In the dark corridors of the wooden cabin the sound of footsteps could be heard approaching the room Maze was left in. They stopped in front of the door, the doorknob cocked before the door slowly swung open. The first thing Aldred's eyes fell upon was the smoking gun on the ground. He slowly lifted his eyes to look at the girl he left in the room. Blood flowed down the side of her face and her eyes had darkened. Aldred slowly approached her cupped her face in his gigantic hand.
That is when he noticed the bullet hole that ran straight through her ear. His hand began to glow and when he pulled away, not only had the bleeding stopped, but the ear was completely repaired.
"Get up." He demanded, her eyes landed on his crystal blue ones and stayed there for a brief moment before complying with his demands.
"Come with me." He turned and walked out, and she walked after him. An intense silence fell between the two with only the sound of their feet against the wooden floors filling the room. There were no windows and only a row of filament lightbulbs lit the area up. They came across a large door and when Aldred opened it the light blinded Maze. She covered her eyes as a gust of wind blew past her. Her eyes began to adjust to the light and once they did, they shot open in shock. Her arms slumped by her side as her breath caught in her throat.
Trees as tall as skyscrapers dawning leaves of green and gold stood before her. Their trunks being different shades of brown. Having never left the Newark oasis, it was her first-time laying eyes on a wild tree. She walked towards them and felt dwarfed in comparison.
"This is a land that lies just beyond the boundary of the Newark oasis. Most citizens never get the opportunity to see this." Aldred said bobbing his head up to tell her to follow.
"Wh-Who are you?" Maze asked. Aldred ignored her question and just kept walking in between the enormous trees. Maze looked back, but she couldn't see the cabin they came from.
She bumped on Aldred's back as he had come to a sudden stop. Maze was about to apologize, but her were caught by what was in front of them. A massive lake that was so still it reflected the sky like a mirror.
"Sit." Aldred demanded, but it didn't feel like she was being forced to do it. Part of Maze's mind wondered what he'd do if she said no, but that was instantly brushed away when she remembered how tall the man was.
She sat down and relaxed herself and Aldred did the same. As if he didn't mind that he would be getting his pants dirty.
"I gave you the opportunity to end your life and you chose not to..." The void in her chest returned with those words as her eyes stuck to the grass she sat on.
[Why didn't I do it? Did I honestly choose not to? I was certain I pulled the trigger I... I flinched.] A hollow laugh erupted from her mouth as the thought circulated in her mind.
"I flinched. Oh God I flinched!" Her laughing became hysterical as she couldn't believe the irony of it all.
"I'm such a coward..." She said to herself.
"Whatever the reason you are still alive right now doesn't matter..." Aldred said, getting him a curious look from the teen.
"What matters is what you plan to do with your life, So, Mazekien Shmidt, my question to you is, what now." He asked her, his tone deep and serious.
"Who are you? What do you want with me? How did you get my brother's gun?!" She asked, with anger laced in her tone.
"My name is Aldred Meyers, Nami's uncle. She brought you into my care after explaining your situation."
" "In your care"? You gave me a gun and asked me to kill myself!"
"I gave you an option to end your pain, end your suffering and you chose not to do it. I can lock you in that cabin if you want, but I will not give you a second chance." Maze looked at the man in shock.
"I couldn't. I was too afraid to do it. I'm a coward." Her voice came out as a squeak.
"Whatever the reason you are still alive right now doesn't matter..." He repeated. "What matters now is what you do with it." Maze laughed.
"Is that supposed to make me feel better?" She asked with sass in her tone.
"No, but this is." Aldred reached in his pocket and took out a plastic container with a few pills inside. "These are anti-depressants. I suggest you take them twice a day." Maze took the pills and looked at them curiously.
"I am no therapist, but I am a doctor and a professor. I know depression and anxiety aren't easy to deal with, but you've already taken the first step to healing. You have chosen to stay alive. Now what do you plan to do with this new life?" He asked, his voice becoming softer and timid.
