Welcome, Player: Grand Quest

Chapter 101: The Tale of Rae & Rie (Part One)

-chapter one-hundred-one-
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"Do you want to play hide and seek?"

I NODDED.

Nauna siyang maglakad kaya sumunod ako. We reached the garden, but walked further down, passing the fountain and the rose bushes. Napatingin ako sa paligid. I've never been here before. Papa won't allow me to go further than he ordered, or guards will take me.

We arrived in front of a large and tall bush. May isang entryway ito sa gitna. Other than that, sarado na at parang nashape siya na isang box. I tilted my head to Rae's direction. Nakatitig lang siya sa'kin.

"Are we playing hide and seek here?" turo ko sa maze.

Tumango siya.

Napakurap ako't napatingin muli sa maze. It must be large. I don't know if two kids should play inside.

"Won't your Papa get angry?"

Umiling siya. "Father is busy."

Malalim akong huminga. At least, he's talking to me now and inviting me to play.

"Okay."

Binalingan niya ako at isang ngiti ang bumusilak sa mukha niya. "Let's play!"

"Okay. What should we do?"

"We enter the maze and play rock-paper-scissors to determine who will walk right. Right has fewer puzzles than left. Then the first one who will come back here!"

Tumango ako at napalunok. Sinundan ko uli siya papasok ng maze. I won in our jak-en-poy game so I took the right part. Tama ngang hindi marami ang pasikot-sikot dito. It only has a right and a left, while Rae has five paths to ponder on.

Hindi ko alam kung ilang minuto na ang nakalipas at nasa loob pa rin ako ng maze. The sun is slowly sinking, already erasing the scorching heat. Hinawi ko ang isang ligaw na sangay at hinanap ang daanan ko kani-

Nanlaki ang mata ko. Wait- there was a pathway here earlier. Alam ko 'yon dahil hindi pa ako nali-limang minuto sa pinanggalingan. But now... I'm facing a huge wall.

Where did the pathway go? No⁠- are they shifting? Are the walls shifting to block the true pathway and lead us further to the maze?

Kaya siguro mula pa kanina ako naliligaw.

Tinitigan ko ang berdeng haligi. If the true path is blocked, and the opened way is fake, then I should wait.

The sun is already hiding behind the tall maze when the wall opened. Shadows are casted in the path I'm running on. The maze is quiet but the bushed wall seems to be so noisy. If I listen closely, there's the soft tremor in the ground and a sound of something moving.

Pinagpatuloy ko ang pagtakbo at paghanap ng daanan. And when the sun did sink, when the sky is no longer painted in blue but a fading orange and rising grey and dark, when the lights of the maze turned on, I fell on the ground, tripping on a rock. Basang-basa na ang mukha ko sa pag-iyak. I sniffed and raised my arms to wipe my tears.

Mas lalo akong napaiyak nang makita ang pasa sa tuhod. Napahagulgol ulit ako dahil paniguradong papagalitan ako ni River at Mama.

My wails must have been too loud because the wall in front of me shifted. Replacing it was a black shoe, brown shorts, white shirt, distressed face and a crumpled hair. Muli akong humagulgol nang makita si Rae. His eyes lit up in panic and he squatted in front of me, awkwardly rubbing my hair.