"The dead Goddess?" Appalled, Xavier had those cryptic words continuously echo in his mind. His hands were frozen, as his brain was caught up with something else.
"Who is this dead Goddess? It can't be of the fourth and fifth dimensions, right? I mean, Vael already told us that they were alive?"
"Could it be that there was some new information on these Goddesses that was hidden?"
"I mean, I struggle to believe that a God can just die like that…what happened? Who-"
"Hey Xavier," Through all of the swelling thoughts, a young man's voice pierced through the air as it entered Xavier's ears. "You okay? You've blanked out for like a minute now…"
In that instant, Xavier's eyes widened as he fully processed his colleague's words that ended his daydreaming. The entire world around him lost its blur immediately.
They were currently in a decently large laboratory. Humanoid robot assistants moved around as green holograms containing diagrams flickered on dark blue metal tables.
There were people—some stationary while others walking about—who were holding various gadgets and tools. Each of them were wearing lab coats with varying colors. Some were wearing helmets, while others weren't, like the young man before Xavier.
The busy and mechanical sounds of the laboratory finally completed Xavier's snap back to reality.
Thus, he slowly looked at the young man. Dawning black hair and black eyes, he had a soft, average looking face. A white lab coat made out of nanotechnology adorned his body as he stretched out his hand towards Xavier, hitting his back.
"You good dude?" He asked, his tone casual.
"Oh…yeah, I'm good." Looking back at the green hologram in front of him, he clarified with a soft voice.
"I was just thinking about how to assemble this circuit into this Abram's Drive…" Instinctively, he spoke about the topics of one of his previous Engineering lessons he studied.
"Ah, makes sense." The male colleague removed his hand from Xavier's back with a smile. "An extremely smart guy like you always has those things to think about, right?"
"Haha…" Xavier laughed nervously. "Yeah."
After receiving confirmation, the young man grabbed a gadget from the table and began to insert it into a holographic projection of a brain.
Keeping his gaze on the young man for a while, he sighed as he looked at the time on the green hologram.
"3:42 PM…I've worked for four hours…"
"Just an hour left till I get off."
…
In the depths of the Silvermere Sea, seven miles off the coast of the city of Silvermere in Sentaia.
There, a woman dressed in a full-bodied sleek nano-suit stood, surrounded by vast amounts of water on both sides. She was at the boundary of light and darkness. Above her were the rays of the blue sun trying to peek through the ocean but was stopped by the endless darkness below her.
Because of this, she had commanded her suit to turn on her electric green light streaks that went vertically and horizontally across her body.
As a result, she was able to see varieties of fish surrounding her body. She looked at them intently in an attempt to secretly admire the strange species of fish.
Afterwards, she cast her gaze downwards.
"A dead Goddess, huh…" Staring at the darkness that lay under her, Aria Brown thought back on Vael's words.
"If she's an old friend, then would she end up helping us in the name of the Goddess? I mean, why else would she make such a dramatic entrance to us?"
"Would we end up becoming Ethereal users of that Goddess?" Aria then thought about becoming a Celestial. Of course, she didn't know about that name yet, so she used her naming sense to describe beings who can manipulate Ethereon.
"Man, I wonder how Astra would feel if we came up to her with new powers…"
"Hey! Miss Aria!"
"Are you still there? Why are you down there for so long?" A female voice coming from Aria's helmet had rung inside of her head, disrupting her thought process.
"Right, I'm done with my shift for today…I got too caught up." Aria's muffled voice resounded throughout the waters, scaring the fish.
"I'm sorry…" Apologizing outwardly, she straightened her body as she looked straight up towards the ocean surface that was being bathed by light.
Swish!
It didn't take her long to reach the surface—only about six or so seconds.
This was a stark improvement from earlier, where she claimed she 'almost died'.
Whoosh!
As she punctured the ocean surface, she flew in mid air as a hoverboard rushing over the face of the waters zoomed in her direction, catching her.
A female figure dressed in a nano-suit similar to Aria's was on this hoverboard. As the device flew over the waters, it created decently large waves due to the speed and force generated from it.
"Man, that's your third time spending an extra minute down there." The robotic female voice said. "Are you trying to look for a Leviathan or something?"
"What if I am?" Aria immediately retorted back.
"…" The young woman was silent for a few seconds. She always knew Aria was a little insane, but even this level of craziness surprised her!
Indeed, Aria did all of this just to hide the fact that she found a new fascination in certain species of fish.
Clearing her throat, the young woman spoke again.
"Ahem. How do you feel about your chances of passing our first test?" Immediately, she tried to change the subject.
"Ha!" Aria gave a sarcastic, exaggerated laugh. "Let's not talk about my grades now…." She then stood up on the hoverboard, staring at the horizon and the flying ships hovering over the waters.
"How about yours? How are they?"
"Heh." Even though Aria couldn't see her face, she knew that the sound the young lady made indicated that she had smirked.
"I'm like…at the fourth I think. But I'm at least in the top five." Continuing, she reasonably bragged.
"That's so cool." Noticing this, Aria couldn't help but give a response that had a ting of sarcasm.
…
In a particular forest near Silvermere—only a few hundred miles away from the border between Octavia and Sentaia.
It was a humid night. The pitch black trees stood still as they stretched towards the sky. It almost looked as if they blended in with the night sky, however they were cut short by the illumination of the violet moon and the faint stars.
Even the ground itself looked as if it was seeping darkness; the grass blades looked as if they served as tendrils of corruption. The air was thick and the smell that permeated the atmosphere was nothing short of strange—it was as if the horrid smell had become corporeal and laid rest inside the nose of the travelers.
