Petals on The Moon || Reyna Ramirez-Arellano x Fem!OC

XXIV

-ˋˏ ༻❁༺ ˎˊ-

Dear Diary,

We decided to play it smart and conserve our batteries as best as possible, since we weren't sure how long we'd be in the Labyrinth. We used one person's flashlight at a time, rather than all at once, starting with Suki's since she was first in the Labyrinth.

"Okay," Sebastian said, breathing tightly as he looked around. "Not a fan of closed spaces."

"It's the Mercury in you," Suki replied, looking around cautiously.

"What do you see?" I asked.

She shook her head. "I don't really see... anything."

"Are we going forwards or backwards?" asked Jason.

Suki looked down both ends of the hallway. For the most part, they seemed to look the same. The longer she stood there, the more worried she got.

"Hey." Sebastian put his hand on her shoulder. She jolted. "Just follow your gut, bro. We trust you."

"He's right," I decided. "No matter what you do or what happens, we're following you."

She shook her head. "I'm not a leader."

"You are," I said. "Remember the basilisk? You knew exactly what to do, told the legion what to do, fought the basilisk, and found Soledad's curse. That was you."

She pursed her lips. I wondered why she just couldn't seem to grasp the fact that this was her quest. Her journey, her time to lead us through here. She did it the first time easily, despite none of us knowing what was happening. Did she just not understand when people explained who she was? When she went into something blind, she was fine, and stepped up to the plate. Now, it seemed like being told what she was capable of made her doubt it.

She took a deep breath, and looked at the pathway behind us. "This way."

We didn't bring string this time, finding that it was relatively pointless and would just point monsters in our direction more than anything. For protection, Jason drew his sword and walked next to Suki as she led the way. Sebastian and I hung back, keeping ourselves guarded against any other attacks.

It didn't take long before Sebastian got annoying.

"Man, this is boring," he complained. "You guys are so stoic and silent!"

I glared at him. Jason, Suki, and I are not the kind of people that constantly need someone to talk or some kind of noise. We're focused on our mission, and quiet is comfort for us. Sebastian? Not so much. He needs everything and anything to feel anything.

"So, Suki, what present did Mom get me?" She glanced at him briefly before facing forward. "C'mon, you gotta know! It's gotta be something with a date, since she needs me to be back in time. If it was an item, it wouldn't matter as much."

"Stop talking," I told him. "Monsters will hear you."

"Don't tell me what to do, bruh." He dug in his bag and pulled out a small grey box. "Hmmm, what about... AH-HA!" He clicked it on, and at first, nothing happened, but then I heard a grainy beat coming from the low-quality speaker, and I heard a woman rapping.