Labyrinth of Hell

Chen sighs, “Well, at least that explains your unorthodox strength and swiftness from earlier. After all my experience, I never thought I’d have someone as scrawny as you beat me in a hold.”

“So you are from the military after all.” I say while still laughing, “You definitely seem the type, so I had hoped my assumption was correct.”

Chen’s expression becomes aggressive once again. “Women aren’t allowed into the military where I’m from.”

“And just where are you originally from, Miss Chen?”

“Mrs. Chen.”

“You, of all people, were married?”

Chen cracks her neck and grits her teeth, “Word of advice…”

Before I could move an inch, or even realize what would happen next, Chen rushes towards me and lands a direct hit against my unguarded jaw.

“...it doesn’t take much to set me off!” Chen finishes.

After flying backwards, and landing awkwardly on my head, I eventually manage to stand back up on my feet. The pain subsides quickly, but my body is still not in tune with my new gift, to the point that even moving around still feels painful.

“Well damn. What a woman…” I uncomfortably speak out while trying to fix my jaw.

SCREECH!

My attention fully turns to the large swift bird monster that had previously been after Chen and I before we managed to get into the safe zone. It was only then that I realized that Chen had punched me outside of the safe zone, and left me like a lamb to the slaughter.

Hah. Seriously…what a woman.

However, unlike with the previous situation, the large swift bird has its wings up in the air, as if trying to fend me off from it. The swift bird continues to scream, while backing away slowly.

Huh? Who is supposed to be the prey and predator here?

Finally, the realization hits me, as I remember the strange form that Chen had taken, and the strange form that had surely overtaken me.

A sense of boldness returns to me, “Oh that’s right! You must not have what it takes to beat me now, do you?! You were just waiting here quietly for the safe zone to disappear, until you could make your move and kill the both of us as you please!”

SCREECH!

“Well look who’s running away now?! Come on then! Let’s have it!” I yell while flapping my arms up and down, taunting it as it continues to retreat.

Finally, after a fun bit of taunting the monster until it completely retreats and flies away, I turn my attention back towards the safe zone behind me. Upon reentering the zone, I look to see a defenseless Chen already laying down to sleep.

“...just like that?” I ask.

“Just like that.” Chen responds with a yawn.

“...for someone so distrustful of me earlier on, you’re looking awfully comfortable now.”

Chen remains silent. I look back towards where I encountered the swift bird monster, before returning my gaze to Chen’s slim back.

“You know, I thought for a second you left me for dead.”

“You have a mark. Goodnight.” Chen replies quickly.

“And what exactly is this…mark?”

“...ugh. A curse. A blessing. Whatever it is, congratulations. You have one.”

“Just like you, huh…”

“...yeah. Just like me.”

“And if we didn’t have it?”

“Then we’d already be dead. Now goodnight.”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa! I still have a lot of questions, you kn-!”

Before I have the chance to finish my statement, I find the blade of a dagger placed neatly underneath my chin. I put my hands up carefully to show my surrender.

Just how quick is she?

Chen groans, and the Chinese deity that has returned atop her head begins to speak for her in a deep voice , “Unlike you, I have been here for a much longer while, and need some sleep before I set out again. Keep interrupting my sleep, and I’ll do worse than leave you out to the Tori.”

…Tori?

Chen returns back to her previous horizontal position, and the divine form she possesses leaves her once more. In about less than ten seconds, she already begins to snore.

She even falls asleep fast!

I lay myself directly beside Chen, and continue to stare at her face. Her pale skin compliments her naturally long eyelashes well, along with the snow pink lips that her faint snoring ensues from.

Signum Bestia. Signum Malefica. The ‘Mark of the Beast’…and the ‘Mark of the Witch’.

I continue to stare at her forehead, longing greatly for the insignia to return to light once more. I can feel my throat beginning to dry, as my tongue begins to water in remembrance of the images circling within my mind.

I…really, really want it.

***

Slowly prying my eyes open to see what lies in front of me, I am greeted by even more darkness. The freezing touch of the hollow sand remains against my naked feet and hands, as well as the strange noises coming from different monsters across the halls.

Haaa. I was right. This whole thing really hasn’t been a dream.

The screams begin to relay across the halls even louder.

“Shut up already! Damn birds!” I yell out, exasperated from my reality.

…no, wait.

“Tori, right? She called them Tori.” I ask myself.

“Oh, you know their counter names, do you?”

My attention snaps towards my right, revealing a strange man with a full grey beard and slick blonde hair. Looking around, I see two others within the nearby vicinity, both wearing different but better apparel than that of the former party I had been stuck with. I then quickly turn to my left, only to realize that Chen has already disappeared.

…I should have seen that coming.

I let out a long and confident sigh, “Listen. I don’t think you guys would want to bother me. And I’m just talking about me specifically, here. Go do whatever you want to others.”

“Oh…and why is that, oh great one?” The bearded man asks sarcastically.

“I’m…not in the mood to answer your questions. Just leave me alone. Or I will kill every one of you.”

“My apologies. I’m sure you need some time after your long rest.”

“...long, rest?” my voice begins to coarse.

“Well, yes. You’ve been asleep now for almost three days. My party and I assumed you were dead considering none of the Tori came to kill you, but the quakesands also haven’t come to collect you just yet, so we were curious. We then decided to use you as a recovery point until our curiosity could settle. Sorry about that.”

“...recovery point?” I say as my confidence begins to wane.

