Her eyes carefully examined the rugged elevator, something in her gut telling her it was fine, but the logical part of her brain said otherwise. It was rusted, crumbling, and shook like a nine-point-o earthquake when everyone squeezed on. Being uncomfortably close to people, she managed to get herself in the corner, their master entering last and closing the gate behind herself. The platform itself was fairly large, just barely enough room for the 21 people standing on it.
Their master grabbed a long, wooden switch protruding from the floor and stopped at about hip's length, and pushed it to the other side- having to use both hands. The elevator roared to life, causing everyone to bend their knees, and those standing near the railings to girp the rusted bars. The place they had just come from, a large opening after the fifteen mile spelunking trip, disappeared as they descended. The whole platform rattled fiercely, the elevator made long ago out of wood and pieces of metal. The girl was mildly worried that it was going to collapse, and knowing that they were going to be going down for a long time, they all knew the fall would be fatal.
The first thing that she had noticed was that the only indication of where they were at in comparison to where they had started were the markings on the walls every thousand feet they descended. It was disconcerting, and she calmed herself by running a hand through her long, overgrown, pitch-black hair. However, the fear that bubbled in her stomach wasn’t caused by the rugged elevator, the cramped space, the smell of damp stones, or the fact that the deeper they went, the heavier the air got. It was the emptiness in the Astral Plane, the secondary dimension that only she could see despite being in the mortal realm. Gifted with what some call “Spirit Sight,” it was the contributing factor in her success in their Academy.
As the students watched the ten-thousand mark float upward, their Master began a speech to break their silence. Though, it only made the fear in their stomachs much worse, “we have reached the point of no return. By crossing this point, you have agreed that you are permanently part of our organization, and are willing to put your lives on the line for our cause. Everything you have done up to this point doesn’t matter until you do as instructed.
“When we reach the bottom, there will be boards and markers for you to use. You will take one of each, write your name, and your greatest weakness,” her brown eyes scanned over her fearful student’s faces, “which you all know very well.” The Master’s voice was powerful, and her eyes the greatest tools of silence. She continued with a more solemn tone, “some,” she paused, recalling her experience crossing over, “some of you will not make it.”
She took a breath, knowing she needed to deliver the words of warning, and there was nothing she could do to save those who she would never see again after the crossing, “some of you will enter, and never return. I do not know who, and I do not know why. All I can share is my own experience, and wish you the best of luck.”
The elevator momentarily screamed, the eleven-thousand mark passing overhead, the girl with black hair knowing that the master was taking her time. Her eyes looked over at the boy next to her, the only indication that she had that her sight was working. He was like her, but when he was in the mortal realm, he had to “activate” his sight, while hers works all the time. His eyes met hers, and they turned back to the master, “you will enter with your partners. Entering alone is suicide, which is why we always make sure there are an even amount of students. You may not cross over twice, hence the reason I will not be going with you. This is your first mission alone, and it may be the hardest for some. Just press forward, and fate will guide you.
“When you have the boards with your name and weakness, you will enter through the opening. You will be scared, it will be dark, but if you continue walking forward, you will be able to see. There will be a table at the end, place your board on there, and continue towards the door. I will meet back up with you afterward.”
“What about those who don’t make it though?” One of the students asked, everyone looking at their Master for an answer.
The reply was the least satisfying, one that gave no one the comfort of closure, or the sense of safety. Everyone was then left to their own silence as they waited what felt like an eternity. The girl stood, watching the wall, waiting for the next mark. It was disturbing how empty the place was, but she did her best to not be bothered by it. As time went on, her eyes watched the twenty-five-thousand mark passed, her Master muttering something about passing the half-way mark.
The elevator screamed again.
The after silence ate their thoughts.
Soon enough, the elevator let out its final scream as they came to a stop, a room appearing before them. It was nearly empty, except for the table of wooden slabs and markers. Some of the supplies were thrown about, some still tidy on the table. In their trance of being fifty-thousand feet beneath the earth’s surface, and finding a somewhat normal looking room, they didn’t even realize their Master had begun her ascent until the elevator screamed again, and she was already long gone.
The girl was the first to make a move towards the boards, slyly picking up two and settling herself in the corner of the room, the boy watching her but deciding to take a quick look around. The room was U shaped, and as he walked down the short hall to peer over to the other side, all he saw was a large opening, beyond that pitch black, even in the Astral Plane. He found nothing else besides the table of boards and markers, and returned to the girl when she called. She had already written her name on the board, her neat, script handwriting reading “Ebony.” and her greatest weakness beneath that, which she hid behind the second board. The boy returned to her side, directing her how to spell out his name “Indigo.” He then kneeled by her, staring at the board, muttering a word that was too quiet for Ebony to hear, so she asked him to repeat it louder.
“Loyalty,” his eyes locked on hers with a blank stare, “I believe that I am too loyal.”
Ebony understood, writing the word down and flipping it over so that the words of each board faced each other, making sure his eyes missed what her board said. She stood, seeing that many of her fellow students had finished, and were chatting about what to do, asking if anyone knew where they were. Ebony walked over to the only exit they were aware of, the large opening with only darkness behind it. Her voice rang with the same strength as their Master’s, “now isn’t the time to chit-chat about what we’re going to do. Master told us to go through, and so we will go through. This is what we signed up for! So get on with it!”
With newfound motivation, the students found their partners, and two by two, they began entering the final stage of their training. One step at a time, they began the Crossing.
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