Heroism

Chapter Ten: Welcome to Amedris

A loud shriek escaped Alice's lips as she fell, her eyes wide with terror. She couldn't see anything, she could just feel herself falling. She couldn't even see Sumeirei, all she could do was trust she was still there as she gripped tightly onto her hand. "Calm down," her voiced echoed through the inky blackness. She turned in the direction Sumeirei's voice, but she couldn't see anything. The darkness was too powerful.

"How do you expect me to calm down?! We'll fall to our deaths!" She screamed. She couldn't see Sumeirei, but she could feel her rolling her eyes. On the plus side, at least her clothes and hair would be dry by the time she hit the floor. However far down that might be. She didn't know how Sumeirei could be so calm throughout this entire situation. She had to know something she didn't. So she had to trust her and calm down.

"Look, we'll be fine. I promise. I was scared shitless the first time I did this and Lulu had an even worse reaction than me. She was absolutely terrified. I've never heard someone scream so loudly before in my life. Though you could give her a run for her money," she joked. As Alice tried to gather her thoughts, she finally realized something that she felt stupid for forgetting. She had to know what was ahead because she had been down when she took Lulu back.

She felt a bit foolish overall, but when you're falling through an unknown hole, one can be forgiven for allowing their thoughts to slip through their mind. "Hey, when are we going to reach the bottom? It can't be too long of a fall, right?" She questioned. Surely the fall couldn't take too long, they had already been falling for about a minute now. Surely it couldn't be much longer, right? At least that was what she kept telling herself.

"You thought wrong! Dead wrong! We still have a long time left!" Alice's face paled at this. She was thankful that Sumeirei couldn't see the dread on her face. A small smirk spread across Sumeirei's face. Unknown to her, she could see. As a cat... Well part cat. She could see through in the dark and she could see exactly what Alice's face looked like. She couldn't help but enjoy every single moment of her internal suffering.

Eventually the darkness was illuminated by soft balls of light. They floated around, filling the air with warmth. Reaching out, her fingertips came close to touching them. But before she could, but Sumeirei quickly latched onto her wrist. "Don't touch them unless you want first degree burns. Those things are really, really hot. I'd recommend not touching them." Alice quickly retracted her hand and swallowed nervously.

The two continued to fall, until eventually, the night sky turned into day. Clouds hung throughout the air and birds soared through the air. Alice's breath caught in her throat as she looked around in awe. It was amazing. Though it did remind her of her own home a bit. "Pretty huh? Welcome to Amedris! We should be landing soon. So, brace yourself, okay?" As soon as she said this, Alice's eyes widened.

"Wait. Are we gonna hit the floor?!" Sumeirei didn't answer her question and instead smirked at her. Alice could feel her heart racing at a hundred miles per hour. The thought of splatting on the pavement terrified her. As the two continued to descend, she saw the ground coming closer and closer. An involuntary scream escaped her lips and she could feel her face growing hot from anxiety as she drew closer.

Though before her body could become a new decoration for the floor, a black hole opened up in the ground, causing the two to fall through it. Alice let out a low groan as she sat up, all she could feel under her was the rugged cobblestone pavement. Sitting up, she stretched her aching limbs and glanced around. "What the?..." A shadow covered her body, protecting her from the warm rays of the sun beating down against her skin.

"See, I told you we'd be fine," Sumeirei offered her a hand, but Alice batted it to the side and pushed herself off the ground. Dusting herself off, she looked around, her eyes narrowing at the unfamiliar surroundings. Turning her head, she noticed that not far off in the distance, there appeared to be some kind of wall. It appeared to be guarding something, though what, she didn't exactly know.