edelweiss - &team

33

It was quite a sight. Where a small city overlooked a valley used to stand, was now a clear, flat plain. And in the dead centre of the plain stood a single figure. Jo sucked in a sharp breath, "That's-"

"It's Kyungmin," Yuma finished off, slightly breathless. "Shit," Fuma muttered, "So it really is him."

"Well?" Yudai shrugged, "Let's go down to greet him."

Kyungmin's eyes trailed after them as they approached, indifferent, as he always was those centuries ago. When they were gathered before him, he cracked a small, strained smile. "It's been a while."

"It has."

Kyungmin nodded, eyes shutting softly, "You all look the same. How lucky."

Everyone was on high alert, mainly because Kyungmin was seemingly completely on his own. Maki's head turned from side to side as he scanned the empty area around them, Jo was tense, ready to attack if Kyungmin moved wrongly, Yuma was hard at work trying to dig into Kyungmin's mind, but failing.

"Where is he?" Yudai demanded. Kyungmin flicked an eyebrow up, "Eager, I see. Don't worry. You'll see him soon."

"You-" And before Yudai could finish, Kyungmin's fingers curled as he raised his arms, straining, making the ground rumble even more vigorously than before. And to their horror, as they regained their balance and composure, they watched as a gigantic structure of stone rose from the ground, the sheer scale and size difficult for even them to grasp.

The stone was grey granite, rough and textured, dirt clung to its surface, some parts had moss and other greenery. The stone started to take the form of a slightly circular wall, 30 metres tall, that arched and curved so far it was hard to guess where it ended.

As Kyungmin's chest heaved, his tensed arms finally dropped down and there was an overwhelming sense of pride that washed over him. And then silence fell over the immortals.

"Well?" Riki probed, managing to disguise any terror as mild confusion.

Kyungmin's eyes flashes in annoyance, "It's a labyrinth."

"Is it now?"

Kyungmin scowled, then managed a calming exhale and responded, "I'll invite the four of Life's immortals to enter first. The others have other games to play." His eyes trailed over Euijoo, Fuma, Riki and Jo, but not Harua.

Before they could question him further or perhaps attack him, Kyungmin twisted quickly and a doorway into the labyrinth opened, which he slipped through instantly and the stone closed over it.

"Damn, he's fast," Maki remarked as they all stood stunned and uncertain.

"Is this a good idea?" Jo asked, slightly nervous. "No," Yixiang said immediately, "It's a trap. What if something happens there when we aren't together?"

"I agree, I think it's too dangerous," Harua added, pressing his fingers to his cheek in thought.

Euijoo stayed silent, contemplating, then suddenly he jerked his head up and said, "If the only way to get to him is to go into this labyrinth, then we should play his game. Because we have to kill him, no matter what."

Taking in his serious and wise words, the group fell silent. Seeming more open to the idea, Yuma turned to face them, asking, "Only the four of you can go in?" His eyes darted to Harua then back to the gang.

"What if Yudai shifts into a fly and follows you in?" Yixiang suggested with a snap of his fingers.

"All your centuries of being alive and this is the kind of ideas you come up with?" Yudai asked, aghast.

"If a fly is too humiliating, a butterfly is kinda cute too," Maki said thoughtfully.

"Forget it. There's no point in more of us going in here. I think it's better if the rest of you stay out here," Euijoo cut off their horrible brainstorming, fingers gripping tightly around the hilt of his sword.

"We're still missing a couple events, aren't we? Maybe we can stop them this time," Fuma wondered out loud.

"Giving us the hard job," Yudai teased, an unexpectedly light-hearted comment from the stressed-out oldest.

"Take care in there," Yixiang said seriously, another slightly out-of-character statement, but his concern seemed genuine.

"We'll be okay, and we'll meet you guys...uh, somehow," Euijoo soothed, and Jo nodded along encouragingly. Then the four turned to the stone wall, expecting a large hole to form for them all, but much to their surprise, four separate holes appeared. Beyond them was a hazy darkness, Riki shone a beam of light in there out of curiosity but even the bright light was swallowed into the darkness.

Nervously, Riki asked, "Do we pick one randomly?" Now even the five who weren't entering looked worried.

"Let's do that," Euijoo said decisively, and before anyone could react, he bravely stepped through one doorway which morphed back the second his silhouette entered.

"Yikes," Fuma said, shuddering involuntarily. "We'll be okay," Jo said to the others, though it sounded like he was trying to convince himself, "Go do what you need to do."

With that, they stepped through the holes, and the grey stone swallowed them up. The five others stood outside, frozen in place. "What if that was the last time we saw them ever?" Yuma said jokingly, but his lip trembled and he immediately regretted saying that. "I'll let that happen over my dead body," Yudai said gravely, then turned away swiftly, so the four wouldn't see his eyes brimmed with tears, "Let's go."