The horses were steps away from the border, Leo sat in the wagon coughing while Heimer tightened his grip on the horse's rope.
Heimer took a deep inhale hoping for the worst, with everyone else exicited, he looked forward to the wall's gate pathway.
The area behind it looked no different from the one they came as expected.
Before they passed through the wall, Heimer took a look at the mountain of the empire, then his vision was cut by the wall.
"It looks weird to my eyes, but I can't just put a finger as to why, these eyes keep on failing me.
The horses aren't resisting as well, could this finally be the day." Heimer thought with a hopeful smile as he braced for impact.
!
Heimer's horse was the first to go through, it seemed like it had no interruptions and the rest followed suite as well.
They passed through the border with no interruptions like Heimer had previously faced; that might have been a better experience.
Their eyes were fed a surreal scenery;
The grass looked rich, it was green and short as it covered the uneven plains.
To the distance were mountains and far away but a veering to the right was the giant pillar of light; it looked brighter than it was before and larger as well.
Few trees scattered along the terrain as well, they looked very tall.
There was no path, as they had expected when they accounted for the unexpected, this view and what came next however, were things they hadn't thought of ever before.
They quickly came to a stop.
–
– Several minutes later –
By the time Leo had fully come to, everyone was already outside, all but one person.
Leo had a stare at Caesar sitting opposite him, Caesar glared at him.
[Chattering could be heard from the vicinity of the wagon.]
[A clicking noise could be heard from inside their wagon.]
"Now you're awake, How did you know of that, or from whom did you hear of it?!" Caesar asked Leo in an unfriendly manner.
Leo looked unbothered about the question, he averted his eyes from Caesar's and split apart the canopy taking a look outside.
Caesar looked at the palm of his metal gloves that looked deformed, then he squeezed his arms as the frown remained on his face.
Leo was left dazed by the beauty as he put his foot on the back of the wagon, he planned to drop down but paused midway.
There was no other way to describe it than being enamoured, he could care less about the others' chattering as he gazed at the scenery
The view was similar to something Leo had seen weeks earlier from the mountain top, regardless it still made his heart flutter, his eyes sparkled.
They were flowers spread across the floor over a wide range, white flowers with purple stocks were something new to him.
He walked around to process the scene but was met with a question.
"Over there are trees, in the distance mountains, and over here a little stream, then where is it" Leo pondered.
Leo rotated his head left to the maximum, and then to the right, then he finally turned his body around, yet he could not find it.
"Where…has it…gone" Leo muttered in a distressed tone as he walked towards the others unintentionally bumping into Fiona.
"uh!
Leo?" Fiona was startled.
"Where is the path we came from?
The empire, where has it gone." Leo said in a dejected tone.
Fiona pointed over at Heimer who was walking into the flowers;
He looked to be fazing into nothingness.
Shortly after he fazed out of nothingness.
"He has been repeating this for a while now, it's truly surreal." Fiona looked a bit disturbed while saying this.
Leo was still in shock.
"But I thought your first question would be about what this place is…or calling it 'beautiful'." Fiona teased him.
"I've seen it before....
[Leo looked to have realised something] Now that I recall, you were with me as well.
So we have both seen this place for ourselves, why then would I bother repeating myself.
Sure it's still beautiful, but I wouldn't have to say it again, would I?." Leo replied without doubt.
Fiona was confused, the emotions manifested on her face in the brief moment it took for her to reply.
"I have a hard time recollecting when that might have been.
Are you perhaps still asleep or is this a payback of some kind." Fiona asked Leo calmly.
"Doesn't she remember? Or is this another one of her teases.
I can't really tell for some reason.
The mountain…from the top of it.
Wasn't the view similar to this, sure it was a bit different but isn't this what we saw?" Leo said to Fiona with an awkward chuckle.
The confusion remained plastered on her face;
She shook her head in denial.
Leo was getting anxious for the first time in what was truly a while.
"What do you mean by that…
Is this another one of your jokes?!" Leo said loudly in a panic.
He spread his palms while using them to point at the distance.
The attention of everyone became focused on both of them.
"Leo I have no idea what you're talking about." Fiona said to him calmly with eyes rolling to her right where the others stood.
Leo was too out of it to catch the subtleties, he felt like he was being played a trick on.
"We went there have you forgotten the mou-" Fiona covered Leo's mouth by cupping her palm on his mouth.
"Surely you're overreacting, I know you're suprised, the same can be said for everyone else.
You don't need to lash out on me." Fiona said to Leo while staring at him by squinting her eyes slightly.
Despite not being back to his right state of mind he could pick up the hints.
He spoke no more words.
Heimer fazed out for the final time and voiced his findings.
"It appears as though there is no seperation between the two in terms of feel, yet what I see changes that.
