Everything became quiet after the Ringleader said his final words. The multiple crow beaks slowly inched their way back into the wooden walls, only leaving their bright red eyes to signify that they were still there.
Po didn't move at first, watching the walls before cautiously stepping on the ground, and walking unhurriedly along the long hallway. Nothing else strange appeared as we made our way along.
The crows never blinked, the walls never changed, and the ceiling still looked like it was so close yet so far. I looked behind me and only saw a dark void.
"The crows move." I evaluated before fully shifting my body to face the back, that way were most covered with Po keeping an eye out in the front, and I spectated the back. The hallways instantly got brighter as crow eyes appeared on the walls.
They shined brightly, wanting their presence to be known. Their black pupils were the only thing that moved as they followed our journey down these labyrinth halls. I observed them while thinking of our current circumstances.
We're currently in a makeshift building, used by trees of a forest that is outside. That ability can only come from someone with a wood ability. That means The Ringleader is a Wood Cultivator or someone under him is a Wood Cultivator.
We just fought against a clown, he is a ringleader, and we're inside a maze, so does that mean that his games involve a circus or a carnival? We're in the 105th game of the year so does that mean that Zhou Mei and Jiang Wu are also in a game? Are they in this one?
"The Circus Tent is probably the main base." I judge remembering the cartoonish tent from the dreams I have gotten a while back. "I hope they're not there." The worry was slowly increasing.
While thinking, Po halted, causing me to look over. In front of us, there was a carnival stand with no way around. Po sniffed the air before walking up to it and the sound of a bell sounded after we reached a certain point.
A rumble was heard and when I looked back, a wall came towering up blocking our backway. Multiple eyes filled the wall. I had never seen a crow's eyes show any expression in my whole life. They always looked the same, however right now I feel like they were all excited.
The pupils were looking at me and Po and all around us. They spun and rattled in their circle red barrier before they whipped to the ceiling.
"Hello." A voice sounded out from above causing Po to growl. I fully turned my body around, just before witnessing the ceiling start producing a black liquid. It looked like the inside of a sick person's nose as the fluid slowly formed into a blob, some of it even dripping to the floor in slime consistencies.
It gathered until it was a large clot several times my size. Eventually, it was heavy enough to gradually drop down and once it hit the floor, the liquid melted off and a child no older than 10 stood there smiling behind half of a mask of a crow.
"Hello." The voice said again. I couldn't tell if the child was a girl or a boy as they wore Western clothing consisting of a white collared shirt that was tucked into black shorts. Their hair was cut to their shoulder which didn't mean anything in this time zone where both men and women grew out their hair.
"Are you ready to play, Black?" They asked but didn't wait for an answer as they clapped and more liquid formed onto the ceiling and plopped down behind them. One by one they formed a tower before finally the slime melted off and big barrels that were compacted together, and towered in the shape of a triangle appeared behind them.
Each barrel was the size of 1-2 feet, and all had different pictures of them. The one on the top was the Ringleader with his changing mask, he stood there as if presenting something. Underneath was a woman showcasing a lion and beside her was a person who looked like they were stuffed in a box as their body, were bent, and twisted in almost impossible positions.
Right below was the clown, and a couple of more well-known people in a circus. It wasn't until the very end that I saw a very pale girl.
White.
"Now let me introduce the game." The Child clapped, breaking my focus and looking at them who still had a smile that looked stiff. "This game is called Knock the Barrel Can. Each Barrel is worth a certain amount of points." They clapped again and underneath each picture, a number glowed red.
"As you can probably see, the higher up the barrel the more points you get, the lower, the less you get. The very top is the maximum points you need to get." I looked at the red ten underneath the picture of the Ringleader.
"If you don't get ten points then you lose the game." The Child made a dramatic sad frown before perking up to say, "You know what happens if you lose?"
I didn't comment but again The Child didn't wait for me to say something, "You go bye-bye." They said, sliding their fingers across their neck before plopping their head to the side with their tongue hanging out.
