The ground rumbled. As Lily slowly began to regain consciousness, she could hear loud pops and the rapid panicked yelling of many people. Lily struggled to open her eyes. The deep embrace of sleep pulled at her, but she felt that now was the time that she needed to reawaken. Lily moved her numb arm to her face, rubbing her eyes and opening one at a time. Her vision was blurry and slowly came back in focus. A familiar ceiling. Again, the ground rumbled, shaking the flower vase on the table next to her bed. Lily rolled over, before moving her feet to the end of the bed. Her vision had come back to her along with her hearing. She could now tell that the noises she was hearing were that of battle, and the panicked voices seemed to be the priests and nurses of the infirmary arguing with a soldier. Lily sat herself up on the bed, her feet dangling over the edge until they touched the cold floor. The floor seemed to be alive, as it continually vibrated. On the table next to the flowers sat a card with a golden leaf on the front that said, From Meimei. Lily reached out to look at the card, her hands seemed to be bandaged, but she managed to grab hold of it.

  The card read, “Lily, as soon as you wake up, please call for me, I love you.” Next to the words Meimei had drawn a heart. Lily smiled. As her senses came back to her, she realized that something was very wrong. She had little strength, but if the school had some sort of monster outbreak, she felt it was her duty to contribute, even in her condition. Lily tried to push herself up, but immediately fell back to her bed. The three that were arguing up front heard Lily’s attempt to stand and looked over in her direction. The nurse raised her hand to the other two in a motion to tell them that she would take care of it. She walked over to where Lily was laying. She approached with a nervous smile.

  “Lily, how are you feeling?”

  Lily looked up at the nurse.

  “Tired. What is happening outside?” Lily asked astutely.

  “Don’t worry, we have soldiers with us here, and the entire medical wing is sealed by a magical barrier,” the nurse replied.

  “Right, but what is happening?” Lilly asked again with exhausted annoyance.

  The nurse looked nervous.

  “There has been a Labyrinth Break, but don’t worry, the school and soldiers are taking care of it.”

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  Lily was silent for a moment. The Labyrinth that the school was built near was sealed in a very specific way that had prevented Labyrinth Breaks for centuries. A Labyrinth Break was a phenomenon when – for a reason not understood by scholars – the monsters of a Labyrinth would all rush out of a Labyrinth at once, attacking anything outside. Such a thing should not be possible in this Labyrinth.

  “What caused it?” Lily asked.

  “I don’t know, but you need to rest. I know what you are thinking, but you are in no shape to fight.”

  Lily pushed the nurse back and stood up. The soldier and priest looked at her in surprise. The soldier walked over, likely to tell her to stay put, but Lily wasn’t interested. She pushed past him and quickly slipped out of the door of the infirmary. She wasn’t going to sit around while her fellow students were killed by monsters. She was also worried about Meimei. She knew Meimei had at least been by the infirmary to leave the card. Lily hoped she was either still nearby or in the dorm. Meimei was, however, involved in something that Lily could have never predicted.

  A sword of light zoomed down a dark stone hallway of the academy, narrowly missing a young, white-haired, student.

  “Rel, stop, what are you doing?”

  Meimei was already out of breath. She was clutching her silver-staff tightly. She was unsure if she should be fighting back or running, her hesitation caused her to seem aimless.

  Rel, dressed in her priest garment, simply stared back at Meimei. She clutched her fist, and a sword of light appeared in it. The golden light of the sword lit up the dark hallway. Meimei struggled to shield herself in shadow.

  “I will reveal you for what you truly are, Meimei.” Rel had a dark, twisted tone.

  Rel accelerated forward and slashed at Meimei with her light sword. Meimei spun to the side, narrowly avoiding the blade. Rel slammed her foot into the rock, quickly decelerating. She changed her direction back towards Meimei, this time she held out her free hand and began to chant another spell.

  “[LIGHT BIND]!”

  Threads of light shot from Rel’s fingers towards Meimei as Rel continued to assail her with the sword of light.

  “[REPEL]!” Meimei shouted.

  Repel was a simple defensive ability which would invert the direction of something moving at the caster. It wasn’t powerful but seemed to be effective against’ Rel’s Light Bind. However, Meimei’s use of Repel left an opening for Rel to swing at her. Meimei barely managed to bring her silver staff up, blocking the sword attack. A high-pitched screeching sound echoed around the two as the light sword dug into the silver staff. Meimei used Air Cushion to push the two apart, taking the chance to try to reason with Rel.

  “Rel, is this about Lily?” Meimei asked.

  “You can stop putting on a show. I know all about your secret. The gods themselves told me about it, after all.”

  Rel moved her other hand into a fist, conjuring another sword of light.

  “Fine.”

  Meimei stood straight and stared directly at Rel. She spun her silver staff around, taking on a much more aggressive stance. Meimei was ready to get serious.