The Dream Shifter

Chapter 194

Settling in more to the trapped feeling with potentially no escape brought Yuki to a pause. He found what seemed like a safe spot. His mind had been wondering lately, but he forced himself back on task. However, the reprieve made him go back.

A pale green film appeared just beyond the circle everyone unintentionally created. Clanging of swords against the sphere echoed dully through the space. The noise put the group on alert not seeing anything further. No one spoke another word scanning the area out of the barrier to understand what happened. They no longer questioned Yumi. Apologizes waited however, they had their new guests needing attending.

'She saw it somehow…' thought Yuki, remembering the brief events before the enemy split them up. He had not given Yumi much consideration when it came to having abilities. Yuki had never seen her use them. 'Yumi seemed to have a good handle on the group, but I guess I didn't pay that close attention. What sort of powers does she have? Saki's got speed and strength and Haruo got those animals. Everyone's different…' But he knew that Saki and Haruo could handle themselves if pressed. He had seen Haruo fight, though reluctant he knew Haruo to be tough. As for Saki, he knew he never needed to worry. Yet Yumi was different.

Breaking to recover was not in the cards for Yumi. A battle cry from a guttural feminine voice directed towards her snapped her eyes around. Instinct saved her in the last moments as four long strangely shaped swords flew at her colliding against a small square of a barrier reflexively erected. The mass and velocity of the weapons knocked her back sending her careening through the air out of control. Trails of dusts drew lines through the air following her arc.

Everything happened so fast in front of Yuki that he did not even have a moment to try to stop or shout for Yumi. She was gone. They separated him from her and others. Inside the maze field, he knew nothing of the outside world or if his friends were hurt. 'I wonder if Yumi is safe? I have to deal with this guy and make sure she's safe! She's not like Saki, Seiji or Haruo.'

Yuki looked around the hall remember the bothersome situation that he had in front of him. 'But I have to figure out a way out of this before that…' He pushed off his back from the wall, no longer leaning. His fist tightened forcing determination back into his body. 'Alright! I've got to stop standing around here doing nothing! Being somewhere safe won't get me out of this maze any sooner!'

After declaring his resolution, Yuki started down the hall. He made it as far as the next turn before he came to a stop. His features turned flat for a moment with his thoughts finally catching up to reality. "If there's traps I just have to stand still and I won't be hit! I'll have the time I need to concentrate!" Yuki gripped his head in his hands angry at his own absentmindedness. "Why didn't I think of that sooner? I'm such an i***t!"

Panting a little heavy from getting excited with his stupidity, Yuki finally calmed down. "Just need a few moments to focus." His breathing evened out as his mind began the construction. The laws were still new to him, so it took him longer to sort everything. '…a little longer…' He needed more time to focus. Time dragged on slowly, even longer. Yuki went longer still in silence.

A sudden headache shot into his head followed by lightheadedness. His feet buckled a little staggering him dangerously close to a trap. Yuki threw out his hand against the wall for support to stop his movement. His free hand pressed to his face grasping at the pain. 'What the hell? I…' It felt like someone took sandpaper to his skull sending the vibrations through him.

Finally opening his eyes, a haze surrounded him. 'What's going on? I can barely see!' Yuki slid down the wall collapsing to the floor. The pain in his head lessened a little as he could open his eyes more. From the stone floor, he saw an end to the blur that covered his eyes. A thick fog hovered in the air in the hall, carrying a foul dark red tint. Yuki slowly turned his head up trying to understand the situation. 'Is that what's…making me…feel like this?'

Yuki forced himself to his feet and felt the resurging wave of pain through his head. The quick rise ran the stabbing to the backs of his eyes making him fall backwards in surprise. A low yelp came from Yuki before he realized that he set off a trap by accident. Several spinning blades lowered from the ceiling quickly in descent for him. Nothing in his mind thought straight. He rolled through on reflex, still grasping at his face. He awkwardly avoided three of the blades, but the fourth dug into his forearm soaking in blood from him. The pain from the wound went completely oblivious to him as he tried to clear the area.

Arrows, spikes, crushing walls and blades all came after him in his haphazard escape. There was too much for Yuki to see and avoid with the grating in his head distracting him. Only his speed kept him from coming out worse. He collapsed to the floor beyond the fog and in a non-trap laden section of the maze.

