A Estinthion Love Story

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Allen stood about two corners away, silently having listened to her talking. It put a smirk on his face, even though he felt bad about lying straight to her face like he had - not that she obviously knew any difference. He could hear her calling his name, trying to find out where he was... He could play this.
"Why do you want to know? You hate me, right? Then why would you want to be near me? Why would you want to follow me when this map doesn't go where it should?" He'd discovered it as he'd walked towards the dead-end earlier, that the twists and turns of the drawing wouldn't technically match the usual design of a maze - not that he'd been in many, but he was good at geography.

"Well, that weekend is certainly going to be fun. I honestly can't wait." Alicia smiled, before she moved to take the lead in the maze, wanting to get moving again instead of awkwardly standing there talking about the two people she really didn't want to be talking about now; not that she let it bother her, really.
"So... I actually have no idea where I'm going, because I've never been in this way before." She mused as she came to a crossroad after turning the next corner; this time she was being careful not to trip over anything.
 
Dillon watched her go and smiled a little. "I hope it is. I'd love to see you having fun," he murmured to himself before walking after her. When she got to the crossroads he placed his hands on her shoulders and turned her in the direction that they should go. His hands were soft, barely touching her shoulders, but just enough to guide her in the right direction. "I've been through here a lot. It's a great thing to do when you have nothing to do over a summer holiday. In winter it looks beautiful, covered in snow and all. Have you ever seen the rose patches in here? I chose this way because it leads right by them."

There was silence for a few moments after Allen had spoken as the boys words sunk in. Then there was the sound of running footsteps. and she turned the corner, running straight into him. She blinked up at him and pulled back quickly enough. She looked away quickly to hide the fear that she had felt at the knowledge that the map wouldn't lead them to the center and back. "Give me the map, please" she said, though the please was a few seconds late as if she was going to give him an order but thought better of it. "It got us in this far, it can get us out right?" The young woman did not want to get stuck in the maze as the light faded from the sky.
 
"Oh, I have been in here a fair amount, just never through the entrance we went in." Alicia laughed softly as she allowed herself to be guided; she was so tempted there and then to just lean back and let him catch her but that was probably pushing her luck, and she didn't want to fall over again in case he accidentally didn't catch her. So of course she simply continued walking,
"Mazes are always so much more fun when it's dark. Makes it seem more complicated and even a little scary." She glanced over her shoulder with a small grin, "I'll definitely have to try it when it starts to snow. I'm not fond of snow for too long so I tend to try and avoid it. No real reason, either, other than its the best way to avoid being slammed in the back of the head with a snowball thrown by the younger grades." She sighed softly, having had that happen a few too many times.

"Go ahead and try, but I don't know where we are on it." Allen shrugged and handed her the map. It was true, he had no idea. But unlike Leila, he didn't mind getting lost if he knew he didn't have to be somewhere - like a class. Plus he knew that if he called out loud enough, Dillon would no doubt hear and eventually come to lead them out. He could tell she was getting pretty scared about this whole ordeal, but if she wanted to chicken out, then he wouldn't help try to calm her. Sighing, he leant against one of the bush walls as he waited for her conclusion.
 
Leila took the map and looked at it. Her heart started to sink as she tried to make sense of the map. Her mind was working as hard as it could trying to decipher the different lines. "We are here," she said pointing to about halfway through the map. Even though she understood the map, that didn't mean she had any idea of which way was up or down on the map and so she was looking both ways to see if she recognized anything. Nothing. Nada, except for his stupid face. Growling she shoved the map back at him and started off in one way, hoping that it was the way that would lead her out of this place.

She hadn't signed up for getting lost in the maze with Allen! She had signed up for a cozy walk with friends!"First days always suck!" she raged at the sky, taking a few turns before stopping. Ahead of her was a dead end, but it wasn't unoccupied. In the middle of the dead end was a gazebo like structure. Roses crawled their way over the top and up the sides giving an almost peaceful affect to the place. her mouth opened a little in surprise as another string of curses caught and held in her throat.

"I'll come with you and protect you from the snowballs," Dillon teased gently. "And the kids don't dare come here in the winter. Someone made up a very malicious rumor that it's haunted during that time." This was said with an innocent look that spoke of who really had started the rumor. "Great glob monsters and giant sphinx's that want to riddle you with claw marks. Very dangerous stuff, that. Must be very careful. Of course there are those kinds of rumors about this place at night as well."
 
