If it wasn’t for the ground beneath my feet and the sounds of the audience cheering, I would be completely convinced that I had died.

  The moment I stepped foot in the tunnel, the world quickly faded to black. The other three people who were beside me were now gone, nowhere to be seen.

  “Find your way to the end of the labyrinth, and you move on. It’s that simple.” Theos’s voice rang out directly in my head. Was this telepathy?

  Well, I can’t stand here forever. So, I suppose I will just keep walking forward until something comes into view.

  It doesn’t take long before the ground slowly starts to form underneath my feet. Within a matter of seconds, the walls of the maze spring up around me, creating obstacles before me.

  “As long as a sphinx doesn’t try and eat me.” I mutter to myself. It’s not like anyone is around to hear me anyway.

  Rather than rushing through, I take my time to observe my surroundings and make sure I don’t make any simple mistakes. Above me is the sky, but rather than day time, it’s the night sky full of stars and a full moon. I’m pretty sure it was day time when we arrived not too long ago.

  Behind me was simply a black void. A shiver runs through my spine as I stare into it, it’s beyond creepy. All I can think about is death, and I don’t think that’s a good use of brain power when I’m supposed to be trying to win this tournament.

  So far, I’ve discovered one very big problem with this whole maze, the magic. The sheer amount of magic being used to create this maze has thrown my senses haywire. I can’t sense any other magic outside of what’s being used to create this monstrosity, and it’s suffocating.

  There’s still a lot that I have to learn when it comes to using magic, but sensing it is the thing I’ve been fairly good at and this strips me of that ability. But, sitting here worrying about that won’t solve the problem for me.

  I begin walking and the moment I round the first corner I immediately run into a person on the ground slowly beating their head against the wall.

  “I’mma failure. I’mma failure. I’mma failure. I’mma failure.” They chant as the steadily slam their head harder and harder, blood starting to gush from their forehead but they didn’t stop.

  I rush to their side to attempt helping them, but the moment I reach for them they vanish. My arms dart through the air where they were moments ago, but nothing. Were they even really there?

  “They have to pull themselves up.” Theos’s voice rings in my head.

  They have to pull themselves up? What is that supposed to mean. I mean, I literally know but are they telling me I’m not allowed to help anyone? What kind of bullshit is that?

  I straighten myself up, and continue on my way. No time to waste.

  * * * * *

  Okay, I’m bored.

  I feel like I’ve been walking for hours and it’s just been a series of turns. No twists, just turns.

  Apart from watching that guy obliterate his head while cursing himself, nothing has happened. Hell, the stars above me haven’t even moved; which would imply not much time has actually passed.

  Oh my god this is going to take forever. Why couldn’t round one be just like sensing magic or something, but no. Instead it’s this boring ass maze where nothing happens.

  “And nothing will continue to happen.” I freeze.

  This can’t be happening.

  It’s in my head.

  The voice I just heard isn’t really there. It’s a figment of my imagination. A trick of the light. It’s not real. It can’t be.

  The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  “I suppose that just proves it.” The female voice slowly bounces around the walls, boring it’s way into my skull, and rattling my brain.

  “Mom? Mommy?” I slowly turn around, I need to know if it’s true.

  As I spin around, I come face to face with my mother and she’s exactly as I remember. A short blond bob, bright blue eyes, perfect skin, and a smile that could light up the world. It can’t be. It’s not real.

  “You’re…. you’re dead.” I whisper.

  “I am, and I’m disappointed.” She slowly walks towards me until her face is inches away from mine. “I’ve been watching, and… pathetic.”

  She slowly begins to circle me. It’s not real. It’s not real. It’s not real. It’s not real.

  “You couldn’t handle college. Hell, you couldn’t even take care of your own father. I gave birth to a son, but he clearly didn’t grow into a man.” She stops behind me, holding her head over my shoulder, her lips right next to my ear.

  “I gave birth to a pussy. A pansy. A fang—”

  “Stop!”

  Just please stop. This isn’t her. This isn’t my mother.

  “No, your mother is dead. Thankfully, no mother wants to see her son turn into…. this.”

  I swiftly swing my fist forward, condensing the magic around my fist as it collides into the wall in front of me, cracking it. After a few seconds, the wall heals itself beneath my fist.

