Chapter 9: The Maze of Lost Souls

Cedric exclaimed, “They’ve found us already! Quick, get away Cogito!”

Confused, I asked, “What’s happening?”

“They got Gratus.”

“Wha—?”

Before I could ask what happened to Gratus, I felt someone grab onto my arm. My head was trying to process everything that was happening. I didn’t have enough information.

“Where are we going?”

“Shut up.”

Cedric was darting around in what seemed like random directions.

‘Crap, are we being followed?’

I tried to follow him without stumbling over, but I every other second, I would trip over a tree root or run into a branch. It was impossible to see where he was going, or for a matter of fact where I was going, because of the darkness.

‘Wait. How is he able to see?’

The only benefit of the darkness was that I could devote more attention to my audio and tactile senses. The suddenness of the situation also heightened my senses, but I was not blessed to venture into darkness. All I could do was stabilize my breathing and focus on following Cedric’s movements. That is, until I ran into him. He had stopped moving.

I nudged him in the back.

“They got us, too.”

‘Really? I guess it’s okay to speak now?’

“Explain.”

“We are trapped in one of Procella’s eternal traps, Turbavi’s Maze of Lost Souls.”

‘Turbavi?’

“Well, I can’t see anything. How can you see?”

“My eyes are imbued with light so I can always see into the darkness.”

‘Huh? But didn’t Gratus use Conscpicio on me when Des Peravi attacked us?’

I don’t know how he knew, maybe because he could see the confused look on my face, but he added, “Unlike me, Gratus can share his light with other people. For now, you’ll have to trust me.”

I was skeptical but shrugged my thoughts aside when Cedric moved forward again, dragging me with him.

“So… When did we enter into this maze?”

“Ever since we entered Procella.”

“What?! Then why bother running in the first place?” I was exasperated.

Cedric didn’t reply. He continued to drag me forwards.

‘At least he’s not darting around all over the place. Maybe I should trust him more. He can be a little too reckless and naïve for my tastes, but he’s sincere. He even betrayed Anna for Gratus’ sake, though I can’t be sure he’d do that for me. But what can I say? During the Rift, at least he tried to do something, unlike me. Building a safe havens for people to go to… ’

I didn’t feel good thinking about the past.

‘Ugh… Where are we? I’ve lost sense of all direction.’

All I had was Cedric’s hand, guiding me through the maze.

‘Huh? Why’d we stop?’

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

“What do you mean?”

As he questioned me, I felt his hand leave my arm as I was pushed towards the ground.

‘Did he just push me? What’s happening?’

I couldn’t understand.

“He left you.” A voice whispered in my ear.

I turned my head, but I couldn’t see anything.

“Who are you?”

“Don’t you know? He left you all alone in the darkness to save himself.”

I scrambled up to my feet while trying to use my arms to feel around.

‘Where am I? I don’t even feel any trees around me, let alone grass on the ground.’

“You were betrayed. Don’t you get it?”

“Stop whispering to me! It’s creepy!” I shouted while swinging my fists around at the hallow darkness surrounding me.

The voice chuckled.

“What the heck Cedric?!”

Then another voice chuckled along with the first, and more after, cascading into an endless wave of creepy laughter. To be honest, it was starting to get on my nerves. The whispers were coming from all directions and distances. My mind was going crazy.

I stuttered, “C-C-Cedric!”

The voices continued to laugh at me.

“Don’t you get it? You’re going to die alone in this darkness!”

“It’s not true. Get away from me!”

I wanted to deny the whispers, but I couldn’t deny the reality of my current situation. Cedric had left me alone in the darkness and was not replying back to me.

The whispers grew louder and teased me without end, “All alone. All alone. All alone.”

“No!”

I tried shutting my ears with my hands, but the whispers didn’t stop. I could still hear them somehow. The whisper grew louder. I felt like the invisible entities were drawing closer to me.

“It’s true! In fact, he already escaped by himself. Why else would he let go of you? He knew he was your only guide through the darkness.”

My head was spinning. I was succumbing to the whispers in the darkness.

“Get away from me!”

I flailed my arms about but was forced to the ground by something that had leapt on top of me. Something was pinning me to the ground. It opened its eyes and I could see a set of red eyes glaring down at me. It seemed to be taking pleasure in my pitiful state of confusion.

“Stop laughing at me!”

I pulled out my spare dagger, but it grabbed my arm and threw me against a tree.

“Snap out of it, Cogito, or else I will kill you!”

It was Cedric. I was staring into his eyes which shined in the darkness.

‘He didn’t leave me.’

I was relieved but was still in a state of confusion.

“Why’d you leave me?”

“Cogito, don’t let the whispers get to you. It is one of the maze’s tactics to get inside your head. Don’t let the maze confuse you.”

“The maze?”

“Turbavi is a living entity that controls the maze. It confuses those who enter its domain with illusions. Don’t be fooled. Just follow me.”

“You should have just told me that before!”

“Sorry. I didn’t know how big of a deal it was since it never affected me.”

*Sigh*

I wanted to punch Cedric in the face, but I let out a long breath and sheathed my dagger instead. Although my head was still a little restless, I calmed my mind and grabbed onto Cedric’s arm.

The whispers spoke to me once in a while but I ignored them.

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As we ventured deeper into the maze, I was able to make out the faint outlines of the trees and surroundings. It wasn’t because my eyes had gotten used to the darkness but because there was light entering the maze from somewhere.

