Lured by a force, Nikita led her group on paths that she never took before, avoided primary because they're isolated, remote, a sign of trouble, but she felt the compulsion to follow them.
The change's enough that Theodore tried to reach out to Al for guidance, but he can't even do that, it felt like there's a block in his head, something keeping him from reaching out to anyone except Lila.
The zone doesn't want him reaching out to Al, for why that is, Theodore doesn't know for sure, though it's not because it's rude like he's on his mobile.
It's frightening, that not only is the zone capable of manipulating plains of existence thought unknown to man, creating unfounded creatures from those trapped, it's capable of suppressing his telepathy and prodding Nikita in doing things she wouldn't normally done under normal circumstances.
Whether it's capable of sentience, Theodore isn't sure, though the idea's frightening of itself, that Nikita's right to treat the zone with the respect she gives, and he wished he could apologize for giving her such a fright by throwing his voice, though he doubted she'd believe him anyway.
At the mercy of the zone, they must follow Nikita, knowing that if they go off the designated paths, if they so much as do something untoward, the zone will kill them without hesitation.
What it wants from Nikita, it's hard to say, but the zone listened to them from the moment they entered, it has listened for years before any of them entered, it knows what Nikita's thinking and eavesdropped for years, it's a matter of if it'll let her leave at the end of this.
Like Nikita says, the zone gives, but she takes.
"Where are we going?" V called out to Nikita as she led them through uneven terrain, camouflaged by the tall weeds that went up to her waist.
Nikita couldn't tell her if she wanted, she felt the compulsion, nothing more, and she kept leading them.
In her head, Nikita hears the woman beckoning her, her legs having minds of their own, she's unable to move on her own, and she couldn't say anything to the group.
This continued well until they reached a massive waterfall, with water rushing from the mouth onto the rocks below, Theodore and Lila noticed that the waterfall didn't create the atypical effects one expected seeing a waterfall.
No foamy white waters stirred by the rapids, nothing exactly like a waterfall normally had, the water came crash down, no rippling disturbances as it fed into the river.
For a moment, Nikita regained the use of her legs and she's able to speak, the woman gone from her mind, dazed, she blinked several times, before she realizes they're at the waterfall.
She'd never gone here on her tours, due to the treacherous waters, the power of the zone turned water on its head, making it dangerous to anyone foolish enough to interact with it.
Why the zone compelled her to come here, of all places, she doesn't understand, but the zone brought her here for a reason, and like a good guest, she's forced to follow the zone's silent commands.
"What's with the waterfall?" Lila asked about the unusual qualities of the waterfall, with water so transparent, it looked more like a sheet of plastic wrap pulled down without crumpling, despite the rapid waters.
Theodore stared into the river beside them, seeing everything including the aquatic plant life that made their homes in the riverbeds.
Shrugging his wide shoulders, Theodore responded he didn't have any idea on the subject, but thankfully Nikita did, as she showed them.
Carefully, she grabbed another marble from the sack, a red speckled with a white body, and carefully tossed it into the river for Theodore to see.
His eyes widened when he sees that the marble didn't plunge into the water, it bounced for a moment before it rolled on the surface, but not because of the waves carrying it, it looked like it's rolling across a hard floor.
It weaved as it rolled down the river, disappearing when there's a drop off, and Nikita says the water fundamentally changed.
When it's in motion, it's flows like water should, but it's solid, when it isn't flowing, it becomes a cesspool that traps and crushes anything or anyone that falls into it.
If anyone's foolish enough to try and drink it, the reaction to the stomach acid turns it into a permanent solid in the shape of wherever it's collecting the most, usually the size of the stomach, but sometimes people been known to excrete the solid water in different sizes if the amount's small enough.
Like a whole bowling ball in their stomachs, the affected people ended up dying because the weight of the water bogs them down, making them vulnerable to the creatures and people, practically starve because they can't fit anything in their stomachs without causing pain, though Nikita heard tales of people dying because the solid water started causing micro tears along the stomach lining from the weight, killing them from blood losses, sometimes even internally tore the stomach apart from it becoming weakened from the constant weight.
Yes, even water was changed in the zone to the point that if no one checks carefully, it's terrifyingly possible to die from simply drinking water, and it's known that no water source's the same.
