Disclaimer: I don't own anything.
Maze
if you seek for the fire in your eyes
if you wanna be a liar you're the one
wanna be a silly one find the fire in your eyes
The noises of the crowd filtered through the edges of Gray's consciousness.
Everybody seemed to be extremely excited, the cheering and clamouring almost drowning the ileids' serious voices, while they attempted to give out the necessary information. As far as Gray could notice, they weren't being much successful, if the frustrated air the petite brunette that was to his left wore was of any indication.
A gust of wind blew, making the ileid's long hair move freely, covering her face. The fact that the dull grey robes also flapped crazily wasn't helping either. Furrowing her brow, the brunette hastened to compose herself, edging closer to Gray, poising her hands on his arm – which was resting on the chair's armrest – and leaning forward so that her lips were almost brushing against Gray's ear.
"As I was saying, you have to try to find the centre of the maze. That's when you'll have the final obstacle before the goal is attained-"
"The goal being finding the correct match, right?" he interrupted her brusquely.
The noise was thumping on his ears, making it feel as if someone was rhythmically pounding on his head. It was uncomfortable. And quite nerve-wrecking.
The small brunette tightened her hold on his arm. "Yes, that is the main purpose. But you can always use the lyrics for clues if you-" she was interrupted once again, only this time it was the head-iillyoo who was speaking.
He was opening the festivities.
Before long the crowd – which had been silent – resumed its cheering but was quieted by the chorus who started singing the leads.
if you seek for the fire in your eyes
if you wanna be a liar you're the one
wanna be a silly one find the fire in your eyes
The signal was given and all the preyotis got up from their respective chairs at the same time. They took off the dark red capes and gave them to the ileids before giving a step forward.
It was time.
Gray took another step and closed on on the huge sandy-coloured wall. It shifted under his stare. He paused right behind the bright orange line, being lit by the soft orangish glow it emitted.
Behind he could hear the sound of the drums, sistrums and – was that? – a piano. The chorus kept singing, filing the sterile and empty space of the departure area with a sweet melody.
The head-iillyoo was still speaking in the far distance.
"And now, the festivities to honour the great Igaedus will begin. The preyotis are ready. So, begin!"
A large bell rang, making the ground shake and the high column of the maze's wall open in front of each contestant. The orange glow turned blue.
Gray gulped and took a step forward.
It was time.
A/N: Unbeta-ed for the time being. Hope you enjoy this series of ficlets.
The title of the story comes from Maze, a song by Yuki Kajiura for Noir.
Reviews would be highly appreciated.