The world glitched upon the proclamation of the word of destruction.
Everyone in the room became immaterial for a moment as the will of the universe attempted to assert the force of destruction upon the great dragon.
Space wobbled, the wall of Dragonhearth shook and the left wing of the tower crumbled.
Outside, a wave exploded outside the tower and the lava boiling dragon wraiths of the Abyss erupted, setting the void to boil.
The mountain range upon which Dragonhearth shook like tectonic thunders rumbled underneath its crust.
And when light cascaded out of Lucifer on a final defiance and the realm was set to right, Ran was the first to regain himself.
Seeing the wave of light pouring out of his father, he decided they had to move. He realized that the word of destruction hadn't even shaken Lucifer who was pushing back against its force.
They really had to get moving, so he turned around and saw Haru and Erisa already moving. But Kigana, she had passed out.
He rushed towards them, lifted his cousin and placed her on his shoulder. "Let's go," he said, taking off.
They heard a flap of leathery wings behind them. Ran turned and saw that while the great dragon was still pushing back against the force of destruction, the dragon man that had escorted him to Dragonhearth was free, so also was he on the move.
He was heading straight at them.
Ran took to air and immediately dived out of the throne room through the thrashed doorway tendrils. Kigana and Haru followed him in their various aerial forms.
Outside the room they made to continue their flight but the dragon man rushed out behind them and clapped his wings mightily.
A heavy pressure fell upon them and immediately the three of them were brought down to the ground.
Haru and Erisa began throwing attacks of every kind back at the dragon as they took off running, Ran holding on the Kigana carefully.
The pressure in the air denied them the ability to fly so they ran. And even that was difficult.
As they exited one of the corridors, Erisa lifted her hand and brought down the walls above the lintel of the threshold with the force of gravity, collapsing the corridor like a tunnel.
That bought them some time to create a huge gap between them and the dragon man, so they put more energy into their steps and continued running like their lives depended on it.
Their hearts pounded as they ran and their breath soon grew ragged. Their footsteps echoed through the marbled corridors which gleamed like starlight infused bones.
Oddly, Ran noticed that the same perverted celestial architecture of the throne room was all over the tower. It was no heaven, regardless the imitation.
This was the primordial mother, the chthonic father, this was hell.
Its halls were vaulted with veins of gold upon the ceilings of chambers where there were no pitch dark clouds, its walls were carved in charcoal reliefs depicting weeping angels and serene saints. It looked divine in every meaning of the word. Soft light poured from no source, lighting everything up in an eternal glow.
But it all felt wrong, it stirred up false emotions, the sight of all thus. The light felt wrong, it had a static hum. It bled into Ran's skin, made him remember things he never wanted to remember.
Ghosts of the past flashed through his mind's eyes. Realms burned, a mother laughed, love crushed, a brother died.
The warmth of the light of Dragonhearth was too warm, mockingly warm.
And as they ran, the tower watched. He could feel it.
"Left!" Haru shouted as he jerked hard as they came up on a split in the hallway.
Behind them came the sound of metal boots scraping on ivory floor and wings, plated and draconic.
Erisa, panting beside him, cradled her wounded hand to herself, her remaining fingers trembling. "They're gaining! We're not going to outrun them!"
"We don't have to outrun them," Ran said, his voice barely louder than a whisper. "We just have to lose them."
Next to him, Haru nodded grimly. "We need to find a place to hide and regroup. This place has to have forgotten and dark chambers or anything of that sort somewhere. It pretends to be holy, but nothing this bright can exist in Naraku."
Ran didn't know if there was a god watching out for them at the moment, because they ran into an atrium next that was so huge it had hundreds of arched, golden doors. From the opened roof they could see the void, boiling from the eruption of the Abyss.
They chose a random door and ducked into a chamber, slamming the arched gold-trimmed door behind them.
It opened into a hallowed shadow, an eerie experience.
Immediately they stepped in the light shifted. It became thick, heavy, blueish-black. It was like seeing a tangible hue of grief. The room was dim and the ground ran with a flow of mist. Shadows clung to the arches, poised above like vultures—watching, silent.
Erisa gasped, clutching her chest. "Don't breathe too deep," she croaked. "It feeds on sorrow. This place absorbs it."
A mumble over his shoulder had Ran turning as Kigana began stirring. He lifted her and gently settled her in her feet, still holding on to her by the shoulder as she leaned into him.
"Are you alright, Gana?" He asked, she mumbled something under her breath again. "Huh?"
"I feel woozy?" She said, her voice a bit clearer now. "But I think I can walk."
Nodding, he let her go and she stood on her own. Erisa gave him a worried look. "You're sure she'll be alright?"
He got her meaning and nodded. "She's a former track star."
Erisa looked impressed and even smiled. Haru, though, was staring around the chamber, looking really pale. "This place…It's making me feel like...like my father's death happened yesterday."
"It's not real," Ran said, his fists clenched and he gritted his teeth. "It's not you. It's the tower."
Naturally Kigana fell into their middle as they began to make their way through the hollow of the dimly bright shadow chamber.
Each step weighed more than the last, and Erisa nearly tripped. Ran was the one who actually tripped soon after and he was nearly crying from the sudden flood of unprocessed pain.
Memories surged through him—his brother dying right before him as a child. His father's face the day he left, taken by the genie and almost never came back. So many awful memories flooded him and he nearly drowned in it.
Kigana dragged him onward, her knuckles white on her arm.
Suddenly, behind them, a door croaked. Metal screeched again—louder. A knight, maybe two, had entered the chamber. Shadows flickered about with no apparent disturbance from the light. The air crackled with unnatural wind.
"GO!" Haru shouted.
They didn't need to be told twice.