It wasn’t surprise that woke her up, or really any part of the dream. If it was anything, it was just sudden. After hearing Zokel’s voice from outside the tent, she figured there was no point in staying there. She went out and was welcomed by the gazes of all the others.
“Great, you’re all awake now,” Zokel mumbled, notably satisfied. “That means I can start explaining those dreams before you all start asking annoying questions. If any of you consider yourselves smart, then you should’ve already figured something out by now. I don’t know much about the first part; it was just something that happened to you that you would have otherwise been fine forgetting, something you more likely than not consider an insignificant part of your life. It was just meant to make you ready for what happened second—to open your minds to the possibility of looking past what you thought you would need to know.
“You’ve met those people. Not just in the sense that you share a part of yourselves with them, but also by past experiences. They were the Keys that came before you; Minne, Kiraat, Zenas, Umber, and Takane. You probably didn’t see much about them, not even about the two that were still alive. If I had to guess, it was like knowing this wasn’t you yet following along with it anyway. Fos don’t dream so I can’t comprehend what that must feel like. You might not think it served much of a purpose, but it really did. In those few moments, some of their knowledge was shared with you. Should you wish, you can remember bits and pieces of things that only they should be able to understand; the most important of these things would be the stories their guardian would tell them.
“Their guardian told them stories about the Caverns and the Keys. He would talk about how Peiros created them, and how Theran was trapped. From when the youngest was three until he died, he recalled the stories of how a hero came and slew the Minotaur. He gave warnings about the beast that still lurked there and gave advice were they ever to try to find an entrance. All of that knowledge should now be available to you. Do check all of those memories for answers before you ask me. I’m sure you can find most of them on your own if you’d just stop and put some effort into it.”
Samone didn’t need to think about it much before she knew that it was true. Before he even finished, she understood what he was talking about. She could recall things that only a younger Ki would; she was glad to realize that it didn’t go any further than what was just related to the Caverns. She didn’t want to be able to be compared to him more than she already could.
Zokel wordlessly began rummaging through their things until he found a map. “First things first. You’ve got a nice general location here but there’s nothing too specific. What you really want is nestled in between these two rivers. You unlocked the main part in Idale, though there’s still something you need to open there to really get in the Labyrinth. It was, after all, created so that no unknowing person would be a feast for the spirit. There’s also stories of alchemical enchantments made by the Fleyw Bresh to keep their hunters out, although I honestly can’t confirm nor deny it. Most have probably worn out by now.”
He almost forcibly put it in Lydia’s hand before gesturing to the camp. “You need to start cleaning up. We’ve got a lot of walking to do and you’re all just going to make it longer.”
“I don’t remember telling you to boss us around,” Kiah muttered as she started working.
“It turns out that we actually agree on something,” Samone remarked. It took her longer to follow everyone else in packing up.
Somewhat surprisingly and inexplicably annoyingly, Zokel ignored them. He must’ve been so ready to end his miserable mission that he wasn’t in the mood to show them how much better he was. Either that or he was too busy commenting on Lydia’s mess. It was nice to know that Fos weren’t chosen for their kindness, at least, should they ever come across another.
They had several days with him demanding things from them. He’d tell them to go faster, talk less, pay more attention to their surroundings, make sure they weren’t getting themselves lost, give some bitter remarks when they actually did make a wrong turn. Samone knew she wasn’t the only one that hoped he would just turn back into a bird—at least that way, the only thing he could do was tweet at them. A bird was easy enough to disregard, especially given their surroundings. Maybe that was why he hadn’t changed, knowing what they’d probably do if he didn’t speak their language.
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The time couldn’t have come sooner for him to announce that they were there Though he quickly proved there were still more ways he could get on their nerves before he finally decided to leave them be.
“I’m not going to be physically present in the Labyrinth,” Zokel explained. He wandered close to the cave’s entrance (which was, surprisingly, rather obvious), only peering inside before walking over to them again. “If you really need me, you’ll find some way to contact me. Otherwise, this is all you. Last I checked the Minotaur wasn’t particularly fond of dreams. You won’t find me or any Skiá down there. Just an angry spirit who’d rather see you all dead.”
