The Dark Labyrinth


Written by Vera & Pan


Strained high-pitched screams fell upon deaf ears throughout the catacombs of Pan’s residence on the island. A soft light began to glow within the darkness of the room that Pan inhabited, as the light grew the vision of a mulatto beauty entwined within Pan’s cold grasp came into view. As the woman’s sight adjusted to the newfound light, her golden-flecked, hazel eyes widened with fear as she looked upon the face of her assailant. Another scream emitted from the woman’s throat before Pan clasped his hand over her mouth, continuing his sexual assault on the poor woman.

His aide of the evening Ayperos perched on a stone pillar collecting the translucent streams of energy emanating from the young woman, his clawed fingers plucking the streams from the air and drawing them into several vials that stood beside him. Whatever Pan did not devour now, could be used to sate his taste for later.

It wasn’t long after that Pan allowed the exhausted woman to fall to the cool, stone ground and left her panting as he disappeared into the darkness. He paused just short of the pillar where Ayperos perched, “Have Berith take her back.”

Hours later Pan sat on a fashioned obsidian throne somewhere deep within his lair, silent. Out of the darkness his minions descended, each taking their respected places amongst him.

“Wassamatta boss?” Gaap chimed, who was nudged almost immediately by Abbadon, knocking the small imp aside. It was evident that Pan was displeased, but he said nothing. He just sat as if in deep Melancholy, but a threatening glare let the implings know that he wished to be alone.

Over the next few days, Pan’s minions had tried time and time again to “cheer” Pan up, all to no avail, and most ending in painful repercussions. Finally the six of the imps sat in a dim chamber and conversed amongst eachother.

“Dun get it.” Abbadon said scratching his head oafishly.

“Boss ain’t happy, and when boss ain’t happy we end up gettin‘ smashed around.” Gaap said crossing his arms.”
“It has to be the girl.” Merhim said grinding his teeth together. The thought silenced the group for several moments.

“Bah howdoya figure?” Gaap said with a dismissive wave.

“No, no. It makes sense. She’s been gone for a while, off on some mission or another.” Ayperos added.

“She took a trip to Vanejin on Thunderdude’s request,” Berith said, “What? He had me check on her a couple times.”

“Stormbringer.”

“Shut up, I knew that.”

“Ugh, I miss the old boss.”

“New boss or not, he’s still the boss.”

“She’s just a human, I don’t get it.”

“It doesn’t matter, we just gotta figure out a way to cheer him up a little.”

The group grew silent again.

“Wait wait I got it, that….that… that Matismata, Masimoto chick.”

“Oooo yeah, she’s hot.”

“She’s a Head Girl you know.”

“That don’t matter, I know boss likes her, I seen him watchin’ her one time but she’s got some crazy shit goin’ on.”

“What kind of crazy shit?”

“Magic bro, Magic. That’s why boss hasn’t nabbed her yet.”

“Bahh, boss can handle a little bitta magic.”

“You know how he likes em Gaap.”

“I smash her head?”

“Shuddup Abbadon.”

“Wait! Why don’t we nab her for the boss? She’s got some crazy magic shit, but if we lure her through the veil?”

“That’s the most brilliant thing you’ve said.”

So the group continued their plotting, chattering away excitedly at the thought that they could possibly end the reign of droll that had descended upon the lair. When the boss wasn’t having fun, neither were they, so with high hopes they went to work.

“So remind me again why we’re squeezed into this vent?” Merihm said agitated.

“We have to be here when she comes out.” Berith said holding onto Merihms arm as they peered through the blinds of the vent. The pair was perched just outside of Vera’s room, lying in wait for the solution to their problems.

“Just remember, when she comes out, you gotta do your thing and then Aypie will make a tear in the veil. Merihm nodded, his large head clanking against the metal.

“Be quiet would ya? Jeeze.” Berith said before dissipating into thin air. The imp reappeared just outside of Vera’s door, knocking at the door as effectively as he could before disappearing once more.

The silver haired student had already returned from her classes and tutoring of students. Though her standard obligations were done for the day, the Head Girl was still busy at work. Many of the other Head Girls and Prefects were gone, sent on their own private tasks or spending some quality time with the creatures that reside on the island. This left much of the excess paper work and logs in Vera's hands. She had folders open revealing files of various students. A number of reports were also on her desk and as the woman scanned the paperwork, her fingers rapidly typing away at her computer, logging all demerits and corrections.

Reports of her own were sent to her Headmaster and staff of current events within the school. While she was preparing requests for various basement rooms to be prepared, a faint knock came at her door. Vera looked up, not expecting any guests at this hour and not really sensing anything beyond the door. Her guest could be rather calm and not emitting much emotions or has a natural ability to block her empathic senses. It mattered little to her though as she called out to her unknown visitor. "Come in." The door was unlocked at this hour. It was important as a Head Girl to leave her door open to students and occasionally monsters that wish to come with questions or requests. Very rarely does she actually get up to answer the door unless she was expecting someone of importance.

