Cassius giggled under his breath.
“It is my duty to keep the Labyrinth’s guests safe, even if it means I sacrificing my life” he walked closer to Hinata. He was now only a foot away from Hinata. He grabbed Hinata’s left shoulder.
“Listen… It’s my duty to keep you safe… even if you go against it… I will not let my pride sink with the words failure…” the black Pisces armor started to fall off, revealing small pieces of the Pisces armor Cassius wore before he was shot.
"You know, Cassius, I've been a lot of places in my life. And I've met a lot of people. I've see worlds crumble, wars wage, and kingdoms turn into myths. The thing is," she paused to wipe her eyes.
"No one I met ever made that big of an impact. I'd make myself not care, cause I knew how it was gonna pan out for them. And dammit Cassius, you made me care." She gave a weak smile.
(Why am I crying while reading that…)
Cassius responded with a faint smile. It was by then… Cassius was fighting to stay alive. As he reached for the Pisces helm, the skin covering his hand melted away leaving only bones. He took off the Pisces helm and revealed that half of his face had been burned to a point where his skull was the only thing visible. All the black coverings on the armor finally fell off, forming a black orb to which Cassius broke with his foot.
“You wouldn’t mind…” he fired hundreds of silver colored piranhas at the corrupted beings waiting outside “… if I tag along again, would you?” He said with a smile, one Hinata should be familiar by now.
(Glad to know I wasn't the only one)
"Not at all," Hinata smiled back, "my friend."
(Though… if this was a novel, I can just imagine what people would think of me…)
(“The Author definitely loves this character”)
(I DO!! HE’S A SWEETHEART!! ;-;)
Cassius then released all the five other Zodiac Knights from where they were respectively. It was clear that he had gotten somewhat used to the capabilities of the Pisces armor.
Not even long after Cassius released the five men, one of the doors the Knights were guarding opened up. The men all knelt down where they were.
A man walked out, yawning as he did. His clothing was… unnaturally comfortable. He only wore a white hoodie, black gloves, dark gray knee lengthened trousers and a pair of dark blue sneakers. The man had golden blonde hair and stunning blue eyes. He also wore a necklace, though it was too faraway for Hinata to notice what shape the necklace came in.
(I’ll be back in 10 minutes~)
(If anyone didn't like him I'd probably write an essay about just how wrong they are)
Hinata turned to see who it was. Her being her, she just stood there. She looked like a mess, and she just had a bad history with leaders.
(K, see you then)
The man looked at the six men of his before turning to Hinata.
Out of nowhere, the man disappeared and appeared again a second later, almost right in front of Hinata.
“Hello Balance Keeper, Hinata Hayashi” he aggressively greeted, with a smile and holding out his hand. He seemed friendly for whatever role he plays in the Labyrinth.
(aggresively)
Hinata shook his hand in greeting.
"Hello." She gave a half hearted smile.
“…uh… your royal highness, I think you are scaring her a little” Conziac brought up.
“Oh, right. My humblest apologies” the man said letting go of Hinata’s hand.
“As you may know or not know, I am the Master of the Labyrinth. The name’s Theo Seishin, by the way” he introduced himself. His clothing really doesn’t fit the Master of the Labyrinth look.
"A pleasure to meet you." She looked slightly relaxed; her swords were nowhere to be seen, and she didn't seem to be on edge.
Theo looked back at the six men.
“You boys can stand up now” he said to them with a calm voice.
“Thank you your royal highness” they all said in unison.
“So… we’ve got Aries, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Sagittarius, Capricorn, and Pisces… sweet, five left unknown of where they are” the Master said, clapping his hands with glee. He looked somewhat childish and innocent for being a superior character in the Labyrinth.
“Well, I’ll catch up with all of you later” the Master ended, waving softly at Hinata and walked back through the door he came from.
As was the case with her encounter with the Prince, Hinata was left slightly confused. Sighing, she turned back to Cassius.
(Eyyyyyyyy guess who got their phone taken away for the exact same reason as last timeeeee.)
(I’ll repeat myself; I don’t think I have to guess XD)
(;-;)
(Why can't just let me have my phone in my freaking room XD)
(Poor you)
Cassius sighed when the Master left the room.
“That was… unexpected, to say the least” he muttered to the other Knights.
