“Stop ogling, it’s not becoming of a queen to be.”
“Aster, I didn’t know you had atail.No wonder you needed baggy jeans… wait, did you say queen?” I said, backtracking and doing a verbal double-take. Yet he just winked again and said no more on the matter. I didn’t know what heightened my anxiety levels more, being here in the labyrinth or the seed he just planted.
“The tail’s not there all the time. Only in Minotaur form.” Aster said it bluntly, and I worried whether I had insulted him.
So, I held up my hands and said, “Okay, I’m sorry. I’m not making fun, I swear. Actually, I think it’s pretty awesome.”
He raised an eyebrow, skeptical.
“Genuinely, I do,” I said, and I wasn’t lying. “But I do have one more question,” I added, biting my inner lip.
He raised his eyebrow even higher.
“And what’s that?”
“Does it wag when Tiff calls you a good boy?” I snorted a laugh, and he glared at me, growling loud enough that I stepped back, though I could see his lip twitching ever so slightly, telling me he was thankfully seeing the humor in my joke.
“This is my true form. My Theïkós armor. The Labyrinth knows that and has granted it back to me. I…”
A rumbling sound from deep within the Labyrinth broke him off from saying anything more, and we looked down the narrow path that stretched ahead, lined by walls that rose high above us. Their surfaces glistened like glass, and a dull red glow pulsed within, like blood running through veins. It was as if the Labyrinth were a living being.
“What was that?” I asked, trying to hide any fear.
“A wall moving,” Aster answered.
“But I’m not scared, so why is it moving?” I told him, hoping it was the truth.
“I know,” he gritted out before telling me, “So, it means one of two things.”
“And what’s that?” I asked, hoping one of them involved leaving the Labyrinth and finding another way to Atlas.
“Either there’s someone in here with us, and they're scared.”
“Or?” I asked with hesitation.
“Or the Labyrinth isn’t behaving nicely,” he said, his frown casting its own shadows.
“Hmm… I think I prefer neither.”
“Come on,” Aster said, taking the lead.
Every few steps, I caught faint shapes carved into the walls, old symbols that no longer burned, some the same as those on the entrance, others rougher, as if they weren’t old enough to be worn smooth.
“This place feels…wrong,”I whispered, yet my voice echoed back at me. “It’s like everything is alive.”
Aster’s hand brushed the wall as we walked, and the shimmer that had led us to the door appeared, following the trace of his fingers. It made me think of a dog being scratched lovingly by its owner.
“It is alive,” he said, barely a whisper, though it still carried and echoed as my voice had. “And it listens.” His words didn’t shock me.
I could see the blood running through its veins, I could feel its presence in the air that weighed against me, so I wouldn’t be surprised if I saw a big pair of ears sticking out of the wall at some point, too.
“What is it listening out for?” I asked, intrigued.
“Nothing in particular. But it listens to everything. It learns, adapts to those who dare enter unwelcome,” Aster replied.
I couldn’t stop the shiver that ran up my spine caused by his words. I wasn’t sure how he knew this information, but the certainty in his voice made it clear he wasn’t just making it up, and to be honest, I didn’t want to know any more details. Especially if the walls moved when they sensed fear… or if they just moved because the Labyrinth wanted them to.
We continued to make our way through the labyrinth, the walls remaining in place…for now.I followed one step behind Aster, who seemed to know the route through, taking each turn with confidence, choosing between two paths without faltering. The deeper we moved, the more the ground seemed to shift beneath our feet. A steady rise and fall as if something was breathing beneath us. The rhythm suggested calm, as if the labyrinth was some sleeping beast.
