Author's greetings: So you might see the text below in the next chapters (if I forgot to remove them):
"Author's Notes: (25/07/18), chapter 6 until chapter 16 has been reworked, if you see this same message on any chapter, it means that that chapter is affected by the rework and its advisable for you to go back and read chapter 6 until chapter 9 because EVERYTHING in those chapters has been reworked. Continuing on without going back will only lead you to a path of ruin and confusion! So do it now!
It's true that chapter 10 to 16 are reworked too, but they changed less compared to chapter 6-9 and have little effect on the story overall so its optional to reread them.
Sorry for the inconvenience!"
That was from my old rework, disregard that ;)
Also, while we're on the topic, since this chapter alongside the others are products of reworks, I'm sorry if there's any discontinuity on the next chapters, mainly after chapter 10. I have finished reading through them and fixing/aligning them to the new rework chapters, but if you find discontinuity please let me know!
The sun was yet to rise when some figures are gathered inside the headmistress's office of Luna Nova. Michelle, a member of the ministry's Guardian and recently a teacher of Luna Nova, paces around the room in deep thoughts.
"The idea that treasure hunters might try to take the opportunity of the dragon attack isn't far-fetched. The question is, have the news of the dragon attack been made public?" Michelle asks.
"No", the headmistress, Miss Holbrooke says. Her words are plagued with worry and her eyes are cast down. "We've made sure that this incident receives minimal attention from anyone, we've also asked the students to be discreet".
"News of a dragon attacking the school wouldn't sit well with the public". Miss Finnelan says. She'd been silent for most of the conversation, standing in the corner and observing the two. "We don't need another decline to our enrolment rates", she adds.
Michelle stops her pacing. With her back turned to the two, her tone takes a serious turn and she asks. "What are the chances that the fairies give away information?"
"Slim, they're loyal to us". Miss Finnelan answers plain and short.
"Fairies are fickle beings, Miss Finnelan", Michelle says, turning to face the senior professor. "I won't count on every one of them".
"That's quite the accusation", Miss Finnelan argues, crossing her arms. "Fairies had served Luna Nova since its establishment, I don't think its proper for a new teacher to question their loyalty".
Michelle smirks, unaffected by the lady's cold tone. "Well, it is my job to ask these questions".
Michelle turns to address the headmistress. "The decision is up to yours and yours alone, Miranda. But as an advice, I suggest to keep young Diana's fog walls up. As long as they're up I don't find any reason to worry about treasure hunters taking advantage of our weakened security".
Michelle pauses and a smile curves her lips. "She did a great job, high level conjuration I have to praise".
Miss Holbrooke smiles, a first ever since this conversation started. "That sounds like a good idea. You can count on Diana to maintain the spell, Michelle".
Michelle nods. "Whatever decision you'll make, I ask of you to give me the permission to enter the labyrinth. There are things I would like to check there myself".
"I will allow it", Miss Holbrooke nods, clearly pleased with the idea. "And I suggest taking some teachers with you. You can't be too careful".
"A select number will do, and I'll need a list of items for my little investigation". Michelle says before he pauses and puts a finger to her chin. "Say, is there any shop in the nearby town that sells magical items?"
"There is, should I send a few fairies to fetch whatever items you need?" Miss Holbrooke offers.
"No, thank you" Michelle replies with a smile. "I'll send my own fairy".
—
I stand in wait patiently upon the side of the road, a large empty burlap sack hanging over my shoulder.
A pole stands tall beside me, its sign, rusted and aged, shows the logo of a taxi.
I breathe out a hefty amount of air and look up, the bright sunlight seeping through the canopy of the treetops, thick enough to provide a generous shade for me.
Just how long is waiting a taxi supposed to be?
Not far from where I stand is a small dilapidated shed, perhaps originally made for whoever unfortunate soul tries to wait for a taxi to arrive. Grass had long conquered the foot of the shed, its wooden foundation has cracked and tilted at some parts. The roof is also holed and cracked, leading some sunlight to pass through.
Worse of all is the situation of the bench, all mouldy and cracked. Who knows what kinds of germs and insects reside there.
I look to my watch. I don't have a watch.
The gobbos, or goblins as some people call them, had specifically told me to wait here in this cab station. They said this is the only place to get a decent taxi around these parts. But the reality before me tells me otherwise, and I'm starting to think those goblins were trying to make a fool out of me.
I reach for my pocket and pull out a small crumpled note, on it are a hefty list of all the things Michelle had sent me to purchase on the town's local magic items shop. On the bottom is a note that reads: 'don't buy anything else or I'll send you to detention! Love, Michelle".
I push the note back into my pocket, fighting the urge to just chew the note and swallow it whole.
A distant sound begins to reach my ears. As I turn to look down the road, I begin to see something approaching the station fast. My heart lifts in spirit as I notice the iconic colour of yellow streaking towards me.
A taxi rolls on the dirt road and stops in front of the sign. I open the backdoor and quickly jump inside, away from the social interaction-prone front seat. Hopefully sitting at the back will discourage the driver from making such horrors as small talks.
"Thank god you're here. You're late but I'll gladly take that compared to not getting any taxi at all".
There is actually, it's when I notice that there's nobody at the front seat, just an empty taxi with no one but me inside.
I thought there'd been a mistake. I was about to exit the taxi out of confusion until a voice emerges from the front seat.
"Where to Mister?" a high-pitched voice calls out from the driver's seat, a thick yet miniscule Indian accent present. I look for the voice and search the front seat again. But still nothing, there's simply nobody at the front seat.
"Um.. mister?", the voice calls to me again. "Are you alright mister?"
