"Ow! My head!" Leon opened his eyes and groaned, immediately noticing that he is no longer on the rooftop but in an unfamiliar room that doesn't look like it belongs in the academy. The walls are extremely tall, and the room itself is filled with lots of fabric that stretches all over the place and covers up the floor. The fabric is silky, but it didn't cushion his fall at all. "Where am I?"
He looked out the window and noticed that the sky is extremely dark and bland. There are no signs of the sun, moon, clouds or stars yet it doesn't seem to affect the lighting in this strange place despite not seeing any light sources. After observing these strange details, he realized something he learned in class.
There are abilities that existed throughout the five Kingdom's history. And they are all listed and recorded upon discovery. For example, Leon's ability to manipulate reality existed only once in history and he is now the second bearer of that ability. This phenomenon is also a rare ability that allows a person to access a space completely different from the real world. It is a pocket dimension which only the owner has access to and has complete dominion over. Record states that the pocket dimension's sky is always dark, and the surroundings are reminiscent of the owner's true nature.
An empty space.
This threw him off guard. This power is the counter to his reality warping ability as long as he is inside because he sure as hell knows that he won't have much power here. As long as they are stuck here, he can't be sure that he could protect himself, let alone everyone else.
He then tried to use his ability but no luck. Nothing happened. Magic doesn't seem to work either.
"Odigiste mas steni aletheia!" he shouted. Nothing. So, Silvia incantations doesn't work.
"Portaci alla verità." he repeated in Infernus. Nothing.
"Lehovil oteno al hamat" he said in Jophiel.
A blue light appeared and swirl around him for a bit.
"Ow!"
Leon turned around to see Rufus, Nate and Theo all starting to wake up.
"Where are we?" Theseus groaned and immediately took notice of his surroundings. "What the-"
"Don't bother. Our powers don't work here." Leon said.
Nathaniel uses his summoning and summon birds. "Mine still work"
Nathaniel tries to cast a spell but nothing. "My powers don't work either and neither does magic."
"Jophiel spells work." Leon explained while pointing to the tiny light.
Theseus lifted some of the fabric in midair. It looks like his powers worked too.
How odd. Why does it affect him and Nate but not the others?
"Ooookay, now we just have to find Selim and figure out a way out of here." Rufus says and gets up to open a nearby door leaving him standing there, pausing.
The rest looked from behind him and their mouths were gaping open.
*
Empty space? Amy curiously says.
"It is an ability that gives the user a pocket dimension in which they have absolute control over. They could put in anything inside it and shape it to their own image. Even time doesn't have much effect on it. It also has teleportation ability but with shorter range than Hecate. But regardless, it is an exceptionally powerful ability that could be the only thing to truly get rid of Prince Leon." Alabaster says, "I saw the whole thing myself."
There are items inspired by the ability, like spatial rings and imprisoning boxes, but none of that compares to the Empty Space.
Amy knows somewhat about the Empty space. It is the only ability that truly could stand a chance against him. The person in the story who had it proclaimed that the power is now his, implying that he stole it. However, because it was never his, he had trouble controlling it and keeping the people inside.
But this is where Aron has shined brightly for the first time. Aron's purification power has erased the Empty Space ability and freed Leon. That is one aspect of this purification ability that is unique only to him.
"The academy and the royal guard have a plan to get him out. It involves making a hole in the space between. It takes a lot of effort to maintain one long enough to bring four people out. They are going to need all the help they can get."
How's Sabina?
"She's fine, overall. The arrow didn't go all the way through her neck. I have to admire her fast reflexes, otherwise she would've died."
Thank goodness that she's fast enough to catch it. Sabina was bleeding from the neck yet she's still standing by the time she was taken back inside, and the audience is panicking as they know that this isn't part of the fight. As for Selim, he was escorted away as well since he was the closest to her and blinded by that light from earlier.
"They just don't run out of tricks, do they?" Amy commented. Now that the whole mermaid issue is done with, they are now headed to the Teluka kingdom, where everyone assures will not have any weird rules and is neutral to Ran and Shou and the last place she needs to look.
Tapping her fingers, she admits that she is worried. Not for Leon and the others, she is confident for them, but for... After a brief moment, she commanded,
Alabaster, use the peony on the girl as soon as you find her.
*
It feels like it has been over an hour and there is no sign of an exit. All four of them believe that they should stick together as separating would be a bad idea especially in a vast place like this. They climbed up a large number of stairs and saw how warped this false world is. The rooms are endless, gravity is warped, and the layout shifts once a while. They noticed some other unusual things that isn't linked to the physically impossible aspects of this space. There are traces of Damat culture here and there, but something seems off.
"Does Damat always like furs? It's a desert country so I assume not." Leon said, walking up to a closet and pulling out a sable fur hat.
"No, they don't but they wear it when they leave the country because they can't deal with the colder temperature." Nathaniel said. "Many nobles from Damat brought furs but they are usually made of animals or monsters that are native to their country."
Leon looked in the closet a bit more and saw a familiar cloak made of rabbit fur and immediately recognized it.
He recalled Melli receiving the rabbit fur coat, but after trying it one, she didn't keep it for long since she dislikes fur and got rid of it. People in the Orlando duchy always likes fur because they are on the colder part of Solin.
"It looks like Melli got lucky that she didn't get the plague." Leon murmured.
"How strange. Could this imply that our target isn't from Damat but from Hekaton?" Theseus asked.
"Probably. The Empty space mirrors the owner's psyche after all. No matter how much you try to change yourself for others, there is always a hidden, unchangeable side."
Suddenly the ground opened beneath them, swallowing them whole.