CHAPTER 272: CHAPTER 271 - THE SPIRIT QUESTIONING.

Jessy was still holding Rufus in place when Clara—ever the voice of reason—pointed at the sign.

"Those can’t be the only rules," she said. "There’s more parchment under it."

Raven stepped forward, squinting at the curling, slimy sheet.

"...Huh. Yep. There’s more. Let’s see—"

As they all turned to the parchment, they realized it looked like it had been written by someone who was halfway drunk and halfway trying to seduce the reader.

Jessy read the next rule aloud, her brows furrowing deeper with every word.

"Rule number three... ’If you wake the dead, you may... enjoy three sessions of intimate questioning.’"

There was a pause. Everyone looked at Raven.

After all, he was the one who brought them here, and he was the one who had all the knowledge of the plot.

Raven didn’t disappoint them as he shrugged. "Means you can ask them three questions about the labyrinth."

"’Sessions of intimate questioning’ means that?" Clara asked, skeptical.

"Yeah," Raven said. "You think ancient necromancers wrote PG rules? This place is two thousand years old. They were weird."

Jessy continued, voice flat.

"Rule number four... ’If you finish early, you will be promptly ejected.’"

Rufus snorted. "That’s what she sa—"

WHACK.

Jessy’s magnetic orb smacked him in the helmet. "Don’t."

Raven explained, totally unfazed. "Means if you fail to ask all three questions, the labyrinth tosses you out. Magic rules are picky like that."

Jessy kept reading.

"Last rule... ’Those who get greedy will be punished by being thoroughly and repeatedly handled by the labyrinth.’"

"...What?" Lia’s face was scarlet.

Selena, somehow still composed, tilted her head. "Handled?"

"Means if you hoard treasure, the labyrinth sends monsters after you," Raven said casually.

Siris was grinning way too widely. "Handled by monsters... sounds fun if the monster is Raven."

Selena’s eyes narrowed at her. "...Elaborate."

"Not in front of the kids," Siris replied, glancing at Nibbles.

Nibbles was holding a sign that read, "I’m 5, but I’ve seen things."

...........................

Fifteen seconds later, they had a corpse.

It was a half-rotted armored knight, propped up awkwardly against a mound of ribs.

Selena knelt, one hand extended, her shadow curling into the bones. "Awaken," she whispered.

The skeleton’s head jerked upright, its jaw creaking. Glowing green embers flared in its sockets.

"WHO DISTURBS MY SLUMBER?" it bellowed.

"Us," Rufus said instantly. "Hey, uh... what’s your name?"

"That is not important—"

"Cool, so is it like... Dave? Or Sir Dave?" Rufus pressed.

"...I suppose you may call me Sir Dave."

"Nice," Rufus nodded. "Okay, second question—how long have you been dead?"

The skeleton blinked—or would have, if it had eyelids. "Several centuries, I think—"

"Third question," Siris cut in, "what’s your favorite color?"

There was a pause. A very long pause.

The skeleton turned to Raven. "...Is this truly my fate?"

"Yep," Raven said.

The green flames flickered out. The bones slumped back into a heap.

"You wasted the first spirit," Jessy deadpanned, rubbing her forehead.

...........................

Spirit #2 was dug out by Graye, who approached the mound like she was looking for a sparring partner.

She kicked the skull lightly. "Hey. Wakey wakey."

The spirit rose, a translucent old man with a beard so long it trailed into the slime.

"Ah... humans..." He croaked. "You may ask three questions—"

Alex immediately stepped forward. "Are you a ghost or a hologram?"

The old man blinked. "...A... ghost?"

Nibbles, perched on his shoulder, squeaked and waved a tiny sign: "Boo!"

"That’s not a question," Jessy said.

"Yes, it is," Nibbles squeaked indignantly, though no one other than Alex understood his words.

"Second question," Graye said eagerly, "how much can you bench?"

"...I... do not have muscles anymore."

"Hey, the next question’s on me!" Alex jumped up before the skeleton, making everyone shake their head. "Third question—do you think Nibbles could beat a hellhound in a fight?"

He said that while pointing at Nibbles, so the skeleton could tell who he was talking about.

The sorcerer looked at the squirrel.

Nibbles was levitating a femur and crushing it like a breadstick.

"...Yes," the sorcerer admitted.

Puff.

Then it dissolved.

...........................

"Great," Clara sighed. "Two spirits in, and we’ve learned nothing."

"Not true," Raven said, grinning. "We learned that Sir Dave’s favorite color is irrelevant and that Nibbles can defeat a hellhound now."

Lia groaned into her palm, really not liking how this was all going on exactly how she didn’t want it to.

The corrupt panther bounced up beside Graye, gnawing on an old skull like it was a chew toy.

Graye patted its head. "Don’t worry, buddy. We’ll find a smart dead person next time."

Omni’s voice drifted lazily from Raven’s arm. "Or, and hear me out, we could stop interviewing corpses like it’s a bad dating show."

"No promises," Raven said.