"I-I don't know..." Maze admitted, her eyes still transfixed on the pills in her hands.
"That's okay, you don't need to know what your end goal is, but you can start by treating the root of your misfortune. What made you run away from home?" He asked. Maze took a while to answer as she lost herself in thought, but it all came back to her.
"It's the pressure. I try day in and day out to make my parents happy, yet I also don't want to be tied down to my family's legacy. I want to be more than just my surname. I want to be my own person." Maze finished, taking a deep breath to calm herself so the tears didn't start falling.
"Escaping your families shadow is a difficult task, we appreciate the hard work and dedication our parent's put into raising us, but we do not want to be limited to their vision of us, do you mind telling me what happened to your older brother?"
Maze flinched at the memory of him on the floor, swimming in a pool of his own blood.
"He shot himself..." Maze covered her mouth to prevent her from vomiting yet again.
"He was the greatest person I have ever known; his charisma was contagious and every time he'd enter, he would light up the room. Everyone loved him and I... I worshipped him. Every day, I try to mimic what made him so likeable, but it's as if I'm missing something that I just can't seem to figure out. He was my Idol...Which is why I don't understand. Why would someone like him, so talented, so loved and so adored kill himself?"
"Could it be the pressure?" Maze's eyes shot open at the question.
"He kept everyone around him happy, he garnered a respect and political acclaim within your family business and was the most successful at school. Keeping a perfect persona is an impossible task. Something I'm sure you can relate to." Aldred said. Maze's breath became uneven as she began to finally understand what pushed her brother to that limit. A sudden rush of hatred began to settle deep inside her as she began to realize that all that she has been through was her parents' fault. They were the ones who pushed her to perfection without any regard for her mental health...They're the ones who killed Marcus.
"Let me ask you again Mazekien. Now that you have chosen to stay alive, what is your next move?"
__________________________________________________________________________________
*Ding Dong*
The doorbell rang in the Schmidt estate and the door was opened by one of the maids.
"May I help y... Madam Maze." The maid said with her as she slapped her hand over her mouth out of shock.
"Hey auntie, are my parent's home?" She asked with a soft smile. Maze stood at the door wearing her school uniform. Her parent's had not heard from her for the past week and a half and Maze was surprised to hear that a missing persons case wasn't called for her. Unfortunately, after she heard the reasoning, her Maid gave her it made sense, just not the way she wanted it to.
Her parents hid the fact that she was missing from the public out of fear of it damaging their company's image. She felt mad but did well to hide under her smile. She was brought to the private dining room and was asked to wait for her parents to arrive. While she waited, she was served an ice-cream dessert.
"Maze!" Her mother screamed as she ran to hug her only child.
"Hey mom." Maze greeted casually.
"I was so worried Maze, where were you?" She asked with relief washing all over her. Maze looked at her dad who was just watching from a distance.
"It's okay Mom, I just needed some time away from the family. I'm sorry I didn't tell you guys sooner." She apologized.
"Oh, it's okay sweetie we'll talk it through over dinner. T-There is something important we must discuss." She said as she released her daughter from her vice grip of a hug. The family sat on the table and Maze began to tell them what happened. Leaving out the part that Hunter was her homeroom teacher, being brought beyond the boundary of the oasis and being sexually assaulted. Her mom listened attentively, absorbing every detail she told them, her dad on the other hand seemed to be lost in his own thoughts. Once she was done their food was brought to them and they began to dig in their meals.
"So, what was it you wanted to tell me Mom?" Her mother put down her fork and sighed deeply.
"After you went missing me and your father decided to have a little talk." She said, stringing Maze's curiosity along.
"We said a bunch of things and went on and on and---"
"We're getting a divorce." The first words she heard from her father and of course they had to be something negative.
