"Is this your idea of a shortcut?!"
In the narrow, crooked alleyway, two individuals moved their legs frantically, unconcerned about tripping over the puddles of water. Behind them, Three four-legged creatures were barking at their feet. It was a matter of life and death. They attempted to topple the beer cases to obstruct the path. And the four-legged creatures after them rushed through it like it was nothing. They even threatened to throw stones at them. These four-legged creatures, however, wouldn't take no for an answer. Instead, it fueled them even more, and as the other individual tried to take a peek back, he spotted that their mouths were watering at the prospect of raw flesh, which made him shudder.
"Well... yeah..." the other individual with a short black hair replied.
"But on the plus side, we'll get there faster if we run like this, so... I wasn't exactly lying," he added with a chuckle.
"Are you insane?!"
The man in a black leather jacket exclaimed at his friend with a cracked voice, while, on the other hand, that so-called friend replied to him with a tone that was somewhat nonchalant. while he, was running for his life! The man couldn't help but grimace and glare at him in annoyance before turning his attention in front of him. As they started to turn corner after corner of the unfamiliar alleyway, the last corner they came to had a thick wall at its dead end, casting a menacing shadow over them as they drew closer.
"We're screwed! I shouldn't have listened to you in the first place!"
The man with a jacket began to push his back against the wall with his noodling legs, while the other friend, dashed to the right edge corner of the wall, knelt down, and placed the back of his hands into his knees.
"Come on, hurry!" He yelled as he vigorously pounded his thigh.
"Seriously?" He replied, with a tremble
"Place your foot here, I'll give you a lift."
The man gave him a hesitant nod and placed his foot into his friend's palm.
"Ready?"
He shifted his attention towards the alley corner where the four-legged animals were, gulped a big chuck on his saliva, gave a firm nod, before his friend hauled him upwards. The man extended both of his arms, grabbed the ledge of the wall, swung his leg to cling, and lowered his free hand into his friend.
"Ansel your turn, take my hand!"
The man named Ansel extended his hand to his friend and tightened his grip on it, but as he attempted to climb, the four-legged creature caught up to him and lunged at him with its savage fangs into his torso. He barely avoided it. As a result it cost him, his avengers t-shirt to start ripping and him to be dragged back by the creature.
Ansel frowned as his shirt was being torn. His younger sister had given him that T-shirt. But, as much as it saddened him to let her down, he opted, to rip his shirt in order to escape the creature's jaws and delivered a satisfying kick for revenge that caused the creature to howl in pain.
He evaded one of them, but as soon as he escaped it grasped. The other two lunged at him without waiting for him to recover, causing him to flee to the left-side corner of the wall, where his friend hurriedly climbed up the ledges and followed him as he leaped, and extended his hand to him.
The friend grinned in delight as he pulled him close enough for him to reach the ledges. But again, like earlier, these four legged creatures wouldn't give. They leapt at Ansel's heel, forcing him to kick the wretched creature before pulling himself up and they both jumped to the other side.
"bowgh-wawgh! bowgh-wawgh! bowgh-wawgh!"
"bough-wough! bough-wough! bough-wough!"
"baw-waw! baw-waw! baw-waw!"
"Whoever trained these K9s obviously needs to get a raise," Ansel joked as both of them patted their jeans for dust and started to walked out of the alley.
*Pow!*
The Friend smacked him in the back of the head.
"You still had time to joke as we were almost devoured alive by those dogs?!"
"Loosen up, Aivan... At least we're still alive, aren't we? Besides, why are we even linning up for a game that's going to be release tommorow anyway?"
"You really don't get it do you? The first VRMMO RPG Septima Online is on its way. And for those who had grown up watching VR entertainment, it was a dream come true. MY DREAM COME TRUE!" Aivan screamed, his face beaming with excitement.
"So you're saying that people are ready to squander their time waiting for this game to come out in the middle of the night, just to waste their time again?" Ansel said, his brow furrowed in confusion.
"Wait a minute, hold that right there, you're disrespecting my culture!"
"Oh no, no, no, I didn't mean to disrespect but..." Ansel replied, waving his hand to avoid being misinterpreted.
"Ummm shh, shhh, if you open your mouth again, you'll end yourself on this world's hit list, so shhh, for a sec and let me think." Aivan caressed his chin to think, and snapped his fingers.
