CHAPTER 2 - NAMES
Running through the swiftly shutting doors, he made it just barely before they shut completely with an echoing bang.
Panting and exhausted, he almost collapsed right then and there; the air rushing into his lungs was uncomfortably cold, enough to make him cough every few breaths. Trying to conserve what energy he did have, he leaned against the gate, now hardly distinguishable from the walls it was housed in. Shutting his eyes and welcoming the darkness for a moment, everything came tumbling down on him right.
"I'm. Stuck in a maze. I'm stuck in a maze with people I don't know. I… Who am I? Why am I here..? Why me?"
He tried to keep it together, he really did. But tears still stung at the corners of his eyes as emotion almost got the better of him for just a brief moment.
Two sets of footsteps approached him, prompting him to open his eyes to look at the people approaching him. There was the angel lady again, along with a guy with black hair and short red horns. The angel was holding what appeared to be a canteen of sorts, and the demon— an assumption he feels safe in making —was carrying a small basket covered in a cloth.
"Are you alright?" The angel asked, stepping toward him with a gentle look in her eyes.
"I—… Yeah. I'm alright." He responded, biting back the want to be honest in favor of making the conversation easier. I'll have to get used to this, he thought.
Rather unpleasantly, the demon laughed; "Yeah right, you look like how I felt my first night here."
The angel rolled her eyes and elbowed the demon in the ribs, muttering something about "Not being rude to the new people." Then, she offered him a hand.
Taking it reluctantly, he was pulled up from the frankly uncomfortable position he'd found himself in. The angel didn't let go after helping him up, however; instead, she just started walking, leading him over to where two people were sitting around a campfire. There's room for easily a dozen people, so he can only assume there's more to this group than what's present here.
One of the two people already sitting there looked up at him, a sly smile on their face as they tapped the empty spot on the log beside them.
"Take a seat, kid."
While he'd almost take offense to this random person assuming his age, he can't muster the energy to fight them and instead takes their offer. Sitting down beside the stranger, he watches as the angel and the demon sit down as well, choosing to be near him and the stranger. Well, they're all strangers. They're strange people in a strange place who seem far too comfortable for what this is.
Almost out of nowhere, a lady approaches the campfire, looking skeptically at the group already there before taking a seat next to the ginger man; the furthest away from everyone else.
Looking around the group and taking a moment to make note of appearances, he finds that he's surrounded by mostly humans. The burly man to his right with a dark blonde beard, and to his left is the angel, she has cropped blonde hair and an oddly shaped halo. To her left is the demon with black hair and an odd attitude, who's looking directly at the person across from them; an uncomfortably skinny boy with ginger hair, and lastly, the woman who approached out of nowhere, with long brown hair.
The demon passes the basket they were holding around the group with an invitation, "Take what you want, it's my treat."
When it gets around to him, he takes part of a loaf of bread, not particularly inclined to eat with how uneasy this all feels. The demon looks at him inquisitively, seeming confused about him not taking the full thing but promptly shrugs it off, walking over to the angel and sitting back down. They whisper something to the angel and she laughs, looking at him and offering the canteen.
"You should have something to drink, too. Especially after that sprint you went on in the maze." She says with a gentle tone that grates on his nerves a bit.
But, the energy just isn't there to try refuting their points, so he curls in on himself, pulling the watch coat to cover his legs as he takes a small bite of the bread. It's… Bread. Nothing particularly great, but it's something. Though, it is quite dry and leaves him contemplating for a moment about taking the canteen that the angel offered him.
Reaching over and accepting it from her, he pauses to smell the contents, which prompts a laugh from the man to his right. "It's just water, drink some."
Which doesn't exactly ease his nerves, but thirst wins out and he takes a sip, finding it to just be water and realizing he was really thirsty. Pacing himself, he drinks most of the contents before stopping and trying to figure out what to do with it. Going to offer it back to the angel, she shakes her head.
"Keep it, I have a spare and can make more if anything. But, remind me to show you how to refill it later; not right now though."
Nodding, he carries on with eating the bread, just as everyone else was. Though not everyone grabbed the same thing from the basket, they were all eating just the same. Upon finishing what he'd grabbed, the man to his right speaks up.
"So, kid, what's your name?"
And he hesitates, mulling over the question for longer than he'd care to admit but coming up absolutely blank. Just as he was about to respond, it felt like his mind was overloaded with chattering, something foreign and startling.
He could hardly hear his own thoughts, let alone speak over the sudden intrusion in his mind. "I— uh. Oh my god it's loud— what the hell? What the hell?"
The angel laughs a little, turning to face him as she speaks, "Voices? They're normal around here, I think it's just part of being in the clearing. Don't pay them too much mind, they'll settle down in a minute or two."
