Every few hours, he sees the glow again, and he keeps going towards it. While it was not around, Chanyeol could rationally choose not to follow it anymore, because it could be some kind of trap, but every time he saw, it was like he wasn’t in control anymore. All he wanted was to go to it, reach it, and be surrounded by that light.

He didn’t understand what was going on, but the more it happened, more he was sure it was something bad, some kind of trick. He was convinced that glow had nothing to do with the exit, and that ignoring it would be the best.

But his mind felt tired, he felt ragged and destroyed, as if the weight of being walking around for days finally was hitting him. He still didn’t feel hungry, or the need to go to the bathroom, but he was sleeping, a lot. He couldn’t control it; from time to time, he’d just fall over, and sleep.

That was just making it harder for him to keep track of time, because he never knew how long he slept for. And it also terrified him to have no control over it. What if he suddenly felll asleep when something dangerous was near? He’d die, no doubt about it.

He walked carefully, and even with pain in most of his limbs, he found a way that made the least noise possible. He was probably destroying the joints of his legs in the process, but he felt it was better than running into a Minotaur sort of thing around there.

Most of his decisions on where to go were made based on whims. He definitely didn’t know what the right way was, but after being in there so long, he got tired of taking time to decide where to go every time he found a two way path. Now he just went for any, without hesitation.

He had just passed by a one of those path divisions, and was just a few steps through, when he felt and saw a warm light behind him, casting his shadow in front of him. It was that same glow he had been seeing, but this time it was incredibly close. So close he could feel its warmth.

Quickly turning around, he squinted at the brightness, trying to see through it, see what caused it. This time he was able to resist it better. His need to go to it took a while to appear, and that gave him enough time to observe it.

He saw a figure immersed in the light, a slender and beautiful woman. He could only see her white outlines, as the light was too bright for him.

She moved, and the light moved with her. She walked in the other direction, and as she moved away, Chanyeol stepped towards her, charmed by the warmth he was receiving. She turned a corner, her light fainting, and he lastly could see her leg and foot disappearing on the corner, the light practically disappearing as she did so.

He felt so calm, so relaxed. All his pain had went away upon seeing her. Following her steps, he was back in the same old same hallways, she had vanished once more. He felt the warmth and all the good feeling she had given him fade away, his consciousness returning.

He had no idea what that ethereal figure could be, but he didn’t feel scared of it.

He looked back at the path he was originally taking, and then to the path the woman disappeared at. He was always following that glow, so it was like she was guiding him through the paths.

This time, instead of just keep going the path of the light, he stood still. He wondered what to do. But he wasn’t calm for too long. From the path he was going through before, he heard a noise. Something he hadn’t heard in days.

Footsteps.

Those same footsteps he heard before? Or maybe it was something else? No matter, he felt his entire body change, fear filling his heart and spreading everywhere. He was trembling. The noise was so close, he could practically feel it coming toward him.

Walking as silently as he had managed, he moved to the path the woman guided him to. He kept going as fast as he could, and soon enough, the the sound he was hearing was fading, becoming distant.

Slowing down, Chanyeol stopped to listen, and he could tell that whatever it was went in a different direction.

He felt sick, the sudden scare making his already weak body fall apart even more. He had to sit down, feeling afraid he’d fall asleep, but still not being able to stand, since his legs were shaking so much. He stayed conscious, since adrenaline was rushing through his body, and he wasn’t close to calm yet.

If he had gone the way he was going at first, he’d face the source of those sounds head on. And if it was something dangerous like he had been guessing, he’d be gone.

That thought put the glowing woman in a completely different light. What if she wasn’t something bad? He started to think that she could be guiding him, keeping him away from danger. A figure so beautifully ethereal, warm and calming just couldn’t be evil. She could have been leading him to the exit the entire time, but he was being too stubborn to trust it.

But he wouldn’t be anymore. He felt that the moment he just passed made things clear for him. He’d not hesitate to follow her beautiful glow anymore. He was getting away from there. He was confident once again.

So he got up, returning to his what seemed eternal walking; now hoping he’d be blessed by her glow once more.

---~~~---___---~~~---___---~~~---

Now that he was confidently following the beautiful glow, it was appearing more and more often. He felt like he was getting closer to the end. He completely trusted that that creature was leading him in the right way. But even if that wasn’t the case, he didn’t seem to care anymore. He was entirely won over by that amazing light emitting figure, and he was becoming obsessed.