From the inside it looks like the path continues and I can still see you all.
And from the outside it looks like nothing more than a path of flowers." Heimer spoke as he walked to his right.
His hand was stuck through the distortion in space, at the other side his hand was brushing against the wall's surface.
"And how do we make our return.
Look behind there is literally nothing." Ricia said with frustration.
"That problem should be easily solvable with a compass." Ren added.
"True..., someone grab me a compass" Lana added.
–
– Moments later –
[Fast clicking noises were audible as the wind whooshed]
Lana held a compass in hand with an uncomfortable look on her face.
They all took a look at it — it was malfunctioning; spinning haphazardly.
"Who packed up a bad compass for reserves?" Lana asked, she already had her answers as she turned to Ren.
Ren who was in charge of the stocking of reserves, shook his head.
"I made sure to get quality items, definitely wasn't me.
The journey has been bumpy, we can't rule out the fact that it might have broken midway." Ren said.
"That's understandable, very so.
But you are telling me that you could only get one compass for this journey?" Lana smacked her face.
"Give me that." Heimlich snatched the compass from her hands.
"What are-" Lana stuttered as he took it.
He went into the flower path and fazed into the path of the other side.
Now at the other side he took a look at his hand, the clicking noise had gradually dissipated with the red side pointing northwards.
"As I thought" He frowned.
He fazed back out and reported his findings.
[The clicking noise began once more]
"It's not broken, although that's not good news." Heimlich said to them.
"Then you don't mean…" Lana said.
"Yes very unfortunately.
It looks as though compasses don't work here." Heimlich said.
"Ahhhhh!" Lana took it from his hand and flung it to the ground, she was enraged.
The reactions from the troops were mixed, but none were positive.
"What are we supposed to do about this?" Heimer said to Gustev as he slowly sat to the ground.
Now staring at the every so brighter beam of light.
"..." Gustev just stared at Heimer lost of words.
[Footsteps became audible]
Someone walked up to them slowly.
"Sir" he saluted with unethusiasm.
Heimer looked at his face.
"Boy of the Julven family.
What do you seek?" Heimer asked him.
"I have a plan that I think might help our current situation, am I permitted to speak?" Dan said with his usual droopy uncaring eyes.
–
While Heimer, Dan and Gustev sought ways to circumvent their problem, the others scattered around, some in the wagons and others around it.
[Whooo...] While Herra clipped in and out of the distortion with Clarence dragging her out of it.
Fiona sat on the grass seperated from everyone else, with Leo standing behind her.
"What was the need to shut me up.
It's not like I said anything wrong." Leo asked her.
"I don't think you truly know the empire's laws, climbing the mountain is a felony with the death penalty." She said.
"Is this some kind of lie?
How come I've never heard nor read of this." Leo asked.
"I didn't take you for a compulsive person, then again we barely know one another.
I don't know what you read, but it's just as I stated.
The only times it has been glossed over have been when it was needed for research and documentation." Fiona said to him.
Leo's face tensed up the more.
"-Documentation.
Exactly that, then how can you explain the documents explaining it just like this?" Leo asked.
Fiona finally turned to look at him with confusion written all over her face.
So much so that Leo reflected upon himself, after taking a while he then asked with a hoarse voice;
"Fiona, what did you see…".
Fiona faced forward and sighed.
"Everything was the same as what was documented…"
Fiona recalled the scene she saw.
{All that laid there were mountains in the far distance as well as straw coloured grass covering the plains.
It went on to the horizons, I stared at it wondering about the beauty you proclaimed.}
–
"So that was why…" Leo then remembered Fiona's words from that night;
("Do you say that about everything…").
What she saw was entirely different from the one Leo had seen.
"Ah…then what of the book I read." Leo's face looked more rattled, he stumbled a bit.
"It doesn't sit well with me to dissolution you, but you can't go on mistaking books for reality.
The documentation you speak of has never existed, but yet they are shockingly accurate if it's as you imply." Fiona said.
"You believe me?" Leo asked in a low tone.
"I will believe you for the same reason I followed through with the bet that day.
You're quite strange, and I find strange things worthwhile." She said to him.
"How can you say that, how can you be so calm in this situation as well." Leo asked her.
She stretched her hand to his direction as she gave a compelling gaze.
Leo took her hand.
"What is this…my mind feels so clear.
All my worries gone, what is this feeling…for some reason I don't want to know." Leo said as his face calmed up nearly immediately.
His body felt soothed from the touch.
{She took a look at me with a genuine smile on her face, unlike any she had since the day she awakened, as I now had a very calm face.
Her smile wasn't wide or large, it just felt warm but tantamount to that my emotions were sinking very quickly.}
"...And this is how I feel every time, this is my gift; Rejection." Fiona said to Leo with a smile.