Labyrinthine Doubts

A new wind blew through the open fields of Atlantis. The course changed from the reluctant end with Miltiades to a new danger. Well-worn flat stones laid out an intricate pattern, yet of no purposeful design. Mixed amongst the stone, large rock slabs jutted up a full four meters creating walls and in some places pathways.

Equally unaware of his friends’ conditions, Yuki forced himself to keep stepping back to avoid being clipped by a rising stone wall. Each time he tried to give himself the pause to concentrate on creating his Law something interrupted him. The latest came under one of his feet, nearly knocking him off balance with its speed. He staggered back against the neighboring wall. ‘Damn! I can’t even get a second to stop to think! I swear he’s purposely trying to keep me from using my Kasuo-ryoku!’

Chapter 120 – Labyrinthine Doubts

Yuki stood back up straight getting his footing. Behind him, walls already brushed over his escape. ‘I’ve got to get out of this and find that annoying bastard!’ He ran out for the open area he saw dodging a few of the walls created. It felt like he gained ground as less surrounded him. ‘I’m almost out!’ However, several walls drew in at once to dead end his path. His fist pounded against the erected wall in frustration. ‘So close…but I guess he won’t be making this easy…’

Stuck for the moment, Yuki tried to take the time to sketch a new course of action. Metal spikes from the solid stone shot up at him. He narrowly avoided the spikes, but his tunic was less fortunate. A few tears carved in the weave. ‘He really isn’t letting me stop!’ Yuki bounced around the narrow hall to return to hopefully safer ground.

The moment he came to a stop his foot suddenly gave, depressing a raised stone block. The grinding from stone against stone was enough for him to panic and jump away. He managed to dodge the set of five small arrows as a result. ‘What sort of Field is this?! It’s like it is a maze with traps that are overused in adventure stories!’ His question soon answered itself when he realized that was exactly what it was. ‘Damn it! And if I can’t concentrate on my powers he’s going to kill me before I even get to him! This is such a lame way to die!’

Not wishing to remain blocked in the dead end corner, Yuki rushed off to backtrack where he knew another exit waited. ‘I just have to get out…’ Less than careful footwork set off three more traps in the process varying from sharpened metal shooting out to crushing walls. The only thing that saved him was not stopping. At the end before turning the corner, he looked back feeling the pounding in his chest from recklessness that leaked to his heart. ‘Maybe I shouldn’t do that again…’

However, he turned his eyes back to his new direction and saw some of the maze not constructed yet. He ran for the exit not considering traps, despite his previous thoughts. The stretch of hall didn’t try to attack him and he saw wide brush strokes of green fields.

A new wall painted in to block him, but he wasn’t going to give up. Yuki lunged for the wall hoping to clear it, but hit the wall painfully in the face. His hands nimbly grabbed the top of the wall still rising. ‘Not quite as planned, but this will work!’ Yuki lifted himself up to the top of the wall.

New height on the maze gave him a better view. In the distance, he saw the Atlantean that trapped him. He couldn’t see well from the distance, but he saw a darkly shaded figure in a cloak with metal plates reflecting the sunlight back at Yuki. ‘He’s oddly armored for not even trying to come after me. I wonder—’ The sudden displacement of his feet cut off Yuki. “What?!”

Yuki fell back down to the stone floor. He rolled away minimizing the damage and fell into the adjoining hall. “What just happened?” In front of him, the wall that he had stood on was no longer present. He could see into the other hall. “Right…annoying powers…”

At the center of the maze, Antipas stood calmly monitoring everything within the reach of his Field. The current progress of Yuki had him very intrigued. ‘He’s quick on his feet even without his Law and he already found one of the weaknesses too… He’s definitely a dangerous one… I must bring him down in the labyrinth if possible…’ He introduced the next step to the maze, withholding it before to conserve on mental strength.

A new groaning of stone scraping against stone from above alerted Yuki. He looked up to see his sky painted out with a ceiling introduced. Yuki clenched his fists together at the new sign. ‘Making this even more difficult for me? Now I can only find an exit.’ No longer interested in staying, Yuki hurried off down his new hall. Becoming more aware of the traps, he proceeded through with greater caution. Unfortunately, they weren’t always easy to spot. He had to dodge large axe-like blades swinging through. ‘He’s just a book of clichés…but I guess if it is effective…’ Yuki trudged onward.

