They walked the outer stretch of the maze, bones littering the floor like forgotten memories. Shards were scattered across the ground, and piles of brittle remains were crumpled into the corners of this dark, empty expanse. The only source of light was the moose's soft blue glow. It had been a few hours now.
Both the moose and Tobi drank from a puddle of water that had trickled down from the inverted sea above. Tobi carefully heated it to a boil. He didn't know what it was exactly, but at the very least, it would be drinkable. He didn't have much choice. The moose drank it, so he thought it to be safe... Probably.
Above them, the water rippled with inverted waves, moving in an unnatural rhythm. Something was happening in the ocean. As Amias looked up, he swallowed nervously.
"It's sure movin, a lot, ain't it?" Amias whispered.
Tobi nodded, his eyes fixed on the suspended sea. Behind the dark veil of water, two massive silhouettes writhed within the depths. They looked like titans, locked in combat, one with slithering arms like serpents, the other shaped like a distorted star. Whether it was a fight or something worse, they could only guess.
"That's far off," Tobi said calmly. "We needn't worry."
Amias simply nodded.
"Still... the ocean's a scary place," he muttered.
"You're right. Right now, it's probably the most dangerous place for any living being on this planet and on earth," Tobi replied.
"Worse than the tree?" Amias asked.
Tobi nodded again.
"Far worse to an ordinary person anyway, the ocean is already a perilous place for humans having strong waves and rogue currents; adding titans and monsters to it just makes it hell," he explained honestly. "Though I can't say for sure, after all, I don't remember everything clearly due to my fractured memory."
"What do you know?" Amais asked curiously.
Tobi pondered a while before talking about himself. "I was born without a name. My childhood was cold. Isolated. I had no one to rely on. I was empty, devoid of light. I didn't get a name until I was in my mid-twenties. Though, before that, I earned another name, Death or at least I had called myself that."
"Death?"
"Yes. Death. It's my fate. I was destined to die. So, in order to survive… I became death."
Amias blinked. "I don't get it. How do you become death to not die?"
"Nobody would understand, even I don't," Tobi admitted. "But even now the idea is so deeply rooted in my head I can't stray from it. It's what I am and ever shall be," he said reverently.
"That's interesting." Amais said, honestly unsure how to respond to what Tobi just revealed to him.
"So, Amais, shall we get going then?" Tobi asked the boy, who looked at him and nodded.
Tobi turned away and began walking again. Amias watched him in silence, more curious than ever about the enigmatic hunter beside him.
The moose simply illuminated their path. The further they went, the darker the maze became. The water and really everything around them was darkness as it lingered around, creating a mystic aura; the sea fed the black below as they walked in a river of shadowed water. They were entering darkness itself. At least, that's what it felt like. Their knees were submerged, yet the moose hadn't stopped.
How cold and dreadful it was! Each step felt unnerving, and though Tobi showed no fear, Amais had chills.
"Is this normal?" Amais asked, confused.
Tobi shrugged. "I guess this is the abyss those sentient barnacles had been speaking of," he said frankly.
They continued walking through the river until Amais suddenly stopped, shivering. He felt something slither beneath him.
"Tobi, something beneath me moved," he whispered, forcing an awkward, scared smile.
"Did you only feel it now?" Tobi asked, surprised.
Amais looked irritated. "Have a normal reaction once. Like, what if it's one of those fish that crawl up your, you know?"
Tobi shrugged again. "Let's hope not."
They kept walking in the seeping water. It reached higher now, lapping around their waists, and Amais could feel whatever creature was beneath him. A fin brushed beside him, and he had no idea what it belonged to.
"If it wanted to attack us, it would have already. Just don't provoke it. Step carefully," Tobi said calmly and gently.
Amais gulped. "O-Ok."
The water rose to their chests. It was getting harder to move the liquid, grimy and thick, weighing them down. Trudging through it became a punishing task. Meanwhile, whatever swam beneath them moved swiftly and effortlessly.
Then something strange happened.
Amais was falling.
He was being pulled down by the darkness, dragged by some horror lurking below. He couldn't move, paralyzed in the murky void. Isolated. Alone. Trapped in nothing.
He wanted to scream, but the darkness swallowed even that. Seconds stretched into hours. His thoughts echoed, looping back like the reality itself.
The darkness, so black so empty so large so small, he couldn't see the end of it. All was a haze of black that was neither meant to be seen nor touched.
Would he be stuck in this place forever? An immortal being, sealed in an infinite, paralyzing darkness?
What had he even done with his life? He had accomplished nothing. Become no one.
Now he was left to ultimately fade into irrelevancy. Maybe that was the most terrifying fate: remembered by no one, forgotten by everyone.
But no
A bright flame blazed, cutting through the void and reaching for him. It burned the darkness itself as it reached, searing him in divine fire.
The figure that emerged was fully ignited in flame, its ignited arm grabbing Amais and dragging him upward.
It trudged through the darkness silently, flames licking and sizzling around its form. Every movement was a struggle, every step agonizing. The abyss fought to reclaim its prize and how merciless it was, clawing and maiming at the flames, but even then the burning figure didn't waver.
It pressed forward, never flinching, even as Amais's body screamed from the scorching, agonizing heat.
None of that mattered. The man was saving him. Saving him from a fate far worse than even this fire.
Finally, after what felt like hours, they broke through the surface and collapsed onto solid rock, gazing up at the inverted sea. The moose stared down at them, its quiet blue light the only thing untouched by the abyss.
"Holy shit," Amais gasped. He wasn't breathing; he didn't need to anymore but the shock still hit him hard.
"Are you okay, Amais? if the moose hadn't alerted me, I might've missed you." Tobi admitted as his body sizzled and steamed from the fire.
"Yeah, thanks. I thought I was a goner there for a moment. Wouldn't have even been able to die, either. Damn, that was... wow." Amais said, glancing up at the sea and then over at the abyss beside them before seeing the moose's gaze and petting its chin thankfully and dazed at the moment.
"I could breathe in the abyss too," Tobi said grimly. "Which means there are probably people who got pulled in, paralyzed, and died slowly of starvation, thirst, or whatever else lives down there. Only a handful of people could survive something like that."
Amais felt a chill run down his spine.
"So... are you one of them?" he asked with a dry laugh.
"Flames keep the darkness at bay," Tobi replied simply, his voice as frigid as the dark they were just in but his demeanour showing he was fatigued.