I shake the confusion off and try to answer. "Um…. the town. Please"
"Aye aye mister!"
The taxi accelerates forward with an incredible speed and I'm immediately pulled back to my seat. The sheer acceleration makes it impossible for me to pull myself off the seat, any faster and I would sink right inside the leather skin of the seat.
The taxi's incredible acceleration would surely alarm me, but it pales in comparison to the horror that unfolds beyond me.
The taxi lurches forward, yet its path is not one with the dirt road. The taxi is launching towards the treelines without any sign of stopping or changing directions.
"Where are we going?!" I cry.
"Why, the town, mister!" the voice exclaims.
"I know that! But why are we going forward?!" I clutch onto the leathery back seat, my nails digging deeply onto the smooth leather skin.
The driver fails to hear my words or simply he doesn't listen. Between my terror-filled scream and the roaring of the engine, I manage to hear the sound of gears changing. To my great dismay, it's not a change to reverse, but to full throttle.
"Where we go, we don't need roads, mister!"
With that, the pedal is pushed to the metal. And the taxi accelerates to its maximum potential. The trajectory stays the same and the taxi quickly closes the distance straight towards the trees ahead.
I close my eyes and hold to the seat tighter and scream as hard as I possibly can.
It was mere metres away from the trees when the taxi is suddenly bathed with green light. With a blinding flash, the light intensifies, and a bright light suddenly appears between the taxi and the trees.
A loud thunderous clap erupts, and the taxi enters the bright light.
After that, I could only hear the calm rev of the taxi's engine, nothing else. The previous loud roar of the engines has calmed down entirely, and outside the taxi I couldn't hear any sound of the forest.
I hesitantly open my eyes, only to have them widening quickly when I notice our surroundings.
The landscape outside the taxi has entirely changed, what mere seconds was the edge of the forest is now an odd green endless emptiness, with darker green roots scrambled around us. The taxi itself is no longer in any road, it floats controllably in this green-lighted void.
I must be dead—heaven sure looks a lot like a Ley Line.
"Are you alright, mister?" the driver calls again.
I'm easily startled by the voice, the whole situation had made me terribly jumpy. Collecting myself in the best way I can, I try to answer. "No, are you insane? What was that?"
"Sorry, mister! I should've warned you that this taxi uses an Inconceivable Kinetic Engine Amplifier, or IKEA for short, mister!
"IKEA, IKEA?" I repeat. "They sell these things there?!"
For a moment, the constant hum of the engine, the light rumbling from the wheels, and the ghost-quiet Ley Line fills the silence in the taxi. The driver notices this and clears his throat. "To put it simple, these things makes it easier for vehicles to access the Ley Line, mister!"
I reply to him. "Please sir, warn me the next time you're about to pull something like that off—I just had a concussion".
The taxi continues its course through the Ley Line. The green visuals of the Ley Line and its generally empty, and honestly boring landscape is enough to give me boredom. A yawn escapes my mouth, and I realize if I were to stay awake in this journey, I might need to go out my way and try to makes small talk with this strange driver.
"What's your name, good driver?" I ask.
"It's Rahjaesh, mister!"
"Rahjaesh?" I repeat curiously. "So you're…, you're from India, Rahjaesh?
The driver shakes his head. "No, mister! there are no Gnomes in India."
"Gnomes?" I repeat, more curious than ever.
I lean forward towards the front seat, hoping to take a better look at who resides in the driver's seat. With this new information in hand, I make sure to tilt my head down and sure enough, at the driver seat sits a small Gnome, with the classic red pointy hat and blue overalls. He has a thick brown moustache under his red nose, and his thick hair and sideburns makes it hard to distinguish his face.
Even more curious than his appearance is the long block of wood tied to his shoes, it provides the gnome the needed reach for his legs to push the pedal down below.
"Blimey", I mutter.
The gnome looks up to me, his bright blue eyes looking up to mine. The gnome gives me a quick salute and returns his attention to back to the wheels.
I stop looking and lean back to my own seat, the previous adrenaline pumping danger makes me not realize how soft leather seat feels.
"Okay… Rahjaesh." I begin again, pausing for a moment as I think of something to say. "How long have you been a cab driver?".
"I moved here in 2004 with my family from Punjab, mister".
"Punjab, huh", I repeat. "How many kids do you have, Rahjaesh?"
Rahjaesh, in his already Indian accent, manages to muster a thicker Indian accent. "Oh sir! I have seven children."
I sigh. "Seamless, Rahjaesh, it's seamless, and slightly racist."
The taxi finally reaches the end of our brief trip in the Ley Line and returns to the familiar mortal coil we call earth. Light fills my vision and I'm forced to shield my eyes. Noticing this, Rahjaesh simply pulls down the sun visor.
Before I can point out how useless the sun visor is, being that the light comes from straight in front of us instead of up from the sun, the following view forces me to bite back my words and gaze in awe.
A long dirt road, stretches across a healthy and vibrant hills of green. Forest edges lines one side of the dirt road, while on the other is a wide field, resting below the hills. Birds chirp and sing above us, exiting their forest sanctuaries as they fly to the distant blue skies.
The gnome seems to notice my amazement and proceeds to roll down the window for me. Fresh air, fresher than the view itself, rushes inside the cab, filling me with a calming feeling I've almost forgot exists.
"This is amazing", I whisper.
The gnome smiles under his bushy moustache and he continues his track through the dirt road.
Across the distance, a faint colour of grey and brown begins to appear. The borders of Blytonbury begin to come into view, its old European architecture is visible even from here, and this distance does little to hide the structural beauty.
