CHAPTER 3 - CURIOSITY STRIKES
Dawn came early, and after not getting much sleep at all it was a welcome sight. Pandora found himself wandering over toward the entrance to the maze. There wasn't much to see yet, the gates were still shut as the sun clawed its way over the walls. He felt more secure in his knowledge of this place after talking with Lyra the prior night.
He still had things to learn about the clearing, where to get water from or the location of the farm had escaped his mind during their discussion, so that would be something to ask about. But; that also meant finding Accius, seeing as Lyra was asleep by then. Or...
Turning his attention to the two people idling near the doors, Melody and Bowen, they could help him figure out where things were. Although, they seemed pretty deep in a conversation he could just barely parse.
"Are you sure we should go into the maze today? It's usually more dangerous after somebody comes up in the box." Bowen said, concern twisted in his voice.
"We need to keep mapping, if we don't there's no way we'll make any progress at all like this. Plus, if the newbie was able to navigate and not get lost, it should be damn easy for you. You're an experienced runner, Bowen; while yes, you haven't been here as long as me, you've still got potential. We'll set out once the doors open, do you have everything you need?"
Pandora took a step back, suddenly feeling a bit bad for snooping. But; that drew the attention of both of them, and their conversation turned to the wind.
"Did you need something?" Melody asked in an almost prying tone, frustration seeping from her words.
"I just wanted to ask for help finding the uh… Farm. I heard there was one but I never got shown where it was—" he replied, pulling together what certainty he could.
The way Melody sighed made him certain she'd just tell him to leave, but, she didn't. Instead, she dismissively waved off Bowen and approached Pandora.
"Did nobody tell you where anything was? Can't ask anybody to do anything around this place." She muttered under her breath before addressing Bowen, "you can wait here for now, or carry on with whatever you had planned. I'll show Pandora to the farm and then we'll discuss further."
The look on Bowen's face was something of mild confusion, but he just nodded and walked away.
Melody didn't wait for Pandora to catch up with her as she started walking away from the gate, heading straight ahead until they were walking alongside the north wall heading toward the west.
Open grass turned into shockingly a dense forest with an echoing sound of flowing water from somewhere. Although, the forest was eerily silent, not a single bird singing or bug chirping. It felt wholly unnatural. The feeling didn't get to sink in too deep, however, as the farm quickly came into view.
It was decently sized and clearly quite abundant, sheltered in an area with the trees cut away and a small stream offering water to the growth. Twisting blackberry vines circled the farm, offering a natural fence of bramble. Small berries in red and black hues hung in bushels on the tendrils, enticing but shielded by the thorns. Before he could reach out to try and take one or two of the berries, Melody stops him.
"Let me explain the rules with the farm first, then you're fine to take some of those. Don't know why you'd want to though, they're nasty with how sour they are." She started, walking along the path through the different patches of berries and vegetables growing close to the ground.
"This area is mostly just a garden, though we do have some animals back toward that corner; but they're primarily Kato and Urki's job. Everybody pitches in here, though we don't really have many issues with unwanted plants sprouting up in places they shouldn't be so there isn't a lot of weeding to do. Most everything that's growing here serves a purpose, and all I have to ask is that you just take what you need. There's no point in taking more than that, as we've already got a fair bit stocked up from before. We all share the same resources and space, which also brings up where we do a lot of our cooking. There's a building over that way," Melody pauses to point over toward the northeast corner, "which we use for cooking and storing food. It's opposite where the animals are, but it's pretty hard to miss."
Pandora nodded along, trying to take in as much of the information as possible. Only take what I need, help when I can, there's a cookhouse… Makes enough sense, he thought to himself, adding on to the growing list of things he'd need to find later. At least he knew where to go for a baseline, and that was good enough for the moment.
Though, the bramble called to him with its supposedly sour fruit. Perhaps she just didn't know when to pick them, he told himself as he walked over to one of the spots bearing the most of the shiny black fruit. Leaning over the surprisingly tall tangle of bramble, Pandora reached for some of the more ripe berries, paying no mind to the thorns dragging on his skin.
It was worth it to grab some, the tart berries were lovely, just the slightest bit sweet. Oddly, it reminded him of something before; nothing fully fledged but just a little spark of a memory, of enjoying blackberries just as he was now. Though it wasn't unpleasant, remembering just that little glimmer.
"You should try some of these ones, they aren't terribly sour." He called to Melody, who seemed skeptical at the berries Pandora offered in his palm.
She did take the berries, however, and though she looked at them like he'd somehow managed to poison them right off the bush, she ate them. The smallest hint of shock in her eyes was amusing, but it faded quick as it came.
