Skye figures out the maze's curse

"Oh no--not again!" Skye said, shaking her head. Her lips pursed in worry as she stepped forward, placing her hand on the same spot of the wall Liv had touched, or at least at her best estimation. This time, however, there was no effect. Skye touched the spot again, then again, but still nothing happened.

"Oh please don't leave me alone in here..." Skye muttered.

After another attempt touching the spot that had made Liv vanish, Skye finally gave up. She stepped over to where Liv had left her dagger stuck in the wall and gave it a quick tug. The knife barely budged, and it took a determined series of tugs and wiggles to finally wrench it free.

All at once the same dizziness that had claimed her friend assailed her and Skye felt a surge of panic. The world seemed to be spinning, and when she closed her eyes to try and shut it out, the world seemed to fall out from under her. When she opened them again, though, she was still in the bamboo maze, simply seated in the middle of the floor. The lustful fog faded slowly from her mind and she returned to her feet.

"Feels like some kind of curse..." Skye muttered. Tentatively she reached for the hole in the wall once again, though this time her other hand rested on her harp, ready to pluck out a series of strings the moment the dizziness struck.

It came just as she was expecting, and her well practiced fingers found the notes on her own, sending a wave of clarity washing over her and brushing aside the spell. "It still doesn't explain the vanishing, but... Hmmm. No touching the walls, I suppose."

Skye looked around. The hall seemed almost exactly the same as where she and Liv had first appeared after touching the crystal orb, though she had no idea how far they had traveled or how long they had spent down here. With no other ideas, Skye simply began to make her way forward, keeping well clear of the walls as she kept an eye out for any sort of change and occasionally called out Liv's name in the off chance the other woman might somehow hear her.

***

This chapter was co-authored by Mapron01(https://chyoa.com/user/Mapron01) Please check him out!