The area was cold and dark. The surroundings were lit by the blue flame torches placed on its stands. There was tall and large metal columns around the tunnels across from one another. Amongst the nine pillars, only six were lit by mechanic lights. The other three remained to be of pure metal. Looking at one of the six pillars, Peony touched it. it was massive and made the emergency staircase seem puny in comparison. For Maisey, it looked so much larger.
"D-do we have to go down there?" Maisey quivered at the sight of the dark hole and the sole light of the green entrance oozing the black blot as if like a fountain.
Peony nodded and patted him back to her shoulder, "It is the only way."
She could feel the soul flame of Ortho flicker in her ring as she deactivated her powers.
"Princess?" Maisey looked to her hesitantly as he clung to the cloth tightly.
She looked over the edge and thought carefully before she decided without hesitation, "We're going to jump."
"What?!"
Before Maisey could protest, Peony had already put on her black hood and leapt down into the chasm. She could hear Maisey cry out in fear in her ear, which annoyed her greatly. From the corner of her eye, she noticed a faint shade of white and red moving amongst the darkness with a momentary flash of light.
White and red.
The last person she can think of wearing such a garb was Riddle. His dorm uniform donned the colors of white, red, yellow and black. Even his crown could be the cause of the light, right? Then there was Azul's staff. Leona's staff would be too dull to flash the light, yet neither of them have the color white on them.
Having noticed her thinking, Xiao Li held back his tongue and simply shook his head in dismay. She really hates that guy's guts!
"D-d-d-do something, Peony!!!" Maisey cried out in horror as they plummeted down into the darkness.
"Do you hear something?"
Peony could hear Leona's voice in the distance followed by Jamil's tone of confusion, "Hear what?"
Those two working together? Peony raised a brow and smirked in amusement. Quite an interesting decision...
"Princess-s-s-s!" Maisey cried out tearfully as he saw they were closing in on the ground level.
Peony gathered the wind in one hand and, with a flick of her sleeve, it gathered around her helping her land on the ground softly.
"We're here." Peony looked towards the entrance curiously.
"Princess, please... wait..." Maisey covered his mouth with a hand seemingly very nauseous, "I-I think I'm going to be sick..."
Peony handed him a pill as she tilted her head in confusion looking at this motion-sick fairy, "You know you could've just flew."
"You know you could've just warned me ahead of time!" Maisey rebuked angrily.
"I did." Peony responded with an innocent look across her face.
"Five minutes prior to jumping!" Maisey clarified as he folded his arms and sat on her shoulder once more whining, "I wasn't even prepared..."
"Yes, sir." Peony nodded her head and sighed before walking towards the circular double door that was glowing green. The cold demonic miasma seemed as if it wanted to reach out to her. However, it could never reach her as she reached out and placed a hand on the double door.
She took a deep breath and began inserting her energy and began to run along the cables and paths of wires. She was stunned!
Seeing her shocked expression, Maisey called out to her hesitantly in confusion, "Peony?"
She shook her head silencing Maisey as she run her spiritual sight into the machine now being very careful to avoid getting shocked by electricity. Carefully, she utilized the electricity with her powers diverting it to another line until the doors finally opened.
The heavy green doors shuddered before slowly opened with a grinding sound. An overwhelming amount of demonic energy flowed from the crack of the door as it widened.
"So dark and malicious..." Maisey grumbled in disdain once he saw this.
Peony brushed the fairy closer to her side as she took a step towards the entrance, "Don't leave my side."
"A-All right!"
Peony sheltered Maisey with her magic before she jumped into the green glowing pit of green flames. The temperature in the pit began to grow warmer and warmer till it reached an overwhelming high temperature.
"So... hot..." Maisey grimaced in pain as the continued to plummet into the pit of green fire.
"Hot?" Peony frowned and casted a chilling air from her palm, "Be careful not to touch anything around us. Or you may be stuck in this place forever."
"Y-Yes!" Maisey responded before realization hit him, "Milady! Using the ice element-!"
"It is all right." Peony responded steadily without worry, "It's too warm outside for the poison to affect me."
Peony reached out and patted Maisey on the head, "Don't worry, right?"
Maisey huffed with a blush on his face, "Whatever! Anyway, this pit seems to be very deep..."
As soon as he said this, Peony landed on the ground. Maisey hugged her shoulder tightly in fear as he shuddered, "I-I didn't say anything!"
