After the countless trials, they finally saw the exit of the Labyrinth. They now stood in front of another archway which could be the exit. It was symmetrical to the one that they saw in the entrance. On their left was the path that they came from and on their right was a path leading to a transparent barrier.
"Finally! We could now go out!" Ortix felt relieved. A lot of the trials vexed him. He doesn't want those kind of challenges. He would prefer to fight instead. "What are you guys waiting for?"
"This is really the exit right?" Vera asked.
"Yeah. Look at the writing at our back." Jorak said, pointing at the wall at their back.
Written in the wall was...
"This Exit Would Lead You To Your Current World"
"Looks like this is really the exit. We have been here for quite some time so let's get out." Cyziel said.
"Wait!" Ru shouted. She felt something that the others was not able to perceive. "I think we should go right past that barrier."
Everyone looked at her. They did not understand why she would suddenly say that. The exit was already in front of them and a few steps forward and they could get out. They all curiously looked at the path on the right but the special make up of this world didn't let them probe whatever is behind the barrier.
"Then should we start voting?" Draka asked.
Ru crossed her hands as if she was praying. "Please believe me just this one time."
"I agree with Ru. I think we should go right." Lucia added. "I could sense something like the statue from before."
Cyziel doubted for a second. Logically speaking, they should get out now since that would be the safest choice. But having just survived the trials with Ru, he could feel that they could take it on. "Alright another vote from me!"
Everything was then settled when Cyziel picked right since his two other friends followed him. Jorak and Vera was the same with Cyziel. They don't think that this was really a logical choice but they are friends with Ru so they at least need to believe in her.
The group tried to pass through the barrier and it actually didn't block them. As they passed through it, they were transported to an enclosed place. There was no way back. The only exit of the room was a long stairway down leading to a large double door.
As they started to get down, Cyziel felt his mark burning. The burning sensation got stronger and stronger that he started to grasp at his chest with his left hand when they reached the large door.
"Ughhh!" Cyziel slightly groaned.
"Are you alright?" Ru concerningly asked.
"Is there something wrong?" Vera added.
"No. I am okay." Cyziel placed his two hands on the two doors, ignoring the pain in his chest. "Let's see what we came here for."
Cyziel pushed the two doors and they saw an ethereal world. There were no walls or floors. It was like a miniature nebula. Pink, blue, violet, red and green lights radiate the whole place covering the dark space around. The group did not fall when they entered the world. They were able to fly through the mix colored space.
As they flew through the center of the world, they saw a floating spherical artifact. It was the size of a human's head and its appearance was similar to a golden ball with intricate patterns.
"That's similar to the painting!" Ru shouted, pointing at the artifact. "But that is much bigger!"
"What painting?" Vera asked.
"The one in the ceiling of the atrium with the creature!"
As the group were talking, the artifact started to open up. The golden covering unfurled like petals of a flower. Inside it was an enigmatic material. It kept on changing its shape and it has an undecipherable color that it afflicts pain to those who tries to look at it. The world was also filled with a divine pressure that affected the group.
The group who saw the artifact felt their eyes burn as they were forced to look away. Afterwards, they felt a burning sensation similar to what Cyziel has felt before but it appeared on different parts of their body. Cyziel was able to look at the artifact but he was not exempted from the pain. In fact, he felt the greatest pain of them all.
It didn't take long until everyone were grimacing in pain as they float inside the enigmatic space. Their whimpers and wails overlapped with each other. Soon, one by one they started to lose consciousness. Cyziel tried to fight the pain and pressure but it was too much even for him. He looked at the artifact one last time as he saw a shape similar to his mark until he finally closed his eyes, succumbing to the pain. He was not able to notice the glow that his ring finger emitted.
As Ru woke up, she saw Cyziel sitting on a tree stub. He was watching over the group as they lay unconscious on the ground. She looked at her surrounding and she saw that they were on the end of some kind of a cliff. At their back was a creepy forest with dead trees. The trees have no leaves and the forest was covered in fog.
