The queen took Mr. L aside and brought him to the nearest palace window, so he could see the lay of the land.

The man in green frowned slightly at the sight. There was something being built where Underwhere road used to lie. Had that always been there?

"Per Grambi's request, we've guarded the dimension doorway so only truly worthy souls can reach it," The queen explained, gesturing out the window at the large sight.

"What is that...?" Mr. L asked, squinting his eyes. Whatever it was, it was absolutely massive. He couldn't even see where it ended.

"THAT is the new path out of this place. If a living soul were to come down here, the only way out would be to journey through that. The same goes for worthy neutral souls who wish to escape," She explained. "It's a maze."

"This seems overly complicated. Why can't you just be the judge of whether or not we're worthy or not? And what's stopping the shaydes and dark souls from leaving?" Mr. L asked.

"The door won't let them out. Only living people and neutral souls. And to answer your first question, I suppose I could, but we've had an increase in dark souls who need work, souls who need to be punished by eternal labor. So... they are being charged with working in the maze." Queen Jaydes explained.

Mr. L furrowed his eyebrows. That still sounded needlessly complicated. He was almost convinced that the queen was just bored and wanted something new in the Underwhere. 

"Cool, cool. So what does this have to do with me getting my life back?" The man in green asked, trying to stick to the original topic. 

"Simple. I need someone to test it," she said, smiling down at him. "If you pass and make it out of the dimensional door, you win and get your second chance."

Mr. L's eyes widened. Was it really that easy?! 

"Are you serious?! HA! And I thought this would be hard. You're basically handing my life back to me!" he laughed.

"Oh no no," The queen teased, waving her finger side to side. "There's a catch. I'm not just going to let you go. There are a set of... rules you have to follow."

"Oh? And what would those be?" He asked, smirking and crossing his arms, still unable to believe how lucky he had gotten.

It was just a stupid maze. A child's game. He could probably beat it with his eyes closed.

"You have 48 hours to make it out," She stated. "And if you fail... you disappear. No life, no soul, you're just gone. It'll be as if you never existed."

Mr. L's breath hitched and his shoulders tensed slightly, but he still wore a confident expression.

"Wow. Is there a reason why you're raising the stakes, or is this just purely for your entertainment?" He asked, still not letting go of his slightly arrogant attitude. He could tell she was trying to intimidate him, but sure as heck wasn't going to give her that satisfaction. He was going to continue to play the part of someone fearless.

"A bit of both. If a living human were to go through the maze, they'd have to deal with the fact that they may get stuck and die. But you're already dead, so you need something equally as drastic to weigh you down and cloud your mind, don't you think?"

Mr. L nodded, not that he was all that worried. 48 hours was a long time. This would probably be the easiest thing he had ever done. 

"Alright," he mused, looking out the window and smirking yet again. If he squinted, he could see the dimensional doorway down at the far end of it. "It doesn't look that far."

"Oh, it's farther than you think..." The queen smiled. "And time is shorter than you think. For in the maze, things may not be as they seem. Are you sure you wish to accept?"

She then held her hand out to the man in green.

Mr. L didn't even have to think twice about whether or not to take the deal. The maze seemed easy. Maybe it would even be fun. If she wanted him to be a guinea pig and test it for her, he'd be more than willing.

"Oh, I accept," he said, grabbing her hand and shaking it.

"Good. A tip of advice though, man in green..." Queen Jaydes trailed off, letting go of his hand after a moment and leaning forward slightly. "Watch your back... and trust nothing."

She then walked off, snapping her fingers, signifying the start. The Countdown had begun. "Head outside. See if you can find the entrance."

Mr. L stood there, smirking. He still couldn't believe his luck. He couldn't believe that the oh-so-intimidating queen of the Underwhere was just letting him walk away from his death. He didn't think that it would be THIS easy!

He couldn't wait to see the stars. To find the ocean. To feel the autumn breeze. To listen to music. To do all the things he'd heard about, but never truly gotten to enjoy for himself. He couldn't wait to just live. Live his own life where he'd get to make his own choices and be his own person.

He cracked his knuckles and strolled down to the northern side of the castle until he came up to the large wall. It seemed to be made of stone. 

He silently wondered when Jaydes even found the time to build the maze. It was enormous! Where did the queen find the time or materials to make it?

Knowing her, she probably used her D-Men and the dark souls, since they were doomed to work for her. She probably didn't even have to do much. Not that Mr. L felt bad for them. The D-men were getting paid and the Dark souls were, well, DARK! They deserved their fate. 