Each one different, it's impossible to keep track, and with the zone, it's not guaranteed the same watering hole remains the same quality the next time someone comes across it.
It's required to bring water from outside the zone, if someone's here for an extended period, for this reason.
This water source's capable of crushing people and turning solid despite moving like liquid, but there's other water sources capable of instantly disintegrating anyone if they fell in, the acidity so strong, it's capable of melting everything from guns to Kevlar vests.
With this, there's even suggestions of sentient water, hidden away deep inside the remains of the nuclear power plant, becoming sentient when the water meant to cool the rods within the collapsed towers grew radioactive, capable of grabbing victims and dragging them to their deaths into the darkened radioactive waters, though the validity of this story's hard to say due to the scarcity of details, and the fact of the matter that the story takes place in the remains of the most radioactive part of the zone, where not even seasoned stalkers venture towards.
However, Nikita couldn't wave it away necessary, considering the fetishes that people scour the zone for, capable to decimating them within seconds if they're foolish enough not to watch themselves, it's certainly possible that the sentient water's just a guardian for a fetish residing within the decimated power plant, never to be obtained due to the high radioactivity in the area, and the guardian protecting it.
As they're watching the waterfall, the translucent water falling to the rocks below, they noticed a cave behind the waterfall, Nikita deduced that the zone wants them to go inside.
"What could be in there?" Theodore asked Nikita her thoughts and the woman shrugged as she said that she doesn't know, but it has to be something that the zone wants her to see, and she can't turn away from it, else she risks the zone's wraith.
Even if it leads to her death, it's the way of the zone, she gives and she takes, but she'll become wrathful if Nikita doesn't do as told.
Carefully, the four walked around the riverside, towards the waterfall, mindful of the water as it drooped below, and they found a path leading them into the cave system behind the waterfall.
Whatever's inside it, it must've been something because there's a change in the air, it's cold and heavy, not damp like one expected from a cave system behind a waterfall.
No longer guided by the zone, Nikita's out of her element, as she doesn't know where to guide them, knowing that they can't turn back, the zone won't let them, no known map of the cave system, nothing that'd tell them where they're going.
Blind, they're forced to walk over the craggy cave ground, with only light from Nikita's torch as she surveyed their surroundings.
There's nothing but the smooth cave walls, spiny rock formations on the roof of the cave, no water leaking in from the waterfall, but the unusual qualities of the zone started showing itself, as they found the cave went on for what felt like eons.
Glances behind them every now again, the entrance completely gone, replaced by a wall of darkness, even looking at it's enough to cause them dread, fear, the thought of something happening if they tried going back the way they came, that they're forced to continue until they're stopped by Nikita as she found the cave opened considerably, revealing what looked like the remains of an underground temple, broken pillars and all.
At the centre of the pillars, there's sandy dunes, like something one saw at deserts, and they're mystified by the sandy dunes that looked untouched by moisture and climate, V wanted to step forward, but Nikita forbid her.
Cautiously, Nikita retrieved a few of the marbles and used them to deduce the type of threat they're looking at, throwing a translucent blue one to the closest dune near them.
It landed dead centre, the sand imprinting from the thrown marble, and wearily Nikita looked at it before seeing it disappear into the sands.
She throws another marble, a creamy white, towards another mound further from them, watching it disappear into the dune instantly.
"Well, what is it?" V asks Nikita what they're looking at as Nikita threw the rest of the marbles in her hand before moving to the lug nuts.
Throwing the lug nuts, they traveled in the air, but when they landed onto the dunes, they disappeared instantly.
There's a creeping feeling of dread coming from this and Nikita wearily reveals that they're looking at a guardian.
Sandy dunes with a terrible secret, if they stepped into them by mistake, they'll be vivisected on a level unseen, it'll be like they're sugar in coffee, turned into nothing but droplets of blood when everything's said and done.
Porcupine's brother died from it.
Hugo said that Porcupine underestimated what the guardian was capable of when he forced his brother to find the door, his brother died instantaneously the moment his foot touched the dunes by mistake, unaware what they were capable of, and since, the locals swear by it's nickname, "meat grinder."
"G-guardian, here?" Lila's perplexed at the thought of a guardian ending up in the cave system, but Nikita says they appear anywhere, it's a matter of what they do, that mattered most.
