unfortunate enough to touch it. Careful not to stray too close to the brightly glowing walls, the boy jogs down the long staircase, finally reaching the bottom where three metal doors await.
“I don’t like this,” Mai points out, taking form in front of the boy. Cautiously moving toward the middle door, she briefly glances back to find Rift’s vacant eyes locked upon her. “Hey!” She half whispers with a stern look. “Eyes up here,” she demands, pointing at her face before smiling wryly and turning her attention back to the task. Grabbing the handle proves disastrous as the doorframe suddenly produces teeth along its edges. The ground beneath the goddess’s feet crumbles apart as the bottom jaw of the monster is revealed. Snapping its deceptive mouth shut, Mai is blinked out of existence inside the submerged monster’s hungry mouth.
“Mai!” Rift yells, louder than he’d intended. Writhing left to right, the creature continues to snap its jaws, searching for its prey unsuccessfully. Finally relenting, it returns to its passive stance, burrowing its bottom jaw just beneath the surface as its fangs recede back into the mimicked door.
“What?” She casually asks, almost sounding annoyed by the unexpected shout. Standing beside the boy with her chin resting on her fist, she stares at the doors thoughtfully. Turning to see her, Rift is thoroughly embarrassed, unsure what to say to play off the outburst of compassion.
“So,” he starts, turning back toward the doors to hide his blushing face. “That was unexpected.”
“Yeah, I thought he had me for sure,” she dryly replies, eyeing the boy with a knowing smirk. “Here’s the plan. Anytime something seems out of place or dangerous, send me over to investigate. Better I fall for the trap than you, right?”
“Yeah,” Rift nods, pulling his hood up over his head to better conceal his face. “That makes sense.”
“So which door do you think?” She asks, trying her best to refrain from laughing at the boy’s expense. She may have poured it on a little thick, but the closer the two become, the crueler the jokes and discourse have grown.
“Let’s try that one on the left,” he decides, walking closer, but allowing Mai to test it first. With a casual twist of her wrist, the door swings open revealing another hall of molten white, turning right just inside the doorway. “Good call. I should have let you pick the first time,” she admits, turning the conversation away from embarrassing topics. Through the door the duo find hallway after hallway of molten walls, the ceiling consisting of the same soft, cracked texture as the ground for whatever reason. The cavern is not naturally formed, the walls forming right angles every time a hallway turns or meets an intersection. Quickly determining what they’ve stumbled into, Rift lets out a long sigh to prepare for the road ahead.
“It’s a maze,” he points out, shaking his head.
“Buck up handsome, I’m good at this stuff,” Mai assures with a cavalier tone. “You do the walking and I’ll keep track of where we’ve been. We’ll be through this thing in no time.” His spirit rejuvenated for the time being, Rift jogs down the hall, turning right and immediately hitting a dead end. Rolling his eyes, he turns around and takes the alternate route discovering a juncture with three possibilities. Corner after corner is turned. Dead ends and disorientation are all the boy finds. The occasional rumble sounds in the distance, and the two explorers are filled with dread each and every time. Another eruption of lava would be the end for Rift, the underground maze’s only exits an unknown distance away. Rounding yet another corner, the boy trots through another crossroads when Mai calls out for him to stop. Phasing into the visible spectrum, she curiously inspects the walls before turning her attention to the floor and ceiling.
“What is it?” Rift asks, baffled by her antics.
“This hall wasn’t here before. I’m sure of it,” she mumbles, venturing into the passage.
“You losing your touch?” The boy asks, following her into the yet to be traversed hall.
“Hah! Never. There’s something fishy going on down here,” she declares before vanishing once again. Continuing down the new direction, several more dead ends are found as Mai continues to map out the growing labyrinth. A much louder rumbling sounds causing Rift to freeze in his tracks. After a brief, monotonous period, it stops with no perceptible change having occurred.
“What is that?” He asks, growing increasingly paranoid.
“At first I didn’t want to find out, but suddenly I do,” the goddess proclaims with an air of annoyance. “Remember that hall I said wasn’t there before? Let’s head back there.” Quickly retracing his steps, Rift turns a series of corners expecting an intersection to appear, but instead finds another dead end.