“Is that supposed to sound reassuring..?” Dimas mumbled.
“Of course not,” was the definitely-not-helpful response. “What happens down there is completely decided by that spirit. You could barely get two steps in, or you could be one of the only mortals to see the end; he could lay waste to all of you, or you could gain his favor and survive to tell the tale.”
“There’s little point in just standing out here,” Imre decided. “Once everyone’s sure they’re ready, we’ll head in.”
“I’ve got to go write a letter to Zofie.” With that, Dimas walked off. It was hard to tell whether that was his way of avoiding it for as long as possible or if Zofie really was that obsessive. It felt like half of their breaks were started when a wood thrush came with a letter for him—it was that way for most of their trips, really.
Kiah was in no way reassuring, calling after him, “Good luck putting it into words! I bet she’ll love to hear how screwed you are!”
“We’re not gonna die,” Lydia remarked. “I mean, we haven’t died yet. We’ve done tons of stupid things before and we survived them. This probably won’t be any different.” She remained the only one who wasn’t fazed at all about the nature of this mission. It had long stopped being reassuring, instead mildly worrying at this point.
“They say the goblins and fairies of Aspea were so scared of the Minotaur, they made child sacrifices to it,” Kiah mused casually with the intent of proving Lydia wrong. “There was one kid who made it back out again just to tell the gory tale of what happened. Turned out it didn’t play nice with those little offerings, but it sure did take joy out of killing and eating them. Even when it died, it still wanted to mess with them. A couple unsuspecting kids might find themselves prey to it if they wander too closely.”
Lydia glared. “Why does every goblin story need to be dark?”
“We’re not the Fleyw Bresh. We don’t sugarcoat our stories so they sound good as songs.” Kiah shrugged. “Life isn’t full of a bunch of amazing adventures, unlike what Andrew wants you to believe.”
“Child sacrifices or no, I somewhat agree with Lydia,” Imre said. “It’s not because we haven’t died yet—quite frankly some of those were just luck. As likely as it seems, I don’t think we’re going to die here. At least, I’d like to imagine Father wouldn’t let us go if we were more likely to get killed than come back. We’re all too important.”
“Well, three of us are too important,” Samone corrected off-handedly. “Kiah’s really nothing more than a guard and Lydia’s got two capable siblings and a bunch of cousins. No offense to either of you.”
“I’m more offended by the fact you’re making it sound like Witless might actually be useful for something,” Lydia replied.
Kiah looked indifferent; she knew she was only really there for one reason.
Zokel hummed, a way to show that he was impressed. “That’s the most peaceful exchange the three of you have had since you started this trip. I’m surprised.”
“You said you won’t be staying so why are you still standing there?” Samone questioned. “I’m sure there’s a much better way to spend your time than wasting ours.”
“That’s funny. I think the same thing whenever I come across a mortal.” He even had the audacity to smile at her afterwards. “All you ever seem to do is make insufferable noises, yet Day still wants you to exist. There was a time where I thought there might actually be something more worthwhile than babysitting mortals. I long since lost whatever hope I had for my time to be spent on something that actually matters.”
Then before any of them could comment back, he turned into a swallow and flew off. They could all still see him in a nearby tree, but it was an improvement. At least he was just watching from a distance now instead of right on top of them.
Imre sighed. “We should have everything we’ll need to last down there for a few days. As long as it doesn’t take any longer than that, we’ll be fine.”
“So… no mentioning the part where most people get trapped in the Labyrinth forever,” Kiah remarked. “Gotcha.”
“Maybe it’s different because we’re actually supposed to go there?” Lydia offered. “Being the Keys might mean we can actually navigate through it. That’s a better thought than hoping we die quickly so we don’t have to live there for eternity, anyway.”
“There’s no point in worrying about that now,” Samone pointed out. “We’ll just have to wait and see what happens.”