章節 19: Growing Endeavors
I slowed down on my course for Xiala just enough for mistress Thalia to catch up. I called out to her, watching as she perked up, walking a little faster until she crashed into my arms with a surprised gasp.
"Oh! Sorry, Leifa."
"There's no need to apologize. It's my fault. I left the room without a second thought leaving you behind inconsiderately. Apologies." I shook my head sincerely, taking her hand to lead her down the hallway.
"You don't have to walk me all the time; I told you before I'm not totally helpless. It's different when we're in immediate danger, but casual walks like this I can handle myself. "
"I know, so think of this as me being selfish. It's...comforting holding your hand with things spiraling even more unexpectedly out of control."
I smiled bitterly to myself, peering at the number of the first door as we passed the middle hall going further down before turning onto the right passage. I felt mistress's hand squeeze mine tighter, likely in response to my words, as I led us farther inward, the door reading room zero.
Glancing around to make sure we were alone, I pulled mistress Thalia in closer, my mouth centimeters from her ear, making sure our conversation would go unheard.
"We all agreed to come on your decision, miss, but do you think it smart to trust Xiala? Her words are mysterious, and she won't even expose the little we are knowledgeable about. The woman holds too many secrets; it makes me apprehensive."
"You certainly make it obvious, yes. I understand where you're coming from; still, I don't actually sense any ill intent from Xiala unlike I immediately felt when first meeting Tak."
"She could simply be suppressing her emotions, mistress."
"Maybe so. Nevertheless, you can't force or expect others to reveal everything about themselves when first meeting them. Growing up together, I know you've always made choices that required little to no risk so we'd remain safe, but that no longer exists for us. If we want to survive, it can't just be you, me, and brother anymore; we'll sometimes have to trust others. And in building trust, there lies risk. It's unavoidable."
"I'm probably foolishly exposing our backs, and you could be right about her. But let's cooperate for now. If anything does go down, you'll have my back like always, won't you?"
"Without question. ...You've really grown this past week, miss."
A smile grew on my face complimenting Thalia as we neared the end of the hall. Moving out of whisper range, still close enough to read her face in the dark, I could see the contours of her face expressed in a half-hearted depressed smile.
"You think? I don't feel the same. I only realized all this after my talk with bro- Reis while we were in heaven. I wish...I had been more accepting when he told me the news. I said all sorts of hurtful things, and when he came to rescue me from Tak, I found myself reluctant, even after we agreed our relationship wouldn't become awkward. I...hate myself for it."
A single tear slid down Thalia's left cheek as she looked down and away, our duo finally stopping outside the final door at the end of the hall, which palely read fifteen. Gently pushing her chin up, I give off the warmest, most reassuring aura possible, patting mistress's head. Her tense shoulders slowly relaxed as she nuzzled into my chest sadly.
"I was wondering how long you'd keep everything bottled in. When he finally wakes up, make sure to tell him every bit of how you feel, okay?"
"Now, what do you say we get inside? Best not to keep Xiala waiting any longer. I'm sure she can see the shadows of our feet from under the door."
Gesturing silently, Thalia moved back. Together, taking both our hands, I pushed them against the door, the metal splitting away diagonally opening up to a well-sized lab, shutting close once we passed inside.
The room walls were decorated with thin cylindrical tubes; the containers hooked up to a giant machine running down three-fourths of the middle of the room, each one bubbling and flowing with a different colored substance.
Walking to the right side, my gaze immediately lands on a vast rectangular chamber built into the floor. The center was filled with bubbles floating atop a strange light pink liquid from what I make out with the see-through covering sitting on top.
Above that, hooked to the ceiling, was a fusion drill that extended meters down, the tip lined perfectly in accordance with the middle of the chamber. And to the left, pushing various buttons on the large equipment, was Xiala. Next to her in the top right corner of the room, folded and placed neatly on a chair, were the clothes I last saw master Reis dressed in.
"So this is what I'm working with. Two of the four are the only ones to show, and the third member is cowering away in the kitchen. Things will be increasingly harder, but no matter."
Whirring the machine to life with the push of a button, Xiala turned to face Thalia and me, snapping her fingers.
The space inside the room changed and shifted. The floor disappeared along with the walls, lights, and tools until only the three of us remained—the trio of Xiala with me and miss Thalia floating in space.
"A...transportation spell?"
"Nothing like that. I separated the area, the space the three of us stood in, from the room we once were, sending us into the past, whereas Reis remains in the present, essentially creating a second plane of existence unconnected from your friends, all while still maintaining the first."
"That's...complicated, isn't it, Leifa?"
"Very. But why did you bring us somewhere unconventional?"
"I told you before that coming with me would entail danger until the Devil King is defeated. You'll need to know everything you can before we set out, including what I'm about to tell you both."
"A story about devils, angels, the earth, how we all came to be, and much more."
"Everything started greater than ten millennia ago, with a single entity named... Kals."
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