The red-haired girl was panting so heavily that her breathing could be heard and felt in all those trees that surrounded her. The big and monstrous trees covered by snow made her afraid and attentive to every movement of that maze she was in. The green of her eyes was erased by the brightness of the tears that streamed down her face almost involuntarily. With fear, the hand that held the dagger trembled as she listened to the noises coming from those walls.
She ran, and ran hard. Her small and frail body in heavy and torn clothes for that season made her look like a boy. Her hair was shoulder-length and as red as the purest blood. Sometimes, as she ran, she tripped over a branch and fell into the snow, feeling her face freeze. She looked back, and his green eyes clearly showed her fear. She heard a howl and stopped. Frozen still It was then that she saw him. His hair was black and a white goo was coming out of his mouth. Its yellow eyes reflected the face of the one who would be its hunted. It growled at her, and she could smell the fear all around the forest, giving the maze the monstrosity it needed.
The girl put herself in a defensive position, the blade of her dagger had a strange blue glow, it reflected the beast's eyes. She more than quickly attacked it, putting into practice what had taken her many years to learn. The beast had dodged, agile. And the little girl trembled with fear and cold. Her strokes were amateurish and slow, which gave the beast an opening to attack her right arm. She felt its fangs come into contact with her flesh, felt the blood drain and the only thing she could do was to resist. Seizing the moment, she drove her fist into the beast's heart. It struggled and lunged for his face, clawing at his cheek. She felt its warm blood again, this time on her own cheek. She stabbed the dagger as hard as she could into the beast, and after a few tense seconds, it began to calm down. When the beast was writhing on the ground, she saw reflected in those yellow eyes the pain and suffering, and the only thing she did was to drag it by the tail to the end of the maze.
.
.
.
The embers mingled with the snow.They consumed and devoured each other in a moonlight where innocence was lost. The truth was that everyone's innocence had been lost in the gaps of time for years. A cicada was singing its song of death, unfortunate, solitary. Outside it was silence, darkness, the flames of despair. Sophie would fall to her knees in front of the burning house, and Von, lost in memories.
.
.
.
One second, his breathing was calm, quiet, passive, the next, panting, ragged, euphoric. Running in the snow was dangerous, and the fifteen-year-old knew it would end in tragedy. He ran, because his whole life depended on his feet. The first round failed, Von never missed. And his destiny... At that moment... all he could think about was running away.
The slippery steps, the wind whispering cold in his ears, he considered it the whisper of death. His hatred caused by wounded pride increased his steps, disconnected sentences and only words were in his head.
For when he saw the green waters and saw his end. Maybe that had always been the end of his path. The river Freddo was right there, as cold as its name, waiting for him. The boys were coming up behind him and he just sped up his steps, heading towards the river. It was less painful to shoot him in the head. One of the boys spoke as he saw Von's body sinking.
He felt the contact with the raging waters. One moment he was at full speed, as he had always been in his life. The next, he was still, sinking, giving up the misery Cermina could offer him. He ran away, as usual, from having to grow up and live. He laughed at the thought. Grow up more than that?
His consciousness was out for a few minutes. Some flashes where he was trying to swim invaded his head. The width of the river was not small and Von had contradicted himself, wanting and not wanting to die. Those waters suffocated him, bewildered his mind, left him in a sort of daze, and the only thing he wanted was for it to end, not necessarily his life. He swam with great difficulty to the riverbank, and when he reached it, Von began to understand the meaning of suffering.
His breathing was calm again, but not in the way he had hoped. He felt the cold as he had never felt it before. It felt as if all his blood had been sucked out, and what coursed through his veins was pure ice. Breathing froze his nostrils and burned his lungs. In a few minutes Von couldn't move, the cold wouldn't allow it. His skin took on a bluish tint and his mind continued in a kind of trance mixed with madness. The one who would make it possible for him to continue his life after this was called Walter Coel.
.
.
.
-Sophie.- Von managed to escape from his memories. Although it was only one episode, it had changed the course of his life. - Sophie! -He blurted out when he realized that he had been ignored and that Sophie was kneeling in the snow.
- I failed. - red hair covered her face. - How long will I let my emotions control my work? - She smiled bitterly at his misfortune.
- Stop whining. - Those words were like a razor to Sophie, cold, sharp and deadly. Her pulse quickened and she stood up.
