Chapter 19
The Maze
The night before the final day of the Games offered Meredith the best sleep she’d had all week. There was little worry over her teammates or their standing in the tournament. She hadn’t even cared that every other team was now looking at them as the primary threat after climbing from a loss to within reach of victory. Waking up that morning, Meredith was filled with confidence that they would manage to pull out a win, and nothing would stop that.
Her teammates felt the same…at least as far as they showed it. Eddie was yawning, Vivian was shoveling food in as quickly as she could (and barring Meredith from access to it), while Emil returned from an early morning jaunt around the city.
“Gotta get refreshed, right?” he had said when his team saw him entering. Vivian flicked a muffin over at him, the intention clear when he started to eat it. Meredith took her own, thinking towards the final day that was set to begin.
The very air appeared to buzz with excitement, and from the number of people walking past the inn, there was little doubt as to how many people were flocking towards the stadium. Pre-event shows were blasting over the television and radio, while the innkeeper, himself, looked ready to shut his establishment down for the day. If she craned her head, Meredith could swear to seeing flyers and streamers and all sorts of festive things.
“They’re probably planning on holding a big celebration and stuff after the Games are over,” Eddie said. “Lots of television coverage the whole world over, after all. Gotta spice it up.”
“Speaking of spices, eat this bagel, Eddie! I’m not gonna be to blame if you fall behind,” Vivian managed to get out through her mouthfuls of food. She nearly forced a bagel upon Eddie, but he politely pushed it aside.
“That’s not gonna happen, I promise.”
Meredith smiled, snatching a bagel and some eggs for herself, piecing them together to eat. From above, the now-recognizable steps of Amelia made their way down. She didn’t insult them or demand them to get up, but the quartet finished their breakfasts nevertheless, standing at attention, unless one counted Emil slumping with laziness.
“You all look ready,” the commander said, chewing a muffin, herself. They didn’t respond, and it allowed her the moment to show the first bit of sentiment Meredith had seen from her. Stuffing the muffin in, she grabbed all four of them in the most un-commander-like fashion possible. “Whatever happens on the field, just do your best, kids. I’ll be watching everything, knowing you’ll make the Corps proud.”
“Hey now, don’t shove that on us…” Emil said, attempting to scratch his cheek and pull away from her.
“You’re right, but I thought you should know before heading in.” Amelia let go, backing up to survey them. “Take care of each other on that field.”
“Come on, commander,” Meredith said, a cheeky grin affixed to her face, “we’ve made it this far without killing each other. I think we can make it one more day.”
The commander found that amusing, but the smile faded as fast as her laugh. There was no more time for joking around.
With all that needed to be said, said, the commander took hold of the quartet and began to push them out of the inn, on to the streets of the Metropolis.
As expected, it was teeming with people all heading in the same direction. Some cheered at the team walking by, while others tried to rush them, asking for autographs. Even a television channel tried asking for post-Games interviews. They didn’t take the time to decline them all, or any of them, but increased their pace past the gates of the Metropolis, towards where the coliseum was.
Though it was no different, the stadium’s surroundings had been utterly changed. News vans were parked out front, and helicopters could be heard hovering overhead. People were lining up to get in, while others just marched on through. This included a whole platoon of Guardians, each babbling excitedly about what the final day would portend, not a care in the world. Meredith looked at Amelia once she’d seen that, but the commander wasn’t acting like anything was any different from the previous days.
She supposed, in the end, it wasn’t, unless one counted the gathering of parents that awaited them outside the stadium entrance.
“Look at you, Mera, all prepared to enter the final day. Your brother would be proud,” Meredith’s mother said. She didn’t have the chance to stop her mother and father from showering her with an affectionate hug. Vivian snickered.
“I know we are. To think we’d see our girl on the big screen news in just a couple short months of her leaving home! It’s unreal!”
“Tell me about it…” Meredith mumbled, only to be squeezed tighter by her mother. “I never thought I’d see you leave the garage, either, dad.”
