Nexon Halloween Story Contest Alt Text

	Axelrod ran throughout the broken-down hotel looking for clues. Earlier he woke up in the lobby and quickly discovered that he was not alone in that place. The front door, including every door he's come across thus far, has been locked and needed to be unlocked with various keys that he's been finding in grandfather clocks, on tables, and in the oddest places imaginable. Unfortunately, nothing found has worked on the front door thus far.

	He glanced around the corner of a hallway lined with windows, and there it was. It started charging Lightning Rod, so Axel quickly ducked back behind the corridor before the spell could be cast. What kind of a Demi Lich was that? Axel's stats were completely drained, and his equipment minus his style tab were completely disabled. Consequently, fighting was out of the question. Just then, lightning and thunder crackled outside, causing the windows to flash. Axel looked around the corner again, and the Lich was gone. It must've teleported to another room.

	Axel hurried to the door, and unlocked it with a Rusty Key that he found in the previous room. The sign read "Bar." He hurried in and shut the door behind him. He glanced around and noticed his best friend passed out (or dead...?) at the bar, and his heart skipped a beat. Axel ran up to him.

	"Hikarinight! HEY! Are you okay?!" shouted Axel, as he shook his friend. No response. He moved his friend behind the bar and began searching the room for any clues. In a bucket he found a scrap of paper with some numbers on it, and tucked it away in his pocket. He returned to his friend to try and rouse him once more.

	"Hikarinight, WAKE UP! I know you're not dead! It's impossible to kill a milletian!" Axel insisted, shaking Hikarinight persistently. Axel then heard the ominous whooshing sound and immediately hushed his actions, actually hoping that he didn't end up rousing Hikarinight because he knew... it was there. Axel crawled as quietly as he could to the end of the bar and carefully edged his gaze around it, and his fear was confirmed. The Demi Lich had indeed teleported into the Bar, and was walking around looking for signs of life.

	Axel did his best to suppress his fear and tried to study the creature. Facing it head-on was suicide due to its Advanced Heavy Stander traits and his drained stats. It knows all Lightning magic, and seems to have a different form of teleportation apart from Silent Move, because it was being teleported to random spots in the hotel to patrol for a short time before being teleported again afterwards. It was also incapable of running unless it detected life, so was often resorted to using its slow walk.

	Perhaps Axel had studied the Lich too long, because it whirled around a full 180 degrees and saw him. Axel's eyes went wide with fear, but the Lich disappeared before it could charge any spells. Axel hurried back to his best friend.

	"Hikarinight, WAKE UP!" Axel yelled, for he knew the Lich may come back at any minute. Hikarinight's eyes snapped open and darted to Axel.

	"Finally! Don't scare me like that!" Axel said, moving away a bit.

	"Wha... where are we?" asked Hikarinight.

	"We're in some hotel. I couldn't tell you where. I woke up in the lobby and it's been one key puzzle after the next. Almost all of the rooms in the hotel are opened." replied Axel.

	"What's left?" asked Hikarinight, sitting up.

	"I found a scrap of paper with some numbers on it... I have an idea. Please be as quiet as you can and follow me." replied Axel, heading for the Bar Door. He opened the door a crack and didn't see the Lich outside. He moved out of the bar and headed for the Pantry, with Hikarinight hot on his heels. The duo moved into the pantry and Axel's gaze fell on the safe that he encountered during his earlier trek of the hotel. He quickly but carefully entered the numbers to open the safe. "4...7...7...4..." click.

	The safe opened to reveal a key which Axel had not yet seen. It almost appeared to be... silver. Axel then knew.

	"I think this is the key we need to get out! Let's try going to the lobby!" Axel said aloud. Hikari nodded. The couple started heading back the way Axel came, past all of the various rooms with open doors. All that was left now was the hallway that connected to the lobby.

	Axel took one step forward and a grandfather clock started chiming and lightning flashed. The Demi Lich was at the other end of the hallway, in front of the lobby door.

	"NO!" Axel screamed. The Lich raised its arms and unleashed sparks all along the hallway in a terrifying display. It then began to cast Lightning Rod, and Axel put his guard up, expecting pain, but the Lich disappeared.

	"Huh...?"

	ZAP! The Lich unleashed its spell on Axel and Hikari from behind. That wasn't a supernatural teleport, it was a well-placed Silent Move from the Lich.

	"Gah... well played... Perhaps I deserve to die..." Axelrod said breathlessly, as the Lich slowly inched closer to where they were lying on the ground. Axel turned his head to look at his predator, but not a second after Axel's gaze found the Lich, it disappeared. Again. Last chance.

	Axel hurried to his feet, despite the pain of being in deadly, and Hikarinight limped over to him. Axel took out the silver key as they hobbled over to the lobby door, and as Axel turned the key into the lock, he heard the satisfying click that he heard all throughout his "stay" in this hotel, and couldn't help but grin as he and Hikarinight escaped that terrible place.

	"It takes a lot more than hopelessness to kill a milletian..." he whispered.