The labyrinth - Part 6

"Uh, Excuse me, miss who are you? Are you a civilian or are you one of the delvers?" I ask the girl who is standing pretty confidently inside the hallway. I have a feeling she might be a delver since she seems too confident to be a regular civilian. However the moment I say that the girl looks at me and strolls deeper inside the labyrinth. She might seem confident but this is what I call a dumb move since it could be very dangerous. And since I don't want her to get lost inside here any further I will have to follow her. Since I am the one who has the rope which leads outside the labyrinth. "Miss, I really to know whether or not you are a civilian or a delver." I say yet again in the hope that she will actually stop walking away. But yet again she doesn't answer me as she turns into another hallway.

If I couldn't tell any better I would say she looks kind of angry at me. But I want to know why she would even be mad at me. Did I say something wrong, in the three sentences I uttered to her? And all three of those questions were to determine the situation. How could she be mad about that, that is general information. "Well, if you are a delver, I will need to know if you have experience and not?" I ask yet again since I need to know what I am dealing with. Like if I am dealing with a civilian it could be overconfidence and adrenaline running through her veins. If she was a newbie delver, she might have been misled. But if she is a delver with experience, I would have no idea what she might've been thinking. But she just keeps walking away and it is annoying the hell out of me right now. I think at this point my face is even showing my annoyance since I first have to walk through this portal and now I have to deal with someone like her. I still have a ton of questions to ask her since I need to access the situation. Like did you come in here alone? Or did she come in here with people? It would help me and the others a lot with what is going on. I don't know how long we are walking and or how many turns we are making. Which I don't like since I feel like I am wasting time here right now.

It seems it doesn't matter how much I follow her or what questions I ask. She still refuses to answer any of them which isn't good. Since she keeps wandering deeper and deeper inside a labyrinth with no equipment at all. It is such a dangerous affair that doesn't help anyone at all here. It isn't helping her get out of here since even if she is one of the newbie delvers, she is in here with no equipment. The equipment she could get if she would get if she were to walk out. However, her reactions how confident they might seem, are not only reckless but probably a bit panicked. If she is a delver then she must be new, because even rule-breaking delvers with experience. "Hey, shouldn't ignore me like this. I need to know since different protocols are in place, depending on what you are." I shout at her getting a bit frustrated at this point.

Of course, that sentence is the one that finally gets a response. "Oh, sorry why would I answer someone's questions, who couldn't even bother coming in on time?" I hear her say and I can just say that I am shocked. I was not even close to being late. I was more than on time, maybe not as early as usual but not late either. Like I don't remember the last time I was early to a portal delve. It has to be at least four years since I was last late for anything. Emily can even confirm that we came in on time. However, why would she think that, there is absolutely no reason to even think that. But it does confirm one thing though, that she is in fact a delver. Which is at least something but she seems to be too confident for an F ranked delver. This might sound rude to some but let's just say that the confidence of someone with an F rank gets smashed really soon.

"First of all, I was not late, I was in fact early. You can ask the group leader who I came in with that we were on time. Like I came in with her and that was at least twenty minutes beforehand. Like I came in with Emily who is in fact the leader of this delve. Because the association called her in for that." I shout out in pure shock because why in the world would she even think that I was late. How early did she come in here? However, that does make some things a bit more clear. She probably hasn't done a lot of F ranked delves before. I am not going to assume anything about higher-ranked ones. But I am sure about F ranked portals since those tend to start later than others. But this could also mean that she was misled by the people she came in with. And they might have given her some wrong information.

"Why did those other guys tell me and the other guy. Honestly, I don't remember his name and a whole lot of people seemed to be late. Also, why were more people there then? Shouldn't the supposed leader be one of the first people here?" This girl complains as she basically confirms she was misled by someone. Also, why does she sound like she's going to teach me something? While she just confirmed the fact that she is one of the two people who are new at this.

