We continued moving forward into the maze. Isaac was positioned in front, Dan at the back, and I was in the middle. I stretched my back. "Oui... It's so peaceful...Yawn~"
Isaac glared at me. "Why did you say that? Are you trying to jinx us, witch?"
I scratched my ear. "Oh, come on. What could possi-"
Whoosh.
Something flew past me and injured my cheek. Blood dripped down my cheek. Isaac and Dan looked behind and saw a group of small weird looking people wearing masks, shooting darts at us.
"Oui... I have really done it this time." We ran as quickly as we can.
Isaac screamed. "You bloody fool, wait till we find a safe place, I'm gonna give you some beatings of your lifetime."
I wailed. "Fine. I deserved that, but only if we can make it out alive!"
The masked people continued to chase after us with their shooting darts. "Damn it! Don't they take a break or something?" I took out my needles and shot at them. The needles pierced through some of them, and they fell to the ground. The masked people stopped chasing us and surrounded their dead companions. We looked behind and stopped running.
"They're not chasing us anymore?" I sighed in relief.
"Looks like they are discussing something."
"Why do they surround their dead companions?"
"Who knows?"
The masked people started moving. We were startled and prepared to fight, but the masked people took their dead companions' bodies and went into the mirrors. We looked at each other.
"Well, it looks like everything is settled. I resolved it! I deserve a praise, no?" I smiled happily.
Isaac hit my head. "You started the problem!" I glared and stuck my tongue out at Isaac. Isaac sighed. "Moving forward, your role is only to be a danger sensor. Other than that, zip it before you jinx us to death." I grumbled. "Fine."
"Jump!"
"Dodge to your left!"
"Right!"
"Oui... We are only at the third level, but there are so many obstacles. Imagine if we were at level 4 or 5! We won't be able to take a break even for a second!" I screamed.
"Wow! You are the best danger sensor I have ever met." Dan said.
"Ouish!" I jumped.
"Gosh... We are still at Level 3. Don't go celebrating too early." Isaac sighed.
"Stop being such a party pooper, sourpuss." I poked Isaac's cheeks.
He smacked my fingers away. "I have a name, sloth!"
"Aww~ You finally admit I'm cute," I smirked.
"Wh-What? When?" Isaac blushed.
"You just did. You called me a sloth. Sloths are sooo cute."
Isaac made a horrid face. "Sloths are cute?"
Dan backed me up. "They are. They have cute and serene faces. Especially when they eat, it's so adorable. My heart squeezes every time I see a sloth." I nodded aggressively.
Isaac gave up and said. "Move along. We still have a long way to go."
I made a thumbs-down signal. "Boooo~" Suddenly, I heard a distant sound.
Ring. Ring. Ring.
'Hmm? Ring? Why does that sound familiar? What was it again?' I pondered and remember the first game. "Oh... man..." Isaac turned back and asked. "What?"
Dong. Something huge hit the mirror walls. "What's that?" Dan asked. We slowly turned back and saw a huge metal ball behind us.
I pointed at the giant metal ball. "Oui... That."
Isaac screamed. "Shit! Run!" We started running, and the metal ball rolled towards us. We ran as fast as we could and almost got crushed by the giant ball numerous times. We passed through a few forks, but the metal ball kept following us. I screamed. "We turned left, it goes left. We turned right. It goes right as well. Are we that predictable?" Isaac turned right at the next fork, and we followed, but we reached a dead-end. "Oui... A dead-end for the soon-to-be dead little mice." Isaac pushed me and Dan to a corner. "Stay there." Isaac squatted down. "What are you doing?" I screamed.
Ring. Ring. The metal ball rolled toward us at high speed. I looked away and closed my eyes. "...…" I slowly opened my eyes and saw the metal ball rolled right in front of me. 'Oui... Too close for comfort.'
I looked at Isaac, who was squatting on the ground. "Looks like your plan works this time."
Isaac looked up and said. "Ya. Thank goodness it did."
Dan, at the other corner, asked. "How do we get out? Do we push it?" Dan tried pushing the ball, but it didn't move an inch.