"Your mother blames me for what happened to Marcus all those years ago and she was afraid that you would do the same, if she doesn't take you out of this family." He explained with his flat monotonous tone, that didn't have a shred of emotion behind it.
Maze couldn't believe the irony of it all and pulled her tongue back from making a remark.
"Marcus was a sweet little boy who was raised in a demanding home. I will not let my daughter face the same fate."
"Oh, now she's your daughter. Last I checked she was my daughter when she went missing, I wonder what happened to that."
"Are you trying to say this environment she grew up in is not the reason why Marcus died!?" Her mother snapped.
"I'm saying that it is a bad idea to split from the family. You should be thinking this through---"
"I've thought through enough, and for me my daughter's life comes first!"
"Maze go to your room." Her father demanded.
"No." She simply declined, earning a questioning look from her father.
"I want to have a say in this argument too, because I am sick and tired of everybody deciding things for me." Maze's tone was cold and soft as she stood up from her seat.
"Running away was the most liberating thing I've ever done in my life. For once I felt in control of my decisions."
"Maze, honey sit down and---"
"Let me finish!" She shouted.
"If it's true that you want me to be the successor of your family business then I'm afraid that I'm gonna have to decline. After your divorce is done, I will be moving in with mom and that's the end of the story. I don't want anything to do with the business that killed my brother." Maze turned away and walked out of the dining room. Her maid followed right behind her.
"Madam Maze, what was that?" She asked.
"What, you want a little gossip to share with your fellow Maids, auntie?" Maze asked.
"Oh, I knew your parents were planning to divorce each other, I just didn't know you felt that way about it." The maid clarified.
"I-I I'm tired auntie... can we talk about this tomorrow?" Maze asked, having finally calmed down.
"Yes madam." Her maid replied before going quiet. She eventually made it to her room and hugged her auntie goodnight before retiring to her bed. Thoughts clouded her head as she felt a wave of excitement. Her heart pounded in her chest as a smile formed on her face.
[I did it.] She thought.
The memory of Aldred's words to her circling in her mind.
["Now what?" I may not know the next step, but one thing is certain. Right now, I want to live]
________________________________________________________________________________
In her parent's room her mother paced up and down, torn on whether or not she should go talk to her daughter. Her husband walked in and let out an exhausted sigh.
"You pick the worst times to be anxious you know?" He said as he climbed on their queen-sized bed.
"Shut up Adriaan!" The mother retorted. Adriaan just looked at his soon to be ex-wife and voiced out his thoughts to her.
"How did we end up like this, Elise?" The question stopped Elise in her tracks as she starred back at her husband.
"This marriage died alongside Marcus." She said coldly.
"And you still blame me for that? Well, I have a question. Why now?" He asked with his usual flat tone.
"That's unfair, you held me back with the dream that I could get pregnant again, knowing damn well that it was never going to happen!"
"I needed a son to take over once I die, I can't let my only daughter have to face the stress of running a business all on her own." Adriaan argued.
"Did you ever ask her?" The room went silent for a while and Elise eventually went back to her pacing.
"Please don't leave me Elise, you know exactly what will happen once you do." Adriaan warned.
"What do you care?" She retorted.
"I care because I love you, Elise! That's why we built all of this, so that our children and our children's children would live comfortable lives without thinking about where their next meal would come from!" Adriaan let out a bit of his pent-up frustration, exhibiting a rare moment of him expressing his emotions.
"That was your fathers dream, without him we would've had none of this." Elise argued.
"Then is it so wrong for me to want to continue his dream!? Listen, Elise, I want to die old with you by my side so please don't do this."
"I want to see my daughter happy which is the reason why I do this, if you understood that then maybe we wouldn't be in this predicament." Elise snapped coldly. Adriaan sighed in defeat, there was more he wanted to say, but what was the point? He knew he couldn't change her mind which made his heart heavy with grief.
"Goodnight Elise." He said as he tucked himself in bed. He didn't receive an answer from his wife which only hurt him even further.