The Last Soul

Author's note: I own nothing. Poot.

Daniel wandered the halls of the labyrinth. He was too young to understand what he saw; only that he saw it. Vast hallways stretching on forever in an arctic like place. He watched with some amusement as his breath misted in the air. Not far behind him the frightening one followed. He shuddered. He did not like the chattering one, no, but it was what his guardian had demanded.
His guardian, the gold crowned, Xipe Topec. It didn’t sound like a name to him, but neither did the other things they called him. Like the black Gatekeeper, or the Black Pope, or the Favored Son.
Daniel began to run, knowing that the chattering one would have to run after him. That was always kind of fun, until the chattering one caught him. Then it got frightening again. He turned a familiar corner and dashed past the strange lady. She startled, as she usually did, and then quickly pretended she hadn’t. She didn’t scare Daniel as much as the chattering one, but she was still freaky. The fat one let him dash past.

This was life. This was the only life he knew. His memories of the time before the labyrinth were dim. He had known someone then, someone warm and soft, and beautiful to him in a deep way. He was looking for her; he told himself that everyday. He was looking for her and one day he would find her. Until then his guardian would keep him safe.

His guardian.

All the other people here seemed kind of ugly to him, except his guardian. He slept in his guardian’s house, and ate there too. It was strange that he never saw his guardian eat. He would watch Daniel sometimes, his hands half occupied in making a long piece of metal shiny, or occasionally altering his robes in some small way; rewiring a chain, mending a tear. Sometimes he seemed to forget what he was doing as he watched Daniel, his face would get that small confused look, as if he couldn’t remember Daniel being there before. Daniel didn’t like it when this happened; it changed something between them, made the room feel strange. He would stop what he was doing and fling himself against his guardian’s knees, and snuggle his face into the cloth, breathing in the smell of leather and something sweet. He liked that smell.

Then he would feel his guardian relax and the weird feeling would go away. He could go back to eating, and his guardian could go back to watching. It was a good place, that house. His guardian’s familiar siluet in the dimmed light of evening, when the world got a little darker. The sight of him looking down at the boy before heading for his own bed in the shadows. It was a strange bed. At least, Daniel though so. It was stiff in places, soft in others, and the frame went right into the wall. There were no blankets. No pillows even!
Sometimes, when Daniel felt lonely, he would sneak into bed beside his guardian. The eyes would open, as black as the weird light over the labyrinth. They would watch him as he fell asleep. He always woke up in his own bed, unless one of the strange women had been over. Daniel didn’t like them, the strange women. They commanded too much of his guardians attention. But there was one good thing about them.
They made his guardian tired.
Then Daniel could take his blankets and sleep next to his guardian all night, because he was too tired to wake up and move him. Usually he would remove himself the next day, before his guardian woke up.

His guardian was his family. He knew that, even though it was never said. Daniel assumed with childish simplicity that the man who watched out for him was his father. He remembered so little of his life before, it made perfect sense. And his father cared about him, he knew it. Yes he was distant, he rarely spoke, he didn’t need to. It didn’t matter if he didn’t say it, like the special woman had. His father would protect him against anyone.

He knew this because it had happened before.
He remembered a strange man approaching him. His skin had been dark and patterned. His eyes had burned in the darkness and he had smelled terrible. Daniel had screamed, backed as far away as he could. The chattering one had moved in front of him. It had not fazed the strange man, he had made a strange growling sound and kept coming.
Then the ground had vibrated, he remembered feeling it through his shoes.

His shoes… they had fallen apart a while ago.

The ground was vibrating, and that strange man got scared. He started to back away. Daniel remembered seeing his guardian come out of a side passage and plant himself in front of Daniel, and the vibration had a tone suddenly, a deep rumble, and it was coming from his guardian. Then the strange man had run away really fast. Daniel remembered laughing, because he was relieved and it was funny to watch the strange man run.

He had stopped laughing when his guardian turned and looked at him with angry cold eyes.

Something had changed after that. His guardian had laid down a strict set or rules. Where he could go, where he couldn’t, what he should do and what he shouldn’t. It had seemed stupid, but you did not argue with his guardian. And a large part of him wanted his guardian to be proud of him, or at least to smile every now and then. He had seen it, seen him smile.

But that was rare, and it was never because of him. It was because of them. The strange women. ..


Daniel felt the hands of the chattering one close around his waist and he shuddered, but he laughed lightly. He didn’t want to get the chattering one mad. If that happened, then the chattering one would stay in one place and not chase after him anymore. Then he would have to stay in one place too, cause he wasn’t allowed to go anywhere without one of the strange people. He squirmed and kicked in mock struggle, the chattering one played along and seemed to loose his grip. Then it tightened again before he put the boy back on the floor.

This was Daniels life. Hell was his playground, and its overseer was his keeper.