The time was 3:33 pm and the smell of smoke only seemed to get stronger with every passing moment.

The scent in contrast with the relief of being in a place long since forgotten was disgusting yet mind-numbingly sweet. More often than not, I had to stop myself from covering my nose with my sleeve. After all, we couldn't afford to be distracted. Not right now. Not here.

Our destination was the living room since it was the last place we were prior.

It didn’t take long before Yuu and I were running down the Labyrinth's lengthy, winding hallways. Now and again, one of the many doors plaguing the area positioned themselves right before our feet, giving us no choice but to jump. Being the one with wings, Yuu jumped across first before waiting patiently for me. This part was fine.

However, the real problem only appeared once I followed suit and firmly planted my boots on the other side. The doorknob jostled. With a loud thud, the door nearly separated from its frame with how hard it was struck.

What knocked as if its life depended on it? That was something I was trying to figure out myself. Naturally, I’d stumble over myself each time this happened and glare back at the stupid thing before setting off again.

One thing cemented itself in my mind. Although Granny’s Labyrinth differed from my World of Glass in many ways, (some more obvious than others), their one linking feature was how much they creeped me out. It didn’t help that as we ran and the dark green wallpaper with the occasional painting began to blend into a blurry mess like some sort of waking nightmare.

I was immediately pulled out of my trance by Yuu talking to herself.

“Four…Five,” she muttered, biting her thumb. With her mouth slightly agape, Yuu paused as if she was being interrupted. However, just as I got used to our heavy footsteps thumping against the floorboards, she started to count again. Almost like clockwork. “One… Two…”

Her eyes were unevenly focused. It felt like she was paying attention to anything but what was in front of her.

“Door,” she said, narrowly avoiding another pitfall. I stumbled and cursed at it.

Her blue sleeve shot out in front of my face as she pointed at one of the doors to our left.

“That one. Where does it lead?”

The door in question sat on its lonesome, directly below the same painting we saw in the living room before we got separated. With how many doors there were, it was unusual to see one that wasn’t sandwiched between others.

When Aya and I played hide and seek as kids, I always thought hiding in a place that stuck out like a sore thumb would throw someone off. Almost as if it was too obvious to even check in the first place, so why bother? It never worked. Aya would find me instantly and I would get the sneaking suspicion that she was cheating.

With each lost game piling up in my mind, I pieced together where that door led and said, “That’s the kitchen, I’m pretty sure. It’s weird though, I thought we’d reach the living room by now...”

“Is there an issue?” She huffed. “Perhaps nostalgia is clouding your memory.”

“No, no, nothing like that. It’s like it's just…not showing up.”

I looked up as I scratched the back of my neck. Three doors sat beside each other on the ceiling, each likely leading to a different room. Kitchen, master bedroom, and bathroom. A few times when we were bored, Aya and I took chairs and tables from the other rooms and tried to climb up to the rooms just out of reach.

Doors repeating were a common occurrence that came with being in my safe space. I’d come to terms with that but something still felt off. Back then, the layout felt much more connected. There were infinite possibilities due to the immense space, yet if you looked long enough you’d eventually find what you were looking for. Those long days of goofing around and wandering became a distinct muscle memory where you were certain of what would come next. It was no different from learning how to navigate our hometown.

With my body telling me one thing and the reality of the situation saying another, I couldn’t help but be confused.

“Hey,” Yuu said. She took out her phone but as she tried to turn it on, Yuu was met with nothing but a black screen. Her eyes drooped as she put it away. “Staying still will do us no good in the end. We can take a detour if we must, but try not to hesitate. ”

“Ah…sorry. Just lost in thought again.”

She knocked on the door before grabbing the round, golden doorknob. With a chuckle, Yuu glanced in my direction. “You know, usually it's the Seeker’s job to tell the Guardian if there’s anything dangerous around!”

“Sorry, sorry. I’m honestly trying here, promise. Nothing ever popped out at me before so it should be alright, I think?”

“Right,” she said, unimpressed, by the way she was squinting.

Yuu slowly turned the knob before pushing the door open. The yellow wallpaper, brown wooden cabinets and drawers, and various amounts of silverware littered over the pale floorboards gave a nice break from the dreary green and red we had gotten used to.

Unfortunately, it wouldn’t last.

Taking a few steps into the kitchen, the door we entered slammed shut and disappeared without a trace. The entire wall that it was hung on was completely blank. It wasn’t painted white, beige, or even a light gray—to say that would be completely wrong— it was as if whoever worked on that specific part of the room had forgotten to add any concrete details. Putting a hand flat against it, the blank wall had the consistency of a paper that had been crumbled one too many times. Wrinkled and bumpy.

