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They emerged from the maze, panting exhausted. Prospero leaned against Eulalie, who helped him walk, clutching his left hip, which was bleeding. They looked around in the pouring rain until they saw Miss Poppet, who congratulated them on their victory. However, seeing their condition, she told them to go to Miss Doll to take care of them. They didn't oppose it. In fact, they willingly went there because the fatigue was too much to be felt.
But what happened to them? Well, I think I must explain the whole situation.
It had been raining since morning that day. Once, it was raining gently enough to make you think of snowflakes rather than raindrops. So that after a while, it suddenly turned into a strong and rhythmic rumble on the windowsills, roof, and sidewalk outside. Just lovely weather, isn't it? And because of that, neither the Lenore group nor the Annabel group even bothered each other when they went to Miss Poppet class.
When groups of students came to the classroom of the school's only teacher, they noticed their names paired on the blackboard. A lot of people look at each other with confus, but didn't say anything. It was then that Miss Poppet entered the classroom in good spirits. She greeted the students, which they quickly reciprocated, and then someone raised a hand. It was Morella. But for everyone's surprise, the teacher ignored the girl, which wasn't her style.
"As you can see on the board are your names combined in pairs. I'm going to read them in a moment, and I'm begging you to get up right now and step aside." Miss Poppet said to them.
Without any explanation, she just started reading the pairs. Since when did Miss Poppet explain anything in the slightest? I guess, students all knew then that something not very nice was going to happen. However, they had no influence on it and listened and paired up.
Everything was going smoothly until one of the pairs was read. Lenore and Annabel. When everyone heard this, silence fell instantly in the room, and the only thing they could hear was the raindrops outside the window. Many people looked at them with surprise. I guess everyone was less surprised with odd couples like Montresor and Pluto, but Lenore and Annabel? But they didn't say anything.
"Prospero and Eulalie." Miss Poppet said with a smile while breaking the silence.
They looked at each other. Eulalie got up from her chair and walked over to the boy with a smile. In her opinion, Prospero was an interesting individual, and his Spectre was quite powerful. However, his type was Malevolent while her Spectre was Benevolent. But when Prosepro heard who he was in a pair with, he was not very happy to put it mildly. He found Eulalie strange and in a very bad way. Not to mention her Spectre, which he considered useless. At least at that time, because then his opinion was about to change. After a while, however, he got up and walked over to the girl who was still smiling.
"Hello Eulalie." He said while looking down at her because he was taller than her.
"Hello Prospero!" She replied, almost excited, while still smiling, which was a bit disturbing for the boy.
They didn't even have time to say anything else when the door to the hall swung open with a bang. There, they could see two tall, almost twin-looking men. Merry and Morun Deans. Silence fell over the room, and the impending chaos could be felt in the air.
"Hello students!" Marry said with a huge smile when Morun didn't look very pleased.
"Hello, we have news for you." Mroun finished.
"I see that Miss Poppet paired you up. That's great! Thank you Miss Poppet!" The smiling one said happy.
"Let's not make it so long... You have a maze test today! That is why you have been divided into pairs. Theoretically, you can go through the maze together, but—"
"But only one pair will win this test! Why? Because the first couple to pass the test will get a prize! For that last one, well, they'll be punished." Marry interrupted, happier for this, which made Morun sigh.
"The test will be easy. You have to complete the maze in the shortest possible time." Morun finished.
"So good luck!" They said and left the classroom closing the door.
When they left, they all sighed heavily. Not only was it raining, they were supposed to have a test in the maze? Wonderful, isn't it?
After a few minutes, Prospero and Eulalie began to walk through the maze. The worst part was that the rain continued to fall and fell harder and harder. Prospero didn't like that because he could slip at any moment, and Eulalie could help him up, but that meant physical contact, which he disliked very much. Speaking of the girl, she was jumping in the puddles really smiling and happy. Probably for many people, it was strange, but Prospero quickly got used to it. At least that kept the girl from touching him or questioning him. Eulalie, on the other hand, didn't mind the rain at all. On the contrary, she loved such weather and jumped on literally every puddle. She was supposed to persuade Berenice to go out to the square to jump in the puddles, but the test prevented her. But maybe later she will succeed?
On their way back, they walked until they reached the first gate. They stopped in front of it, carefully reading what was written on the marble tablet. They looked at each other, then opened the gate. They walked through it and found themselves in a rather dark room. The only light came from a couple of candles on a table in the centre of the room.
"I think we should use our Spectres." Prospero said while looking around. "That's the safest option."
"You think so?" Eulalie asked, then manifested her Spectre and Prospero did the same thing.
The only thing that could be heard apart from their breathing was the ticking of the clock on the wall. After a few seconds, they went to the table to see if there was a key to the door that was in front of them. However, the key was not there, so they started walking around and looking around the room. Fortunately, they opened the door quite quickly because Eulalie accidentally stepped on some plank, which opened the door. As they approached the entrance, they saw a gate not far from them. But there was one little problem. Monsters. They looked at each other knowingly, then went to attack. They used their skills while protecting each other. It turned out that Eulalie's fish and Prospero's rats worked well together, thanks to which they quickly overcame the threat. When they made sure that there was no danger, they went through the gate, which closed. After a few seconds, they returned to their normal forms and looked at each other.
