A groan emits sadly from a single dilapidated floor plank. Rubble clatters softly into the large fissure and down to the first floor far below. I cringe with each sound.
Are you sure this is safe, Dinoval? I question while I move slowly over the rift on the only board left unbroken.
Do not fear, she replies as quietly as the dust swirling lazily in the air, we are here for you, Silvia.
I exhale heavily when I reach more solid ground. I close my eyes while put my sweaty hands on my shaking knees and breathe. I still hate heights while not Cross Fused… I moan.
Ha! a different, more articulate voice laughs, to think you enjoy flying on my wings!
I ignore Solstice's comment as I gather my bearings and look up at my prize. "Wow…" I whisper, wide-eyed with awe.
Its golden frame may be tarnished, yet the work inside is immaculate. The painting depicts a livid battle between a valiant ironclad knight and an immensely large green dragon. The dragon stands precariously on the edge of a precipice with one gigantic clawed foot about to strike the knight. The white knight is poised with his long thin sword aimed at the dragon's heart. The painting's artistry is immense; I can almost hear rumblings of thunder, the crashing of waves on the cliff, and the cries of battle. The realistic-ness of this painting is not replicable; only one family can paint this incredibly: Hikari.
The "Ketteiteki Sutando" or "Decisive Stand." Jurassic explains. His normally strong thought-speak is strangely quiet, almost distant sounding.
Tearing my eyes from the artwork, I look at my clothes. I am clad in Dinoval's human morph attire: a long sleeve black shirt with blue jeans and an unzipped red jacket with the sleeves rolled up. In addition to her normal uniform, around my neck I bear a grey feather on an intricately woven cord. I gently hold the feather so that it catches a lone beam of light. It shimmers silver and reflects jade green wherever a certain light catches it right. Should I use this now? I ask Dinoval.
No, she replies sternly in her currently muffled thought-speak, unless you do not wish to meet Daisuke in your own body.
Of course I want to meet Daisuke, I nod and let the feather drop back onto my chest, this is the first dimension we've encountered that we can defuse stably. Besides home at least. I freeze still suddenly. My F-ainian sharpened senses reveal a human presence behind me. I whip myself around to face the silent newcomer. "I know you're there!" I shout into the darkness and curl my hands into fists, "come out and face me!"
A boy steps causally out of the shadows. "And what might you be doing in here?" he asks calmly. His voice is harmonious but raw, as if he had been screaming horribly from some unimaginable torture.
My hands drop to my sides and my eyes widen. "Sa- Satoshi…?" I stutter in astonishment.