"Some walls need to be scouted."
I rolled my eyes, pulling my hood lower as cold droplets slid down the back of my neck. The air smelled of salt and damp stone, and the labyrinth groaned quietly with every gust of wind, like it resented us being there.
Fog swirled thicker, dimming the faint glow of the coral around us. The rain wasn't heavy — just enough to blur the world, to make everything smudged and shifting.
I wiped water from my eyes. "We're never getting out of here…"
"Whine louder," Sasrir said. "Maybe the walls will pity you."
I opened my mouth to retort — and then froze.
The fog in the Coral Labyrinth wasn't just thick — it was downright hostile, like everthing else here. Every gust of wind stirred the mist like something alive, and every shadow looked like it was waiting for us to mess up. It made visibility nigh-impossible, yet Icould clearly seea humanoid figurestanding in the fog, seemingly slighlty off the ground.
"Sasrir," I hissed, grabbing his arm.
He squinted into the swirling grey. "Oh, fantastic. A creepy statue. I love it when horror tropes show up in my morning."
"It wasn't there a second ago."
"…I officially don't love it anymore."
We stopped walking. The figure didn't move.
Didn't sway in the wind.
Just stood, perfectly still, like someone had carved him out of shadow and tossed him into the maze.
Sasrir whispered, "Think it's one of those mimic-things pretending to be human?"
"Probably."
I swallowed. "Or a hallucination monster. Or a lure beast. You know. Something normal."
Normal for the Dream Realm, anyway.
We slowly drew our weapons.
Then — out of absolutely nowhere — the figure raised a hand in the most unsettling, slow-motion wave I'd ever seen.
"Oh hell no," Sasrir muttered. "Humans don't wave like that. That's serial-killer energy."
The figure called out through the fog:
"…Hello?"
The voice echoed strangely, probably shuffled around by the labyrinth's acoustics. It didn't help. If anything, it made him sound like he was speaking from inside my skull.
I whispered urgently, "Sasrir, I swear to God, if that thing climbs onto the ceiling—"
The figure took a step toward us.
Not fast.
Not aggressive.
Just… a step.
Which somehow made it ten times worse.
Sasrir barked, "Don't move!"
The figure froze instantly.
Then—
"…Should I move back?"
"No!" both of us shouted.
The stranger seemed deeply confused. "…Slowly?"
"No!" I snapped. "Don't move at all!"
He paused.
"…I think I'm doing very badly at this conversation."
I clenched my teeth. "Sasrir, it can talk. Monsters can talk. You know what else can talk? Sirens. Mimics. Possessed armor—"
"Don't forget soul-eaters," Sasrir added helpfully.
The figure tried again. "I promise I'm not a monster."
Which is exactly what a monster trying to lure us would say.
I whispered, "Why would he say that—why would anyone say that?"
Sasrir narrowed his eyes. "Suspicious. Extremely suspicious."
The figure shifted awkwardly — and the wind caught his hair, revealing just the faintest gleam of bright green eyes.
I froze. "…Why does it look pretty?"
Sasrir hissed, "That's very suspicious. Pretty things are always the most dangerous."
Before we could decide whether to run or fight, the stranger raised both hands nervously and shouted:
"Um! If you're lost, I can help! I've been here a while and—"
Sasrir cut him off. "A while? How long is 'a while'? Long enough to become a monster?"
"I—I don't think I've become a monster—"
"That's exactly what someone who's a monster would say!"
The stranger looked completely helpless now. "…Should I lie down? Would that help?"
"Just don't move!" I yelled again.
He froze so quickly it was almost superhuman.
Everything went silent. Just rain, fog, and three very confused people staring at each other.
Finally, the figure spoke again — much smaller this time, voice trembling like someone trying to sound harmless.
"…I think we're having a misunderstanding."
No kidding.
But despite the absurdity… something about his tone made me hesitate.
Soft.
Sincere.
Just a guy.
A worried one.
I exhaled slowly. "Okay. Fine. Let's all stop shouting."
Sasrir lowered his weapon a fraction. "But we're watching you. Closely. Don't do anything… weird."
The figure nodded rapidly, eager.
Considering later events, it still amazes me that this was how we met one of the nicest people in the world.
A confused, terrified, soaking-wet prince-looking man in armor, accidentally convincing us he was a monster.
Looking back on it now, it almost seemed like Fate was pissed off we were changing the script so much, it decided to just force one of its' encounters onto us.
And this encounter was none other than Kai Nightingale.