Allen followed her with a sigh, figuring it would be better if they did try to stick together. Plus it would annoy her more, no doubt. He tucked the map back into his pocket as he walked, so as he followed her, he wasn't paying attention to the fact she'd stopped and he ran into her back at a fairly decent speed.
"Sorry." He mumbled, catching her so she wouldn't fall; he hadn't tried to catch her, but it was simply a reflex. His arms moved to go straight around her waist, though the moment he was sure she wouldn't fall, he let go and looked past her,
"Huh?" He was confused. This was technically where the map was meant to lead... But, why? Dillon had just succeeded in confusing him.

Unable to hold in her laughter, Alicia let it out as she walked, unable to believe at all the mischeif this boy could get up you,
"You honestly amaze me, Dillon. Clearly a gentleman, smart in looks, intelligent, playful, cheeky, Irish, and a mischief maker!" Of course this was all said as her laughing cooled off to giggling, and then seaced, however it was all still meant as a compliment. Turning a corner, it wasn't a deadend, but there was a small seat set to the side of the path for those that would require or want a rest from the confusion of the maze; so, Alicia sat, and looked up at the darkening sky with an amused but also blank-yet-content glaze over her face.
 
Dillon took a bow as she sat, "I aim to please the world with my mischief," he replied with a teasing smile before he sat down beside her, joining her in looking up at the sky. "It is going to be a nice night tonight. I bet if we listen carefully enough we can hear the ghosts that haunt this place." It was a joke that he had made up a long tie before when he'd first stayed out after dark in the maze. As it got darker, the maze took on an almost ghost like atmosphere that he found amazing. "So, you like painting, having fun with mischief makers like me and hanging out with your friend Leila. What else do you do with your life?"

Leila squeaked a little as he bumped into her. She spun, planning on taking the fall on her side, only to be caught and held for a moment by Allen's arm around her waist. Her feet stabilized herself just as he released her. She stared at the boy before her as the rising moon haloed behind his head. She looked away quickly and walked towards the gazebo to see if there was some way around it or some unseen passage. When she didn't find any she sat in the middle of the gazebo, pulling her skirt around her knees as she glared that the ground. she was trying to figure a quick and easy way to get out of the place without seeming to be fearful of it. She would kill Dillon when she saw him next.
 
Alicia sighed softly after she gave him yet another smile, "I'm not creeped out by that, by the way." She quite liked his stories of ghosts and monsters, because she'd never had those sorts of stories growing up.
"Really, you know pretty much everything about me now. I rarely go home because my mother and I don't really get along, and she divorced my dad when I was really young so I don't even know him. I don't care, either." Shrugging, she leant back against the hedge and let out another soft sigh, which accidentally turned into a yawn that she blushed over and covered her mouth,
"I'm not tired, honest." She mumbled, a little embarrased and she hoped that he didn't think that she was bored, because she was certainy far from it, "Just a little lack of oxygen to the brain. Gotta keep moving around." For some weird reason, that was always one of the few things she'd ever retained from primary school science: what a yawn really meant.

For a while, Allen just stood there, watching Leila walk around and obviously try and find a way out, unsuccessfully. He let her sit alone for a few minutes before he walked up to her, and sat beside her.
"Are you alright?" He asked softly, concerned that she would possibly lose her mind - or temper. "I'm sure it won't take long to get out of here. We can't have been in here anymore than an hour, considering the sun set not that long ago, right?" Even though the sky was nice and pretty clear, there was an ever present slight chill on the wind - or at least in the section of the maze they were in.
"I didn't mean to say what I said to you earlier, about the whole guinie-pig thing. It wasn't really true." He whispered, taking a glance at her, "I'm sorry."
 
Leila turned her rust-brown colored eyes on him as she focused in on the boys face. "Why are you like this?" she asked softly in a reply to his question about her well being. . "Do you like to mess with people so much that you are willing to do it to someone you don't even know? I don't appreciate it." She turned away and sighed, staring up at the sky again. She didn't mind night at all. In fact, she preferred it. If she wasn't so frightened of being lost in the maze for a long time, she might have pointed out the constellations that she knew.

She reached up with trembling hands and pulled the small ribbon that kept her long hair up out. The dark hair fell down around her shoulders, stopping just below her shoulder blades. It would allow her a small amount of warmth since she had left her school jacket back with her bag and was only wearing a light white shirt and her skirt as clothing that would protect her from the chill the night air had taken on. As if to make the night worse, a hard breeze began, blowing directly at them. Inadvertently it caused her hair to flap behind her like a cape around her pale body. "Dillon and Alicia will come to find us when they realize that we didn't make it out," she said almost as if making a prayer.

