The fluorescent lights hummed with that same maddening frequency. The chrome doors gleamed. The white walls stretched endlessly in both directions, identical in every conceivable way.
She stood in the middle of the hallway, the one she'd walked a thousand times on the way to her ridiculously oversized dorm room, and tried very hard not to panic.
"I'm not panicking," she said aloud, her voice echoing off the white walls. "I'm not scared at all." Cartoonish bulbous tears dropped down her cheek as she tried to fan herself to dry up the tears faster.
The hallway stretched endlessly in both directions. Chrome doors. Grey walls. That one portrait of some dead witch she'd never bothered to learn the name of. Everything exactly the same, looping back on itself in a way that made her head spin.
A door creaked.
Sophia spun around, her hand shooting up, golden mana crackling at her fingertips. The hallway behind her was empty. Just the same chrome doors. The same humming lights. The same-
Another creak.
To her left this time.
She spun again, her heart doing something complicated in her chest. [Empty. Empty empty empty. Nothing there. Nothing at all]
"Okay," she breathed. "Okay. It's just a building settling. Buildings settle. That's normal. That's-"
The lights flickered.
"AHHHH!!!"
Not loud. Not long. Just a small, undignified squeak that escaped before she could clamp her hands over her mouth. She stood there in the sudden dimness, eyes wide, waiting for something to leap out of the shadows.
The lights steadied.
Sophia exhaled shakily.
"This is fine," she whispered. "This is completely fine. I'm the strongest witch in the world. I can handle a creepy hallway. I've handled worse. I've handled everything worse. Remember that time Auntie Reina made me watch that horror movie together? I survived that. I can survive this."
She wiped the tears off her face.
[Sometimes I wonder if Auntie Reina made me scared of things on purpose to make controlling me easier]
A floorboard creaked behind her.
She spun around immediately and threw a nearby vase at the door, shattering.
"AHHH GO AWAY!!"
The door creaked open.
"Um," said a voice. "Miss Miller, is that you?"
A girl stood there, maybe her age, maybe slightly younger. Dark blue hair. Crimson eyes. Split tongue visible between slightly parted lips as she stared at Sophia with an expression of absolute, trembling awe.
"I'm Lucy," the girl said, her voice barely above a whisper. "Lucy Walker. I'm-I'm a huge fan."
Sophia stared at her.
The hallway hummed.
"I-what?"
"I've followed everything that you've done," Lucy continued, words tumbling out now, rushed and breathless. "I watched every single one of your features, I read every single one of your magazines, you're my idol! I can't believe you're real. I can't believe you're here."
Sophia blinked.
Once.
Twice.
Lucy's face went red. "I-I'm sorry, I just- you're Sophia Miller. You're literally the strongest witch alive. You're the Sophia Miller. I've watched all your music videos. I've read every interview. I even have that magazine where you're on the cover with, I know that you have a mole on your–"
Sophia's head snapped toward her, the movement too fast, too sharp. Her golden eyes were dilated, pupils blown wide despite the bright fluorescent lighting.
"I'm FINE," Sophia said, her voice pitched slightly higher than normal. "Why wouldn't I be fine? We're in a completely normal hallway that definitely isn't repeating itself in an impossible loop. This is fine. This is all fine."
Lucy blinked. "But-"
"Don't say it." Sophia held up a hand, her fingers trembling almost imperceptibly. "Whatever you're about to say, don't. I'm handling this."
[Is she really like this? I don't really care since I'm standing in front of THE SOPHIA MILLER]
The strongest witch in the world, a reincarnation of Merlin himself, someone who had walked away from the Miller family and built her own legend through pure, overwhelming power, crying from fright in the middle of a hallway was shocking to her.
Sophia looked like she was about to have a panic attack over absolutely nothing.
"Okay," Lucy said carefully, her split tongue flicking nervously. "So. We appear to be trapped in some kind of-"
"ZENITH," Sophia interrupted, the word coming out as a squeak. "It's a Zenith. Obviously."
She stopped, her eyes darting to the far end of the corridor.