Theodore inquired if it means there's a fetish and Nikita says there might, the only reason there's a guardian here, and V's smile grew as she wondered what the guardian's protecting.
In the distance, they don't see anything, the light from Nikita's torch didn't help, and they're forced to discuss what they're supposed to do in this situation.
"Can it be stopped?" Theodore asks if they have a chance of destroying the guardian protecting the fetish, but Nikita didn't believe they're even capable of fighting any creature that prowled the zone with even tanks.
Some stalkers claimed they destroyed the guardians and claimed their prized fetishes at the end, but nobody truly believed them, because the guardians of the fetishes aren't to be trifled with, if they felt like it, they'd annihilate the four within mere seconds.
No mere handgun bullets can damage something of an ethereal origin, Nikita said.
Holding his arm as she glanced around, Lila asks, "Then what're we supposed to do, we can't go back!"
Unable to return where they came from, the darkness crept up from behind them, they're stuck here, unless they go across the dangerous dunes, to the opposite side, if they're even capable.
Nikita never encounters the guardians, she won't even go near areas with last known encounters for this reason, she can't possibly come up with a plan that grants them access across the dunes safely.
"I may be able to help with that," V spoke up, when Nikita turned her head, she's faced with her handgun, V stolen it from her backpack while they were busied looking at the dunes.
Wearily raising her hands, Nikita stiffly moved as V kept her from moving suddenly, Theodore immediately pulled Lila behind him as he chided V for doing something foolish, but the woman chuckled at him, instead.
"Have you lost your mind?" Nikita shouted at V as she held her arms up as V kept them near the dunes, while she's safely away from them.
Gripping the handgun firmly as she pointed it at them, V coldly tells her, "I'm only getting my money's worth."
Slowly, the handgun moved towards Theodore, ordering him to release Lila, she wants Lila to go across the dunes, see if there's anything on the other side, something that required the guardian's protection.
Gritting his teeth, Theodore insisted he go across the dunes, much to Lila's refusal, but V didn't want him or Nikita to go across the dunes, because they see the disturbances, feel them, Nikita's her ticket home, they're much too useful to her dead.
Lila, however, served as the sacrificial lamb.
"Stupid woman, do you have any idea what you're doing?" Nikita hissed at V, "she doesn't care what you want!"
Unrelenting, V barked orders as she held her gun towards Theodore as he clenched Lila close to him.
"We don't have a choice," Lila tells him that they can't risk fighting V for the handgun in the area, either them risked getting shot, or landing in the dunes.
Worse, they can't afford angering the zone from fighting off V, it may react to this negatively, causing more problems.
"Are you out of your mind?" Theodore's icy blue eyes widened as he couldn't comprehend Lila's thought process, but she told him that he couldn't go through the dunes, anyhow, if anything happened to him, that's that.
Shaking his head, his wild hair bobbing, Theodore insisted that Lila not risk her life for their sake, but she says they don't have a choice.
Covertly, she reminded him that he can't open a tear to steal the gun away from V because the zone controls the reality and won't let him.
"But I can throw my voice!" Theodore covertly tells her and tries to do it just that, but found that the cave nullified the echoes, preventing him from throwing his voice to scare V enough for him to grab the gun.
Falling back to another tried and true, he tried to get inside her head, but that isn't working either, the zone isn't letting him do anything that can stop V in a safe matter.
Unable to use his standard kit, it left Theodore helpless, and he clutched Lila close to him as he stared at V.
"Why?" Theodore demanded to know V's reasoning.
V didn't seem inclined to talk, but Theodore wasn't having it, he demanded to know V's reasoning for doing this, for risking their lives for only a wish she can't guarantee to give her whatever she wants.
Her eyes focused on them, there's a faint smile on her face, as she pointed the handgun at them, V stated that she came all this way for the wish, nothing more.
She scoured every corner of Russia, Ukraine, Georgia, Serbia, looking for answers on the door, and now she knows it exists, she wants it, and she won't hesitate killing them for it.
"You have no idea how much time it took getting the money, it's almost a miracle those gullible idiots believed me," V reveals the origins of the money that she used to broker the trip in the first place.
Using her appeal, she tricked dozens of men into giving her money, going around corners of Eastern Europe, just to ensure she'd have enough to attract the perfect guide for her trip into the zone.