Metal scraping against metal filled the room. One of the drawers swung open and trembled. Yuu shot one of her hands out in front of me to brace while the other slid into her back pocket. With one last bang, the drawer closed again. Glasses on the countertop above wobbled a little before coming to a standstill as silence soon overtook.

Yuu muttered something under her breath before huffing and grabbing at her sleeve.

“…Coward.” She placed her hands behind her back, taking a few steps. “And to think I’d be able to show off without risk. If I have an audience, guess that means I gotta try even harder, huh?”

Yuu turned around and gave me a toothy ear-to-ear grin. Walking over to the drawer, she pulled on the handle only to find that it wouldn’t budge. She raised an eyebrow. During my time living with her, it was rare to find something that didn’t immediately break when she applied even the slightest amount of force.

Her eyebrows furrowed.

With a tighter grip and a sharp exhale, Yuu yanked on the handle and pulled the drawer out. Instead of being greeted with the standard cutlery, there were only knives. They were stacked on top of each other, one after another with no end in sight. My heart sank with just a glance.

“Granny…” I muttered, guilt washing over me.

I scanned the drawer with wide eyes. The first few knives on top were the same—a black handle with two screws on either side along with a long pointed blade— however as you went past the first stack, slight differences began to arise. Some screws were missing or even fused, handles were faded despite seemingly never being used, and some of the blades were even backward.

Yuu’s lips pursed together before looking away.

“Aya’s Grandmother. Was she a good cook?” she said, picking up one of the knives. “I mean, look at this! She must chop up so many fresh vegetables in her meals to need this many.”

She stared at me as if she was expecting an answer. Did I come off as if I needed a pick-me-up? Was there even a point to answering in the first place? I thought we weren’t supposed to be hesitating. Regardless, I played along as well as I could.

“The best that I can remember.” I peered into the drawer, Watching my reflection through the blades. “Aya and I always ate well whenever she wasn’t on one of her trips. She taught us some basic recipes we could do ourselves too, so it’s not like we were starving or anything if she was.”

“Was she better than me?”

“Don’t make me choose.” I shook my head. “There’s no doubt that it would be a tough fight, but Granny would find a way to win. Can’t see it any other way.“

“Ouch!” she said, carefully crossing her hands together and placing them on her chest. “You’re breaking my heart here, dear.”

Yuu’s playful expression dropped as she noticed how close the knife was to her face. With a sour look, she turned the handle so the blade was pointing downwards. With her other finger, she ran down the flat side of the blade before poking the tip.

“Did she have any bad experiences with cooking?”

Another wave of guilt overcame me as she asked. I flicked my gaze to the ground before putting my hands in my pockets and facing away ever so slightly.

“What if she does?”

“Then there’s no shame in that. “ She placed a hand on my shoulder. “The accumulation of tiny despairs over time or one large focal point that overshadows all—it matters not how one reaches their breaking point. Only that we gather as much information as possible, so we can realize our problems and create a proper strategy to deal with them. Labyrinths are no different.”

Her eyes glistened with curiosity.

“So please tell me everything you know, Seeker.”

I sighed, knowing that I couldn’t avoid her question. With some hesitation, I pointed to my eye. “T—The scar on her face. That was me. My mother used to tell me that I needed to pay attention in the kitchen but I never listened. It was a curse and blessing that Granny’s knives were always so dull.”

“Can you say without a shadow of a doubt that they were always dull? I’m not sure if you can say it was a blessing.”

“Why wouldn’t it be? Sure, If they weren’t then there would be less slipping to begin with.” I looked away. “But on the off chance the same accident happened and they were sharp, then it wouldn’t have been just a scar she left with...”

“I see.” She withdrew from me and exhaled. “I apologize for pushing you.”

“It’s alright, I’m…not the one hurting right now.”

Granny still blamed herself for the knife incident. The thought of it eating her up this badly even after all this time brought me nothing but shame.

However, that same feeling was overshadowed by something more sinister.

Judging by how the drawer opened, it was clear we weren't alone. If there was something in here, infiltrating Granny's mind space and not allowing her to move on...

My mind ran back to that disgusting mimic creature from my dreams.

“Maybe it really was three people who died in that fire. Acting as you are now, you’re nothing more than a hollow husk of a human being."

“Apparitions are really scumbags,“ I hissed.

Yuu, who was looking around for the next door with no luck, turned on her heel upon hearing me.

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“Dear? What’s the matter?”

I balled up my fists. “Is it possible to save Granny?”

