Minotaur's Maze

I groan and sit up, pressing a hand to my temple. Gods my head hurts. I glance around. This is definitely not my bedroom. I seem to be surrounded by... hedges?

Before I can take a better look, I hear a groan behind me and swivel around. There, lying on the grass, is Lila. She sits up and looks around blearily before focusing her eyes on me. She blinks. "Crystal?" She glances around again. "Where are we? It looks like... a hedge maze?"

At here words my head whips around again. Yes, she's right. There are branching corridors among the hedges. And a maze can only mean one thing. When I look back at her, I can see she's reaching the same conclusion. "Mino," I say wearily, confirming her suspicions.

She rubs her eyes, grimacing. "Any idea why we're here?"

I'm about to answer no, of course not, when I notice a piece of crumpled paper on the ground between us. I pick it up.

Crystal my love, Lila,

Happy Valentine's Day!
Or shall I call it Calentine's Day? Our dear friend Cal had a bit of a bad night, and ended up in my tender care through a series of events I shall not explain here. Suffice to say it included Cupid, a troupe of ducklings, and a hot pink feather boa. This being such a wonderful opportunity to test the new hedge maze I... obtained, I decided to bring you both here in order to retrieve him. Cal and I are at the center of the maze.
Good luck!

Ever yours,
Mino

I drop my head in my lap. "Ugh." I hand the note to Lila and watch her eyebrows climb slowly higher.

"Ooookay. So I guess we have to find Cal." She shakes her head and muttered "Boa?" under her breath before pushing to her feet. "Any idea how to navigate this?" She asks hopefully.

I follow suit and glance around at the three possible paths from where we stand. All of them seem identical at first glance... but there. On the ground next to me is a single, cracked brick. Damn him. I sigh and look around one more time, seeing the maze in a new light. "Yes. This is a hedge replica of his old labyrinth in Whitechapel." Where we first met. Because that house is where the brick was from, I'm sure of it. I begin walking without hesitation, Lila alert beside me. Every strange sound sends both of us instinctively reaching for bows and arrows, but sadly, we're unarmed. Also, we appear to be wearing Steampunk style Lolita dresses. We come to a mutual agreement not to think about where they came from. Finally, we reach... a blank wall. Did I take a wrong turn? I run back through the path in my head.

"A keypad!" Lila points. Nestled in the hedge is a small silvery rectangular keyboard.

I stare. What could the password be? I run through a few options. Minotaur, Myth, Labyrinth. None work. Lila leans forward and taps out something. A rumble runs through the leaves and I twitch back, startled. "What was it?"

She gives me an unfathomable look. "CRYSTAL."

Before I can respond, the wall opens fully and there in a circular clearing... Lila and I stare, wide eyed. In the center is a burbling fountain. Beside it, a long, confection covered table. And at the table... Mino and Cupid laughing together, and Cal, looking glum in a pair of fake mouse ears. He sees us first, and his expression becomes horrified. Mino notices and waves at us. "The Alices have arrived!" He calls, his ridiculous hat bobbing.

Cupid looks up, bunny ears bouncing. "Lovebug! Happy not-birthday!"

She glances at me helplessly. "Tea party?"

I snort. "Better than celebrating Valentine at least."

We go to join the tea party.

§§§§§

Why hello there! This has been the second of the three short stories I wrote for the Cupid's Match Valentine's Day one-shot contest. This time has been sort of cupids meet Lewis Carroll.