"You're right, they aren't sour," she started, shrugging her shoulders before looking back toward the direction of the gate, "but, I haven't got time to stick around in the farm and pick berries all day. Come on, the doors are going to open soon and I've got to get to mapping more. You should try and find Accius or Urki, they can show you around better now that it's daytime, but I have no time to spend babysitting you."
Stunned for a moment, that's all it takes for Melody to disappear into the woods.
He really wasn't going to get used to being treated like he was some rowdy kid by these people, was he?
At least it was easy to get out of the forest, following the wall back the way he'd initially followed Melody until it turned back into the open grassy field with the east wall and still shut gate visible. Though he could see where Melody stood, looking at the doors with a book of some kind in hand.
Then, the world felt like it shifted as the sound of gears turning echoed through the walls. Stone ground against stone and the gate opened before his eyes like a monstrous beast yawning, threatening to crush whatever got unlucky enough to be between its jaws when it rested once again.
Picking up his pace, Pandora ran over to where Melody was standing as she was apparently… Taking notes?
"Thought I told you to go find Accius or Urki, newbie." Melody said without even looking up at him, focusing still on documenting whatever it was she had to say.
"I just wanted to look at the maze, it's interesting." He replied, even though it wasn't fully the reason.
"I want to know if the thing I saw yesterday is still out there. It has to be, unless it knows the way out of here? In which case, more incentive to keep searching for it!" Pandora thought, looking into the main corridor.
There's three branches; one on the left, and two to the right. The left wall is indented and practically crawling with thick ivy. With the sun climbing higher and higher into the sky, he watches the entrance. Maybe running again would answer the questions he has; something out there might have his name, or some information, or—
A dark figure darts out of the left corridor, making a quick bee-line for the one opposite. The sound of heavy boots thunders through the hall and draws not just Pandora's attention.
Melody took off before he could even say anything, dropping the book she'd been writing in to pursue the figure. Without a second thought, Pandora follows suit, tailing behind her and the figure.
The sound of armor shifting and rattling gave away the thing's position, making tailing after it easier. He caught up to Melody easily, but keeping up with the figure was far more difficult as it weaved between corridors in the relatively open area.
This section was comprised of shorter walls than the left corridor, with frequent large gaps breaking it up into a disjointed but easier to navigate space. Although, it dredged up that same foreboding feeling of dread and terror that he'd felt when he'd seen the figure before. Perhaps that was just his proximity to it.
Corner after corner, they kept pace with the humanoid creature.
Solid ground turns into something more difficult to traverse, scattered gaps in the stone floor leading into pits of varying depths. Crossing the holes wasn't the scary part, however.
It was how slick the ground was becoming. Water and moss overflowed from some of the gaps making the entire area extremely difficult to traverse without falling.
He's starting to lose sight of the figure as they weave in and out of corridors; but then—
Melody slips.
Pandora almost falls trying to stop, momentum not making it any easier to be able to check on her.
Where did she go?
It doesn't take long to realize she fell into one of the pits, looking at the ground. Thankfully it didn't seem to be particularly deep, maybe seven feet, give or take.
"Should I help her—? Or do I keep going after that thing?" Pandora questions himself, not sure what was more important.
The question answers itself pretty quickly, as he realizes she can't get out, despite the attempts she was making.
Looking around, Pandora ponders what to do.
"I'll need to get something to use as rope, that's probably my best bet to help her get out. It's too slick to just pull her out of there. Maybe the vines could work? Assuming they aren't too weak… What do I do if she's injured and can't walk? This isn't good, this really isn't good. Okay— okay. I saw vines earlier that looked like they might be sturdy enough, I just need to figure out how to get them. Hopefully I can just pull them down?"
Stepping carefully, he walks away from where Melody was. Navigating around the gaping holes in the ground is definitely easier the second time around, now that he wasn't running.
Reaching one of the many vine-covered walls, Pandora had to decide how he was even going to get enough leverage to pull them off where they'd grown from on the top of the wall.
Grabbing ahold of the bottom portion of a pretty solid chunk of vines, he just… Went for it.
Pulling on it until it finally let go of its death grip on the cracked stone and nearly made him fall with it.
That solved one issue.
Vines acquired and a new respect for the foliage that crept its way up the walls of the maze, it left a few more steps. He'd have to anchor it to something for it to be of any use at all, since there'd be the same slipping issue if he was holding onto it to help hoist her out. So… More predicaments.
Finding a good anything to tie the vines to within a good distance was another issue entirely. Sure, there were some decent-ish spots, but they were all too far away, even with the entire length of the vines.
Although, a spot did catch his eye.
Some sort of metal bars half embedded into the stone that seemed like they'd hold pretty well.
It's worth a shot, at least.
Tying thick vines around metal was difficult, trying to get them to twist in the way he wanted so that they wouldn't immediately slip off again. It took easily twenty minutes of struggling with the foliage before it was at a point that it didn't immediately slip off when he pulled on the loose end of the makeshift rope.
