She didn't make it.

I pulled away from Len and stepped back instinctively. A chasm separated our group of five from theirs of three. This made Yuka's warning undeniable. One of us had really perished from this realm into a far deeper, far crueler one. I couldn't even imagine it. Where was she right now, I wonder? The first who talked to me in this place, the first to admit their doubts, has left me and everyone altogether. And I was sure that she was sorry for what she did. These people around me probably didn't know, but she was sorry. Gumi was sorry.

"What happened?" I asked, finding it difficult to breathe all of a sudden. Darkness. She must be in darkness right now.

"We are not sure," Meiko replied.

"She wandered away from the group, and by the time we found her again…" Rin trailed off. She was different from when I saw her last. All of then were. It was like they had experienced something that morphed their perception of this place forever.

"There was a body?" Miku said.

"Yes. There certainly was." By the way Len was averting eye contact, I could tell it wasn't a pleasant sight.

A moment of silence ensued, either out of respect or out of fear. The possibility that one of them killed her must have crossed each of my side's minds at some point already. That left the question of who would be next. I, on the other hand, dismissed the theory as quickly as possible. I could not see any of them as the murderer (ironic, since they all—even Len—were murderers). Something had been bothering me about this place anyway. Mothy would not leave open the possibility of no conflict, if we by chance all got along fine. Was it coincidence that someone died by unknown causes right after the five of us decided to work together?

Of course not. There was no such thing as coincidence.

"I feel like someone needs to say something," Kaito began but left it at that.

"Gumi was quiet," I ventured. "She kept to her self most of the time. She seemed to be missing her emotions, but we've all known her enough at some point in our lives to have seen her for who she really was. Some might say that she betrayed us by siding with Mothy and believing her lies, but she was targeted by her since the first time Mothy spoke to her through the trees of that very forest over there. She was given a choice between eternal life or the void. She chose life, but now she's dead for the last time. Let's find that next door and get the hell out of here. Miku, lead the way."

She nodded but then muttered under her breath, "Keep close," loud enough for the four from our party to here. Meiko and the rest seemed to get the message clearly as Miku started out at an aggressive pace. Truly, I wanted to fall back and ask Len all the questions billowing in my mind about their side of the labyrinth, but the defensive position Miku and the others were creating was cause for concern.

"What could have killed her?" Kaito asked in a low voice.

"We haven't encountered anything dangerous here except each other," Luka said.

"Is it really okay to trust them? I mean—Gumi died. I don't really understand what that means, but that can't be good," Miku said.

"I think we should trust that they didn't kill her," I replied, "and this is hardly a safe place. Who knows what Mothy has put in here to mess with us?"

"I understand why you feel that way, since Len is part of that group," Kaito said. "However, to trust them completely at this point is not a good move."

Gakupo remained silent, apparently deep in thought. It was a new look for him. I would have asked for his opinion, but unsure if he would side with me on this one, pushed forward. "Let me talk to them. See what I can find out. If any of you want to try as well…"

They shook their heads vehemently. "Keep that close to you," Kaito added, pointing to the axe that I had retrieved back from off the ground.

"Right," I murmured and slowed my pace to face the three that had shrunk behind the new clique. A clique of my own making. "Did you really see nothing that could indicate how she died?" I asked.

The three of them looked between each other a moment. "Not really," Len answered. "Her corpse had no obvious wounds… Only her face was all…"

Rin shivered. "It doesn't matter about the corpse," she asserted. "It's not like you all believe us anyway. They think one of us did it, right?"

"They have their doubts. You can't blame them," I replied.

"You, too, then?" Meiko asked. All the fire that boomed out of her every action at the beginning of this labyrinth had fizzled out into ash by now.

"No. I can say that with a clear conscious. None of you killed her," I said.

"What happened over there anyway?" Rin went on. "Those four were painful pairs of awkward sexual tension just a little while ago, and now they're all best friends."

"We decided to trust each other."

"Really? You guys full trust each other?"

"We trust enough to have made it this far without…" I trailed off.

"Without killing each other? Yeah, I suppose we had trouble in that department," Rin shot.

"You didn't kill her," I replied quietly. "I have a theory for how she died, anyway." They looked at me expectantly. "We went to the spring where Meiko was killed in this period. In all the other periods, there have been corpses where we died or were injured. However, there was no Meiko in sight."

"It should have been in plain sight," Meiko said.

"It wasn't there at all, but I did see Gumi."

"Gumi?"

"But it wasn't Gumi. She was standing right in front of me, all pale and deadpan. She walked off into the woods after that."

"How long ago was this?" Meiko asked.

"Not that it's easy to tell time here, but I would say twenty minutes ago."

"Gumi died at least two hours ago, in the last world we were in."

"Then that was not Gumi after all," Len said.

"Which means," I added, "there is something in this place with us." They were struck silent, the eeriness of it all affecting me as well. I did not want to scare them, but there was no other possibility. Even if one of them did kill Gumi, admitting it would only strengthens Mothy case against them—that they are evil in the purest sense.

"We're here," Miku announced as we reached a section of intersecting dirt road. It was where her body was found, also. It appears it was also the scene of the crime. Dried black liquid stained the ground, but there was no body in sight.

"No door." Kaito stated the obvious.

"Before we ran into you guys, we checked where I died," Rin said. "It wasn't there either."

