Shikon Tail

Chapter 14 -- The Labyrinth In The Sky

{Chris' POV}

"Holy crap..." I said, looking at the giant sphere in the sky.

"GOOD MORNING!!" A person with a pumpkin head said enthusiastically, "WELCOME ALL GUILDS TO THE GRAND MAGIC GAMES!!"

"What's that?! It's huge!!" Venn exclaimed.

"It's a 3D projection!!" Julia told him.

"It's a pumpkin!!" Tori said.

"WE WILL NOW BEGIN THE PRELIMINARY ROUND!" He gestured to the sphere, "IT IS IN ORDER TO REDUCE THE PARTICIPATING GUILDS DOWN TO EIGHT!!"

"Preliminary round?!" Skye exclaimed.

"Nobody told us about that!!" Venn shouted at the projection.

"There was a preliminary event last time too, right?" Tori questioned.

"I'm not sure..." I told her.

"EVERY YEAR  MORE AND MORE GUILDS COME~  THAT'S A SIGN THIS EVENT WAS STARTING TO BE TAKEN TOO LIGHTLY~" The pumpkin said, dancing around, "SO THIS YEAR, WE'VE BROUGHT THE NUMBER OF FINAL COMPETING  TEAMS DOWN TO EIGHT~ THE PRELIMINARY RULES ARE SIMPLE!!"

The building flew up further, we all gripped tightly onto the railing of the balcony.

"YOU WILL ALL NOW COMPETE WITH EACH-OTHER. THE GOAL WILL BE THE EVENT GROUNDS!!" a bridge appeared from the balcony and the railing went down.

"THE FIRST EIGHT TEAMS TO MAKE IT WILL PARTICIPATE IN THE GAMES. YOUR HOTELS WILL BE THE STARTING POINTS FOR THE PRELIMINARY EVENT."

"So, we're supposed to follow that path?" Julia asked.

"I suppose so..." Skye replied.

"FEEL FREE TO USE ANY MAGIC YOU LIKE, AS THERE ARE NO RESTRICTIONS. AS LONG AS YOU'RE ONE OF THE EIGHT TO MAKE IT. BUT IF ALL FIVE OF YOUR MEMBERS DON'T MAKE IT THERE, YOU STILL LOSE." The pumpkin said, "AND ONE MORE THING... WE TAKE NO RESPONSIBILITY FOR ANYONE WHO LOSES THEIR LIFE IN THE LABYRINTH..."

{Skye's POV}

"AND ONE MORE THING... WE TAKE NO RESPONSIBILITY FOR ANYONE WHO LOSES THEIR LIFE IN THE LABYRINTH..."

"Labyrinth?!" A shiver went up my spine as I heard Tori repeat the word.

"THE GRAND MAGIC GAMES PRELIMINARY EVENT, SKY LABYRINTH... HAS BEGUN!!!"

"Let's go!!" We all yelled as we raced forward towards the giant sphere in the sky. The second we got in, we realized how intricate it all was. There were stairs and different paths going every which way.

"We can all just fly to the finish, right?" I asked.

"Sounds easy enough." Julia said, her platform of lightning flicking out from under her feet.

Me and Chris' wings came out and Tori requipped into her Water-Wing armor. We all looked at Venn expectantly, as if he was to whip out some poison wings or something.

"I can't fly..." He said, embarrassed.

"Well then Venn, get on the platform, 'cause I'm carrying you to victory!" Julia said, pulling him up onto platform of lightning.

"Now, onward!!" Tori said, pointing forward.

We were all speeding forward, trying to remember which way the colosseum was. After a small bit of arguing, we headed westward, towards the colosseum. We were all going as quick as we all could, I glanced back at Venn and Julia, Venn was hanging on the front on the platform, trying not to fall off. I tried not to laugh.