Picking up the long end and walking over toward the hole Melody was in, he realized she was… Quite panicked?
"I thought you left me here to die, what the hell!" Melody exclaimed, clearly upset.
"Huh— No..? I was getting vines to help you get out of there?"
"Maybe tell me next time!? You just walked away without saying anything, I thought you just fucking abandoned me here." She cries, exasperated.
Pandora paused, still holding the vines in his arms. "I forgot to tell her what I was doing. Oh. Shit. I knew I was forgetting something," he thought.
He tossed the remaining length of vines down in the hole with Melody before taking a step back and giving her space.
It wasn't exactly an easy climb, but she made it out of the hole and brushed herself off.
"Where'd that thing go, did you see?" Melody asked, looking around for a moment.
"… No. I stopped the second you fell because I didn't want to leave you behind. It ran off somewhere in that general direction but I'm not sure which path it took, if I'm being honest." Pandora replied, pointing in the direction it'd gone. There was a whole slew of corridors and openings that way, it'd be near impossible to track it down by now after how long he spent trying to get her out.
Which reminds him…
Looking up toward the sky, the sun's around a quarter past midday. Plenty of time.
"Should we go back or… I dunno. Look around a bit? Are you injured at all?" He asks, though his thoughts are wandering around. This is a new area, I haven't been here before. It's a lot different to the left side, what else is there that wasn't on the left? Those pits are new, and the ground wasn't nearly as slippery before. Then again, why is it slippery at all? Sure, there was water, but that didn't make the pillars slick.
But, Melody's reply through gritted teeth drags him out of his thoughts, "I'll be fine, thank you. We may as well look around, there might be something of use to us here."
Pandora's not sure he believes her with the way she's clearly favoring her left leg, but he's also in no position to do anything about it.
"Alright, we should also try and figure out the way back— I didn't go to this area before, I went down the left corridor. I also didn't keep track of where we were going…" He muttered the last part under his breath, hoping she didn't hear it.
"I know the way back from here— I think —so just look around for anything interesting. Mostly look for any crates or chests, there's a fair few I've seen in this area in the past." Melody replied, seemingly having her own doubts as she bent over to check her right leg.
So much for not being injured, he thought. Though he couldn't tell much from the distance, he could see the bruising already forming on her shin. At least it seems mostly superficial, she's able to walk. That's good.
Once Melody stood back up again, he started walking in the direction the thing had gone, searching for any sort of trace or sign of where it'd ended up.
Turning to the right, he finds a fairly large open area; the furthest undisturbed wall is covered almost completely in the same vines he'd used just minutes earlier to help Melody out. Though… As he gets closer to the wall, he notices something.
Just a bit to the left of the center of the wall, the vines are shifted around; a little bit like they'd been pushed aside for some reason.
Getting up to it, Pandora looks for anything, putting his hand on the wall and feeling for any cracks or signs of a door or anything of that nature. But there's nothing. Just a solid wall with no sign of being disturbed besides the vines being a bit askew.
Sighing, he turns around to check where Melody is and sees her looking into one of the corridors opposite the wall, which makes it fairly easy to grab her attention.
"Melody! There's something over here, come take a look!" Pandora calls out, wincing a little at the way it echoes around the stone walls.
Even from the distance, he can see the way she jumped in surprise before walking over, still carrying a bit of a limp but making the distance regardless.
"Resilience", his mind supplied.
"What'd you find?" She asked as she approached the wall, confusion tugging at her brows.
"These vines looked like they've been moved. I'm not quite sure why, but it might be important?"
Melody looked unamused and maybe a little frustrated, but she just shrugged and turned away, "It's probably nothing. It could've just been the wind messing with the vines, so I wouldn't get your hopes up too much about that being useful. It's happened before."
Her answer got on his nerves with how just… Accepting that this meant nothing she sounded. Maybe it's because he wasn't as jaded to the concept, he didn't know. How long had she been here, anyways? Clearly too long, if she was that willing to just give up immediately on the concept of something being a sign.
But he doesn't dwell on it for too long, the sound of the walls shifting drawing both of their attention as a small gap opened up near where they were stood.
It moved… In the middle of the day. Was that normal? Did the maze just change whenever it felt like? Open or close corridors as it saw fit?
Walking to the new opening in the wall, he peered down it, not quite certain what to expect but curiosity drew him in.
A long, narrow stretch of dust-covered and dull stone greeted him. Though; at the very end sat a chest, seeming worn and looking like it'd sat untouched for a long while. There was cloth sitting beside it in a small pile, almost like it'd been dropped by somebody some time ago.
Curiosity won out over caution as he set off down the corridor before Melody could even tell him not to.
