CHAPTER 55: A BREAKTHROUGH

She looked at me as if I was just a mere child, not understanding the weight of his own words. Her eyes said it all: I was just a student—not someone who could fix her problems—yet she wanted it. She yearned for it. Someone who could help, no matter who it was.

She was wavering, questioning whether this child standing in front of her could manage the weight of her expectations. But just like most people, words alone wouldn’t win her over; I would have to prove myself.

She smiled, placed a hand on my head, and ruffled my hair—perhaps to remind herself that I was just a child.

"Do your best, Liam. It makes me glad to hear you say you’ll protect your classmates." She cleared her throat before speaking again. "It’s getting late; you should go get the girls. We need to be rested for tomorrow."

I did as she suggested and went to get Luna and Kiki.

...

For the next couple of days, we mainly searched for the other students. After a series of failed attempts to find them, we naturally began to think the worst. Ms. Cole’s health also deteriorated over time, but something told me it wasn’t just because of her injuries; it was an ailment of the mind.

While they searched for the other students, I spent my time looking for an escape. During that time, I finally figured something out.

At first, I thought the hydra was nothing but a wild beast hunting everything in sight, but that wasn’t the case. The hydra was a guardian.

At night, when everyone slept, I exited the lodge and covered myself in mud and rotting vegetables to mask my scent. My plan was to attack the hydra under the cover of darkness and take one of its heads again so we could have something to eat.

But what I found was even more valuable. I discovered a gate with the hydra lying next to it. I started watching the beast from that point on, and what I found was that the gate only opened every three days, somewhere around midnight, and closed back at sunrise.

I always made sure to bring back a head every time I went out. Before long, I was bringing back two heads. After a while, I began to see our battles as a training exercise. During our fights, I employed every dirty trick I could think of to win, but over time, it became evident that, It too, was learning from our battles.

One night, as I made my way back, I came upon a vexed Kiki sitting on the steps of the lodge. This wasn’t the first time she had waited up for me. She was always perceptive about the things I did; at times, it felt like lying to her was just a waste of time.

"Why do you always insist on going out at night?" she frowned and tossed me a piece of cloth. My hands were full from the two heads I was carrying, so the cloth landed over my face. "Use that to clean yourself up."

I rested the two hydra heads on the ground and sat down beside her.

"It’s easier to sneak up on the hydra when I go at night."

She frowned, evidently not believing my excuse. But she didn’t question it too much—she never did. Instead, we sat in silence for a while as I tried to wipe the mud and muck drying on my clothes.

"Do you think our classmates are alright?" she asked, as she stared at the fake blue moon in the sky, Its blue light spreading across the sky like a wild fire.

"It’s a possibility." I answered, gazing at the moon with her.

"I hope they all are alright. I hope... I hope that—"

"Hikari is alright," I finished her sentence. We had never spoken about it, but I’d heard rumors from Max and the others that the two of them were dating.

She planted her face in her hands.

"Why would I care about that idiot? He ran off with Amelia the second we got here."

"And you ran off with me," I countered, causing her to shoot me a glare.

"Don’t flatter yourself. I’m just using you, which I’m sure you’re doing the same to me."

"You haven’t been particularly useful lately."

"Nor have you," she shot back as she stood up. "A cloth alone won’t clean your filth; I suggest you take a bath. I’m going to bed." She sighed and went inside.

Following her advice, I took a bath in the swamp and then returned to the room we were all staying in. There were enough beds for all of us, but for some reason, Luna and Kiki decided to bunk together.

The next morning, it was the same routine as usual. We went out in search of the others. We had basically covered all of the surrounding area already, and today we were venturing out even further.

This was an act of desperation, that much was evident. They were desperate to find even a sliver of hope that the others were alright. Their expressions were grim; no one bothered to speak.

It continued like that until something happened to change it. We ran into one of our classmates—it was Logan, of all people. Though it didn’t matter who it was, when Ms. Cole and the others saw him, they broke out in a sprint.

He, in turn, looked happy to see them, which was surprising considering he was normally a brute.

"Where are the others? Are they all alright?" she asked, holding her breath. For a moment, it felt as if time had stopped until Logan finally answered.

"Yeah, they’re all fine. Thanks to Amelia and Hikari, they have been keeping us safe all this time."

As the words hit, she hugged Logan tightly. It was as if the weight of everything had evaporated with just a few simple words. When they finished celebrating and Logan told us most of what had happened, he brought us to where his group was.

Apparently, Logan was part of the group of five that Ms. Cole had saved. A short while after they separated from her, they ran into Amelia and Hikari, along with five other classmates.

Amelia had rounded up everyone she could find from the second floor and then proceeded to the third floor, where we were now. Including us, that made a total of thirteen students out of the original fifteen who had entered the labyrinth.

With Natasha dead, that meant one student was still missing.

I wonder who it is?