Yuki struggled to find his bearings in the maze. The more that he navigated the halls the more it became uncertain if an exit was near. His lack of a view of the sky made his sense of direction even worse. Only complicating matters were the traps. He had so much focus on staying alive and not triggering a trap that Yuki forgot his position in the Field. ‘This maze can’t be that big. It still has to all fit into that guy’s Field… Am I going in circles?’

Back in the center, much of the walls disappeared to make room for the necessary parts of the maze. It gave Antipas far more room and allowed him to keep making steps towards Yuki to ensure that he remained in his Field. Even if the traps hadn’t injured Yuki yet, he just had to wait it out until he made a mistake. ‘As things are, I can keep him completely directionless by removing walls and making new paths.’ He raised his hand to his chin thinking for a moment on the situation. ‘I may have to add something else soon if I can’t trick him…’

Dodging traps for Yuki became easier the more he experienced each type. He hadn’t stumbled across a new one for a little bit. It gave him a growing sense of confidence in the maze. Unfortunately, the exit still eluded him. ‘Where is the stupid exit?! I’ve got to be getting closer!’ Yuki darted around the next corner wanting, but not hoping for the end. The hall looked just like the last one.

Settling in more to the trapped feeling with potentially no escape brought Yuki to a pause. He found what seemed like a safe spot. His mind had been wondering lately, but he forced himself back on task. However, the reprieve made him go back.

‘She saw it somehow…’ Yuki remembered the brief events before the enemy split them up. ‘Yumi seemed to have a good handle on the group, but I guess I didn’t pay that close attention. I wonder if Yumi is safe? I have to deal with this guy and make sure she’s safe! She’s not like Saki, Seiji or Haruo.’

Yuki looked around the hall and remembered the bothersome situation that he had in front of him. ‘But I have to figure out a way out of this before that…’ He pushed off his back from the wall, no longer leaning. His fist tightened, forcing determination back into his body. ‘Alright! I’ve got to stop standing around here doing nothing! Being somewhere safe won’t get me out of this maze any sooner!’

After drawing his resolution, Yuki started down the hall. He made it as far as the next turn before he came to a stop. His features drew flat for a moment with his thoughts finally catching up to reality. “If there’s traps I just have to stand still and I won’t be hit! I’ll have the time I need to concentrate!” Yuki gripped his head in his hands angry at his own absentmindedness. “Why didn’t I think of that sooner?! I’m such an idiot!”

Panting a little heavy from getting excited with his stupidity, Yuki finally calmed down. “Just need a few moments to focus.” His breathing evened out as his mind began the construction. The Law was still new to him, so it took him longer to sort everything out. ‘…a little longer…’ He needed more time to focus. Time dragged on slowly, even longer. Yuki went longer still in silence.

A sudden headache shot into his head followed by lightheadedness. His feet buckled a little, staggering him dangerously close to a trap. Yuki threw out his hand against the wall for support to stop his movement. His free hand pressed to his face grasping at the pain. ‘What the hell? I…’ It felt like someone took sandpaper to his skull sending the vibrations through him.

Finally opening his eyes, a haze surrounded him. ‘What’s going on? I can barely see!’ Yuki slid down the wall collapsing to the floor. The pain in his head lessened a little as he could open his eyes more. From the stone floor, he saw an end to the blur that covered his eyes. A thick fog hovered in the air in the hall, carrying a foul dark red tint. Yuki slowly turned his head up trying to understand the situation. ‘Is that what’s…making me…feel like this?’

Yuki forced himself to his feet and felt the resurging wave of pain through his head. The quick rise ran the stabbing to the backs of his eyes making him fall backwards in surprise. A low yelp came from Yuki before he realized that he set off a trap by accident.

Several spinning blades lowered from the ceiling quickly in descent for him. Nothing in his mind thought straight. He rolled through on reflex, still grasping at his face. He awkwardly avoided three of the blades, but the fourth dug into his forearm soaking in blood from him. The sting from the wound went completely oblivious to him as he tried to clear the area.

Arrows, spikes, crushing walls and blades all came after him in his haphazard escape. There was too much for Yuki to see and avoid with the grating in his head distracting him. Only his speed kept him from coming out worse. He collapsed to the floor beyond the fog and in a non-trap laden section of the maze.

