The never-ending hallway of files loomed around them—
Standing protected and untouched,
A stark contrast to the fractured state of Geneara.
Even after all this time—
These records remained—
Organized. Intact. Safe.
Synthena's voice carried across the darkness—
Weaving through the echoes.
"Celestia, can you find anything?"
Celestia stood a short distance away—
Frustration bleeding into her movements.
Papers scattered
As she tossed them aside—
Skimming feverishly through labeled files.
She wasn't searching—
She was hunting—
Each unreadable document fueling her irritation.
Absynthe hovered behind,
Casting light into the abyss.
Her curiosity piqued
As she skimmed surfaces,
Aiding their search.
But nothing stood out.
Only endless paper—
And an eerie void beyond.
Then—
Absynthe froze.
The files slipped from her grasp—
Drifting to the floor.
A voice—sharp, loud, relentless—
Raced down the hallway
Like knives carving into her skull.
Unfamiliar.
Familiar.
"Come find me!"
The moment stretched—long and heavy.
Her breath hitched—
Short. Uneasy.
Eyes wide as an owl's,
Filled with alarm.
A thought rang clear in her mind—
Who could be calling her?
And why now?
Synthena caught the shift immediately—
Noticing the tension in Absynthe's stance.
Celestia, caught deep in her frenzied search,
Hadn't noticed—yet.
She remained within the glow of Absynthe's light—
Distracted.
Tossing another file to the ground.
"Abby, are you okay?"
Absynthe's voice came quiet, uncertain.
"I—I'm not sure how to explain it.
It's like… something—"
She paused,
Rubbing her temple—
Then slowly turned left—
Gaze locked into the abyss
Of the hall stretching into endless darkness.
She searched—
For the voice.
For a sign.
For anything.
"It doesn't matter,"
She muttered—
The doubt creeping into her tone.
"I think I was just hearing things."
Then—
A group of voices—sharp, authoritative—
Cut through the silence
Like blades against stone.
"Trap door—how did we never see this before?"
A soldier stood first—
Scouting the clearance,
Ensuring safety.
And then—
That voice.
Familiar.
Disciplined.
The man who nearly crushed them into dust.
Officer Vance.
His footsteps echoed
From the ladder's edge—
Stepping into the dim glow
Of the facility's light.
Steel-gray eyes.
Cold. Calculated.
Yet touched with something cosmic—
Something unreadable.
His silver veins shimmered along his left arm—
Glowing subtly—
The only trace of mutation beneath the night.
"It doesn't matter."
His voice unwavering.
***********************************************************
The three huddled together,
Hovering at the hallway's edge—
Heads popping out just enough
To glimpse the soldiers in the distance.
Synthena's voice was a hushed whisper,
Tense with shock.
"What are they doing here?!
Weren't they here earlier??"
Celestia clicked her tongue,
Teeth gritted,
Eyes narrowing.
"It appears they waited for us to return."
Absynthe's gaze hardened.
"Well, we can't just stand here—
We need answers.
Now."
Her declaration rang through the silence—
But before they could react further—
Celestia and Synthena both stopped—
Realization crashing between them.
"Wait!"
They snapped toward Absynthe—
Who stood oblivious.
Glowing—
A beacon,
Impossible to miss.
Her chibi-like confusion was evident.
"What?"
A soldier's voice pierced through the eerie halls.
"Look over there!
I see them!"
His weapon rose—
His stance shifting—marching forward.
"We need to go!"
Celestia didn't wait—
Her feet lifted into a run,
Surging forward down the hallways.
The others followed instantly,
Racing together—
Their movements swift—
But the soldiers weren't far behind.
Five men closed in—
Spreading outward in different directions.
The wind rushed against their faces,
Their pace desperate—
"Abby!"
Celestia shouted through gritted teeth.
"Can't you do something about that light?!?!"
Absynthe shrieked back, exasperated.
"What do you expect me to do?!
It's not like I know how!"
Celestia responded without hesitation—
Urgency tearing through her voice—
"Figure it out!"
**********************************************************
A projectile whizzed past Celestia's vision—
Tearing through the rushing air.
Not a bullet—
A tranquilizer.
The world slowed.
Time stretched.
Her eyes widened in realization—
They weren't trying to kill them.
They wanted to capture them.
Celestia's instincts kicked in instantly.
She twisted mid-run—
Throwing herself into a slide—
Feet skidding as she lost balance—
But regaining control just enough
To pivot sharply.
Absynthe and Synthena kept running—
But slowed—
Sensing the shift in Celestia's movements.
She sprawled across the floor—
Legs spread like a spider—
Arms reaching forward—
Focus burning through her mind.
Her second pair of eyes snapped open beneath her main.
"Thirty seconds—that's all we have."
Determination etched itself into her expression.
A faint blue light sparked in her hands—
Both sets of eyes pulsing in unison—
Radiating energy.
She could control space.
She could bend it.
The towering shelves lining both sides of the hallway trembled—
Books shivering against their bindings—
The air thick with static energy.
Celestia exhaled sharply.
And pulled.
The shelves collapsed—
A force slamming them down
Like magnetic energy warping outward.
Her hair whipped wildly
As the walls shook—
Dust exploding into the air like a storm.
A solid blockade now separated them from the soldiers.
The air hummed, charged—
Like the remnants of power still clinging to existence.
Shouts rang out in disbelief.
Some cried sorcery.
Others stared, stunned—
Lost in confusion.
They had never seen anything like this before.
Then—
Celestia felt it.
A sensation lingering beyond her grasp.
Her pulse slowed—
A faint tremor still vibrating through her fingertips.
A surprising source of energy—
Controlling everything around her—
Powerful—yet limited.
Based on strategy.
Based on calculation.
********************************************************
Absynthe stared,
Caught between amazement and intrigue—
The silence thick
Against Celestia's heavy, exhausted breaths.
She needed water—
But there was none to be found.
She had to endure.
Absynthe's voice cut through the moment.
"Ha!
What a surprise—
You actually have something worth protecting."
Her arms folded—
Impressed.
Synthena nodded in agreement.
Then—
A whisper.
A silent call echoing inside Absynthe's mind.
"This way! Quick!"
The same voice—
The one from before.
A faint light flickered ahead—
Just a few feet away.
A door.
Had it always been there?
Or had it appeared just for them?
The light seeped through the cracks—
Pulsing bright—
Catching the trio's attention.
"That way!"
Absynthe shouted,
Charging forward.
The trio moved in unison—
Speeding toward the door.
Then—
A sharp, disciplined voice
Cut through the distance.
Loud.
Demanding.
Officer Vance.
He was on their heels—
His stride impossibly fast.
Yet the hallway stretched—
Impossibly long—
Bending space itself—
The door pulling farther away.
Finally—
The door gained traction.
Then—
An image burned into the moment.
The trio rushing before the door—
Absynthe leading—
Celestia barely slipping through.
A desperate escape.