Chapter 44: The Queen of Aether

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I blinked

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I blinked. Hau and I were in an entrance hall. There were two doorways, one to the left and one to the right. There were also two stairways going up in the same directions. And they were all blocked by iron bars. There were two doors in front of us however that weren't blocked by bars.

"Huh," I said. "Lusamine does live at work."

"That doesn't matter," Hau said. "We need to find Lillie."

I looked around. "Well, considering the two doors in front of us aren't blocked by iron bars, I'd say we go in there."

I walked over to the doors and pushed them open.

I blinked again. "Okay, we found the bedroom."

The bedroom we were in was as white as everything else on Aether. A huge king size bed with a canopy was to our right and a small table with two chairs were to our left. Four bright yellow chandeliers hung from the ceiling and a mirror taller than us stood on the opposite side of the room against the wall.

"What the heck!?" Hau exclaimed, rushing to one thing to another. "This room leads to nowhere!"

I studied the room carefully. I could feel the energy from a machine beneath my feet, but where was it coming from?

I knelt and placed my right palm on the hard floor. I could feel the vibrations beneath my fingers, humming. I slid my hand forwards and felt a tiny increase in power. I lifted my gaze and stared at the mirror.

I stood and took off my trench coat and wrapped part of it around my right fist.

"What are you doing?" Hau asked.

I didn't answer as I ran at the mirror. Jumping to add momentum, I swung my fist and smashed through the barrier of glass.

I swiped pieces of glass off of me and shook my trench coat and put it back on as Hau came over. We both looked at the small yellow glowing circle pad on the floor.

I looked at my friend. "You ready Hau?"

He gave a tiny nod. "For Lillie."

"For our friend," I confirmed, then stepped onto the circle.

...

Lillie was slowly dragging herself away from her mother, a thin trail of blood leaking from her mouth.

Lusamine grinned proudly at the Ultra Wormhole pulsing in the gateway. A slight disturbance on the computer monitor distracted her however.

"Oh look Lillie," she said cheerfully, grabbing a Luxury Ball. "You're friends are coming."

Lusamine's eyes flashed dangerously. "Let's give them a warm welcome."

...

I stepped into the large white room, immediately seeing the machine. A ring of rust colored metal with an Ultra Wormhole pulsing in the middle. A long, thick black cord connected the machine to a small black box with glowing neon blue stripes. And standing next to the box was none other than the Queen of Aether herself.

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