I clenched my hands as they laughed gleefully. They smirked before clapping again, and four drops fell to the counter and melted away to show four baseballs. I look at the balls I haven't seen for what feels like years.
"I wish you luck." They said happily before standing off to the side.
I looked at them before looking at the barrels. My heart was pounding as I took in everything, calculating how many ways there were to make 10.
Sliding off Po, I walked up to baseballs and bit the bullet to pick one up. The baseball felt like a regular one, same weight, texture, and size. I looked over at the Child who was humming quietly to themselves but stopped when they saw me looking at them.
"Have a question?" They asked gleefully.
Putting the ball back on the table I signed, "What happens if I knock multiple over?"
They smiled as they answered, "We choose the highest point barrel to your final count which will be shown on the top." They pointed, and when I looked up there was a score flipper*, something I hadn't seen since elementary school.
"However if you score multiple of the same points, we will be nice and let you choose." They added.
I took note of the way they said it before asking, "What happens if I win?"
This time The Child looked confused as they shifted their head to the side and said, "You win of course. We open the entryway to let you through."
"That's it?"
They didn't answer me as they straightened up.
A theory rose in my head as I glanced over at the pictures on the barrels. "Is there anyone in this maze beside us?"
They hummed before a toothy smile broke out across their face, "Well of course not. That would be lonely wouldn't it?" My heart was pounding as I searched through my head on how to word my next question. "Be mindful that this will be your last question. The audience doesn't like the hold-up."
A distant yet vibrant memory flooded my head of the different level audience, and I glanced to the side of the many crow eyes that I noticed became more abundant as they all squeezed together. I felt something hit my back softly and when I looked behind, Po who shrank to his regular size looked up at me before poking his nose at me again.
Petting him I thought about the many questions I wanted to ask, before finally I asked, "Am I the only person who isn't part of the circus in this game?"
They hummed before laughing lightly, "You sure that's the question you want to ask?"
I nodded my head, already making up my mind. I need to know if Zhou Mei and Jiang Wei are here as well.
They smiled quietly for a short bit before answering, "Yes you're the only person who isn't part of the circus in this game. Don't you feel special?"
A subtle feeling of relief spread in me. Of course, it's stupid to fully trust them but at this moment I need to have some type of delusion that they're all alright even if it might be not completely true. Otherwise, my worry would consume me in the long run.
Silently sighing out I gripped the baseball and looked at the barrels. The Ringleader was 10, underneath him were 7, the two rows under that were 5, five rows under that were 2 and the rest of the six rows were 1 point.
In total, there are 15 rows, 120 barrels in those 15 rows, but there are only five ways to make 10. Making ten could be easy if I aim for the Ringleader but that would be idiocy.
I'm the only player in this maze yet there are other people here? I looked at the barrel and chose the best combination.
5 + 2 + 2 + 1.
If what I'm thinking is correct, this option would make me meet more people but the difficulty is the lowest amongst all the other multiple options. However, getting to ten isn't the most difficult part of this game. It's hitting what I want without knocking down the ones I don't want.
I stepped back and looked towards the barrels that exceeded my height in droves. Some of the one-point barrels I can barely even see.
Winding my hand back, I judge my options. I need to choose the barrels that are in a position where they are not a necessity if I take them away. However, the bigger issue is that I need to hit them at a high speed right in the center. That way the force of my throw will center mostly on one barrel before the tension transfers into the other barrels. I can only hope my throw is strong enough to take out that barrel before the tension spreads out.
Evaluating more, I gritted my teeth before I used my whole weight as I threw the baseball at a five-point barrel that had the picture of a familiar clown. It was risky to start on top, where not only is it the most out of my reach but also surrounded by the points most worth something.
Out of all the high options I might as well go with the Clown. Yes, he is difficult, and yes he was close to killing us but he was the only five-pointer I'm familiar with. I don't know the abilities or anything about the other five points.
I held my breath as the ball slammed into the intended barrel. The barrel got knocked out as intended by the tower quivered. It trembled more when the barrel made an impact on the ground, which caused a bang to ring out.
