08-12-2015, 11:16 AM
The knight aligned his mount with the opening of the archway, pausing to gaze at his reflection. Something walled it off—a substance. The knight squeezed the reins to his mount and gave it a tug; with a scrape of its hooves, and an upward whip of its head, the knight’s beast blasted a short exhale from its nostrils and lunged through the stone archway’s center. The liquid substance swallowed them whole, only burping out a tide of ripples to show for it.
In an instant, Wakka’s mind had been blown. He jolted backwards, but caught himself before losing balance. His eyes shot over to Eileen for some type of comfort, condolence, anything.
The hunter looked over at Wakka and gave him a piece of her perspective—there were worse ways of traveling (ways the blitzballer couldn’t understand, by the lingo of it). Then she said she would see him on the other side . . . of the archway he assumed.
Wakka’s response processed into a mere brow furrow; before he could gather his words, Eileen approached the archway, unhesitant, and stepped through. The liquid substance swallowed her all the same.
He gazed into the liquid. It rippled in the same fashion as prior, subtly splashing around the stoned rim of the archway. Now his reflection stared back at him—that mirror face, nearly taunting him, challenging him.
Wakka called its bluff, and stepped through the archway.
The light hit him immediately. It hit him like a warm rag to the face. He groaned, and threw a hand up to shield his vision. His other hand reaffirmed he still had his ball, gripping the strings around his shoulder.
Wakka moved forward, but not on his own accord. Space and matter itself pulled him like a meteor caught in gravitation. He tried to resist—flexed every muscle he knew existed to help hold down the fort—but his body began to . . . disperse.
He howled to the deaf ears of loneliness, and instantly, exploded into a mass of particles. Then atoms.
“Why the screaming?” It was the voice of the knight; the hollow echo from his caged visor made it true.
Wakka unlatched his eyes, and was greeted by familiar figures. Eileen stood over his left side like a tower, looking down at him through the holes in her mask, while he sat on the ground. The knight stayed atop his beast, to the bliztballer’s northeast.
“Man, was that as freaky to you guys as it was to me?” he asked in a shallow voice.
In an instant, Wakka’s mind had been blown. He jolted backwards, but caught himself before losing balance. His eyes shot over to Eileen for some type of comfort, condolence, anything.
The hunter looked over at Wakka and gave him a piece of her perspective—there were worse ways of traveling (ways the blitzballer couldn’t understand, by the lingo of it). Then she said she would see him on the other side . . . of the archway he assumed.
Wakka’s response processed into a mere brow furrow; before he could gather his words, Eileen approached the archway, unhesitant, and stepped through. The liquid substance swallowed her all the same.
He gazed into the liquid. It rippled in the same fashion as prior, subtly splashing around the stoned rim of the archway. Now his reflection stared back at him—that mirror face, nearly taunting him, challenging him.
Wakka called its bluff, and stepped through the archway.
The light hit him immediately. It hit him like a warm rag to the face. He groaned, and threw a hand up to shield his vision. His other hand reaffirmed he still had his ball, gripping the strings around his shoulder.
Wakka moved forward, but not on his own accord. Space and matter itself pulled him like a meteor caught in gravitation. He tried to resist—flexed every muscle he knew existed to help hold down the fort—but his body began to . . . disperse.
He howled to the deaf ears of loneliness, and instantly, exploded into a mass of particles. Then atoms.
* * *
“Why the screaming?” It was the voice of the knight; the hollow echo from his caged visor made it true.
Wakka unlatched his eyes, and was greeted by familiar figures. Eileen stood over his left side like a tower, looking down at him through the holes in her mask, while he sat on the ground. The knight stayed atop his beast, to the bliztballer’s northeast.
“Man, was that as freaky to you guys as it was to me?” he asked in a shallow voice.