Dillon grinned and shook his head with a shake. "Come, if we walk about, then we'll yawn less," he told her. He rose and held up a hand to her to help her up. "And I never would have thought you were tired. There was a rumor last year that you didn't go to sleep until almost midnight each night despite the lights out rule." He was grinning like an imp. In fact he had chosen the route that would take her next to the rose bushes, but it also led past a lake that he wanted her to see before the night was over and if they stayed where they were for the moment then there wouldn't be any reason for them coming into the maze in the first place.

"I just--" he started to say before the wind that plagued Leila rustled its way past them. He turned his face to it and listened, as if seeking some kind of acknowledgement from the breeze before he shook his head and smiled at her. "We should get going, it might start raining if we don't get out of here quickly and I still have something I want to show you."
 
Allen didn't reply, for the moment. Instead, when the wind started to blow, he noticed her hair flapping around and sighed softly. Standing for a moment, he removed his jacket, and kindly placed it around her shoulders,
"No point in having you freeze to death." He mumbled, kneeling down beside her, "We can get moving again, if you like, and try and make our way out." If the weather was going to change on them, he didn't want to get stuck in here any longer than needed. Allen observed Leila for a little while, without realizing he was basically staring, but he was apparently mesmerized by her dancing hair and her pale skin in the new moonlight.

Alicia nodded and took his hand as she stood as well. She let out a light squeal at the chilly edge on the breeze as it wafted trough and actually scrambled to hide behind Dillon and use him as a shield. Sure, she was wearing jeans and a t-shirt, but she wasn't good when it came to handling cold without the appropriate clothing.
"Hahaa..." She stammered, "sorry. Um, let's go." She nodded eagerly at his mention of rain, "If it wasn't for that breeze, I wouldn't have believed it would rain tonight. Look at how clear the sky is."
 
"We were lucky to get a warning," Dillon said with a smile before he wrapped his arm around her shoulders and held her close so that his body heat could warm her as he led her through the maze. He hadn't realized what he had done until he'd walked for at least a moment. Then he stopped and pulled away, looking down at her worriedly. "Sorry, didn't mean to assume anything." He put his hand back in his pants pockets and stepped forward to walk the rest of the way to the rose bushes before taking a sharp left and went through the bushes, disappearing from view. Then a hand poked back out, waiting for Alicia to take it.

Leila looked up at him as he rose, expecting him to leave her there. Instead he removed his jacket and put it over her shoulders. When he knelt down, she caught herself staring up into his face. When he didn't look away, she didn't feel as bad for staring up and examining his face for some kind of hint of why he acted the way he did. When her hair had settled back down around her, she lowered her gaze as she started to blush a little. He had yet to stop looking at her and while she wasn't uncomfortable under his gaze, she did feel a bit embarrassed for her anger earlier.

"I'm sorry," she said softly, "I should have considered that you might have been having a worse day than me when you moved here so sudden-like. I shouldn't have been as mean as I was to you. I don't like people that are fake, and I thought that maybe you would be one of those people. You are just confusing, Allen. With your nice-guy act in front of Alicia and the jerkish way you acted when you were with me." she pushed herself slowly to stand up, clutching his jacket closely around her. "Thank you, for the jacket. Maybe it would be best to try and get out on our own. Who knows when Dillon or Alicia will find us." She was trying to be nice.
 
Alicia hadn't at all minded the close contact, and had in fact rather enjoyed it, and been a little disappointed when he'd let her go. But, she wasn't going to complain - it was at least a good sign. She came to a halt and stood blinking at the hedge when Dillon disappeared through it.
"Ummm..." She was about to call out to him when his hand came back through the hedge for her. She grinned and took it, her own rather cold fingers warming up nearly instantly; that was one thing she always liked about guys - they were always warmer than her! She slipped through and came to join him on the other side.

"There is nothing for you to apologize for, Leila. Sure I moved here suddenly and I don't take well to sudden changes in my life like that, but there was no need to treat you so badly, and everyone else normally." He of course still had his reason, but perhaps he was over compensating? Maybe laying off a little more would help relax tension between them for a while. After all, he didn't want to over do it to the point that she really would never talk to him again.
"That would also be a good idea." He stood, and held his hand down to her, "I'm sure it won't be too hard to find our way out again." He even offered her a small, gentle smile.
 
What she came out to large enclosed space with multitudes of flowers in every shape and color blooming under the night sky. In the center was a small lake. In the middle of the lake, accessible by a trail of stone steps in the water, was glass enclosure with a piano inside. "I come here to think, when I don't have to go anywhere else," Dillon said in a hushed tone. It wasn't on purpose. He probably could speak at normal range if he wanted, but he had never found anyone that knew about this place and had thus always felt a certain respect for its secrecy. "Not many people know of this place. I can only guess that they think the roses would scratch them if they got too close, but I've found that no matter how I come through, I never get scratched. You shouldn't have either," he explained with a small smile.