“Like we could miss this. Shame your brother can’t watch, but when he contacts us, we’ll give him a real earful!” her father said, ruffling her hair. She brushed him off, taking the opportunity to tie her hair up into a ponytail. “No matter what, we’re watching every moment and every action.”
“As will I,” Matthew spoke. Her parents finally let go of her, and she faced her mentor, taking his hand. “I should be rooting for Lacardia, or Unda will have it out with me, but I think I can indulge seeing my student compete.”
“You won’t be disappointed. I bet I can take a couple Lacardian students down, myself.”
“Don’t get cocky now,” Vivian scoffed. Meredith’s eyes narrowed across at her, and she returned the expression. “Speaking of…Max, is my father here?”
“Er…yes, about that, Lady Vivian…” Her attendant fidgeted, not finding the right words. Vivian got the message, sighing.
“Yeah, should’ve figured…” she breathed. “Like he’d want to see his failure of a daughter on the final day. Surprised he stuck around as long as he did…”
“Well, he can eat his words when we win the whole thing.”
“Who are you, and what have you done with our son, Eddie?” Meredith took her turn to snicker at Eddie being head-locked by his mother, struggling under her while his father slapped his back with gusto.
“I’m the same Eddie as ever…mooom, let go!” She released him as asked and he dusted his robes off. “I’m just determined to help see this team through to victory!”
“To victory!” Meredith and Vivian cried at once, neither able to hold back their laughter at doing something in tandem in front of the parents. Eddie eventually joined in, but Emil was quiet, hands shoved in his pockets as his eyes entered a cold standoff with his own parents. Meredith’s laughter died down, realizing that they had been there the whole time, exchanging not a single frosty word with their son.
“You have a good team, Emil,” his father said. He twitched.
“Yes, you’ve certainly shown good progress in your magic during the tournament. Have you given thought to what you’ll do after it’s over? Join the Corps? Return to Lacardia?” His mother caused the scowl to crease his face, his near-daily agitation rising to the surface.
“How about neither? You don’t decide for me, and don’t try to fool me like you care about me making my own decisions.” Eddie groaned while Emil pushed past his parents, feet carrying him right for the coliseum. “You’d just do the same thing, all over again. So, don’t even bother being here. We’re winning this and you’ll have nothing to do with it.”
“Emil…” Meredith sighed out, rubbing at her temples with annoyance.
“Come on, guys. Let’s go.” He certainly wasn’t stopping after that statement.
Meredith shared a shrug with the other two and gave a light hug to her parents and teacher. “See you when it’s over.”
There were some nebulous well-wishes and waves, and Max even bowed so agitatedly that her own parents looked at him with concern before inviting him to sit with them. Meredith sped up, crossing into the coliseum lobby to catch up with Emil. Many cheers surrounded them at their team being seen together, which Eddie picked up the slack for by waving.
“Emil, can you not bring your family melodrama into today of all days?”
Emil slowed. “They piss me off. Acting like they care.”
“Get over yourself, idiot,” Vivian snapped, flicking the back of his head. He didn’t react, but only spoke when they reached the stairs to their portion of the stands.
“I’ll show ‘em. This is for me. Everything I do from here on out, everything I accomplish, wasn’t because they made it happen.”
“I’m starting to feel like Viv’s right. Get your head in the game.” This time, Meredith was the one to hit him, dragging him back to reality. He looked over, the sadness in his smile evident before he reached over and clasped the three on the shoulder, one at a time.
“Yeah. Thanks…for everything, and…don’t worry…”
“Emil, what’s up with you?” Eddie asked. The dirty-blond patted Eddie’s shoulder and then breathed in.
“Nothing. Everything will be different for me after today, so let’s face forward.”
“And that’s where I leave you.” Amelia’s humored voice indicated her presence behind them. She brushed her hair back, and walked to the stairs, blocking their path that way and leaning against a railing. “Good luck out there. You’ve got this, peons.”
She walked away, and the crowd’s noise reached a sudden fever pitch. Meredith nodded to herself, and then took the head of their party. At her side was Terrill, ever the silent advocate. She thanked him, and then readied herself for Chapman’s voice to start the day’s events.
