Axolotls (Discontinued)

Flower

  Lynix felt something gently shake him awake, and opened his eyes to see Doni right in front of him.

  "Oh, finally," Doni said, rolling his eyes as he stood up. "You've been sleeping for hours. Let's go."

  Lynix picked up his axolotl as he followed behind Doni. "Wait, where are we going?" He asked. "Did you find an exit somewhere?"

  "No," Doni replied. "I found something else, though."

  "What is it?" Lynix attempted to stand, but quickly fell. He felt slightly heavier, in a way, and he didn't feel right. It didn't feel good. But he managed to struggle to his feet, and went with Doni to go see what he had found.

  It took a long time to get here, but eventually they found it. A bit of grass, surrounded by a river and populated by a couple of things: A flame, burning in an odd, fiery symbol, a pool of water with a rock jutting out of it (was that a weird symbol on the rock?), a stream surrounded the whole area, and there were wind-chimes in the corner, playing a soft, almost mournful melody. But what stood out the most was a willow-like tree (with a weird symbol on it because of course there was one.) with one of those weird shadowy things sitting under it, a withering rose floating right above what might have been its hands.

  "Lynix, do you know what that is?" The trickster asked calmly, but there might have been a hint of uncertainty in his voice.

  "What?"

  "The thing sitting under the tree," Doni replied, exasperation laced throughout the sentence.

  "I don't know. I think I saw something similar, back in the Maze, but it looked different. The one back in the Maze wasn't holding a flower, but that's the main difference, I think." Lynix was slightly taken aback by the creature. Why did it seem to be made of the shadows? It made no sense.

  But then again, by now he had seen a handful of things that didn't make sense.

  An image of a smile, twisted and cunning and wicked appeared suddenly in his mind. A glimpse of yellow above the smile got in as well, and then the whole thing vanished as soon as it appeared.

  What the heck?

  "Lynix? Lyyyyniix? Hello?" Lynix soon became aware of a voice trying to commune with him.

  "Oh, um. Sorry. I was trying to figure out what this thing was," He lied, feeling a bit guilty. 

  Why am I feeling guilty for lying to DONI, of all people? He wondered, the voice in his mind becoming a bit loud as an awkward silence settled in. He's lied to me hundreds of times! Why am I feeling guilty for a single one? It's not even like it's a full lie!

  A shadow, A voice whispered in Lynix's mind, sharp and clear.

  What? Lynix asked the voice, but no answer came.

  In the end, Doni broke the silence with a few questions. "Maybe we should go talk to it? Or at least go to the pool? I don't think we've eaten or drank anything in a while, so it might be good to do that."

  Lynix simply nodded in agreement, still wondering about the voice. The axolotl was already in the pool, enjoying the water, and Doni was moving closer to it. Lynix took a step towards it, but the voice came back.

  Do not go into that pool, It warned. That pool leads to her. The last word was said with an emotion Lynix couldn't recognize. Maybe disgust? Whoever the owner of the voice was probably didn't like her, whoever she was. But if it led somewhere, then it was a way out! Lynix barely resisted the urge to run to the pool, and when they got there, both humans cautiously stepped in, unaware that the thing holding the flower wasn't at the tree anymore.

  And then Lynix felt a gentle whisper in his mind as sleep overtook the humans, and they fell into the pool.

_:_

  The shadow watched the humans, curious.

  They had walked past her, piquing his curiosity. They had almost considered attempting conversation, but alas, they were a mute shadow, and so she couldn't tell them a word.

  The shadow had seen the animal with them, and knew that it was the reason they had been able to pass through his realm unharmed. The animal was one of her creations, and so he didn't touch it or those associated with it.

  Humans were a different case altogether. Humans were one of his failed experiments, and so he loved to play with them. But she had been the one to give them the ability to think, and so she meddled with them as well. It was entertaining, really. She knew that because she had watched them from the breeze, before she came here. He knew the blue-eyed one. He didn't know them. But the humans had gone into the pool, into her domain. And so the shadow followed.

_:_

Hello! Sorry for being gone so long. My computer broke so I wasn't able to write anything. But now I have a new one so updates should be back to normal. I don't have much else to say about this chapter, other than that I really enjoyed writing from the shadow's perspective, and I'm thinking of writing from the perspective of other spirits soon. Also that river was a pain to draw.

Don't worry, I'll start writing from the B/C plot soon!

I love and am proud of all of you. Have a nice time!