Mr. L honestly felt lucky that he wasn't doomed to be a dark soul. He was worried when he was first sent down there and judged by the queen, but since his life was so short and he hardly did anything on his own free will, she let him off as a neutral soul. 

The function of the differing types of souls in the Underwhere somewhat reminded Mr. L of a social pyramid, only this one was based on how well a soul behaved during their lifetime. At the top, there were the Nimbis. Next, the regular souls who were deemed good enough to be in the Overthere. Below that, neutral souls like him. Next were the shaydes, and at the very bottom, the dark souls. Mr. L expected there to be some sort of prison for the evilest of souls, but instead, they got eternal work, which in a way was its own prison. The dark souls get very little choice in what they do, wear, and say. They're stripped of everything that made them an individual and become nothing more than a worker, doomed to do anything Jaydes commands of them.

Sometimes Mr. L almost did feel bad, but then again, they all deserved their fate. 

He approached the tall wall and looked up. He could see the top, but it was WAY too high for him to climb over. The wall had to at least be a hundred feet tall, maybe even more! Mr. L's depth perception had never been all that good, so he really wasn't sure. Jaydes probably made it that tall so people couldn't cheat by trying to get a bird's eye view of the maze. Or maybe she didn't want people cheating by climbing over the walls. Either way, it was an effective design choice.

He looked side to side, trying to spot some sort of entrance. The wall seemed to go on forever and ever in both directions, with no opening. How in the heck was he supposed to get in? Mr. L silently wondered if Jaydes perhaps forgot to place an entrance on the maze. Perhaps it was a design flaw.

He shook his head, perishing the thought. This was probably just a trick to discourage just anyone from entering the maze. The man in green sighed, then started walking to his right when he suddenly heard what sounded like a throat clearing itself from behind him.

He gasped and whirled around, only to be met with nothing.

"What the..." Mr. L trailed off. He didn't have time to just stand there and wonder what he possibly heard. He had about 47 hours and thirty minutes left to get to the door and still needed to find the entrance! 

He paused, then continued forward.

The same thing happened once again, making him halt and cross my arms in annoyance. 

"Okay, whoever's doing that, stop it! I can hear you!" Mr. L shouted.

He was met with more silence. How annoying. He obviously knew that someone was there, so why the heck were they hiding?

"Not talking, huh? Fine then," he shrugged, taking another step.

"You won't find it that way," the person finally said.

Ah, so they do talk, Mr. L thought to himself.

 He froze in place and looked around himself, trying to figure out which direction the sound was coming from. They sounded far away and it sounded like their words were coming from... above him?

The man ingreen slowly looked way up to see something...? Or more specifically, someone, casually sitting way up atop the wall. How the heck did they even get up there?!

They were too far away, so Mr. L couldn't tell who or what they were. 

"Wh- how did you get up there?!" Mr. L asked, my eyes going wide.

"Why don't you focus on the question at hand," the voice called back down. The small figure brought his hands to the sides of his mouth as if he was amplifying his voice. Mr. L could definitely tell that he was a he now.

The question at hand? What did that mean? Mr. L was trying to find the entrance, not solve a riddle. He was just trying to get in. 

He probably should have asked the mystery guy where the door was. That was probably what the stage person wanted him to ask. 

But instead, the idiot he was, the man in green asked, "What's your name?"

"What's yours?" The mystery voice called back down.

"It's L," Mr. L simply replied. He honestly didn't see any point in hiding his name, so he didn't even hesitate to answer. Although, as soon as he did, he felt uneasy. The queen did tell him not to trust anyone after all.

Oh well. What's said is said.

"Ah, I suspected so... I'm D-4913," The guy answered, crossing his legs and leaning back slightly while he sat atop the wall. If Mr. L squinted, he could almost see a few features. The top of his head was black. Mr. L couldn't tell if that was his hair or a hood, but it just looked black. His clothing was a lighter color, but Mr. L couldn't really make out shapes. "The queen told us you'd come."

D-4913. Ah, so he was a dark soul. All dark souls were marked by a number with the letter D in front of the number, that way everyone could be aware that they had been a sinner in their lifetime.

"Alright... well, do you know where the entrance to the maze is?" Mr. L asked next since that was clearly the answer he needed and the question D-4913 wanted him to ask.

"Hmm... maybe," D-4913 replied.

Mr. L's eyes lit up. He stood up on his tiptoes, slightly hopeful. "That's great! Well, where is it?"