"Ahah, now consider this; in contrast to reality, we can't really do magic or see magical creatures or other magical races in this world. Because those things are only for a fabric of our imaginations. And just image you and your sister riding a fucking Dragon! A fucking Dragon! Wouldn't that be cool?"
Ansel couldn't help but let out a faint smile at his friend's enthusiasm.
"But..."
"No buts, you're always saying that I should relax, but what about you."
"You do realize that you just said that no buts, then proceed to say, 'but what about you?' after you said it right?" Ansel replied with a chuckle.
"Hey! I'm trying to be serious here for a moment, you sarcastic piece of sh.."
However, just as he was about to utter another word, Ansel patted his shoulder.
"Living in a imaginary world with a friend for one day is good enough for me. But, I couldn't stay on it, if my reality is already a mess, so, I'm sorry, Aivan. I just have..... a lot to take care of."
Aivan grimaced at his remarks. Ansel had been working at several part time jobs since he was 14 years old, and he simply wanted to help his friend relax for a bit. Taking on responsibilities at such a young age was something Aivan couldn't fathom since he was born with a silver spoon.
"You know. why don't you work for..."
Aivan drew to a halt as he noticed Ansel smirking at him behind him. He sniffed his black leather jacket and examined his black leather jacket for rips and returned his gaze to him. However, as Ansel emerged from the shadows of the alley walls and into the illuminating moonlight, Aivan noticed a cut on Ansel's right torso.
"Hey, are you okay? We need to get to the hospital and get you looked out for rabies, and..." Aivan rushed at him.
"Oh this? It's nothing," Ansel replied, bringing out a white handkerchief and beginning to clean the blood oozing from his wound.
"But you should get checked out or else..."
"I'm fine, Aivan." he replied firmly.
Aivan began to stare at him while sweating profusely from guilt that he had brought Ansel out of this time of night. Seeing that, Ansel couldn't help but let out a deep sigh and face palm.
"Once we've bought the game you asked me to play with you, I'll think about going to a clinic near our apartment building, so just chill for a bit... Geez, you nearly sound like your father," Ansel chuckled.
"And give me your jacket. My sister's going to kill me when she realized that I lost her gift, and I can't go to the mall without a shirt, can I now, so... Your edgy fashion is temporarily on hold, my friend," Ansel added.
Aivan nodded, removed his jacket, and Ansel began to put it on. As the two of them strolled and talked for nearly thirty minutes, Aivan gushed about how fantastic the trailer for that game was, while Ansel listened to him while not comprehending anything until they eventually arrived at their destination. The sound of the of the enormous shopping complex was deafening, combined with different illuminating colors that surrounded it, and hundreds of people walking in. They had to yell at one other to hear each other's words. But when their voices began to break as they yelled, They switched to sign language, which turned to gang signs, until they ended up far worse than before, making them both crazy in the eyes of many.
As they entered the entrance. Ansel's attention was drawn to the digital billboard in front of them that depicted various mythical races and places. He saw a fair-skinned human with elongated pointy ears. Humans with white-hair, crimson-eyes and piercing claws. A boar with lightning sparkling around its body that pounced on the withering trees. A sea dragon with thousands of icy scales that froze the waters where it swam. An island hovering in the sky with gigantic dangling chains at its four edges while being ringed by five towers. And warriors wearing thick metal armor who had the body shape of a human but had the fur and heads of the animals on Earth.
"WHAT! DO! YOU! THINK?!" Aivan yelled at Ansel's ears, while beaming in excitement.
Ansel on the other hand, pushed him away and gestured his finger rolling into his ear meaing.
'You trying to make me deaf?'
"YES! IT'S! AN! ELF!" Aivan misunderstood.
Ansel shook his head and tried gestured his finger rolling into his ear again.
'You trying to make me deaf?'
Aivan on the hand, narrowed his brow in confusion.
"VAMPYRE?!"
Ansel had had enough of his shenanigans and gave him the middle finger, prompting others to stare at him. Ansel this time, however, ignored his critiques and shrugged as they both continued walking towards the mall's concourse. As they approached, they heard an even louder roar than previously. Aside from the shopping center hallways where Ansel and Aivan entered. There were also four separate hallways with four groups of individuals yelling from the Atrium down to the ground floor.
"Miguelinia! Miguelinia! Miguelinia!"
