Chapter 10: Kai: Racing the Clock; Trapped in the Eternal Maze? Pt. 2

"Alright, get your ass off the floor and let's keep going, okay?" Shaking the pins and needles out of my feet, I ignored Black*Star's exuberant flip and instead punched him in the shoulder for fooling around. The guy was so show-offish sometimes I could barely stand it! I frowned slightly and glanced around the cavern, giving it an once-over. During the fight with the rotting corpse I hadn't had the time to take a good look around (I had been a little busy, you know, saving lives and shit) and now began taking in small details. It was circular, completely made of stone, and had large nuggets of that odd glowing stone that had been in the tunnels, creating more light. The only other exit I could see was a circular hole, barely big enough for any person. However, squinting slightly, I could make out a slight movement in a shadowy area of rock, almost like a wave in a pond. For I moment I stood stock still, trying to sense it for a soul, but there was nothing.

Something was there.

"Black*Star, I need you to do something for me." I asked suddenly, gripping his shoulder and positioning him where I wanted. With a heavy hand I pushed him into a kneeling position and made him lace his hands together. As soon as I did so a slight bit of recognition entered his gaze though there was a great bit of confusion still in them as I backed up to the other side of the room.

I was going to have to time this just right…

"Be ready to give me a boost, okay?" My heart was pounding in my throat when he nodded. Swallowing it down, I sprinted towards him. The moment my foot landed in his interlocked hands I was launched into the air. Keeping my body as still as possible was the easy part – the hard part came next. In a flash of light the fingers of my right hand from the middle joint on became blades. I grabbed at the rock, embedding them in so that I was suspended from the ceiling. Holy shit, I had done it. For a moment I was unable to move, completely shocked that I had pulled it off, but then the rippling patch grabbed my attention again. Reaching out for it was an odd sensation, being suspended only my bladed fingers, but as soon as my hand skimmed the surface I knew what it was. I whooped with joy only to yelp as my handhold slipped slightly.

Eyes wide, I glanced down at my meister, whose face was looking distinctively paler. "It's a mirror!"

"No, it's a rock." Black*Star pointed out dumbly.

If I had a free hand, I would have slapped myself.

Rolling my eyes, I plunged the hand through the surface up to my elbow, sniggering at the shout of surprise Black*Star just couldn't hold back. Then, taking care to keep myself securely supported, I searched the other side of the mirror for something to grip to pull myself through. My searching fingers found a ledge and, with a whoop of excitement, I released the ceiling and swung myself through the camouflaged reflective surface, rolling onto the floor as suddenly my perspective changed.

The tumble I took jarred my senses for a moment, but I found myself sitting on the floor in a tangled mess. Disoriented, I shook my head a few times before glancing at the wall next to me. My jaw dropped when I saw the cave that I had just been in. Black*Star was frantically trying to jump up and gain the same vantage point that I had, but was unable to reach. Just as he prepared for another jump, I leapt into action and leaned out, ignoring the spinning sensation of my two halves being in separate places, and grabbed Black*Star's hand as he stretched out. With a heave I pulled him through, sending us both tumbling onto the floor in a heap of limbs. When I opened up my eyes I found his face right next to mine, our noses nearly touching.

Blushing, I shoved him off and rolled to my feet.

Surveying the room quickly, I found it quite familiar. It took me a slight moment to realize that the lay-out reminded me slightly of Lord Death's room in the DWMA: circular, with a large ornate mirror on one side and strange moving sky designs all around. There were guillotines lining the only hallway out, as well, except these were a creepier version of the ones that Lord Death used. The night sky showed twinkling stars all around us; the moon stared down at us with his bloody smile. Being in the room gave me the chills somehow, and I edged ever so slightly closer to my meister out of nervousness. He, for one, was still incapacitated on the floor due to a bit of nausea brought on by the shift in dimensions. I hadn't been aware before that a person's face could turn that color, but apparently it could.

"Hey, are you alright?" I asked somewhat awkwardly, wondering if I was going to have to clean up puke in a few minutes. The slight groan he gave me in response was answer enough. I helped him to his feet whilst biting my lip and wondering whether or not this was being filmed. It was quite possible that Black*Star's slight motion sickness was being aired live right now! I giggled slightly at the thought, tilting my head at the bluenette as he got his legs back. How could he be so adorably embarrassing one minute and then so strong and intimidating to enemies the next? It was almost comical!

