The Wings of Storm

12.3- A Trial of Three Keys

'Um, guys.' My voice came out high, its echoes reflecting back my agitation. Kei's going to kill me. 'I need a little help here.'

The others stopped in their tracks. Tsubasa turned around and extended a hand, only to meet air. His freckles stood out as his cheeks paled. 'We've lost T-Tahro!'

While Daisuke only continued scribbling in his book more furiously than before, Kei's face grew red. I braced myself for the incoming tirade.

'You've got to be kidding me!' He snapped. 'How did that even happen?'

'I'm sorry! I think Tsubasa's bag strap slipped out of my hands somehow.' Not to mention that I'd lost concentration and forgot to pay attention to what I was holding. But for whatever reason, I didn't want to admit it to him.

'Now we're all screwed.' Kei scowled. 'Honestly, I expected much better from you. You didn't used to be so careless.'

Prickles of irritation gnawed at my brain. It was partly because I might've cost us all this task. And partly because I'd let myself down. But in that moment, Kei's condescending tone bothered me the most. Who did he think he was? My mother? 'It's not like I meant to get lost!'

'Well that doesn't matter does it, if we failed our mission!'

We glared at each other via the mirrors.

'Can you guys quit it for a bit?' Daisuke snapped his book shut and pursed his lips. 'I think I have a plan. Tsubasa, can you tell us where Tahro is? I assume tracking him for a few seconds just to get that info wouldn't be impossible.'

Tsubasa sighed. 'I'll t-try.'

He closed his eyes and scrunched up his face. In a few seconds, something itched within my very core. It spread, then burst out of my skin. My pulse sped up and hoarse pants broke out of my chest. Stars swam across my vision, and I begged my trembling knees not to fall. Note to self, never get lost again.

Tsubasa coughed and wiped off the sweat beading above his upper lip. 'T-ten o'clock. About th-three meters a-away.'

Daisuke grabbed a little notebook, a pen and a coil of rope from his bags. He stuck the pen within the binding of the book and looped one end of the rope around the whole thing. Securing it with a knot, he handed it to Kei. 'Throw this at Tahro.'

Kei nodded. For a few seconds, he swung it up and down, narrowing his eyes at the direction Tsubasa pointed. I hoped he didn't get confused between the several Tsubasas surrounding us, but then, the real one was right behind Kei, holding on to his satchel. Clutching the free end of the rope, Kei flung the book up in the air.

With a swish, it flew at me over the mirrors. I raised my hand to catch it, and the book smacked against my palm.

'Ahio wasn't lying, you really do have great aim,' Daisuke said. 'Tahro, try to come to us. Only take left turns until you need to double back. We'll stand right here, holding the rope. Map out your way, then we can overlap it with what I already have.'

I nodded and flipped open the book, careful not to let go of the rope. The pages were squared maths paper, perfect to keep track of distance. As usual, Daisuke'd thought of everything. This way, we wouldn't lose any time either.

'Make every two mirrors equal to one square,' he called out. 'And of course, the width of the path your walking on should be one square too.'

Taking slow steps, I ventured forward, making sure to mark down my every move. Here and there, I met a few dead ends but managed to walk back with the help of my map. As the seconds passed, the words I'd said came back to me in awful clarity. Despite how annoying Kei was, I shouldn't have acted that way. But I squashed down the guilt. Right now, I had to focus.

A few minutes later, and my map now half a page across, the rope between us finally grew shorter. Soon, I bumped into Tsubasa. Grinning, I passed the map to Daisuke and took a hold of Tsubasa's bag. Not letting you go now.

'Let's move on then,' said Kei.

'Wait,' I said, remembering the reason I got lost in the first place. 'I think there's something about the riddle that we're overlooking.'

'What is it?' asked Daisuke.

'Well, what if the mission's key part wasn't metaphorical? What if it literally meant a place where a key should always be?'

Daisuke raised an eyebrow. 'Like a lock?'

'But we already know it's somewhere on the floor,' said Kei, waving his hand at the reflection at our feet.

Just then, I thought I noticed something wrong. Something I couldn't quite put my finger on. Still holding Tsubasa's bag, I crouched down in front of one of the mirrors and waved my hand over the reflection of the key. Nothing waved back at me.

'Trust not your ears nor what you see.' I placed my hand on the mirror, meeting paper instead of glass. Digging my nails in, I ripped off the image of the key, leaving behind only a reflection of our feet. Everyone's jaw, including mine, dropped and Kei slammed his hand on his face.

'Let's go to the door at the entrance,' Kei sighed.

Several minutes of wandering around later while still working on the map, we finally encountered the door, the only way out of this maze. It seemed innocuous enough, with a shiny handle and polished panels. Just as when we'd entered, there wasn't a key in sight. I hope we weren't wrong.

'It's suspicious.' Daisuke tapped the door, narrowing his eyes. 'That the door is so new when the building is old.' A clink, so faint it could've been imagined, came out when Daisuke struck a spot above the lockset.

A smirk growing across his features, Kei stepped close to Daisuke with a knife. I held my breath as he made short work of the lock. Please be the key! Nuts and bolts in one palm, Kei prised off the lockset. With a clang, a golden key slipped out into Daisuke's waiting hands.

Yes! I bounced on my feet, excitement sparkling within me. We did it! We high-fived each other, then Kei fixed the lock. It wouldn't do to risk disqualification, even if removing the lock was part of our task. When we made our way out, the man took one look at the key hanging from Daisuke's belt and lugged out a padlock. He secured the door shut, then unrolled the poster above. A huge golden X ran across the sheet. Now other teams would know the gold key was taken.

There was still something else I had to do. 'Listen, Kei.' I squared my shoulders and trampled down my pride. 'I'm sorry for what I said back then.'

Kei sighed and rubbed the back of his head, eyes on the floor. 'I'm sorry too. I shouldn't have shouted like that.'

I smiled and he returned it.

'If you're done, let's move on to the next spot,' said Daisuke, rolling his eyes.

Choosing the other point in the north-west, but still more south than where we were, we hurried off. This time it was a flower shop. But to our chagrin, a large bronze X marked the entrance. Deciding to not waste any time moping, we scrambled over to the southernmost spot. But yet again, a silver X hung over the door of a butcher shop.

I went over our map, trying to figure out where the other locations might be. But as far as I could see, they were randomly placed. 'What do we do now?' I asked, my nose wrinkling at the scent of blood wafting from the shop.

'I guess we'd have to look for other squads and take their keys,' Kei replied.

This time we took to the rooftops and balconies, running our eyes over the streets. But the seconds ticked by into minutes, then hours, and we couldn't find a single opponent. By the time we'd explored a good eighth of Heikisato, the sun had dipped below the horizon, bathing us all in a red-orange glow. Besides a few bathroom breaks, none of us had had any rest and our stomachs growled for lunch. Just as we were discussing if it was time to go home and try again tomorrow, Kei stopped midsentence and pushed me aside.

An arrow whistled past my ear.