"Blood Harbor! Blood Harbor! Blood Harbor!"
"Arboria! Arboria! Arboria!"
"Cretonia! Cretonia! Cretonia!"
The glass windows of the retail center rattled as they roared such words. Meanwhile, Ansel, who was looking at this bizarre occurrence, began to doubt his own existence.
'Have I been living under a rock? How come I'd never heard of this game before, yet these individuals seem as though it's rather common?'
He turned his gaze at to Aivan, who was smirking at him, knowing full well the thoughts that lingered on his mind. However, before he could approach Aivan and ask any questions, an orb the size of a basket ball descended from the complex's roof, and as it approached the center of everything, it exploded and generated a dense black cloud, and it slowly began to take shape into a man whom everyone except Ansel knew.
"Holy sh*t, it's the Game's Archon!"
"Man, the details on that tech are outstanding!"
"And look at those gorgeous wings; I wonder if those are available in game!"
Everyone in the compound exclaimed with delight as they saw the wonderful creature in front of them. The man had a human-like appearance, with a strong jawline, sparkling golden eyes, white long hair, bulging biceps, and a physique that would make bodybuilders jealous. In a nutshell, the man was flawless. The only difference between him and a human was that, he possessed four pairs of dazzling white wings. As the Archon's body took shape from the dark cloud, he snapped his fingers, and a golden throne appeared behind him, on which he bend down and sat. After the black cloud completed forming the Archon, it next formed four sillhoutes, who bowed their knees and bent their heads in front of the Archon.
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As the whole complex saw this, all of them of them again let out a loud roar until they saw the Archon tapping his fingers into the arm chair.
"My name is Magna Avaritia, The Lord of Talents, the God of the Erithil, and Archon of Septima. Now, those are willing to come to my world, are welcome. But there something that you need to do first."
"Holy, that's in the Trailer!"
"Let say it together when he says it!"
Bewldered by the uproar around him, Ansel approached Aivan, who was gnashing his teeth in excitement, as when the Archon arrived and the deafening sound from earlier began to subside, he approached Aivan, who was gnashing his teeth in excitement, and inquired,
"What are they talking about?"
Aivan looked at him and grinned brilliantly.
"Just sit back and watch."
The Archon then rose from his golden throne, looked down at the occupants in the complex with a cold glint in his eyes, and spoke in a Deep. Somber. Tone.
"Kneel before me."
The complex erupted in astonishment once more as they bent their knees and bowed their necks before the Archon. Unlike the others however, Ansel focused his gaze on the Archon's eyes as it stared down on them as if they were nothing more than bugs. It grinned from ear to ear triumphantly as everyone bowed their heads before him. After that, the Archon and the four sillhouttes disintegrated into a black cloud once more, and a floor on the ground floor began to open, bringing a hostess into the complex.
"Who's!!! Ready for Septima! Online!"
The people began to get up and yell in delight once more.
"That was Archon Magna Avaritia of Septima and his four Authorities. But riddle me this, there is another Authority that is missing, and when the game starts at 4 a.m; which is 5 hours from now, you are tasked to find this mysterious wanderer, and whoever touches him first, will be rewarded handsomely, by the Archon himself," the hostess said with a wink and a smile.
"Just touch him?"
"A simple mission that pays generously to those who just touch him? There must be a catch! "
"Of course, are you dumb? Or are you dumb? A quest with just a simple task of just touching that Authority always has a catch, otherwise what's the point of being rewarded in full if there's no challenge?"
The crowd within the complex became overjoyed by this sudden gift of information. And to the suprise of many, they stared at the hostess like a ravenous pack of wolves eager to eat any new information that came out of her lips. However, the hostess instead pulled out a match.,
"How about a magic trick?"
Confused, the crowd stared at her, as she murmured a chant and tossed the unlit match into the ceeling. The crowd's eyes following that small match until it began to fall down and The hostess clapped her hand to catch it, causing a dense white smoke to emerge between her palms and engulf the whole middle hall. The woman vanished, and a stairway leading down emerged from the complex's middle hall. Confused once more, the crowd gazed at each other until a few individuals dashed down to it, ignorant of what was beneath it. And so did the others, till the strarecase was swarming with people..
Meanwhile, Aivan is overwhelmed with excitement following that lady's performance.
