The silence after their escape was a cruel thing. It sat heavy upon their shoulders, pressing into their lungs as they gasped for breath. The maze had twisted and writhed in protest when they fled, its flesh-like walls trembling, its voices howling in fury. But now, for the first time in what felt like an eternity, there was nothing. Just the sound of their own panting, their own frantic heartbeats.
The "safe" place was nothing more than a hollow chamber, a grotesque parody of sanctuary. The walls no longer pulsed like living tissue, but they bore the scars of the maze's violence—deep gashes in the stone, remnants of black ichor seeping through the cracks, the scent of charred flesh clinging to the air. At the center stood a lone, broken pillar, its top shattered as though something had once hung there.
Damien's hands were still trembling. His mind reeled from what he had just witnessed—the Bound Horror, its monstrous taunts, the revelation of his sister's fate. He swallowed thickly, his voice strained as he turned to Raelyn.
"My sister," he murmured. "Luna… she was here?"
Raelyn stiffened. Her eyes, dull and heavy with exhaustion, flickered with something else now. Guilt. Pain. Regret.
"She was," she whispered.
Damien stared at her, his heart hammering in his chest. "What happened?"
Raelyn swallowed, her fingers twitching at her sides. "She was my only friend in this hellhole." Her voice was so quiet, it was almost lost to the air. "When I gave up, she pushed me forward. When I wanted to stop, she made me keep going. She had this… this fire in her, Damien. She didn't let the maze break her."
Damien's breath hitched. That sounded like Luna. Stubborn. Unyielding. A fighter.
Raelyn's gaze dropped to the ground. Her hands clenched into fists. "But then… we saw them. Eyes in the dark. Watching. Waiting. She was bitten—just a tiny thing, some insect that barely even hurt her at first." She let out a shuddering breath. "But it started to eat away at her. She got weaker. She could barely walk. Her body… it started falling apart. And then…"
She choked, a quiet sob tearing its way out of her throat. "The maze took her."
Damien felt his whole body go cold. "You're saying it… swallowed her?"
Raelyn nodded, her shoulders shaking. "She was right in front of me, and then… she was gone. I—I wanted to save her, I swear, I wanted to, but—"
Damien looked away. His jaw clenched. His sister. Luna. He had spent all these years believing she had just… disappeared. But she had suffered. She had died here. Alone.
And he had never even known.
Eden stepped closer, reaching for him. But he pulled back. He turned to face her instead, his expression unreadable.
"You," he said. His voice was raw. "You're not normal."
Eden stilled.
"No normal person would be calm in this place. No normal person blasts light from their hands. So I'll ask you again—" His eyes locked onto hers. "Who, or what, are you?"
Eden met his gaze without flinching. Then, slowly, she exhaled.
"I'm an angel."
The words sent a ripple of silence through the air.
And then, before their eyes, she changed.
Brilliant, golden wings unfurled from her back, their edges shimmering like liquid light. Her skin took on an ethereal glow, her very presence vibrating with something otherworldly.
Raelyn took a step back, eyes widening in recognition. "You— You're the angel that was killed by the Man in the Top Hat."
Eden looked at her, something unreadable in her expression. "No," she said softly. "I wasn't killed."
Raelyn shook her head. "I saw him rip your heart out."
Eden nodded. "And then, in the next instant… I woke up in Damien's time."
Damien's breath caught.
"I wandered. Lost. Until I collapsed in your yard," Eden continued, looking at him. "You found me. You mended me."
Damien's mind reeled. He remembered that day—the broken woman on his doorstep, the wounds he had helped her heal. But she had never told him this.
"Why?" he asked. "Why didn't you tell me?"
Eden's expression softened. "I was afraid." She took a step closer, hesitating before lifting her hand, gently cupping his cheek. "Afraid that if you saw what I really was… you would be scared of me."
Damien inhaled sharply. The warmth of her touch sent a shiver through him.
"And yet," she whispered, "as you mended me… I grew fond of you." A sad smile crossed her lips. "And that fondness became something else. Something… I was afraid to admit."
Damien reached up, gently pulling her hand away. "I need to think," he said quietly. And without another word, he turned and walked away.
He didn't stop until he was alone.
He sank down against a cold wall, pressing his hands to his face. His mind was a storm, everything crashing together at once. Luna. Eden. The Bound Horror.
And Vexis.
Damien exhaled shakily, lowering his hands. Then, closing his eyes, he whispered,
"Vexis… let's have a talk."
The air shifted.
A scream—no, a chorus of screams—filled his ears. His eyes snapped open, but the maze was gone.
He was somewhere else now.
A hellish void.
Fire raged in the distance, burning in colors that should not exist. The sky—if it could be called that—was a swirling abyss, tendrils of darkness writhing like living things. And in front of him, towering and wretched, stood Vexis.
A monstrous amalgamation of limbs and faces.
Its body twisted and coiled like a living nightmare. Its skin was torn and stitched, mouths appearing and vanishing across its form, whispering things Damien could not understand. Multiple eyes burned across its shifting mass, each one filled with an emotion too complex to name—hatred, sorrow, madness. Embers of eternal fire crackled within its core, illuminating the grotesque landscape of its existence.
Vexis grinned.
"Ah… you call, and I answer. A lost soul, searching for truth in the dark."
Damien's fists clenched. "Why me?"
Vexis chuckled, a sound like bones grinding together.
"Why you? Why fate? Why time's cruel jest?Why do you question, yet never find rest?"
Damien's breath came in short, angry bursts. "That monster—The Bound Horror—said you're sealed inside me. What does that mean?"
Vexis tilted its head, the motion grotesque, inhuman.
"A demon's curse, a fate so dire,A fractured soul lost in the fire.A boy, a man, a beast untamed,A name forgotten, yet still reclaimed."
Damien took a shaky step forward. "Then tell me. Who are you?"
Vexis's burning eyes narrowed.
"I am the shadow cast in the flame,The whisper of rage, the echo of shame.I am the ruin, the war, the decay,And yet… I am you, in every way."
Damien's pulse thundered. "No. That's not possible."
Vexis's laughter rattled the very air.
"Not possible? Oh, child of dust,Then tell me—why do you feel my lust?Why do my whispers dance in your head?Why do you fear the truths left unsaid?"
Damien froze.
And Vexis leaned closer, its voices soft now, almost tender.
"Once, I raged. Once, I burned.Once, I loved… and was spurned.Once, I lost—so I sealed myself away.And what was left… became you that day."
The truth struck Damien like a blade to the heart.
He was Vexis.
And Vexis… was him.