Peony smirked in amusement, but that was short-lived when she noticed a familiar blue flame before her.
"... Idia..." Peony noted softly.
Before her was Idia with his blue flame hair and pale skin. His trademark black and blue plated jacket and jeans were replaced with the gray uniform of the S.T.Y.X researchers as she had expected. It was sharp sense of style and branded with the logo of the boat said to float across the river of the underworld. The only difference she noticed different to her expectations with the bags under his eyes seem to have gotten darker showing the nights of no sleep he had gone through prior to their meeting. Had the lack of sleep finally taken a toll on him through his emotions?
"Hm? I don't remember meeting someone as suspicious as you. Who are you?" Idia glared at her with narrowed eyes, "You're not with those guys, are you?! No one can stop us! We... We will be freed!"
It would seem that her assumption was correct in the end. Peony sighed as she walked past Idia, "I'm not here to speak with you today."
"Hey!"
Peony turned around and could see the researcher reach out to her, but she froze him in place with her eyes and suddenly appeared before him.
Idia was shocked upon seeing this and instinctively tried to step back but could not move.
Peony reached out and touched his warm forehead sending her spiritual energy through his body forcing him to relax. Idia struggled against her, but realized that he could not!
He could feel his eyes getting droopy as he reached out and grabbed her hood much to her surprise.
"Princess!" Maisey cried out in horror when he saw this.
He struggled to stand as he fell to one knee and barely managed to lift his head to see who it was but couldn't get a glimpse of her face. Yet, the crimson flame-like hair burned into his eyes as the pair of eyes widen in disbelief, "Y-y-you're... wait..."
Suddenly, a flash of bright colors that once burned in the back on his mind so long ago re-ignited in his thoughts!
It's you... right?!
However, his hand failed to reach her as he crumbled to the ground. Peony stared at him once more before putting on her hood once more and turning away from him. She took out Ortho and used her flames to keep the blot at bay. The flame flickered as his feeling passed through her again. Peony nodded, "He'll be all right. Don't forget that Dormleader Yuu and the other dormleaders are making their way down to rescue the two of you."
The Ortho's flame continued to flicker as she used her spiritual sense to find his vessel. A number of emotions flowed into her as she said, "You worry, but aren't Yuu and the others friends? There are always other ways to stop your brother, but they picked the most direct way to stop the two of you. Believe in them. They are strong magicians too, remember?"
Finally, Ortho's flame quieted.
"What was the kid saying?" Maisey questioned curiously.
"He was simply worried about our classmates." Peony responded with a soft smile, "Let's go."
Walking through the void of green flames seemed endless as a large number of floating fireballs drifted past them. Peony walked past them carefully as she followed the trail of mana with her eyes.
"This place seems to go on for hours!" Maisey sighed in disappointment, "So tired."
"All you're doing is sitting on my shoulder though." Peony pointed out with a huff, "Aren't I doing the walking here?"
Maisey huffed, "Even sitting up takes a lot of energy too, you know!"
"Right, right." Peony shook her head and decided not to argue anymore, "I wonder where is the other half..."
"That reminds me." Maisey spoke up curiously, "What's wrong with the door earlier? You had such a serious look on your face earlier."
"Did I?" Peony looked to her in confusion touching her cheek.
"Yes. Did you find something?" Maisey questioned curiously.
Well, he wasn't wrong. While examining the frameworks of the mechanism, she found that the framework the mechanism was built on was very similar to one she had seen in her previous life!
In her life, the implementation of works made by the cultivators who have reach a god-like stage is considered to be rare, valuable, and holy. They are to be regulated and locations tracked as there were fewer numbers through the passage of time. Even during the time she floated as a lost soul, there were fewer than it should. However, she and the others nobles have studied the mechanism when she was still alive in her previous life. Though her followers all died tragic deaths and sufferings that are still imprinted in her mind, she can still recall the mechanism very clearly in her thoughts. The fact that one greatly resembles them is here in this world troubles her greatly.
Upon hearing her discoveries, Maisey was shocked, "Just how much resemblance does our world have with your birth world?! Is that why you left so quickly?"
Peony nodded, "When a heavenly seal is utilized, it prompts the heavens to look down on the situation. Hence we had to move quickly before we get spotted. Being seen by the heavens is not always a good thing either. It is best to move in the dark and never let the world see your every move."