The only reason she went with Nikita as her guide's because she knows about the money trouble, harnessing the knowledge to ensure Nikita can't decline her requests.
"It's almost funny as it sad," V laughed at this.
Done with talking, V ordered Lila to walk across the dunes, and it led to Lila and Theodore sharing looks with each other, fear in their eyes.
Gingerly, Theodore rested his hands on Lila's cheeks as he stared into her chestnut eyes, fear in his, unable to communicate privately with telepathy, he's forced to utter a pitiful, "Lee!"
Her hands resting on his, Lila's forced to utter, "I know."
With a gun pointed at them, Lila gently lowered Theodore's hands from her face, Theodore bear hugged her tightly, before Lila broke away from him and began forcing herself to turn around, looking at the dunes ahead.
It looked like a pile of sand collected in the middle of the room with dunes in areas, across from them, she narrowed her chestnut eyes to see there's something across the dunes.
Swallowing the air trapped in her throat, her mind yelling at her, Lila saw her life flash before her eyes, how she started, how she's going to see herself croak, not a very good outlook.
She felt Theodore's silent pleas, even without the telepathy, but Lila had no other choice.
"I should've stayed in bed!" Lila briefly closed her eyes as her legs wobbled, she took her first step from the platform to the sandy bottom.
Her heart beating against her chest, she's in the sand, staring at the dunes closest to her, only seeing the indents from where the marbles and the lug nut landed, but no trace of the items.
Keeping her footing steady, Lila began walking along the sand, avoiding the dunes, despite the climate in the cave, the sand felt warm, not uncomfortable, but like the sand at Virginia Beach.
Watching her every step, passing the dunes, Lila chewed the bottom of her lip, the fear welled in her eyes, but she forced herself for the sake of Theodore.
If this was a test by the zone, then Lila's passing with flying colors, though at this point, she almost wished she passed kidney stones, comparably, they're not as painful as the possible death she'll receive if she stepped in the sand wrong.
On her mind, Lila wondered what the guardian might've looked like, if she wanted to know for sure, but since she's risking her life, she might as well lull her frightened mind with questions.
It couldn't be the dunes, there's no obvious eyes, or movement, anything like that, but it might've been energy based, so she doesn't necessarily see the guardian, but it's there, watching her.
What felt like ages, Lila managed to reach the end of the sandpit, though she could be forgiven as she hugged the wall of the cave at the end, her legs turning into jelly from the fear that she endured.
She barely turned around, her hands stuck to the walls from the sweat, when she finally did, she sees Theodore in the distance, looking on, relieved that she survived.
The relieve didn't last and Lila's forced to move around her new surroundings, trying to find whatever the guardian's protecting, something to alleviate the situation, give them time, and she clung to the walls as she moved, her legs wobbly from surviving a near-death.
The limited light didn't help, but she felt an outline in the cave walls, it's unusual, but the more she felt it, she felt it was the outline of a… door?
Alerting the others, she's warned to stay away from the door by Nikita, before V made it clear that Lila keeps to the walls, while she looked on as the others began their travels across the sandpit, mirroring Lila's movements.
Her heart beating against her chest, Lila internally panicked as she sees Theodore going over the same spots as she did, trying to avoid the dunes, and the gun pointed at his face by V.
His icy blue eyes glistening as he's walking through the sandpit, retracing Lila's step, feeling the warmth of the sand compared to the cold air around them, he didn't see anything out of the ordinary that would indicate that it's a guardian to an object of power, just the sand.
That is until his icy blue eyes caught sight of something moving near the broken pillars, it wasn't in the shape of a man or creature, that when he narrowed his eyes, he sees it's a smoky cloud that wavered in the unfelt breeze.
Silently it moved around the broken pillars like a snake, that if it not unnaturally moving, it would've been mistaken as normal smoke.
It's following them, too.
He can see it bobbing where the head of a snake would've been, simply following them as they traversed the sandpits, avoiding the dunes.
The moment he reached the solid cave floor, Theodore rushed towards the waiting Lila, wrapping his long arms around her, bringing her close to him as he felt their hearts beating against their chests.
"Not much of a guardian, is it?" V commented that the dunes didn't nothing to stop them and Nikita wearily warned that no guardians were the same, there's one here, and it let them pass without issue, for what purpose she doesn't know, but it wasn't out of kindness.
