Arc 3 – Chapter 2 – Silver light
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We heaved and winced after we pulled our bodies out of what would be a fall to nothingness. But now that we were safe, if only for a moment, the rush of adrenaline passed, making our bodies remind us that we weren’t quite healthy enough for such a strain yet as pain began to assail us.

Resting my back against the still ground I looked at the message window in front of my eyes as I did my best to ignore the stinging pain.

Welcome to stage 2!

 

A world once whole, broken into pieces that slowly vanish into the void.

Do your best to survive and reach the sky palace or disappear alongside the fragments.

“That’s it?” I asked myself when I thought back to what we had to do in the last stage. Homura however showed entirely different thoughts.

“It shouldn’t be like this. Whatever happened inside the stages the participants were always sent back to Aeus.” Her voice was desperate.

Without her needing to speak about it I could guess her thoughts by now. “They will survive. We will find them again.” They were hollow words, as we both knew that these worlds were far too big for us to search alone. Even if we knew where they were, they couldn’t just wait for us, given that these islands seemed to break apart at any given moment. Yet, I couldn’t help but try to give her a little bit of hope.

Still, even if it was a false one, her next words resounded with a little bit of calmness. “You’re right.” She stood up, brushing the dirt off that amassed itself when we dragged us upward before she held out her hand to me. “We should go. Better look for something that could help us before this place collapses completely.”

When I grabbed her hand, I was pulled up in one swift motion, only to face the new cliff. Once again, the sound of earth breaking apart was brought over to us, as somewhere another island broke apart.

There’s no knowing when this one will start to break apart once more.

Turning around we faced the reddish vegetation, making our way through it. For all the silence surrounding us we could only guess that we were the only ones on this island, even if there were others with so many that their screams reached all the way to us.

Minutes passed, turning into an hour, but aside from the vegetation we found nothing else on this island, even though we crossed the entire place, coming out on the cliff on the other side. All the while however, the ground slowly began to rumble once again, slightly at first, but by now not much weaker than the first time it broke apart.

Once more we broke into a sprint, this time continuing along the cliff as there was no sign of anything useful amidst the forest inside. Only a couple minutes later the ground shook again, a loud rumble audible from the other side of the island. Carefully we watched our surrounding, waiting for any sign that the collapse would reach us, yet a few minutes afterwards the island was as still as before, with only the rustling leaves and branches making any kind of sound.

Continuing onwards we never slowed down again, even when the shaking began once more. But even when we reached the point where the island had broken apart before we still had no idea how we were supposed to survive.

“If only we had someone who could fly.” I muttered as I thought about the only thinkable solution.

“That wouldn’t work either.” Homura spoke up, before she turned towards the forest once. “It’s not like they can fly forever, especially while carrying someone else.” Pushing aside a few branches the whole bush began to tilt, the ground crumbling beneath it, making it fall alongside it.

“Watch out!” Reaching out I grabbed her, trying to pull her back. Before I had to do so however it stopped, far before it could take her with it.

“Thanks.” She said while stifling a small laughter.

“It wasn’t necessary though.” I looked sideways as scratched my cheek. At that moment, my eyes wandered to another island that just lost its last pieces. Beneath the mass falling towards the void however I could see a glistening silver light, still shining even after everything else was gone.

“Hey, Homura, over there.” I pointed towards it, not daring to take my eyes of it in case that I wouldn’t find it again. Instead of falling with the rest, this small speck started to rise above, piercing into the yellow sky, and disappeared beyond it.

“I think we found out how we are supposed to leave this island.”

“Then we better find it before it’s too late.”

Little by little the ground began to shake, small spots giving in, hindering us even further from searching the island for any sign of that silver light. At first it was a mere rustling as the smaller vegetation left at the cliffs lost their hold, then the trees began to creak and crack, their last remaining buried roots ripping apart under the mass they had to hold plummeting the rest down below.

When the shaking got stronger, I released my flames towards our surroundings once more, burning away what was left of it in order to get a better view. But even then, there was little more than the torched remains left behind, showing nothing else.

Even repeating that over a few times only served to expand the scorched area. Before I could cover all of the island this way, or at least find something else other than vegetation the ground beneath us began to shake again, far stronger than ever before.

Looking around we searched for the next point of collapse, only to notice the ground beneath us sink downwards. We sprinted forward again, springing forwards before we were too far down to climb on a still standing part, but when we reached the top, we saw another part, already far above us as the one we stood upon also collapsed.

Wasting no further seconds, we ran again, even though the distance already grew to over a dozen foot. But before we even had the chance to reach the cliff a gap opened up, separating our part from the rest of the island.

Once more I felt Homura grab me, preparing to jump upwards and bring both of us on the standing part again. Just before she was ready however I saw a glint of silver, making me stop her.

“Wait up!”

“What!?” She was irritated, nearly ignoring my words before I continued.

“Over there!” Only a second later we could see the silver light clearly. A crystal, pointing out from beneath the island, standing inside an upside-down pavilion. The next moment however a loud crack resounded, as the part in front of our eyes broke down, blocking our view towards the crystal once more.

Without a word Homura threw me upwards towards it before she sprang after me. Landing on the top I was barely on my feet again when I already felt her pull again, dragging me closer to the edge, only for her to stop. Looking forward I saw the little rest that was atop the pavilion rising upwards, but the earth still clinging to it still broke apart, giving us no halt to climb upwards.

“Fuck.” I cursed out, only for Homura to speak calmly.

“We’ll need your barrier once more.”

“Wha…?” I looked towards her, only for my view to suddenly drop when she embraced me, throwing both of us over the edge.

“Now!”

“[Flame Shield]!” I shouted out, willing the barrier into existence beneath us. I could hear it crack underneath our impact, only holding on before Homura pushed us upwards once more while I poured my mana into it to let it last. And a breath later our bodies tumbled over cold stone.

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