“Save?” She looked at me funny. As if she didn’t understand the words coming out of my mouth.

“Yeah, that’s what angels do, right? We just have to make the Apparition go away and Granny will be saved. Her problems, her anxieties, everything. It’s the same with me and my World of Glass. It’s possible, right?”

Opening her mouth and raising a finger, Yuu paused as it went back down. She glanced down before taking a quick breath, closing her eyes, and stretching that same grin she had earlier onto her lips. Her nose wrinkled as she laughed.

“Yes, of course! Can’t see why not.” She opened an eye. “I only recommend that you shouldn’t ask what’s possible and what isn’t in here. As it stands, this entire situation is beyond human possibility! If there is a goal you want to achieve while in a Labyrinth, simply try your hardest to achieve it. That’s all there is to it, dear!”

I nodded repeatedly, gripping my shirt as relief flowed in.

“That being said, you’re also supposed to be leading the way. “ Yuu gestured a few times at the door—or rather, lack thereof. She walked over to the nearest wall. “If there aren’t any doors, I don’t mind making my own. I’m just unsure if that’ll affect your ability to know where everything is.”

Yuu winded back and—

“Wait, wait, no! The kitchens are different.”

I scurried to the fridge before any magical vandalism occurred. Slamming one foot on the freezer at the bottom so that it would stay closed, I gritted my teeth as the fridge door finally opened. A clicking sound filled the room akin to the ticking of a clock. The back wall covered in a sheet of ice scrolled up to reveal a teal plastic slide surrounded by darkness.

“There,” I said, wiping the sweat from my brow. “It used to take both of us to keep that stupid freezer closed, you know. Can’t believe this thing is still here...”

I climbed into the fridge and sat down on the slide, patting it a few times for good measure. It was still as sturdy as it was all those years ago if not a little dusty and worn. I wondered if Aya would still go down face first if she were here.

“My, my, how…unique!”

Yuu joined me as I scooched forward. We spiralled down the slide, going lower and lower into the pitch darkness. As our hair got caught in the wind and blew about, all the times I used this to escape Aya when we would play tag came to the forefront of my mind. The frigid air caressing my cheeks and the warmth that grew with every second spent in my safe place—the two feelings swirled together to create something new. It brought a slight smile to my face that made me glad Yuu couldn’t see anything.

Eventually, we slammed into the red-carpeted ground below. But it was wrong. The kitchen that we were stuck in was now spread out in three separate directions. Left. Right. Straight. They winded and curved as a multitude of doors were placed on every surface. On the ground. The ceiling. Again, even the walls had doors on them. I shot up and whipped my head around, confused at my general surroundings.

Within a blink of an eye, we were back where we first started.

“It wasn’t supposed to lead here,” I said, frantically tracing the walls. “The slide usually dropped us off somewhere higher in the house like the attic or something. From there, we wouldn’t be too far off from somewhere leading to the living room.”

Yuu stood up and brushed herself off. She craned her neck at one of the paintings to her right and plainly said, “We truly are at the beginning. You don’t suppose our goal is being hidden from us?”

“But if that was the case, then wouldn’t there be a lot more rooms similar to the kitchen? Being holed and confused seems like a better situation to put someone you’re trying to—”

The smell of smoke returned, making me lose my train of thought as my blood went cold. My head was forced to the right.

In one of the hallways sat someone hugging her knees. I mustered up the courage to approach her, dragging my feet a little along the way. The long, curly gray hair that went down to her shoulder was messy thrown about and stiff in some places. Her once bright golden eyes were glazed over yet wide as can be, the whites of her eyes almost overshadowing her tiny pupils. Her scar sat on the right side of her face. Her mouth sat uncomfortably agape, her lips chapped from being here for so long.

It was Granny.

Calm down. Calm down. Calm down. Calm down. Shaky breaths were all I could get out. Calm down. Calm down. I crouched to meet her gaze. My hands shook as I reached out to touch her.

The tip of my finger barely grazed her cheek but the most horrific sound of crinkling akin to dead leaves was all that I was met with. I balled that hand into a fist and grasped it with my other, digging all my fingers into it. The patch of skin that I touched broke off as if it were chipped paint, gently falling to the carpet. In its place was nothing but the same featureless texture as that one wall in the kitchen.

Did I do something wrong?

What I needed to do was obvious. But after seeing her like that how could I possibly just…

Calm down.

Yuu’s shoes clicked as she walked toward me, stopping as she arrived by my side. Her arms were crossed as she stared at her body.

“How interesting! Really impressive work.”

