"GREUAUAAHAHH!!!!!" the ghoul roared, lunging out from the darkness.
It was one of many such cheap attractions that had tried to scare them. Unsuccessfully, of course.
"Eeep!"
Linnie held back his laughter at the sound of the squeal.
"Liora, was that you?" Linnie asked.
"No. Maybe it was Marielle?"
"It wasn't me. It was this pussy!"
Marielle forcefully poked Prince in his back.
"S-sorry."
"You're actually scared of this stuff, Prince?" Linnie asked, almost scoffing.
"I'm not good with the dark."
"Tsk-tsk, that's alright. Stay near older-brother Linnie—I'm actually really good at seeing in the dark," said the shorter one of the two boys.
It's true—the boy had incredibly developed night-vision. It wasn't on the level of an animal or anything, but it was definitely a skill to brag about.
Funnily enough, The Prince actually moved from beside Marielle to stand behind Linnie.
"I didn't actually mean—whatever..."
"Psssst. When does it get scary?" Liora asked.
"Now," a haunting voice bellowed.
"Whoa, who said that? Linnie, was that you? I never knew you could make such a scary voice!"
"Obviously that wasn't me, you—"
The floor opened up beneath them, causing them to plunge into a darkness that even Linnie's eyes couldn't peer through.
All four of them, though they wouldn't ever admit it, screamed in terror.
But, there was nothing to be afraid of. It was only a horror attraction, after all.
In the darkness, they felt their backs touch a smooth surface. The four of them rode through the darkness on a slide, completely oblivious to what was going on.
Their screams didn't stop until their momentum did. They flew from the end of the slide and landed on a large cushioned surface.
The cavernous space they found themselves in was dark, but not dark enough to the point where they couldn't see. The fact that there was such a large space where none of the other visitors were, though, was eerie enough.
'Is this the end? I thought loads of people went in before us.'
"That was pretty fun!" Liora said.
"Huh? 'Fun'? You were screaming the entire way down!" Linnie said.
"Uh, yeah? That's kind of how fun works? You're so angry today, it's like, so annoying..."
'Am I?'
"Meow."
...?
"Lady?"
"You brought your cat?" Marielle asked in disbelief.
"I didn't know! Well, I did—she's been sleeping in my hat, you see. But why'd you come out right now? Huh? Cute wittl—ahem."
"Meeeooow."
"You're hungry? Oh, I didn't feed you, did I?"
"You haven't fed her today? It's already the evening!" Liora shouted. "As I thought, she'd be better off as my familiar. Won't you be my kitty, Lady?"
"Hiss!"
"C-c-can we keep moving?" Prince asked. "We can f-f-f-feed the cat, later."
The young royal was very scared.
****
Fire exploded from the windows on the left side of the warehouse with a loud roar. No one heard it, though, besides those that were inside of the building. That's thanks to whoever it was that put up a strong concealment barrier.
Oh, and that explosion was a gift from Alwyn. In an instant, at least half of the group of masked individuals was wiped out in an instant.
Or... they should've been. When the smoke cleared and Alwyn was standing in the center of the warehouse, it looked like the numbers hadn't reduced in the slightest!
"I imagine we can't talk about this?"
A masked man, one of the two that was speaking previously, made a small gesture with his hand. In an instant, everyone in the warehouse broke into movement—all with one goal.
'Shit,' Alwyn thought, grimacing. 'At least they aren't armed. Actually, that might be even worse.'
He tightened his grip on his staff—Power was it's name—and waved it in the air. Two dozen small metal darts materialized in front of him, flying precisely into... only four of their hearts!? The rest blocked or dodged, leaving very little room remaining between Alwyn and the surrounding swarm.
'Why am I always outnumbered?'
When the swarm collapsed on top of him, they surely thought they had him beat. But, the masked group quickly realized there was nothing there. Confused, they all looked around. Only for a second, though, since a large cubic boulder fell from above.
Alwyn was standing on the ceiling, frowning. His surprise attack was easily broken apart into dust.
"Annoying..." he groaned. "Who are you guys?"
One of the masked men leapt into the air. Alwyn was about ready to defend himself, but the man's assault didn't even come close. It was aimed at the ceiling instead.
The entire roof collapsed, causing Alwyn to fall into the air. Until he wasn't—suspended by Power, he floated above the rest of them.
"Are you guys retarded?" he asked, furrowing his brow with genuine confusion.
Because, now, he had a very big advantage!
From atop his staff, he started to rain down unending attacks. Of course, this wasn't very efficient, mana-wise, but it was completely dismantling their attack force.
A wizard's biggest strength against non-magic opponents was range. Everyone knew that!
'Are they not used to fighting wizards?' Alwyn supressed a haughty laugh. 'Dumbasses.'
Embarrassingly, he was, once again, snuck up on. He narrowed his eyes as he felt a large hand grab ahold of the back of his skull.
'Ah. Too cocky?'
Alwyn was sent flying with extreme force into the ground, causing the ground to shake and crack from the impact. He wasn't all that harmed, thanks to his thin and, most importantly, efficient mana barrier—unfortunately, no amount of magic can prevent your nervous system from getting disoriented.
'Actually, I bet I could figure something... oh, shi—'
****
"Ugh, we've been walking around for... I don't know how long! How big is this damn place!? And where is everyone else!?" Marielle complained.
"M-m-maybe it's n-n-never—I can't say it..." Prince stuttered in fear.
Linnie frowned, quite honestly confused and puzzled. Confuzzled. He had a pretty decent sense of direction, but even someone without one would've realized that they had been walking way longer than should've been possible.
And they still hadn't seen anyone else.
Not even in costume, like before.
"You guys hear that?" Liora asked, anxiously brushing a few locks of her hair.
Her anxiety wasn't from fear. Her eyes kept wandering to Lady, who was perched on Linnie's shoulder. It was obvious what she wanted...
"Hear w-what!?" Prince yelped.
"You mean that?" Linnie asked.
The boy had heard it for a while, now, but wasn't sure what it could be, so he shrugged it off. It was a faint and distant rumbling that lasted barely a second, and happened a few times a minute.
"Can you be any more vague?" Marielle asked.
RRRUUUUMBLEE!
"You hear it, now?"