The Arrow of Time

The Final Floor

Elfilin awoke, snuggled into Taranza's scarf. There was light peering in from the hallway. The door was open. He looked up at the door to see Magolor looking in with a serious expression. Daroach was sprawled out in the chair, snoring loudly. Magolor approached the bed, giving Elfilin a nod in acknowledgement. He placed his hands on Taranza and shook him gently. "Hey... wake up." Taranza jolted slightly. He did the same for Daroach. "Get up. We have places to go."

Taranza rubbed his eyes and looked at the clock. "It's four in the morning. Why do we need to be up so early?"

"We have somewhere to go. Immediately." He helped Daroach out of the chair. "It's important."

Daroach picked his head up off the floor. "Where?"

Magolor flicked the lights on. "The last floor."

Elfilin shook. "Am I going, too?"

"We can stop for breakfast first, but yes. I'm sick of this. We're going to get out of here, one way or another. If you feel like bailing, do it now." With those words, Magolor left for the dining room.

Taranza looked at Daroach, then Elfilin, then Daroach again, then Elfilin again, then back to Daroach. "What do we do?"

Elfilin peeked his head out the door. "I guess... we follow him. I'm kind of scared, though... Doesn't this go against the whole 'do nothing' thing we've been doing for the last week?"

Daroach ground his teeth. "If he's gonna go do something stupid, it's my job to stop him." He walked out, still trying to blink the sleep out of his eyes.

"I guess... I'll go too." Taranza made his way to the door, followed shortly by Elfilin.

--. --- .. -. --. / - --- / -... .-. .- --.. .. .-..

"You're all here. I'm glad." Magolor gave them a wide smile, his hands clasped together. "There are scrambled eggs in the kitchen. I had them prepared right before I woke you all up. Don't be modest now, it's my special recipe." They each had their share of eggs. They were pretty good.

"So, you said we were going to the last floor, right? You mean D?"

"As a matter of fact, I do not." Magolor carried the plates to the kitchen. "Follow me."

Taranza waited for Daroach and Elfilin to catch up to him, then tapped the button to get on the elevator. Magolor pointed to the control panel. "There it is. The final floor."

Daroach followed his gesture to where he was pointing. "O?" He asked incredulously. "Like the SO?"

"Presumably. All aboard!" After the doors closed, Magolor pressed the button.

Despite the button being above A, the elevator actually started moving down. Daroach recoiled, startled by the unexpected movement. "How did you find out this was unlocked?"

Magolor waved his hand dismissively. "I was just, y'know... wandering around. Nothing in mind, really."

The response struck the three of them as strange, but they didn't really have anything to say to it. They simply waited for the elevator to stop.

They waited. Daroach started tapping his foot impatiently.

They waited. Elfilin fidgeted with the unresponsive control panel.

They waited. Taranza looked around nervously.

They waited. Magolor scratched his head in confusion.

They waited.

They waited.

They waited.

They waited.

"HOW LONG IS THIS GOING TO TAKE?" Magolor yelled at the wall.