I didn't make noise, Po didn't make a peep and surprisingly The Child didn't say anything either as we watched the indecisive tower. Finally, the tower stilled, and everything became quiet again.
My hands are trembling and my heart is pounding. I could barely resume breathing.
"Nice throw." I ignored the unnecessary compliment from The Child before grabbing the next ball. My hands are still shaking. Like I thought I didn't put as much power needed to fully take out the barrel without bothering the rest.
However, that was as strong as I could throw.
I looked at the 2 pointers and backed up. If I can't gather strength with my next throw then I have to build it. Thinking back on the way the people in the shot put through the balls during track, I stepped back more.
" Oh what are you doing?" The Child asked cheerfully. I disregarded them as I ran through the body movements in my head a couple of times before practicing them.
"Are you dancing?" They asked again leaning on the counter with a smile on their face. "The audience liked it, they never saw anything like it." I felt a chill run up my back, but continued practicing until I felt I got it down.
"Are you finished? Are you ready?" They asked. "Why are you ignoring me?"
I faced them and signed with one hand, "I'm not ignoring you. I'm focusing." The Child didn't say anything as they continued to lean on the counter to watch me.
Being confident with my action I finally started putting it to action. Twisting my body, I glided my feet and made sure my sight was relatively at the barrel I was aiming for.
I was about to throw as the Child's voice rang out beside me, "Well I felt ignored." The baseball suddenly got heavier before it left my hand, catching me off guard. I landed on my hands and knees as I heard multiple barrels falling on the ground. Each sound and its responding vibration makes my heart pulse.
I heard a growl before a bigger impact sounded out from behind me. Swallowing down the impending doom, I looked towards the noise and saw Po and The Child fighting. However, The Child no longer looked like a child as their arms and legs became five times their body length.
Tiny feathers covered the exposed limbs barely covering the skin that turned gray underneath. Their back is hunched in an upward motion like a hissing cat. Their half face mask now fully took over their face and it screeched as if it became their head.
I scrambled to my bag as both dog and monster went at each other's throats. The area around became a bright red, casting everything in a color disarray. I was digging in my bag before high-pitched laughter infiltrated all around.
My head whipped up, and I was met with thousands of red beady raven eyes staring down at me. All of them looked like bugs swarming out in one pool of blood. Beaks that I couldn't tell from which pair of eyes they came from, laughed with so many different tones, and frequencies, overshadowed the battle that wasn't so far away from me.
I didn't prepare for this.
Sweat dripped down my face as I felt like I was being swallowed. A ringing was meandering in my head. My throat felt perched and voices of the past came to hunt the slowly breaking down prey.
A pained cry brought my eyes from the thousands over to the side. I felt like cold water washed over me as a long skinny arm was piercing Po through the stomach.
Blood squirted out and burned away when it hit the surface. It was like I was pushed, as I focused back on my bag, and took out two stones.
Breaking one of them, a rope of fire stormed out and surrounded the dismantled crow. It tied around the monster like someone wrapping a gift, before it tightened in a taut squeeze.
A scream broke out as the monster started a rampage. I moved out of its way as it scrambled around. I was even surprised as the barrels didn't budge an inch as the monster slammed onto them, but they were like a metal wall.
I dodged as I ran to make my way to Po however I was stopped by a long skinny hand piercing the ground before me. I looked up and the monster was staring at me as it was still being burned, the rope was having trouble containing it. It's arms and legs struck at me, and I dodged each one.
"Damn you! Damn you!" It screeched in a hoarse bellow. I could see Po wanting to get up but I desperately shook my head and ran to get him. I broke the other stone which glowed white and picked up his body to move him out of the way.
His body was huge and I could barely see. I had to rely on my senses to judge where I was going, and where the monster's next strike would be at. The monster wailed again and suddenly I was slammed from the back.
The air was knocked out of me, while I still managed to remain standing up. I ran and jumped over the carnival stand. There I was able to see the result of my throw. Half the barrels were on the ground. Even the Ringleaders.
