The handle was cool under his fingers.
Raizen turned it and pushed.
The door opened without a sound.
Light spilled out first. Softer than below, not the harsh white of training spotlights. A pale, diffused glow, as if it had filtered through leaves and clouds before reaching this place.
He stepped into the Sky Domain.
The air felt different.
Thinner. Colder, like the breeze before a storm. He could also smell some faint mix of ink, wood and old paper. It reminded him of the air on high walkways in Neoshima, with the wind pushing in.
The hallway stretched ahead. The wall on his right was bare wood, faint grooves running with the grain. The wall on his left…
Wasn't bare at all.
Frames covered it.
Not the simple, practical ones from the lower floors. These frames were wider, the wood a darker tone, very polished. Tiny engraved lines traced patterns along their edges - wings, feathers, clouds…
Inside them, moments had been caught.
Sky.