"Wasn't the fact that there was no association member here yet a clue. Like entering a portal without being told to enter beforehand or without an observer there is breaking protocol for sure. I have heard that some people even got fined for doing things like this before. Your lucky that you're a newbie who didn't have enough experience to see that they were lying." I explain and as I do so. I notice that she looks quite shocked at this fact. Those others probably have done F ranked portals before. Otherwise, they couldn't have sounded that convincing.

"Those other guys seemed very confident about what they were doing. And from what they were talking about they seemed used to doing stuff like this. The only thing I would consider weird is the fact that one of them had like a couple of kids with them." She explains as I can't help but be in utter shock. Who in the world would bring kids inside a portal willingly. Could that person be Vincent's older brother? I am now kind of annoyed at how I now know this information. Because I feel like I now will be mad if I see him because he willingly brought kids here. Why would a brother willingly bring his own sibling to such a dangerous place? Not only his own little brother but other kids too. Now that I think about it, that might just have been the plan in the first place. It could be to avoid Emily who is the leader and who happens to be a healer. Healers have this very inaccurate reputation for being bad leaders. Which causes a lot of delvers not to want to follow a healer.

"Wait, wait, wait what. Could you repeat what they actually said? I need to know what exactly they said." I ask for some more clarification since this situation seems ridiculous to say the least. Because I need to know what exactly they did wrong and which rules they broke. If they did more things wrong then just that, because they already have quite the list of rules that they've broken. I can only think of two reasons why they aren't suspended yet or at least reprimanded in some shape or form. The first reason I can think of is the fact that they might not have been caught doing this before. The other option would be that the other observers were just incompetent at their job. Who would bring kids in a portal, to begin with? Why was no one even questioning that fact? "I have another question. Why didn't the fact that someone brought kids here?" I ask as I really want to know how someone talked their way out of that.

"Well one of them said that apparently, healers are the worst leader. And that this was apparently a healer-led delves. I am not sure why but apparently he knew someone who was in this delve where a lot of people got hurt because the healer was the leader. And I didn't know it was such a big deal that kids were inside here. The guy said it was normal for small groups of kids to be brought inside portals for school career days." This girl starts to explain but in a way as if she is stating a fact. If something like that actually happened it would have spread like wildfire. Also, it's Emily who's leading the group. She's someone I think is more than competent to lead a group like this even though she doesn't fully believe it herself. Maybe those rumours are to blame for Emily being so unsure about leading. In the five years I have been delving, I have never heard or seen actual proof of healers being bad leaders.

"Well as someone who has been diving for quite a few years now. I have never had any bad experiences with healers leading the delve. Also never heard stories from people that healers are bad delvers. Also, Emily who's leading this has been delving for quite a while now. Like we started around the same time so she has been doing this for five years. And I would trust her with my life." I explain to her as I am still shocked that some people actually act like that. She however looks quite shocked at what I am explaining right now. I think the shock might be at how long I have been delving already. It's not that unusual for me to get such looks. Not when I mention that I have been doing this for five years now. She is also showing signs of being a newbie which is pretty hard to hide as a newbie. And that is the fact of how confident she is inside here. All the F ranked delvers I met who aren't new to delving are not that confident.

"Sorry, but you have been doing this for five years? Why do you look so weak while claiming to do this for so long now?" She asks me a question but I know that it's also an insult. She clearly doesn't know. But I can't help but think about when I was so confident while delving. But that confidence was crushed within three delves.

"You do that you're an F rank too right? Us F ranks are unable to grow in power. I've never met one that actually grew in power. So yeah I look weak. Because simply speaking I am weak." I explain to her as I feel my voice tremble while saying this. I might have known this for a long time but saying it out loud feels weird. I am not even lying since I am weak. She looks quite shocked at what I said though. I guess this is not that known a fact for new delvers. "Can I get one answer to one of the many questions I asked?" I ask her in an attempt to just get more information on anything.

