[Thump! Thump!] An unsteady heartbeat in the white space.
"How long have we been falling?" Leo thought with his eyes closed, his arms spread open and his hair flowing upwards.
He opened his eyes gently as air surged around him, a feeling he had felt not before.
Screams adorned his ear without his consent— screams from his comrades as they experienced the same thing as him - Panic - the fear of the inevitability that was to come.
The air blew from underneath him, or rather he was cutting through it by his descent, the same could be said about his comrades and superiors.
The screams began to dwindle, as the ones who were screaming gradually stopped doing so.
As he turned to look at Herra who had blacked out and Rud whose face was green, as well as Clarence who was tearing up a bit.
Admist all this;
"Dan, that dude is smiling?" Leo thought it weird for that to be the case.
To his eyes, everyone else was in a panic, it was hard to tell if the same could be said of the commanders since they were clad in armour from head to toe, but it could have been the case.
This was one of those situations were the calm of age and experience could barely overcome.
But there were four there that were undoubtedly calm; Heimlich with his helmet nowhere to be seen, he looked disturbed yet calm.
"He probably lost it before we got in here" Leo assumed as he looked over at the next person.
With eyes that feared nothing he fell downwards with his arms crossed and his legs streamed downwards - it was Heimer - he was the second.
"Why am I not surprised, calm and collected as usual." He thought as he looked at Fiona.
Zefroth beside her wasn't much different as well, though she was undoubtedly worried.
Sweat ran through his face as he fell through the space at unimaginable speeds.
Leo looked around the space that was entirely white, top to bottom all around, it distorted their sense of distance, with no indicator of depth as well.
There was only one thing they could tell - they were falling through the space at an abnormal rate.
And if nothing was done, they would be no more from the impact they couldn't even see coming, perhaps that was the scariest thing here.
A fall where you could be, or be no more within minutes, hours, seconds or an instant.
"How did we get into this mess. " Leo thought as he closed his eyes.
He recalled the sequence of events which could only be called out of this world.
The moment they stepped into the light they immediately disappeared then appeared here, teleportation of sorts.
Then they began the unfortunate descent without their consent.
"How many minutes has it been…I can't even tell.
I can't even feel my dark aether, but the flame aether is still here as normal" Leo thought as he grit his teeth.
"Damn it!" Paul thought as he looked below; their shadows became visible which was not good news at all.
They had finally gotten an indicator of depth, although one that signalled doom.
Paul took one last look at his brother who was the source of the last audible scream, he stretched his arms towards his.
With a smile of acceptance on his face whilst recalling all they had gone through in the past.
"To escape death multiple times just to step into its cusps, I wouldn't say I would be satisfied with this.
What a life I've lived…" Heimer thought as their shadows became darker, tainting the pure white surface
They were now seconds to merging with the floor and paying a visit to eternity, Cera wrapped her arms around Rud from behind whilst she counted down internally;
"3…2…1…."
[...]
"What happened?" Leo thought as he looked at the floor then around him.
They were suspended in the air centimetres away from smashing into the ground.
"Did we survive?" Leo wondered.
[Clang!
Thud!] They crashed into the floor but softer than it could've been, it would barely even leave a scratch.
Caesar landed on his feet though his landing was not as stable as his uncle's.
Leo stood up without stress as he wiped the sweat of his face with his left palm, it wasn't much but it got the job done.
[GROANS] From the troops.
[Tap tap] "Open your eyes" Clarence's voice echoed in Herra's ears.
"Ugh…where are we, how long were we falling." Rud mumbled as Cera's hand stretched towards him.
"Thanks." Rud said as he latched on to her hand, he rubbed his head as he stood up then looked up.
"How deep are we….
No…are we even still on earth." He thought while scanning around.
!
The walls began to change, before their very eyes, opened doors began appearing, with what was behind them being obscure.
Their number was one they had come to loathe from it's frequency of appearance over the past months, no one loathed it more than Heimer.
Veins popped on his head as he frowned.