"I think we work well together." Eulalie said with a smile on her face.
"I think so too, so I suggest we use our Spectres when we go through gates. Other than that, when we go to the next gates and rooms, we don't have to use them because we'll save energy." He replied thoughtfully, then looked at the sky from which it was raining all the time. "What do you think about it?" He added then look at her.
"That's a really good plan, Prosepro!" She said, then she grabbed his arm to pull him along. "So, let's go!" Dark-haired girl added with a smile.
But the boy resisted a little, which made the girl quickly understand that he didn't like touching. So she let him go quickly.
"Oh? You don't like touching, do you? I'm so sorry, Prospero." She said, then pulled herself away from him a little more.
If Prospero was being honest, he was surprised by her reaction and in a positive way. Until now, only Annabel and Morella seemed to respect the fact that he didn't like the touch of another person. So he smiled softly.
"I don't think anything happened... You don't know about it. So if you don't do that in the future, I'd appreciate it." Prospero replied, then looked towards the next gate. "Let's go. The sooner we get out of here, the better." He added, then walked away.
An hour and a half had passed since that short conversation. During this time, they wandered through the labyrinth and passed the gate after gate. They were slowly starting to get tired, and the pouring rain didn't help at all. However, Eulalie, despite growing tiredness, was happy to jump in the puddles. Prospero, on the other hand, admired the fact that the girl didn't give up and continued to jump in the puddles in a somewhat childish way.
"Why are you jumping in the puddles?" He asked with curious face.
"Because I like it and it's fun!" She replied with a smile while looking at him.
"Oh... I understand." The taller boy replied and looked at the gate that was within their sight.
They stopped before the gate and the stone tablet. They looked at each other, then read what was written and sighed. It was obvious that they wanted it to be the last gate, room, and whatever it might be.
"We have to go inside. I hope this will be the last one." He said and opened gaze.
"I hope too..." Eulalie replied and went inside.
As they entered the room, it was bright and seemed large by the plants surrounding them. It looked like a botanical garden. They looked around the room until their eyes landed on them. It was quiet, too quiet. That's why they manifested their Specters right away. They preferred to insure themselves, didn't they?
"Maybe we need to find some plant or something?" Eulalie asked uncertainly.
"If I gonna be honest? I don't know..." He admitted quite confused. "Let's split up but keep each other in sight." he added in a serious voice, which made the girl nod her head.
They looked at each other, then walked in opposite directions. However, they were careful not to stray too far from each other. So they glanced at each other from time to time, making sure they were within sight. They couldn't afford any danger. They started this test together, so they had to finish this test together.
But it all went to hell when they stopped looking around after less than five minutes. They approached each other, looking at each other slowly with resignation. They were already tired and starting to get hungry.
"I hope we'll find something soon, because-" Eulalie began to speak until she stopped, terrified, looking after Prospero.
The boy quickly turned around, but was hit with all his strength in the left hip. Whatever hit him had enough force to throw him two meters away. There were dark spots in front of his eyes and he felt something warm trickle down his hip. He grabbed the spot, realizing what it was. Blood. He swallowed, terrified and stressed, and then remembered Eulalie. So he looked there and immediately went pale, which was not visible under the mask.
He saw a large creature that had many wounds of all kinds. The meat was hanging from his ribs, there were holes in other parts of his body, through which he could see the internal organs that were still working and the bones, some of which were broken. Not to mention the heart that wasn't there. Dark, almost black blood dripped from the wounds and the beast's mouth. The creature itself had a bull-like head, but it was clearly something different from the mythological Minotaur.
And then the monster attacked the girl, who luckily jumped away. Prospero sighed with relief, then tried to get up. His knees trembled in fear of the loss of blood that continued to flow from his hip. After all, he couldn't do anything, so he summoned his rats with considerable effort.
"Prospero? What are you doing? Don't move!" Violet-eyed girl screamed, summoning her fish, which began attacking the monster.
"There is no such option! I have to help you!" The black-haired boy shouted back, then summoned his rats.
They looked at each other and nodded their heads. They had their animals fight the monster so Eulalie could protect the boy. Prospero himself tried to move forward as quickly as possible, looking for a way out. But the thing was that he could feel the blood still dripping down his hip. That's why he kept his hand there, to be able to squeeze that place somehow.
"Prosepro, can you summon some rats? Please!" He heard a voice behind him and looked around.
Seeing the beast running after them, he sighed in frustration. He had had enough of it all. He felt terrible about the girl fighting for him. So he summoned the rats and stopped. Eulalie looked at him confused.
"Go and don't look back. Find a way out as soon as you can." He said, then looked at the monster that was rushing towards him. "I'll be fine, go." He added and took his cane in both hands.
