Chapter 181: The Trial (38)
Of course, it had to be Vivienne. Because the universe wasn’t content with throwing just Zodiac Beasts and cosmic puzzles her way—it had to sprinkle in tragic heroines with chronic bad timing.
Verena pressed forward, keeping her steps light against the shifting, almost glass-like floor of the labyrinth. The corridors pulsed faintly with constellations beneath her feet, and the echo of Vivienne’s voice guided her deeper into the maze.
Rounding a crystalline corner, she finally spotted the girl.
Vivienne stood in a shallow clearing where the labyrinth had twisted into a sort of observation chamber—walls of mirrored starlight surrounding her, like a snow globe of cosmic proportions. But she wasn’t alone.
Hovering around her were ghostly figures, faceless and pale, their bodies crackling faintly with astral energy—the remnants of failed students, illusions, or maybe fragments of the maze’s semi-sentient magic. They circled Vivienne like vultures, whispering in a language older than the stars, tugging at her shoulders, her hair, her spirit.
To Vivienne’s credit, she looked like she was barely holding it together.
Verena groaned under her breath. "Why is it always my problem to collect the emotionally fragile ones?"
Saphira tightened around her wrist like a living bracelet. Because you attract them like a black hole attracts debris, obviously.
Fair.
Verena stepped into the clearing, her boots clinking faintly against the smooth floor. "Oi! Step away from the crybaby! She’s mine!"
The ghostly figures stilled at her voice, turning slowly, their faceless heads tilting in eerie unison. For a heartbeat, everything was still—the only sound the distant hum of constellations above.