"I can't believe it. I have been in this dump for five whole months and never tried to escape and here you are. In a handful of days you didn't just try but also succeeded in escaping! Ridiculous," Kira grumbled as she trudged up the never-ending stairs with Mia.
"That was because you were alone, I do have an amazing,smart accomplice with me," Mia grinned.
"Yeah, yeah. Stop with the cheesy lies already," Kira grimaced.
"What? Uhh..nope, I wasn't talking about you darling. I was complimenting Ivory, my kitten," Mia stifled a laugh as she saw Kira's eyes widen in the clear flame.
"Jerk," Kira said although she was smiling. Mia laughed and soon they were on the top of the staircase.
"This place is huge," Mia stopped to measure the vastness spreading before her.
"And dark," Kira added, keeping the flame close.
"We passed this place everyday but then it didn't look as vast as it does now," Mia wondered as she spread her gaze over the myriads of door lining the many corridors which faded into black voids. It looked like an elaborate maze doused in darkness.
"Why is it so dark everywhere anyway?," Mia pulled out the crumped map that Eric gave her.
"God knows what goes up inside that wacko's head. I tell you that man is a psycho, a freaking nutjob," Kira grimaced as she mounted the remaining, few steps.
Mia laughed," honestly you just need an opportunity to hate on him. Cut the poor lass some slack, who knows, maybe his parents dropped him or something when he was young," Mia suggested.
"Yeah poor guy," Kira shook her head sympathetically as Mia focused on the map." So where to next?".
"Well this zig-zaggy line here must be the stairs, right?", Mia bit her lip in concentration as Kira leaned in.
"Seems like it, next it shows a path to the third corridor on our left," Kira looked to her left and sure enough there were a number of corridors."We take this path when we go out to be tortured right?," Kira pointed to the hall in front of them.
"Yes but in the map, this way is marked with many crosses so we ought to take the safer route,third corridor it is! " Mia said confidently and began walking in the direction of the third corridor as Kira followed. The darkness veiled them completely and they walked freely without having to hide.
"This is fun," Kira said, her eyes gleaming.
"Yeah. Though Eric said to use my brain. To be honest this is way too easy. No guards, No light, just follow the map and you're home and dry. Piece of cake," Mia flicked her hair over her shoulder.
They kept walking the length of the corridor, observing the myriads of gilt-edged oil paintings and portraits lining the walls. They passed a portrait when Kira suddenly said.
"Hey look! That's the wacko," she pointed to the portrait of a young man," I saw him when he visited our village to personally destroy it, I vowed that day to kill him with my hands but well.." Kira trailed off as Mia went to the portrait to have a closer look.
The Dark Prince stared at Mia from the portrait. He had raven black hair and piercing, black eyes that seemed to follow Mia everywhere. Mia shuddered as his beady eyes glinted at her, resembling a snake's eyes, stalking its prey.
"You're right. His cranium is a bit.." Mia tried to find the word as she moved her fingers to describe it," wibble-wobbly". Kira laughed softly as they continued their leisurely stroll.
"Now the corridor forks into two," Mia said as she consulted her map." We have to take the right one but have to be careful since it has two crosses marked".
Kira nodded solemnly at Mia's warning as they turned right.
"The cross could be anything from guards to traps so we should be cautious," Mia whispered as they tread softly on the carpet." Here, the cross is just a few steps away..but I see no danger," Mia stopped to think.
"Maybe it's a hidden booby trap or forcefield or something, like in The Fungus Games," Kira said as Mia stifled her laughter.
"Could be," Mia shrugged." Lets throw something to deactivate the traps if there are any".
Kira agreed as Mia looked around for something soft and soundless to throw.
"There's nothing to throw," Mia cried, desperately searching.
"Will my belt work?," Kira swiftly unbuckled the velvet belt strapped on her gown and began looping it around in different directions. When she was done, she smiled and handed Mia a soft, disfigured ball.
"Awesome," Mia whispered, clutching the velvet ball she bounced it on her hand once before hauling it forwards." Get ready to run if some alarm sounds alright?". Kira nodded.
The ball suddenly hit something invisible, there was a spark of gold and the ball shrivelled and smoked as the girls gasped.
"Oh! There's a wall of Vylamber!," Kira cried," A combination of Amberin and Vyloden. This wall will burn everything to a crisp if they walk into it," Kira said and confidently sauntered to the wall.
"Kira? You just said that wall will burn you to a crisp," Mia said, looking at Kira with concern.
"Not me, it won't," she said.
"Kira, stop mucking about".
"Don't worry".
"That could hurt you, stop it, I'm serio-," Mia started but Kira had already crossed the wall and was on the other side.
"What..?," Mia gasped as she walked through the hole Kira had made. Kira smirked and pointed to her palms. "Glaizepelle".
Mia raised her brows." You're sort of useful too," she joked as Kira rolled her eyes.
They walked a bit farther before Mia signalled for Kira to stop and quickly led her behind the thick drapes framing the painted windows.
"So much dust!," Kira wheezed and coughed softly as Mia shushed her.
"Look, the guard is the first cross," Mia pointed to a fat guard some distance away from them." He looks half-asleep though".
"Can't we reroute or something? Anything to not face him,I don't wanna be imprisoned again," Kira whined.
"We'll probably get lost if we do that. It's better to stick to the map," Mia nodded.
"But how do we escape him? In order to follow the map, we have to reach the corridor behind him right?," Kira asked as Mia nodded, glancing at the map.
Kira racked her brains for an idea when Mia's eyes lit up and she smiled.
"Now is the time to make yourself useful, tiny accomplice," she whispered and pulled out the now-awake Ivory.
Mia petted it and it licked Mia's fingers, she put it on the ground and gave it a gentle push.
"Go Ivory, make some noise and distract that big,bad guard".
Ivory meowed softly and rushed off, Mia heard the gentle pitter-patter of tiny paws as she disappeared into the darkness.
Kira and Mia held their breaths and a few seconds later, loud noises broke the silence as something toppled to the ground, the sound echoed everywhere as the guard came to his senses.
"Who goes there?," he yelled, slowly walking towards the noise." Show yourself!".
Mia and Kira stifled giggles as the guard stood exactly in front of them, scratching his greasy hair. He took a few cautious footsteps as the girls prayed for him to move.
"Eh, who cares," he grumbled and was returning to his post when another loud sound reverberated off the walls and he ran to the source of the noise.
Mia and Kira rejoiced and quietly tiptoed to their designation as they heard the tiny kitten behind them.
"Good girl!," Mia bent down as she saw the chatoyant eyes of the kitten sparkle as she approached them in the dark." Great work!," she fondled Ivory as she meowed and Kira rewarded her with an ancient biscuit hidden in the folds of her dress as emergency food.
"Quick, this way," Mia cried as they heard the guard approach and they ran to the end of the corridor with Ivory trailing behind as the guards footsteps quickened.
"Come o-What the hell!?," Mia cried in frustration as they reached the end of the tunnel and saw a wall there." He drew an inaccurate map! Shit, it's a dead-end," Mia smacked her forehead and tore the map into shreds.
"Now what?", Kira cried as they heard the guard coming closer, beads of sweat lined her forehead and her eyes were wide with terror.
"Now, now.." Mia shook her head, trying to think of something, her heart pounded in her chest as the guard turned the corner.
Suddenly there was a bright, green flash and the world shifted, their heads spun and they screamed as they fell into a deep void. The vortex of darkness sucked them in as they blacked out.
"Follow me".