The Fire Inside

24. Which Door Exactly?

"So which door do you expect us to go through?" Julien asked Varun.

"Um...well...I don't really know."

"What?" Jimin looked at Varun in utter confusion. The brainiest of the group just claimed that he was lost in a puzzle that could save their lives.

"Aren't you the smart one? You always boast about it! Now do something!" Maria scolded.

"Did you guys even look at the door?" Varun retorted.

Everyone froze and looked at the twin doors. The black and gold patterns were identical and an exact replica of each other.

"Oh shit..." Heiwa muttered, "Probably should've noticed that first..."

"Open then at the same time!" Emmalynn suggested.

Varun glared at her, "No! What if one of them could kill you almost instantly!"

"Oh. Good point."

"Sacrifice! I volunteer Jimin as tribute!" Julien screeched.

Jimin paled. Julien burst out laughing at her expression.

"Relax. We're in a flame pit. It's probably fire behind one of them."

Jimin punched him, "What the hell? I hate you!"

"No you don't!"

"Yeah. I do."

"Nope."

"Shut up! I'll go!" Heiwa yelled at the two.

Everyone watched Heiwa's usually cool demeanor become something much more monstrous.

"I'll go ok! Just stop arguing or whatever that is!" She said again, gesturing to Jimin and Julien.

"Heiwa, you ok?" Maria approached her slowly.

"Stop. Don't. I'll open the door. Don't try to stop me."

"You're exhausted. Don't hurt yourself further," Varun pressed on.

Heiwa's hand went to her sword. Everyone backed off.

"I'm sorry. I just really need to do this. If my guess is correct, all of you could get hurt."

"What about you?" Riley's concern was clear in her voice.

"I'll be fine—I hope."

Heiwa stood in front of the doors. She wrapped her fingers around both handles. She looked back at her friends who were almost pale to their face. She smiled weakly. No matter how much she tried covering it, she was absolutely exhausted. The darkness and flames around them was seriously having a toll on her mind and body. She turned back to the doors. Both of them were so annoyingly identical it drove Heiwa mad. She twisted both handles (kind of hoping she could rip apart their perfectness) and opened them out. Just as she had expected, a roaring wave with a purple hue threw itself against Heiwa. Completely ready for it, she shut her eyes and drew her sword. Focusing on the center of the blade, she drew the power source with her mind. The blade's center strip glowed a brilliant blue and lit up the shadowed room.

The wave was still coming. Heiwa slashed up at the wave. The wave split in two with a painful hiss before wrapping around its attacker. The waves spun around Heiwa as she clutched the hilt of her sword tighter. The waves came at her together, one on top of the other. They zoomed towards her, but she was a second quicker. Heiwa cut through the waves at the tip and brought it all the way down. Just like that, as if it had never happened, the waves evaporated. Heiwa collapsed to the ground gasping for air.

"What was that!" Maria said, her eyes wider than ever seen before.

Heiwa smiled sheepishly before putting out her arms, "Help me up. I'll explain."

As soon as Maria lifted Heiwa up, Maria and Varun were immediately under their friend making sure she didn't accidentally fall to the ground. Jimin ran over and grabbed Heiwa's fallen katana before giving it back to its respectful owner.

"So...wanna explain?" Julien asked raising his eyebrows.

Heiwa looked at all of them before laughing, "You guys are soaked!"

They glared at her. How could someone so responsible do something so reckless and then make a joke out of it while looking so dead?

"Guys, maybe we should go through first," Isadora said quickly.

They turned to the doors and saw one of them lead to the water pit Maria, Varun, and Emmalynn has been thrown into. The other one led them to a field. A field covered in dirt and dust without a single plant to be seen. The sky was cloudy and dark, but another door was clear from where they stood.

"Let's go!" Jimin hollered while grabbing Julien.

They ran through the darker door in hopes of being able to reach the next one. Once through, the black metal door vanished.

"Well, there's no going back," Julien said bluntly.

Jimin whacked him on the head. They crept closer to the door, unsure of what to expect from this mystery. Halfway there, an little girl came into view. She waved at them and ran over. Jimin on the other hand, froze in place with her mouth wide open. The girl had a long white float dress with white floral sandals. She wore a sun hat that was woven with long grass and flowers. It held back her long golden hair that flew with the arid breeze that swept through the deserted land. Jimin's eyes trailed to the girl's features. Soft, carefree, peaceful, innocent.

"S-Shima?" Jimin croaked.

There was a collective gasp as Jimin slowly walked towards her younger sister.

"Shima? Is that really y-you?"

The girl nodded earnestly, beckoning her sister to follow.

"Wait. The others will come too!"

Shima shook her head and frowned.

"Shima! Everyone should go. Please," Jimin pleaded.

Shima's aura began to grow. Her dress became gray and sandals dirty. Her hat began to wilt as Shima's cheeks sunk. Her eyes began to hollow out and her frame shrunk.

"Jimin!" Julien ran and grabbed her. He hauled her back as she kicked and punched him to get back to her sister.

"Let me go! She's finally back!"

"Can she not see that that's not her sister!" Maria said completely shocked at the sudden sister reunion.

"C'mon! We're going to that door!" Julien said gritting his teeth.

Jimin was still flung over his shoulder, but at this point she was sobbing into his shirt and decided struggling was absolutely useless. They finally reached the door and luckily opened it without any issues. Each of them quickly slipped through the door into the darkness. At that point, the unknown seemed to give more comfort than the past ever did.