"Where are we?" Ru asked inquisitively as she tried to sit up from her lying position.
"We are at the opposite end of the southern forest." Cyziel answered, smiling at her.
"This.. You meant to say that we passed through the inner forest?" Ru said before looking at the others who also start to wake up. "Everyone! You're all okay."
"Wait! Continue your discussion... Did I hear that we passed through the inner forest?" Vera added, changing her position to a kneeling one.
Cyziel smilingly nodded at her.
"Shouldn't this be a forbidden area?" Draka asked. "How are we going to get back?"
"We just go through the inner forest unless you want to go through the Labyrinth again." Cyziel chuckled.
"No! We are not getting in there again!" Ortix protested, standing on his feet.
"I do not even know how we got out from there." Cyziel smiled, shrugging his shoulders. "Anyway how do you guys feel? Anything different?"
Volus looked at his left palm. "My palm has this burning sensation."
Cyziel looked at the left palm of Volus and he saw some kind of mark. He immediately rushed towards him as he grabbed his hand.
"This this mark.... What about you all?" Cyziel pressingly asked.
"I also-" Vera uttered before being interrupted as Cyziel immediately arrived in front of her.
"Where? Where is it?" Cyziel continued with a serious and urgent tone.
"Uhmm..." Vera looked away as she momentarily pulled the top left of her robe a little bit down, showing a part of her left chest.
Cyziel was embarrassed as he immediately looked away. "Ah.. My bad... I didn't mean to.."
"Pervert!" Ru uttered, seemingly looking away and crossing her arms. "Mine is on my right chest. Do you not want to check?"
"No no... I just--" Cyziel looked down.
"I'm just kidding!" Ru giggled. "But do you really not want to check?"
Cyziel waved his hands. "No..no." He looked at Volus trying to change the topic. "Volus! Show them the symbol in your palm. Can you all check if you have similar marks?"
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Everyone started to check if they have similar symbols on the parts of their body that felt painful and they found a similar mark on each of them. The symbols were not particularly 100 percent the same but they all have the same shape which is some kind of wings.
"Those marks are similar to the one in my race but it is not familiar to me what it means. You should learn how to hide those symbols." Cyziel was actually relieved since the marks were not some negative marks that he knows.
Ortix looked at his right bicep. "With the number of my tattoos, I don't think mine is really discernable."
"Can you guys explain it to us? I don't think the two of us could follow." Draka said who was currently sitting in an indian sit.
"Uhmm... This marks are something that my race was born with." Cyziel looked at his battle mage robes. "My clothes are kinda hard to remove. I'll try to show it later."
"Wait aren't you brothers with Ort? Why did he gained a mark similar to us?" Jorak inquired.
"Oh...He is my brother but we are not blood brothers!" Ortix laughed.
"Then you guys just met here a few days ago?" Ru confusingly asked, alternately looking at the two. "But you guys look really close. So that is why your appearance are different from each other."
"Well... I promised that I will explain so I guess I could tell the story while we rest here." Cyziel said.
He explained without going into detail that they were sent to Daraksta from different planets. He narrated how they continuously fought everyday and each day that they lived was a large blessing for them. It was not until a few days ago until they were able to escape. Finally, he explained that he was actually a native of this planet.
"You are a native of this planet?" Everyone other than Volus and Ortix shouted.
"Uhuh!" Cyziel grinned, nodding his head.
"You previously said you are part of the royalty? Then where is your family?" Vera asked.
Cyziel turned serious. He then shook his head. "I actually don't know but I plan to check the capital since that is where my people previously lived."
"Oh! In the history of the humans, the earthlings found an abandoned palace in the capital! Maybe that is where your people lived but no one was found there 300 years ago. Currently, it is where the leaders of the human kingdoms convene." Ru added. "You also said that Volus only disappeared for 4 years so isn't that weird."
