Silence

Chapter 10

Jordan

The fact this place is a maze is honestly putting me more on edge than it should. Maybe it's because we decided to split up but it feels like there's someone behind me constantly. It's uncomfortable and the constant corridors are driving me mad. I'm almost wondering if this place won't actually end. When we jumped in we all got separated, I don't understand how since we all started in the same place but I guess this place doesn't need to make sense. It's just here to drive me mad.

Gods, I shouldn't think like this. I force myself to keep walking. There has to be an end or something would've stopped Tom from coming in here. Dianite can't afford to lose his own champion in here. So I keep walking along, keeping one of my hands on the wall as I have the whole time. I just need to find something, someone. If I was with someone I might not feel so on edge. I might not be scared of the footsteps I swear I can hear just after mine.

I end up speeding up my pace as the unknown footsteps become too much. I keep looking behind me, trying to see if they're following me. Then I hit something I didn't see in front of me. Desperately I claw for my sword to try and defend myself only to realise there's no need. Capsize pulls me into a hug, holding me close. I guess she hasn't had a good time either. When she pulls away I feel so much safer despite my surroundings not changing.

"...going... lost... you... You don't understand do you?" The last part of Capsize's statement is the only part I fully understand. I can't ignore the irony of that (though some of my thoughts are distracted by how one of her fingers seems to have turned black). It's going to make this much harder though. My communicator hasn't been working since I jumped into the maze so I don't have an alternate way to talk with her.

"No, I didn't understand most of it. I'm sorry," I can't help feeling guilty about it. When she was teaching me sign she said it was mostly inference, that sometimes I'll just have to fill in the gaps. Even so, she hasn't had time to teach me every gesture she uses and its meaning, I know that. Even if she had I doubt I'd remember them all. Still, I need to try. "I know you said 'going' and 'lost'. Maybe if you sign slower?"

"I was lost. Can't find the end. Luck?" She's simplifying so I can understand, it's terrible but it means we can hold a conversation. When we get out of here I'm going to make sure to learn as much sign as I possibly can. I don't want to get stuck in this situation again.

"No, I'm lost too. I've been trying to follow one wall but I've not seen anything like the chamber we saw from above," I know it exists yet it seems impossible to find. Paranoia probably affected me more than I'd like to admit but when I'm in here this place seems endless. "Have you been keeping track of where you've been?"

She nods and pulls a bottle out her pocket. A bottle of ink, like she used to write her messages in her book. She drips her finger in (I guess that's why it was black) and draws an arrow on the wall in the direction she's facing. I can't help but smile at the idea, it's simple but I never would've thought of it. Before I can ask how she thought of it though she signs to me.

"Explain later, when you understand," I feel like I don't quite have that right but it makes enough sense that I don't to ask for it again. Wait to ask when our communicators work. I can't argue against that so I don't.

We keep going, Capsize marking the wall with arrows in the direction we're walking. It again feels like we're walking forever. The other footsteps don't come back, probably just paranoia in the first place. Somehow, after walking for what seems like hours, we actually find it. The chamber at the end of the maze. Oddly though the chamber itself isn't impressive. At the end, it turns smaller, this section containing the only thing in the room: a chest.

"It can't be this easy, can it?" Capsize shakes her head clearly convinced as little as I am by this setup. There was only one chamber though so where else could they be keeping the heart? Trap or not, we don't really have any other lead. I turn to look at Capsize fully. "Stay here, I'm going to check it out."