  “I’m… I’m…” I don’t know what to say.

  I thought I had moved past such things, but I guess not. But then again, maybe she is right.

  I couldn’t stop Trevor, or the Lovers, or Godrick, or anyone. Perhaps she’s right and I am a pansy. A failure. A sidekick.

  I slowly pull away from the wall, stumbling backwards slightly. I don’t know what to think. Is this woman really my mother? No.

  My mother doesn’t know anything about me. She died before she ever had the chance to do so. This can’t be her, it’s impossible.

  “The dead watch on from the moment we pass. Watching as you continue to stumble and fail. As you pretend to act like a man. As you pretend that you’ll be anything but a failure.”

  “I’m not listening to you.” I stumble past the phantom of my mother and around the corner. Almost immediately, I come face to face with her again.

  Escape seems impossible. I choose to ignore it, and keep moving forward. I came here for a reason and I’m not about to let this lie derail me. I owe everyone that much.

  “Just give up, you’re a burden on them. They have dragged you all around Gaea, and now they will drag you through this tournament. You are holding them back and you know it.” The phantom whispers to me as I walk past her yet again.

  I keep rounding corners, but it didn’t matter how many times I went around another one, there she was.

  So, is failure inescapable? No matter how far I walk through this stupid maze, I’ll just keep running into her? If that’s the case, I might as well stop.

  Why bother?

  “Yawn.” She sits down on the ground, crosses her legs, and stares up at me. “You have even failed at entertaining me. Geez, I didn’t think such a thing possible.”

  “Why? Why are you doing this?” I can’t help but to ask. I know it’s not real, I just need to know. She stands up, and creeps towards me until her face is almost touching mine.

  “Well, if you quit, I won’t have to be disappointed anymore. I can stop dreading looking in on you.”

  “If I quit, wouldn’t that be more disappointing?”

  She laughs. No, she cackles.

  “No because it’s pathetic!” She doubles over in laughter. She wraps her arms around her stomach as she wheezes from laughter. “It’s just so pathetic to watch you try. So… just stop.”

  So I stop. I can’t find my way out of the maze, and every word she utters just rings in my head. Repeating over and over again, never stopping.

  I want to say that this isn’t my mother, but I don’t know my mother. Not really, she died before I ever had that chance. What if this is the person she was, or would be, had she lived.

  She continues to taunt me, but I don’t hear it anymore. Every word that passes through her lips just sounds like the one before, and the one that comes after. I clasp my hands over my ears, trying to drain out the sound but it doesn’t work.

  The sound of her voice drills into my brain, threatening to tear it apart. I can’t take it anymore. I can’t do it.

  “Stop!” I scream, letting out a burst of energy that I had been subconsciously drawing into myself. A shockwave rips through the labyrinth decimating the surrounding walls within roughly fifty feet.

  Silence falls. Dust settles. Nothing left but me and the rubble around me. My mother nowhere to be found.

  I exhale. I wait, allowing myself to breath slowly. I need to get my head straight.

  Straight, an interesting bit of phrasing for the moment. Is there some truth to what she said?

  No!

  I went through this a long time ago and I refuse to walk down that path again. Not again.

  “Shut up, just shut up.” I push myself to my feet, my body shaking under its own weight.

  I’m unsure what direction I came from, and therefore have no clue what direction to go, so I’ll just have to guess.

  As I climb through the rubble, I see a bright light forming in front of me, just down a tunnel on the other end of the destruction. I rush over the destroyed walls towards the light, it has to be the exit. It has to be the way out.

  I stagger through the opening, and bask in the glow of the warm light.

  “The life insurance isn’t enough to cover it all, unfortunately. Between the funeral and the mounting hospital costs that pushed your father to take out a second mortgage, the debt is in the six figures.”

  “I’m sorry, what?” I whip around to a gentlemen standing before me dressed in a solid black suit.

  In front of me is a table with a pile of bills. What is going on? I turn my head around to check out my surroundings. It’s not possible, it’s not real.

  “It’s not real.” The words fall out of my mouth with utter disbelief. I’m sitting back on my Earth, in my dad’s house. “It can’t be.”

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