Mr. L quickly found that this was no ordinary maze. Not only was it huge, filled with what felt like an infinite number of twists and turns, but it seemed to change while he walked through it as well. He couldn't even map out where he was in his head. He wasn't sure if he was moving forward or backward. 

He had no true sense of time either. When he was alive, he could always tell how much time had gone by simply by looking at the sun's position in the sky, but the sun, unfortunately, didn't shine over the Underwhere. D-4913 claimed that the dark souls knew his limit, but D-4913 wasn't there anymore, so he couldn't really ask.

The walls were about half as tall as they were around the borders of the maze, which was rather comforting. It was still far too high for him to safely climb over, but at least he didn't feel as small when he looked up at them.

He did see other dark souls, but none of them really interacted with him. They all simply sat atop that wall and stared down at him. Each of them generally wore the same thing as D-4913, although each incorporated their own style into their uniform. Some had a more ragged appearance while others looked much more distinguished. Even so, they each wore a black face mask over the bottom half of their faces. 

When Mr. L tried talking to any of these souls to ask them how much time he had left, they simply ignored him. He found that rather odd that they didn't reply since they were clearly watching him. D-4913 had interacted with him, so it was clearly allowed. Unless perhaps the rules were more strict inside the maze as opposed to the outer section.

The inside of the maze was less quiet than the outer section. Mr. L wasn't sure if that made it more or less eerie. He could always hear whispering, though he never could make out what was being said. 

Even with the whispering, he felt more alone than he did in the outer section. Not that he minded, of course. He had always worked better alone. Other people slowed him down. Even back during his lifetime when he was a part of a team, Mr. L had always done his best work alone. O'Chunks was far too dull for the man in green to work around, and Mimi always got distracted. Nastasia was alright, but her mind was wired differently. Yes, she was smart, but a different kind of smart that just didn't mix. The Count was more of a leader than a fellow teammate, so Mr. L never even considered working alongside him.

Then there was Dimentio. Mr. L hated to say it, but he was probably the only person Mr. L had ever met who could keep up with his level of expertise. Yes, the jester played the fool, but Mr. L had quickly learned that he was actually quite the genius. He could recall a time when he was building his Brobot, and not only did Dimentio understand everything, but he actually looked almost bored by the brilliance of the large metal contraption, as if his smarts were above that. 

Back then Mr. L had almost been offended by it, but now he was actually somewhat fascinated.

Not only that, but Dimentio also seemed to be a book nerd and a history geek. Mr. L could recall whenever Dimentio had free time he was always seen with some sort of book or historical document in his gloved hands. Sometimes the man in green wondered what the jester would have done with his life if he didn't choose to be... well, what he chose to be.

Mr. L secretly wondered where Dimentio was now. He had done his best not to think about him since the murder. At first, he was mad at Dimentio, but now his anger had mostly melted away, leaving him to just wonder why. Dimentio was a very smart man, a genius if you will. So if he murdered Mr. L, it had to be for good reason, correct? There had to be a purpose, right?

Well, either that... or he was just the psychopath that everyone else seemed to see him as-

Before the man in green could finish that thought, the ground beneath his feet gave out. He let out a short shriek as he plummeted downward. 

He had no idea how far he had fallen, but it took a good few seconds for him to finally hit the cold, hard ground. The impact sent a wave of shock through his legs and up his spine, to the point where he could feel it in his neck.  

He cried out and collapsed to the ground, feeling as if the wind had been knocked out of him, which was an odd feeling, because he was dead. His surroundings were all pitch black. He couldn't tell if he had broken any bones or not, but his left ankle throbbed, sending waves of pain.

"Uh oh, someone looks hurt," A familiar voice teased, making Mr. L gasp and look around himself, trying to figure out where the sound was coming from despite not even being able to see.

"You won't find me, so don't even look," The voice said, almost sounding bored. 

"Who's there?" The man in green asked, still looking around, even though it was obvious that he wasn't going to see anything.

"Me," the voice replied.

"Oh, real helpful." He snapped back, sighing and shakily trying to stand up. He couldn't help but whimper in pain as soon as he put pressure on his left ankle. He let out a small gasp and nearly fell back down once again, when he suddenly felt a firm hand grab his shoulders from behind, pushing him up and steadying him.

"Don't you know better than to walk in the dark without a flashlight?" D-4913 teased, his voice right behind Mr. L, practically whispering in his ear. Mr. L could feel his breath on his neck, which made him shiver.

He had always found it odd how some dead people still continued breathing. He himself still breathed whenever he remembered to simply because it made him feel alive, but about half the souls down in the Underwhere didn't since it was a waste of energy. He would have never expected a dark soul to waste energy on it.

"Great. It's you again," Mr. L groaned. His fists clenched slightly and his shoulder tensed up, but he was able to prevent the slightly fearful feeling from entering his voice.

"Aww, he's trying to act brave," The voice teased, whispering into Mr. L's left ear. "How cute."

"Get off me. What are you talking about?!" Mr. L asked. "What makes you think I'm afraid?"

