….
A screech filled the room before Manon could even react.
Her brown eye stayed wide and unblinking as Colette screamed, moved away by Remy who ushered her away from Beckham's severed head at Manon's feet.
The blood seeping from Beckham's decapitated head pooled on the floor, staining her white shoes.
Manon was swiftly picked up from under her arms by Maria, who set her aside while the ogre nun picked up Beckham's head and stomped down the hall as if nothing was unusual. Anya, who still stood by the portal door, had a stoic look on her beautiful face, her eyes focused firmly on…
Remy.
The stormy haired boy held Colette, who was wrapped in her towel, shaking like a leaf with her head down.
But…Manon just looked at her. Her reactions seemed…unnatural. Like she wasn't the one feeling the emotions she displayed. Like she was…being controlled.
But this world was uncompromising, and Manon did not have the luxury of processing whatever had just transpired. Maria sighed deeply through her nose behind the small girl as Anya's icy gaze moved from Remy to her.
"Unfortunate- but sometimes these things happen." She shrugged, and opened the door again.
The swamp was nowhere to be found.
Instead, the door opened to reveal a red colored sky and endless clear waters. The smell of salt and iron immediately hit Manon's nose, the breeze coming from the door whipping her hair back from her face.
Despite the strong breeze, the water remained somewhat calm, the only consistent movement from the white clouds in the scarlet skies. Manon turned to look at Remy, who was now stepping away from the distressed ginger girl, his eyes meeting hers with a surprisingly calm demeanor.
"Remington, why don't you go first?" Anya said, her head tilted to the side.
Remy leant down just an inch to Colette's ear, whispering something unintelligible. Manon could only watch as he nodded at Colette, then walked towards the open door. Anya was even so kind as to hold the child's hand as he stepped into the water, sinking just a few inches deep, similar to the swamp pond. But just before he could begin to walk off, Anya yanked him to her, his torso bending to the side just so she could smile at him.
Manon could hear a soft whisper, but Anya's mouth did not move as the child and her stayed in a staring contest, her grin widening when Remy just smiled back at her.
As fast as she had delayed him, she let him go, and Remy moved forward just a step or two.
He turned back to look over his shoulder as Colette moved to stand next to Manon.
And while the brunette would have thought he would have been looking at Colette- she could have sworn his eyes met her brown one first, his brow twitching upwards as if reminding her of their deal.
The next second he winked at Colette, the same cheeky dimpled smile as always slipping onto his face.
Anya shut the door behind him softly, gently, a smile on her face that finally seemed to meet her eyes for the first time.
Manon did not know how to feel- and she felt like she didn't have the time to feel anything yet.
Consecutive.
Fast.
Immediate.
Anya was moving forward with each step quickly and seamlessly, brushing over Beckham's brutal and cruel death from what looked like…a goblin of sorts? As if it couldn't be helped. As if she couldn't have reached forward and yanked him to safety before shutting the door. As if he were meant to die like that.
But once again, these were feelings Manon couldn't even begin to express as Anya opened the door again.
The red sky was not visible anymore. Instead, the sky was perfectly clear and pale blue, even more translucent than Colette's eyes- aside from the occasional puffy white cloud.
Instead of an endless shallow sea, an endless frozen sea reached as far as the eye could see, reflecting the beautiful sky like a polished mirror.
Anya looked at her then, her smile sliding off her face slowly as her expression settled back into a neutral one.
"Go on." She gestured to the door.
Colette held Manon back for just a moment, her mouth by her ear.
"Do not look back." She whispered, gently pushing Manon forward away from Maria towards the door.
Manon didn't. Not because she wanted to listen and heed her words, but because she felt so numb. What reason did she truly have to argue?
Anya offered a hand to her as well, her pale gaze boring into the girl as she helped her step onto the ice without slipping.
That was all though.
No final words or whispers.
No lingering gaze after she had entered the slightly chilly space.
Nothing but the soft shutting of the door behind her and the uncomfortable eerie silence of being left alone in a world of endless sky and ice.
….
It was…quiet.
The only sound was the soft barely-there whistling of a breeze that had nothing to rustle against but open air.
Manon stood there, breathing out her mouth because she was still confused- still utterly torn about the last 2 minutes.
