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Owen had changed. Ever since he came out of the Maze, drenched in blood, wiping it off his spear, he was… Different. Something wasn't quite right about him. He'd said, everything was fine, that he was tired. But… The tone he said it in… Magic had tired to push it. To ask what was wrong. To make sure Owen was okay. Like he'd done for her in the past. She felt the tears prick at her eyes as Owen snapped at her. Yelled at them to leave him alone.
Magic sat alone, waiting, wondering what was wrong. It wondered if there was something in the Maze, something that Owen had seen. Something that had Changed him. Maybe it was something like the lever? He'd always been… Funny… Whenever the levers were mentioned. That had to be it. Surely… Something like that, something that Owen had seen. Or… Or maybe, maybe there was something in the Maze that had corrupted him. Or… Or what if that wasn't Owen, and he was actually stuck in the Maze? She had to help him, just like he'd tried to help her so many times.
So they decided to go and find out.
A bag was packed, filled with all kinds of supplies it might need. Food, some weapons—her heart sank a bit when they thought about how said weapons had been given to her by Owen—and some chalk, to mark her way through the Maze. For once, they also put on some armour. Owen was always on its case about wearing armour, that it didn't wear armour nearly enough. She had her reasons, though! It was too heavy, too bulky. Too big. Not easy to move in. Especially the armour Owen gave them. But… If this was something in the Maze so powerful it hurt Owen, it should be very careful. She doesn't want to befall the same fate as him.
The entrance to the Maze was, as ever, foreboding. It loomed ahead of them, the doors jaws that could snap closed at any moment. The dewy smell of morning in the clearing that Magic had gotten so used to—almost to the point of finding it incredibly comforting—was being drowned out by the smell of molten rocks, mixed with a definite smell of… Death. Magic clutched the straps of its backpack tightly, trying not to let itself get cold feet about the whole ordeal.
She forced her legs to move, to take a step forwards. To go inside the Maze. Every inch of them was telling them that this was a bad idea, that entering the Maze alone would only end up in Bad Things. But… It was to help Owen, because Owen would never yell at it like that! Something was Wrong with Owen, and she had to help. And the Maze was the only thing that held the answers.
The cobblestone under their feet shifted, as they pressed onwards. Deeper into the open arms of the Maze. It left a little mark by the entrance. A small cross, so that she could make her way back. They were going to mark down every corner they took, so that they didn't get lost. That seemed smart. And Owen had always encouraged it to be smart. Especially when dealing with the Maze.
A few steps in, Magic found a pool of died blood. That… That definitely hadn't been there before. Magic bent down, gently running her fingers across it. Owen hadn't been injured, had he? No… Definitely not… No, if he'd been injured, Magic would have seen blood, surely? And… This was an awful lot of blood. Way more than an injury that would be easily hidden. They take a closer look at the stain. There's a dent in a flagstone. Magic frowned. That… Looked vaguely like the shape of the tip of Owen's spear…? Was it? Magic felt the shape of the indent. About the right size… And shape… So… Had Owen been fighting something? Was that why he'd been acting off? He'd been fighting something, and come back home after the fight? It looked like he'd won… That's good! It was glad Owen had won! Owen was so good at fighting, of course he won!
There was something that caught Magic's eye. A trail. The faintest hint of a trail of the blood. She squinted, trying to pick it out against the cobblestones. Footprints accompanied the trail. They looked like Owen's muddy footprints he'd left in their house before. Owen… Had dragged this creature further into the Maze? Why would he do that? It made no sense...
Making sure to mark off every single twist and turn it takes, Magic ran through the Maze, following the faint trail of blood and footprints. She tried not to think about the way she was sure she'd already passed this corridor before. They'd definitely been here twice before, but there was no chalk here. Just… Keep following the trail, Magic. Nothing bad will happen as long as you stick to the trail. And keep putting down chalk. That'll help stop you from being lost.
It slowed down as the trail started to run out. No more blood here. She looked around, trying to work out where in the Maze she was. There were no turnoffs… Just the sound of rushing water further in. Magic took a few steps forward, peering down a drop, clutching tightly at the wall of the Maze. If they fell in now… Nobody would know. Nobody would notice. It didn't tell anyone it was coming here…
She crouched down, to try and feel steadier. Whatever the creature was that Owen had been fighting… He'd disposed of the body here? Why not just… Leave it by the Maze entrance? That made no sense. Unless… Unless Owen didn't want anyone finding a body.
A red horn caught the sunlight, and Magic stumbled backwards. They couldn't breathe. That… No… That couldn't be… Could it? Why… Why would Owen do such a thing?!
Why would Owen kill Apo?
Magic stood up, scrambling backwards, and running back the way it came. No… No no no no no no nononono- This couldn't be right. She knew Owen was upset at them for pulling the lever—she was sort of upset at Apo too—but… No… No, they never wanted him to kill Apo! That was… That wasn't right…
Get back to the clearing… Get back now… Graecie would know what to do…
But the Maze had other ideas.
Rocks tumbled off the cliff as Magic slowed to a halt by the water system. No… No, she'd just ran away from here… No, that… What? She turned around again, and started running, as fast as she could. But no matter how fast they ran, no matter how many corners they turned, they kept ending up back here. As if the Maze wanted to make sure it had seen Apo's dead body, floating in the water, a look of fear forever plastered on their face.
Tears began to tumble down Magic's face. How could Owen do this?! That was why he'd been acting so strange, so badly to Magic. Something had… Something had happened to make Owen suddenly become aggressive…
Magic curled up in a ball helplessly. The sun was starting to duck its head below the horizon by now. They were out of time. All it could do now, was sit here, waiting for daytime, and to hope that the Maze decided to let it go this time. All she could do now, was think. Think about Owen. Why would he do such a thing? This… It wasn't right.
Owen had killed someone…
And then lied about it.
What else had he lied about?