"Hey, let's go get a copy too, I have a secret passcode that'll let us down there imediately," Aivan said, smiling.
However, when he turned to face Ansel, he came to a standstill. Ansel was sweating, his gaze fixated on the location where the Archon's eyes were before they vanished. Aivan reached out to touch him, Ansel swiftly darted backwards, as if avoiding an attack. Perplexed by his actions, Aivan slowly walked towards him and asked,
"You okay?"
Ansel realized what he had done, he smacked his face with his palms, causing his face to glow red.
"Um, other from my cheeks throbbing in pain and a cut on my right torso, I'm absolutely fine," Ansel joked.
"Not about that, you moron; I mean, what happened to you back there?"
"Let's get the game you wanted, or we won't get it at all," Ansel changed the subject.
"Don't try to change the subject, am I not that good of a friend to tell such a simple secret?" Aivan said solemnly.
Ansel remained deafeningly silent.
"OK fine, have it your way," Aivan began to turn back at him and walk towards the crowd, but came to a halt as Ansel started to speak.
"Those eyes, I truly despise those eyes; they look down at other people as if their lives were more important than ours, and that is why. I fucking hate those eyes," Ansel said with a cold glint in his eyes.
"Huh?" Aivan said, his jaw slack, "you do realize they were a computer projection, right?"
Ansel nodded, "And this is exactly why I didn't want to talk about it."
Aivan couldn't help but laugh at his friend. If laughing at a person who knows too little about modern technology, like Ansel, could give you enough merit to be called an asshole, Aivan would take that chance any day. It was his only chance to finally laugh back at that sarcastic person like him after all. Thus, as they both comprehend their differences, they too rushed at the staircase headed beneath the complex.
The battle at the counter made the word "ferocious" an understatement. Ansel would continuously get his line cut while Aivan was being pushed by the hundreds, if not even thousands, of people that waited to get their hands on that game. They were being elbowed by who knows who, and sometimes even being pushed out of line. However, the both of them didn't give a flying f*ck about them, and they wasted 3 hours of time in the line alone. Until they eventually made it to the front of the line after Aivan bribed the 113 people ahead of him to pay for the game. It cost him nearly 1.13 million pesos (19,712.51 USD). But it was little more than pennies to him with his father's black card. That night made Ansel vow to himself that he would never, ever, ever, ever do anything similar again with Aivan. As they exited the mall, several of the individuals who had been bribed by Aivan began to cling to them, wondering where they expected to reside in Septima. Unlike Aivan, who was enthusiastic about their chat, Ansel responded with words that prompted their soon-to-be buddies chase after them.
"Where does your mom reside?"
It was only a few words, yet it was incredibly effective. However, when they approached the crossroads where they were to be separated, Ansel attempted to remove Aivan's jacket. But, before he could, Aivan raised his fist, urging Ansel to do the same.
"See you in Septima," he smiled as he walked away, embracing the copy of Septima Online, and turning a corner.
"Alone...Again,"
As soon as Aivan was out of sight, he dashed back to the convenience shop they had passed earlier. Ansel was not the sort of person to take advantage of other people's generosity. Hard work is the only thing he has, and if it were taken away from him, he would have nothing left to be proud of. Maybe that's why a youngster born with a silver spoon remained with him. As he slid the door open, he grabbed a can of corn beef, some noddles, and bandages to cover the bruise he'd had earlier. He took out his tattered leather wallet and took out 100 pesos to pay to the cashier, who was watching the same trailer he had seen earlier on the digital billboard.
"Septima online?" Ansel asked.
The casher nodded, "You have a copy?"
"Well..." before he could utter his words, the casher lunged at him.
"Please sell it to me; I'll even pay double the asking price," begged the cashier.
"I was supposed to well... that's okay. That's it. Damn bro, you didn't even let me finish," Ansel said after a few steps back.
As the cashier scanned through his groceries, he wore a grimaced expression. After that, Ansel stormed out of the store and dashed towards his autie's apartment block. As he approached the elevator, a woman with long brown hair and brown eyes approached him.
"Ansel, why didn't you showed up at your sister's school earlier?" She asked.
Ansel's heart pounded rapidly and he halted as he walked towards the woman before saying,
"Did something dangerous happened to her?"
"Dangerous?" the woman frowned, "Oh, no, no, no. Someone in her class mocked her about being an orphan, and as a result, little Samantha became furious and got herself into a fight."
