Honestly, even now—already out of that... whatever it was, be it another dinsion, a parallel reality, or whatever na people might slap on it—I still found myself wondering what the hell had just happened.
I an, it’s not like it was my first ti in a place like that; sothing similar had happened before, when I absorbed the powers of that anomaly capable of slipping into and moving through shadows as if they were secret passageways between worlds.
Of course, even I can understand that different anomalies have their own unique traits, even when they seem to have the sa level of power. Anyway, back to the present situation: after we got rid of that anomaly, we returned to the tallic corridors typical of the facility. According to Victor, the next one was further ahead.
So, both Althea and I stayed quiet, just walking down the hallway. By the way—though this isn’t exactly relevant—Althea seed to have really enjoyed carrying earlier. Well, aside from the fact that her breathing had grown heavier while she did it, nothing out of the ordinary happened.
Still, we walked for only a few minutes, but it felt like the stretch went on much longer. At first, I thought it was just a long, monotonous hallway, with nothing ahead but more hallways—a labyrinth-like structure with no apparent purpose.
However, according to Victor, the anomaly’s containnt already began right here, in the hallway itself. He didn’t go into much detail, only saying that this passage was part of the containnt cell—like the first barrier keeping the anomaly, whatever it was, sealed away from the rest of the world.
At another ti, I found myself frozen, my large golden eyes fixed on the massive “Door” guarding the anomaly’s containnt chamber. Contrary to what I’d imagined at first, it wasn’t a simple tal door—it lood before with the presence of an industrial warehouse gate, taking up almost the entire wall.
“Wow... now that’s a door” Althea remarked beside , tilting her chin up to take in the massive structure. Her eyes shone with curiosity as she traced every carved contour in the tal.
The structure looked absurdly reinforced, as if it had been forged to withstand forces beyond comprehension. Even without absolute certainty, it gave the impression it could endure the impact of a nuclear blast without flinching.
Honestly, inside, I was genuinely surprised. I never imagined sothing like this would exist here in this facility. Until now, I’d always assud the most dangerous anomaly here was .
Of course, I can’t deny I’m relieved they didn’t lock down here. Even I would feel a little hurt if they treated like a ticking nuclear bomb—though, admittedly, the comparison wouldn’t exactly be wrong.
Victor, oblivious to my thoughts, walked up to the control panel mounted on the wall to the right of the door. His steps were firm, almost automatic, as if he knew exactly what to do. But seconds later, his expression tightened into a scowl, and a heavy sigh slipped out—weighted with resignation, like soone who’d been expecting the worst but still wished to be wrong.
Noticing this, I stepped up beside him and, in a soft, innocent tone, asked: (What happened?)
Victor flinched slightly when my thoughts reached him, as if a faint electric current had passed across his face. Then, in the blink of an eye—like a magician’s trick—the scowl vanished completely, gone so quickly it was as if it had never existed.
A mont later, Victor gave a brief look, his lips parting as if he were about to say sothing... but in the end, he stayed silent. I frowned slightly, tilting my head in confusion, trying to figure out that sudden withdrawal—it was as if his earlier reaction had never happened. Then, breaking the silence, Victor said firmly: “I can’t access the panel to open the cell. We’re going to have to find another way in”
I blinked slowly at Victor’s words, letting them echo in my mind for a mont before turning my gaze back to the massive warehouse door in front of us—its reinforced tal worn by years of use, yet still standing firm like a fortress wall.
Yeah... forcing our way in probably wasn’t a great idea. Not only did I lack the strength for sothing like that, but I also didn’t want to risk damaging the facility itself; so problems call for brains, not brute force.
Besides, it wasn’t like I’d have to smash through the “Door” or awkwardly force my way in. Luckily—or maybe by so twist of fate—I had just the right thod for this kind of situation.
With that in mind, I projected my thoughts directly to Victor and Althea, my voice firm in their minds: You two, hold onto ... and don’t let go, no matter what.
As soon as my thoughts reached them, I noticed very different reactions. Victor turned his head slightly, giving a sidelong glance filled with curiosity.
Althea, on the other hand, didn’t waste a second in obeying. If anything, she seed to take it as so sort of reward: “Yes! Dearest sister! I promise I’ll never let go. I’ll stick to you forever!” she exclaid, her pupils shifting into tiny, beating hearts as if reflecting the depth of her devotion.
That reaction sent an almost imperceptible shiver down my spine. For so reason, I felt oddly in danger. If it were anyone else, I might not have cared, but with Althea... well, that was different. With her, there was always that unsettling sense that, yes, she really would do sothing like that: (... you don’t have to stick to all the ti or anything. Just until we’re through the door...)
Completely ignoring my words, Althea clung to my arm like it was treasure, rubbing her face against it with a satisfied expression, a thin string of drool slipping from the corner of her mouth. A muffled giggle escaped her: “Heheh... my dear sister’s skin is so smooth... so perfect...” she murmured, eyes half-closed, almost in a trance: “Heheh... I think I really should go ahead with my plan to sneak up on her while she’s sleeping...”