- whining? - Her hair was over her right eye, revealing her tears.
Von felt a chill in his stomach, and in that instant he realized that not only a civil war had begun, but also a war between the two of them.
- I had to go after YOU! If you hadn't stayed behind, both of us would have been there to protect her! - She screamed with everything she had. - I was irresponsible! I ignored my duty while I was with YOU! What do you want me to say? That it's all my fault?! No Von, you were the cause of all this. - Sophie gasped, felt tears welling up in her eyes, and looked up, controlling them.
- Don't blame others for your own mistakes, Sophie.- Von said dryly, looking deep into her green eyes.
- Fuck you, Von!-
- Is that all your genius head can think of? -
- Stop making light of it! Admit it's your fault! -
- Not when you want to throw the weight of it on me as if you're going to sleep through the night because of it. - Silence dominated the room again. Sophie couldn't look away from her brown pupils. There she saw her mistake clearly defined. Finally she let a tear run down her face. - At no time did I know what the mission was. The mistake is yours alone. You killed Blair, accept it. -
- I hate you! - Sophie slapped him.
- You should hate yourself. - Sophie tried to turn a punch on him, but Von held her wrist.
They both stared at each other for long minutes, the anger they felt was consuming them. Like the flames of that house, rising slowly through their veins. Sophie was trying to control her tears, her whole body was shaking and she couldn't think of anything coherent. Von on the other hand watched Sophie as if he was going to ruin her.
Sophie gave in, looked away and pulled herself away from Von. She walked over to the flames, closely watching the fire that was calling her. But inside all that heat, she could feel it. She felt the tip of a foil on her back, piercing her clothes. Before she could turn around, she was cornered with a dagger in her neck.
- Don't cry child, she's better. - A female voice whispered in her ear, sounding cold and arrogant.
- Diana. - Sophie concluded.
- It's Lady Hoziv to you, Sophie. - She laughed dryly.
- Say what you want with all this bloodshed. -
- Always direct, no? - Diana's red lips flashed a smile. - Who did you get that from, Soph?
- From you who didn't. - Sophie felt sweat dripping down her body.
-General Chasseur will be largely responsible for the invasion of Dendalion. Killing his precious daughters would leave him broken. - Diana continued to laugh.
- My father doesn't get carried away by his emotions. - Sophie spoke with difficulty, the dagger beginning to cut her throat.
- Not like you, right? Norgard Chasseur would not let himself be carried away by a simple infatuation.-
- I'm not in love! - Sophie squeaked.
- Then why is Blair dead now? -
The words echoed inside Sophie's head like a drum. Blair was dead because of her. Because she had been irresponsible. Because she would rather be with Von than doing her duty.
- She's not dead! - Sophie screamed and turned around, quickly grabbing the foil with one hand and piercing Diana's belly.
- Why do you always shoot in the dark, Sophie? - Diana spoke as she spat blood.- Why do you always hit the target? -
- I spent a long time in the dark. - Sophie finished fully stabbing the foil. Diana went backwards until she touched the flames.
- What happened? - Von came walking quietly. He looked at Diana in the doorway of the burning house, her body slowly burning and she did not say a word. - Was it Diana Hoziv?
- Blair is alive. - Sophie dropped the foil and knelt down again.
- If she's alive, where is she? - Von held out his hand to her. - I hate to see you on your knees. Stand up. -
-Why? - She looked at him with a pained face.
- I just hate it. It makes you look weak. - He waved his hand in the air. - Let's go find Blair.-She touched his hand with her borrowed gloves, picked up momentum, and stood up. - Where do you think she might be? -
- Not far. - Sophie groaned in thought.
.
.
.
The footsteps were hurried. They were not running, but Von and Sophie no longer appreciated the moon in the sky.Surrounded by these biological walls, both of them didn't know if the shivering caused by the cold or by the labyrinth. Sophie could vividly remember every sensation she had eight years ago. Not that they were the same, but they were so similar that they could be confused and so striking that they could not be forgotten.
For Von, each new sensation was unique. The labyrinth confused his mind because all the trees were so similar, he felt like he was going around in circles. As if he were in some kind of cycle of which he just watched as a distant spectator. He hadn't thought since he had entered the labyrinth, he felt like he was in a calm trance, deluded by only hearing his own heartbeat.