"Did she win?" Ansel said after a brief moment of relaxation.
"Seriously?" the lady asked sarcastically.
"Of course, why wouldn't I be," Ansel joked.
The woman couldn't help but sigh like the others with his kind of reply.
"Anyway, where were you today? Your sister was really hoping that you'd stop by," The woman asked.
"Would you believe me if I told you I robbed a bank?" Ansel said, smiling.
"Oh, come on, just give me a straight answer now! This is why a lot of people in this apartment complex started disliking you."
"However, you still waited for me at 3 a.m in the morning."
His remarks made the woman flush. And Ansel grabbed the opportunity to approach her and say.
"I sincerely appreciate you coming after my sister today, daughter of our land lady," Ansel said as he pulled out a white thick envelop and grasped the woman's chilling hands.
"Give this to your mother; it's 10,000 pesos, and tell her to add it to the others I've given her."
Ansel then walked away from her and pressed the elevator button to ascend to a lengthy corridor where a woman he knew lying on the ground. He could smell the lucious odor of alcohol on her sparkling cherry red dress as he neared her. This occurs every night when he gets home. Ansel pulled her up and sniffed the eye-watering, stale wooded odor of cigarites on her lips. Ansel was used to the stench as he was the one responsible for picking her up when she couldn't even get in due to her heavy drinking.
As he placed her in her room, he pulled out another two thousand pesos from his tattered wallet and placed it on the table beside her bed before Ansel went to his room to see his sister sleeping sweetly while holding the picture of Ansel and her together. Ansel's heart melted as he saw this. As he approached his sister, His heart pounded heavily as he approached his sister and leaned down to kiss her on the forehead. She had a slim build, long black hair, long eyelashes, and a puffy cheek. Samantha was her sole remaining family member. And all of his efforts were directed solely at her, only at her. Ansel smiled at her as he exited the room and began to boil some water while putting ethyl alcohol on the would that he had before and wrapping the bandages over it. He then returned to his room while holding a dish consisting of seasoned rice, combined with ground beef, and noddles.
He set the dish on his study table and began to softly wake his sister awake. As she opened her eyes, she lunged at Ansel to embrace him, to which Ansel replied by carressing her hair.
"I waited for you big brother, where were you?" she sobbed.
"I was, ummm..."
"You're working again aren't you?" She interrupted.
Ansel gave a nod.
Samantha, on the other hand, puffed up her cheeks and locked her gaze on him with her gleaming brown eyes.
"Could you please consider a little break, Big brother?"
Ansel nodded once again.
"Really?!" Samantha exclaimed while smiling brightly.
"Shut your traps you little shits, I'm sleeping here." The Aunt yelled through the thin walls.
Ansel placed tapped her head and placed his finger into his mouth and Samantha nodded profusely.
"I heard you got into a fight today, is that true?" Ansel shifted the subject.
"Ummm, yeah," she said, lowering her head. "But she was the one at fault; she told me I was an orphan, but I told her I had you, big brother, therefore that couldn't be true, right?" she protested.
"Of course, I can be your papa, but it's quite impossible for me to become your mama," Ansel joked.
"Then, how can I have my Mama?"
"That's a little more complex," Ansel replied, chuckling while, scratching the back of his head.
"Oh, if I am right, earlier, big sister Aubrey came to my school instead, because the teachers weren't able to contact you," she said enthusiastically.
"Oh, I already chatted to her before I arrived," Ansel replied, picking up the platter of food he had prepared and handing it to Samatha, whose eyes twinkled with excitement.
She lunged towards the platter, but Ansel stopped her as she got closer.
"Wash your hands first, little lady, or say bye bye to your food."
Samantha sprang out of bed and dashed to the kitchen sink before returning to him and devouring the meal he had made. As she ate, she told Ansel about what happened at school, the boys she liked, and her struggles with mathematics. And the older brother listened while nodding with a bright smile at her every word. They spoke for about an hour longer until Samantha began to feel drowsy again and she asked her brother.
"Big brother?"
"Do you want me to sleep beside you?" Ansel replied.
Samantha shook her head, "I know that you're going to go again to work even you said that you'd rest."
Ansel felt his heart ached as her litte sister uttered those words.
"I simply need you to sing me the tune you used to sing to me 2 years ago when I was 6."
