Aries

A/N: This chapter is very short. Just about 1.5k words.

Guys... I want to inform you about something in the next update, which I hope is on Friday.

I am just a little bit sceptical about this decision of mine.

Let’s see in the next update.

Also, yes, I wanted to update this on Friday, but I simply could not wait.

*******

I leant on the wall, trying to catch my breath. I did not know for how long I was walking around, but there was absolutely no way out. It was as if the only purpose of this Maze was to trap things in.

My headache that began the moment I was thrown in was slowly growing. So many flashes of the past came and I nearly passed out from the pain. Only if Aries was here, he could bring me back from the past that gripped me. I crouched and clutched my head between my hands. I did not know how long I stayed there, but the pain began to subside. I slowly got up on my feet.

I licked my lips and my eyes searched for any source of water. Getting dehydrated was not a great idea. But if this Maze was to function any little like the Dungeon, it would not allow me to die. But experience it.

I groaned and sat down again. Vines grew up the walls and on the ground, I was seated on.

The vines had a scent that my mind said I had scented it somewhere, but I could not think of where. I just knew it was out of the world. Purple and yellow flowers grew on the vines, decorating them.

But I had to admit it, the flowers were pretty to look at and smelled too sweet. And as the basic law of nature, anything too bright might be poisonous.

I tried my best to stay clear of those flowers. While the Dungeons offered me the companionship of rats and rodents and other fauna, Maze gave me the company of flora. It was creative, I had to give it to the person who created this. And just like many things, something said I knew who created it, but at this point, I was tired to even recollect.

I searched deep within me only to find that the link I had with my pack was intact, but I could not contact them. I could feel and read their thoughts, but they could not feel my presence.

One thing was clear. Rhaze had Marked Kaina.

I smirked. Who had been teasing who?

While that did lift my mood up, I was still sour. I had to get out. I could not let Harper catch me. Or Ethan.

I raised my head to see the sky wear the same weary grey colour. No clouds filled the space and no birds flew above. It was like a stimulation. Where the sky was the same.

Slowly, I lowered my sight to the wall opposite to me. There I caught something else.

The flower that was hanging before me was neither yellow nor purple. It was silver.

I gasped as I stood up and neared it. How could I have missed this? I touched the flower and to my surprise, it glowed. These flowers... they had a name. Hacaya.

I took a step back. When I brought my finger that I had touched the flower with close to my nose, I smelled a scent I was so familiar with. It was a part of Aries’ scent.

This gave me hope like no other.

While I was busy gazing at this flower, something else caught my eyes in the far right.

At what seemed the end of the path, was another white flower.

The sense of comfort it gave me was undeniable. I could not help myself as I followed it.

It took me on a spin.

The search stretched on forever. I walked and walked, following the path laid down by flowers.

Was it a path?

I scoffed. How could flowers grow in a pattern? It had grown naturally and I was following it like an idiot.

Why was I following it again?

Was I that bored? Or did I know it was hopeless to get out?

Whatever the reason was, I traced the path.

The density of the flowers was getting more with every turn and something in me said that I was close.

Close to what?

Find the treasure of the universe?

When I took a left turn, the walls closed behind me and I was in an opening.

A large opening.

A statue with two lovers was in the middle of the opening.

The sky above was simply dark. It was not night sky, I realised. It was just space. In which dimension I was in?

I looked around and I gasped when my eyes caught the sight of a female in chains. That was when that throbbing pressure intensified enough for me to let out a scream. Then it subsided as if it was never there. My vision was blurred for the first few seconds before it became much clear.

Flowers seemed to crowd near her.

Silver chains bound her.

I rushed towards her only to be thrown back with force.

I frowned and got up. It was that time the female looked up.

When she saw me, a smile lit her face. The chains that bound her suddenly grew red and gold. I watched with fascination as the female’s body glowed a bit and the pure energy was sucked by the chains. Her body contorted in pain.

What was this?

I opened my mouth and shut it.

Who was this female?

“Lyra,” she rasped, a smile forming on her face after she recovered.

How did she know me?

I said nothing but I stared at her.

“Eat the white flowers, child,” she said, clearing her throat. “It will help with your thirst and hunger.”

I blinked at her.

How could I trust her?

What if this entire thing was stimulation and she was just a test?

