Ethereal Paradigm

-Terry Pratchett

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I looked at the clock and it"s now 5 minutes minus before the gates would finally open.

Ok, this is perfect. I should now re-start the "Low-key" plan, although I don"t see myself to be THAT "Low-key" anytime soon. Not while a j.a.panese little girl is with me and not with this baggage. Well, I simply can"t leave her alone.

We then got ourselves in the southernmost part of the city through the hand-made transportation I made using only the pen"s ink. Pretty handy isn"t it.

At the back of a facility, away from the gazes of everyone, I then undid the power, the moment the gate became vividly visible. I wouldn"t want my ident.i.ty of being a Herrscher to be revealed due to a superfluous reason.

And then we, alongside a vast number of "others" found ourselves facing a very large gate, and a very peculiar looking one, set to fit the atmosphere of "Chaos" as the faction"s name suggests. It was rather dull in color and was designed with bones and skulls all inlaid in a larger metallic piece, that forms this putrid-looking threshold. Well, I kinda like it...

This gate...it is what leads to the outside world they call as the third realm, "Naethervale"...

Wait, was this gate always here? Hmmm. It"s not the proper time to think of such a crude matter.

It is so crowded... I now understand why that failure of a G.o.ddess only wanted to reconcile outside.

I looked around, still with s.h.i.+ro holding my hand looking rather sleepy...Now, that I look at it, these people chose to destroy their own race, for whatever reason there is. But, this number is simply not quite right... For a 300 thousand remaining population, this would be only around a thousand here. Does this mean that we are awfully outnumbered?

I should not be too surprised though... Lacrimosa even implicitly said the same thing.

"Is everyone now in the gates? " The public address system again sounded...

"Well, looks like it...apparently. There"s no such person now who would defy any command coming from you extravagant deities." I thought.

"This is now the path that you chose to face. Standing north, the people who chose to save their mankind despite the opaque future it still believes... Standing south, the outnumbered people who chose "Chaos" for their own race. Now, let us see which is the naive decision. Are you seeing this Alexandra? Everyone"s ready to go!"

"Uhmmm. Yes. Yes. Ehehehehehe. " The homeroom teacher slash, announcer, began to talk for the first time...And that, is definitely not the voice of someone who does not know what is happening. I feel you sensei. Truly.

"Ok then everyone! Last tip... The first thing you should do, the moment you reach the mystical land is to find a village you could stay in or a city if you are lucky... just be nice to the denizens there, you would not want to be eaten raw don"t you? From then, learn the extents of your power, ok? But, don"t be inactive too much! That would be a penalty of Death! Ok then, further instructions would be given the moment you settle yourselves outside. THE GATES ARE HEREBY OPENED!" the deity ecstatically announced...

A creaking noise was then heard as the weird and gargantuan gate started opening. I looked at the clock. It"s now, 3:09 AM. Nine-minute delay of what was agreed. Everyone was shunned by the fact that "Here we are, in a world we never wanted and neither did we deserve".

The third realm. NÆthervale.

Finally, the gate opened. It was still rather dark as the auxiliary lights of the city fend off the light of the soon-to-dawn gargantuan moon.

The gate is opened, but no one dared to take the first step. And I"m not doing it either. Someone will take the initiative.

Then, not yonder, a morena teen from the crowd walked towards the front row and took the first step outside, without any wavers. And then everyone followed with sheer confidence. Including me...shamefully, but reasonably.

And then, all of us found ourselves trending our foot in a well made phantasmic bridge, connecting the city to a terrain a hundred miles away which is still quite unclear as to what awaits because of the morning mist which is thick as milk, way thicker than how we were acquainted to it, back on earth. All we could hear was the rumbling of the sea waves approximately 30 meters below us and the cold winds... And then the gates closed with an unseen hand... Signaling a point of no return.

Everyone watched the gates closed, as everyone knew of the fact that if they want to not end up dead "earlier" they have to take this path, of the unknown with the chance of keeping the so-called "dear life".

It surely won"t do us any good if we were just to stand here. Merely everyone then started to move forward even without the vocation of someone. Why the h.e.l.l is this mist here anyway, we can"t see clearly in all of this white!

And then, I felt something...hovering above us. It was big. I was the only one who felt it. It can"t be something that wants to attack us right away, right? I hoped.

Then came a very loud roar, like the shouts of a thousand thunders all at once! Everyone, except me of course, became terrified and started to duck and take cover. But I have to fake some terrified actions too, to make me look normal. And then what we saw next, was this large ent.i.ty with wings that extends to the skies and a spiky tail of burning vermillion... It flapped its wings mightily over us, that it cleared out the thick mist that was laid fore, giving us a view of what this NÆthervale really looks like in person.

As we saw the ambient view, the majority was speechless, except for those who were unable to keep the excitement that they felt the moment they saw it.

"Wow" and "Beautiful", became the first lexicon to be spoken by humans in this realm. I for once was also keeping it inside me.

It was so beautiful. From this perspective from the bridge, we could clearly see the oversized moon whose reflection was radiated on the vast morning seas and swimming in it were creatures that we never dreamed of seeing. Mermaids? No. It"s something more beautiful to behold. Fishes? Not mere fishes, but "glow-in-the-dark-ones" making the sea look like a sky of some underwater civilization. Above, we could see the very clear night sky filled with radiant stars in where not one of the constellations is unfamiliar and named. Birds of unfamiliar species were also seen and large dragons also flew in flocks mightily hovering above us. From afar, to where the bridge was leading, we could see a well-made medieval-themed castle, no an empire maybe...

It"s like Earth, but before man took the rule, together with its beauty. It is as of this point, that it just seems so surreal if monsters really do exist in these areas and if something like that "Ches.h.i.+re Cat" really does coexist in such a lovely environment. And it is as of this point, that those who lost someone dear would just dream that they were here too, to see all of this.

But in all of this boundless gaiety, an ugly side will always be somewhere. Just another side of a coin. We can"t be distracted by the fact that this land, this peaceful-looking land will soon be tainted with blood, as it becomes the eon"s host for the "Warfare of Fates", a gamble where killing becomes the new norm...

By the way, where"s Celes? And how should be the other majority who chose the Mirage Armada doing? Are they also seeing the same thing?

Hmm. Now then, how should I start?

(Cla.s.sroom of the Elite main theme"s climax, plays)...