It almost felt like drowning.

Her world, being encapsulated by darkness and suffused with a thick miasma of dread, a young girl found herself lost within an unending labyrinth.

 Not knowing how, when, or why she was left in a desolate place, made her shudder. 

Forcing her body to rise upwards as if an invisible ocean was pulling her down, finally she stood up and began to wander this obscure and hollow wasteland. The room that surrounds her was circular, more like a dome with numerous paths that diverge from the room.

 She chose to walk through the path right in front of her, yet every single path looked identical; just semi-rectangular looking holes filled with the dense miasma which disallowed any being to see through it.

 The first few steps she had taken made a reverberating sound echoing throughout the chamber. Even treading lightly wouldn't have made much of a difference so the girl resumed 'casually'.

 Still wandering aimlessly, her mind is a blank slate void of any memory or sense of self. The oppressive darkness and the chilling atmosphere pressed upon her, filling her with a deep, pervasive unease.

 Please, someone save me

As she traversed through the labyrinth, the girl encountered nothing but dead-end hallways, each wrapped in cold unyielding stone. The air was heavy, thick with the weight of desolation and despair.

 At first she approached this new scenery like a vivid dream, hoping she would wake up from this nightmare. 

 That rationalisation was forsaken as her movements would soon transform from casual steps into frantic, bashful movements; her body slamming into the walls as she tried to find an exit. The lack of lighting made matters worse, which resulted in her inflicting more pain on herself as she had fallen down staircases carelessly, escape was all she could think of. 

 Provoked by the trauma of falling down the stairs again, she immediately hugged the floor. There was a twisted noise as the elbow on her right arm that tried to break her fall tore itself. But even so, she managed to negate any further damage that would have been onto her had she not used her elbow as a cushion. 

 "Gh, guhhh"

Enduring the pain of her elbow being dislocated, holding her bleeding arm and leaning her shoulder against the walls, she dragged herself and fled from any more staircases. 

 She wanted to get as far away as fast as possible. Wildly setting her sights on somewhere away from anywhere she's already been, she had ended up in an absurd place.

 -No, somethings not right about this place

"Ow…it hurts, it hurts…"

The only source of light visible was the reflective sheen of moonlight that emanated unnaturally in distilled windows. The girl shattered one only to be staring into more abyss.

 Her optimism was discarded almost instantly as she quickly realised that this wasn't a dream.

 Because what she once thought was untrue. 

It wasn't an endless over-expanding labyrinth. It was hell put on a loop. The farther she thought she travelled, only led her to the same chamber she had spawned in from the beginning. 

 The only difference is now her blood was painted across the chambers floors. 

 Why am I in a place like this? Why am I in this world? What kind of sick joke is this?

 The labyrinth's existence was questionable. It seemed simultaneously complicated, yet its concept was simple. 

Stairs, walls and corridors were the only things her eyes told her, they varied from length and size; with no systematic pattern to their appearances . Just stairs after stairs after stairs after stairs after…

 Let me out! For what kind of sin would be atoned this way?

The claustrophobia was suffocating, each narrow passageway closing in on her, driving her deeper into panic. Every staircase that once brought a spark of hope was just as quickly put out, because no matter where she went, led her back to where she started.

 I don't want to be here

 She cried out, but no one answered her pleas, but only the returning sounds of her echoes. Her desperation grew, with the sense of isolation and the quietude overwhelming. She didn't have any memories but if she did then she would have spent an eternity replaying any sorrowful memories of regret she imposed on herself and others; just to believe that, that is the reason she was being punished for. 

 With no memories she didn't know the kind of person she was or if she was someone to begin with. The windows could not reflect her appearance, but her lower body up until her arms and hands were visible. As far as she could tell, she was wearing dark trousers, a red overcoat, white-sleeved shirt and a beige cardigan. Her hands were frail and pale. Unsure whether that was her natural colours of her skin or due to the fact she was terrified given her situation.

 LET ME OUT

Eventually, she collapsed to the ground, covering her face with her only free left hand as sobs wracked her small frame. She felt utterly alone, abandoned in this forsaken place. 

Just as she was on the verge of surrendering to hopelessness, not like there was much of that to begin with.

 A faint flicker of light caught her eye.

 It was distant and dim, barely perceptible in the gloom, but it was the first light she had seen for as long as she could remember. Not counting the creepy abnormal moonlight. 

 Cautiously, she rose to her feet once more, her eyes fixed on the flickering glow. 

 Have I finally succumbed to madness? Or is this in itself a testament of my punishment?

She moved toward it, each step tentative, as if she feared the light might vanish if she approached too quickly.

To her relief, the light remained. It was real.

 "___"

She ran as much as her injured body would allow her. Despite not knowing what she looks like entirely, one could imagine that her eyes were glimmering like stars gathering in the night sky. 

 When she reached the source of the light, she examined it closely, it was a single torch affixed to the wall beside a stairway she had never seen before. 

 "Why…?"

 Every staircase had been different. Everytime she returned from the beginning chamber, any path she had taken would lead her down a dissimilar route with new sets of corridors and staircases. They were all still stone but its structure was being transformed each time. Like an illusion made solely to drive her even more insane.

 But something was different from this set of stairs that separated from the rest she encountered.