She spoke in a low voice, almost as if she didn’t want to be heard—but every word reached clearly. Yeah... hearing that, only one thought crossed my mind: (... Okay, I’ll just pretend I didn’t hear that... though... she wouldn’t actually do anything while I’m asleep... right? Just to be safe, I think I’ll have the Alter Ego keep an eye on her for a while.
A mont later, I felt Victor’s light touch on my shoulder, while Althea kept rubbing her face against my arm like it was instinct. Before us, the enormous door lood, imposing and silent.
I kept my expression neutral but let the surface of my body ripple ever so slightly, like an invisible breeze had passed through . It was the signal—subtle and deliberate—that I was activating the anomalous ability I’d recently acquired.
The sound of the hallway vanished completely. Light, vibrations, even the familiar pull of gravity—all of it seed to retreat from , as if I’d been carefully erased from an old photograph. This wasn’t just invisibility; it was pure and total absence, an existence suspended in nothingness—like while part of still belonged to that plane, another part had already slipped sowhere else, silent and untouchable.
I could still feel Victor and Althea holding onto , but their presences seed to blur and fade, becoming vague, almost unreal—like we were suspended in the invisible gap between one blink of the world and the next. The massive tal door no longer felt like a “barrier”—it had lost its weight, its shape, its resistance.
A cold shiver traced along my now strangely viscous skin as we passed through its thickness. For a brief mont, the structure around us bent and rippled like heated glass before sealing shut behind us.
And then, we were on the other side. In the blink of an eye, reality surged back over us like a sudden tide—sound returned to our ears, light spilled in waves, and the air carried a sharp tallic scent that burned the nose. Althea was still clinging to my arm, that dreamy smile still on her lips, as if nothing had happened.
Victor, beside , let out a short sigh before his voice drifted softly: “I don’t think I’ll ever get used to that feeling” he murmured, his low tone nearly lost in the air. His eyes were fixed on his own hands, opening and closing them slowly.
Ignoring his words, I turned my attention to our surroundings. We were inside a square room—cold, silent, as if even the air was frozen still. The bare white walls gave off a strange sense of abandonnt, and there was no sign of life anywhere. Yet, right in the center of the room stood a small altar made entirely of black stone, as if carved from a single block of obsidian.
Hovering above it was a sphere about three inches in diater, rotating almost imperceptibly. Its surface looked like black marble, but with delicate golden veins flowing in continuous motion, like strands of light trapped in stone.
I stared at the strange floating object for a few monts, intrigued by its silent presence, until my “Eyes” began to glow in every color of the rainbow. At that exact mont, the object shifted into a new palette—a swirl of colors that blended and danced, radiating an intense light that nearly blinded .
Then, in the blink of an eye, everything returned to normal. I took a deep breath, still dazed, and turned to Victor, who stood beside , watchful: (That’s it?)
Victor kept his gaze fixed on the sphere for a few seconds, as if trying to unravel its nature, before finally giving a silent nod of confirmation. With that, I didn’t hesitate any longer. Slowly, I stepped toward the sphere, feeling the pressure of the energy it gave off—the sa energy I’d been sensing for a while now.
Seconds later, the sphere seed to notice . The reaction was subtle, but undeniable—the golden veins running across its surface pulsed with slightly more intensity than before, giving off an almost hypnotic glow. I studied every tiny flicker of light, then cautiously extended my hand toward it.
Nothing extraordinary happened. Within seconds, my fingertips brushed lightly against the anomaly’s smooth, cold surface. I kept my eyes locked on it, driven by quiet curiosity. Then, a faint thought crossed my mind, almost like a whisper: (... that’s it? Weird, I thought there’d be so resistance... maybe a reaction, sothing)
It was an idle, almost careless thought. But as if it had read my mind, the anomaly reacted. There was no visible change, but I felt—no, my entire body knew—sothing had happened. A wave of dense, pulsing energy burst from it, washing through like a silent shock.
In seconds, my arm—still touching its surface—disintegrated as if made of dust, scattering into the air in barely visible particles. Outwardly, I kept the sa cold, impassive look. Inwardly, though, a rush of surprise and disbelief consud .
Of course, I didn’t feel any pain at all. In fact, almost imdiately after my arm dissolved, it began to reform, stitching itself back together until there wasn’t a single scratch left. I looked at my fingers, flexing them a few tis, feeling the strange firmness of freshly regenerated flesh. Only then did I turn my focus back to the anomaly—and this ti, I stared at it with sharper intent.
For so reason, I felt provoked. Though it couldn’t speak, the anomaly sohow radiated a nearly tangible sense of challenge, as if daring to touch it again. There was sothing in its silence that shouted louder than words. That lit a stubborn spark in my chest: (Alright, you weird little anomaly... let’s see if you can erase before I manage to absorb you)
Childish? Maybe. But hey... I don’t feel pain. And my emotions aren’t exactly like a human’s—trying to fit into their standards is strange enough on its own. And frankly, I refuse to be humiliated in front of Althea. As her older brother, I have an image to maintain... and a certain pride I’m not about to give up.
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