Ice Flower

Chapter 14

"It's even creepier on the inside." Blue Maiden glanced down at withered and decaying flowers on the side of the path. "Why would anyone make something like this?"

"Most likely to deter anyone who tried finding their base." Snow typed something into her duel disk. As soon as they had entered she had glued herself to Glacier's side and hadn't moved more than a foot away once. Blue Maiden was starting to suspect that they were siblings. It would explain why they worked together and seemed so close.

"That would makes sense."

"Oh!"

"What is it?" Glacier asked quickly.

"I just managed to hack into another part of their mainframe."

Everyone promptly crowded around her, making her inch even closer to Glacier, how put a steadying hand on her shoulder. Snow looked up at her with pleading eyes. Glacier shook her head and she sighed.

"Well, uh, it says that one part of the tests are the same. The final trial will show us our worst nightmare coming true." She dug her foot into the dirt while everyone digested that news. Was it just her, or did Snow seem even more nervous now?

"We'll have to tread carefully," Playmaker advised. 

"You know, I don't know why my worst nightmare is. Maybe loosing my grandparents?" Soulburner mused.

"Everyone should chose a partner," Blue Maiden suggested. "That way, we can focus on helping each other instead of our fears."

"Good idea." Playmaker nodded.

"I call Glacier!" Snow said immediately.

Then the ground began to shake.

"What is this?" Blue Maiden asked, steadying herself against an eroded marble statue without a face. 

"I-I don't know!" Snow's eyes widened in terror as she typed franticly. "It might be one of the tests..."

The ground split in two, making everyone stumble.

"Playmaker!" Glacier shouted.

Everyone spun around to see her diving for Playmaker who had fallen down the crack. She grabbed onto the edge of the crack, Playmaker holding on to her ankles. The ground continued to shake, slowly loosening her grip. Then they fell. 

Snow screamed and tried to run to them but Blue Maiden grabbed her, holding her back.

"You can't help them!" Blue Maiden said. Snow went limp, knowing she was right. 

"I wonder...if we're on the last trial already," She said in an empty voice.

Blue Maiden understood what she was saying. Her worst nightmare was losing Glacier.

Playmaker didn't know how long they fell for. He just knew that when they landed, they were in a completely different part of the maze.

"Well, this is weird," Glacier commented. She sat up, rubbing her head. "Maybe it was one of the trials?"

"No." He looked around. "I get the feeling that if that was one of the trials, we would have failed and been sent back to the beginning of the maze or even have had our avatars and information deleted from Link VRAINS. Since we're still here, I think that we both know what it means."

"We stumbled onto one of the paths," Glacier finished for him. She jumped to her feet, joining him. 

"Exactly."

"We should keep moving," She suggested. "The sooner we get to the end, the sooner we can meet up with the others. I'm sure that they've already decided the same thing."

Playmaker nodded. That sounded like them. 

"So, which way?"

Playmaker looked at their options. They could go forwards, back, left, or right. If he was a programer, he knew what he would chose to be the right way. Glacier seemed to know as well.

Because when they moved, they both turned around and walked in the direction that the exit was in.