I've never seen much European architecture before, this is certainly a welcome change. I'm starting to think that I should be grateful Michelle told me to go do some groceries.
The taxi soon enters the town, and the dirt road begins to give way to the cobblestone-paved streets of Blytonbury. From the bumpiness I feel inside the cab, I can tell that this part of the road is quite old. But it's the sort of old that I can get into, it's quite calming actually, the occasional bumps here and there along this old road.
I look outside the windows again, taking in the peculiar view of this old town.
Old buildings line the streets, with tall lamp posts you'd see all over Britain accompanying them. Townsfolk walk on and about to their activities, while motors are at a minimum around. A fair exchange if it means fresh air like this.
The taxi stops to a halt in front of a small shop. I step off the taxi and scan the odd shop of the bunch, which is dark and gloomy compared to its neighbours.
"Thanks for choosing to ride with Gnome's Cap, mister! I hope to see you soon!"
"Do you have a way for me to contact you again? A calling card of some sort?"
The gnome smiles enthusiastically. "Of course, mister!"
He puts his tiny hands into his tiny pockets and after a few seconds of rummaging, Rahjaesh procures a red calling card of aged beige and maroon. He tosses it and it flies right to my hands.
On the aged and waxed beige paper are bold words written in maroon, it reads 'Gnomes taxi service, 24 hours taxi service with careful driving and guaranteed on time arrivals'. A picture of a gnome driving a taxi is printed beside it, and under it is written Rahjaesh's name and number.
I look up and find a tiny hand doing a tiny wave of goodbye from within the taxi. I saw it fade into the distance and wave my own goodbye.
—
"Well what am I supposed to do? It's your fault you bring this pennies instead of normal paper money" The shopkeeper, a man of large stature, complains.
I groan deeply but nonetheless agree on his methods. Counting as fast as he could, the shopkeeper counts each penny I've brought.
The door bells chime and in come three girls, three familiar witches.
"If it isn't our wizard", was Amanda's way of greeting me. "What 'cha doing?"
"Robbing this shop", I answer sharply. "What do you think I'm doing? I'm doing the grocer".
Amanda whistles. "Someone's grumpy today, would you be even grumpier if I start roleplaying again?"
"No more, O'Neill, or else I'll actually murder this guy and rob the store".
Without even greeting me, Constanze leaves her two friends and scans the shop' in a quickened pace, obviously searching for something. Meanwhile, Jasminka seemingly pulls out a bag of sweets from the shadow realm and starts snacking on it, despite a clear sign on the wall saying 'no outside foods allowed'.
"Want some?" she offers me with good intentions, but it falls short in my book.
I give a look to the shopkeeper. It seems that I'm more disturbed with the clear violation of rules than the shopkeeper himself as he merely shrugs in reply.
"So, what are you gonna do with the whole week without school?" Amanda asks.
Without looking at her I answer. "Staying in my room, hopefully".
She snorts, "Boring".
"It's not boring. I mean, what else am I supposed to do? Hang out with the girls, talk about boys and unicorns?"
"Oh you're that kind of kid, huh". Amanda laughs. "Okay, okay. I get what you're saying".
Amanda's eyes trail off, and for a moment her gaze falls onto something on the end of the shop. Without saying a word the girl leaves me for it. I try to ignore it at first, but the sound of cloth being uncovered catches my attention. Turning to the source of it, I find Amanda, old dusty cloth in hand, staring at what seems to be a red broom inside a metal cage.
"Cool", Amanda says, who's now joined by the still snacking Jasminka.
Seeing this, the shopkeeper quickly stops his counting and steps towards the two girls. I groan at his abandonment of duty.
The shopkeeper skids to a halt between the girls and the broom. In one quick breath, he says. "Nope, no can do! This isn't for sale, so get your sticky paws off of it".
"That makes it even cooler", Amanda remarks, eyes still fixed on the broom instead of the man.
"Dude, changes, please?" I try to catch the shopkeeper's attention.
The shopkeeper doesn't hear me. Crossing his arms and shaking his head, he says. "Bossman's gonna kill me if anything happens to it, gonna cut my hands no joke! Even worse, he's gonna cut my paycheck!"
"You need to get your priorities sorted out, dude", I throw a snide, but alas like my last remark, none even cares to listen to it.
"Oh come on!" Amanda exclaims. "Why so suspicious to us? We're just looking, it's not like we're going to steal it!"
The shopkeeper pauses for a moment and thinks about Amanda's word, but before he could calm his unprovoked suspicion fully, his eyes catch Jasminka who's now touching the metal cage. Eyes wide and nose flaring, the shopkeeper cries. "Hey! No touching!"
While the show goes on, I'm still here with my would-be exchanged changes waiting for a chance for the shopkeeper to change his priorities and exchange these changes. A sigh escapes my mouth, loud, overdramatized, and clear. "Come on… changes!"
Now the shopkeeper appears to be teaching the girls a lesson on the history of the red broom, pointing here and there somewhere on the wall, showing all kinds of old newspaper news reporting on the red broom and its awesome capabilities and most of all trying to explain the importance and value of it. The two girls however, don't give a damn.
"Do I have to sing it?" I say, more to myself at this point. "Ch-ch-ch changes, turn the page around, ch-ch-changes, don't wanna be a lesser man".
Still not a single response from the three, now their bickering only escalates more and more.
Seeing the futility of my attempts, I sigh to myself and start counting the changes by myself. And only now after I've taken my eyes off of the three, I notice that Constanze is right next to me, waiting in line for the cashier, same as I am. She appears to have been staring at me this whole time.
