Tetra of The Fall

43 - Auditory Vortex

As the carpet began to disappear beneath our feet, the hallways growing taller with multiple banners strewn from high-set horizontal columns, a noticeable shift in volume and echo quickly became overbearing the longer we kept our pace. Frowning, my attempts to look at the events beyond the coming doorway were halted, my height unable to surpass that of the gathering, boiling crowd. As the group neared the end of the unfamiliar path, we slowed to a stop.

"Tsk!" Emirah hissed, jaw tensed as a frown soon beset her brow. "I think... I think you should keep Porro close. Normally it'd be hard to find more than ten in here..." Hovering just above the growing torrent of noise, her charismatic voice bearing joke-like hints proved difficult to decipher.

Without a doubt in my mind, there were more than ten within the next room. Before us, a handful of blonde, red and pink haired students stood, squashed within the entryway. With no gaps between them, and no visible forward progression in sight, they appeared to be in a similar situation to our group. Forced to the outside as if in a centrifuge, those without the strength to progress past this point merely dwelled on the edges with dwindling hope. Little did they know they'd be forming a shell...

With a turn and a hum, Emirah spun around to face the team - thoughts almost visibly flickering through her mind. Closing her eyes, she emitted a soundless - yet clearly pained - sigh.

"Is this supposed to be the Commissions Hall?" I spoke above the sound. Even just from here, the vibrations made my stomach churn... Why today did I have to eat more than usual...?

Emirah's brief nodding sent Nihilla into protection mode, the curious Porro held closely at her side. Untrusting of their established hand-hold, Nihilla shifted her arm down past Porro's palm, clamping the young girl by the wrist. "Hold tightly Porro, ok? I think we're going in there"

Porro did the same, clasping Nihilla's wrist tightly.

"Porro...?" The girl responded blankly, head turning back and forth between Nihilla and the wall of students. Unconvinced, she returned with an evasive look. "Even Tentapus would be troubled..."

"There is a pattern once we get past the students - a circulation of sorts" Emirah clearly spoke before raising her head. "If we can get through these numskulls blocking the entrance, we can slip through the transform boundaries - the spaces between the flows"

She paused with a glance, looking each of us in the eye before turning back around. Raising an arm, she bent out her elbow, following up with a jerk of her head as she beckoned for me to approach.

"So lock your arms at the elbows. We're forcing our way in" A grin soon crossed her lips.

Doing as she asked, my arm soon slipped around her's, interlocking us at our elbows. Then, Nihilla approached with Porro, performing the same maneuver with my free arm. Tensing tightly, Porro and Nihilla looked to me with a nod.

"They're ready to go" I spoke to Emirah's ear.

"Good! Then let's get moving~!" Emirah called with a charismatic overstep. Immediately, the now chain of humans came under tension - though not enough to break us apart - as we progressed towards the student wall.

If this actually works... I'll be amazed.

"Move your ass!" She called forward to the student shell, though none of them gave notice. With her words holding little impact, Emirah's pace quickened - an angered determination shining through.

"Get ready!" I called behind before a sudden forward tug.

"I said..." Emirah's power walk increased in speed.