“Wait,” he thinks aloud, shaking his head. “This was it, right?”
“Sure was,” Mai agrees, sounding especially vindicated. “The maze is cheating. The walls are shifting. I’ve been keeping track of the time between that rumbling noise, and,” she pauses, waiting for confirmation. “And,” she adds, growing impatient. Moments later, the seamless wall slowly slides downward with a loud rumbling, revealing the familiar junction as the obstruction slides back into the ground. Scowling at the spot where the wall descended, Rift cannot find a single inconsistency in the cracked floor that might reveal the ruse for what it is.
“Unbelievable,” the boy groans, throwing his hands up in defeat. “How are we going to deal with that?” He asks, waiting a moment before adding, “and don’t say I have—“
“I have a plan,” Mai interjects before he can finish the sentence. “Right now the fake walls are down. There are only three paths we’ve found extending deeper into the maze. If we hurry, we should be able to find the one that opened,” she explains, waiting for her praise.
“That’s a terrible idea,” Rift moans sarcastically. “Of all the plans you’ve come up with,” he starts, cut off when Mai appears on his shoulders once again.
“Say it!” She demands, pinching his nose between her knuckles.
“No! Get off!” The boy laughs, his voice augmented with his nasal passage blocked.
“Say it!” She repeats, struggling to keep her balance as Rift attempts to shake her loose. Relaxing his shoulders, he finally admits defeat.
“You’re a genius,” he mumbles, glancing to the right to avoid eye contact.
“What? Can’t hear you,” she shouts, cupping a hand to her ear.
“You’re a genius,” he blurts out, only slightly more audibly, adding, “and a jerk.”
“I’ll take it,” she smirks, releasing his nose and propping her forearms on top of his head. Riding her companion through the endless halls, Mai sits with a reflective smile on her face. “I’m glad I met you, Rift,” she admits, her tone suddenly turning mildly lethargic.
“What’s this all of a sudden?” He asks with a brief laugh.
“All kidding aside, I feel like I haven’t really told you,” she pauses, trying to find the words. “How important you are to me,” she declares, nervously adjusting herself on his shoulders with the admission. A brief silence passes as Rift quickly becomes as uncomfortable as Mai seems to be.
“T-thank you,” he finally stammers awkwardly. “M-me too, you know?”
“I know,” she smiles, sliding off his shoulders to switch to a piggyback ride. Hugging his neck and shoulders she adds, “it’s just nice to hear it.” With that she fades away, the grin on the boy’s face certain to remain for quite a while. Sensing his daydreaming state, she decides she’d better say something else. “We don’t have a ton of time, so,” she starts, hating to ruin the moment.
“Oh,” he exclaims, slightly startled. “Right, right.” Breaking into a fast-paced jog, he decides to try the rightmost potential passage. Stunned by his continual luck, he finds what should be a dead end leading deeper into the maze. Rounding another corner in a blissful state of mind, he is completely unprepared for the blob-like enemy waiting for him. Primarily black in color, the lazily rippling
husk of muscle has sporadic splotches of purple as well. Freezing in his tracks, he watches the cylindrical creature extend upward like an outstretched tongue before bending in his direction.
“Look out!” Mai cries, unsure what manner of tactics to issue against such an enemy in the tightly enclosed area. Turning to run, Rift soon finds it is far too late, an orifice atop the creature expanding in size as a powerful influx of air pulls the boy back. Fighting the suction with every step, he simply reacted too late, the vacuum finally pulling him off balance and into the monster’s mouth. Thrashing about inside the beast, Rift’s stomach turns as the slimy juices immediately coat his form completely. The consistent squeezing and relaxing of the monster’s fleshy interior nearly causes him to puke as he continues to punch and kick despite the total lack of oxygen. Apparently annoyed by the boy’s reluctance to be eaten, the warbling mass of muscle vomits him back onto the ground with a disgustingly slimy noise. Rolling to a sitting position, Rift glances at his hands to see the putrid, purple muck slowly dripping off. Climbing back to his feet he hears a sizzling sound steadily gaining volume, and upon glancing down, realizes the creature has stolen his greaves.
“Uhhh,” he starts, wiping a large glob of slop from his face. “Little help?”
“Portal!” Mai announces