"W-woah, how long have you been here?"
Saying nothing, the girl just blinks. I too blink at her lack of response.
"W-well, I won't be long, I just need to count this kilograms of pennies". I laugh, more as a comedic effect than actually finding humour in my own joke.
Still nothing, the girl just looks to me. Hoping to fish out just a smidgen of talk, I try to jest with anything.
"You're Cons… Constantine… no wait, Constable, right?"
She's still silent, but now she wears a sour look on her face and puffs her cheeks.
I break into a chuckle, that was too adorable.
I feel something tugging at my sleeve. Looking down, I find Constanze tugging at it. Before I could even ask what she wants, she points down, towards my trousers. She then looks up to me and waits in expectance.
Amused, I say, "Try to guess".
Constanze says nothing. She takes the Stanbot rested atop her head and begins to press unidentified buttons on it. The usual radio-like static noise comes out until it settles to an audible one.
"It's a trap!" admiral Ackbar's recognizable voice plays out from inside the robot. I grin before breaking into a chuckle.
—
"You know, I'm not sure these things that you told me to buy are safe", I say.
"And what makes you think that?" Michelle asks, too busy with her work, which is packing the essential items for her investigation, to even look up.
"Well, there's this one shop owner, she gave me a weird look as I gave her a rundown of my list. It's like a look of pity and a little disgust".
"And you were worried?" Michelle asks.
She walks to the duffle bag I placed on the floor, takes a few items, and returns to her work. She offers no more words on the topic, continuing somewhere else. "You bought too little bone dust, but that's a mistake on my part I suppose".
I sigh at her neglect. Knowing her, I know she'll be too preoccupied with her work to care for my story. But just as I thought she'll ignore me entirely for the rest of the day, Michelle speaks again. "Quite the heavy bag, I doubt you're strong enough to use your hands on it".
"Yeah. One of those friends I mentioned helped me carry it. Well, it's more like she carried it all by herself, she's powerful".
"Chivalry is dead~".
"It would've been rude if I declined her offer, and no, I can ride a horse just fine, Michelle".
Michelle straightens her back and wipes a sweat away from her forehead, taking a deep breath, she says. "That's it, all done, all ready to go".
"Say, Michelle, do you mind if I…"
"Nope", Michelle answers, knowing full well what's on my mind. "The labyrinth isn't a place for students".
I blink a few times. "But… it was a place for kids just days ago?"
"That was before a dragon attacked", Michelle says. "I'm taking a few teachers with me. And even if I wanted to, the headmistress will not allow any student to enter the labyrinth, not in its current state".
I study her for a few silent seconds until I can't find a single trace of any humour or lie on her face. Sighing, I say. "That's boring".
Michelle raises a brow. "I thought you're the one who always said 'not getting killed in a horrible spelunking accident is what's not boring'. Don't worry you'll probably get bored inside there anyway, just a bunch of teachers talking boring old people stuff".
Michelle pauses for a moment, lost in thought before continuing. "I know I will".
Michelle packs all the required items on a small leather briefcase. I expected the briefcase to bulge or even break from the sheer amount of items, but surprisingly, the briefcase is able to contain all those items without any sign of breaking or bulging. More alarming still, Michelle lifts the briefcase up with just one hand, not breaking a single sweat as she does.
Michelle notices my puzzled state and tilts her head. "What?"
I could voice my awe at the magic in display, but instead something else bothers me more than that. "Why didn't my duffel bag do that?"
Michelle thinks for a moment and shrugs. "It didn't? Well, that means I forgot to".
Michelle makes her way to the door, stopping halfway and turning towards me she holds the door open. "And don't even try to follow me, I'm not joking!"
"But, hypothetically, what if I do anyway?"
"I don't know", Michelle puts a finger to her chin, a light smile forming on her lips. "I think It's Miss Finnelan's job to handle that sort of things".
And with those last words and a shrug, Michelle closes the door behind her.
When the door was open it hid something behind it, hiding there since the beginning of our conversation, sandwiched between the open door and the wall. Now that the door is closed, it reveals a figure there, standing awkwardly and staring right at me. It's my doppelganger.
"Wha—"
Before the words could even leave my mouth, a gold coin flies and lands on my forehead and I immediately feel the all too familiar pain. My senses burn and my limbs go numb. I fall to the floor like a plank, paralyzed for the second time this week.
The doppelganger quickly rushes towards my paralyzed body. "I have no choice", it says, "I'm not risking you suddenly shouting once you see me, but I'm here with a proposal".
The doppelganger heaves my still stiff body up. "But that's… got to wait".
It swings my still rigid arm around its shoulder and begins to support me out the room. It, in my disguise, brazenly walks around the school's hallway with my paralyzed self in tow. It says not a word. I could not move a finger.
Many things race in my mind—what the doppelganger is doing here, what it's trying to do with me, and why it's so confident with being seen with me—for all I know, he's basically kidnapping me. I pray deeply that someone, anyone, runs into us and bring this to a stop.
My prayer is quick to be answered. I hear the sound of footsteps, two pairs, accompanied by chatter, rounding the corner. Hannah and Barbara stop on their tracks and go silent once they saw us. They're both still in their school uniforms, but they have colourful luggage in tow. The doppelganger as well stops moving and the four sort of just stare at each other in awkward silence. I could only wait in anticipation for my unlikely saviours to figure this out and save the day.
In the awkward silence, Hannah and Barbara would occasionally stare my way, both equally bewildered. It's Hannah that finally breaks he silence by asking, "What's going on?" She sounds almost too afraid to ask.