Ansel nodded for the last time as he then lay down next to her as he caressed her hair.
"When I talk, to God, I know, he listen, listen. When, I talk, to God, I know, he, listens, to...me"
As he slowly repeated and sang those words to her younger sister, she began to close her eyes and fell asleep. He leaned closer to her, kissed her cheek, and she smiled as he exited and shut the door.
He then, pulled out his phone, and checked the time,
"4:10!"
After that, he ran inside their complex's storage room and pulled out the item that Aivan had given him for his 17th birthday back in January and took the copy of Septima Online from his jacket and inserted it into the memory card back slot. He tried to call Aivan, perplexed as to how that gadget operated, but received no response. As a result, he was obliged to read the handbook quickly as he finished it. It told him to go locate a secure spot for his sleeping body. His room was not an option as he was concerned about how Samantha would react if she saw him sleeping with a head gear, the living room was not an option since his aunt's friend chose to visit at 9 a.m., and going to his aunt's room was a no-go for him. So he was left to choose a location in the storage room. After he was ready, he closed his eyes and uttered,
"Soul Link!"
Ansel's body and soul began to separate, and Ansel could see himself, laying on the floorboard wearing this odd helmet. He appeared to be of average build with newly trimmed hair. He looked good in his opinion. After examining his physique for a moment, he was dragged up into the sky at such a high speed that he soared into the sky and became nauseated. But when he tried to vomit up, he found he couldn't, nor could he feel his body as his fingers passed through it as if it didn't exist. As he got closer to the place where he was being pulled, he observed five beings that resembled the Archon he had previously seen. They possessed the height of almost 300 men together this time. Meanwhile, at their feet, white sillhouettes resembling themselves waited at the ankles of these colossal angels. One of the gigantic entities spoke.
"I have a clear idea of who can discover Eden after our wings have protected its existence from the Archons."
"Armaros, the Oath states that if we fail to repel the troops of Septima or Caelum, we will be erased; that is the price Lord Samyaza requested the Maker for."
"I don't care about the Oath! Samyaza, we should've all died back there in the first place, but you... The Maker's righteous Watcher, pleaded with him to spare our lives."
"Calm down, Azazel, it was your tongue that binded us in this oath in the first place, now close your lips or I'll remove it for you."
"If you truly want to go, Baraqiel, I'll accompany you with Samyaza on your back to Abaddon."
The four colossal four-paired angels argued in a language that all of the humans at their feet seemed to understand. Meanwhile, in the heart of it all, a six-paired winged angel folded its arms and listened to the others argue.
"Silence!" His voice echoed through the vastness of empty space.
"Whoever is the one who awakened the Eden's Watchers clearly understood that we existed before and now, thanks to your togue Azazel, they also knew that we created an Oath to The Maker."
After stating that, he angel with four pairs of wings and four arms surged for the speaker, however, with some strange occurance, as he drew near him, the four armed angel returned to his original location.
The humans at their feet began to gaze at them as if they were gods; they didn't comprehend anything, but what is there to understand in a world full of fantasy. The six paired angel then clapped his hand and said with a roaring voice.
"The oath and the law of the Maker is cannot be broken again. Therefore, I have reached a vertict. We will send five humans into the world of Septima, to let learn about 5 Category Magicka to teach the men and women of Eden. Any Watcher that may oppose this vertict raise thy hand."
Out of the 4 others besides the 6 paired winged angel, only the 4 armed Angel raised his hand.
"And I'm free to assume that the other three agreed to this vertict?"
"Aye!"
"Yes lord,"
"Of course, dear leader."
All of the Watcher except the 4 armed Watcher, rejoiced at this vertict, while he on the other hand, gnashed his teeth in angry as he stared at the 6 paired wing Watcher. Samyaza then clapped two times and all of the white sillhouettes flew back into Earth with only 5 remaining that the Watcher's observed. Confused by the sudden shift of events. Ansel, who was with the other 4 white sillhouttes asked one of them that had the sillhoutte of a short haired boy.
"Ummm..."
But before he could inquire, Samyaza, the Watcher, lifted his hand in front of them and opened a doorway that reflected the skies on the other side. Without giving them a chance to protest, they were pulled into the portal and dropped towards the floating island he had seen before. They halted in the sky for a single second before splitting off into the five corners of the world of Septima.