Something sank through a large body of water, a vastness of nothing but water, a pebble or a stone? — It was neither.
Just a boy, one whom was not where he wanted to be, nor where he was needed.
The armour on his body was gradually stripped away, as his gloves came off the number "0" on the back of his right palm became visible.
The stripping continued and soon enough he was naked, his eyes were opened through it all.
***
{I remember it so vividly, I barely passed my trial and the slab was about to fall.
As I laid Marcus to rest in front of the picture, the same one I walked through;
The moment I did; I fell, submerged into water of depths so deep and dark.
Since then I've kept on sinking deeper and deeper, I was not in control of my body, maybe I was supposed to drown and that I nearly did.
Maybe this was punishment for being selfish, so many questions I could've asked and I chose a that one as the last.
Or maybe this was happening to everyone else and I had no way to know.
And then- then I started seeing it; light, there was light beneath me, it pierced through the wallows of the dark liquid reaching me.
At that very moment I was falling into the light.
The closer I got to that light the clearer it became; it was no light just the bottom of the deep body of water I had found myself.
Was this the way out? Or had I already drowned and died and this was the path to the afterlife...— meaningless questions, but they were my current curiosities..
Even while buried in water I still thirsted, thirsted for something water could never quench, my curiosity.
I was now about to make contact with the bottom of the space and to my surprise I fell through it, out of the water and piercing through to a different world.
Above me was a ceiling of white, and below was nothing but stormy clouds, it was a stark representation of Heimer and the other's description of where they awakened; it was the land of awakening as they now called it.}
***
He fell for a very long time, earlier he had been falling into the illusion of light , now he was falling away from it.
Leo stabilised his body mid air and spread his arms away from his body. "If they were standing on the clouds then that would mean they're solid.
At the rate I'm falling I'd be dead on impact." Leo tried his best not to panic, yet the panic on his face was apparent.
He grit his teeth as the air hit against his face and body, he had reduced the speed of his descent but not nearly enough.
As he drew closer to the clouds began a vortex beneath Leo, a whirlpool which darkness seeped out of, it acted as a passage way for him.
His worries had been unfound as he fell into the whirlpool, his body was displacing all over the place with Leo having no control over his motion.
The storms raged even more as purple lightning thundered all around him constantly with him nearly getting zapped in an instance.
The wind only got harsher with his descent, but at some point it got calmer as fog filled the area
A white robe manifested on Leo's body. "Oh not this again!" Leo screamed as he remembered the scene.
His wounds healed bar the scar on his face, and his descent slowed down very quickly, and his feet landed on solid ground.
(Welcome once again.) The voice said to Leo.
Leo closed his ears on reflex, his head felt like it was being nailed by several hammers, his eyes turned red immediately.
(Once again you have found your way into the forgotten parts of the void without chanting.) The voice said.
[Thump! Thump!] Leo grovelled, with the sound of his heart filling the surroundings.
(The only one to step into the depths twice) The voice echoed.
"This time is worst than the la-
Ugh- what is this!" Leo failed in organising his thoughts.
(Here to receive what I temporarily took away.) As the voice said this the fog cleared up.
The black sand, the dunes the raging storms he fell from, it was all the same but this time there were no lights in the distance.
"Took away? What do you mean by that!" Leo screamed admist his pain.
(It's easier to take something than it is to give.) The voice kept on with its vague sentences.
Leo torched his palm and entered a defensive pose, barely standing; barely stable but unwilling to fall.
He searched all over with his eyes just like he did many months ago, and again to no avail.
Leo's eyes spread wide open immediately, he heard a noise and turned around. "What…" Leo thought whilst looking at his chest.
A slender arm tore through space and placed its palm on Leo's chest., the hand phased through his body and an unlocking noise was heard, immediately Leo fell flat on the ground.
(Go forth...) The voice faded.
—
His eyes opened in the back of the wagon, he was laid flat through the middle, to the left were Paul, and Saul, and to the right were Clarence, Dan and Karius, they were all sleeping except Saul.
Leo raised his bandaged leg to look at it, then he glanced at his shoulder; both injuries were healed, [1]then he gently touched his face but the scar was still there.
"I can feel my dark aether again, was that what she returned...
So she was the one that took it away." Leo raised his back up, he lit a small flame on his finger tip and it was black. "Good to have you back..." He smiled.
"He's awake." Saul said with his head over Leo.
The tarpaulin sheet of the wagon's rear was opened immediately by Caesar. "For real?" he said with surprise and immediately fitted himself beside Saul.
"How long have I been out for?" Leo asked while cleaning his eyes. "You all look so famished."
"Haha, it'd have been worse if we didn't eat your shar-" Saul's mouth was covered by Caesar. "Hmm…hmm." His words were muted.
"You've been asleep for four days Leo, we'll be wall bound soon... very soon." Caesar said.
"Four…" Leo exhaled alongside his nutter. "But at least we're back…"
"You don't look as surprised as I thought you would." Caesar said.
"It's not like there's anything I could do about it-" Leo froze mid sentence.
[Boom!] A loud explosion in the background and many more followed and vibrations that were sent through the wagon.
"What was that?" Leo seemed to be the only surprised one, even Dan opened his eyes then immediately went back to sleep.
"You can check for yourself." Caesar said to Leo.
[1] This was due to the exposure to aether when they left the commandment, as long as the body part isn't completely lost, it'll heal.