He wanted to keep seeing it. He didn’t want to leave the maze anymore; he just wished to be able to stay close to that brightness forever. He’d give up on his life if he could just look at her all day, all time.

And it seemed like she knew what he was feeling, because the more he wished to be with her, and forgot about his own life, the more she glowed, and the closer she let him get. He got so close, he felt that if he just reached over he could touch her.

She was beautiful, more than anything he had ever seen. He couldn’t properly see, his eyes could only make out a gentle figure of light and brightness, but his brain knew she was beautiful, and that was all that mattered.

Hallway after hallway, every time he turned, she was there, waiting. She wasn’t going away anymore, she allowed him to follow, to be by her.

He didn’t feel anything anymore. Nothing hurt, no more sleep, he was invincible. He could do everything and anything.

And just as he finally reached a last state of obsession, where he wanted nothing more than to touch that light, the thought of home was far away from his consciousness, she let him. The light stood still, and he slowly moved closer. It wasn’t moving away this time, and he felt blessed, his eyes filling up with tears from all the emotion.

The beautiful woman figure was right there in the middle, her hand reaching towards him, ready to consent to his touch.

Chanyeol smiled as he moved closer, the tears that ran down his cheeks leaving such cold trails that it felt like it was burning. His hand inched closer to hers, he was about to touch the light.

And the whole world went dark. He couldn’t see anymore, he couldn’t feel anymore. Nothing was happening, and he couldn’t do anything. He couldn’t move, he couldn’t breathe, he could barely think. Until he just didn’t anymore. He was nothing.

---~~~---___---~~~---___---~~~---

Chanyeol opened his eyes, gasping for air. The sun was shining, not very brightly, but having spent so long in a dark maze, his eyes hurt. He blinked several times, sitting up and looking down, to avoid the star’s stupidly painful light. He was on the street. It wasn’t the maze anymore; he was in the real world again.

Still squinting, and with a hand on his chest, feeling his own heartbeats, he looked around. He was right where he was before, sitting on the street, next to the booth, with the tattooed old man in front of him, gazing down.

“You failed.”

The man said, and then helped the boy get up. Chanyeol still felt completely out of it, he was having a very hard time adjusting to that reality again.

“What?”

The man looked at him sternly, like he wanted to smack Chanyeol on the head for doing something wrong.

“You let the Lady of Deceit seduce you. You cannot be a knight.”

The man said as if it was the most obvious thing, and like it needed no explanation. Chanyeol didn’t agree though.

“Again, what? Who?”

The boy couldn’t help but ask, and he suddenly felt every bad feeling going away. Everything he felt in the maze, and all the he felt when returning, it all faded. He suddenly felt like the high school student again, who was supposed to go back home to his mother.

“The Lady of Deceit is a very powerful sorceress. Her goal is to destroy the knights and take over the world, spreading her bad will and causing chaos all over. She was trapped in the Maze centuries ago, by the first set of Knights, and now surviving her tricks is the most important test one has to succeed to become a Knight of the Exodus. You have failed. If I hadn’t pulled you out of there in time, she would have killed you. She feeds on the energy of the kind hearted people.”

The man for once elaborated on his words, and even though Chanyeol was still feeling confused about a lot, he sort of understood the general idea. He was about to ask more things, about those knights, and what they did, but the man didn’t allow him to. He just grabbed Chanyeol wrist, taking the bracelet, which was no longer one with the boy, and walked away. He said one last thing before being too far away for Chanyeol to hear.

“By the way, no time has passed. This is only a minute after we first talked. Go home, hug your mother. Forget this ever happened.”

Chanyeol wanted to follow him, but he couldn’t. His legs wouldn't move. It was like something was stopping him from going to the man. So he just watched him leave.

After a while, Chanyeol finally moved, the only thing in his mind being how glad he would be to go home, and see his mother. He fixed himself up, and picked his backpack up from the floor, starting to walk down the street, on his way like nothing had happened.

Down the street, on a cross section, he sees it, the light. She was there, the same way, shape and form she had at the maze. But now he can see her even better, and she was truly beautiful. She smiles, moving slowly away from sight, the same way she turned the corners on the maze.

And he follows her, now fully aware of the danger. But he couldn’t care, even if he wanted. He wasn’t himself when he saw her.

AN: That's it everyone! A short and weird story ^^

Thank you for reading!! What did you think?