An Owl's Rise

'Let's see, which way should we go from here? I came from this way, an Aralee came from over here, so I suppose going in one of these directions is our best bet to find the others.' Evelyn thought looking at the magic map of the maze.

From the overall size of the parchment the map was on, Evelyn could surmise that Aralee had explored around six percent or so of the maze so far after a week.

Evelyn on the other hand was not certain about how much she had seen, but at the very least she was confident about where the general area she had been searching was on the map even if it was not yet filled in.

The biggest problem was that they were not looking for stationary objects but moving targets. There was no way that any of her companions were just going to be sitting around waiting to be found. They would surely be proactive and begin exploring the maze themselves.

"If only we had some way to pinpoint the other's location on this map. It is big enough that we could go for years without all of us meeting up again." Evelyn said, a bit frustrated by the situation.

"Ah, that shouldn't be a problem. I have already met with Bylur, and we came up with a plan on what to do. It may not work, but I think everything will come together given a bit more time." Aralee said, a confident expression on her face.

Evelyn, however, was dumbfounded. Her little sister had just revealed something big and quite a bit confusing. If she had already met with Bylur, why was he not with her. It made no sense for them to split up.

"Aralee, why would you and Bylur split up? I know you could cover more ground that way, but since the maze shifts even if you set a meetup point it may not be there in the future." Evelyn said, not understanding Aralee's decision.

Realizing how confusing what she just said was, Aralee vigorously shook her head and explained.

"Oh no, I did not meet with Bylur in the maze, but back on the first floor. We can use these checkpoints to return to the crystal dome there. When I found my first checkpoint, I used it to go back to the first floor of the domain and found Bylur waiting there. I honestly don't know where he is in the maze."

Aralee then explained what she and Bylur had come up with and was reminded just how capable her compassions were even when she was not leading them.

'To think that they made so much progress while I was stupidly flying around in a panic.'

Evelyn once again understood how horrible her response was to the situation and made sure to ingrain it into her head to make sure that it did not happen again.

"So, has anyone else been by yet?" Evelyn asked.

On the first floor in the crystal dome, Aralee and Bylur had left a makeshift message board where any of the others could leave information about their location and status within the maze.

There were also scheduled meetup times so that they could all try and gather together again by using the checkpoints within the maze.

"No, last time I checked no one else had come by other than Bylur, but that was three days ago. The two of us decided that it would be best to head towards the center of the maze where the warp pad to the next floor is supposed to be. Even if all of us gather on the first floor we will still be separated in the maze should we go back. Plus, there is no telling when everyone might make it back to the first floor. We agreed that it would be better to continue exploring and check in periodically when we can. If we had just waited around for everyone to show back up on the first floor, I hate to imagine what would have happened to you, sister."

Nodding her head, Evelyn agreed with Aralee's and Bylur's plan. Using the first floor to exchange information and slowly come together within the maze was a good idea.

Evelyn was a bit disconcerted to hear that no one else had left anything on the message board yet, but a lot could happen in three days so hopefully someone else would have left something by now.

Another reason that Aralee and Bylur had chosen to continue searching through the maze was because they suspected that there might be other items like the magic map that could help them navigate it or even locate their missing companions.

Altogether their plan was fairly sound, and as long as none of them died in the maze, it would almost certainly get them back together faster than just wandering around looking for each other as Evelyn had been doing.

"Now, it costs thirty-four iron tokens to go back to the first floor, so it is not cheap, but with what we got from the dream flower and what I already have on me, we have enough." Aralee said, taking out the sixty-eight tokens they would need.

Evelyn winced hearing how much it was. Realizing how nasty this domain could be.

It was incredibly cheap to come to this floor from the first, but to leave it was not easy and cost a decent number of iron tokens that could only be gained through defeating the monsters in the maze.

Still, the price was a small one to pay in order to find out the conditions of her companions, and leave her own message stating that she was fine.

Aralee and Evelyn having determined their next course of action, headed tot eh terminal within the checkpoint and activated it.

Within just a couple of seconds they were caught up in the familiar glow of a warp portal and on their way back to the first floor.