[[Sorry about the delay, I'm a weekend warrior lol ]]

As soon as the devious Berith dissipated from view, Merihm began his dark manipulations. The iris and pupils of his customary coal eyes blanched to a milky hue as he located the enchanting woman inside of the loft. He tapped into her subconscious deftly, and immediately realized that perhaps the group had delved into more than they could handle. There was, however, no turning back now. For an instant, Vera may have felt an icy chill at the base of her spine, depending on how perceptive the young woman was. He surmised that the woman may have a heightened sense of intuition, the illusions he created could be deciphered as such if he didn’t appeal of all senses, and since he was a master of illusion, he did so.

Immediately from beyond the barrier of the door, a feeling of panic and dread emanated from a small, slender form. Timidly a young blonde, an evident freshman of the University peered inside. Her appearance was far from adequate to address a Head Girl. Her uniform was ruffled, her hair disheveled and her mascara running as if the poor thing had been caught in a maelstrom.

“I-I’m sorry to disturb you Miss Matsumoto,” The girl stammered through panicked breath, “B-but I didn’t know where else to go. There’s a girl on my floor, Sarah, she’s been talking crazy the past few days. We didn’t think much of it, but when we went to check on her she was standing on the window ledge saying she was going to jump. Me and Michelle have been trying to talk her down but she’s not budging. You have to come quick, Michelle went out after her.” The student’s words were rushed and hurried, her demeanor and every sense about her projected that she was telling the truth.

((No problem ^^))

Vera shivered as if a chilling breeze had blown through the room. It was rather strange and strange things led to something worse in almost all cases on Shokushu. But before she could think further on it, the door cracked open and a petite woman peeked inside her suite. She generally did not tolerate such timid actions. The sight of the woman changed her opinion though. Smeared mascara and a disheveled uniform, the young woman was a walking bundle of demerits. Obviously there was a reason for this as the girl spoke breathlessly of another student going crazy and on the verge of committing suicide. Must have been a victim of a monster attack and could not handle the stress. It was troublesome to deal with these sorts. Nothing a bit of punishment could not fix.

"You were right to come to me, Miss.." she did not know the girl's name or recognized her, perhaps a freshman. The Head Girl rose to her feet and headed for the door. "Just take me to her and then you can go get yourself cleaned up. I will talk to your fellow student and get this straightened out." Of course this would probably mean taking the student in question to the basement. But at least she could let off some steam there. The girl mentioned another named Michelle trying to talk to the jumper. That was good, it meant she still had time to get there. As she stepped out of her suite, Vera flicked open her cell phone to call security and warn them of a potential jumper. "Which building did you say this was?" She asked as she followed the woman down the hall, unaware of the creatures watching her.

The Head Girl relayed the information that Kristen provided before hanging up the phone. It would not take long to get to the Adamson building as it was on the upper floors, allowing them to use the walkways connected to the main tower. They both ran down the hall towards the stairs. Vera had no trouble keeping up with the petite student. They only had to go through a few flights to reach a side exit leading out to a railed walkway towards one of the dorm buildings.

Swinging the door wide open, Vera did not notice the shimmery sort of static on the door and path way as she passed right into whatever sub realm the demons were trying to lure her in. She felt a slight tingling down her spine but the Head Girl signed it off as just adrenaline. She knew she had to hurry, Shokushu tended to frown on losing slaves before being sold.

Still following the blonde student, they stopped a distance down the walkway. Vera could clearly see two figures up on the window. Hearing Kristen's scream, she turned and gently shook the woman's arm. She needed the woman to keep a clear head during this. "Kristen listen!" she said quickly, "I need you to keep talking to her right here. I will go into the building. I already called security, they should be here soon." Waiting for at least a nod of recognition before going, the silver haired woman would continue running down the walkway and towards the next building. She already knew the room number, 530. She could only hope the girl's friends could buy her a bit more time.

Vera had no clue that she was no longer running with her own body. Her real body now unconcious and helpless in the hands of the imps, carrying her away towards their master. The scream sounded through the entire hall, waking students and bringing several eyes to the trail of silver hair now arriving at room 530. The door was unlocked, revealing the open window with Michelle climbing back inside. "Are you her friend?" the Head Girl asked, "Then stay with me and help her."

She looked out the window, seeing the girl known as Sara barely hanging on to the ledge. The woman was making the same threat to the Head Girl now but something did not seem right to her. The girl was completely calm with no signs of hesitation. With emotions like that, she should have already let go or better yet not even made a scene about it. Were her empathic senses giving her false readings? She could not believe that.