"Lee!" Theodore exhaled sharply as he held Lila close to him, she wrapped her arms around him, too, feeling a familiar warmth as they're relieved the other survived a grueling test of faith.
Lila tried talking, but her mouth didn't want to work, but Theodore got the gist quickly as he held her close, before his icy blue eyes caught sight of a… door.
Staring at it closely, Nikita recognizes the door's Cyrillic writings that've worn away from time and the climate of the cave, it's a service door once used by military.
Did the zone take them to an underground military bunker?
Unfortunately, her mind couldn't wander too long before V barked orders for them to open the door for her, a safety insurance in case there's another guardian behind it, and Theodore used his strength to open the door.
It felt like several weights sandwiched between each other as he opened the door, but Theodore managed, and when he opened the weighed door, inside, there's another area, it looked like a cross between a military bunker and the cave system with the spiny rock pillars jutting from the ground and ceiling, like a mouth.
Not something one wanted to see in an area where reality can do whatever it wants without consequence except those caught in between.
The uneven craggy ground, switching between the gun grey steel flooring of the bunker back to the spiny rock formations, made it difficult to traverse, but the four managed, to some success, Theodore didn't see anything in the bunker that caught his eye, though it is difficult to say because of how unusual the bunker became.
At the end of the bunker, there's another door, and when he opened it at V's command, peering in they see another cave, whether it's attached to the one they came through or not, they can't tell, and there's a pooling oasis in the middle of it with a hole with glistening light peering in from the ceiling, enshrouding it with a perfect circle of light.
The water's translucent, teaming with aquatic life, little schools of fish swaying in the phantom currents, of different colours and patterns.
No clue what the fish were, they didn't look like anything either four were familiar with, but Nikita denoted them dangerous, because there isn't anything in the zone that won't kill you without a moment's notice, zone intervention or not.
At the end of this cave, there's something, they can't see because of the light, but the closer they gotten to it, the more dread they felt, unseen eyes looking at them from afar, with nothing there, and Theodore tried seeing if it's another guardian, but he didn't see anything except the fishes that swam among themselves, oblivious to their presence as they walked around the oasis as they neared the end of the cave, the sense of dread and the presence of the unseen eyes grew.
Tugging on her mink as she kept them ahead of her, V's eyes glistened with curiosity as she sees there's something at the end, there's a long set of steps of carved earth leading up to somewhere, and when he eyes stopped, she sees there's faint light coming from somewhere in the walls.
Reaching the stairs, the dread became too much, Lila wouldn't go up them, nor let Theodore do it, as they felt like something's there, judging them.
Nikita's blue eyes looked towards the shining light coming from an old service door, must've been there since the world wars, with a large red valve in the centre, even older than the bunker they found, leading her to think that the bunker came after the construction of the service door.
There's a light coming from the crevice, gold in colour, that she doesn't think it's natural light, and she doesn't believe there's someone already inside, but V wasn't daunted.
She didn't want them running off on her, so she made them walk the steps against their will, the handgun nearly pressed into Theodore's back as he forced himself to walk up the stairs, Lila gripping his arm as her legs wobbled.
A scene out of "The Wizard of Oz" without the colourful backdrop, they're forced up the stairs until they in front of the old service door.
Theodore's forced to open the service door for V and upon him doing so, the door gives, and opened outward, revealing a bright gold light that nearly blinded him, causing him to shield his eyes as Lila pulled him away towards her.
The sheer dread coming from the room, it's enough to send the Cybermen and Daleks running for their lives, that kind of dread even Theodore could pull off as the Doctor.
He felt the harsh eyes on him, like someone's in the room, impatiently waiting, and he couldn't even see an outline.
Unable to process what's inside, Theodore blinked several times, until V pointed the handgun at him, saying that she's rendering their services.
"I've got enough bullets to make sure the job's done," V looked at them with disdain as she opted to deal with Theodore first, since he was the strongest one of the four.
It managed to snap Lila back as she grew enraged at V pointing the gun at them, that Theodore kept her behind him as he shielded her from V.
"You don't know what's in there!" Theodore tried to reason with V, but the woman was adamant listening to him, she wanted nothing more than the door to herself, that she won't let anyone take it from her.