“Whenever we venture out, we always make sure to have a recovery point. Normally that would be a safe zone of white feathers, or a nest to be exact. There haven’t been any safe zones lately, which is odd enough. But you, yourself, seemed to be a good recovery point, since Tori typically don’t seem to appear near this specific area anymore.”

The memory of the swift bird retreating instead of fighting dances across my mind. In that moment, I then turn towards my hands and feet, but can no longer see signs of the mark’s powers that had coursed through me before.

How strange.

The bearded man lights what appears to be a torch wrapped with the rags, prompting the two others to do the same with their own, and place the torches around the area to give off a proper light. The illumination makes their faces clearer to see, but also does well to prove that all the white feathers have now disappeared.

“The name’s Christoph. I’m originally from Germany, but ended up here just like the rest.”

Christoph points to the others, “These two are Zadek and Kedaz, twins from the Arabian Peninsula. They’re the trackers of our party, while I operate as the butchineer.”

I turn towards Christoph with a very confused expression, “What do you mean by butchineer?”

Christoph taps the fine looking apparel he is wearing, before throwing three small knives into the air. As they land, I notice three different types of content that make up for their blades. I grab all three of my new weapons, and inspect them properly.

Emerald…Sapphire…and Black Diamond. Black…Diamond? The first creatures I saw with the black diamonds…my longsword’s quartz blade…

“So…it’s you that made the weapons and clothing that people use here.” I end with a smile.

“Haha, well, it’s not just me.” Christoph laughs, “I am just the first to make use of the materials the Tori have, and then taught a few others how to do the same.”

Suddenly, Christoph pulls out a longsword from the area behind him, and tosses it over to me. “Lennon is one the few I taught, so I know his work when I see it. But considering how close in proximity this particular weapon was to you instead of him, I assume you took it for yourself, didn’t you?”

I grab hold of the longsword and inspect the quartz material, seeing that it hasn’t been damaged too greatly. With that putting me at ease, I look back towards Christoph, and lower my head in gratitude.

“Thank you for returning my weapon. I was sure that I had lost it forever.”

“My, huh?” Christoph’s laughter ensues once more, “ I see you’ve already assumed authority over it. Lovely.”

“What is mine is mine.” An image of Chen’s mark flashes across my mind, “Along with what is sure to come.”

“A greedy one, aren’t you?” Christoph laughs until he begins to cough, “Sorry about that. You’re just one of the more interesting characters that I’ve met in this eerie place. I guess I’ve taken a liking to you.”

“And the same to you,” I end with a soft smile.

“How long have you been here? By the looks of it, I’m guessing about a month, right?” Christoph asks while revealing a strange cigarette, cleanly rolled up with rag material surrounding hollow sand.

Is that even possible? Hmm. A sharp and innovative mind like his will be useful.

“Well…” I begin to mumble to myself, “...considering you said I’ve been asleep for almost three days…and the couple of hours I spent with the others…hmmm…”

Christoph lights his cigarette, using rag material and Tori blood.

“...I’d have to say three days?” I say out loud.

Christoph immediately spits out his cigarette, choking on his inhalation in the process.

“WHAT?!” Christoph yells.

“Three days. I’ve been here for three days.” I repeat with a soft smile.

“...how in the…shouldn’t you still be a child then? These two youngins here have only been here for two weeks.”

My soft smile remains, “A lot of things happened.”

Christoph looks towards me, clearly taken aback by the answer I had given him. He then looks over towards Zadek and Kedaz, and beckons for an interesting hardened rag material with sign language. He then takes out what appears to be an insect’s stinger, and starts writing on the hardened rag material.

“Well that’s certainly different. Perhaps sleeping for three days resulted in such growth? Do you remember any feelings of joint pain during your sleep?” Christoph asks while turning to look at me properly. My focus remains on the stinger, prompting Christoph to shake it in the air to catch my attention once again, “Oh, this is the stinger of an InsecTori, killed on the fifty sixth floor above. I have a few more if you’d like one.”

“...huh? Fifty sixth floor? Insec…Tori? What are you talking about?”

Christoph pauses, before setting down his innovative but strange looking notepad and pen.

“I see. You really weren’t kidding about how long you’ve been here. Although with that said, it makes even less sense why you’re not dead…no offense.”

“Yeah, none taken.”

Christoph sighs, before standing up properly and walking towards Zadek and Kedaz. “This isn’t a dream world, which I’m sure you’ve already surmised. It’s a place with all sorts of tricks and mysteries that must be solved in order to escape from, but with limited tools and knowledge accessible to those who are spawned here. The monsters are birds, but we acknowledge them by the name Tori. And the halls are often unending, while constantly moving out of place. Making detailed maps won’t be worth anything for longer than a few days.”

Chen’s map that she had shown to Lennon’s party pops into mind.

So she faked the map to gain their trust, using her witch mark to do the work for her instead.

Hah. What. A. Conniving. Little. B-

“I guess no one has properly introduced you yet, so allow me to do the honors…or in this case, the horror sounds more appropriate.” Christoph continues, flailing his arms into the air, appearing almost like a villain announcing his own entry. “Welcome…to the Labyrinth of Hell, filled with vile and grotesque bird monsters across all sixty six floors that will do anything they can to keep you from reaching the top! In dying here, not only will you be caressed by the bosom of the hall’s floors, but will also be forced to relive this nightmare over and over again until your mind breaks and turns you into a pile of laughing bones!”

Christoph lowers his outstretched arms slightly, along with his head. Zadek and Kedaz follow suit in lowering their head in front of me, prompting what looks like an array of performers awaiting applause.

“Welcome…to Torynth!”