"H-Hannah, Barbara! What're you two doing here? I thought you're away like anyone else!" the doppelganger returns the question with a stammer that, to its credit and my dismay, sounds painfully like mine.
Barbara sounds like she was about to answer, but Hannah got there first.
"None of your business", she says, her hand hovering over Barbara's mouth, covering it. "What are you doing here? And what's with that copy of you?"
Shit. This is the thing with witches. This otherwise absurd situation seems normal in a world where spells and miracles happen daily.
"I-I'm just practising with some spells and tried one about self-duplication. Well, what do you think?"
The doppelganger stands me upright and pats my back, like a merchant showing off its fine ware. I've not much hope left that any of these two will figure out what's going on here, not with the doppelganger's seamless performance of my character coupled with the normalcy of the situation in their witchy eyes. But still, I couldn't help but have a little bit of hope when I feel Barbara's scrutinizing gaze on me. I hope she's perceptive enough to notice anything strange.
Barbara bites her lip. "This is…"
Hannah briefly studies my paralyzed self as well. Note that I have no control of my facial animations at this state.
Something in her mind made Hannah smile from ear to ear. She whispers to Barbara's ear, and soon the black haired girl shares the same smile, albeit with a stronger smug aura.
Barbara says, "It looks as lame as you!" and they both laugh gleefully.
I inwardly scream.
The expectant smile leaves my doppelganger's face, it shows clear offense, but offers no words. It only frowns and narrows its eyes at the girls and slightly puffs its cheeks. Without a word, it grabs me again and resumes its kidnapping. 'My' defeat indeed delights Hannah and Barbara. I could still hear their delighted laughs as my doppelganger brings me further down the hallways. Disappointed beyond belief, I still have to give it to my doppelganger—it made a convincing portrayal of me that Hannah and Barbara didn't even realize something was off.
Or, they just never cared of the details about me in the first place.
—
The sky had already lost its sunlight. I reckon I'd missed the cafeteria's dinner by now, that is, if there even is one during school breaks such as we're having now. The doppelganger had never ceased carrying me towards somewhere I've yet to know, occasional obstacles were presented but it easily talks them through, further revealing to me its great knowledge of my character and how to mimic me. That thought alone sends shivers down my spine—it's truly invested in learning my character to perfect his disguise—I can only wonder what it'd possibly done so far in my face. Stealing a few treasures are one thing, but other unspoken things are crimes unforgivable when done in my face!
But I couldn't fight. I can only hopelessly watch the shifting treetops as I'm carried further and further out of school grounds and towards the forest. Eventually the doppelganger tops and leans me to a tree. It wipes beads of sweat from its forehead and says, "That's far enough!"
The doppelganger leans in close and reaches for the coin on my forehead, I could feel my senses returning once it is detached from my forehead. My limbs are still weak and shaky—an aftereffect of the nasty shock—but they're already good enough to move.
Before he could even talk, I grab him by the collar and punch him straight at his nose.
The doppelganger stumbles backward and falls to the ground. Its pained screams are muffled as it presses his hands tightly onto its nose. It writhes around the ground with blood spilling out between his fingers.
"What the hell is wrong with you?!" I scream.
The doppelganger ceases its screaming. For a moment, all is silent save for the noise of the night forest around us: the beating wings of bats as they're roused by our commotion, the undisturbed chirping of insects surrounding us, and the rustling of leaves above us, indifferent towards these two loud trespassers. It's at this moment of quietness do I realize how erratic and loud my breathing had become. I wait warily for the doppelganger to respond. It'd taken a good while just writhing on the ground and now it goes to a prone position. Its hands are still pressed on the fresh wound I gave it, but at least it's quiet now.
Still on the ground, it turns to me with glassy eyes. It asks, "Why'd you hit me?!"
"Why did I hit you? Do I look like I'm slow?! You tried to kidnap me! Identity theft! Robbery!"
"I admit that's terrible on my part!" the doppelganger says, raising its voice enough for me to hear past my own. With its one hand still pressed to its bleeding nose, it says, "But hear me out: I saved you!"
I grunt and bite my lip. Its right, I do remember that now, if not vividly. "And, you're asking me a favour in return to that?"
It points at me with one shaky finger. "That's right! You're indeed very bright!"
The doppelganger shakily pushes itself up. I give it the benefit of the doubt and hear it out first instead of going straight to the punching.
"Listen, I know you don't want me anywhere near you or this school, but the problem is I wouldn't be able to leave this place even if I wanted to".
"What do you mean you can't?"
It reaches into his pocket and takes out a handkerchief. It uses it to wipe the last bits of dry blood from its nose. "I came here through a portkey—a miniature Ley Line. That portkey is my way out as well but it's out of my reach because of recent events".
"That portkey's inside the labyrinth?" I say, more as a statement than a question.
The doppelganger nods. "Ding dong", it says, its miserably defeated voice not matching his playful choice of words. It opens its mouth to continue, but I was quicker than it.
"You're the one that triggered the alarms yesterday night. You wanted to go to your portkey then".
"Ding dong, twice".
"And now you're asking me to help get to your portkey", I conclude.
"Ding dong, thrice", it says. "Congratulations, you managed to conclude my own request".
The doppelganger pauses and its eyes look away. I soon realize it's nothing to say next. It must be waiting for my response.
"After all the things you did, you think it's a great idea to ask me for help in finalizing your heist".
It looks back at me. "I wouldn't if I'm not desperate, okay? And no, it's not called a heist, not when all I gathered got lost in the end thanks to the bloody dragon".
I cross my arms. "So you admit you were stealing those treasures".
It shakes its head and rubs his nose. "I told you, I lost the treasures".