It most assuredly came, preceded by the booming of fireworks.
“It’s finally here, and it’s all come down to this!” he screamed, setting each member of their team into a battle-ready stance. “Six days have gone by with fierce competition and thrilling battles. Now it comes to a head on this day, the final day. Today we declare the winner of the Alliance Games, to determine just who the greatest force in the world is!”
“Yeaaaaaah!” The crowd was deafening, and Meredith wondered if it was standing room only. Other, similar, cheers followed, these ones showing support for each of the different factions and teams.
“I’m your host, as always, Freddy Chapman, and with me, as usual, is the esteemed Flame Commander, Royston Masters!”
“Glad to be here for the exciting final day, and if I can drop the neutrality for a moment, I hope the Guardian Corps wins.” That garnered a laugh from the crowd, none more so than the exuberant Chapman, his jowls wobbling from the chuckling on the one visible television screen.
“We’ll know by the end of the day which team reigns supreme,” he said. Chapman faced the camera directly, a giant grin on his face. “And speaking of, it’s time we introduce our teams and get the ball rolling for this most auspicious event!”
As if it had been waiting in anticipation of the announcement, fireworks went off right in the middle of the arena, each a different color and shape. It didn’t take many guesses to figure out who they represented.
“Up first, that team hailing from a scholarly school. They’ll take you above the stars, make your interest multiply while heating up and cooling down. Surfing in on a root to victory, it’s Lacardia!” His words were quite literal, a giant vine crashing through the ground and depositing the magical team right in the center to the yells of adoration from the crowd. Not that their spotlight was long-lived. “Next up, a team that had a rocky start but came through with words and magic blazing: the unexpected, the inimitable…Renegades!”
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There was no flashy entrance this time, just a calm walk on the field that got people talking, but many more celebrating. Vivian scoffed behind Meredith. “Losers…”
“Following up, it’s the team you know and love. That rowdy band of boys and their beautiful boss, it’s Brynn, Edgar, Theo and Gregory of the Home Guard!” The steam explosion that had come from Brynn heralded their arrival, lightning flashing all about the place when the four joined up with the other two teams. Each turned, facing the Corps’ entryway, on tenterhooks for the last announcement. Chapman obliged. “And last, but most definitely not least, from a last place finish to a first-place lead, the squabbling team that has overcome so many odds, stomp your feet and scream for the one, the only, the defenders of our world, the greaaaaaaat… GUARDIAN CORPS!”
Meredith pounded her fists and walked forth. There was nothing flashy, or awe-inducing. No Eddie doing tricks with his magic or Vivian playing up to the crowd. Emil was also cold and quiet. In fact, they only thing Meredith did was raise her arm high into the air, her clasped fist being as a sign of victory.
As expected, the crowd loved it, as did Chapman, who continually gushed over it.
Meredith, approaching the center of the arena, looked at the crowd and all those gathered there. It was packed to the brim. Various Guardians were in the crowd, but many others lined the stands, forced to be on their feet over being in a chair. It was a wild and eclectic mix, with those dressed in fine clothing, to those painted with sporting colors, and even those looking like they’d come from a long journey through the desert or had been on the road for months, just to see this one event.
“This must be big,” Vivian whispered after they pulled to a stop. The blonde tapped Meredith’s shoulder and prompted her to look up to the commentator’s box and what was being displayed on the screen therein.
“Holy cow…is that the president of the Metropolis? And Lacardia?”
“And the alchemic settlement, it would appear,” Eddie concluded. Meredith squinted further, but saw no sign of Marcus or anybody resembling the Corps; Masters had to have counted for that. “Guess they all want to see who takes home the prize.”
Meredith didn’t need to say it out loud for the other teams to recognize a victory declaration. They wordlessly gave their own.
Whether Chapman and Masters had noticed or not, it didn’t seem to matter, because each cleared their throat, the Flame Commander taking point. “Now that all our teams are introduced once again, and the crowd familiar with them, it’s time we introduce our main event, made possible once more thanks to the alchemists and magicians from east and west. Making that all possible are the esteemed leaders of the world, ready to see this marvelous event take place firsthand: President Nelson, President Parradyne and our ever-stoic guild master.”