He only heard the violet-eyed sigh, unconvinced, and walked away from him. He closed his eyes for a second to collect his thoughts and took a deep breath. As he let the breath out of his lungs, he opened his eyes and attacked. He ordered the rats to attack the monster so that he himself could hit it with his cane. He was glad his Spectre had a mask because knowing that this rotten meat stank and he couldn't smell it was enough to slap the monster again. And again, and again and again. Of course, his rats helped, biting the beast in the process.
After about two minutes, he stopped because he noticed that the monster showed no signs of life. He sighed heavily because of this, and after a moment looked at his cane. Seeing blood on it, he quickly went to the nearest plant to wipe the object on it. He swallowed, and after a few longer seconds he realized what had just happened. Because of this, he started shaking and felt really weak. So much so that he nearly fell to his knees. However, when he suddenly saw a small fish in front of him, he frowned in confusion.
"Prospero, calm down, it's all over." he heard Eulalie's voice, looking at him worriedly. "I found a way out. Let's go."
Hearing this, he looked at her and slowly approached her. Through it all, his Specter suddenly disappeared, making him stand in front of the girl. Instead, she returned to her normal form and showed her to follow him. That's why he did it. But he had to lean against the girl who was squeezing his hip. Normally, he would never agree to this. However, this was not a normal situation, so he gladly accepted help.
"Just a little bit, you'll be fine." Eulalie said until they were at the gate.
After a few seconds, they opened it to get out of the maze completely, panting exhausted. They looked around in the pouring rain until they saw Miss Poppet, who smiled and approached them.
"Prosepro and Eulalie! Congratulations on completing the maze in the shortest time! It took you exactly two hours, thirteen minutes and fifty seconds." The teacher said she was very pleased with this fact, until after a while she saw the state of her students. "Go to Miss Doll to take good care of you?" she added, evidently worried about their current state.
They nodded and then left, heading for the nurse. Where they were after a few minutes there. Miss Doll took care of them, or rather Prospero, for Eulalie herself had only scratches.
"Okay, so you are to lie down or possibly sit here until dinner. Only you will be able to go to the toilet yourself." She said to the boy with a serious face. "And you will look after him." She added while pointing to the girl.
"Yes Miss Doll." they said at once, then the woman left the room.
There were a few long moments of silence until Prospero gave Eulalie a little nervous look.
"You think there's something wrong with me because I don't like and maybe afraid of blood, don't you?" He whispered finally.
"What? No, I don't. Everyone is afraid of something." She replied with a soft, reassuring smile.
"Oh... you really think so?" He said quite confused.
"Yes! I think I know how I can help you! Will you wait a minute?" She asked even excitedly, which made the boy even more confused.
"Yes...?" He replied and then girl left.
Where did Eulalie go? To his and Berenice's room. She walked through the empty and quiet corridors of the school, listening to the rhythm of the rain that kept falling outside the windows. She was a bit sorry that Prospero was in such a state, because maybe she would have persuaded him to jump in the puddles. However, health was much more important. So with that in mind, she entered her room and looked around until she saw Berenice's black nail polish. She quickly took it, then left the room.
When she returned, she saw Prospero wincing in pain. She quickly walked over to him and helped him sit up. The boy looked at her gratefully, which made her smile. When he stopped grimacing, he sighed and sat back more comfortably on the bed.
"Would you like me to paint your nails?" She asked excitedly, showing her nail polish.
"Er... Yes?" He replied quite surprised, then took off his gloves and put them on the table.
After a moment, the girl took one of his hands carefully to start painting his nails. However, Prosepro himself was quite surprised that he let the girl touch him without any problems. Not to mention he was a little fascinated by how accurately Eulalie painted his nails.
"Actually, I recently found an old broken doll. I think someone forgot about it, you know? But Berenice and the others must have been a little scared, because I think the doll looked like this to them." The violet-eyed girl said suddenly, which made the black-haired boy look at her suddenly surprised.
"Really? That's interesting. Are you going to fix it?" He asked while looking at her curiously.
"Yes! I hope I can, because this doll is really beautiful." She replied determinedly, taking care to paint his nails well. "I wish I had someone to talk to about these things a lot... A lot of people told me these were scary and disturbing things." She added, sighing softly.
"As for the doll, I'd love to see it when you fix it. As for topics like that, you can tell me about them now." He replied in a calm tone with even a hint of warmth.
When Eulalie heard this, she stopped painting and looked at him in surprise. However, after a moment, she smiled widely, which made Prospero smile softly. Thanks to this, they continued the conversation and painted their nails. Even the boy managed to paint the girl's nails correctly. So they talked, joked and laughed, all the while losing track of time.
If only they knew that their groups of friends were eavesdropping and spying on them through half-open doors...
"I've never seen Prospero smile so much." Annabel muttered, causing everyone to nod their heads. "Maybe we should leave them alone?" She added, which made them nod their heads again and slowly walked away.
However, as they walked away, they could hear the two of them having a lively conversation and giggles.