I dunno how fast I ran, but it was pretty damn fast. Those voices, goddamn they were the last things I wanted to hear at the moment.
A whirr..followed by a clank echoed through the hall.
"It opened! Altana be praised!", came the deeper, obviously older voice.
"Hey! Where ya goin'?", Tomo yelled after me.
I ignored her question and emerged from the small tunnel and into a gigantic vaulted chamber. A raise platform with an odd dias upon it stood in the center while at the far end was a statue of a winged woman in a robe, arms outstretched as if she wanted a hug from the world, made completely of cermet. Other hooded statues were raised up from the silent water that flowed next to the chamber's main passageway. Below the ivory woman was an open doorway, and standing in that doorway, looking at me, was the two people who had been talking earlier.
"You!", said Jesi, pointing a twitching finger at me.
"Nice to see you again...Sir.", Beron said with a sneaky little smirk.
"Gods dammit!", I yelled at them, "What the hell do you think you're doing"
By this time the others had caught up to me and were standing beside me, simply observing.
"What do you think?", Beron said cynically, "Protecting the only man who can save us"
"Oh, for the love of...", I covered my face with my hand in frustration.
"I can't let you ruin his plans, False King.", Jesi said zealously.
"If you guys really believe that Eald'narche can save you, you are sadly mistaken.", Yomi spoke up.
"How would you know, girl?", Beron said venomously.
"He has our friend held captive!", she nearly yelled.
"Sometimes we all need to make sacrifices for the greater good.", Beron said and pulled at Jesi's sleeve as they passed through the gateway and into a tunnel.
"Oh, like hell...", I said as I bolted over the raised dias and into the tunnel. The passage was short and by the time I came to the other end Beron and Jesi were nowhere to be found. What stood before me though was something huge. A aqua green platform let out a glow that illuminated an arraingement of cermet spires. In awe, I approached this device.
"Don't step on that unless you're ready.", Azura informed me.
"Oh, I...", I turned as I heard the others approach.
"Where'd they go!?", Tomo gasped. Yomi looked puzzled as well. Leslie and Sakaki seemed to be in a sort of daze of their own.The Soulforged was well...blank.
"Umm...", I began looking around, trying to find words to put this all together. Azura did it for me.
"They're in Tu'Lia now. They took the transporter. You all should too, those guys are nuts"
"All Right!", Tomo pumped her fast as she not-so-gracefully mounted the glowing platform. "Tomo! Goddammit!", Yomi said, jumping after her friend. She landed face first on the platform and it began to glow viciously with a sort of light that reminded me of the ocean. "Holy shit!", Tomo exclaimed as her and Yomi were somehow transformed into individual balls of light. They floated there for a moment before rocketing straight up a shaft in the ceiling, seemingly propelled by the cermet spires.
I stood aghast. "That...was SO COOL!", I laughed and jumped into the circle myself.
"C'mon guys!", I coaxed Sakaki, Leslie, and the dormant Soulforged onto the area as well.
"Will this hurt?", Sakaki mumbled just before everything went white. I felt the sensation of weightlessness, but it only lasted a moment. The second the feeling ended my vision began to clear. Grabbing my vision at first was the surrounding cermet dome and doors placed into the walls. My attention was quickly grabbed by an outburst from Tomo.
"Holy fuck! This is awesome! Wheeee!!!", she exclaimed as she traipsed along the strange, transparent floor. Yomi was practically pulling her hair out with every footfall. The moment Tomo's foot struck the barrier floor a bizzare pattern of greenish hexagons splayed itself along the floor before disappearing. She twirled and jumped around, amazed at the oddness she could create. To tell you the truth I was just as pleased. I couldn't help myself either as I praced along the floor, creating patterns of my own. I was lost in glee until Leslie totally ruined it.
"Tomo, Mr.Prior. This way.", she was standing in one of the doorways. Reluctantly, we stopped our joyous occasion and plodded along the strange floor and onto the cermet. Passing through the white, covered hallway with the others we emerged into the most beautiful place I had seen in a long time.
"Oh my...", Leslie gasped.
"Fuckin' hell...", Tomo cursed.
"Jynark's Armpit hair...", I exclaimed.
What stood..erm...floated, before us was a sight to behold. The cermet platform on which we had arrived was only one of the many floating islands that dotted the sky before us. Small islands, large islands. The largest of which was in the center and boasted an immense building of some merit at it's exact center. Every islands bore some vegitation. How trees and shrubs could grow at this altitude, much less on this strange cermet structure was beyond me. But at the moment that was the last thing I was thinking of.
I lowered my eyes from the graceful structure and caught sight of two men standing near another glowing platform. This time it was red, to match their suits no less. Beron and Jesi caught sight of us and smirked.
"Thank you for telling us where to find Master Eald'narche.", Jesi said with an exaggurated bow.
"Shut up.", Tomo said simply and let loose a bullet in their direction. The projectile spanked against the ground in front of them and left a small, blackened pit.
"Oh, resorting to violence I see.", Beron snickered and gave a haughty wave moments before him and Jesi faded from view with the help of the teleportaion machine they had been near.
"Son of a bitch.", Tomo whined and reholstered her weapon.
"Better get a move on.", Azura said. "If I were you I'd be trying to beat them to the top of that big 'ol building in the middle"
"The real big one?", I pointed at the huge main structure that took up most of the area.
"Yep, get to the top...the Celestial Nexus..."
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Well, there ya go! It's not nearly over with yet though, so keep reading as I post. And, if anyone cares to read more after The Soulforged, I have plans for one last story in this series!
-peace-