“Welcome, gentlemen,” Chapman said, bowing his head with reverence, “and welcome all of you. Marvelous is certainly one way to describe this day’s events, because that’s what our final, full-team event is to be called: the Marvelous Multi-Maze Melee!”
Certain that the crowd had absolutely no idea what that meant, they screamed in appreciation for it anyway. That scream doubled when the ground rumbled and a swirl of leaves appeared in the center of the stadium. All four teams backed up, and with a great cracking noise, a four-tier maze began to manifest itself. Larger than what Meredith could have thought possible to make with magic alone, the maze grew outwards, opening up a path to its interior. The construct nearly pushed all the teams out of the ring before it stopped growing, overshadowing all of them, whispering an invitation to the final battle that awaited inside.
“The maze constructed here is what awaits our challengers,” Chapman said, his tone low and mysterious, building the dramatic tension. Meredith found her lips twitching into a smile; she couldn’t wait to get inside. “Four tiers with some open-air spots. Each team will be randomly placed on a single level. The goal: defeat all of the other teams! For each member they defeat, they will add a point to their overall score, and the team with the most points at the end wins!”
“Naturally, all of you will be able to see just what is going on inside the maze with our cameras and crack news crews that have come together for this very special event,” Masters elaborated. He did, however, add a menacing chuckle at the end. “Of course, our competitors won’t. They’ll be blocked off from the outside world, searching in silence for each other, never knowing what waits around the corner. Who will win? Who will fall? The answers await inside.”
“I can’t wait to find out!” Chapman announced, his giddiness spreading to the crowd. “So, without further ado, fair team members, make your way inside the maze and begin the final trial of the Games. May the best team win!”
The final announcement increased the volume of the people in the stands, but Meredith faced her team.
“We’re done squabbling. Right now, we know our goal. You with me?”
“Like you need to ask. Let’s go, Meredith.” Vivian, this time, took the lead, but there was no malice behind that. It was full of confidence and trust, and just what she wanted to see. Setting her face as determined, Meredith followed inside, with Eddie and Emil taking up the rear.
Once they stepped inside, the way out snapped closed. Branches ensnared them, and the leaves lifted them up to they knew not where before depositing them on a sturdy wooden floor. Some coughing ensued, but Meredith was able to quickly discern that every member of their team was okay.
All was silent.
“What level are we on?” Eddie’s words sounded strange in the absolute void of sound that was the maze. Not even the crowd could be heard outside, and it made the possibility of where their opponents could be hiding all the more unsettling.
To answer Eddie’s question, Meredith turned her Soul Vision on, searching about and locating the little lights present in the maze alone. “Third tier. There’s another team above us, presumably. They’re all starting to get on the move.”
“Then we should, too,” Vivian suggested. Meredith agreed. “What do we say? Split up? Stick together?”
“Split into groups of two, and Emil and I should be in separate groups,” Meredith ordered. Her teammates saw the sense in the move. “We might be in a claustrophobic maze, but you can still get a bird’s-eye view, right?”
“Y-yeah…” Emil said. He was distracted, but Vivian grabbed hold of him.
“I’ll make sure he stays grounded, though,” the blonde said. “That means we head up, and you head down.”
“Sounds like a plan. In the meantime, leave Brynn, Rico and Felix for last if you can, wherever they are. The others might wear us down a bit, but we won’t be able to handle a tag-team if we run into either of those three.” Meredith reached out, clasping hands with Vivian and the two pulled close. “Rack up some points. We’ll regroup after we take down a few.”
“Emil, let’s go.” She wasn’t giving him room to argue, taking a right at the first branching path their team saw. It left only the opposite way for Meredith and Eddie to take.
They silently communicated, running down the path without making as much rustling as they could. Their footsteps echoed in the dark silence. Eddie pulled ahead, attempting to navigate through this level of the maze, marking it with small burn marks as they walked along. Meredith kept her Soul Vision on, identifying each of the scurrying teams above and below. Emil and Vivian were recognizable, but of more import was that whatever team was on the first level had made it to the second, while the team above had been reduced to a singular person waiting there.