“You…you told me she would be safe! That there was nothing to be worried about.” I yelled, grabbing at myself.

“She is.” I took a sharp breath to reply to the blatantly wrong statement she made, but Yuu put a hand up and continued. “The real one is fine. You haven’t hurt Aya’s grandmother in any way.”

“But…she’s clearly…”

“Take your time if you must, there’s no shame in being shocked at such a gruesome sight. In and out dear. I’ll be here for you, no matter what.” she said, rubbing my back. At that point, I tried my best to calm my breathing. “However, when you can, take one last look at her before we move on.”

Although my mouth was dry, I still tried to swallow. My vision blurred as I traced the ground leading up to Granny. Her skin was different than usual, which would make sense considering the body was closer to a corpse than anything, but it seemed abnormally pale. Like she had put on thick makeup.

Next was her eyes. The scar that I had given to her all those years ago always sat on her left, yet here it was on her right. My eyes went wide.

“Told you it was interesting, didn't I?” she asked, gesturing for me to get up. “I might have figured it out. Follow me for a second.”

I stumbled onto my feet as she rushed down the hallway. She began the count again. Count then pause. Pause then count. Now each time a number left her lips, she pointed at the painting on our right.

“One.”

A painting of an older gentleman in a black suit and cap who was leaning on a cane with a beautiful blue sky drawn behind him. This one sat in the living room near the fireplace in the real world. He had a playful grin as he pointed directly at me.

“Two.”

Someone's wedding day. The bride and groom were holding each other tightly as they looked deeply into each other's eyes. Lush greenery and vibrant flowers surrounded them.

“Three.”

A family portrait. The man from earlier without his hat. A woman with long, dark, straight hair. And a child in a white dress with a black ribbon tied in her short, curly, brown hair. All of them smiled warmly at me. It was uncomfortable.

“Four.”

This next painting was similar to the last but the man was nowhere to be seen. The child was slightly older and wore an old-fashioned school uniform. The woman wore all black and refused to look in the child’s direction. Despite this, the child still smiled brightly.

“Five.”

The final painting had no color. The child was no more and in her stead was now a young woman. She stood on her lonesome in front of a tiny one-story home with uncut grass all around. The young woman’s hair blew to the side as she looked off to the horizon.

Yuu continued onward for a little bit before she stopped dead in her tracks. With one last point, she grinned as the same painting from the beginning showed up once more. “One.”

“They’re…the same?”

“You’d think so! However, not exactly. Watch this.”

She tapped her foot twice. There was a white seam coming from the red carpet below her feet that went all the way up to the ceiling. On the opposite side of the seam, the familiar green wallpaper along with the carpet seemed blurred beyond recognition. The zig-zag patterns were nothing more than just dark splotches on both of them.

Even the repeated painting itself was different. It was messy and amateurish compared to the original if I could even call it that. The man was leaning but with no cane in sight. His pointing finger bent upward in an unnatural way.

“Do you get it now?” she asked.

Yuu winded back and struck the wall underneath the painting. Crinkling and crunching echoed throughout the hallway as the entire section, the painting included, cracked into small jagged pieces and fell off. The second they would gently hit the ground, the colored pieces immediately disappeared. Just like with what I thought was Granny, only the featureless texture remained. A canvas just waiting to be colored.

She left her fist against the wall for a few seconds. Small colored lines began to appear on the surface. Every now again, the wrong color was used and it would be violently erased before trying again. Still, the lines were so small that I couldn’t imagine how long it would take to create the wall from scratch.

“What an amazing ability,” Yuu said, rapidly blinking before staring with wide eyes. “Were I to stay here for a few hours, it would appear like I split in two. Though, it would be nothing more than an uncanny caricature. Maybe my hair tuft would be too big or they’d forget my hairpin and the mole beside my eye!”

“So the Labyrinth is just copying what it sees around then? From parts of the hallways to entire rooms. I just don’t get why they aren’t accurate. ”

She shook her head. “Well, think of it this way. To copy something is to also copy the original object's imperfections. Unless you study the style of something down to the tee, you’re going to make imperfections of your own.”

“Then that new object becomes the blueprint for the next.”

“Exactly. Copies upon copies, endlessly created with no end in sight, further striving away from the original with each iteration. That is the concept of doubling manifested before your eyes.”

“So then for a copy of Granny to be sitting there…” I paused as Yuu placed a hand on my head. “She must have been so scared.”

“For her, it was probably nothing more than an awful nightmare. She likely woke up with no recollection of the event. Really, something like this is normal for an Apparition.”

“Then I won’t let it happen to her again. Ever.”