"Thirteen in number" He muttered loathsomely.
[Dum!] From left to right they began closing; shutting even.
As they closed chains wrapped around them like a binding.
[Dum!] The second one closed.
"Do we run in?
What do we do." Karius asked Heimer.
[Dum!] The third door closed.
"I'll have to agree with him on this one fath- Supreme what do we do." Ren questioned.
[Thump! Dum!] Heimer's heartbeat surged admist the happening, it shouldn't have been a though decision, yet it was.
[Dum!] The fifth door closed.
Rushing in to any of them could mean suicide, they could lead to anywhere; places unknown to them.
It would be wiser to wait it out.
[Dum!] The sixth door closed.
But if they refused to move and then got stuck, it would be on his head, yes — it would be from his inability to make a quick decision.
[Dum!] The seventh door closed.
"Heimer?" Lana said with a worried tone.
"At your command sir, but I'm hoping it would be anytime now." Heimlich said.
[Dum!] The eight door closed.
"Heimer, what do we do." Heimer thought to himself, as the burden of making a decision weighed on him.
[Dum!] The ninth door closed.
Heimer raised his hand, gesturing them to cease their worries, but his hand trembled a bit.
"We're going to die!" Herra said as she incited panic into the others.
Leo looked at her as his eyes shook, body trembled, vision blurred.
[Dum!] The tenth door closed.
Heimer could now hear his own breathing, a hand held his and gently took it down.
He looked at the person and it was Gustev, with his other hand he took off his helmet to reveal his steadfast eyes.
[Dum!] The eleventh door closed.
Gustev dragged Heimer's arm down.
"I'll take it over from here" Gustev said in a comforting manner while nodding.
He had taken the burden, and was willing to take the blame.
"We aren't going anywhere.
I'll take the blame for whatever happens!" said Gustev authoritatively.
[Dum!] The twelfth door closed.
This one resonated the most with the people there, now only one was left, as they were left to this fleeting moment to bake a choice.
Herra fell to her knees crying and squirming whilst Karius attempted to run into the door.
Caesar's hand held him back, and Karius turned his head to take a look at him, as his eyes radiated anger.
"Rule one of the army, respect the chain of command." Caesar said to him.
Karius struggled to leave Caesar's grip even going as far as to releasing his halo which had advanced to two thorns from the previous battle.
Caesar had to let go.
[DUM!] The thirteenth door closed.
Karius's eyes looked dead, all hope was lost.
"Arghhhh!" Herra cried.
"Pipe it down will you." Paul said to her.
Karius took heavy steps to Heimer, he was in a frenzy, pushing away all around him to get to Heimer who was in front.
He attempted punching Heimer.
"You caused this!" He wailed.
[Thud!] He was pushed to the ground by another, as she pinned him to the ground by neck.
"Let me go!" Karius said as he glared at Laura.
"Why do you people always do stupid things, huh!
You! Her! You want to die?!
Can't you muster up a thought, what did you intend to do once you attacked the supreme." She said as she banged him to the ground repeatedly.
Awakened of the same path had full resistance to the aura of that path wether theirs or another's, this effect carries over to a partial resistance to aether of that path.
Laura's red halo with two thorns shined bright.
"Ugh, leave me alone!" Karius yelled as he managed to toss her aside with his full strength.
"That fool, once again" Dan walked towards them in an effort to take Karius away.
A large palm wrapped around his shoulder, stopping him. He shifted a gaze to see who it was.
[Dan gulped]
–
The footsteps of the one whom had stopped Dan now echoed around the space.
"You have been left alone, what did you intend to do." The voice thundered from above Karius who was getting up.
Karius looked up to the eyes that were looking down at him, the eyes were so fierce that he could only stare away.
Maybe it was because they had gotten familiar with him that they had forgotten about his status and the air he usually carried.
Heimer had softened himself around them, that they had began to ignore his reputation.
"You wanted to meet me I suppose?
I'm all ears." Heimer said with eyes overflowing dominance and a voice that struck fear.