Yet no one had made it to their level.
“I found the path down,” Eddie said. Meredith focused on him, only to see him burning through a hedge towards where the stairs leading to the lower tier were located. She frowned at him. “There was never a rule that we had to strictly navigate the maze…”
“Fair point. Let’s-” She stopped, her hand snapping out to pull Eddie back. A soul was fast approaching another soul, right at the bottom of the stairs.
There was a whoosh, and then a loud gasp and gag. The disturbing sound caused Meredith to crane her head around the corner and look down the stairs. Her eyes widened. Theodore was collapsed on the edge, blood trailing from his back. His soul wasn’t dimming, proving he was very much alive, but he didn’t look in any state to be moving.
Above him was Lovelia, wiping her short sword of his blood. She was like a hawk, too, glancing in every direction. It didn’t take long before she spoke.
“Understood. I’ll head for the lightning man next.” Meredith stepped forward a little, reaching for her sword when her foot snapped on a loose twig. Lovelia turned in her direction, and she bit her tongue. A terse moment passed, with Eddie covering his mouth in an attempt to silence his breathing. “Yes, I won’t engage those you haven’t targeted. It’s important to bring this to an end swiftly.”
In a flash of light, she was gone.
“Who was she talking to? And how did she locate Theodore so fast?” Eddie asked. Meredith had let go of him, sliding down the stairs swiftly to reach Theodore’s twitching form.
“Lovelia can find magic, though it shouldn’t be that easy…maybe she’s combining with someone else…Rico? Though I can’t see how they’re communicating. Eddie, I need you to cauterize the wound.” He agreed, flame coming from his fingers to sear Theodore’s wound closed. Meredith stepped back, thinking and observing the maze with her Soul Vision. Something felt off. “They’re targeting specific people…and I’d have to imagine that Lovelia knew we were there, which means we’re not on the list.”
“I think the Home Guard and Lacardia might be, though, if he’s any indication,” Eddie said. Meredith was running through the simulation of how that would be possible in her mind.
“Right, give me a moment. Keep watch.” Meredith slowed her breath, her Soul Vision spreading out. She could now sense the teeming souls beyond the maze, but it was hard to tell what sort of state they were in other than excited. Knowing that didn’t matter, she drew back, focusing on the labyrinth. Once again, the lone figure on the upper level was unmoving, waiting. Trying to get up there was Vivian’s distinct soul, now alone. “Where are you…?”
She attempted to strengthen her vision, but couldn’t find Emil. Or Maria. Or Carlton. Even Felix seemed to practically drop off the map, not that she was well-versed in knowing where any of them came from. The only ones of note were Brynn, her two remaining boys, and the other members of A-Class, slinking around the second tier. Meredith followed them with her vision, tracing the route of the second tier with precision. The teams were split up, each searching and avoiding…at least until Lovelia’s soul appeared next to Gregory.
“What’s wrong?”
“I get the feeling Lovelia knows where everyone is and is taking them out one by one.”
“So, the Renegades are in the lead?” That was one way to put it, though it didn’t sit right with Meredith. Rico had been so adamant about making a statement, and she was starting to wonder if these sneak victories had been part of making that all along. “What about Lacardia?”
“Starting to look like Edgar and Conrad are on a collision course,” Meredith noted, tracing the path in her mind, giving her a better idea of where everything was. “Why don’t we do some twin hunting?”
“I like it.” The best friends high-fived one another and stepped away from Theodore, apologizing for leaving him there.
They dove into the maze’s second layer, careful to not draw too much attention. Meredith kept herself calm and steady, even with her mind racing. Her feet led Eddie in beating the path, keeping a close lock on where the twins were lurking. Emil’s absence, and the absence of many others, lingered with worry, as did whatever the results of the targeted attacks were, but she took deep, quieted breaths to remain focused.
