Outside

Within the long and empty halls of the neverending labyrinth, Lucian's steps had slowed to the pace of a crawl alongside Irina who looked even more fatigued than he. He had no idea how long had passed, but it felt so long ago that the princess had cried into her cushion.

So very, very long ago. In all this time he had never dared turn back to glance at those glowing doors, and he never allowed Irina to do so either. And yet…

"What?"

"Why?"

They each mumbled in numb shock.

Before them, a huge double door, as tall as the skies stood. A faintly golden glow emanated from the doors, and for a second, Lucian thought they had been turned around.

But these doors were closed.

Spinning his head to look back with more energy than he'd had in… who knew how long, an indescribable flood of relief washed over him. The large open doors still haunted them. The doors of defeat.

"If that's the entrance we came through…"

He turned back to the front, and tension he'd not noticed in his shoulders vanished. His whole body seemed to unwind and his point of view rose higher as his slumped back straightened.

"We did it… Irina, we made it!"

A small voice in his mind warned to show caution in this place, but he was not of a mind to recognize it. Striding forward, he left the stunned girl behind and thumped his hands on each of the doors, pushing forward heavily.

The entrance had taken all his strength to open, but these doors felt as light as a feather.

With one large motion, they swung outwards to reveal golden rays that excited every inch of his body. Like a man finding water in a desert, he unconsciously absorbed the light of the sun in vast quantities, everything about him filling with energy.

He made to step forward and leave this place when his foot stopped in the air.

The sun. Fresh air, the smell of the sea. Outside.

His foot returned to its position and his hands fell slowly.

Outside.

"What's wrong?" Irina, who had woken from her shock, bounded to his side at a pace so fast she almost ran into him. Grabbing his right arm with both of hers, she tried to pull him along.

"Come on, quickly, we've made it!"

He didn't move.

Without the lightness technique countering the incredible weight of his body and the veritable sea of condensed blood within him, it would be a mission for her to pull him along, and she soon stopped.

Seeing his stillness, dread crept into her mind.

"W-whats wrong? It's the exit." The last was said with a hint of uncertainty.

Moving his eyes from the sky beyond back to her, he smiled reassuringly.

"Don't worry, it's the exit."

Her smile returned, but consternation filled his eyes.

'The exit.'

Looking back, he saw the other set of doors. The ones that had haunted him for so long.

"Lucian?" Irina's voice was worried.

'Takis was removed from the inheritance ground after completing his first trial and he never knew why. He was given a reward, but could not enter again for a year or two.'

In his mind, a conflict of priorities and desires took place.

His job, the only reason he was here, was to look out for this girl and make sure she got back safely. He was the only one by her side now. But…

'If this is the exit, the outside, then surely another door will take me further.'

"Lucian, please."

Her voice was little more than a whimper, and he turned back to look at her. By her face, he knew she had realized the truth of the matter as well. But she did not want to continue, could not.

He did.

But he should not.

His right hand shook, and she felt it as she still held that arm in both hands.

Looking down, dejection painted her face and he felt guilty for wanting to abandon her here. He liked the girl, in a sort of senior to junior way. He thought that if he were a decade or two older, and more knowledgable, he would offer to take her as a student. But he was still young and had so much potential to achieve. He could not do that if he let go of opportunities presented before him.

Placing his left hand over her grip on his arm, he spoke softly.

"I'm sorry."

And removed her hand.

"There will be experts waiting to receive you and any others who gave up. And I'm sure you'll receive some reward from the grounds as you leave. But I'll push on for a while longer."

She nodded, her head still down, and mumbled something under her breath.

"What was that?" he asked.

Breathing in sharply, she raised her head with a cheerful expression more than a little forced. "It's a shame we got separated. You know? Halfway through the journey I lost track of you, and found the exit by myself."

Surprise took him as he stared for a few seconds and she continued.

"I'm sure you would have continued on to the later levels in search of me, but I don't know that as I found the exit myself and walked through, right?"

For a moment, her smile became genuine and a little impish.

He chuckled in relief at her actions.

"Right. Thank you."

With a stuttery nod, she turned to face the doors. And then left.

As she moved through, her form blurred and vanished from his sight, leaving only the sun, sky, and water visible to him.

Turning to face the other set of doors, he walked away from the exit. And as he'd half expected, the glowing doors that had always trailed and haunted him, waiting for him to approach, now retreated. Every step he advanced, those doors seemed to retreat an equal distance, no longer accepting his approach as it had wanted originally.

The entire distance until now, he would have to walk it again.

Until he returned to the very beginning.

**

Takis felt like he had wandered the labyrinth for years before discovering an exit. The men with him, those few who had not suddenly disappeared early into their journey, all called out in relief at the sight of the large closed doors. Of those 4th stage experts he had brought with him, only Captain Stone, but two royal soldiers of the 3rd stage and David Ballas also accompanied them.

He had recognized the truth of the exit as soon as it was opened. It was a door back to the entrance of the Maelstrom. As he'd thought, the real test was not endurance, whether through endless battle or an endless maze, it was a test of will.

When he'd finally seen an exit the last time he did a trial here, after fighting off what felt like an army, he entered it immediately in hopes to escape.

He should have stayed then, and he planned to do so now.

"Captain Stone. I want you to take the men back to the Maelstrom and look for the others. With luck, Irina ended up with an expert, but if she's alone I want you there to receive her when she leaves, or find her if she already has."

The captain only hesitated for a second before bowing. "I understand Your Highness. May the spirits shine on you."

Caught slightly off guard by the remark, Takis looked at the veteran and saw a hint of worry in his hard eyes.

"And you Captain."

By David's side, he watched the men leave one by one through the giant doors, Captain Stone leading the way. When they were done, he stepped forward to close the doors once more. They were far too light for their size, and they closed easily.

"Why close it?" David asked.

"It looks too similar to our goal, I want to make sure I know which is which if for some reason it also follows us."

With that, he shifted his eyes to the entrance that had haunted them all this time.

"I assume you didn't want to go with them?" He asked without looking at David.

"...No. I won't say it wasn't tempting, but if Mr. Clarke says there is more to find in this place, then I want to seek it out."

Takis smiled. It was rare that David dropped the manners and pretense of a servant. He'd requested the man to do so at least a hundred times over the years, but it was only in places like this, only in times when they were two cultivators and not royals or nobility, that he dropped it.

'So you plan to take it for yourself?' He thought. 'So be it, let the best man take all.'

And so, the two approached the open entrance and watched as it retreated, step for step.

'Hold on Irina. If you can hold on until the second trial, I will wait for you there.'

**

Step by step, Lucian approached the open entrance, and every time, it retreated. He'd become so used to the sight, that when his next step forward was not met by any retreat, his tired mind whirled in unfocused shock with the feeling that something was 'not right'.

"The door?" Realizing what it was, a wide smile spread across his face. A grand and empty hall, the one they had picked a door from originally, still showed on the other side, but as he took another step further, that image darkened.

With every step he took that the door did not retreat, the image on the other side grew dimmer.

When finally he passed the threshold of that grand door, what it showed was that same empty hall, dark as night, with just one candle, held by a man in black.