"That's like saying a murder is justified because the victim is a twelve year old who had a pancreatic cancer that will kill him in less than a month".
"Are you trying to make me sad? Why so specific?"
I plant my hands on my hips. "In any case, it's in your interest to get out of this school, but not mine. What can you make to worth my while in helping you escape instead of just handing you to the teachers?"
"Because I need you, and I saved you" the doppelganger says, quite miserably.
So that's its betting chip. It's right that it saved me and I should be grateful for that, but I'm wise enough to not be too grateful and return the kindness by helping it here and now.
"I'm not soft enough to help anyone that asks me to".
The doppelganger grunts and takes a few steps back. It turns its back towards me and says, in a rather threatening way, "It would be in your interest to help me, or else…"
"If you dare paralyze me again, the moment I'm free I'm going to punch you harder".
The doppelganger clicks its tongue. It narrows its eyes at me. "I could just throw my coin at you and leave you here. Imagine what I could do in your body while you stay here frozen!"
I sigh. At this point I don't know what to make of that threat. Just who is this person?
In any case, I definitely don't like the sound of this. This doppelganger seems defeated, weak, and desperate, but it's exactly because of those that I don't like this. For all I know, I could be falling for an elaborate trap. Our first encounter gave me a terrible impression of this doppelganger, and it's done wonders in the way I see it tonight. This all could be a trick that it's devised to ensure victory on its side only.
I have to find a way to not be the loser in this situation. I have to think of a way to defeat it in its own games. So instead of delving deep into what its retaliation would result in, my mind drifts to other possibilities. I don't want it to feel it has the upper hand, since it's the one that needs my help, desperately one at that, I know I have a weight on the negotiation scale.
A smile comes into me suddenly. I've an idea. I say, "I'll help you and keep my mouth shut".
The doppelganger's face lights up—it didn't expect this.
"On two conditions: you'll never to set foot on this school ever again and you will unravel your disguise".
Its face loses hope—it didn't expect this.
I continue, "You should be thankful that this is what I'm asking of you; you may have saved my life but that doesn't clear your deeds. I need to make sure you're not up to any naughty deeds".
"I promise I won't set my foot here if you let me go back home—I wouldn't be able to anyway even if I wanted, would've burned by portkey's magic by using it to go home which is far away—isn't this enough?"
"You said you wouldn't return here, right? So why is it a big deal that I know how you look? I'm asking you to undo your spell so I can see who you are as a guarantee that if ever I saw you around here again, I'd know you didn't keep your end of the bargain".
"Unravelling my disguise…" the doppelganger mutters. Its eyes search the ground for a moment, but then they look back at mine. "But you'll keep quiet about all this? My looks included?"
I reply with a nod. "I'm a man that's surprisingly keeps my promises".
The doppelganger pauses, his eyes search the ground before meeting mine again and continuing, "What stops me from sneaking into this school again by disguising as someone else anyway after I show you my true face?"
"If you can do that, then what's the problem in showing your true face?"
The doppelganger goes silent. We're locked into a stare but it breaks off first. It chuckles dryly and turns away from me. It paces around until stopping next to a tree and it rests its hands there. The doppelganger's face contorts to multiple expressions as it mulls and groans and thinks this through. It points at me but says nothing and returns to its silent state again.
"You cheeky bastard", it would occasionally say. I smirk knowing I successfully cornered it.
The strength of my demand depends solely on the doppelganger's level of desperateness in going home, if the doppelganger weren't this desperate, my demand would've been entirely unsuccessful. What that desperateness stems from, however, I couldn't care less. The doppelganger looks like it's in physical pain as its head runs at maximum performance to think this through. It paces from one spot to another, grumbling and groaning, until it finally stops and looks at me.
"Fine!"
It takes out a gold coin, similar to every other coin it's used thus far, and brings it up to its head-level. But before it could cast its spell, I stop it.
The doppelganger looks at me with raised brows. "I'm not going for a paralyzing spell, you know?"
"That's not it", I say and take out my wand. "Let me do the dispelling, so you don't just use a new metamorphosis spell to someone not yourself".
I've yet to confirm it, but my guess so far is that he uses his coin as some sort of catalyst for his spell, just as I use my wand.
The doppelganger stares at me and makes no attempt to mask its disappointment, disappointment that its plan has been unravelled. With eyes devoid of hope or joy, it raises its hands up, not making an attempt to escape the inevitable.
"Just don't do it roughly", it says.
A smirk graces my lips once again before I blast the doppelganger with the strongest nullification spell I could muster. The spell's impact sends the doppelganger tumbling across the ground hard, stopping a few metres away from where it previously stood.
The doppelganger remains on the ground for a minute, groaning and coughing.
"Go to hell", I say.
"I saved your life", the doppelganger says in-between coughs.
"That's after and before you paralyzed me".
The doppelganger pushes itself up on its own time. I would've pestered it to go faster and not waste more time, but something makes me stop, something very wrong.
What stands in front of me now is a boy my age, with puffy blonde hair, strong jawline, sharp nose, and dead, fish eyes. He's a commendable sideburn going on. He would be taller than me if he straightens his slouching back.
The doppelganger catches my gaze, one of disdain and disgust, and asks, "What's wrong? This is me".
I say nothing and keep my judging stare, he reads what's on my mind well.
"Yes, I'm a boy. Am I a creep? Arguably! But I was in it for the treasures, nothing else!"
"Sure, buddy".
Looking back at it, I begin to regret deciding to help him.