The tunic on Yuki had a series of cuts and tears with blood soaking into the edges. Yuki came out with only minor cuts. Even the first slice on his forearm didn’t look nearly as bad after investigation. ‘Got lucky…’ He propped himself up against the wall to take a moment to recover, but the red fog started to build around him again. ‘Damn! Got to move again…’

Antipas continued to analyze the situation. He adapted the maze as he followed Yuki’s movements. “It took him longer to realize that he could stand still… Hmm, was him discovering the weakness before a coincidence? Well no matter, he’s starting to realize that I won’t allow him to linger long enough.” The slower, less direct route was safer for him. He heard what happened to Eusebios in his encounter with the rogue MP user. Protecting himself from the danger that he presented was more important than a fast victory. ‘This victory will show my worth to the Captain.’

While the young man in his very early twenties was skilled, graduating from the academy gave him the only proof of that skill. Antipas had barely even received his posting to the South Gate before the incursion. The opportunity to play a critical role in saving Atlantis from the greatest threat since the rebellion almost thirty years ago would be no better accolades for him. ‘I don’t know what your reason for invading was, but I’ll capture you and protect the peace! This may be only a reconnaissance but I won’t let this chance pass! I’ll come back alive and with a prize!’ Antipas reflexively clenched his fists together feeling the tension building from his thoughts.

Staying ahead of the red fog proved as difficult as avoiding setting off the traps. Yuki felt a consistent lingering feeling of unease swimming through his head. It didn’t build up as strongly as the headache he felt before. He assumed that even in areas he thought to be safe still had some of the fog. ‘This fog is even worse than the traps! Even if I wanted to try to focus while on the move, this ever so slight headache is making it difficult to concentrate!’ His frustration made him slip up and triggered a crushing wall to come in front of him.

Yuki stayed back letting the trap go, but a brief thought came to him. ‘I wonder if there’s anything behind it that I can use as a shortcut…’ He didn’t get much of a look before the wall returned back, but all he saw was a painted darkness. ‘Figures with these powers, making something impossible is possible.’ The strengthening of his headache signaled the dead end and his need to move. Yuki didn’t move as cautiously , forcing another trap. It took him by surprise, making him slow to react. He jumped onto the wall using the gaps for traps not sprung yet for foot and hand holds. ‘…damnit…’

Once the spikes from the floor fell back, Yuki let out a sigh and relaxed his body against the wall. Unfortunately, the wall held another trigger, which he realized a moment too late. “Come on! You’ve got to be kidding me!” Yuki quickly scrambled along the wall escaping the arrowed shot from the gaps he, a moment before, used as handholds.

He kept climbing along the wall, forgetting to get back down. “This is so lame! Why do I have to keep setting off traps? This is already getting old! If you can’t come up with something new, switch to someone else! I bet Saki wants some screen time!” Yuki came to a stop after clearing three lengths of halls. “Why can’t I just defeat this jerk off-screen and move on to something more interesting!” Silence laughed in the empty hall at Yuki. ‘Damn, this would be more comedic with a second person to retort against…’

Another sigh came from Yuki with his rant completed. Yuki looked around the hall trying to figure out where he had taken himself. “In all of the yelling I sort of forgot where I was going…” He saw the ground below him and a thought suddenly came to him. His eyes scanned the hall quickly. “Hmm…I see…”

“Where is he?” questioned Antipas. He scanned his maze in search of Yuki, but could find nothing. The labyrinth didn’t allow him to see Yuki, but he had other methods. He tracked him without fault since the beginning, yet he had lost the signal. Antipas began moving and shifting walls trying to turn him up. Nothing he attempted gave him any success. “What’s going on?!”

An explosive roar blasted through several walls throwing smoke into the air. The smoke threw all the way back to Antipas blowing against him and blanketing the Field. He threw up his arms to keep the smoke from his eyes. “What?!” Once the smoke lowered to the ground clearing up much of the Field, Antipas could see through the ruined walls. Antipas’ eyes widened suddenly. “How’s that possible?!”

Through the rubble standing in a Field of knee high grass, Yuki bore his fighting clothing with a faint glow about him. His arm remained extended out in front of him. An eager smirk rose on his face with his freedom granted. “Time that I put an end to this!”