"Yep." Cyziel sighed. "Even for me, it is actually confusing. Maybe there was some time warp that happened but I don't really know."
"Is that the barrier you asked from Ms. Martha before?" Lucia curiously interjected. She was pointing at a large transparent barrier beyond the cliff. From their current distance, distortions in space was visible that made it distinguishable. Everyone else also started to look at the barrier.
"You actually remembered that but yes. It is that barrier. I do not know what is beyond it but we should not be able to pass through it. My race was not able to pass that barrier for thousands of years."
Vera stood up. "I think I heard of that from my parents! The barrier past the southern forest! I heard people died from trying to pass through it. It is one of the reasons why passing through the inner forest was forbidden!"
"You are correct. That barrier would shock you if you try to touch it so we should not get close to it." Cyziel said as he reminisced some old memories of his.
"No. I think we can pass through it." Ru said, focusing her eyes on the barrier. "The drawing in the ceiling depicted people going through the barrier!"
"What?" Cyziel stood up, surprise filled his face. The little possibility of getting through the barrier was enough to push himself to risk getting hurt. "Wait for me here! I'll check it first!"
Cyziel immediately dashed forward and jumped down towards the cliff. Everyone else looked at him then promptly followed.
"Why are you guys following me? I told you this barrier was dangerous!" Cyziel shouted, increasing his speed trying to leave the others behind.
"Wait for us! You are trying to do everything by yourself again!" Ru shouted, enhancing herself with wind magic to keep up.
Cyziel unconsciously started to slow down. He finally arrived in front of the barrier. He looked at his back and paused for a bit before finally trying to slowly walk through the barrier. In his surprise, he was actually not obstructed by the barrier. He passed through it.
I actually got through! This means that it is possible that my people also got through here just like what Ru said! Cyziel pondered as he then looked forward. "What is this? What are those?"
He was currently standing on a very high grassy plateau. From a great distance, he could see multiple tall walls that surrounded colossal black towers. Outside those walls are expansive jungles and vast plains. Both the plants and the animals that roam the land were gigantic. There were also winged and non winged flying creatures in addition to the floating landmasses that would literally blot out the sky.
The others were finally able to catch up to him. Ortix and Volus arrived first. They only looked at Cyziel briefly before they also focused on the surroundings. Not long after, the rest of them appeared beside him.
"Hmph! You actually didn't wait for us!" Ru snorted before she saw the unfamiliar place around them. "Is this another world?"
"Is this still part of this world? The plants! The animals! I have not read anything about those!" Vera uttered, curious about the new things that she could see.
"Those animals don't look friendly." Jorak shivered, pointing at the large roaring creatures.
"What are those towers?" Volus asked, looking at the black towers from afar. "I don't like the looks of it. Reminds me of something."
"Its definitely not something good." Lucia murmured.
"Should we go and check them out?" Ortix asked.
"No. We should go back first. We have been away for quite some time." Cyziel answered, shaking his head. "And those things don't look safe."
"I agree. Other than you three, I think the creatures below are also too much for us." Vera agreed. "Let's go back first."
Ru, using her watch, scanned a patch of flowers from a nearby plateau. "Wait! Aren't those the flowers of destiny?"
"I am not sure...but it could be" Vera confirmed. "Are we that lucky?"
"I wouldn't call us lucky after all that trials. Don't you think we deserved it?" Jorak chuckled.
The group jumped and flew towards the neighboring plateau. There was a large tree and underneath it was a patch of flowers of different shapes.
"It really seems to be the flowers of destiny and it seems that there are a lot of them." Ru said. "Let's go and pick some!"
As the group got close to the patch of flowers, a pair of eyes opened from the gigantic tree beside it. Its eyes were a green 4-leaf clover shaped pupil. A mouth also opened and countless vines appeared inside it which started to extend towards them. They were immediately alarmed and readied there attacks.
