The sand beneath our feet started to shift sideways, and we stumbled.
I looked around, and the entire area itself was shifting to its side.
"What the fuck!" I said again, yelling. I couldn't get a grip, mentally speaking.
On top of everything else, an enormous hand had grabbed what seemed to be the top of the hourglass we were in and was turning it over.
"Hold on to something!" Code yelled as everything had begun to fall over.
The situation intensified when we saw a huge tower falling in our direction.
There was a piece of a wall detached nearby that we all managed to get onto as the whole place continued to shift. The tower falling closer still, Code snapped his fingers and switched us with a random grain of sand somewhere else away from the crash. But it wasn't over.
The plains kept getting steeper and steeper. We hung on the piece of wall we were on, using it as a board, and surfed on the sand.
Pieces of buildings and concrete were in the way, and we used our combined body weight to maneuver through the falling sand. Code used his magic to switch with objects we could not dodge from moment to moment. Ophelia used her magic to keep Havoc afloat and hung on to a metal bar sticking out of the piece of wall we were on. She was also still very nauseous, so she could not do much but hang back at this time.
The sand got to the point where we could no longer keep ourselves upright. We fell hard into the gaping hole. The once-sand dunes we had just been standing on were replaced with the glass sky.
And that was the last thing I remembered before I blacked out.
***
When I finally woke up, I was buried in sand, and so was my crew, for all I knew. The sand dunes were the same as they were when we first entered, except this time, we were on the opposite end of this giant hourglass.
I trudged myself out and found Code just barely getting out himself somewhat nearby.
"Ophelia and Havoc… where are they?" I asked him, winded.
"I don't know," he said hoarsely.
We looked around for a moment and started walking. About ten minutes later, Ophelia and Havoc permeated from the sand with her magic. Havoc was still passed out.
"Looking for us?" she said cheerily. Bad time to lighten the mood. "That was one hell of a ride. I couldn't even focus on using my magic properly with all that going on. Plus, I was still a bit nauseous coming in here. You can say I took care of that as we were falling, hehe. Glad you boys are alright, though!" Gesturing with a finger going into her mouth, telling us that she threw up mid-air as we fell through the sky earlier.
Code and I side-eyed her with slight annoyance as she said that.
Ophelia went on, this time gesturing to Havoc, "This guy's been passed out since that thing got him. You think it's a spell?"
We hadn't gotten the chance to discuss anything or assess what was going on since we got here. Too much shit was happening at once.
"Not sure. Havoc is usually immune to most things, even some magic abilities, because of his own ability. So, for something to have an effect on him like this is concerning," I replied to her.
Things were quiet now, but I guessed it was a good thing. We could finally come up with a plan to get out of here—though we'd have to figure out where we were first.
Code thought to himself for the remainder of the moment of peace we had, so we decided to migrate to a more secluded spot in this Keeperforsaken place.
The sky began to change past the glass walls we were confined in. We hung around inside a destroyed tower, still partially outside due to the wreckage. It allowed a quick exit for us, just in case the sand below us started to shift again without warning. Or if another one of those mecha monsters came out again, but that didn't seem to be the case anymore.
Code and I leaned up against a wall, Havoc and Ophelia on the opposite end. Havoc's gilet covered him like a blanket.
We sat there and began brainstorming.
"So we figured out we're in an hourglass, but this place is huge. Where in the Keepers' name is this place? I didn't even know a place like this existed in our world. Were we teleported?" I said, stirring up ideas.
"Or it could be magic. Like a Domain type? Ohh, Domain magic would be crazy, 'cause this is one hell of a place," Ophelia added.
Code still pondered as Ophelia and I spouted ideas in the background. He looked up again and found the gaping hole above us.
He added finally, "We shrank."
Ophelia and I looked at him blankly.
"Shrank?" I repeated in disbelief, but I supposed it wasn't too wild of an idea. Anything seemed possible with magic in this world.
"Ugh, that's so lame. I like my idea better," Ophelia joked.
"This isn't about whose idea is better—" Code snapped but contained himself, realizing she was joking.
"This must be Compression type magic. Did you not see the 'giant' hand earlier? Well, it's actually just a normal hand and the same one that flipped us."
I, too, realized it before we were turned over. It was the only logical explanation.
"So what? This is Compression magic, then? Who has that type of mage craft, and who would kidnap us?" I asked.
"Someone that wants to keep us quiet… Or better yet, out of the picture for something they're planning. As for who did it…" Code deduced. "Remember when Syemore summoned that half Zion Orb out of seemingly nowhere?"
I did remember that. Could this have been Captain Syemore's magic?
"It's the only explanation that makes sense. He uses Compression magic. It's an extremely rare ability. I don't think I know another mage in this lifetime who has it aside from him. And it seems he used it on us. Question is how? He was still in the Guild meeting when we left," Code went on.
"And what about that puppet monster thing from earlier?" Ophelia questioned.
"It must be some kind of magic tool. But that wouldn't make sense. Magic tools need a mage to use them. This thing was operating on its own like it had its own brain," I said.
"Or acted like it had a brain," Code added. "Do you know the two Vice Captains of the Blue Phoenix Knights?"
"Not really."
Code kept deducing, "Well, one of them is a Puppet magic user. His name is Terek if I remember correctly."
"You think he used his magic to cast Syemore's magic somehow? How did they manage that?" I questioned.
"Not sure, but I do believe we now have a case. This might be the Blue Phoenix's doing. We just need proof now."
As Code ended the topic, we now had to figure out a way out of here.
"Ophelia—"
"Nope. Tried it," she interrupted Code casually, not even letting him ask the question.
"Do you even know what I was about to ask?"
"Yes, actually. You were gonna ask if I could pass us through and out of here."
Code said nothing, intrigued that she beat him to it.
"But why were you not able to pass through?" he finally added.
Ophelia walked over to him and reached into his inner jacket pocket, pulling out a pack of smokes and his lighter. She took a cigarette and lit it, blowing smoke in the air above her.
"I think there's a nullifying magic barrier just inside of this hourglass. 'Cause when I tried to escape with Havoc while we were falling from up there, I couldn't go any farther," she said seriously, which she only got that way after having a smoke.
I sat there thinking.
"I might have an idea," I said nonchalantly, my eyes lazy and looking at both of them. Code's eyebrows raised, and Ophelia feinted a smirk.
"I have no clue if this is gonna work, but it's worth a shot…"
"Keeper… Another boneheaded idea based on unrealistic expectations," Code stated as he gestured to Ophelia to give him a cigarette as well.
"Well, it beats sitting here on our asses waiting to get flipped over again." Ophelia encouraged, "Let's hear it, Cap!"