Blinking in the bright fluorescent light, Dot left her scooter and cautiously approached the island where Fishy waited, impatiently swimming back and forth. She ran a finger along the bench. Not a single speck of dust.
Nui settled down onto one of the stools. "I don't know about you, lass," he said, "but I'm quite peckish, me, and I'm thinkin' our friend Fishy here is feelin' the same way. Ya any good a cook?"
"Eh-c-cook?" Dot was taken aback. "We're in the middle of some bizarre labyrinth, fighting for our lives! This isn't the time for that!"
"Are ya not even ae wee bit hungry?"
"No, I-" Dot's protests were cut short by a rumble from her stomach. She sighed in defeat. "I- I guess I'll make something," she said, blushing slightly."Aye, that's more like it!" Nui cheered. "What'll ya be makin'?"
"Well, it depends on what's here." Dot began looking through the cupboards. There were plenty of cooking utensils, pots, pans, all gleaming brightly, apparently never used before. Bright, cleanly white plates, sparkling glasses, fine cutlery, and drawers with neatly-stacked cookbooks. There was, however, very little in the way of actual food. The fridge was bare, save for two bottles of milk, and a bag of rice sat in another cupboard. "I guess this'll have to do," she said, taking the bag of rice. Hidden behind it, handily, was a container of food flakes for Fishy to eat.
A few moments later, Dot and Nui both sat at the island, unadorned bowls of white rice in front of them, while Fishy happily nibbled away at the flakes of food floating in his bowl.
"Well, it's not much." Dot poked gingerly with a fork at the rice in the bowl in front of her.
"Aye, but it's somethin'." Nui eagerly tucked in to his meal.
Dot began to eat, watching Nui out of the corner of her eye as she did. Seeing the rice disappear into the indistinct shape sitting in a banana boat was a strange spectacle, though there had been a lot of those recently. The rice tasted uninterestingly normal. Looking the other way, Fishy had stopped eating, and was swimming lazily in circles. He appeared to be quietly muttering to someone, though Dot couldn't make out any words.
An awkward silence fell as they continued to eat. Elsewhere, far off in the distance, a faint rumble could be heard, followed by a faint shriek, barely audible over the dim hum of the nearby refrigerator.
Dot looked back at the figure in the banana boat next to her, and hesitantly broke the silence. "So, uh, Nui. You're from here? The labyrinth?" she asked, as she stood up to pour a glass of water.
"I suppose ya could say that." Nui's fork clattered into his bowl, now empty. "I've certainly been here fer a long time.""So, you should know if there's some kind of way out."
"Sorry, lass. I don't know about anythin' like that. It's ae big place, an' it likes to surprise ya. I'm sure ya've seen that yerself, lass." Nui gestured around at the kitchen.
Dot yawned as she sat back down, and frowned. "I have another question."
"Ask away, lass."
"How did you and Chibos, uh, end up as you are? Where is Chibos anyway?"
"That's a bit of a story. Don't ya worry though, lass." Nui let out a loud laugh. "Ochibi's still 'ere, even if he's... unavailable." Nui began to laugh again, but was interrupted by a yawn.
"Ya see, lass, there's creatures 'ere who think tha' this place is the whole world. Not me, though. I've always wanted ta' leave this place, see what's out there. An' then I met ya friend Ochibi." Nui yawned again, even louder this time. Fishy had stopped murmuring. "Ya know, I'm feelin' kinda sleepy after that meal. Maybe I'll take a wee nap." Nui settled down in his banana boat, and closed his eyes.
Dot was already asleep.
***
Life, or at least his current version of it, had become fairly simple for Naizen. An endless grassy field didn't provide for much variety in entertainment, but being able to nibble at grass, wander down for a drink at the nearby stream, or simply bask in the warm sun was enough for the sheep. And he could always check in with how Dot was doing in the outside world. Something he was about to do, when Dot herself appeared, lying on the grassy hillside by the stream.
"Dot!" Naizen bounded up to where the girl lay, beginning to stir.
Dot slowly sat up, and blinked as she looked over at the sheep. "Naizen?" She rubbed her eyes. "I don't remember going to sleep."
"So you did not mean to come here? It is good to see you anyway, Dot."
"Yeah." Dot stretched her arms, trying to shake off the doziness clinging to her.
"I was about to check up on how things are going. The last time I checked, you had met up with the other fighters." Naizen casually bit a chunk of grass. "What happened after?"
"We were split up again," Dot explained. "I ended up together with Fishy and Nui."
"Nui?" Naizen gave Dot a quizzical look. "Who is Nui?"
"Oh, it's... they've taken over Chibos, or something. I don't fully understand."
"That would explain how his voice was different." Naizen took another bite of grass. "Did anything else happen?"
"We found a kitchen."
"Eh?"
"Yeah. A nice, pretty new-looking kitchen in the middle of the labyrinth. And we had something to eat, and then I ended up here."
Naizen looked wary. "I do not like the sound of that. This kitchen sounds like some sort of trap. There could be any sort of danger out there." Naizen took a step closer to Dot, and closed his eyes. "I will wake you up now, to be safe." He took a deep breath.
A moment later, Naizen exhaled. "That was bad," he sighed to himself. "I should really check up o-"
Naizen opened one eye to see Dot, still sitting in front of him.
"Wh-what?" the sheep stammered. "Dot? How are you still here?"
Dot shook her head and shrugged.
"Hmm, something seems to be stopping me from waking you up." Naizen sighed again. "In which case, you are stuck here for a while."
Dot stood up and walked towards the stream, feeling strangely calm about the situation. "So what do we do, then?"
"There is not much we can do, really."
Dot dipped her hands in the cold stream water, as a thought sprang to her mind. "Maybe you could answer me something. You know your rapier?"
"Licht der Freiheit?"
"Yeah. It disappeared when I arrived in the labyrinth. I thought you might know something about that."
"Oh, you do not need to worry about Licht der Freiheit. It will return to you when you most need it."
"Hmm." Dot splashed some of the water onto her face. "That's maybe all I had on my mind to ask you at the moment."
"Well, while you are here," Naizen said, "perhaps I can help you with learning some spells from your book. I notice you have not had a chance to practice any."
"That'd be good. Something to do, at least."
"I can help you with at least this much. Now, a basic fire spell is..."
***
Some time later, Dot woke with a start. Wherever she was, it certainly wasn't the kitchen anymore.