The world hung still.
Two hands stretched out—one toward Selene, one toward Vanessa. The labyrinth roared like a living thing, the mirrors swirling above, shards screaming as they spun in the air.
Selene's trembling voice cracked the silence. "Argon… choose me. Please. Don't let her win."
Vanessa's velvet whisper dripped poison. "Darling… you already know who you belong to."
Argon's crimson eyes flickered, torn between them. For an eternal second, the chamber froze.
Then his hand dropped.
The Choice
Selene gasped as his bloody fingers brushed hers—only for him to jerk back at the last moment, clasping Vanessa's hand instead.
A shudder ran through the chamber. The labyrinth laughed.
Selene staggered back as though struck, her heart fracturing. "No…"
Vanessa's smile was sharp enough to cut glass. She pulled Argon against her, her lips brushing his ear. "You've chosen, darling. And you've chosen right."
The Game's voice thundered, vibrating the marrow of their bones:
"Choice recorded. Stage Four initiated: The Arena of Sacrifice."
The Arena Emerges
The floor split apart beneath them. The mirrors shattered into dust, the walls tearing open like wounds.
They fell.
For a heartbeat, there was nothing but the sensation of plummeting through darkness. Then the world caught them, slamming them onto stone slick with blood.
When Argon raised his head, he saw it:
A vast arena, its walls made of bone and sinew, its ground cracked and wet. Skulls were embedded in the walls, their mouths open in eternal screams.
Above, the ceiling was a swirling sky of flesh and fire, veins glowing like constellations.
At the center of the arena stood a monolith of bleeding stone. Chains coiled around it, wet and alive, pulsing like serpents.
The Game's voice rolled again:
"Blood must feed the stone. Sacrifice, or perish."
The Rules
Three obsidian masks rose from the ground, hovering in the air. Each one carved with grotesque faces—anguish, madness, hunger.
"Each survivor must make an offering. One must bleed willingly. One must bleed unwillingly. Choose."
Selene's knees nearly buckled. "It… it wants us to kill each other."
Vanessa chuckled darkly. "Of course it does. What better game than one where the prize is betrayal?"
Argon's grip on the hacksaw tightened. His veins pulsed black. His crimson eyes burned, torn between reason and corruption.
Selene's Plea
Selene stumbled forward, placing herself between him and Vanessa. Her voice shook, but her gaze was steady.
"Argon. Listen to me. We don't have to play its rules. We've found loopholes before. We can find one here too."
Vanessa's laugh cut her words. "Oh, Selene… always so hopeful. Always so wrong. The maze doesn't bend to you. It bends to him."
Her hand slid down Argon's arm, possessive, claiming. "And he's mine."
Selene's chest clenched. Her shadows writhed desperately, thin and weak. She didn't know how much longer she could fight both Vanessa and the labyrinth.
But she couldn't let him go. Not yet.
The First Blood
The monolith pulsed, chains writhing. The arena trembled with hunger.
Argon staggered toward it, hacksaw dragging across the stone, screeching sparks. His steps were heavy, uneven, his breath ragged.
Vanessa followed, whispering venom into his ear.
Selene screamed, "ARGON! STOP!"
He froze. His crimson eyes flicked back to her. For a brief instant, the corruption wavered. His grip trembled. His face twisted—not a monster, but a man caught in hell.
"Selene…" His voice cracked, raw, torn between sanity and madness. "I… I don't know…"
Vanessa's nails dug into his arm, her whisper sharp as a knife. "Don't think. Act. Kill her. Feed the stone. And this nightmare ends."
Selene's Stand
Selene's shadows lashed out, slamming against the chains coiling the monolith. Sparks of darkness met the blood-wet steel, the air cracking with energy.
"I won't let it have you!" she screamed.
Her eyes burned with desperation, with something deeper. She didn't care if she broke herself. She didn't care if the labyrinth tore her apart. She would not lose him to Vanessa.
Her double's words still echoed in her skull: He's already gone. He's hers now.
But she refused to believe it.
Not until he put the blade through her heart himself.
Cliffhanger
The arena howled.
The monolith chains lashed outward, wrapping around Selene's limbs, dragging her toward the stone. She thrashed, shadows tearing, blood pouring from her skin as the barbed links cut deep.
"ARGON!" Her scream ripped through the air, her body writhing against the pull.
Vanessa laughed, wrapping her arms around him from behind, her lips brushing his cheek. "There's your unwilling sacrifice, darling. Just one cut. One drop. And it's done."
Argon's hacksaw trembled in his hand. His crimson eyes blazed, locked on Selene's face—bloodied, desperate, pleading.
The stone pulsed. The chains dragged tighter.
And as Selene screamed his name again, Argon raised the blade.