"Kai! Black*Star! I didn't expect to see you both here so soon!"

I whipped around, nearly tripping on my own feet, narrowly avoiding falling on my ass by grabbing Black*Star's arm to keep myself upright. Lord Death was filling up the surface of the mirror we had just come through, his dark cape hiding his figure as per usual. Somehow his mask conveyed his outright surprise at our being there, but I didn't bother with greetings. Instead, I immediately inquired about the status of the current challenge. "What the hell are we doing?"

"Well, Kai, it's rather hard to explain, but I'll take a crack at it for my favorite Demon Weapon!" Lord Death's ecstatic voice grated on my nerves slightly, but I let it go. "Currently you are in what I like to call 'the Eternal Maze'. Each level is built on an attribute of the partnership between weapon and meister: strength, intuition, and resonance."

"So there are only two more levels?" Black*Star grinned and fist-pumped, "Awesome! We'll have this done in no time!"

"Wrong!" Lord Death cheered, awkwardly happy for someone who was killing the dreams of two adolescents. "There are three more levels. The first one is just a warm-up!"

I really hated this guy sometimes. He was sadistic.

Sighing, I tried to keep my frown from permanently etching itself into my face like a Botox injection. "So what do we do to advance?"

"Each of the next three levels will challenge either your strength, intuition, or resonance in some sort of way. There could be a kishin" – at this I grew very annoyed – "or a riddle, or any sort of game. You will be tested in all sorts of ways!"

"Actually, Lord Death, I was wondering: where exactly did we get all the kishin for this?"

"Don't worry about that, most of them are low-level kishin that I had Professor Stein and Sid bring in. There's been a large number of them recently and we decided it would be easy enough to slip a few into the Games. They're harmless, really."

Harmless?

"I'll take your word for it," I replied dryly, glancing at the creepy guillotine-lined hallway. "So we have three more levels to clear, and then we're through? How do we win?"

"Whoever gets out first, wins." Lord Death grinned, but then continued: "However, the Eternal Maze is called that because it never stays the same. The hallways and tunnels are always changing. One could truly get lost in there."

And with that, this level of the games became much more complicated.

Back in Death City, Maka Alburn sat on her couch, for once completely engrossed in the show that was premiering on television. Today was the first day of the televised events of the Games. Practically everyone they knew had gone on a 'mission' today to get out of class to watch – so many that Maka wouldn't be surprised if most of the teachers had gone home to watch as well. Her green eyes tracked the figures on screen with a certain kind of envy. She knew she should have had a spot in there, would have had a spot if she hadn't been such a girl and fought with Soul.

Speaking of Soul, the albino scythe was snoozing lightly on the couch beside her, leaning slightly towards her with his white locks resting on her shoulder. If it weren't for the drool coming out of his mouth, Maka might have found it endearing, but instead her attention was focused solely on the TV. Any other day she might have paused to stroke his soft hair (or maybe drawn on his face or something, just so that she didn't feel weird just admiring him) but instead she was filled with fascination and worry for her friends. They had just aired Kai and Black*Star's emergence into the first level of the maze. So far the assassin and his Scottish weapon were in the lead, but they were closely followed by Snow and Tsubaki as well as the Kai look-alike. Maka couldn't remember her name.

The girl looked so much like Maka's friend that the only way she was able to distinguish the two was the way they moved, and how they decided to move – which really was different. Kai was always orbiting around Black*Star, never straying too far from his side. Her movements were quick and precise, but she thought like a partnered weapon. The other girl, however, moved like a predator. Quick, soft footsteps, the speed of a striking snake and the precision of a master. Certainly a force to be reckoned with, but something was bothering the ash blonde. Something tickling the back of her mind.

Maka's instincts were telling her that something was off about this new girl, but she couldn't connect the puzzle pieces. Something was missing.

Mulling it over, Maka continued to watch.

Author's Note: Alright, more action in the chapters to come! The Endless Maze will end up being a 5 part chapter, so the next three chapters are all full of action and brilliance! :D Yay!