Rift Duology #2: Rift of Shadow

Chapter 9: Travels

—Jayden's POV—

"Dammit!" I thought. We totally forgot about Keros.

"You go, demigods. I'll take care of him." Azure said.

"Are you crazy?! You're mortal! You
won't—" Nyctos was cut off by Keros.

"Listen to the demigod, Azure. You wouldn't stand a chance against me." Keros sneered.
"Besides, even if you were a god, I would still defeat you."

Azure snapped his head to turn to us and mouthed: "It's a distraction. Run."

We took the hint and ran, but before Azure left my sight, I saw him take out a sword with the symbol of Verglas imbedded in the hilt.

"He's so stupid. He'll get himself killed!" Nyctos said.

"He knew that, which is why he mouthed distraction, Nyctos." I replied and we stopped at the door in the dead end.
On the other side was a simple stone room, in the shape of a circle. There was a circle in the center- half black and half white.
There were paths coming from the circle, and each went to an empty and dead-end arch doorway.
There were 7, and each had an unlit torch.

Above the doorways were symbols, each unique to itself.

One of which was that.

"The mortal world. That's the symbol for it!" Owen noted.

"And that one's Hellion!" Riley pointed to one.

"So each doorway goes to the realm the symbol represents?" Owen asked."

Riley nodded. "But none of these are the 8th Realm."

"Owen, you read about this. Do you know how to enter the realm?" Nyctos asked.

"I don't remember- I think the book said something about torches?" Owen anwered.

"There are torches in each doorway! Maybe we just have to light them." Nyctos set his finger on fire and set one on fire as a test.
The portal to the realm opened, and Nyctos
quickly jumped back.

"It just lights the portal.." he sounded disappointed.

"Maybe light all of them and see what happens?" Owen proposed.

So, that's what Nyctos did.
Once the final torch was lit, the black lines that connected the frames and the circle in the middle glowed according to the realms main color.
Red, Gold, Blue, Green, Purple, Gray and Pink.

The light snapped into the circle and spiraled towards the center, and after a bright flash, a portal in the frame opened.
The other side was visible without entering, and it looked like outer space.
It also had things similar to those space pictures- nebulae, giant clouds of space dust.
After jumping through, we essentially lost gravity.

What was much worse, is that a colossal giant made of the nebulae was hurling straight towards us.

—Xavier's POV—

I woke up in wooden box with a bunch of holes so I could breathe and see outside.
I was still in the Abyss, somewhere in the forest of the outermost rings.

I was in shackles, made of Ominous Obsidian.
Despite my protesting, the handcuffs wouldn't shatter.

"Don't try, kid. Even Oni can't break through that. I should know.." she said.

"You're an- you're an oni?" I quivered.
If I was this close to a real oni, I should've been dead.

"Yeah, but don't worry, ghosty. I swore to never eat humans again. Or ghosts, ha." she replied.

"Okay- Wait, why can't you escape? Can't you shapeshift?" I asked.

"I could, but the Obsidian prevents that. Just like how it cancels demigod powers, it cancels oni powers as well." the oni explained.

"Oh. Do you think a ghost can just phase through it?"

"I'm not sure. I would assume they used Stygian Iron for your shackles, but I dunno." she replied.
"It's worth a try."

I closed my eyes and focused. I remembered how Owen helped me study things about ghosts and their abilities- the power to disappear and reappear, go through solid objects and possession.
When I opened my eyes, the handcuffs were on the ground.

"Woohoo! Now, if you don't mind, can you free me?" the oni asked.

"Of course! What's your name, by the way?" I asked as I summoned my scythe and swung it at the handcuffs,

"I'm Andrea! And thank you. Now, let's get outta here." she answered and we busted through the door, and was met with other people.

"Uh-" a guy said and ran away to alert the warriors, I assumed.

"We should leave this place. I have somewhere we could go to get something." I said

"Get what?" she asked.

"Arc of Hex, it could play a big role in stopping or helping Keros." I answered

"You're open to either of those? Well, in that case, let's go kick some human ass!" she exclaimed and I led her back to the ravine.

When we climbed down from the piles of rubble and boulders, we finally entered the temple.
It had giant circular rooms with tall pillars, and portraits of what seemed to be Chroma were on the walls.
There were also small drawings on the pillars, showing a battle.

"So, where's this mystical weapon?" Andrea asked.

"I dunno, it could be anywhere." I replied.
"Maybe there?"
I pointed to the center of the room.
There was a dark circle with a lighter circle inside it, and had an inscription in a language I didn't understand.

"Maybe.." Andrea summoned her spear. It had a dark, wooden handle with a purple and black grip. The spearhead was made of a silver metal, probably Elysian Silver or Torturous Titanium.
Regardless, she stabbed the circle.

"Hahah! That should do it!" Andrea exclaimed, and she was right.
The circle opened and something slowly rose. But it wasn't the Arc of Hex..

"The Axe of Abhor!" Andrea yelled.
"One of Cassiopeia's weapons."

"Wait, then where's the Arc of Hex?" I asked.

"I dunno, but this is way better! Now, let's go help my father."