"Did you hear that?"
Lucy listened. Silence. Just the hum of the lights and the faint sound of her own heartbeat.
"I don't hear anything."
Sophia shook her head violently, her coffee-brown hair swaying. "No, no, there was definitely something. Like... like footsteps. I'm never ever ever wrong! Like someone walking but their feet aren't quite touching the ground."
[She's hearing things. But she's the strongest, she's the best, what reason do I have to not trust her?]
Lucy took a step closer, trying to project calm. "Maybe we should check it out?"
"ABSOLUTELY NOT." Sophia's voice cracked on the last word. She cleared her throat, visibly composing herself. "I mean. Absolutely not. The correct strategy in an unknown Zenith is to gather information first. Rushing toward unidentified phenomena is how people die in horror movies."
Lucy's brow furrowed. "Horror movies?"
"I don't watch them." Sophia's denial came too quickly. "I've never watched a horror movie in my life. They're stupid. Jump scares are cheap. Psychological horror is boring. I have no opinion on them whatsoever."
Lucy smiled.
[I guess she didn't like horror movies, that's right. I hate them too, what good are them anyways]
The lights flickered.
"AHHHHH!!!"
It was not a dignified sound. It was high and sharp and entirely involuntary, the kind of scream that escaped before the brain could stop it. She immediately clapped both hands over her mouth, her golden eyes wide with horror at her own reaction.
Lucy stared at her.
"I... stepped on something," Sophia said through her fingers, her voice muffled. "That's all. My foot slipped. The floor is uneven here."
The floor was perfectly smooth.
[Yea, Sophia's right, something must definitely be wrong with the floor]
"Right," Lucy said gently. "The floor. Something must definitely be wrong with me for not noticing. We should probably keep moving, though. Standing in one place might not be the safest option."
Sophia nodded vigorously, still not lowering her hands. "Moving. Yes. Moving is good. Moving means we're doing something. Doing something means we're not just waiting for something to happen. Waiting is the worst part. In movies, the people who wait always-"
She stopped herself.
"Miss Sophia." Lucy nervously twiddled her fingers and asked as she looked down at her small size. "Why don't you just y'know? Blow the entire place away?"
"If I wanted to, I could, but this is an illusion so even if I destroy everything, there would be nothing outside."
"Don't you have any anti-Zenith techniques?"
They began walking. Sophia stayed close to Lucy's side, her golden eyes darting everywhere at once, the ceiling, the floor, the walls, the doors. Every few seconds she would glance behind them, checking the distance they'd covered, measuring it against something only she could see.
"I mean, I have ones for combat oriented Zeniths, but this is more of an illusion than anything so they're not going to be useful."
"Really?"
"Yep." Sophia muttered under her breath. "I could try to break this place down with brute force, but we're in a narrow hallway, my attack would completely blow you away."
"I mean you really are strong after all."
"I'm the strongest, don't forget that."
"Of course." Lucy blinked. "I mean, but how about your telekinesis? You're from the Miller family after all, surely you could–"
"No." Sophia's eyes flickered. "I can't use my telekinesis."
"Huh?"
The air crackled, a golden flying sword came rushing behind Sophia as she sat on its silver blade, throwing back her coffee brown hair out of the way. "This isn't told to the general public, but I'll make an exception since it seems like Hoshimi has an interest in you. I can't use my telekinesis, since I had made a Witch's Oath."
[It's like I'm her friend, I'm so thankful for all of these juicy deats from THE SOPHIA MILLER HERSELF. Wait, Hoshimi has an interest in me? WHo told her that?]
Lucy's heart did a small flip that she absolutely refused to acknowledge.
[I need to focus, I can save the fangirling after we get out of here, and maybe I can even get her autograph!]
"A Witch's Oath? What kind?"
"I'm only able to telekinetically control my own creations." Sophia snapped her fingers, a golden spear manifested from thin air, detailed engravings scattered throughout its surface. "I sacrificed what little versatility that my technique had to enhance its throwing power."
A door creaked.