Yuu side-eyed me before closing them with a sigh. “I see, try your best then. For now, however, just continue to navigate for me. Oh, and tell me anything you know about this home.”

“If I’m being honest with you, I don’t know the exact details,” I said with a shrug. “Aya told me that her family has lived here for a few generations, each one building upon the home in some way. Renovations only just ended as recently as our final year of elementary.”

“That must have been hard. I assume not being able to visit your friend's home made you feel a bit left out. ”

“We survived.” I waved my hand back and forth. “Would never let Aya step foot in my old home, so it didn’t matter too much that I could only visit sometimes. We just played outside instead. Besides, it just made each time I did manage to be here a blessing in disguise. ”

“In a way, it seems you too are indebted.”

“I dunno. Maybe. When I was little, I just always assumed that the adults in my life had everything figured out just because they were older. That if I just followed what they said, everything would turn out alright. To me, Granny was like a kind, invincible hero and this was a nice playground to run around in. But being here all these years later…seeing all of this and actually taking it in…it’s clear that none of that was true. If I can take even a little bit of that stress, and be the hero that she was to me, then I’d be repaying that debt in full.”

Her cheeks flushed a little as she spoke.

“So then you and I…” Yuu’s thought trailed off as she looked forward with narrowed eyes. “Forget it. I understand the sentiment but you mustn't take that stress and add it to your own. You’re getting nowhere that way.”

“Ah sorry, that’s true too. Sorry, I didn’t mean to ramble.”

I lead Yuu through multiple copies of the kitchen, master bedroom, and three-way hallway, each duplicate getting more old and distorted with each iteration. Despite this, we still entered door after door in search of the living room.

I took my next step and froze. A thick brown line was marked above the tip of my foot. It seemed to be ink of some kind. The next line quickly followed vertically alongside two more in rapid succession to create a box.

“Huh?” I blinked at it.

Yuu shoulder tackled me and I might as well have had wings myself with how far I flew backward. My head crashed against the wall as I slid down until my butt hit the floor. A door manifested itself beneath Yuu’s feet and instantly opened. She fell in. I scurried over to the open door on my hands and knees.

She was in a copy of the kitchen. The only thing that occupied the space was a myriad of drawers stacked on top of each other. They circled her, creating a coliseum-like structure. Yet I was the only audience.

Feathers shot out in every direction as Yuu spread her wings and tried to fly back up. Before she could get too far off the ground, two knives zipped toward her. She gasped. Yuu’s wings disappeared before they were pierced.

She slipped her hand into her back pocket once again, pulling out the glasses she wore during the Math Incident and putting them on. She let out a slow exhale as she raised her fists. The door creaked. It soon began to close.

“Yuu...Yuu!” I blurted. reaching out my hand, “What’s going on? Come here, grab my hand!”

She gazed up at me with a straight face.

“Don’t worry about me, Shiro. It was you who told me I was strong, right? ” Her voice was clearer than I had ever heard it. Not even a hint of hesitation remained. Despite the newfound clarity, it was anything but soft. “Adding onto someone else's stress is the last thing I want to do, so I regret even telling you this in the first place. Ako even warned me and everything. What a waste. ”

“What are you even saying!?”

“But, you must stay calm no matter what. At least for a little bit longer. For my sake and for yours as well. Just hold tight.”

She hiked up one of her sleeves up to the shoulder and broke eye contact. The door slammed shut. I shook the doorknob, digging my nails into the metal and frantically twisting it left and right. Nothing. I pounded on the wood with everything I had. It wouldn’t budge. As fast as it was created, the door soon disappeared and I fell onto the carpet once more.

Only the stillness of the house embraced me.

This was a joke though, right? Just like on that stupid old bridge. Yuu would pop back up and laugh at me for falling for such an obvious prank, even if it wasn’t a very funny joke to me. I would have no choice but to scold her and tell her never to do something so stupid again, that she’d be stripped of her wings for sure.

Who was I kidding? I’d never be able to keep a straight face while telling her that. We would end up laughing like idiots and she would never take me seriously.

It was definitely a joke.

So, why wasn’t Yuu coming back up?

I slumped forward on my knees, resting my head on my outstretched arms. At that point in time, the only thing I could smell was that black smoke. Something was burning, that much was certain. I couldn’t even bring myself to cover my nose anymore. It made me nauseous.

The carpet chipped away below and another canvas was born. It parted down the middle, opening its jagged paper maw and swallowing me whole. My entire body went limp as I fell. I let out a drawn-out sigh, allowing the wind to cut through me like butter.

Closing my eyes, I braced for the inevitable impact.