If he didn't feel like he was losing his mind, he'd tell her that this is absolutely impossible and that this can't possibly be normal. There's no way this is normal, not at all. But… She was right. The muttering dies down, going to a quiet yet consistent level that's less bothersome and still lets him think.
"So, lets try this again, what's your name, kid?" The burly man, again. What was his obsession with his name?
"I… Don't know. I can't remember it."
"Ah, alright. Well, in that case." The man stands up, offering him a hand. "Let's go see if the name wall can help with that."
After getting practically hoisted to his feet by a man that was shorter than him, the other demon stood as well. "I'll go with you guys. Anybody else want to come with?"
"Nah, I'm gonna stay here with Mel and Altair to chat." The angel replied, gesturing to the other two that stayed seated; Mel and Altair. Which was which, he had no clue. But they had names.
"Suit yourself. Lets get a move on then— oh wait, Bowen could you grab a lantern?"
"Alright." The burly man, Bowen, responded. One more person to the growing list of names in his mind; though… This supposed 'name wall' intrigued him. What was the name wall? What purpose did it serve?
He almost got left behind as Bowen and the demon started walking away, talking amongst themselves about something he didn't quite parse as he ran to catch up. Again, the demon laughed in a way that got on his nerves, but it didn't hold any real malicious intent; just honest amusement. The trio walked toward the gate, not walking particularly quickly as the conversation between the demon and Bowen lulled.
Taking that as his opportunity, he butted into their discussion; "So— I'm curious. What's the deal with the angel?"
"Oh, Lyra? What about her?" The demon replied, looking at him.
The angel's name is Lyra, he noted before speaking; "Just— what's her deal? Why'd she drag me over there like… Immediately?"
"She's just like that sometimes, puts her mind to something and just does it without asking. But also, she came up with Melody, the lady with brown hair that was sitting with Altair earlier. They were the first ones here that we know of, and they've kind of assumed a bit of a leadership over the group. Not like anybody really minds too much; they're mostly just trying to keep people from doing dumb shit like what you did today. Honestly still surprised Mel didn't chew your ear off for that one, she's always got a bone to pick with people who go into the maze without telling her."
"She's just trying to keep everyone safe, Accius."
So the demon has a name too; Accius. That makes all the people he's seen so far with names to match.
Abruptly, Bowen stops at a seemingly random spot on the wall; "Alright, take a look here and see if any of these feel like they might be your name."
Turning to face the wall, he looks at the cracked stone; inscribed is a list of a little over a dozen names, more than the people he'd met thus far. In order, it read:
SYLVESTER, LYRA, ALTAIR, MORRIGAN, ODYSSEY, ACCIUS, MELODY, BOWEN, WREN, IVY, KATO, URKI, REDDOONS, OLIVER.
Names that felt unfamiliar, some he'd heard before, but others were completely unknown. However, none seemed like his name; they all were wrong in one way or another, though he's not sure why. "No. None of these are right, they aren't mine."
Accius and Bowen look at each other, then back to him, confusion easily spelled out on their faces. Is this new to them? Am I seriously the first person that hasn't known their name? That's absurd, he thought.
"Uh… I have a question, though." He spoke up, trying to get the two to stop giving him that look.
"Ask away?" Accius replied, shaking their head as if they were trying to shake off a stray thought.
"What's with all the other names? Like… Who's Kato and Oliver? How are there names of people that aren't even here?"
This time, Bowen speaks up to answer his question; "The name wall's always been this way, at least according to Melody and Lyra. We've used it to identify people in the past, it really comes in handy for people like you who don't remember much at all. Though, some of the people there have already come up, they just weren't at the fire tonight. They're around the clearing, however. For example; Kato's probably already turned in for the night, they always sleep early to be up for when the gate opens. Oliver, however, is one of the unknowns still. Could be your name, though."
"It isn't. I'd remember that. How the hell do you forget your own name? I—…" He paused, searching for anything in his mind, searching for his name or even just a shred of who he is. But still, there's nothing. Just a quiet void with nothing inside except the memory of what he saw in the maze.
"Dude, it's alright. If you don't remember your name, then why don't you just go by something else for the time being? If it comes to you later just tell somebody." Accius spoke up, stepping just a little closer to the wall and gesturing around as they spoke.
That… Honestly sounded like a good idea. At least then he'd be able to not worry about it for the time being. But— what's he supposed to choose?
"Yeah uh—… Um… Oh gods what am I supposed to choose here? I don't know—." He fumbled over his words, drawing blank after blank of what to use.