D-4913 just sat there, seeming to stare off at something in the distance. He almost looked as if he zoned out. He slowly started humming something, but it was too quiet for Mr. L to pick up on the melody.

"Um... I said, 'where is it?'" Mr. L repeated, slightly louder.

"Where is what?" D-4913 asked, seeming to almost snap out of his daze.

Great. Mr. L was already annoyed. "The entrance," be repeated through gritted teeth.

"What entrance?" The dark soul asked, now sounding amused.

Mr. L let out a groan of frustration and threw his arms up in defeat, turning and leaning his back to the stone wall. He took his hat off and brushed his left hand through his hair in a frustrated manner. "Asking you questions is a waste of time," he spat.

"Hmm, not if you ask the right ones," D-4913 pointed out, sounding smug. 

Mr. L let out an annoyed sigh. He did his best to hide his frustraition. "How... do... I... get... into... the... maze," he stated. It was a question, but it didn't really sound like one.

"Aha! Now that's more like it!" D-4913 chimed in a teasing tone. "You're leaning on the entrance right now!"

Mr. L furrowed his eyebrows, then quickly stood up straight and turned around, looking at the solid wall in front of him. What on earth was D-4913 talking about?! There was no entrance! It was just stone, stone, and more stone.

"Uhh..." Mr. L trailed off. "Nothing's here."

"Hmm? Well, then I guess I can't help you," The guy shrugged, leaning back as to leave.

"NO! Wait!" Mr. L cried, holding his hand up as if reaching out for the dark soul

D-4913 stopped, then leaned back over the edge, looking down at the man in green once again. "Yes?" He asked.

"... how do I open the door?" Mr. L asked.

The man paused for a moment. Mr. L still couldn't really see him, but he could tell that D-4913 had tilted his head ever so slightly to the side. 

"Well... not everything is as it seems. Are there any cracks?" D-4913 asked.

"Of course not. It's a new wall," Mr. L said all too quickly. 

"Check again, my friend," D-4913 sang teasingly.

Mr. L wasn't all too fond of being referred to as a friend. He rolled his eyes in annoyance, then looked at the wall, expecting to see the clear, strong wall that he had seen just moments ago.

Only... "Wait a minute..." the man in green muttered, squinting. 

There WERE cracks in the wall. Just in that one section, though. They almost looked as if they made a circle.

"Told you~! Why don't you give it a knock? See who answers!" D-4913 chimed. His voice was almost theatrical. Mr. L found it slightly annoying. 

Even so, he did as he said, knocking once.

"Yeesh. Only one knock? Some consider that rude," the dark soul teased. "I always knock at least three times. Three's the magic number, after all!"

Mr. L looked up at him, giving him an annoyed glare, then knocked three times. As soon as his hand left the stone after the third knock, the wall right in front of him began to fade, becoming transparent, then disappearing to nothing, leaving an entrance in front of him. There was a purple glow that seemed to be emitting from the depths of the maze. It was almost pretty. 

"Whoa..." Mr. L trailed off, slowly stepping forward.

D-4913 smirked to himself, looking at his own nails. "You're really going in there?" He asked, standing up on the wall so he was no longer sitting and leaning over.

"Yep," Mr. L simply replied, stepping into the maze and looking up at him from the other side of the wall. "I mean, I kinda don't have a choice anymore, now do I?"

"Hmm... fair enough. Well, what will you do now?" D-4913 asked.

Mr. L looked to his left, then to his right. "Uh... both ways look the same. Which way would you go?" he asked.

"I wouldn't go either way," D-4913 shrugged.

Mr. L huffed in annoyance, crossing my arms. "Well, gee. Thanks for nothing."

"I got you in, did I not?" D-4913 pointed out. "Do you know what your problem is?" 

"What? What exactly is my problem?" Mr. L asked in a slightly ticked-off manner. He felt like he was just wasting time at that point.

"You take too many things for granted. Even if you make it out of here, nothing will really have changed." D-4913 explained.

"I don't think you understand. This is life, I'm talking about!" Mr. L retorted. "Everything will change."

"Hmm... will it? In the end, we'll all just end up right back down here. You can hide and run all you want. There's no escape..." the dark soul teased, lightly laughing. He then started walking off, still on top of that wall.

Mr. L scoffed. Who did this soul even think he was? He was nothing more than a sinner doomed to an afterlife of eternal labor. Who was he to judge Mr. L?

The man in green secretly hoped that he would trip and fall. That would be funny.