- BLAIR! - Sophie's voice was like the blooming of a lotus to him. It was quiet, slow. But deep inside he knew that the voice had come out desperate, helpless. But there was something in the air that made him almost float, as if he were in a dream world - Von! - He read Sophie's lips, but her voice was almost inaudible. All he could feel was the sweet taste of the night, like a mixture of blood and snow. The cold embraced him like a mother. The mother Von never had the opportunity to have or even know. That labyrinth was, without a doubt, the most stunning experience he had ever witnessed. He felt it in his own skin. It was the same feeling as when he had plunged into the waters of the Freddo River, and in his unconscious he knew that this was why he hated winter.
Sophie was standing there looking at him. His face was relaxed, totally ecstatic. He was looking at the moon, his lips were open and almost tantalizing. She could see his beard beginning to grow, see his brown eyes almost lifeless. His black hair danced in rhythm with the falling snow, blowing in the wind in a sweet melody. Sophie faintly felt the beginnings of her madness, with thoughts she couldn't help but think. Before she fell into a bottomless pit, the only thing she did was to play the spell against the sorcerer. The hands that had on them a black glove gripped Von's icy face, Sophie turned her face to herself and stared into the empty eyes. That look was like a thunderous crash, cutting through the sky that was her heart. And determined to take that emptiness from both of them, she touched his lips gently, afraid she was falling into some trap.
- Stop.. - She stood on tiptoe to deepen the unrequited kiss. - Please... - She felt the icy contact of an unaccompanied tongue. - Von... - Sophie felt madness crawling like a parasite over her skin .It was crawling under her sanity, eating away a piece of her essence and making her lose herself. - Come back to me.-
Not that a kiss would stop the war, or make hunger go away, or even change everything. But, that simple contact was the only contact of both inside that illusory labyrinth. Von slowly regained consciousness, while Sophie pulled away and tucked her hair behind her ear. Von looked at her as if for the first time. She was blushing slightly, and her face showed uneasiness. He let out an empty smile, happy that they were all right and angry that he had fallen into a trap that had entered his mind. But Sophie looked more beautiful after the fight.
- What was that all about? - He asked seriously, hiding all the admiration he hated to have.
- That? - She put her hand to her lips. - I kissed you.-
- That I know, Sophie. - She looked down, embarrassed. - What was all this? - He sighed, finally showing his indignation.
- I don't know when it started. But for a long time this labyrinth has had this power to confuse people's minds. - Sophie started to walk and he followed her with his arms behind his back. - The first time I came here, ten years ago. I was lost. Luckily it was wintertime too. - She smiled dryly. - The first day should have been the worst, but in fact it was the last. Something stank inside this labyrinth, and my mission was to kill a wolf. I went in when it was dark and could only come out when the day was clear... I spent a long time wandering around in my own mind, in a sort of otherworldly infinite circle.
- It seems to have been difficult.- Von inquired. - I think we all have a trauma. I can remember mine well from today.-
- I'm sorry. This village is so charged, I wonder how many things have happened here. - Sophie spoke into the wind, attentive to every movement.
-Why did you look down at that moment?-
- Huh? - She instantly looked at him.
- When you said you kissed me, you looked down.-
- Oh, that... - She looked away again.
- Can't you look at me? - He laughed nervously, and reached into his pockets.
- BLAIR! - Sophie shouted and ran off when she saw a hand on the ground before a ramp began. She saw Blair's frozen body and shook her a few times.
- Soph...-
- Quiet! - She said shaking Blair's body even more. - She can't... She can't be dead... Blair, wake up!-
Von knelt on the floor beside Sophie.He looked at Blair's serene, white face, and listened to Sophie's howls. He turned her over by her shoulders and stared at her as he saw the tears streaming from her green eyes. This wasn't just guilt, this wasn't just regret, there was a pain that intertwined the two of them. The mistake was something that should not be mentioned at that moment. But without saying a word, they both stood there, looking at an icy Blair and feeling death tearing at their souls.
- Soph. - Blair's voice was weak, but the banner of hope was planted in the ground with that voice. A flame burned within them both, and what they thought was lost was sharper than before. Blair opened one eye with difficulty and smiled weakly. And both Von and Sophie, knew that nothing was lost yet.