Leila looked at his hand and then up at his smiling face. Vipers and foxes smile at their pray before they eat them, she thought, but took the hand offered anyway and used it to rise to her feet. "I'm afraid to say that I won't be much use figuring a way out. I wasn't exactly paying attention to any of the other possible turns and so going back might be harder than coming here," she said with a weak smile to return his. She slowly took her hand from his grasp, her finger tips lingering for a second on his warm skin. While his jacket was warm from his body heat, it was quickly losing it as she clutched it closer to her. It would have been nice, she found herself thinking, if she could stick close to his body, but she pushed that thought out of her head quickly and lowered her gaze.
 
"This is amazing, Dillon." Alicia gasped in amazement and without knowing it she was clinging to his arm, too. She soon enough let go, however, and started to wonder around in utter awe. Feeling special, Alicia couldn't help but start to dance around with a grin on her face, enjoying herself. She only did it for a few minutes before she looked back over at Dillon with probably the cutest smile she could conjure.
"Absolutely gorgeous."

"Wait a moment," He looked up, and then moved around to start climbing the gazebo. A few seconds later, he was on top of it's roof and looking around. Being that it was now pretty dark, but he could see the lights from the school. He then climbed back down, landing beside Leila,
"I know where to go. Come on." He held his hand out to her once again, able to tell that she was still getting pretty cold out here. He'd offer her another jacket, had he been wearing one. Alas, he was not, and so the best he could do was help her get out of here quick, considering that hugging her was certainly out of the question.
 
"Yes, you are," he said more to himself as the wind picked up around him to muffle his words as he watched her run and dance around. Dillon then smiled and walked towards her and hopped out to the middle stone in the line to the glass building. He held out his hand as he stood there, beckoning her towards him. "Come on Alicia, I want to show you the piano in here. Surprisingly it still sounds good for how old it is. It is perfectly maintained."

Leila watched him climb the gazebo and could almost have smiled if she hadn't felt another gust of wind slam into her. She took the jacket off her shoulders and pulled it on proper so that she could button it up, encasing her body in the material. When he offered her his hand, she looked up at him and then away as she took it. Her finger tips were ice cold despite the heat in the jacket. "I hope it's a quick route," she replied with a weak smile. The heat his hand gave off made her shiver a little and she stepped instinctively closer to him, though not close enough to be seen as inappropriate. She looked anywhere but at his face. This wasn't the first time she had held hands with a boy but it was definitely the first time in a long time. But the thud in her heart warned her of an unwanted result if she let herself forget how he had treated her and let herself be wooed by this young man's look and present actions.
 
Still smiling as if the action were going to go out of fashion with the next few seconds, the redhead reached out and took his hand so she would be able to follow him. In fact, she was eager to get to the piano, as she would hopefully be able to call upon her skills from when she was 13 and was learning the piano.
"Honestly Dillon, this place is totally amazing. How could you ever want to come out of here?" She was still in awe as she looked around at all of the flowers and then forwards at the piano. She was so excited all over again.

"Well I could see the direction of the lights from the school, so it shouldn't be that bad." Allen informed softly before frowning at how cold her hand was. He stopped and turned to face her, and reached for her other hand. Doing so, he then worked it so that her hands were flat together, and his then encased hers.
"You're hands are freezing." He murmured, to make it obvious that he was merely trying to warm them. Rubbing back and forth to create a little bit of friction to create warmth quicker, but not enough to start hurting like sometimes happened.
 
Dillon smiled happily at her and led the way across the stream stone walkway and pushed open a door into the area with the piano. "It is hard, I admit. I once found myself so compelled to remain here that I didn't leave until the next morning, ensuring detention and a worried call from my father," he said with a chuckle, remembering their anger when he refused to tell them where he had been--simply that he'd been safe and that was all to it. Inside the room with the piano was a warmth that could only be made by a glass house--having caught the sunlight and kept it in there. He led her over to the piano and slid the key cover back and opened the piano's lid so that she could see the good condition of the piano that he'd come to love as part of his quiet literal secret garden.

Leila looked up at him and couldn't help but smile a little. Maybe the boy wasn't such a bad goose-ling? Keeping that in mind, she let him warm her fingers for a few moments before slowly sliding her hands away. "They'll be warmer when we return to the castle. And they are always cold. No matter what I do they'll be cold," she said with a shrug and simply pulled the over sized jacket tighter around her body. "Thank you though, that was kind of you to try and warm them. You saw the way though?" She looked up at him, the moon playing over her pale face before a cloud flew over the moon and darkened the area around them for a moment.
 