‘Are we close to the exit?’

I was just about to ask Cedric, but he stopped. I look in front and could see the faint outline of a person standing in front of us. The details were hard to see, but I could tell that it was a child, or at least, something that had the height of a child.

We stepped closer.

Cedric didn’t hesitate so I assumed it wasn’t a threat. When we were about five meters away, I could make out the thin strands of long hair flowing behind the child’s back.

‘A girl? Probably not.’

The “girl” was crying. I could hear her sniffing as we approached.

The girl looked up at us and cried, “Help me! Please help me!”

I poked Cedric and whispered, “Let’s just ignore her.”

But he ignored me and asked, “What happened? Why are you in the forest all alone?”

“I wasn’t. My parents and I were separated from each other.”

I tugged at Cedric’s arm and whispered again, “What are you doing? She’s clearly not normal.”

But Cedric didn’t budge. He just stared at the girl.

“You’re right, she’s not normal.”

I raised my eyebrow, “What do you mean? Is it another illusion?”

“No, she’s a lost soul.”

“A lost soul?! Don’t they usually become corrupt and turn into Monstrum?”

“Yes, but this girl hasn’t.”

“Still, she’s wandering. She could become corrupt at any time. Lost souls eventually find their way to darkness if they don’t reach paradise.”

“Then I’ll bring her to Otium.”

“That’s not the paradise I’m talking about!”

“That’s fine. We just need to destroy Turbavi.”

“What are you saying? How are we going to do that?”

Cedric didn’t respond.

“What? You know how to destroy this place?”

Cedric smirked.

“Forget it! We have no reason to save her. It’ll be too much trouble! Even if we do save her, we will need to find her parents first or else she won’t leave, and even if we do find her parents, they are probably corrupted Monstrum by now.”

When the girl heard me say that, she wailed even louder.

“How can you say that? Look at her. You’re so cold, Cogito.”

The girl ran up to Cedric and pleaded, “Please! Help me find my parents!”

Looking down at the child, I noticed a silver necklace hanging from her neck. Tied to the necklace was a rock that caught my attention. The stone was engraved with the letter “M.”

‘It can’t be!’

“Young girl, what’s your name?”

The girl looked at me but sounded like she was going to cry, “I don’t remember…”

‘No way…’

“T-then… Where did you get that necklace?”

“My parents… They gave it to me just before we were separated…”

The girl was about to break into tears, but Cedric interrupted her, “Okay, we will help you.” Then he looked at me and said, “Right, Cogito?”

My mind was racing, but I was still able to reply, “U-uh, y-yeah.”

Hearing Cedric’s offer, she stopped crying and asked, “Promise?”

Cedric nodded his head in approval, but I added, “In exchange… please let me have that necklace of yours.”

The girl nodded and said, “Thank you! But I’ll only give it to you after you help me find my parents!”

Cedric looked at me a little confused but shrugged it off.

“Very well. Then, let’s go.”

I smiled to the girl and crouched down, “Here, I’ll give you a piggyback ride.”

The girl smiled and climbed on my back. She was light, but I felt a heaviness in my heart resurface from the depths of my past. I wanted to forget what had happen during the Rift, what Clautz and Anna did… Maybe it was a big misunderstanding.

‘All I know is what I know and what I have to do.’

I looked forward towards the light at the end of the path we were walking on.

I walked forward towards it, but Cedric laughed behind me and asked, “Where are you going? That’s the exit.”

Turning around I asked, “Can’t I just leave the maze and wait for you outside?”

“Unfortunately, you have the girl. She can’t leave the maze until Turbavi is destroyed.”

Sighing, I walked back towards Cedric while asking, “Well, how are we going to destroy Turbavi then?”

“Believe it or not, Turbavi has a soul. In order to destroy it, we need to destroy its soul. The only problem is that I don’t know where it is.”

The girl smiled and interjected, “I can take you to Turbavi’s soul. I know where it is, but you have to find my parents first.”

I looked at the girl over my shoulder and asked, “Where are you parents?”

“They were attacked by a huge monster before we were separated.”

“What did the monster look like?” Cedric questioned.

“I don’t know. I was too scared, and the monster kept changing its shape.”

Cedric smirked and said, “I think I know who that was.”

I gave Cedric a puzzled look, “Who?”

But he ignored me and beckoned me with a flick of his wrist, “Follow me. I have to talk to Gratus first.”

“What? And how are we going to do that?”

“Look.”

I was confused. What was Cedric talking about? But if there is one thing I’ve come to understand about Cedric, it’s that he always told the truth.

As I looked into the darkness to see if I could find some sort of hint or clue to understand what Cedric meant, my vision grew clearer and clearer.

I muttered in surprise, “What’s happening to me?”

The girl who was clinging onto my back exclaimed, “Your eyes! They’re glowing!”

“What?”

I pulled out my dagger and looked at the blade, which reflected my face. My eyes truly were gleaming with a bright light.

“But why?”

I looked at Cedric for understanding, but he simply kept his signature smirk.

“Well, it looks like we don’t have to find your parents either, girl.”

The girl looked at Cedric in confusion, “What do you mean?”

“Look at the darkness. You can see them, right?”

As Cedric said this, my vision returned to normal. I could now see what he was talking about. I looked into the darkness and saw a group of people walking towards us with Gratus leading the way.