Because of this ominous atmosphere, there were no forest animals or even insects. The only thing disrupting the eerie silence was the occasional wind that blew through the forest, though paradoxically it never bothered the armies of trees.
This was a place that is very rarely seen, even in Sentaia. It is called the Forest of the Dead, and is more or less a mythical place in other countries. It is called this not only because of its atmosphere, but also because it seems to come to life at day, brimming with color and creatures, only to have such qualities disappear at night.
Emilia stood near a particular tree as she trembled slightly by Vael's side. She was wearing a gothic black dress and matte black shoes. It was like she was dressing to be one with the darkness.
"I really don't know what told me to accept this stupid job," She did not reflect this sentiment inwardly, however. "Who would've thought that ghost-watching would've literally had corrupted spirits!?"
"I've been here half a dozen times and I'm still baffled by this!" Her body continued to shake as she questioned her actions.
Vael, on the other hand, had only worn a t-shirt and jeans that showed his well-defined muscular frame—a common dressing style in Sentaia for this time of the year. His hands were in his pockets as he casually strode through the forest.
"Mister…" Emilia covered her eyes with her hands as water dripped from them and down her sleeve.
Vael glanced at her, waiting for her to finish her thought.
"I have a question." The hand covered Emilia continued, her senses still not getting used to the Darkness.
"Yes?" Vael responded calmly.
Emilia paused as she moved her pupils to look at Vael. Fortunately, his calm and casual demeanor had made her relax slightly.
Taking a short breath of relief, she continued,
"You said that this place houses the vengeful spirits that died here because of the wars in the Transitional Eon?"
Vael nodded.
"Yes."
Hearing the affirmative, Emilia removed one of her hands from her face. She then said:
"Are there similar places for even the divine? I mean, you said earlier that a Goddess was dead…"
"…"
Vael stood silent. His eyes creased, but only for a moment as he remembered his conversation with the mysterious person that represents Space-Time.
Recollecting himself, he chuckled.
"There aren't such places. Gods are different from mortal beings."
"Also, such information is dangerous. It's best you not think too much of it, like I said earlier."
Feeling a cold sweat partly due to embarrassment and a pinch of anxiety, Emilia stayed silent.
Noticing this, Vael continued.
"You shouldn't feel embarrassed. It's a good question for someone wondering about the supernatural. But one of the main principles of the supernatural is that knowledge is power, and power corrupts."
With a smile that contrasted his words, he said:
"In fact, this ground that we're walking on is brimmed with corruption. Corruption that doesn't follow classic dimensional laws."
…
In Vael's house, at night.
The violet moon rays pierced through the floor-to-ceiling windows that served as the walls for the trio's room. It was dark outside, with the only other source of light being the swirling movements of green fireflies and other glowing insects.
A faint breeze blew through the forest; some trees stretching up to the beautiful stars in the night sky.
Aria sat on her bed as her eyes stared at the night sky. Xavier was seated by the sofas near the picture windows, also gazing at the dark, celestial blanket.
They didn't say a word to each other. All they thought about was the scene they last saw before they were transported here—a night sky covered in stars, a supernatural scene that not only showcased the Milky Way Galaxy, but also Polaris.
A sense of nostalgia oozed through their hearts, as if they were longing for the times where they were once astronomers.
"Guess we still aren't that accustomed to this world, huh?" Aria asked, breaking the silence.
Xavier inhaled deeply, and exhaled just as hard.
"I guess." After a pause, he continued. "It's still baffling to me."
"We always considered Dr. Sera strange, weird, and different. And now, we're in a world that is strange, weird, and different."
"It's ironic. Very ironic."
Aria smiled as she rubbed the pants of her green pajamas.
"Yeah. It's almost like the universe telling us that she was right all along."
"Heh. But it's the very fact that she's right about the 'heavens' that made her unable to understand herself."
Xavier turned, casting a faint shadow on his face. His platinum eyes locked with Aria's emerald ones.
"Are you saying that she's connected to this world somehow?"
Aria nodded.
"Yup. I mean, how else do you explain her turning pale on that night?"
Xavier narrowed his eyes as he reversed his movement to look back at the night sky.
"Is that the reason why she cannot trust us? Because we are fundamentally different from her?"
"I guess you can say that. I'd word it a little differently, but it doesn't matter." Aria responded as she stretched, letting her body plummet on her bed.
"She said she cared about us, though…" Xavier muttered as he held his right shoulder.
"You don't have to trust someone to care about them." Aria retorted as she looked at the dim fluorescent ceiling lights.
"That sounds quite contradictory…" Xavier said as he lowered his tone—his voice reflecting his introspection.
The silence between Xavier and Aria persisted after this. Normally, they would go on the internet, but even that felt too distant for them.
Whoosh…
With a soft humming sound, the room door opened—interrupting the stubborn silence.
Walking into the room was the gothic-dressed Emilia and the casual attired Vael.
Emilia's eyes were drooping, and her back was slightly leaning forward. She looked exhausted—as if her body would fall at any moment.
Of course, she was not tired in the traditional sense. It was just that she was suffering from mental fatigue—akin to how one would feel after experiencing a horrifying event.
"Oh, both of you are back." Aria said nonchalantly as she sat up on her bed and turned towards the room door.
Xavier stood up as he looked towards the direction of both Vael and Emilia.
Seeing that everyone was now present and awake, Vael lips curved softly.
Controlling his emotions, he said with a gentle yet commanding voice:
"Xavier. Aria. Emilia."
"I have something important to tell you all."