I pointed at the bottom. "We can squeeze through the hole. It's big enough for us, right?" Isaac nodded. "I'm asking Dan since he's the biggest. You're so small. You can probably fit through a rat hole." I laughed, and Isaac glared at me.
I stared at the metal ball. "What do we do now? You don't think it will follow us if we move, right?
"Most probably, it will follow us."
"Why? Did we get tagged? When? Who?"
"You. The moment your partner is gone."
"Why? I thought the punishment was after the 3rd game."
"Mr. James never specified when."
"Oui..."
"I got a good idea. Follow me."
"Plan to tell us?"
"No. I don't. You will go ruining it."
"Bleh." I stuck out my tongue at Isaac.
We quickly squeezed through the hole and ran. The metal ball slowly turned and chased after us.
"This looks like baby ducks following their mother goose. Except their mother goose is so tiny. Lol!" I laughed. Isaac ignored me and led us to the centre of the 3rd Maze. We paused for a while.
"Woohoo! Isaac's awesome!" Dan exclaimed. We looked to our right and saw a giant size clay walking around. "A walking clay?" Dan panicked.
I poked Isaac. "Is that a Golem?"
Isaac nodded. "Seems like it." Isaac began running toward it. "Come on!"
"Oui! Have you gone nuts?! Going head to head with a golem?" I screamed.
"Trust me."
Dan and I looked at each other, and then the metal ball appeared behind us. "Ack! It's behind us again!" We followed Isaac and ran towards the golem. The golem was leisurely walking around and didn't notice us and the metal ball running toward it. We quickly ran under the golem and the metal ball collided with the golem.
Bang!
The metal ball hit the golem, and the golem fell to the ground with one knee. Some of the golem parts fell and nearly killed us.
"This was the plan? How assuring!" I screamed at Isaac.
Isaac screamed back. "It's better than no plan!"
Boom!
More parts of the golem fell, Isaac couldn't dodge so I pushed him away and it fell on me. Isaac fell to the ground.
"Argh! Cough. Cough." He struggled to stand up.
"Huff... Huff... What happened? Llyne?" He looked at the place where we were just now and screamed. "Llyne! Llyne! You alright?" But he didn't hear any response.
Isaac stared at the pile of clays, and his face turned pale. He tripped a few times and ran toward the mountain of clays. He franticly tried to remove the clays away.
"Llyne. Come on. Don't do this to me. Don't die."
Dan got up and helped Isaac as well. They quickly moved the clays away and saw me lying there motionless. Isaac stared at me blankly. He slowly reached out his hand and took me out of the mountain of clays.
"Hey, don't die on me, huh? You can't die. Y-You... How could you? The main characters don't die. They don't... They-"
"Kagh! Koff! Gagh! Oh shit! Oh... That... That almost killed me!" I slowly got up and rubbed my chest.
"Damn, the pressure and the stink from those clays were killing me. I needed some time to breathe. Sorry for scaring ya." I breathed in and out, and then suddenly, Isaac hugged me. "Oui... You okay? Did the clays hit you too hard? Or did I?" I patted Isaac.
Isaac teared up and said. "I'm glad you're alive." Isaac hugged me tightly and wouldn't let go.
Dan smiled at me and said. "Welcome back!"
I smiled and said. "How can I die? I won't die till I whooped Mr. James's ass!" I raised my fist in anger.
Isaac laughed and said. "Ya. I'm sure you won't."
We turned toward the golem and the metal ball. The golem was holding the metal ball back. I stared at the golem. "He looks like a guardian right now. How sweet."
Isaac nodded. "Let's move before the golem notices us." Dan and I agreed. Dan helped me up, and we quickly climbed up the stairs.
Soon, we reached the 4th floor.
I stretched my arms. "Oh, the adrenaline!" Isaac laughed.
"You can say that again." Dan laid on the ground. "Can we lie down for a while? My heart is pumping like crazy."
Isaac and I chuckled. "Sure." We laid on the ground and let out a long sigh.
"Hopefully, no monsters attack us while we're resting." Isaac and Dan stared at me in fear. I looked at them in confusion. "What?" It took me a second to realize what I just said. "Oui..."