Every twist, every turn, she made sure to keep herself fine. There was no idea for how much time had passed, every possible source of light cut off within the maze. There was just the silence, the other teams and themselves. Above, Vivian appeared lost, turning this way and that, but as Meredith turned down the final corridor before the twins appeared, something changed in the team composition.
Lovelia’s soul had moved swiftly. Edgar’s soul grew quieter. Vivian’s soul grew alert. Yet Conrad was fine. In all of this, Meredith’s steps slowed, finally realizing just whose soul was on that upper level. “Why can’t I read Rico’s soul…?”
“Mera…?”
“Thorn Rush!” The attack was as sudden as its call. From the walls of the maze, brambles emerged with spikes lining their body. They arced through the air, right for the Lumarina duo. Eddie grabbed Meredith, pulling them both to the ground as the thorns made impact. He aimed his palm and shot fire out that burned the plants and forced them to retreat.
The air began to chill.
“Sorry, Eddie. I got distracted,” Meredith said. She reached over, plunging her hand into the brush and reading its soul there. Rico would have to wait. “Snare.”
Their souls communicated and pieces of the maze consented to work with her, snapping along the ground. In moments, the twins were captured, hauled up into the air. Autumn moved fast, a plant with sharp edges slicing through their captors and allowing them to fall.
“I was wondering when we’d get to face you, Eddie. Frosty Pummel!” Another plant, this one more akin to a tree trunk, fired out for the pair, encrusted with frost from Summer’s decreased temperature. Eddie stepped forward, looking like he was going to allow the plant to batter him.
He caught it with his palm, and sent a rush of flame through it. “Go for it, Mera!”
Meredith unsheathed her blade at last, spinning it around and bringing it towards the ground. In concert with Terrill’s soul, jagged stones ate at the wood with speed. Summer tossed herself aside to avoid the attack. Autumn called for her and Eddie took advantage. He summoned compressed wind and sent it flying towards his friend. The bubbly twin had her eyes widened before she was flung into the hedge wall, coughing but all right. Meredith prepared for another volley.
“No…” Before she could move, Meredith saw the attack coming. Her foot scraped along the ground, slamming on it and erecting an earthen shield. It was flimsy, but did the job before the trickle of water broke through and washed it away. Meredith moved to the side, covering Eddie. “Looks like we have a trickier confrontation. Can I leave the twins to you, Eddie?”
“I’ll do my best…”
He didn’t have a choice. At the other end of the path was Brynn, looking to get in on the event with a smirk. Her knives were held close, prompting Meredith to move towards her. Eddie moved in the opposite direction.
“I was wondering when we’d meet. We have a score to settle,” the young woman said, twirling her tiny blades.
“Guess we do,” Meredith said. She couldn’t bring herself to smile, though her body crouched, nearing a wider space on the maze floor. Another soul was approaching as Eddie could be seen engaging Autumn and Summer behind her. “Home Guard or Guardian Corps, huh?”
“Inter-agency rivalries aren’t important to me, but I’ve wanted to fight you for real ever since I found out who you were. The girl who was at the core of the conflict with the Beastmaster…” Meredith scoffed at Brynn’s explanation. “You were all the Home Guard was talking about, even if we didn’t have a name. Knew I had to meet you. Fight you. And you turned out to be pretty cool, Mera.
“But now I want to settle it. Been planning to since we entered the maze.”
“Then what are you waiting for?”
“Maybe you lovely ladies have been waiting for me.” Meredith rolled her eyes; only one person would utter such a line. Sure enough, when she turned her head, it was to see Conrad walking in. “You’re not the only one who wants to fight Mera, and after I had my fight with your man Edgar stolen from me by that Renegade frosty, I got a bone to pick with the Home Guard, too.”
“Your logic’s backwards, Lacardian.”
“Nah. I just want to win a date from one of you…oh, and for Lacardia to win, as well.”
Meredith said nothing. Her body merely tightened, blade drawn close. Her opponents’ souls were revving up, prepared to launch into battle as Eddie waged war behind. They each waited for the other to make a move, only guessing who would be the first.
Meredith decided to tip the scales. She moved her foot forward.
With a cry, the other two attacked.