The light around them faded, and the trio found themselves on a grey, dusty pathway. The scenery was as dull and bland as before, save for the girls clothes and hair. Even the spirit seemed to lack the vibrant hues you'd expect.
"Spirit, why are we here?" Rena asked, calmly.
"This is the last spot that the sisters were seen. A small force tried to overtake them by surprise, but they stood little chance, as you can see."
And Rena could see alright. The ground was littered with dust and fallen weapons. Scorches from Ket's lightning were ripped across the ground, and there were indentations of where an attacker might've been. It didn't feel quite like a battle zone, however...there were no bodies, no corpses.
Then something caught Chisato's eye. "Look at this..."
Rena walked to her and knelt, and noticed a streak of red blood across the otherwise colorless road.
"It must've been the hurt sister, the dying one."
"No", Rena replied. "It can't be. This streak has signs of moving, and that sister couldn't possibly have been able to stand up against attackers. Not in her condition."
"Perhaps," the spirit replied. "It's moot right now, however. As we stand gawking at the remains of fallen fighters, those sisters continually march closer to the center of our world. Let us make haste."
The girls walked down the path, but stopped when they noticed the spirit wasn't following them. He knelt down next to a fallen mace and picked up a handful of the unnatural sand. He then put the sand in a small cloth bag and attached it to his belt. Apon standing, he looked at the girls with a noticeable sadness.
"The ones who fought here fought with honor. Their fate is now left to Tria."
"If they can do this kind of damage, then our fate is also left to Tria..." Chisato mumbled.
"No. This world's fighters cannot compare to your powers. You are our..." The spirit trailed off and lowered his head, listening to something inaudible. He then looked up with a start. "Girls, they've been spotted. We must move. NOW."
Before the girls could ask, the spirit raised his hands, and the scenery around them vanished.
----------------------------------------------------------------
"Something's wrong", Lena said. "We should be there by now."
Chi turned to her. "Patience, Lena."
Celine sighed. "Do I really have to be here anymore? Can I just go back?"
No response. She didn't really expect one. So she moved her hand into her pocket and felt the edge of the dagger. It was sharp...sharp enough to cut her hand. That was good. It might come in handy.
Celine sped up her pace to walk next to Lena.
"I never got to thank you, you know."
Lena didn't look at her. "For what?"
"For pretending to be my husband and betraying me."
Lena still kept her gaze forward. "I was following orders. It wasn't personal."
"Oh, I think it was. Otherwise, you'd be able to look at me in the eye now."
The girl said nothing and increased her pace. Celine matched it.
"Well, why don't you?"
"I don't have to."
"I saw you in that room. You weren't exactly 'following orders' according to the look on your face."
"Go away."
"You sure you want that, deary?"
Lena was about to retort, but Ket's voice drowned out her own.
"That's it! That's that place! That shrine!"
The sextet looked straight ahead and saw the end of a dull path, replaced with a stone marble walkway. Several sparkling blocks of ivory-colored stone made up a staircase to an extremely large columned shrine. The place seemed to be its own light source, the only brightness they'd come upon in this colorless wasteland.
"We have to hurry," Pae said from behind. The group turned and saw her supporting Lia, who was breathing heavily.
"She's right", Chi said. "Let us enter the shrine."
The six walked up the stairs and slowly entered through the columns. The inside was as bright as the outside, with no decorations adorning the walls or floors. The only thing within the shrine was a wooden pedestal on the opposite end from them.
"There it is..." Ket slowly uttered.
Chi took the lead and began walking towards it.
"No defenses?" Pae wondered aloud.
As Pae spoke those fateful words, a white light exploded in front of her. Ket shielded her eyes a a little too late, and had to refocus on the source on the blast. Before her stood a dark-coated figure with a large staff. By all accounts he looked like a shrine priest. However, at his flank were two rather recognizable girls. Ket growled at the sight.
"The hell're you?" Chi yelled to the being.
"My name isn't important to you."
"I know who you are," Ket said, pushing past Chi. She summoned lightning into her hands and shot it at the robed man. He moved in a flash and deflected the bolt with his staff.
The being calmly returned to his position. "Would you like to introduce yourself, or would you like to try that again?"
Ket ignored the question. "That guise is the oldest of tricks. Did you really think that would fool anyone? It's almost on the first page of the book!""
Rena looked up at the spirit.
The spirit chuckled softly. "You're delusional, child."
Ket growled and collected energy into her palms. "Even for those few days, you learned our strategies, our secrets, our techniques...but not enough. Not enough to defeat us! You're not fooling us! We're not stupid!"
"Apparently I am, Ket," Chi said. "What's going on?"
Ket wasn't listening. "Lose the guise, test-subject!"
She threw the bolt at the man, and once again it was quickly intercepted. However, instead of deflecting the bolt, it entered into his staff. The spirit fought to regain his grip, but the pain became too great to hold, and it fell to the floor.
As the rod hit the ground, it snapped into two. Instantly, the man's robes began to dim and dissipate. Three bursts of light erupted from the staff, blinding everyone in the room. Then, the spectacle was over.
Rena rubbed her eyes and looked at the figure next to her...then she rubbed her eyes again. Chisato looked just as dumbfounded.
The other girls all shared the same surprise, save for Ket.
"So that's where you went to..." Chi mused.
Rena could finally speak. "...Claude?"
~