sure if they even knew who they exactly were.

Devon was the first one to come back to reality as he looked up to see that the surroundings had changed quite a lot. It was weird because they were lost and it did not make sense that they would have not gone through the same path at least twice. Something was definitely up.

Zenon was quick to notice these things as well. She was sure that there was more to this place than what met the eyes. Then it dawned on her. She lifted her head to look at the clear blue sky they had seen before they entered the maze. GONE. Instead of a sky, all she saw was a black ceiling with white lights attached to it. She smiled bitterly. They were still trapped. They had nowhere escaped. Mr. X was probably watching them from somewhere and laughing at their stupidity.

She tightened her jaw and gritted her teeth thinking about Mr. X. He was Azura's uncle. He created the place for their safety and comfort. He gave them a place to sleep and good food. They were not treated like monsters but masters instead. People that deserved care and love. So, why did such a man suddenly change sides? Why was he the one out to torture and kill them?

"We need to move faster and stay alert. I am getting a weird feeling that maybe something is waiting for us up ahead." Devon said as he pointed at the end of the long path they had arrived on after they had made a turn. The path was longer than previous ones and at the end, some strange light shone brightly - like a door or window.
"It couldn't possibly....be the....exit?" Bladex muttered.
"We will only know when we find it out," Zenon said as she joined Devon who had already started moving ahead leaving the others behind.