Norbert bolted upright, clutching his stomach as he still felt the phantom pain shooting up his body coming from his mid-section. Staring at his hand, and that it wasn't caked in blood, Norbert panted, happily knowing that he wasn't still skewered.

He pushed himself up off the ground and stayed on his knees as he looked down at his shirt while wiggling his toes. His shirt had no stains at all, no holes or gashes where the figure weapon would have slashed at him.

Looking down at his arm, it was still attached to his body. He stood on shaky legs while clenching his hand, surprised to see it there. After so long, without even thinking, Norbert could feel his purple energy whipping around inside his body, following down the trail it made on its journey, confirming that everything was attached and working as customary.

His hand resting on the hilt of his sword, happy at feeling its weight there. Comforting in the added protection, it would be able to give to himself. Looking down, Norbert slung his backpack again over his shoulder, putting the other half on it, not even knowing when he removed it from his head, the figure with what it could do to him; Norbert knew he needed the most protection as possible, and not having anything else with him that could provide that other than the helmet.

Moving his head around, confirming the helmet wasn't moving around his head, knowing the red lines on the mask glowing with his breath.

Taking a calming breath, Norbert rested, seeing Obsius no longer moving. Leaning towards the torch, no longer afraid of the pink appendages coming out of the figure, knowing that the light wouldn't do anything against it anyway.

Stepping forward, Norbert looked at the light it was creating, the flickering shadows as he leisurely walked the dusty hall. After falling, his scarf no longer protects against the dust invading his body.

Tying it around his head, Norbert confirmed its location so it wouldn't move around or slip. He tried to move it with his hand, confirming the knot would stop the scarf from moving, and covered his eyes, not wanting to imagine what would happen. As a result, he was not being able to see correctly and half blind while swinging his arms wildly, only to get gutted again like a fish.

Walking forward, twirling the torch in his hand, leaving Obsius when something felt wrong. Returning Norbert picked the bird up, tucked it away into his coat pocket and patted affectionately, confirming the bird was still there.

Looking on the ground, seeing the two pink appendages going off into the darkness, Norbert could not see the figure they came from still. Knowing the figure would appear before him, Norbert started whistling, getting into the tune as before.

Petering out after several lines is not the same without someone else intertwining. The part of the game of making noise for others to hear, as the two musicians danced a dance that, although annoying and disturbing to the audience, was still there.

Letting the tune stop on his lips, the last bits of his notes echoing out around the hall, falling on the deaf ears of the bird, frozen and unable to move. As the last part of the song stopped, Norbert could only hear the sound of his footsteps on the ground as he walked around; Norbert wondered if the figure could even hear him when he spoke. Realising it must have some way of talking back to him, Norbert looked ahead, holding the torch high, a giant circle of flickering orange light shining around himself.

Squinting his eyes, still unable to see the figure on the horizon, looking down at the floor, confirming that he was still heading in the right direction, the two pink appendages pointing straight ahead, his little compass to the destination.

He continued to walk forward, seeing the torch he was carrying started to sputter, having gone down so far that it was no longer easily aflame as it was before. Norbert watched as it continued to sputter, the light making the rest of the hall seem darker. Looking back to the ground, confirming he still couldn't see the figure, Norbert wondered what was taking them so long.

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All of the other times, they would have shown up by now, even when he was meditating to control better the energy still coursing inside him to keep the freezing nature of the two appendages at bay. Norbert wondered what was wrong with it.

Thinking back to the fight, remembering both of the damage they took on the last exchange, Norbert still felt the blade sunken into his body, completely maiming him, the memory reminding him of the maze room, where the metal split his body in two.

Walking quickly, Norbert wondered what had happened to the figure that had been tormenting him for so long. All the other times Norbert had interacted with it, they had appeared by now. Norbert continued walking, wondering why all this internal thought about the figure hadn't spawned him in, already swiping at his head from behind.

Quickly, Norbert spun around on the ball of his foot, looking behind himself. Confirming the figure wasn't there, already prone and striking at him, Norbert relaxed his breathing. The hairs on the back of his neck stood up. Slowly turning around, Norbert looked behind himself, holding his breath as his hand lowered to the hilt of his dagger in case he needed to quickly remove it from its sheath.

The figure was standing there, not ten meters away, just watching him. Looking at the hood, Norbert assumed the figure was looking from and staring at where its eyes would be.

The two stared at Norbert, not seeing anything, drawing his suspicion to the figure. Norbert stood there, holding his breath as he looked down; he only knew seeing the two pink appendages coming off the figure's body was who he was, confirming within Norbert that it was the same as before.

Breathing out slowly, Norbert whistled as he did so, looking at the figure while he did it. Changing the pattern to no longer be a single long note, but multiple short clippie ones, ending before it should be as it rises and falls throughout the scales.

Looking at the figure, Norbert did this for the entire breath he had saved, finishing the whistling while staring at the figure, wondering what would happen now as his music slowly echoed around the hall before petering out.

The figure was still standing there as Norbert had seen him, not moving at all. For several moments, Norbert waited, wondering if the figure would do anything in response; even walking away at this point would be better than the two of them just standing there staring at each other.

Phooweet

Norbert looked closely at the figure and heard his tune whistled back to him, the same notes and clipping nature he did on his own. Completing the sequence, the figure finished off, and Norbert heard the whistling sound Peter off, bouncing off the halls until only silence remained.

Norbert smiled at the figure, grinning as a thought came about of the tune he would want to do, Norbert whistled the same tune as before, repeating the number of times as Norbert waited, counting each time he would repeat.

Smiling through the whistling, he heard the figure start to whistle again, having enough time for Norbert to wait there. Having gone through five loops of the first tune, Norbert changed it, using the same beat as he started to whistle.

When the figure finished the five and started to change, Norbert was already planning as they whistled together, their beats matching up as he intertwined a song.

Unlike his other ones, he played it for nobody else to hear; the figure Norbert didn't try to play something heinous; instead, he played something melodic.

As Norbert continued going through it, the whistling became more and more complex, continuing it forward.

Finishing it off, Norbert listened to what he was hearing from the figure, a tear welling in his eyes at the creation he had just made. The tears formed, knowing he would never be able to recreate the song again, the only witnesses being himself, the figure in front of him, and the hall he was currently trapped in, patting his coat pocket, confirming Obsius was still asleep.

Norbert wondered what had happened with the bird, having just gone quiet for so long, but accepted it was part of this hall, which Norbert was trapped in.

The figure finishing their song, Norbert bowed to him, righting himself. Norbert stepped forward, watching as the figure stood there, unmoving.

A meter away, Norbert saw the figure bow as well, though they remained where they were, not stepping forward like Norbert had been.

In front of the figure, Norbert saw a hand shoot out from underneath the cloak. He looked at them, wondering what the trick was, trying to scare him one last time. Norbert smiled behind his helmet and scarf, knowing the figure wouldn't be able to see it behind his helmet but hoping it would be seen within his eyes.

Norbert looked down at the hand he had shown, the same blackness of the figure and moved his hand forward, grasping it. Feeling this time substance around it, Norbert shook the f, the figure's hand with a figure squeeze.

The figure, nodding its head, leaned forward again.

"Time." It said, as suddenly, when the figure released its hand from Norbert, he instantly froze, unable to do anything or stop it in any way. The figure turned around as it disappeared, the last thought on his mind as his mind froze over being, "At least they are smiling."