Chapter 90

Chapter Player.6 Vs. Li’l ’Don —And Then There Were None— Gods’ Games We Play 1 In the Ocean Maze Atlantis, Fay (real) slowly opened his eyes with start point G behind him. On his chest was a badge with a letter B. “Looks like I’d better go. First things first—I have to figure out how to convince everyone I’m the real me.” He set off walking through the massive maze forged out of the very sea. “Guess it depends who I run into first.” Note: Please enjoy the following from the perspective of Fay B (the real Fay). Splish, splash. There were little puddles of seawater left on the labyrinth floor, and Fay kicked up small splashes with each step. If Anubis’s maze had been a dungeon in the manner of classic adventures, this was a proper labyrinth, designed to confuse and mislead. For one thing, the path itself was different. In Lucemia, the halls had been wide enough for an entire party to walk abreast, but the passages here were far more cramped. Even walking by himself, Fay could only just squeeze through them. There were also far, far more corners. “If I just take turns at random, I’m going to forget where I came from before I know it,” he muttered. He crouched down and picked up a small stone. There were plenty of them right at his feet and a panoply of shells, too; the sort of thing one could only find on the seafloor. Fay had picked up a particularly unique rock, shaped like a star. He placed it at the point where the passage turned. It was a guidepost, a way of telling any players who came after him which direction he had picked. “I wonder when I’m going to run into the others. I hope I meet the real players—but then again, the whole problem is that I won’t know for sure if they’re real… Huh? Are those footsteps?” Fay heard a pounding; something out of the ordinary was rushing his way. He reflexively got ready to fight. Who was it—or what was it? He sensed that it was simply too big to be Leshea, Pearl, or Nel—none of them would have made such a racket even if they were running at top speed. “Gasp! Don’t tell me there are monsters in here?!” He’d had an inkling that there might be—no maze created by a god was going to be just a maze. There would have to be traps to impede his progress, or otherwise monsters. “Mrrroooooo!” “Minotaur?!” “I play the part of a wandering monster in this maze! I play pranks on any humans I catch!” The human-beast god came rushing up—except that, as she charged onward with all the speed of a raging bull, she raced straight past Fay. “Huh? She ignored me?” Why? As Fay listened to Minotaur’s pounding footsteps fade into the distance behind him, he heard a helpless cry. “Noooooo!” He knew that shriek! “Pearl?!” Next he heard Minotaur say excitedly, “I’ve finally found you! My sister separated at birth! You are my sister, right?!” “I keep telling you, I’m human! Hey, wh-wh-what are you—” There was more screaming and chuckling. Hesitantly, Fay peeked out around the corner to discover Minotaur hugging Pearl (with an A on her badge) from behind, the god’s hands in a death grip around her chest. “This fabulous chest! This couldn’t belong to any human!” “It definitely could! Oh! Fay B! Are you the real Fay or the fake? I m-mean, forget about that for now, just help me, please! This groping god is putting my chastity in danger!” “……” Silence from Fay. “Hey! Why are you just walking past? Isn’t this the part where you help me?!” “Phew, I’m satisfied!” Minotaur gave a great yawn and wiped the sweat from her brow. Her eyes were shining. Apparently, she’d had her fill of cozying up to Pearl. “All right, I’ll see you at the goal!” she said, and then she charged off with the same reckless speed that she’d charged in with, plowing right through the walls of seawater, leaving a great hole. “That’s a bull for you…always graceful,” Fay mused. “Shouldn’t you be more worried about my safety?!” Pearl demanded, getting to her feet. She looked somewhat the worse for wear. Then, however, she seemed to have a thought, and her eyes opened wide. “You must be the fake, Mister Fay B! The real Fay would never have silently ignored me when I was in distress!”