Nikita shouted at her, telling her that she didn't need to kill them, but V said that she learnt her lesson from the last time, she'll make sure Nikita's husband knows about her unfortunate demise, it's the least she can do for the guide who got her this far.
Maybe she'll even comfort the widower, who knows?
In their heads, Theodore and Nikita heard the same woman before, whispering to them, commanding them, and as if they knew, they worked together, apprehending V, with Theodore gripping the gun while Nikita shoved her backpack on top of V, covering her head completely as she's unable to process what happened.
Everything in Nikita's backpack falling to the ground, the remaining marbles and the lug nuts rolled down the stairs, the locket that Nikita quickly grabbed from the ground as V struggled to take the drab backpack off her, and then Theodore and Nikita forced her into the room of light, with Theodore closing the door behind V.
The objects from the backpack rolled down the staircase, but there's a period of calm with Nikita and Theodore sharing looks, before Theodore wrapped his arms around Lila, relieved, and she did the same, holding him close.
The period of peace only lasted for a moment, as they're jolted by a sudden scream and the service door that Theodore closed suddenly opening on it's own.
Stumbling out, V's on fire, she howled in pain as the fire burnt her, her mind and nerves shot with adrenaline that she struggled to move as she screamed.
She nearly broke her neck down the stairs, tripping over the marbles, to the only thing in the room that would help her, the oasis pooling in the middle.
Launching herself, V dove into the oasis, and the three looked on, as they see V struggling in the oasis, the fire put out, but there's something wrong, the very fishes they witnessed in the oasis, no tinier than a minnow, gathered around the burnt V as her body blackened by the fire, parts of her clothes fused to her skin.
In seconds, the schools of the fish devoured her every flesh, no different than shredding paper, until there's a cloud of blood, and surfacing to the top of the oasis, there's a torn piece of V's leopard skirt.
Horrified, Theodore kept Lila from looking too closely as he looked on, V's death drawn out by whatever power laid here, out of either malice or revenge, he wouldn't know.
"W-what happened?" Lila sheepishly asked what caused V's swift end and Nikita replied that it's like she's said since this started, the zone gives, but she takes.
Turning their heads, they see the service door closed again, the light pouring through it as before.
"What now?" Theodore asks Nikita for guidance and she said that she doesn't know, she never came this far, never wanted to out of fear and respect, that she couldn't tell them anything.
She doesn't even know if it's safe for them to leave, they could very well remain trapped here until death.
Nikita stops for a moment when she heard someone calling her name, coming from behind the closed service door, and she froze in terror.
The service door opened on its own and seemed to beckon Nikita into going inside.
Unable to decline, the eyes were on her, she felt, that Nikita made the hard choice, but not before handing her locket to Theodore and Lila.
"If… if I… I don't make it, please, find my husband, tell him what happened," Nikita begged them to find Peter, to tell him what happened, should she end up in a similar fate as V.
Clutching the locket, Theodore affirmed they'll find her husband if the worse happens, and Nikita thanked him, before braving herself.
Against all notions of survival, Nikita goes inside the same room V went through, the door closing on its own, while Theodore and Lila looked on in horror.
They wondered if it'll kill them next after Nikita, like a torture room only they had no hope of escaping because the alternatives much worse.
"Theo…" Lila looked up at him as she's clutching him tightly.
Looking down at her Theodore tells her, "I know."
He held her close as they waited for their turn, that never came, as the door opened on its own one more time, Nikita stepping out in a daze, clutching something in her chest.
As she stepped over the threshold, the door closed once again, but as Theodore and Lila tended to Nikita, it vanished, leaving no trace of it's appearance.
When they reached the bottom of the stairs, holding onto Nikita, the stairs behind them vanished, too.
Going around the oasis as the torn leopard skirt bobbed in the reddish water, they're back through the bunker door, when they turned their heads though, the door's gone.
Even coming through the end of the bunker and returning to the sandpit, they found that it, the dunes, and the pillars gone, it looked like nothing's been there.
Turning their heads, the door they took's also gone.
Carefully, they retraced their steps until they reached the mouth of the cave, finding that the water that once was unusual, turned into normal, mist shot up from the water hitting the rocks below.
They went far before they stopped, allowing Nikita time to rest, and for her to explain what happened to her when she unwillingly entered the room.
