Entering the Labyrinth

The Second Hour

As far as first impressions go, this is not it. 

There is nothing here- no plants, no animals, not even any noises- nothing but turns. She is walking along a winding, endless pathway.  As she turns corners, she holds her breath in anticipation- hoping and dreading- but it is always more dirt and stone. At this point, she would take an ogre or dragon, something to keep it from being so monotonous. She feels like this Labyrinth's gimmick is to bore her into making mistakes instead of actually being complicated.

But it is working: these games are only growing her frustration, serving as their own form of torture. All she has here are her thoughts and emotions—her anger with the games this maze is playing, her worry over Kit, and her melancholy about being in a magical land whose sole purpose is to mess with her. 

She notices herself spiraling, so she stops and leans against a wall, feeling the warm stone against her skin and the thick air around her. She names her emotions- worry, fear, anger, exhaustion, and overwhelm- and validates them in this moment. They are communicating important things to her about how messed up this little game is and how scared she is for Kit, and right now she needs these emotions to keep her motivated, not to spiral her out of control. So she decides to shake out the feelings and take a few deep breaths, breathing out longer than in to calm her nervous system. She will be calm. She can do this. 

"'ello!" a small voice chipperly calls out. That voice sounds so different than the crass and crude voices she has heard so far. Alexis stands up straight and looks around in all directions but is met with grey stone at every turn. She looks lower, wondering if a Goblin-height creature said anything, but still nothing. Why does this whole realm have to be confusing? 

Just as she is about to write it off, "Down here," the voice follows up. Then, looking in the wall's cracks, Alexis finds the source. A little fuzzy, blue worm wearing a scarf looks up at her with big eyes. She assesses the risk quickly in her mind but does not sense anything threatening about this worm, and it did offer her a pleasant greeting. She crouches down to be more at eye-level with the creature, seeing the nice smile on it's face. She has to acquiesce how adorable it is, and it makes her feel a bit fuzzy inside.

"'ello!" the little worms happily says again. 

"Hello," she repeats back.

"No, I said "'ello", but that's close enough," it says. She isn't sure how to follow that up but can't help but smile at the little creature. In this sweet moment, it is easy to feel the excitement of meeting a non-maleficent being of this realm.

"How do you do? I'm Alexis," she offers a greeting, feeling a little awkward and unsure of what else to say.

"Nice to meet'cha, Alexis!" the worm replies happily. "Would you like to come in for a nice cuppa tea and meet the missus?" Alexis feels excitement at the offer and the opportunity to meet another talking worm and is curious about how she would even fit into the crack in the wall. She just mainly feels happy and relieved to have a pleasant interaction with one of the beings here. But she knows she can only soak in this feeling for just a moment and store it away for later. 

"I wish I could. You seem very nice, and I bet the missus is very lovely," she says truthfully, and the little worm gives a bigger smile at that. She then stands up as she speaks again, "But, I have a time limit and need to make my way around this Labyrinth to face all these 'challenges' before the time runs out. Do you have any advice for me on how to get around here? It's just so impossible to navigate," she vents.

"That's because you're not looking for the signs!" the worm exclaims. 

"The signs?" she repeats the worm again. Then, an idea clicks in her mind. "Oh, you mean look for things not so apparent." She starts to glance around, scanning the wall for clues or things that could stand out, but all she sees is dusty grey stone.