THE APPRENTICE II

14

The sun was going down and the symphony of their stomachs grumbling filled the whole hall of where they sat. The two remained where they started since the morning and Hazel ate her last piece of bread.

"Human?" Icarus hummed, his voice getting raspy and dry. His throat was like sandpaper and his stomach, hollow. "Can I tell you something?,"

"Yeah,"

"I absolutely despise the soft rock." He confessed and gestured to the bread inside her net-bag. "Never have I enjoyed eating it and I think that even a nibble will drive me mad,"

"Well, just hold your breath when you eat it,"

"But I don't want to, I'm going to shrink if I take another bite." He continued and gestured to the apple. "I'll have the fruit, instead. You can have the rock,"

"Really? You're not just doing this to be nice?,"

"I have no reason to be kind to you." He raised his eyebrows and ate the apple in one bite. Hazel shrugged and took the bread in her mouth in a bite. It took every bit of self control inside her to prevent herself from eating it in one bite. "Thank you,"

"Yeah, and thanks, too." She shrugged and said through a mouthful of bread. She savored the sensation of the last piece traveling down her throat and into her stomach- they were officially out of food. Secretly, plans of surviving and leaving the labyrinth died inside her.

A familiar churning sound once again came from the sky, and the water supply rained over them. Icarus screamed in pain as it washed over the gash on his head while she opened up her mouth and took multiple gulps of it. The taste was slightly metallic and thicker than she was used to.

"Warning: high levels of water exposure. Further exposure to water may lead to a system malfunction."

Hazel's eyebrows shot up at the sound and she scrambled down her tunics. She used her palms to unwrap her belts and her eyes lit up at the sight of her cellphone.

"Shit, I didn't know I had this! How could I forget?!" She almost laughed and maneuvered her way through her clothes without harming her hands.

"Hello, wizard. You have 16 new messages and 4 new voice messages." The voice in her phone informed her. She crinkled her eyebrows at the device.

"Damn, Stark phones aren't playing around." She breathed to herself in amusement. "Imagine that: outer space and the phone still works!,"

"What is that device?," he curiously eyed it. "Can we eat it?,"

"No, sadly. It's a phone: you can contact people through it by calling them or sending them messages." She explained to him and slowly set it down on the floor. "I just didn't think it would still be alive, by now. Uh...how do I listen to these messages?"

She struggled to find a way to press on her phone. Her hands were to raw and slippery to do so, so she tried her tongue and chin. Icarus shot her a strange look and she tried her elbow on the screen, and it did so.

"Playing all messages.
Message from: Strange boy.

Hazel, where the hell are you?! Why won't you answer your phone?! I've called Peter and he says you two haven't seen each other since yesterday."

Stephen's voice went on speaker phone and a part of her heart twitched. She took light breaths to stabilize herself. His voice almost sounded fictional, in the most heart-breaking way.

"Why didn't you tell me, and why won't you answer your phone?! I can't find you anywhere, none of my spells can track you- who in the hell told you it would be a good idea to go to a dead zone and not tell me?! As you can already tell, you are in...in...enormous trouble, young lady and you better get ready when you get back!"

Hazel hugged her knees at his message and never thought she would ever miss hearing his sermons, but she did. She bit her lip and tried to prevent the tears from spilling.

"Message from: Peter.

Hey Hazel, um...Doctor Strange called me and told me you're missing, if...if that's a thing. I thought you guys couldn't go missing but he told me you were. Listen, if...you're still mad at me, I get that. I just wanted to say I'm sorry and that you were right. About everything. Uh...I just hope you're okay and that I get to see you again. Sorry again, and um...bye. See you."

"He probably asked Peter about what happened." She hummed to herself and turned to Icarus. "Peter's my friend and, well, you know who Stephen is."

"Message from: Wong.

Hazel, what's going on? You haven't been responding to our messages and no one can find you anywhere. You're getting us so worried! Stephen's been worried sick, you know that? I'm not going to scold you any longer because I'm sure Stephen has by this time. Just...come home, okay? You're okay."

"Message from: Stephen.

Hazel, I...are you okay? Did I do anything to make you do this? I told you to tell me if I've done something."

His voice was much gentler and raspier than the first message. His breathing was audible through some parts of the silence. Oh, how she longed to tell him this had nothing to do with him.

"If it's my fault, then I'm sorry. I'm sorry and don't even bother remembering that last message. You've...you've been gone for too long now and...gosh, I really hope you're not dead- no, no you're not dead. Hazel, please, I...I don't know what else to do, I've tried everything. People... have been telling me that you're probably dead but I know you're not. You can't be dead, it's not- you just can't. So...just show up! I'm sorry, I shouldn't have screamed. Come home, Hazel, please."

Tears were falling down her face by the end of his message and she buried her head further down her knees. She missed her old life, she missed her family, but there was no way of getting out. Each second she was there only pierced her heart even more.

She knelt down to her phone and her hands hovered above it. She just needed to send him a message: to tell him to stop waiting for her, that she was sorry and that she loved him, but she couldn't even click on a button. An overwhelming tingle of anger and self hatred caused her to clench her fists, sending an unbearable feeling on her skin.

"Oh...fucking hell!" She screamed at the top of her lungs and kicked her phone against the wall. Her eyes widened in realization and she went after it, the screen cracked and blackened- how could she have been so stupid? She let out a frustrated cry through gritted teeth and let the tears fall down her face.