Not a minute later, a snowstorm hit the group of Zodiac Knights once again. It was almost the same as last time.
Hinata, once again, was separated from the group. Or rather, everyone was separated in the snowstorm.
Hinata sighed, thinking to immediately light a small fireball. However, she
also really didn't want someone to suddenly show up and try to bash her head in again. So, she settled for just making her hand glow dimly.
Of course, like last time, a pained cry can be heard from somewhere in the storm. Definitely not Cassius nor was it Sebastian. After the cry paused, the storm cleared.
The same fur coated and masked figure stood beside the laying body of Intharachit alongside a corruptor. The masked figure picked the corruptor up and froze their body until only their head remained unfrozen. They turned to the group one more time before bowing and walked off with the corpse of the dark being dragged.
Hinata watched quietly.
"Huh. So something bad did happen." She sighed.
“Normal for the Labyrinth to be honest” Sebastian commented as he walked over to Intharachit.
“Poor dude got a corruptor stuck inside him”
“So… who are we taking with us?” Cassius whispered to Hinata as he eyed the other Knights.
"Well… I'd want to see if Sebastian would want to come along. We've been working well together," she quietly contemplated.
(Before we go on, I’d like to mention something. Prepare for some feels, nostalgia and possible graphic scenes)
(The scene I’m about to write will be somewhat graphic and emotionally intense)
(Beautiful.)
(It won’t make much sense yet, but it will soon enough)
Cassius leaned closer to Hinata and whispered something which was too quiet for her to hear… or rather he couldn’t say anything.
Time had stopped around Hinata and something was forcing her consciousness out of the Labyrinth.
Placing back her consciousness, Hinata would find herself on the side of a medium sized playground. She was standing by a tree, covering her were the shades provided by the emerald leaves. A boy can be seen on a swing set, on his own apparently.
He seemed to be enjoying the weather until he turned around. A stray cat was walking up to the boy; injured and scarred. The boy stood up and walked to the cat, picking the feline up from where it was. He stared at it for a bit before embracing it in his arms; nurturing it like it was his own.
A figure who seemed like a teacher came up to the boy and told him to get in class as his break time was over. The boy had to left the cat alone for animals were not allowed in the school buildings. The eyes of the feline seemed to water as it walked into a bush, curling up and sleeping inside it.
Hinata was startled when she first arrived, but stayed silent when she spotted the boy. When the boy was gone, she tentively stepped out from under the tree. This was an unexpected turn of events, to say the least.
If Hinata was to blink, her consciousness will be placed again at the same place but in the evening.
The boy came back to where the cat was, now with his bag ready to go home. The boy looked relatively young for being a middle schooler. He called out for the cat and the cat responded, walking outside of the bush and stood in front of the boy. The boy leaned down and picked the kitten up, stroking its fur quietly and softly.
As he headed to the gates, he was kicked and knocked to the floor.
“Oi, where d’cha think ya goin’ ya damn nerd?!” One of the three people there shouted aloud. The boy with the kitten did not respond. The presumed bully grabbed the boy by his collar.
“Answer me you loser” the bully said threateningly. The boy did not respond. He was then thrown to the ground and was kicked several times by the three other boys. He was holding something tightly in his embrace.
“Tsk. C’mon, this ain’t no fun if he wouldn’t answer a damn thing” one of the other boy stated before the three boys all walked away.
The young boy slowly stood up and released what was in his embrace.
“Well… I’m glad you’re safe…” the boy looked down at the amber colored kitten and smiled as he walked out the front gates of the school.
(Is that who I think it is)
Hinata watched silently as before. She knew this was something she couldn't interfere with, despite wanting to very badly. She felt like there was something she was supposed to learn from this.
(Maybeeeeeee~~~? We’ll see)
Blinking again, Hinata’s consciousness would be sent to an intersection. The middle schooler was still holding the kitten in his arms. As the lights of the crosswalk turned green, the boy stepped onto the road…
In the fraction of a second, the glasses the boy wore flew from his face as he was hit by a speeding car that he wouldn’t see coming. The black layer of the road turned scarlet in matters of seconds as blood from both the boy and the kitten flooded onto the street. The strangers surrounding the boy all paid their attention to him. One man even carried the boy out of the street while another was trying his best to cover up the boy’s several wounds.