The passageways of the labyrinth were quiet as ever, with nothing but my footsteps and singing to give any indication of life passing through it.
"These voices screaming to let it go. Never let go."
Man, and Caster didn't pull any punches when he went about fleshing out the place though. Thank fuck he didn't consider me an intruder; certain I'd have been dead a hundred times over by now if he did, just by wandering into a trap.
"This time I'm screaming back no no no. Go on say no."
Now, assuming I had the layout correct, and I should have it correct, then this was the staircase I'd want to take.
"My mind's made up, yeah my fear is gone. Where have you gone?"
Still couldn't feel, let alone move, my fingers. Or my hands. …Anything from the wrists onwards, really. But that wouldn't be an issue to getting outside; the doors required neither a push, nor a pull, after all.
All they required was one's presence.
"Open my eyes now here I come."
Taking a breath, I smiled as I reached the top of the staircase, the door sliding open.
"Oblivion."
But god damn, was it ever bright out in Rider's reality marble! The moment I stepped out of the labyrinth it hit me full force! Even with squinted eyes and covering my face with my arm, shit was way too bright!
Hot too, but that I found bearable. Actually, it was even preferable; labyrinth having a bit of a chill was an understatement.
"Ever the fucking vampire, eh" I joked to myself as I rapidly blinked, my eyes slowly coming to adjust to the harsh sunlight.
Even from back here, I could see evidence of destroyed statues. Chunks of an arm here. A leg there. Smashed electrical components from a control unit. No sign of Rider's defeated forces though, but considering they were magical in nature, I hadn't really been expecting to see such a thing. In all honesty, had I seen fallen soldiers of Rider's, I'd have been surprised.
"Feels a bit undignified with floppy wrists, but… safety first…"
Yeah, no doubt about it, I looked damn stupid, arms in the air, indicating my surrender, with my wrists flopped forward. Tuck my arms in, and I'd look like a velociraptor, or some shit. Honestly, I wasn't even sure this would work. No way in hell the priest accepted this, and I was unsure to what capacity Rider's men could… think? Act? Whatever… on their own.
Honestly, this only worked if Rider came after me first. …And accepted, which he may not even do, considering this was me and all. But, well…
I await you at our end, Rider.
"A promise is a promise" I mused as I replayed the conversation of that night in my head. "A great liar not to be trusted, I am, but I've yet to break a promise either."
Not that such a thing was hard to be honest about. I could count the number of promises I've made in my life on one hand, including the one with Rider. Or, well, I could have. Bit difficult to count on your hands when you can't move your fingers though.
The debris of the statues was far more prominent now. Not much further ahead, I could even see the remains of the dragon. Despite its speed issues, and lack of fire breathing capabilities. It had performed marvelously.
If only I'd had more time. Even just a couple more minutes…
Beyond the remnants of Caster's shattered army, though, stood my target. His big army gone, accompanied by what I could only call a bodyguard force. No more than thirty men, certainly. But now, even that would be enough. Hell, even a single one would have been enough; I was unarmed, and had no training.
Standing beside him, looking small in comparison, was the priest. His fiery glare clearly indicated his displeasure of seeing me, though in his eyes I could see another sentiment lurking beneath his inner fire. Confusion. The confusion of why I was approaching them alone, no doubt. Perhaps even wondering if there was a trap about to be sprung.
Not Rider though. Rider looked magnificent as ever atop his horse. Sword at the ready. Sunlight gleaming off his armor. The picture-perfect look of someone in complete control over the situation he found himself in. The entire time I approached, his gaze remained completely neutral. Surely, he couldn't he happy to see me, but whatever he was thinking, was feeling… anyone else's guess would have been good as mine.
"Heh" I laughed slightly to myself, looking up at him as he approached on horseback, coming to a stop within a couple meters of me, still looking completely devoid of emotion. "Parlay?"
"Man, I miss your reality marble thing already, Rider. It's damn cold out here. Hard to see too."
"That is not what we're here to discuss."
"What is there to even discuss in the first place, Rider" the priest growled from beside his servant, glaring daggers at me. "All that's needed from this is his death!"
"I will not have him killed while he still has the potential to spread chaos through that file of his."
"…Tch!"
Ah, as I'd suspected… the priest hasn't informed Rider of his wish. Or at least, not his real wish.
