My Beginning After the End Four Armies

Maze Pt. III

Arthur Leywin

"How are we still stuck in this maze?" Caera asked, looking at me as we stood within a green room now, and I just shook my head. "We've killed a shit tone of those stone soldiers; I just hope everyone else is doing okay."

"Same." I admitted, I couldn't protect them in this zone, but each pair should be okay, the Lances and Rosa should be able to handle themselves. "Let's just keep moving." We started walking out of the green room and into the hallway outside of it, which was also green.

Caera and I did what we've been doing for the past three to five hours, I honestly couldn't tell anymore, we've been in so many rooms I've lost track of time. "Let's try this one." Caera pointed to the left, and I shrugged, following her inside as she got ready to strike down any stone soldier that may show up in front of her.

My eyes flashed, and that's when something different finally happened. "What the --" We appeared on a battlefield, but that wasn't what confused me, it was a battlefield from my old life, a smaller one, and on the outside of it were the purple mots of aether.

"Where are we?" Caera asked, there were no rooms, no more hallways, there was nothing. "Is that all aether?" She pointed to the outside and as Regis jumped out of me, and onto the ground, we both nodded our heads. "Wow."

'This is where you, umm, you know ---" Regis trailed off as he thought to me, knowing the answer to what he was thinking, then when he pranced over to the edge of the battlefield, or arena, he sniffed the aether. "You think I can jump into it?"

"Go ahead." I told him, and as I did, Regis jumped into the aether and started floating within it, absorbing as much as he could. I could feel the joy coming off of him from here while I started looking around. "I don't know what's up, but there is more to this zone than I thought."

"What do you mean?" Caera asked, but I didn't respond, I wasn't going to tell her about my past life, she didn't need to know, but the fact that we are here right now, proves my point on this zone. "I don't even see a way out of here."

"I don't see one either." I said, looking around. "That's why I think this zone is more than I would like to admit, it's like ---" I was cut off as a figure appeared before us, causing both Caera and I to jump back.

"You must be the Djinn descendent searching for the keystones." The figure said, speaking in a calm voice as she looked at me. "Welcome, we have much to talk about, but first, understand this, you will not be receiving a keystone here."

Caera and I looked up at the figure as it shifted into a person before us, a person I knew too well, it was Lady Vera. "What's going on?" Caera asked out of confusion as I relaxed, Regis joined us out of the field of aether.

"Caera Denoir, please, this does not relate to you, I only brought you here so you could hear this as well, and not just Grey." Vera said, looking at me. "I picked an appearance that might relax and startle you, I hope you understand."

"I don't, but I can work with it." I assured her, not totally agreeing with its choice in figures, but if it wanted to alarm me, it did. "If you aren't here to give me a ruin, then why show up, why make this maze that leads to you."

"It wasn't a maze." Vera told me, shaking her head. "I was in control of where you went, and where everyone went the entire time." My eyes widened at that confession, but understood she had to have had her reasons. "You have a mole, and I needed to make sure they didn't suspect anything before I brought you here."

"A mole." Caera said, looking at me confused, but I knew what she meant.

"Rosa." I said, and Vera nodded. "So? I don't care that she is feeding information to my brother, I knew that before I brought her here." It was true, she might not be feeding him info at the moment, while trapped in here, but when we got out, I assumed she would tell him everything.