The boy pauses and his eyes drift off. A light blush emerges on his cheeks. "Okay, I was in it for some other things as well, but I snuck around in your form not a girl's!" he says, putting an emphasizing pause before continuing. "I couldn't go anywhere far in your form even if I wanted to, so stop freaking out".
I say not a word, letting my judgemental stare do my work.
The boy gives in and groans. "Fine I admit, what I did was creepy and unethical, but we're not here to argue about that now are we? We don't have all day, so are you going to hold up your end of the bargain?"
He doesn't wait for me and walks back to the direction of the school. I follow not long after.
I say, "I did say so, but I didn't say I won't judge you along the way!"
—
The labyrinth's main entrance is quite different from how it was the last time I saw it with Diana. Checkpoints—crudely made of wood—are erected in just a span of a night by the goblins and manned by them as well. The fog wall draping the entrance is still the same, stirring calmly unless disturbed.
A goblin security sits on a recliner chair inside the checkpoint post. He looks up from his newspaper and coffee upon my arrival. "Ah, if it isn't Mister Franklin. What brings you back here?"
"Michelle asked me to, part of the investigation thing she's planning to do".
"Miss Oliver? Right away, ser".
The goblin presses a button and the fog wall parts neatly, he then leans on his recliner chair and returns to his leisure. He's interrupted however, when he hears someone clear his throat.
The goblin sticks his head out of the post. "Yes, can I help you, Jericho?"
I laugh lightly, "Yes? Press the button for me?"
The goblin looks puzzled, he glances at the barrier and indeed it's still closed. He scratches his chin and says, "I could've sworn I pressed the button, must be daydreaming, this old head of mine"
Without question, the goblin presses the button again and the fog wall parts once again. He smiles at me politely and tips his hat. "Have a good day, mister".
The fog wall closes behind me, not a walk in too far, I found my doppelganger, back in my form, leaning on the labyrinth's wall and folding his arms in wait. Aside from the metamorphosis spell, he also has his humour returned.
"Imagine all the pranks we could pull off", he says.
I walk past him without stopping or even glancing. "I'd…. rather not imagine that, Eren",
My doppelganger frowns. "Aaron, its Aaron", he corrects me.
Aaron guides me through the labyrinth, now quiet and empty as a grave, not that it's far away from that to begin with. The labyrinth has always been dark and dreary, but the last time I was here there's an air of excitement and the warmth of companionship. That's, of course, before the dragon attacked, and everything went south. We inevitably pass through a familiar room—the former guild room—where the wooden desk that Gaëlle used to receive clients still sits unmoved and the job board still stands at the end of the room, some job requests and offers still tacked on it, still waiting for an adventurer to come and take it.
Aaron walks up to the job request board, he takes one off and looks it over. I expect a sharp whistle of the horn to immediately follow but it never comes.
We press on, climbing down spiralling stairways and walking through cold and puzzling corridors. Eventually we end up on one of the deeper floors, where natural rocks begin to replace masonry and the ancient traces of mankind, be it rusted weapons or skeletons, begin to diminish, indicating that not many ventured in these deeper parts even then, let alone now. Our venture takes about half an hour until we finally exit the winding corridors and find ourselves in a wide room where the human touch is very little, only the door and some long extinguished scones are among them. I found the room to be similar to the one where I confronted Aaron at, but I could never be sure which room is which in this labyrinth. Far in the room, a tall metallic object catches the light of my wand, reflecting it back in the darkness. The object is a metal casket with spikes on the inside, with intricate ornaments on its outside and a head like shape on top of it. It's an iron maiden, a famed if not fake torture device.
Aaron walks ahead first while I stay for a moment. I say, "Did you know that Iron Maidens might've never been used as a real torture device? It was a fake concept popularized by two men in the 19th century, an era not known for impaling people to death".
Without turning around, Aaron says, "Yes, they also make banger music".
"When The Wild Wind Blows is their best song".
"I know you think so", Aaron says, but before I could respond to that mildly alarming statement, he already continues, "Also something not's right, the seal's been broken".
Aaron approaches the iron maiden and touches its soft metallic surface. He looks the iron maiden over and opens its doors carefully. "There's supposed to be some seals here to close the iron maiden, but someone, probably one of those witch friends of yours, opened it".
"And why is that a problem?"
Aaron lightly kicks the iron maiden's base. "This thing's pretty old, pretty stubborn and thus unreliable at times. The seals make the spirit within this troublesome portkey less stubborn, but now they're gone".
I notice that, indeed, there'd been seals taped around the iron maiden, now ripped open and scattered on the floor. Some metal chains also lie scattered on the floor, broken.
"Portkeys are finicky stuffs, and they're high-level in difficulty to make and master, you're saying you did all that?"
"I didn't", he says. "I bought them".
"So then, how do you fix it?"
Aaron's answer comes in the form of a kick. He kicks the iron maiden hard and does so a second and a third time.
"I'm no mechanic but that's not how you should do it", I say.
"No, no, no, trust me it works so much better than I expected as well".
Aaron keeps on kicking while I wait and watch. In between each kicks, he would say.
"You, just, need, to, show, you're, its, boss!"
To my great surprise, the familiar green light of a Ley Line, like a spark of electricity, begins to appear within the iron maiden's dark and spikey depths. With each consecutive kick, the light grows stronger and the lasts longer.
Aaron rests his hands on his knees to take a breather. He looks up at me and says, "It's not stupid if it works".
"You could've just used a fixing spell or something".
"I could say the same to you. Not so smart now, are you?"
I sigh, "I mean. I have a reason not mastering such a difficult spell".
"Yeah, you and your non—".
I cut him off, "How did you know, back then?"