This deep in the woods, we could afford to speak openly. Fortunately, we'd emerged from the reality marble within the cover of the woods. Shit was whack too; one moment we're in Rider's reality marble, and the next… poof! Suddenly, dark! Cold! Trees!
Had we emerged in the area by the lake, though, there'd had been trouble. According to the assassins, police and feds alike were still investigating the area, trying to figure out the reason as to why the lake was now half empty. Well, give or take a third.
Actually… was kind of fortunate they hadn't discovered an entrance to the labyrinth or anything. Bit of a minor miracle, really…
"Well" I sighed, shifting around in the spot where I sat on the ground. "Here I am, unable to really do anything. So… shoot away, I guess."
Rider stared at me for a hard moment, before finally speaking.
"Why?"
…Huh?
"…Why? Why… what, exactly" I asked, unsure as to what he was asking about.
"Why are you here?"
"Why are any of us here" I could faintly hear the priest mutter to himself, but Rider simply continued, ignoring his master.
"You were safe down in the labyrinth. Surely you understood what would happen the moment you left it. Why did you leave? Has Caster abandoned you for this failure? Is this some kind of elaborate trap I simply do not understand? Why are you here, before me, now?"
"Oh, that's what you meant. I thought that was actually fairly obvious, Rider."
"Do not test my patience."
"We had an agreement, didn't we?"
"What" the priest turned with a newfound rage on his servant. "This is the first I'm hearing of this, Rider!"
"It was not something you needed to know."
"I am the master here, Rider! You don't decide what I need and don't need to know!"
"And did I not tell you near the beginning of this war that I will do what I must to win this?"
"You-"
So… their relationship is strained… Can't say I'm surprised, given our priest here.
"Continue" Rider returned his focus to me.
"Well, part of that was that the next we met would be our last, right? A final battle? Well, we met. We fought. I lost. Here I am. Simple as that, really."
"Am I to suspect you were in on all of this then, Rider?!"
"Master, did it at all look as though I was aware about what we just went through?"
"You sure looked as though you were enjoying yourself!"
"If that is what you think, then you are mistaken."
"Is that so?"
"It is" Rider nodded, though he looked to be growing slightly tired of his master's interruptions.
At least, to me he did.
"And I don't believe what you are saying" Rider once again turned on me. "I am to simply believe you are keeping your word, and that is all there is to this? Do you take me for a fool?"
"Not at all, Rider" I shook my head. "Hence why I speak nothing but the truth. Surely, you would be able to tell if I was lying."
"…"
"…"
"Hmph... To think you actually kept your word."
"Hey, I may be a godly liar, but I never break my promises, thank you very much."
"I find that impossible to believe."
"I just essentially never make promises, is all" I grinned.
"Now that I can believe."
"Glad you two are enjoying each other's company oh so very much, but can we kill him or not, Rider?!"
Rider gave me a hard look. All he would see, though, was a blank stare. He could, of course, kill me. Either one of them could. The file was no more, after all, and if Rider truly believed I was being honest here, he would know that to be true as well.
But I had expected as much. So, I didn't look away; advert my gaze. I had expected that to be the result. It was only the logical conclusion of the line.
One who wasn't willing to put it all on the line had no business stepping foot onto the battlefield.
Indeed, it was so. And I accepted it. I was no hypocrite.
Hopefully Rider does it, though. God, I don't want to be put down by the fucking priest…
"Yes" Rider sighed.
"Finally" the priest growled, but there was a wicked gleam in his eyes as he looked at me. "Something that makes some semblance of sense!"
"Bah, as if any of this makes any sense! If I can't make any sense of it, then it simply doesn't make any sense!"
The sound of this new voice took me by complete surprise. I couldn't comprehend it at all, really. That was- Why was-
"After all this time, you finally decide to show yourself, Caster" the priest's annoyance couldn't be understated.
"Caster" Rider looked completely unsurprised by the sudden development. "We finally meet."
"Under the stupidest of conditions, but it appears I cannot escape such a fate, even in death" Caster grumbled.
Standing there, amongst the trees, was Caster. His robe thing was gone, instead replaced with some simple, cloth-like clothing I couldn't even name. In his hand, though, was a bronze sword. A Xiphos, if my eyes weren't playing tricks on me, which I was already doubting, and if I was remembering my weaponry correctly.