 The torch's flame danced and flickered, casting a warm glow that contrasted sharply with the coldness of the labyrinth. 

 Feeling a trace of hope gave her a cold reminder that being too hopeful was never a good thing. 

 I might not be thinking completely straight, but it is a hell of a lot scarier if I stop trusting myself in this situation. If I give into fear, I'd only be playing into whoever's game this is.

 She grabbed the torch steadily, feeling its warmth seep into her fingers.

The stairway was new and was embroidered with golden patterns of flowers. It was the only staircase that wasn't made of stone. She kneeled down to feel the texture and confirmed it to be not stone. 

 Finally, something that isn't stone. That I can work with.

With no hesitation she peered upwards and resolutely began walking up the stairs, hoping this would be the last one.

But as she took her first step onto the stairs.

A sharp pain exploded in her head-

 "A H H H H H H H H H H H H H HHHHHHH!"

Screaming, she desperately clutched her temples, a torrent of agony crashing through her mind. And in that moment, a blurry vision flickered, much too vague to discern any clear images, but one word stood out amidst the pain-

 "-Tsubasa"

 Who's Tsubasa? 

The name lingered in her ringing brain.

 When the pain subsided just as suddenly as it occurred. She reopened her eyes. She saw a hat lying on the ground at her feet, which was never there before. 

 Directing the torch toward the object she confirmed that it was a red detective hat. Kneeling again, she picked it up. 

 "Hey there stranger, have I seen you before?"

Something about the hat felt familiar, comforting in a way she couldn't explain. She blew the dust off it and gently placed it on her head.

 There, this feels right!

With the hat settled snugly on her head and the torch clutched in her hand, the girl continued her ascent up the staircase; which eventually led to another floor. 

 And as she stepped onto the new level, she heard a grinding sound behind her. She turned to see the stairs closing off, sealing the path she had taken. 

 Good, I hated that place so jokes on you! No wait- WHAT IS THAT 

The only way was forward, however she heard distinct sounds she couldn't make out. Other sounds than the ones that were coming from her.

She wasn't alone.

 "Yoo hoo! Your eyes twitched just now didn't they? Sorry to ruin your beauty sleep or whatever but I'm going to need you to answer my questions."

 A hollow voice intervened.

The girl couldn't see anything. Not like there was much to see in the labyrinth, but she literally could see nothing but pitch darkness. The obscurity was baffling, and her set of eyes blinked once more to never see the nightmarish atrocity of a dungeon. But when she opened her eyes, a white light emerged in the end. She reached towards that light not knowing what to expect, but anything would be better than being tormented in that forsaken labyrinth. 

She finally opened her eyes. For real this time.

 "Come on now, I don't have all day."

She awakened at last. Repeatedly opening and closing her eyelids in order for them to open properly and adjust to reality. The person that spoke just now had an irritated tone. After rubbing her eyes slowly with her fists clenched in sweat she had realised she was in a completely different place from the labyrinth she was in.

 She raised her body upwards, spun her head slowly left to right in a one-eighty degree turn. Everything was white.

 "Is this…heaven?"

She hadn't noticed it before but someone else was in the same room with her. That would most likely be the person whose voice was heard. 

 There wasn't much she could gather other than a person reading a newspaper that covered most of her body. Well it's a 'she' as it was a woman's voice that called out to her in the first place. She was brought to her attention since she started making weird sounds out of her mouth, more so it seemed like she was trying to contain it as she jittered and her body bobbled slightly. 

After a raspy breath taken, it was now clear what that sound was.

 "BWAHAAHAA–

Her laughing was unbearable. To think the angel that saved her was mocking her.

The woman was constantly smacking her folded newspaper around the air and heaved a heavy whiff of oxygen, just so she could laugh more. It didn't last long as she got right into business.

 "If this was heaven, then I wouldn't be here."

The girl on the bed wanted to make a small correction. Not everything was white. Because this woman was here. She had an odd attire in brown clothing and a weird hat and some glass thing in her right eye with a golden strand sticking out. Her eyes were emerald and her hair was brown. Although she couldn't determine the woman's hairstyle since her hair was tucked into her hat, figments of her strands hung out of it.

 She stood up from her chair to approach the girl with her hands dug deeply in her coat pockets.

 "Where am I?"

 "Isn't it obvious? The hospital dummy."

The oddly-dressed woman poked the girl's forehead which made her fall back on her bed as she tried to get up. 

 "Now then! First question…what is your name?"

A reasonable first question.

However there was one problem. Despite being saved from the labyrinth, she was unable to retain any memory prior to that event. She was sweating bullets, without being able to confidently give the woman an answer. Her scary narrow gaze pierced her eyes. It was such a simple and easy question. But the girl couldn't find any words or names she could use…except for one.

 "Tsubasa."

In the spur of the moment this was the only name that she recalled in her small library of memories. She didn't understand why this name was embedded into her mind when she passed the first floor of the labyrinth. There was a possibility that maybe it did belong to her, but she couldn't discard the possibility that it was someone else's name entirely. Maybe it was the person who trapped her in and made the labyrinth in the first place? 

 It was highly speculative but she saw no reason not to use it as her name.

And that was when she assumed the name as her own.