The tunic on Yuki had a series of cuts and tears with blood soaking into the edges. Yuki came out with only minor cuts. Even the first slice on his forearm did not look nearly as bad after investigation. 'Got lucky…' He propped himself up against the wall to take a moment to recover, but the red fog starting to build around him again. 'Damn! Got to move again…'

Antipas continued to analyze the situation. He adapted the maze as he followed Yuki's movements. "It took him longer to realize that he could stand still… Hmm, was him discovering the weakness before a coincidence? Well no matter, he's starting to realize that I won't allow him to linger long enough." The slower less direct route was safer for him. He heard what happened to Eusebios in his encounter with the rogue MP user. Protecting himself from the danger that he presented was more important than a fast victory. 'This victory will show my worth to the Captain.'

While the young man in his very early twenty was skilled, graduating the academy gave him the only proof of that skill. Antipas had barely even received his posting to the South Gate before the incursion. Among all of the other members, he was simply the new guy still green. The opportunity to play a critical role in saving Atlantis from the greatest threat since the rebellion almost thirty years ago would be no better accolades for him. 'I don't know what your reason for invading was, but I'll capture you and protect the peace! This may be only a reconnaissance but I won't let this chance pass! I'll come back alive and with a prize!' Antipas reflexively clinched his fists together feeling the tension building from his thoughts.

Staying ahead of the red fog proved as difficult as avoid setting off the traps. Yuki felt a consistent lingering feeling of unease swimming through his head. It did not build up as strongly as the headache he felt before. He assumed that even in areas he thought to be safe still had some of the fog. 'This fog is even worse than the traps! Even if I wanted to try to focus while on the move, this ever so slight headache is making it difficult to concentrate!' His frustration made him slip up and triggered a crushing wall to come in front of him.

Yuki stayed back letting the trap go, but a brief thought came to him. 'I wonder if there's anything behind it that I can use as a shortcut…' He did not get much of a look before the wall returned back, but all he saw was darkness. 'Figures with these powers, making something impossible is possible.' The strengthening of his headache signaled the dead end and his need to move. Yuki did not move as cautiously trying to stay ahead of the cloud forcing another trap. It took him by surprise making him slow to react. He jumped onto the wall using the gaps for traps not sprung yet for foot and hand holds. '…damnit…'

Once the spikes from the floor fell back, Yuki let out a sigh and relaxed his body against the wall. Unfortunately, the wall held another trigger, which he realized a moment too late. "Come on! You've got to be kidding me!" Yuki quickly scrambled along the wall escaping the arrowed shot from the gaps he, a moment before, used as handholds.

He kept climbing along the wall, forgetting to get back down. "This is so lame! Why do I have to keep setting off traps? This is already getting old! If you can't come up with something new switch to someone else! I bet Saki wants some screen time!" Yuki came to a stop after clearing three lengths of halls. "Why can't I just defeat this j******f-screen and move on to something more interesting!" Silence laughed in the empty hall at Yuki. 'Damn, this would be more comedic with a second person to retort against…'

Another sigh came from Yuki with his rant completed. Yuki looked around the hall trying to figure out where he had taken himself. "In all of the yelling I sort of forgot where I was going…" He saw the ground below him and a thought suddenly came to him. His eyes scanned the hall quickly. "Hmm…I see…"

"Where is he?" questioned Antipas. He scanned his maze in search of Yuki, but could find nothing. The labyrinth did not allow him to see Yuki, but he had other methods. He tracked him without fault since the beginning, yet he had lost the signal. Antipas began moving and shifting walls trying to turn him up. Nothing he attempted gave him any success. "What's going on?"

An explosion like roar blasted through several walls throwing smoke into the air. The smoke threw all the way back to Antipas blowing against him and blanketing the field. He threw up his arms to keep the smoke from his eyes. "What?" Once the smoke lowered to the ground clearing up much of the field, Antipas could see through the ruined walls. Antipas' eyes widened suddenly. "How's that possible?"

Through the rubble standing in a field of knee high grass, Yuki bore his fighting clothing with a faint glow about him. His arm remained extended out in front of him. An eager smirk rose on his face with his freedom granted. "Time that I put an end to this!".