Caster's attention was barely even on Rider or the priest. If anything, he wasn't starting right at me, but rather… right through me. It sent a chill running down my spine quite unlike any other. No… not unlike any other, but… one I hadn't felt in... nearly a decade…
"Caster" I half muttered, half stammered. "What-"
"That's my question, child" Caster cut me off swiftly, sounding as though he was trying his utmost not to fly into a complete rage. "What the hell are you doing outside the command room? What the hell are you doing, leaving the safety of the labyrinth? What in Hades' name are you doing, surrendering to an enemy master?!"
"That's-"
"Explain to me, child! Make it makes some form of sense to me, if you even can!"
"I can, um-"
"Because this is the stupidest thing I've ever seen from you; a new low I didn't even think was possible!"
"I'm-"
"Are you stupid, -an?! Is that it?!"
I'm trying to keep it away. Fight back; keep it buried.
"What?! Did you suddenly develop a sense of guilt while I wasn't paying attention?!"
"It's not-"
"Do you just like to sabotage yourself?! Make everything as hard as it possibly has to be?!"
No… No, it wasn't like that! I swear I was-
"There was no threat to the labyrinth! There was no reason to leave at all! Are you just so incompetent you couldn't understand such an obvious fact?!"
"I-"
"Do you just not care?! Are you just that lazy?! Or is it just incompetence?!"
I care! Of course, I care! I'm not lazy! I'm not incompetent! I'm not! I know I'm not! I-
"What this the ultimate goal of your plan?! A plan that was completely pointless?! None of this mattered! None of this was even necessary in the first place! Are you even aware of that?!"
"No, I know what it is! It's your stupid games yet again! That stupid computer is the only thing you ever care about! Only thing you ever think about!"
That's not true! It wasn't true! Why do you keep insisting it's true?!
It's fine. Everything was fine... You have everything under control still... Happy thoughts... Just think happy thoughts...
"Your plan that attracted all this attention from all over this country?! Pointless! In what way was it necessary, child?! What purpose did it serve in helping us win this war?!"
"Look at your last report card! Are you not embarrassed by it?! Are you not ashamed?!"
Why could I… see double? Why could I hear… double? That couldn't be him. I couldn't be there… I haven't been there in years. Haven't spoken to him in almost a decade! So how-
"All you had to do was sit still down in the labyrinth like I told you! From the very beginning! How was something so basic beyond you?! How was something so simple beyond you?!"
"All you're doing is wasting your time! Throwing you damn life away! How can you not see something so simple right in front of you?!"
I wasn't throwing my life away! I was doing well! We were so close to it! Soon I'd be able to show you; prove that it wasn't all just a waste! Make you proud! So please-
"Are you just so used to failure at this point you don't care what happens?! Is that what all this is?!"
I'm not used to failure. I'm not just accepting failure. It hurts. It always hurts. Why can't you believe me on this? Please, you have to believe-
"Why did you do anything you've done so far, child?! What was the reason for any of it?! All of it?!"
"Wasting away at your computer, without a damn care in the world about the stress and pain you've caused us?!"
It's not like that! It's not like that at all, I swear! Dad, I-
"Caster, I-"
"Answer me, child!"
"Answer me, -an!"
"I don't know!"
Silence. The chill of the night. The dim light from the lamp in the corner of my room. The cold dirt beneath me. The… tears… I could never contain, no matter how many times the two of us went through this.
"I don't know… I don't know, okay! I-I-I… I d-don't know…"
"…"
"Nothing to say for yourself except excuses. Just like always."
"I-I know… I k-know it sounds like an e-excuse! I know it sounds like I'm lying! But I just don't know! I just… I don't know anymore! Please, you have to believe me! I-"
"Easy now, child" I could faintly register Caster's voice as he crouched down in front of me. "I believe you. Now, talk to me. What is it you don't know?"
A/N
Well... I hope this doesn't come out as... too confusing. Playing around with things here, experimenting; let you all be the judge as to how it turned out xD
But man... this took... This took a good while to write. Time wise, this has probably taken the most amount of time of any part to date; been working on this in advance for a while now. Think the only other part that could *maybe* take longer than this to write is the next part, coincidentally (or, well, not really a coincidence). I'm not a creative person, but everything has to come from somewhere, so... as long as it takes, I will get through it.
I believe I stated in a different A/N a long while ago that my idea with Nathan's origin, thought I hadn't given it a name at the time, was something along the lines of "Delusional Contradiction". Hopefully, this and the next part will show why. Ideally. We'll see how badly I butcher it though xD
Anyways... stay tuned for more, y'all, and I'll see you in the next post o7
