Time Maze

Unlikely Ally

When a figure emerged from the shadows, Tyson relaxed his posture, thinking they had avoided danger. However, when he saw who the next person to land was, his rigid posture returned.

"Beor, dude, what are you doing with this crazy chick? Are you her hostage or something?" Marcus asked bluntly without even trying to think through his words.

"Marcus!" Tyson said warningly.

He wasn't too happy about seeing Loralei either after what she did to Marcus. However, he assumed that Beor had a good reason for hanging out with the woman who betrayed him. Also, he hoped that reason wasn't blind trust caused by love.

"No, princess, it's not so easy to hold me hostage. Those two lunatics only captured us because they surprised us," Beor said, standing protectively in front of Loralei. "I found Loralei and convinced her that she was on the wrong side of this. I guess our love was stronger than their deception after all."

"On the wrong side? It seems to me like those crazy people are on track to find a way out of here, so I don't know what the right side might be," Marcus said, thinking out loud.

"Ahem, the good side would be the one not going around killing people or erasing their memories," Beor said sternly.

Marcus swallowed hard to stop the words from bursting out. If that was how the sides were determined, they were on the wrong side as they did cause the deaths of quite a few people. Well, mostly Marcus did, but he assumed that Beor was only counting the murders of Mazers, which was good news for them.

"Alright, you two, settle down! If Beor says she has changed, I trust him," Tyson said, not too convinced. "He knows her better than anyone else, and he can judge that better than the rest of us."

Loralei shifted uncomfortably, clearly not liking all the attention she was receiving. Nevertheless, she still stood straight, never backing down under the scrutinizing glances thrown her way.

"Sybil, what do you think about all this?" Tyson asked as she had been uncharacteristically quiet.

"I think they have been behind the enemy lines. They can be valuable assets if we want to finally figure out what exactly this place is and how to get home," Sybil said calmly.

Still, Tyson couldn't help but note that she never said anything about trusting them. It seemed to him that she was as suspicious of them as Marcus, but she was wise enough to keep her doubts to herself.

Tyson had his own misgivings, but they did seem like the best option they had, so he decided to follow Sybil's lead and reserve judgment. Furthermore, he chose to keep close attention on Loralei no matter what Beor said about her sudden change of heart.

"I am sorry about trying to manipulate you," Loralei said, addressing Marcus. "And the whole erasing your memory thing. That wasn't cool."

She sounded sincere enough, but the way she said it annoyed Tyson she said it. As if she was apologizing for bumping into Marcus, not about putting his life in danger by removing crucial information about the maze. The information he needed to survive.

"Well, I don't really remember anything you did, so I guess we are cool?" Marcus asked, looking at Tyson.

Tyson nodded his head imperceptibly, and Marcus went on with the reconciliation process that he didn't even fully understand.

"Yeah, we are cool. Do you want a snack? These energy bars are delicious," Marcus said, offering Loralei a seat next to him, drooling over her good looks but for once succeeding in containing his enthusiasm.

"So, what's going on? Did you manage to learn something about Sunshine and her plans?" Tyson asked Beor the moment Marcus was otherwise occupied.

"We did learn quite a few things, but I am not sure how useful or not they are," Beor said, stroking his chin thoughtfully. "To be perfectly honest, the more I learn, the more confused I get."