With a simple sign of his hand, all who were prostrating straightened themselves but still had their head lowered in reverence. Subsequently, Lothair walked forward as the men and women made space for him, forming a path to the grand door at the far end of the room. In this regal route, he walked with grace, followed by both me and Isaac. Then, as we reached the door, it slowly opened by itself, without a single noise.
The sight that unfolded behind the lustrous gate was one of pure wonder and fantasy. I couldn't help but gasp, a low 'Woah...' escaping from my lips.
A void filled with colors, light rays decorating it like the beautiful blur of an Aurora Borealis, a floor of transparent glass with nothing below —as if we were walking over nothing—, an alluring azure glow appearing and disappearing like an ungraspable jewel.
And in this void, all kinds of things floated in the air, such as trees, sculptures, houses, even weapons, and a mansion. There were also doors, gliding across the glass floor, fast and slow, sometimes opening and closing as people were passing through them.
"This is the Crossroad." Isaac started explaining, acting as if he was my tour guide. "This void expanse is connected to all of Arcane's bases across the whole world, and we use these doors to travel to them in an instant."
"Then why did we have to fly all the way to Neldaria instead of simply using a door?"
"...The ship can't pass through a door, little girl."
"True..."
I could hear Isaac sigh but I decided to ignore him. Lothair was already walking ahead by himself so I scurried to his side so I could satiate my endless curiosity about him.
"Mister, how did you obtain those super cool abilities?"
He tilted his head to meet my gaze, and offered a warm smile along with his response, which immediately struck me as out of character but I didn't dwell much on it.
"I borrow the power of fairies to control space. Though because I am not a chimera and simply an awakened, those abilities are limited. However I trained and honed them since I was very young permitting me to achieve such feats."
'Why do I feel like he was bragging just now..?'
"So how did you accelerate my growth?", I said that without much of an explanation, still I figured he could guess I was talking about that time I was inside the cultivation pod. He was smart after all, no?
"That was thanks to the Worldly Authority, Eliza. With Soul Force and fairy genes, it becomes easier to bend the laws of this world. After all, space and time aren't really that far apart."
The more he spoke, the more questions I had. This world was truly a mystery to me. Although I could associate that 'Worldly Authority' with the authority within the system, I had no clue about what the second thing he mentioned was... "All that sounds very awesome, but what exactly is Soul Force?"
"You'll know in due time. Oh, and we have arrived."
Haa... another question which I won't know the answer to... but we've arrived, he said? We had stopped right in front of an old-fashioned door made in rustic wood with no decoration whatsoever. With only this before me, I had no idea what our destination was, but then Isaac interjected, seemingly aware of where this mysterious door led to.
"Boss, I wouldn't doubt your decision, however... why send her there now?"
'Ugh, it felt bad being the only ignorant one.'
Lothair answered simply, "Well, Isaac, she needs a public identity." And with those words, he turned the handle of the door and pushed it open, sliding with a disturbing creak— to show an unfamiliar scenery.
The void expanse we were in dissipated, and we set foot on a wooden corridor, red from the dim lights of candles hanging on the walls. I did not even have time to take in the new scenery that Lothair's deep commanding voice resounded beside me.
"Isaac, go find an apartment to settle in with Eliza. I'll be taking her to the Kephalonia agency in the meantime."
"Yes Boss."
Subsequently, Lothair snapped his fingers, and the gloomy scientist vanished from his place, thus leaving me alone with the dignified man.
Without a word, he started walking, so I followed after him silently too. Although I was curious, I couldn't find myself asking now. I had a feeling that he would not give me a good answer anyway...
Each step we took resonated in the hallway, the low tapping sound of footsteps being the only one in the stifling atmosphere. In each side of the corridor were doors at regular intervals with a number marked on the top, which reminded me of hotel rooms. However, the fact that the place seemed shabby and old struck me as unnatural. Being in a world where altering DNA and laser guns were real, I never thought such places still existed, even if abandoned.
Finally, after walking straight for ten little minutes, we reached the end of the corridor, where circling stairs stretched down endlessly.
I pointed downward with a finger, "Do we have to go down all that..?"
Honestly, walking was already quite boring, especially without a conversation to pass time. Moreover, that staircase appeared ro be infinite. Who could blame me for feeling lazy in this situation?
"Not exactly..." he answered while taking a step forward.
Those words were enough to give me hope, however the pause felt strangely ominous, so I couldn't relax just yet.
"...We have to jump actually. Oh, and be careful not to touch the stairs while falling. That would be dangerous."
I knew something was wrong. The longer I lived in this damn planet, the worse and more bizarre it got.
Lothair didn't even spare me a second before stepping down and falling in the abyss-like staircase, so I promptly followed suit and jumped with my eyes closed.
There was only darkness as I fell down, the wind being the unique source of all sensations.
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