"If I leave, you are going to let go anyway," she said cooly, climbing out onto the ledge. Her eyes narrow in slight annoyance at not seeing security out here yet. What was taking them so long? If this girl falls, she needed someone down there ready to cushion student. "How about you climb back onto the ledge so we can talk. Your arms are just going to get tired if you keep hanging like that. Your friends told me your name is Sara. My names is Vera. Can you tell me why you are hanging on this ledge?" The Head Girl could do little right now but keep talking to the woman. Suicide prevention was not exactly part of skill set. But she will do what she can buy more time.

There was little the Head Girl could do. The girl was throwing away her life and yet it was not like the girl had a future to begin. Once on Shokushu, a student's fate was sealed. Vera just happened to be one of the 'lucky' ones. Sara was obviously trying to hurt her but the silver haired woman showed no sign of pain from the words. She was quite aware of who and what she was. The Head Girl reached out for the woman but she was simply too far away and the student was already falling to her doom. All that would remain would be the memory of the woman's eyes gazing into her own and the sound of screams.

Blinking, she found the world she was in become a darker version of itself. There was no life and everything seemed covered in darkness. It did not take a genius to know that something was wrong here. Sighing softly, Vera climbed back into the window. With the building run down, there were no lights on. She channeled her mana and spoke a quick word, summoning a small sphere of light over her hand. This had to be either an illusion or another plane of existence. But how did she get here and how long was she in this place? "I know you're out there," she called out to the darkness, "Show yourself and tell me what you want. I do not have time for this." She knew the deal with monsters. It was either a special deal with a Head Girl or the standard capture and rape.

Assuming she gets no answer, she would make her way into the dark hallway and proceed towards the stairs. She doubts she would find a way out on her own. She was just walking to pass the time and explore this strange environment. Hopefully she would not be trapped long. There did not seem to be any signs of life which only meant there may be no food or water either. Why was she taken here? The questions flowed through her mind as the silver haired student made her way out of the dorms.

The flickers of reality further added to the woman's theory that this was just an illusion. Was this all in her head? It was difficult to tell. With the occasional views of the real world, she hoped she was not just wandering aimlessly through campus while everyone is watching. Unfortunately, she could not afford to douse her simple light spell as it was much too dark to travel inside the building.

She stopped at the stairs to see the Sara's dead body walking downwards. Vera's heart began to race as her breathing grew heavy. The Head Girl had an extremely terrorfying experience with the undead before. But she had no other way down to the first floor. She would wait until Sara was completely out of view before carefully following downstairs. The silver haired woman did not see the woman again at least not until she exited the building. Sara was out there in the courtyard, waiting. Was this the reason she was stuck in this world?

Vera would let the orb of light sputter out now that she was outside. The dead girl seemed possessed with glowing eyes and a voice that was not her own. The Head Girl considered what was said. Her body was safe? So was she unconcious? When did that happen? Vera did not recall feeling any different beyond the chill down her spine. Did that mean it happened while she was in her suite? And why was her soul in danger? "Who are you?" she asked, keeping her distance from the strange girl, "What do you want from me?" Being Shokushu, she could have a few guesses of what this being may want from her. But she truly hope it did not involve anything undead. She shuddered at the thought.

The name Asmodeus only rang a few bells about certain mythical demons. But that being may just be using the name or is the true Asmodeus. Perhaps having the same name amongst demons was possible much like it was with humans. So the entire call for help was just a trick to make her leave her room? She was uncertain why the demons could not have just taken her away while at her desk. What was her real body doing right now? For all she knew, she was being carried far away from safety.

Winds picked up and expanded around Sara's form. Vera's long silver hair lashed about her before she was inside the eye of the small storm. Even through a dead vessel, this Asmodeus seemed incredibly powerful. Then again, nearly all monsters and demons on the island were. The winds kept the strange shadowy creatures that were closing in at bay. Being the only foreign body in this strange realm, the Head Girl could tell she was obviously not welcomed here.

A request was then made of the Head Girl. It seemed odd that a human was asked to do this task rather than the demons that could apparently force people into other plane's of existence. But Vera was in no position to refuse any request or order. She was trapped here until someone freed her or worse happens. Retrieve an item, that was all she had to do. There was no further explanation about the item, only about the two items that now appeared before her. With her magic supposedly useless, these items were her only means of defense and guidance.

Sara was frozen like a statue, holding both items above her hands by unseen forces. With no further words being spoken, Vera was left with beginning her journey into the basements below. At least this place looked like Shokushu so she knew her way easily enough. The Head Girl took the demonic ring first, slipping it onto her finger before taking the silver circlet. It rested perfectly on her head. Seeing the monsters waiting outside the whirlwind, she just hoped the being was not lying about the ring's effects.

Taking a deep breath, she stepped out of the safety of the circle and proceeded towards one of the main campus buildings. Those would have stairs leading down to the basement where further horrors no doubt waited.