The Ranch

Fairytale Maze (3)

Wearing a black hoodie, Tih stuffs a whole pancake saturated with syrup, in his mouth. Kai wipes off the dripping syrup on Tih's chin as he discusses the game that appeared out of thin air this morning with Sherlock.

They both seem to be nonverbally agreeing not to bring up yesterday's argument, in favor of this more important situation with a time limit.

"Looks like almost everyone on the island is planning to join." Kai comments.

Sherlock nods," Apparently, the 'Turbo Wings' are highly sought-after. If we do manage to find them, we'll probably be set financially. We'll also receive the recognition of being the ones that found it, though that might make us targets."

"..." Kai ignores Sherlock's comment and turns to Lucien," Lucien, can you send us the picture of the rules?"

"Yeah." He sends pictures to the group chat and adds," I haven't been able to find out who's behind it. All I know is some small layout details. There should be three floors and the prize should be somewhere in the center of the entire colosseum on the second floor."

"That'll be helpful when we get in there, but keep searching. A map would be the best cheat." Kai doesn't place much dependence on whether Lucien can get a map or not. Any small details can give them an advantage over others, so the "three levels" detail is already potentially important.

The group goes over the rules. There's nothing they haven't already heard from others. Seventy-two hours and no equipment restrictions, everyone is welcome to participate. There's also a short summary:

[The Maze will officially open at 9:00 am sharp. You will need to solve various puzzles and riddles along the way. Fret not, walking down an incorrect path will only lengthen the journey and may increase the difficulty. If no one is able to reach the end when the time ends, the prize will be retracted. There are no refunds. Good luck]

"A maze with puzzles and riddles...with my memory, we should be able to breeze through the course easily." Kai is confident.

"Don't forget my deduction skills. I doubt we'll only be able to rely on knowledge to solve problems. We need smarts too." Sherlock looks at Kai arrogantly.

The two talk a little longer, but with limited information, there's not much to prepare. At around ten minutes to the appointed time, the group arrive to see a large crowd surrounding the entire circumference of colosseum one.

As the length of the circumference stretches very far, the soldiers are more spread out than if they had to all gather in one spot. If the participants had to line up, the line could probably stretch around half the island.

All the entrances are blocked by green shrubbery. On closer inspection, one would notice it's actually made out of metal, sharp enough to slice your finger on a small leaf.

"Let's wait till the crowd dies down. We won't be able to make rational decisions if we're rushed." Kai says, looking at Sherlock.

"I agree." Sherlock doesn't meet eyes with him.

The other two quiet ones have always followed whatever the other two decide from the beginning and they're not planning to stop now.

Tih is silently staring at the weird marks engraved above each shrub door. Lucien notices his gaze and looks there as well, but the distance is too far for him to see the marks. Lucien takes a picture, zooming in to get a clear view.

Kai looks over Lucien's shoulder," German?"

"You can read German?" Sherlock looks at Kai.

"You can't? Aren't some of the shops we go to in German? You were able to pronounce those perfectly well." Kai looks confused.

Sherlock looks even more confused," What? When have I ever spoken German?"

Kai is a mixture of confused and irritated, "Stop messing around! You-"

Speakers attached to the colosseum startle them," Beep Beep! It is now nine. The game with commence in three, two, one, go!"

A nail on a chalkboard sounds hurts all those listening. The metal shrubbery slowly slides up, opening passages all around the circumference.

Soldiers push through in droves. Kai speaks," We shouldn't be wasting time."

Kai points to the picture Lucien took," This says 'Aschenputtel'. Translated...it should be the story of Cinderella."

"They're probably giving us a hint, let's skip up and look at the other entrances." As more people enter the maze, the sparser the people outside are, letting them move closer. Lucien and Sherlock spread around half of the perimeter and take pictures. Kai quickly runs around the other half, memorizing the other half. The useless Tih marks their meeting place that they return to once they finish.

Kai quickly translates," 'Rumpelstilzchen' is Rumpelstiltskin, 'Aschenputtel' is Cinderella, 'Hänsel und Gretel' is Hansel and Gretel, 'Rattenfänger von Hameln' is Pied Piper, 'Rotkäppchen' is roughly Little Red Riding Hood, 'Dornröschen' should be Sleeping Beauty, 'Schneewittchen' is Snow White, and I should have to translate Rapunzel."

"Fairytales?" Lucien mumbles.

"There should be some sort of pattern and one that doesn't belong." Sherlock hypothesizes.

Kai easily figures it out," They're all german fairytales written by the Grimm Brothers. All of them except for Pied Piper which was a traditional German folk tale called "The Pied Piper of Hamelin". It was later-"

"I thought you said we should be wasting time." Sherlock cuts him off.

"...yeah." Kai knows he's right, but can't help but feel slightly annoyed. He's gotten used to finishing his long dialogues ever since meeting Tih.