Remy had said that time moved differently because of the portal. Was he already here then?
But….this place looked different from where he was dropped at?
There were no red skies. Only very pale blue.
Manon looked to her left. Seeing an endless stretch of the mirror-like ice she stood on, and in the distance a speckle of green.
To her right, there still appeared to be endless ice, but the sky was…warmer? Tinged with something like….pink?
She breathed in the air. Crisp and cool. It didn't smell like much, but she could tell.
Faintly- very faintly….small traces of saltiness. Earthiness. Metal.
She had to go right...right?
To meet in the middle.
She had to get moving.
She knew it, but her legs wouldn't move easily.
It took her falling to her knees, palms pressed to the mirroring ice ground in order for her to truly move. It wasn't cold. Or if it was, she couldn't feel it.
Manon exhaled sharply, black hair framing her face, brushing the white of her eyepatch.
She could see her reflection in the ice.
Her brown eye was wide, red rimmed, and her expression looked….off.
Her whole face was slightly off.
She thought of Beckham, of the things that could be lurking around here, and it was enough to make her finally stand to her feet, a small grunt leaving her dry throat.
Then she turned directly to her right and began to walk.
Find the exit door, leave.
Follow the hints. Like the fireflies from the swamp. The red sky. She should follow the warmer sky.
Step by step, Manon walked, her footsteps faintly tapping against the ice ground. Even though it was so perfectly shiny, glossy and reflective- it was strong and thick, not even shuddering under her weight- not that the girl was that heavy to begin with.
The path before her seemed to be endless with nothing in sight.
But slowly, she realized something odd.
There was some sort of invisible fog. A veil that lifted itself layer by layer as she walked. Manon turned and looked back, wanting to check if she could see behind her.
She couldn't.
The path behind her- the clear pale sky looked smaller, and the tinge of green in the distance was completely gone.
Every step she took took her further into this invisible veil.
But then she remembered…Colette telling her not to look back.
Maybe not because something would happen, but because it would freak her out. Not because she knew what she'd encounter- but because she didn't.
Manon inhaled, her breath quietly quivering through her mouth, and out through her nose, calmer, more regulated. Self soothing.
She began to walk again.
Faster.
She hugged herself, hands rubbing at her arms, goosebumps finally starting to rise and erasing her previous numbness.
She began to feel the temperature around her. Not bitter cold. Not warm. No sun to heat her body- no icy breeze.
Just a calm stagnant coolness. And a soft breeze the same temperature as the air, only serving to carry scent.
Her steps held a rhythm to them, a moderate but not brisk beat as she made her way closer and closer to the red colored sky.
It began turning pink, slowly. A pale shade at first. And it was taking a while. Manon hummed to busy herself.
Should she run? Would it make things go faster?
But what if she slipped? She scratched off that idea, opting to just take longer intentional strides as she grew increasingly impatient with how far she was walking.
Layer after layer of the invisible fog allowed her through, layer after layer of new ice and new sky appearing before her eyes.
20 minutes.
30…
Then 40…
50…
An hour.
Manon was going insane at the amount of….Nothing.
The sky was still pink.
Not red, a light pink. Red was still not visible yet.
Had she taken a wrong turn? This was disastrous.
But even so- if the door was in the middle of where her and Remy had been dropped off- would that mean the door was waiting within the pink sky area or on the edge of the red sky?
She had no way of knowing.
The only indication or hints she had to go by was the color of that sky above her.
Whatever- if original Manon got through this, so could she.
Manon walked even faster.
Her body was tired but she didn't let it show, breathing through her nose.
Another 5 minutes…10.
Then she saw it, stopping in her tracks.
Something new.
For the past hour and 15 minutes, she had seen nothing but ice, sky, and clouds.
But she saw something new.
Sand.
A smallish mound of it that looked unfinished, like she had to step forward to see the rest.
So she did, with renewed motivation. Manon ran forward, and as soon as her foot made contact with the sandy ground, it was as if the layered veil completely shattered before her, the force making her hair fly back like a cape behind her.
Her brown eye widened, the reflection of what she was seeing reflecting in the chocolate iris.
This wasn't an empty barren land of ice-
It was an island.