“Go ahead,” she urged. “I am not a stimulation. This Maze is indeed built by the Moon.”

“Don’t all stimulations say that?” I muttered.

She laughed. She laughed despite the pain wracking her body.

“Oh Lyra!” she sighed. “So much like your father. So much.”

I frowned. “My father?”

She nodded. “Yes. Your father. I know him.”

I was lost for words. “You knew Carter Black?”

She shrugged. “I knew him too. But I am talking about your biological father, Lyra. Or rather the male who gave life to the body you are hosting.”

I inhaled sharply. Even with Aspen looking, I had been unable to locate my biological family. What did she mean by the body I was hosting?

“Was-was he here?” I asked her.

“I wish he had been here,” she said. “In that way at least you could have met him. But alas, he passed away.”

I gulped. “A-are you my mother?”

She laughed again. “In a way.”

I frowned and knelt down and stuffed my mouth with as many as flowers as I could.

And relief spread throughout my body. My thirst centre was sated and so was my hunger. But another thing burned in me. Curiosity.

“How do you know my father?” I asked, sitting opposite her.

She thought for a while. “I just knew.”

“Huh?”

Her face contorted in pain as the chains drained her energy once again.

“What is this?” I whispered, gesturing to the chains.

“My eternal punishment,” she said. “Every time I recharge my energy just above my basal requirement, the chains take them away. I have just enough to live.”

The horror. Why would anyone be given such a punishment?

“Why?” I asked.

She took in a deep breath. “I wronged someone. Hence, this is her way of taking revenge.”

“How many years?” I asked softly.

“I lost count after a few thousand years,” she said. “I guess about two thousand years? I don’t know. Could be more.”

“This is terrible!” I shrilled. For some reason, this female made me feel safe. “Too long.”

She looked at her chains and then at me. “To my race, this time span is nothing.”

To my race? What did she mean by that? Was she-

“Are you a star?” I asked. That could be the only explanation behind her recharging.

She smirked. “Yes. I am.”

I licked my lips. “Wonderful.”

She smiled at me and then saw the statue that was behind me.

I traced her sight. When I saw her seeing that statue wistfully, I could not help myself but ask, “You know them?”

She nodded. “They are my parents.”

I gasped. “Your parents threw you here?”

She laughed. “No! They don’t know I am here. I bet they are searching for me.”

I looked at her again.

Her face was ethereal. Too beautiful. But then again, all the stars were.

Her skin despite this hardship was smooth and her hair was the richest shade of black I had ever seen. Her eyes, By Amaris! It was liquid gold.

“Who are you?” I asked when something uneasy rustled in my heart.

“Cain did a great job,” she said, ignoring my question.

The warmth left my face. I was pretty sure I would be pale. “What?”

She nodded. “Cain Black, your brother. He did as he was told.”

My breath got harder. I had to get away from here. I was right. This was a stimulation. Had to be.

Then a presence invaded my mind. Am I a stimulation, Lyra?

This female was talking in my head. I shot up and glared at her. “You-”

“Am I?” she asked and looked at me.

I simply knew that she was real. How could I know? I did not know that, but I knew.

I could feel it in my heart and soul that this Maze was very real.

“Good,” she said satisfied. “Cain Black was a Hunter of Moon.”

My jaws dropped. “What?”

If he had been Hunter of Moon, he should have respected the bond given by Luna. He would not have sent me to the Dungeon and banished m from my pack. He had turned his back on me, on my family.

“He is,” she insisted. “He did as I told him to do. He had to get you away from West Pack, away from Harper, as she calls herself now. Most of all, he had to make sure that the bond between you and Ethan never came to life.”

I was simply lost for words.

“The bond between you and Ethan was never there,” she said. “It was never there because you were one of the souls who was not born with any mate bond.”

I blinked. Did this female lose her mind?

“So, hence, I sent Cain to make sure that you would never fall into that faux mate bond,” she continued. “For I know to whom I gave the mate bond.”

At her words, it hit me hard. Everything made sense to me in a weird sort of way. Everything.

“You are-” I began.

She smiled and the Moon would have bowed to her at that sight. “I am the youngest daughter of Moon. I am Luna.”

*Laughs like crazy*

Did anyone expect that?

Until next update,

~Quill