"Hide inside of me! Faster!" An elderly voice came out from the large treant. "Your enemies are coming!"
Hearing the voice of the treant, Cyziel stepped forward and allowed the treant to grab him. Seeing what happened, the rest of them calmed themselves and entered or allowed the treant to pull them towards its mouth. A few minutes after they got inside the treant, a couple of beast-like creatures appeared.
From the small holes in the trunk of the treant, they were able to see the appearances of the new arrivals. There were three large birds who appeared above the plateau. They have metallic helmets and leather straps on their body. They suddenly shapeshifted into three harpies and flew down the plateau. Their straps actually functioned like their clothes and pockets were a few items were placed on them. One of those items is a short cylindrical handle which they took out using their three fingered hands and it extended to a spear.
There were also 2 large panther like creatures who have black metallic collars on their neck. They shapeshifted to werecats and suddenly stood up. Metallic armor filled their body which came from the collars that they are wearing.
"What are you two doing here? You should know that high areas are part of our feeding grounds." One of the harpies said.
One of the werecats growled but the other one with him growled back at him then looked at the harpies. "We smelled something quite different here so we checked it out. Since you guys are here then we would leave."
The two werecats shapeshifted back into large panthers and ran back down from the plateau. The three harpies started to look around the plateau but they didn't find anything so they also flew away.
"What are those? They are like intelligent beasts." Vera asked.
"Like you guys, they are also from another planet. They arrived here some few hundred years ago." The Treant answered.
"But why should we hide from them?" Ortix asked.
"Because they are your competitors. They would try to kill you." The Treant then looked at Cyziel. "But shouldn't a native like you know that?"
Cyziel shook his head. "I really don't know anything about what you are saying. "
"That's weird. I am pretty sure that your people should know about it." The Treant started to ponder. "Well. I am just a lowly being so I might be mistaken but your friends need to stabilize their marks of transcendence if they want to continue passing here."
"Marks of transcendence?" Vera unconsciously reiterated.
"Hmm.. I have already said a lot but that is the sign that you are now recognized as a representative of your race. I am getting sleepy again.. You guys take what you need then train some more before getting back here. But don't take too long otherwise....." The Treant spat them out then closed its eyes before becoming completely inanimate.
"Wait! I have more questions about my people!" Cyziel shouted but there was no response from the Treant.
Ru started to pick up some flowers. "Look Cyziel! These flowers look really pretty." She was trying to distract Cyziel from his troubled attitude.
He looked at the flowers and then looked at the people with him. He thought that they are like these flowers. The flowers have different appearances but they are all flowers of destiny. His friends also got similar marks. He has already seen this kind of flowers but it was really rare. Now, there are a bunch of it in front of him. It was just like before when he only has his family but now he also has his friends.
"Yes. They really look pretty." Cyziel smiled at Ru. "We should also get one for Rika!"
*Is this also a flower of destiny?* Lucia murmured, kneeling in front of a patch of glowing flowers. She saw one flower that is much bigger than the rest then pulled it out.
Cyziel heard Lucia and turned towards her. He saw the flower that she was holding and got closer to her. "Can I see it?"
Lucia gave him the flower that she saw. Unlike the other flowers of destiny, this flower was larger and glowed more brightly. It has hundreds of small petals extending outwards from its center. It is like a rolled up porcupine but with mixed colored petals instead of spikes. The petals randomly retract and extend giving the illusion that the flower changes shape.
"Thank you. This one is really weird and unique but I think we need to put it back in the ground." Cyziel gave it back to Lucia. That one is quite weird. I have never seen a flower of destiny like that before.
Lucia nodded at Cyziel and tried to place it back in the ground. It grew new roots then embedded itself again in the soil. The surrounding flowers started to glow again like Christmas lights.
They would like to appreciate the scenery around them more but Vera reminded that the beast people might come back so they rushed out back to the first plateau. The group then exited back through the barrier.