The corrupt panther chose that moment to leap onto the skull pile, scattering bones everywhere, one of which bounced off Rufus’s helmet with a clank.

"Alright," Clara sighed. "Next corpse—this time, we’re asking actual labyrinth questions."

"Agreed," Selena said smoothly. "I will be the one speaking this time."

"Fine by me. I’ll enjoy it no matter who it is." Raven shrugged.

Inwardly, however, he was wondering why there was no sign of the person he was waiting for.

He didn’t let them waste the time until now because he had a lot of time, but because he was waiting for a certain someone.

Now, however, he was having second thoughts.

’Maybe it’s the butterfly effect,’ he muttered to himself.

After all, that person would only be here if the story had continued the way it was supposed to be.

That explorer was supposed to be the only one left alive in this labyrinth, as he had found something in this place that made him immune to the forced ejection.

In the end, Raven shook his head, focusing on the topic at hand.

...........................

They didn’t have to dig far for the next one.

A cracked ribcage and a skull with two teeth still hanging on sat half-buried in a slimy puddle.

Selena knelt down with the air of a teacher about to deal with unruly students.

Her shadows coiled out like curious snakes, wrapping around the brittle frame.

"Arise," she commanded.

The bones jerked, clattered together, then rose upright in a shuddering rattle.

Its jaw worked noisily before a voice rasped from nowhere:

"WHO—"

"Do you know where Cluckles left my good spoon?" Cluckles interrupted, hopping onto the skull’s head like it was a podium.

The skeleton turned its empty sockets upward in confusion.

"Your... what?"

"Cluckles’s good spoon," Cluckles repeated, deadpan. "It’s gold-plated. Fits in Cluckles’s beak. Makes soup taste like vengeance."

"That’s... not—" Selena cut in sharply. "Cluckles, stop. We have limited questions."

"That counts as one," the skeleton intoned with petty relish.

Jessy slapped a palm to her face. "Oh for—"

Selena exhaled slowly, composing herself. "Fine. Question two: Who here would know the right path to the treasures?"

The skeleton paused, green fire flickering in its sockets.

Slowly, it lifted a bony arm and pointed to the farthest corner of the chamber—a place shrouded in shadows so thick they seemed to drink the light.

Everyone turned to look.

"...That looks welcoming," Rufus muttered.

"Looks cursed," Alex corrected.

"Looks like home," Graye beamed.

But before they could turn around, the skeleton’s hand lowered again with a creak. "One question remains."

Everyone turned back, recalling one of the rules that stated they had to ask three questions.

Before Selena could ask, Lia stepped forward, almost shyly.

"...Am I beautiful?"

Everyone blinked.

The skeleton tilted its skull, studied her for a long, awkward moment, then replied with infuriating precision:

"Define beautiful."

Lia scowled. "Yes or no."

"Yes," it said simply, then collapsed into a heap of dust and bone fragments.

...........................

They gathered the most intact femur—it was warm to the touch, which no one liked—and carried it toward the gloomy corner.

As soon as Selena placed it on the damp stone, the femur rattled violently and then sprouted a head.

Not a skull—an actual spectral head with wild hair, a crooked grin, and eyes full of the kind of smugness only possessed by someone who’s read all the spoilers.

"Well, well, well," the ghost drawled. "Look who’s interrupting my afterlife nap."

"Uh... hi?" Alex said.

"Not you," the ghost snapped. "You look like you’d trip over a cloud."

Raven’s lips twitched. "And you are?"

"The guy who knows exactly where you want to go," the ghost said, crossing his spectral arms. "And before you ask, no, I don’t work for free. I demand... entertainment."

Jessy crossed her arms. "Entertainment?"

The ghost grinned wider. "Make me laugh, and I’ll tell you more than you deserve."

Before anyone could think of anything, Cluckles slowly stepped forward, beak glinting in the gloom. "Cluckles shall give ghost the joke ghost craves... but ghost must promise not to haunt Cluckles’ coop afterward."

The ghost smirked. "Fine. Impress me, poultry prophet."

Cluckles’s eyes were half-lidded as he began, "Why did Cluckles break up with the scarecrow?"

"...Why?"

"Because every time they got frisky, straw got everywhere... and Cluckles refuses to pluck twice in one night."

There was a pause... then the ghost wheezed, full-bodied laughter echoing around the cavern.

"Alright. You win. The path you seek? Straight ahead into that creepy corner. It’s got illusions, traps, and a lovely pit full of—ah, spoilers."

Selena narrowed her eyes. "Anything else?"

"Yeah," the ghost said, leaning in conspiratorially. "Don’t trust the walls."

"Why not?" Lia asked.

"They listen," he whispered, then dissolved in a puff of green smoke.

The group stared at the path.

It looked darker now, the air colder, like the corner itself was holding its breath.

Raven adjusted his coat, his smirk returning.

"Alright. You heard the man. Let’s go say hello to the creepy corner."

Then, together, they stepped forward, the bone fragments left rattling faintly behind them.