"Hey, I mean, why not 'Pandora'? What with your little excursion earlier, I think it'd fit you. It's from one of my old books I had before this place; not quite sure what it means but… It feels fitting to me at least!" Accius chimed in, it seemed like they had a tendency to speak with their hands, gesturing around as they spoke.
Pandora… It sounded like a nice name, though, how did Accius remember that? How could they remember anything from the past, let alone something like a name?
"Sure. I'll go by Pandora, then. That… Works, I guess?" He, Pandora, replied. It felt right, it wasn't quite his, but it wasn't completely foreign either.
Accius has a smile on their face, something genuinely pleased that he accepted their suggestion. "Well, in that case!" They started as they grabbed something off their side, handing it over to him before continuing; "Go ahead and carve your name into the wall with the rest of the names. You're part of the clearing just like everyone else."
Fumbling for just a moment, Pandora finds that he's been handed a flimsy knife, one that might break if he isn't careful. Looking between the knife and the wall, there isn't really a good place to put his name, let alone be able to carve it legibly. But, it doesn't seem like there's any other option, so with the knowledge that he needs to carve seven letters into the wall, he finds the most open spot. That happens to be between "ODYSSEY" and "ACCIUS", and he just… Goes for it.
The sound of carving into the stone is less than pleasant, and it's a lot more difficult than he expected it to be. Once he finishes with the "P", Bowen clears his throat and draws the attention of Pandora and Accius.
"I'm going to head back to the fire and check on everyone else, I'll let them know what you two are up to. Make sure to come back over once you're done, though." And with that, Bowen walks away, leaving the lantern on the ground so that they aren't in total darkness now that the sun's mostly set; dusk coloring the clearing navy blue.
For a while, there's relative silence between Accius and Pandora; not much to be said as he continues carving into the stone one letter at a time. Adding the "AN" before Accius finally says something.
"This might be a bit rude, but like, what happened to you?" They started, leaning against the name wall a foot or so away from where Pandora was attempting to carve his name.
"What do you mean?" Pandora questions, looking away from the wall for a moment to try and get a better look at Accius's expression; though it didn't offer much as they were just staring off into the sparse forest.
"You're missing a horn, dude; and also like, that side of your face looks horrible." Accius said, gesturing to the left side of his face.
He knew about the part of his face that hurt, but he was supposedly missing a horn? That was news.
Passing the knife to his offhand, he reaches to where his horns are; the one to his left is normal, though it seems like his horns are longer than Accius's as far as he can tell. But, he touches where the right one should be and finds it short and jagged at the end. Though it doesn't hurt, so maybe it's an old injury?
"I'm… Not too sure. I don't really remember anything, let alone what happened to it."
Accius hums a quiet agreement, seemingly lost in thought while Pandora carries on chipping away. While the "DO" wander a little away from the "AN", he's able to make it sensible with the "RA". Stepping back, he checks his work.
PANDORA.
His new name looks back at him, this is who he is now. Pandora. He'll have to get used to this; though it's nice to have something of his own. His writing doesn't match the other names, but it's his, and that's enough for him.
"Hm… It's whatever. Let's go back to the group, yeah? You've gotta introduce yourself properly, now that you've got a name!" Accius said, almost sing-song as they threw their arm around Pandora's shoulder, though they struggled a little in trying.
"Alright-" Was all he could manage as Accius practically forces him to lean over with their insistence to keep their arm on his shoulders. "Could you uh— let go? I'd like to be able to walk without falling on my face… Please."
"Oh yeah, sure!" Accius responded, chuckling like this was some odd joke. But, thankfully, they let go and just started walking through the small grove of trees that kept the name wall hidden, rather than following the wall like they had to get there in the first place.
It wasn't particularly dense, and the sound of crunching twigs and rustling leaves underfoot wasn't a bad one. Getting back to the fire wasn't exactly an issue, with his eerily cheery guide just walking with maybe a little too much confidence. All things considered, at least so far, Accius isn't too bad. They're just… A little too cheery for my comfort, he thought.
Seeing the group sitting around the campfire; Pandora put his new knowledge of people's names to use. Bowen, Lyra, and Melody — he was fairly certain in that assumption, now —were all sat together in close to the same arrangement they'd been in when he was there. Though, the ginger man— Altair —was sitting with two people that Pandora didn't quite recognize. One was an angel with oddly colored hair, and the other looked to be a human with mousy brown hair.
"Two more unknowns", he sighed to himself. More people to keep track of, but it wouldn't be impossible. "This'll get easier, right?"
"Oh yeah, totally. It's probably a lot to keep track of right now, but you'll make it work! You seem smart; well… Either smart or really lucky." Accius interrupted his thoughts, which he realized now they'd heard him talking to himself.
"Huh—?" Probably wasn't his best response, but he couldn't think of a better way to articulate the questions on his mind.