It was claustrophobic in there, an uncomfortably tight squeeze that threatened to crush him if he so much as breathed wrong, but he persevered anyway.
Reaching the end wasn't the most difficult thing, but it wasn't easy or safe either. Hopefully this'll have something interesting or useful.
Opening the chest, Pandora's first greeted by a plume of dust and dirt, making him cough. After the air clears, he finds that the chest has some bars of metal, likely iron based on its appearance. Along with that are just a bunch of cobwebs and an ancient-looking katana.
Picking up some of the metal, along with the katana, he turns around to go back the way he came.
"Even if I can't use the katana, it'll be useful to somebody in the group, right? I don't use swords, it just doesn't work." He thought as he walked back.
Carrying the materials like this was hardly efficient, but he made do with what he could. It wasn't like they were particularly heavy, it was just a bit uncomfortable.
Reaching the entrance of the corridor, Melody was stood there, practically gawking at him for some reason.
Then, the walls shifted again; the sound of stone grinding on stone echoing out as the hall closed off again once he was on the other side.
"That was reckless! Why the hell would you go in there? You could've gotten trapped!" Melody almost yelled, frustration rearing its head in her tensed shoulders and distressed eyes.
"I… I didn't know it would close like that! You said to keep an eye out for any chests or anything, so that's what I did— and besides, I got these." He offered the metal over to her, and though she took it, she scoffed at him.
Sliding the bag off her back, Melody looked at him questioningly before speaking; "beside how absolutely batshit that sounds, I'll hand it to you that these are useful. You should make a backpack though, or just a bag of some kind so you can carry stuff."
Which is a good point, he'll admit that. Maybe he'll make one later, though that is going to mean asking around for what materials he'll need… For now, he files away the thought.
By now, the sky's shining soft golds and pinks, the sun beginning its descent toward slumber in the west. Although that does offer some guide for getting back; it does also mean they're burning daylight, which is decidedly more of an issue than making a bag.
"Uh— yeah. I'll do that. We should start heading back now, right? I don't know quite when the doors shut." Pandora spoke up as the duo began walking back toward the area scattered with pits.
"Definitely. Come on, I do actually know the way back, I've been in this area before— I just didn't recognize it since I initially took a much different path. We can get back before the sun sets." Melody reassured, walking ahead and still looking deeply uncomfortable as she put pressure on her right leg.
"It won't heal right if she keeps pushing it like this," something in his mind supplied, unfamiliar but… Useful.
Keeping up with her wasn't hard, though watching the way she struggled to keep up the confidence in her step was.
He wanted to help, he really did. But she clearly wasn't interested in even acknowledging her injury to him, let alone allowing him to help. Plus, they were burning daylight still.
They made it back with little daylight to spare, and it wasn't long before the gates clamped shut and locked them inside once again. Or, outside?
Melody's sigh of relief caught him as well; at the very least they made it back alive and mostly safe.
"What are you going to do now?" Pandora asked her, though the "I hope you're going to have somebody look at your leg," went unsaid.
She shrugged, looking off in the direction of the farm and presumably other members of the clearing; "I'm going to go have a chat with Lyra. Don't follow me."
The finality in her tone made him not particularly inclined to challenge that; so he let her walk off without much more said.
I need to sort out what happened today, it's been a lot.
Leaning against the gate like he had the first day; Pandora tuned everything out besides his own thoughts for just a moment.
The thing I saw before was in the maze still, but it's gone now? It disappeared somewhere, but I don't know where. Uh… What else?
Right! Melody showed me the farm this morning before the gate opened. That was nice at least. Bowen and her were talking about something, what were they talking about? Dammit. I don't know. I really shouldn't have snooped like that, though. I guess it's for the better I don't remember.
But, is that really all? I mean. Melody got injured. God, she probably hates me, I didn't realize I just… Left her without saying anything. Maybe if I'd followed that thing and figured out where it went that would've been better— no. No it wouldn't have been. Because then I'd be lost out there. I don't know my way back here and it was dumb luck that I found my way the first time. I shouldn't be pushing my luck like that.
Would it really have been worth it to find out where it went? I mean. It probably was just trying to lead us astray. I don't trust those things, no matter what they are. They're bad news and I'm not just going to doubt such a strong gut feeling.
Maybe I should tell someone about those things.
That'd be good. But… Who can I even trust? I can't talk to Lyra or Melody, not with whatever Melody was going to go talk about. I haven't really spoken to Wren, Altair, or Ivy… Maybe I could tell Bowen or Accius. They'll believe me, surely!
Especially when Melody saw that thing too; it isn't just me. I just need to find them. Or even just one of them, it doesn't really matter— I just can't keep this a secret. But I can't tell everyone at once, they'll think I'm crazy.
With that, he set off.
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