With a bang, the carnival stand broke into pieces and when I looked up I saw what slammed into me earlier. On the back of the monster, two very skinny wings were standing out. The visuals all together reminded me of a mosquito.
Those wings, like the monster's limbs, had little tiny feathers and were also just as fast. The wings moved like hair in water before striking down. I ran, and the laughing from the crows were becoming louder.
Dodging again I placed Po down on the ground before going the opposite way. I could see the monster focusing on Po, and I made my way over and kicked the monster's leg causing its attention to focus on me.
It screeched and the other wing came swinging at me on one side and a limb was striking me on the other. Looking at both things, I moved towards the wings and jumped when it was about to hit me.
I ran along, swerving as the monster didn't seem to care that it was striking itself, and penetrating its own body. I jumped and fell on its back and I heard a whine. The sound startled me but I couldn't put much thought into it as what I was aiming for was finally in reach.
Grabbing hold of the fire rope, my hands hissed and the pain was puncturing, but I held on tight and jumped off the body. The rope came tightening quickly and the smell of decay penetrated every inch of the space.
The laughter was deafening. I ran and tied it around the still-standing barrels that had never once fallen. The monster and the burning rope turned into harmony as their pitches almost took over the laughter.
I ran, reached into my bag, and broke a stone instantly another fire rope came bursting out officially tying the monster down. I panted as I turned and ran to Po but before I got there Spiritual Pressure came crashing down. Every living thing came down along with it with a resounding crunch, however, my eyes could only focus on Po who wrapped himself in a ball.
Sucking in through the pain, I crawled to him, each movement casting a stronger pressure on me. When I got to him I broke another stone and watched as it covered the injured dog in a more ethereal white glow. Po's body shivered as the healing wound on his stomach started healing faster.
I'm sorry.
I'm so sorry.
As if hearing me, one of Po's eyes opened and gave me a tiny lick, before closing his eyes again and I watched him shrink until he was only the size of a puppy. Using my body I covered him as the pressure was strengthening. I felt my body breaking and rebuilding as the healing stone was still working.
"I don't want to die!" I looked from Po to see the monster squirming around on the ground as they screamed out. Their body was slowly becoming pitch black and their scream was ceasing to nonexistent.
Finally, their body turned to me and I watched as the crow's mouth opened wide and I felt my body shiver as a crying girl's face was stuffed in the darkness, as if they were swallowed.
The girl looked at me from within and shook her head no as best as she possibly could in such limited space. "I don't want to die! I was to see Mommy and Daddy! It hurts! It hurts!"
An overlapping memory spread in my head and my lungs felt like they were deflated. The little girl continued to scream and I watched the exterior monster's body shake. "Help please!" She screamed more as she moved around and was able to free out an arm.
The memory and reality both reached out to me and I couldn't help reaching out to help. However, in both scenarios, it ended up being the same thing.
I couldn't help either one of them.
The beak of the crow's mouth slammed shut, cutting the little girl's arm off. Her blood fanned the area around as her arm plopped right in front of me.
I couldn't take my eyes off the severed arm as her gut-wrenching scream sounded out mixed with the crows' laughter. However, it wasn't long before everything became quiet.
I could hear my very own breathing in my ear. My eyes zeroed on the arm that belonged to a child no older than 4. Much younger than I have previously guessed.
The Spiritual Pressure was taken off and I felt my body just sit on the floor. The stone was still healing and everything was still bright red. I looked from the arm and slowly to the front of me to see burnt ash in the shape of-
A monster?
A child?
What the hell did I just do?
Did I kill a dangerous monster or an innocent child?
A sound of applause rang out and cheering along with it while puke poured out of me. It barely got anywhere as my mask blocked its projectile. It poured out all over me. However they didn't care, they applauded louder.
All of it was so quick. Everything became so quick. I don't understand how little time can cause so much agony.
Where am I?
Laughter was heard. It was muffled as probably the puke reached my ears. I felt my body shake as I slowly turned around.
Millions of eyes were looking down at me while the sound of the unknown laughed and applauded, cursing me.