Accius shrugged before they spoke, taking the opportunity to lead him over to one of the empty spaces. "You made it out of the maze without any experience, dude! That's more of a feat than most of us have pulled off." They kept their voice hushed, but their quietness didn't stop them from sounding quite excited about it.
… Huh. Not what I expected at all. Have people gotten lost out there before? I mean… Sure, it's a bit confusing but… I'm not sure I believe that, he questioned.
However, it seemed the group had other plans as he was pulled from his thoughts by Lyra speaking up; "Welcome back, you two! How'd figuring out your name go, newbie?"
Accius looked at him questioningly but stayed silent, lightly shoving Pandora's side with their elbow.
"I— uh… It went… Okay? I still don't remember it but Accius suggested just picking something else to go by so…" He trailed off, not sure where to go with his thought. Thankfully, Accius seemed to catch the hint.
"This is Pandora, everybody!" They finished for him, once again getting into his space and putting their arm around him. He really needed to tell this guy to mind his space, but for now… It's alright.
Bowen nods in an approving way that still feels weird to him, but there are other things to focus on as Pandora watches Lyra get up and mutter something to Melody, who follows suit.
"Good to meet you properly this time, Pandora." Lyra said, and the name still felt a little odd, but it was his.
Melody didn't say anything, but she did extend a hand to him, offering a handshake, at least he assumed so. Shaking her hand, Melody gave just a slight nod before turning away and going back to where she'd been sitting beside Bowen.
Lyra lingered before electing to just sit between Pandora and Melody in the odd semi-circle of people.
"Just quickly, uh— you two over there, what are your names?" Pandora asked to nobody in particular as he gestured over to the odd angel and person with short brown hair.
Pretty quickly, the unnaturally red-haired angel responds for the two, "I'm Ivy, and I'm assuming you're asking about Wren? Pretty sure she's the only other one who missed dinner tonight."
"Yup, I did. Nice to know I'm not gonna just be 'the new girl' anymore. Though, I do think Kato, Urki and Morrigan also missed dinner; something about 'wanting to be up early'? Their loss, honestly!" Wren laughed, though it didn't seem like she was particularly upset by the title of 'new' to begin with.
More names to keep track of and more people he still has yet to meet; but, that answers who the two that are already there are. Ivy's an angel, and Wren's another human. Lyra and Ivy are angels; Accius is a demon, and everyone else is human as far as he can tell. Though that does stir up a thought…
What was that figure he saw in the maze?
It had an odd aura to it, but he couldn't see much of anything about it. Was it a human? An angel? Or maybe even a demon? No, that would be silly. It wasn't a demon, it didn't have any horns, and there wasn't any way for it to have hidden them with its helmet. So; it was a human or an angel. No self-respecting demon would desecrate their horns like that.
The thought startles him, drawing up confusion and deep concern in his mind. He's missing a horn. Why is he missing a horn? What did he do?
Weren't horns supposed to be near impossible to break?
Somebody touched his shoulder and Pandora startled, shaking off the line of thought he'd found himself in. "Mmm? What's going on?"
Looking over to whoever touched his shoulder, he realizes that there are a lot fewer people than there were before. It's just him, Lyra, and Accius, now. Accius was the one who touched his shoulder, looking slightly concerned until he looked them in the eyes.
"Oh good, got worried for a second. I was just going to head off to sleep, do you want to come with me so I can show you around?" They questioned, gesturing toward the woods.
Pandora hesitated to respond, as much as he'd like to trust these people, he just… Couldn't bring himself to. Not yet. Not without good reason.
"I'm good, I think I'll just stay up for a while. It's a pretty night, honestly." Pandora said, trying to come off as at least a little certain about his words.
"Suit yourself. Lyra?"
"I'll stay up too, got some stuff to do. Get some good rest, Accius." Lyra quipped with a shrug.
Once Accius walked away, going somewhere into the woods that surrounded the clearing, Lyra spoke up.
"Just don't go running into the maze right away once the morning comes, alright? I'll leave you alone, but if you need anything don't be afraid to look for me, I'll help you out."
"Uh… Alright. I can do that. Probably shouldn't have done that in the first place, apparently it's dangerous? I didn't really hear what you said, I was too caught up in my own head, I guess." Pandora responded, looking up at the sky.
It really was pretty, with stars glittering and almost dancing in the darkness above. Something about the infinity overhead was just absolutely enchanting. None of the stars were familiar, none of the patterns that lived deep in his mind formed, but they were beautiful in their chaos. It was simply the unknown, in all of its glory; stretching on and on in a familiarly foreign way.
He could get used to this. Being under the sky and all of its wonders never changes, no matter where he is.
In the end, it's all the same sky.
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