Alicia looked around at him as she sat down on the old but still seemingly sturdy seat.
"I can imagine you doing that, you little rebel. But for something like this..." She sighed softly, happily, and stroked the keys lightly enough so that it wouldn't make a noise just yet, "It's totally worth it." She smiled at him, before looking back at the keyboard, and this time started to hit a few of the keys before settling into a flowing melody of a song she no longer knew the name of. Her smile had disappeared, though, and was replaced by concentration, and a distant look of thoughtfulness and remembrance as she played.

Allen merely gave her a nod in reply about her hands before he then started to walk again,
"Most of it, I think. Don't worry so much. Just stay calm and we'll be out soon enough." This time he took her arm so that she would be able to keep her hands warmer from inside the jacket and helped lead her out, making sure that as he went he paid attention to all of his surroundings and was managing to successfully backtrack the way they'd came; he did not want to get caught out here now that the wind was picking up and if he was correct, the weather would be changing with it.
 
After hearing several parts of the song that she was playing, Dillon sat next to her on the bench and began to play the counter melody to it. While he hadn't told any of his friends that he could play, his grandmother had required him to learn at least one instrument as a child and this was the one that he had picked up. He slipped his music in and out of hers, a small smile on his lips as he listened to their joined melodies. As he played he slowly looked over at the young woman that sat next to him. Muscle memory allowed him to play and yet still watch her as she played. When they drew to the closing of the song he let his melody fade out gently so that he could hear the end of hers clearly without any distractions. "Gorgeous does not do you justice," he whispered softly, looking at her carefully. He waited until she was done playing before he leaned over and gave her cheek a sweet and gentle kiss. "So your playing may forever blossom." He explained this just as the storm overhead opened up and released its loving water.

Leila stuck close to him. For some reason she was able to relax as he led the way out of the maze. As they were turning a corner, she stumbled over a root and ran into him with such force that she lost all control of her feet and went tumbling down onto her stomach with a soft 'oof'. The arm, that he had taken and that she had gratefully kept near his warmth, slipped free and allowed her to fall all the way. Wincing, she pushed herself up onto her hands and knees. It was at that moment that the skies decided to open their dark cloudy eyes and drench them. When she finally got to her feet, her clean, white stockings were dark brown with mud and she looked absolutely horrible. She unbuttoned the jacket and held it up over her head, offering him a place to take refuge as they finished their way out of the maze.
 
Alicia had nearly fumbled over the keys when Dillon had joined her, but she recovered very quickly as if nothing had happened and she smiled as she looked at him as he looked at her,
"Any other surprises up your sleeves?" She giggled upon the end of the song and she moved her hands to rest on her legs as she'd been taught to do at the end of a performance, "You're good. And I'm kind of annoyed I cannot remember the name of that song, though, but it's the only one I remember that is actually complicated." Smiling, it quickly disappeared as she heard the rain start to hammer down on the glass, "Oh no...!" She looked around, chewing her bottom lip. Not only were they now pretty much stuck in here - not that she was at all complaining about the company - but Alicia and Allen were no doubt stuck too; Mika and Nelli on the other hand were probably long out and back in their rooms.

It had happened a little too quick for it to register in Allen's brain, and so he hadn't been able to move quick enough to catch her. During the time that his brain processed her fall and then the rain, he was half drenched by the time he got under his jacket with her and helped her hold it up.
"Well.... This is fun. Are you alright?" He asked, genuinly concerned that she wasn't injured - he didn't really want to have to carry her back.
 
Dillon shook his head and rose from the seat near the piano and went to stick his hand outside under the rain. He smiled at the feeling of the rain hitting his palm before bringing his hand in and closing the door tightly so that the rain wouldn't get in. "Don't worry. I think Allen and Leila got out of the maze all right. There'll be a break in the rain for about thirty minutes," he said before quickly adding, "I think." He couldn't very well tell her how he'd know such things, so it was simpler if he just thought about it. Though he couldn't very well explain to himself why he knew what he knew. It was all very complicated.

Leila looked at him and nodded, "As good as one can be with the knowledge that she'll have to do washing to get the stains out of her uniform," she said with a shrug before looking up at the sky from under the jacket and sighed. "Well, we can hang out in my room until your jacket dries and the rain stops so you can get home." She made the offer without really thinking about it. If she had been with anyone else, she would have made that same offer without second guessing it. Then she remembered who she was with and she found herself blushing, glad for her dark hair that hung around her face that hid it. "I mean, if we don't find Dillon and Alicia. I really don't know where his room is and all."
 
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