Aaron pauses his kicking. His back turned to me, he says, "I didn't. It was a big guess, born from the conclusions I made from observing you. Needless to say I made a pretty spot on guess".
Aaron looks to me, and as if reading my mind, he says, "I didn't say anything to anyone".
I release a breath I didn't know I held.
"You keep saying you're observing me, how and what for?"
Aaron continues his kicking. "In case the past three days had gone over your head, I could use a metamorphosis spell quite aptly. And for the latter, disguising as someone is much easier when you know that person well".
"I can't say I'm not impressed, but what you did was still wrong and no less creepy".
"I'd use the word 'creative'", Aaron responds. "I have the special talent of reading other people's minds well".
Aaron kicks another time. I sigh and push the conversation elsewhere. "At first I thought you took the treasures for the event—to get some scores—I thought that you were at least a student here. Turns out you're not and you're grabbing those treasures for financial gains".
Aaron holds up a finger. "Ding dong. I can't fathom why you all were going to hand the treasures back. The teachers are going to throw them back to the labyrinth for the next class to use, and after that, they won't do anything to the treasures—leave them to rust in the labyrinth. Why waste such treasures? Honestly I don't even think you could call what I did as 'stealing'"
"Well, you're not entirely wrong. I thought it's a waste as well when that part of the rule got to me".
Aaron raises his hand. I stop and raise a brow. "What? We find some sort of common ground for once and you—".
"Just shut your mouth", Aaron says in a half-whisper.
I was about to say something back, but I hear something that made me stop: footsteps, many of them, and some voices, distant chatters. They come from behind the door that we entered—the only way in and out of here. Both of us freeze and stare at the door that lead outside, now having light seeping through its seams.
"Out of all the time and place they could investigate, they choose here and now?" I exclaim.
Aaron says nothing and instead acts, he resumes kicking the iron maiden, harder and faster this time.
I rush to him, "Wait, you're going to make a noise".
Aaron stares at me dead in the eye and says, "If they catch me here, I'm dead. If they catch you here with me, you're dead".
I have not thought that through. To add gasoline into the fire, I'd completely forgotten that Michelle warned me of even stepping my foot in the labyrinth. We're locked in a stare. Aaron waits for me to come to a conclusion while I'm lost in this realization.
After a minute, I snap out of it. "Kick it. Kick it to oblivion, Aaron".
It doesn't take long for me to join Aaron in the endeavour. We continue to kick on the iron maiden in tandem. The Ley Line light keeps appearing and disappearing with each kick and the sound of metal against boots resonate through the wide echo chamber. It's not long for the noise to reach outside.
"What's that, a monster?" I hear the person outside the room say to another.
"It's that way, in that room!"
Doubt and nervousness runs in my veins like cold ice. I can't stop my hands from shaking and I soon feel my breathing fasten, this one not because of the physical strain my kicking is giving me. Aaron combats his nervousness by kicking harder and harder, having lost any sense of subtlety, while I at the urgency decide to search for a shortcut. My hand hovers above my wand, and the nearing sound of footsteps and the light that grows brighter outside the door is the last push for me to go for it.
"Sosomme Tidiare!"
With my level of competence on white magic, the repair spell's effect comes slowly. Terror immediately fills Aaron's features and he cries, "That's too slow, use your legs instead!"
I don't listen and keep the spell active as best I can, praying it'll at least be faster than those outside the room.
Aaron hears a rattling noise from behind us, he turns and sees the chains that's been broken and scattered on the ground beginning to glow with green light and rattle. When he realizes what the chains are going through, his eyes widen with terror and he almost stumbles with his warning.
"S-stop your spell!"
"No, this is faster!" I cry indignantly.
Suddenly, I feel a sharp pain, something solid hits me from the back right on my spine. The next thing I feel is the cold of a steel wrapping around my body and immobilizing me. Unbeknownst to me, I've not only fixed the portkey but also the chains that once seal it. In their flight towards the iron maiden, the chains have hit me from the back and coils around me. I couldn't move, the chains are too tight and they continue to be pulled to the iron maiden as part of the fixing spell, and along with it, me.
The people outside the room have become the least of my worries. A new kind of fear washes over my entire being as I'm dragged closer and closer to the iron maiden that now, in a stroke of bad luck, has finally recovered—inside its once dark interior is now a vast green of a Ley Line leading to god knows where. Not once in my life so far have I perceived the Ley Line as something so sinister.
"Help!" I cry out helplessly.
On the edge of my vision, I spot Aaron trying to reach for his pocket for a gold coin but fail miserably. Aaron's gold coins fall from his shaky hands and clatter on the floor, it's the last thing I see before green light completely fills my vision and I begin to disappear into the Ley Line.
The clock keeps ticking, apathetic to our distress. I'm consumed by the Ley Line with each passing second, the sound of footsteps outside the door continues to come closer, and the twist of a doorknob soon follows. Aaron finds himself in the centre of all this, and time won't ever wait for him and his indecision.
Something made Aaron bite back his fears and rush towards me, not to pull me out, but to push me and join me through. Upon his last minute decision, the both of us are sucked into the Ley Line together, the heavy and metallic doors of the iron maiden closes shut behind us.
With the green light from the iron maiden gone and our presence completely gone, the room is now quiet and dark. Whoever those people outside were, they won't find anyone here but a silent iron maiden that tells no stories of what happened.
Author's Exit: wow that door scene, explained like a pro. What I'm trying to say is, you know how when a door opens you could hide behind it, sandwiched between it and the wall? Yeah it's like that, God!
Also yes, When The Wild Wind Blows by Iron Maiden is such a good song!