edelweiss - &team

43

Unlike the other three, Jo had a relatively peaceful and uneventful experience in the labyrinth. He explored the labyrinth carefully, tense and wary at all times but was met with emptiness with every corner he turned. Occasionally he'd hear a disturbance, rocks tumbling to the ground or a random cry or yell, but despite his efforts, the source of those noises were never discovered.

Jo had a strong suspicion that Yejun was purposely steering clear of him. Yejun, who should have the upper hand in tracking and ambushing him in this labyrinth, was nowhere to be seen.

After what must have been hours of wandering around aimlessly, Jo decided to give up and stay put to conserve his energy, inviting Yejun to seek him out himself. Leaning against the stone as he sat and tilting his head up to look above, Jo studied the sky above. When they first entered it had been a bright clear blue. Now, it was rapidly darkening, further enhancing the animosity of the labyrinth.

So imagine his delight and surprise when he heard two familiar voices calling for him with loud, rough running steps.

"Jo!"

"What?" Jo shot up to his feet as Yudai and Fuma came up to him, "Where did you guys come from?"

"We got Minhyung," Fuma summarised quickly through laboured breaths, "Everyone is in here right now. We don't know if they're alive or not."

"Is Yejun...?" Yudai trailed off, hoping Jo would catch his drift. Jo wrinkled his nose, "No sight of him yet. Seen any of the others?"

"Nope," Fuma shook his head with a sigh, "Not even a glimpse of Kyungmin."

Once Yudai recovered entirely, he remarked, "It's good we found you. We should stay together, now that we're picking them off one by one."

-

Ironically, another two of them were merely a wall away from the three, both parties entirely unaware.

Yuma and Harua were scouring the maze after Junwon's quick death, completely unfazed by the other's lacklustre ability. After some searching, Yuma was happy to announce that Jo was safe and good with Yudai and Fuma by his side, while Maki and Yixiang seemed to be alive and in one piece. Only Euijoo was still unreachable, something that gnawed on Yuma's mind. But with nothing else they could do, Harua could only soothe Yuma that Euijoo would make it out alright.

Then, soft, gentle footsteps could be heard coming from before them, again they tensed, but their anxiety melted away when they realised it was Yixiang. He was strangely empty-handed, neither his scimitar nor Maki by his side. But his smile was full of relief, so Yuma and Harua walked up to him easily.

"Is everything okay?" Yuma asked, still a few metres away from him. Yixiang shrugged, "More or less." Yuma made a move to rush to him, perhaps to wrap him in a hug when Harua forcefully caught Yuma's arm to stop him.

"Wait," Harua suddenly said, "Hey, Yixiang? What's Euijoo's pigeons's name?"

Yixiang paused, a little too long, thoughts flickering behind his eyes before his face contorted into an ugly expression. "Hah. You're sharp. I'll give you that."

Yuma tensed at once, hand stretching out to shield Harua as they both stepped backwards. "You're bold, taking on his form like that," Yuma scowled as Yixiang's figure melted into Death's.

"Can't hurt to try?" He cooed. Once Death completely shed Yixiang's form, he towered above them, looming and threatening, yet the sight of his face was painfully nostalgic and even comforting.

Yuma became acutely aware of how tight the corridor was, of how short a distance they could possibly run until Death could crush them down. Behind him, Harua's breathing became slightly more erratic.

"Nothing to say to me?" Death pressed on, lifting his foot to take a step forward, leisurely, like a predator stalking a cornered, helpless prey.

Just then, the stones to their left rumbled and came crumbling down, producing a haze of dust and dirt into the air. The commotion left everyone, even Death, dazed, giving the newcomers the time to make their flashy entrance.

Maki, projections in full display, leapt through the newly formed hole in the wall, yelling, "Puppet!" It was hard to tell if he was sure or if he was madly hoping for it to be true, but as it turned out, luck was in his favour. Right behind him, Yixiang tore at Death with his scimitar which dragged through a puff of smoke as Death vanished.

"Oh, so I was right," Maki absently commented, kicking his feet at the cloud of smoke Death left.

"What was that?" Yuma coughed out, completely taken aback by the quick turn of events.

"We'll explain as we go, what's the situation looking like?" Maki popped up from the ground, entirely unharmed.

"If you're asking about the kill count, we got Junwon," Harua piped up, still a little pale.

"Hang on, let me see if..." Yixiang trailed off, completely ignoring the conversation, rather, he was running his hands over the dirt floor, much to their amusement.

"Finding someone?" Yuma leaned over to watch him pat the ground like a madman.

"I think the three of them are-" Finally, Yixiang confirmed his suspicions and wrenched down a particular wall.

Harua stuck his head out and was pleasantly surprised to see three surprised but delighted faces. "Great, we're finding everyone," Harua laughed lightly, slipping to a side as Jo, Yudai and Fuma stepped through.

"Oh thank goodness." Yudai looked like he would faint from the relief but he steeled himself, scanning the group to do a headcount. "We're missing..." It was hard to count them all clustered together in a dark hallway, but Yixiang did a quick look and said, "Riki and Euijoo. That's all."

"But they're alright, right?" Fuma twisted to Yuma, hopeful.

"Riki, yes," Yuma could confirm at once, "He's fighting someone right now, but he's responsive. But Euijoo..." Yuma's face fell, eyes falling to his carefully intertwined hands, before truthfully announcing, "I don't know."