"Okay, fine my name is Olive. Also yes I am what you refer to as a newbie." Olive says as I finally found out her name. And from this rather short interaction, I had with her, I have to say that I am not fond of her already. It might change if we talk a bit more. But right now she seems very rude. But to be honest, what's most weird about her is the fact that she isn't dressed in typical newbie wear. Rather she is dressed in more everyday types of clothing and if I had to put a style on it I would say cottage core. Also, she has long hair yet doesn't do anything with it. Like I know how it is running around in a portal with long hair. You want to tie it back for safety reasons. Like even in a simple labyrinth dungeon like this long hair can be quite annoying. However the one weird thing about her, the tips of her hair seem green. I have seen people with coloured hair and like hair tips before. I have however not seen a lot of people use the colour green before. Something I did notice is the fact that she is shorter than me. Not a lot but just noticeably shorter.

"Well, I am sorry to inform you that you have to the entrance of the labyrinth again. Since by not waiting for the observer or the leader you missed out on a lot of information. Also not just not information but also items that you need to get through here properly. Like a rope to get a proper way to get back. There's a reason that these get handed out by the observers by labyrinth-type portals. And also I have a feeling you don't have chalk or charcoal with you too which is highly recommended to have with you. Especially if civilians have to get out." I explain to her as I search through my backpack to find one of the broken pieces of charcoal. Since I may think she is rude but having more people drawing arrows can help more people in the end.

"Wait what? This seems like pretty important information to enter a portal. Why didn't those other guys tell me that? Like I wasn't even aware that there should've been someone who's part of the association here. Yet alone the fact that they had to give me something." Olive proclaims as she seems quite annoyed at the fact that she didn't know this. But honestly, I can't waste more time explaining this to her while not doing anything else. So I start to turn back as I hope she gets it and walks back with me. I am honestly surprised by the fact that they didn't mention this to any of the newbies. I am getting really annoyed by how many twists and turns there are here. I know that the point of labyrinths is having to turn constantly. But that doesn't mean that it doesn't annoy me.

"I am honestly as confused as you are. But if you could follow me back. So you can get the rope and help to find people inside here. You can have one of my pieces of charcoal since I don't need three pieces." I comment as I turn around a bit and throw the piece of charcoal at her. Which I am surprised she actually catches it since I didn't give any warning.

"Okay, so just skipping over the fact that they forgot this. But why do you have charcoal with you? Why not chalk it's cleaner? Olive says as she looks at the piece of charcoal in her hand. She doesn't like the texture of the charcoal. The texture is not pleasant but it isn't that bad if you ask me. But I can't help but wonder what those other F ranked delvers were thinking. Did they think this would earn them respect? Because it doesn't, it simply doesn't. Because even if that somehow was something you would get respect for, F ranks don't really get respect. Like we are often ignored because we are weak. I rather not have F ranks like me getting the reputation of being troublemakers. I don't like getting my face rubbed in the fact of how weak I am. But rather that then being labelled a troublemaker. And breaking rules that are there for our own safety is idiotic if you ask me.

"I honestly think they forgot this on purpose. But that's just what I think. Also, the rules they are breaking are there for our own safety. I don't get the purpose of breaking rules that could potentially get us killed or hurt. In this case, we could get terribly lost. But going back right now can put you on the right track again." I continue to explain as she finally starts to follow me back. I try to keep quite a steady pace. That way I can get back quickly enough but if people need to follow us, it's easy enough to catch up to us.

"You know that you don't have to show me the entire way back." Olive comments as I am just retracing my steps to the main hallway. I am not going to show her the entire way back. I just want to clear out all the hallways that I have missed. But I kind of stop in my tracks because I see a person standing there in the distance. "That's one of the guys who I came in with. I think he was the one who brought the kids here." Olive comments I think I have found Vincent's brother.

The labyrinth - Part 6

Complete

Name: Olive Castell

Ability: None

Class: Fighter

Date of birth: 03/12/1997

Age: 26 years old

Nationality: American

Hair style: long brown hair with the tips dyed green

Eye colour: green eyes

Likes: Racoons, crime novels, surprises

Dislikes: people being late, Games that you have to grind, Fried food