"I… I don't remember…" Nikita truthfully said that she couldn't remember what happened when she stepped through the threshold. She remembered the gold light blinding her, but that was that.
Pointing to the object she's holding, Nikita lowered her eyes as she brought the object closer, finding that it's a journal, old, tattered, but legible, and the moment she went through some of the pages, she found that it's Alice's journal.
It must've given it to her, but why?
"The zone gives, but she takes," Theodore reminded her as she gingerly looked through the journal, seeing all the old passages, until she found newer passages written by Alice, describing how she wanted to come to the zone to find the door herself.
An epic, Alice describes what she saw and witnessed in her journey and towards the last passage she wrote, she said she found the door, and wished… Nikita was here with her.
Her eyes welled with tears, Nikita rubbed them away with her gloved hand, closing the journal with her other hand, as Theodore handed back the locket, that held a picture of her and her sister.
With closure of what happened, it gave Nikita the desire to move on, and she led Theodore and Lila on the different path that opened to them, bringing them back around the schools.
As they're walking the path back the way Nikita and V took, Lila caught sight of the bear statues again, noticing the missing fourth statue reappeared.
In its mouth, Lila noticed there's a white lanky hand with elongated fingers sticking out, in the position that whoever it belonged to hopelessly tried to escape the maw of the bear statue.
The hand didn't look human, the ends of the fingers with yellowed claws, and she sees there's fresh blood around the bear statue's mouth.
Once they're over the threshold, bridging the two worlds, did they feel comfortable talking again.
"What did she wish for?" Lila wondered what caused V's demise and Nikita replied that she couldn't tell her much, but whatever it was, only the wish maker could tell them, but it is gone now, likely making home somewhere else, with new guardians, new traps, all in the name of protecting its raw power.
Why it granted her a wish, well, it's anyone's guess, but she's thankful that she's going home to her husband.
Nikita guided them through the hidden pathways that took them back to her and Peter's village, locating the bar, where she took them inside, the stalkers who frequented it gone for the time, on their own businesses.
Waiting at the counter with a dreary look on his face, Nikita sees her husband, having come to the bar as a form of ritual, waiting for her return.
His eye moved to see her standing in the threshold and he shot up from his chair instantly, running into her arms, greedily stealing her kisses as he held her tightly.
"Niki!" Peter wept with warm tears as he held her.
Holding each other tightly, the two exchanged words of love before Peter finally released his hands from her.
Over drinks, Nikita tells him what happened, much to his shock, but he's thankful that she's alive and she finally gotten closure on what happened to her sister.
"Thank you," Peter thanked Theodore and Lila for their help and they bashfully replied that they were just tourists who were out of their elements.
Regarding V, given her nature, they doubted anyone would've missed her, much less care what happened.
In regards to the other half of the money V promised, there's a happy ending to that, as Hugo called out to them, saying that someone asked for Nikita before Peter came to the bar.
Not to contract her as a guide, but to deliver something to her.
The box's heavily weighed that it took Theodore a moment to pull it up to the table for the couple to see clearly as Hugo helped opened it.
Inside, there's rubles and among them, gold coins.
"Who delivered this?" Nikita asked Hugo who swept the bar.
Shrugging his shoulders, Hugo says that he doesn't know, they were gone the moment they sat it on the counter.
Tallying the money, Peter's eyes widened as he looked up at Nikita as he exhaled sharply, "My god!"
After reuniting the couple and leaving them with their untold fortune, Theodore and Lila saw fit to take their leave, and waiting for them outside the door, the TARDIS returned to them, after becoming disjointed by the power of the zone, but managed to break away that it came to them.
"How're you holding up?" Lila asks Theodore how he's doing since this adventure finally ended and he had a look on his face before he finally said, "I'm just glad it's over. Are you alright?"
Slowly nodding, her chestnut hair stiff from the matted sweat from the stress of the situation, Lila says that she'll live, thankfully.
Holding her close to him, Theodore exhaled sharply, thankful that the guardian didn't kill her.
Lila comforted him as she tells him as he held her, saying that she's just happy they didn't have to explain anything to Hammond, before Theodore pulled her inside the TARDIS with him, the door closing behind, and disappearing from the village as if it wasn't there.
THE END