As if on cue, a match was lit. Mr. L watched with wide eyes, seeing that tiny match being held out in front of him. D-4913 still stood behind the man in green so he could steady him, but he held the match in front of the two of them so they could both see. 

"Oh... the way your shoulders hunch. The way you are forcefully holding your chin slightly higher than natural. The way your hands are clenched. I can read you like an open book, Mr. L..."

Mr. L winced, watching as the flame burned all the way down to D-4913's fingertips.

"Get off!" The man in green repeated, trying to shake him loose. 

"Alright," He hummed, letting go of Mr. L's shoulder. Without the support, he immediately fell back, letting out a small involuntary squeak as his head hit the cold ground.

D-4913 burst into a hit of laughter and lit a small lantern that was situated on the wall. Once he was done, he grabbed Mr. L's shoulder once again, taking his left arm and slinging it over his own shoulder as if he wanted Mr. L to use him as a crutch.

Mr. L was slightly confused.

"What are you doing?!" He exclaimed while the dark soul started helping the man in green walk forward.

"My job." D-4913 plainly stated.

Mr. L rolled his eyes, knowing that most likely meant he was either being led to another trap or just being led backward. However, the man in green couldn't exactly push the dark soul away. His ankle hurt too badly for him to put any more pressure on it. He could barely walk on his own.

"I can tell what you are thinking. I am not leading you back to the beginning, nor am I leading you into a trap," D-4913 assured.

Mr. L blinked a few times, wondering if the soul could somehow read his mind. He perished the thought after a moment, knowing that all deceased souls were stripped of any magic they may have had in their lifetimes. 

"How the heck do you expect me to believe anything you say? I don't even know what your real name is!" Mr. L exclaimed.

D-4913 stopped, sighing. Mr. L didn't see him sigh, but he could hear and feel him exhale.

"Well... look at it this way. It seems you haven't any other choice," D-4913 breathed.

"That's not true," Mr. L pointed out. "I could shove you away and-"

"Crawl around in the dark like a helpless child?" He asked with a hint of amusement in his tone. "Now, now, Mr. L, even you aren't stupid enough to waste your precious time like that."

Mr. L let out a slightly annoyed sigh, unable to come up with a witty comeback. "I suppose you're right..." he breathed.

He helped Mr. L walk the rest of the way through the dark underground caverns in silence. He continued lighting matches and holding them out with his free hand, lighting the way. Mr. L cringed every single time the flame reached D-4913's fingertips. However, with the glow of the flame, he could finally get a more accurate view of this mysterious person's face.

Unfortunately... the man in green didn't recognize him. It was just some random soul. He didn't quite look how Mr. L expected him to. For one, he was shorter than Mr. L thought he'd be. 

He had black hair which swept over his left eye. It was just long enough that he had to have the rest of it secured just above his neck with a hairband. His visible eye was black and looked fairly normal. The most unique feature of D-4913 was his grey skin tone. He wore the same black facemask all the other dark souls working on the maze wore over his mouth and nose. His clothes were all black, making him almost look like some sort of secret assassin. He wore black pants, (which had a few rips,) sturdy black boots, (which looked too big,) and a black tank top.

"Studying my appearance?" D-4913 asked. Mr. L blinked a few times, then immediately shook his head, not having realized that he had been staring. "Have I already managed to make you fall in love with me?"

"WHAT?! N-no! Of course not," the man exclaimed, shocked that the dark soul would even mention such a thing.

"Sure, sure," the dark soul teased, shrugging slightly until he came to a small latter that led up to a trap door. "Well, I'm afraid this is where we part ways," He chimed, letting go of Mr. L's arm.

"Huh?" Mr. L exclaimed, immediately stumbling to the side so he could use the wall of the maze to steady himself. "What do you mean? You're just leaving me?"

"Yes. That IS what 'part ways,' means," D-4913 teased. 

Mr. L hated his amused tone. He hated how D-4913 was speaking to him as if he was an idiot. How dare a dark soul speak to him in such a way?! Mr. L wasn't the one who earned himself an afterlife in eternal labor!

"What's your deal?" Mr. L asked, watching as the dark soul turned and started walking off, back into the darkness. "Why do you always do that? Are you trying to help me, or not?"

D-4913 suddenly froze up, then turned his head to look back at the man in green. His gaze hardened ever so slightly.

"I am not helping you," He said, his voice slightly more hushed than before. "I want to make that clear."

The soul paused, appearing cold for a moment. However, the moment was brief, and the peppy, annoying personality quickly made its way back into the soul. D-4913 smiled through his visible eye, then saluted in a joking manner while he took a step backward.

"Then what was that all about?!" Mr. L exclaimed as the flame the dark soul was holding went out, leaving nothing but the light from the cracks in the trap door visible. "W-Wait! GET BACK HERE!" Mr. L exclaimed, trying to chase after him, only to trip as soon as he went to take a step.

Mr. L heard receding footsteps, then silence. The man in green let out a cry of frustration, then meekly pulled himself over to the latter, climbing up while trying to put as little pressure on his bad ankle as possible.