"That only leaves one place," Luka said, "but first, where did the three of you come from anyway? Did you come out of the door at the shrine?"

"At the shrine? No," Meiko answered. "We came from some house on the outskirts."

"Yuka's, probably," I suggested.

"Yes, Yuka. I'm sure you all figured out that she is the traitor as well, correct?" Rin said.

Remaining silent on the matter, I followed as Luka began leading us to our old house, the only remaining option for progress. One of these days, we're going to guess right the first time. One of these days. It was somewhat awkward to have conversations in such a deathly quiet place, with no wind or life to rustle the silence.

"Len," I beckoned. We were all walking strangely apart from each other. Len came over immediately, something faraway in his eyes. "Where were you guys exactly? Where did your doors take you?"

"We were sent back," he answered. "We ended up back in the courthouse. So, we went through everything as quickly as we could."

"The seventh period, the sixth, and then you hopped to the fourth?"

"If by periods you mean… Yes, I suppose that's what it was."

"And Gumi died in the sixth."

"Yes."

"Okay." I stared at my feet with harrowing thoughts closing in on all sides. Gumi, gone. Others watching us. Who was next?

"Are you okay?" Len asked. He looked so young in his haori, hair disheveled like it always was back then. How old were we? Teenagers. Children.

"Yes. Fine," I replied shortly.

"Mayu." Yet, his frown was that of an old man. "What's—What's going on?" I turned to him in surprise, unsure of how to answer him, terrified that I didn't know how to answer him. He was reaching out in the dark, experiencing the fear I had been this whole time. For some reason, I was repulsed by the idea of him feeling like I felt. I wanted to quell his worries. I wanted to give him every happiness in the world, but the fact of the matter was that I could not. He was on the precipice of eternal suffering, and I had already failed once. "All this death stuff," he continued, face pale. "I don't understand it. I can't wrap my head around it. The void? Reincarnation? Witches? Sins? How am I supposed to respond? All I know is that I want to be wherever you are, but, the farther we go into this labyrinth, the more I feel like I'm never going to see you again."

"Len, I promise—"

"Everyone, I have to say something," Gakupo boomed all of a sudden. We ceased our trek and hesitantly turned toward the samurai in the middle of the pack. They all looked at him with varying levels of distaste, but he faced them head-on with nothing to lose. "Before whatever happened to Gumi happens to one of us, I have to tell you all something."

God help us all.

He got down onto his knees. This was getting increasingly alarming. Then, he lowered his arms and face to the ground in a bow. Quickly, as if forcing every word out of himself in one avalanche of emotion, he yelled, "ForwhatIhavedoneIgivemymostferventapologiesItookadvantageofalmosteverywomanhereandbroughtthemtheworstsufferingimaginableandtoeverymanIhavealsooffendedbyhurtingthosetheylovedIamsorryandwillneverhaveintercourseeveragain!"

It was honestly difficult to understand, but the meaning was unmistakable. No one spoke. After a moment, Kaito stepped up to the prostrated man and gracefully kicked him in the side. Gakupo let out a sharp "eep!" but remained in his position. I was surprised to then find Len leaving my side and kicking him in the same manner. When returned, eyes shut in boiling anger I rarely witnessed in him, I placed a hand on his shoulder and looked around, wondering who was up next.

Ding ding. It was Meiko. She kicked him twice, face unfazed, and then faded back into the group. I was beginning to believe that we were going to go all around the circle. Luka ventured into the space where Gakupo laid, and I could tell by the way he tensed that he knew it was her. Pity struck me, as I knew how he felt about her—despite everything, despite everything he had done—and the kick to the gut would not be the most painful blow he was about to endure. However, defying all expectations, Luka bent down and took his hand.

In wonderment, Gakupo allowed himself to be guided to his feet. Luka, eyes downcast, nodded once, turned, and walked away, back down the path she was leading us.

Sharing his shock, we did what we did best and followed. Gakupo stared at his hand for a long time. A smile twitched onto my face. "How do you feel about that, Mothy?" I muttered to myself. "How do you feel about that?" Len looked to me and my ramblings with concern but said nothing.

Our house was just as dreary as I expected it to be. We shuffled in one by one, and the nostalgia hit me hard. The only notable difference beside the depletion of color was the blood red door right in the middle of the far wall. There were exclamations of triumph. A few people even high-fived. Len and I smiled so widely at each other, I thought both of our face were about to be pulled right apart. Yes, the door. Despite the fact that it led us deeper into this maze, it filled us with the inexplicable sensation of success.

Luka in particular seemed overjoyed by its presence. Finally, out of this place, a memorial to her own guilt. She broke away and approached the door with reverence. Turning toward the rest of us she said, "I think we're going to make it. I-I suppose I should apologize myself—"

They appeared in such a way, I hardly knew what was going on until it was over. Just as Mothy and Yuka appeared and disappeared at will, the distorted figures of my friends—Kaito, Miku, Rin, and Meiko—manifested behind her. In another blink of an eye, they each had a hand on her face and neck. Luka's smile dissipated. Her eyes grew large. What was happening? She gasped for breath. Her eyes were now hollowing, becoming black, pitch black, holes in her face, bottomless pits. What was happening? What the hell was happening?

Before any of us could react, the figures were gone. Luka collapsed to her knees. Then face down onto the mat. What was happening?

What was happening?