Master Chen let out a sigh he wasn't aware he had been holding in. He then said to Marcus,
"Touch his forehead." He gently commanded and Marcus stretched his hand at Ashton's head to touch it immediately but Master Chen quickly grabbed his hand before he could make contact with Ashton.
"You have to remember the golden hour." He cautiously reminded him. "If you do not return before then, both you and Ashton will be lost in a nightmare and the probability of fetching you both out is way below impossible."
Marcus nodded his head in response to having understood Master Chen's words and without further ado, he lurched his hand forward and touched Ashton's forehead.
*GASP!*
*SWIRL~*
A loud gasp escaped Marcus lips as he finally transmigrated out of the chapel into Ashton's sub-consciousness. His eyes darted around as he tried to grasp in the little things that made up around him.
"I have to find Ashton quick!" Marcus said to himself and he began picking up fast paces as he walked through the labyrinth. He then began to run as he didn't want to miss the golden hour without fishing Ashton out yet.
He searched and searched and was almost at the verge of giving up until he suddenly heard a loud shout of a cuss word from afar.
"FUCK!!!"
"Ashton!" Marcus called to himself as the voice tinged in his ears. A smile crept into his face and he began to run towards the direction of the voice. Just down a valley, he found Ashton walking around in circles as he paced about nervously.
He heaved a sigh of relief and made his way earnestly towards him. As soon as Ashton turned, he saw Marcus suddenly walking towards him. He rubbed his eyes for a bit as he wasn't going to believe Marcus had found his way into that labyrinth. He twitched his eyes and blinked rapidly but still, Marcus was there– running towards him.
"Marcus!" Ashton finally called as soon as Marcus had almost reached where he was. "What are you doing here? How did you get in here?"
"Save that for some other time Ashton." Marcus said as he panted heavily as he had been running down at Ashton. He slowly began to regain his breathing and he finally said, "You are running out of time, Ashton. Have you attuned to your spirit guide yet?"
Ashton shook his head dejectedly as he watched Callista who was now sitting on a stone that was nearest to where they were. He knew Marcus couldn't see her anyway so he didn't bother to point at her.
"I've been at it for hours because time flows differently in here," Ashton began to say. "And I can't get past this young bastard!"
"Hey!" Callista called in her soft voice in protest to Ashton calling her a 'young bastard'.
Ashton shot his eyes grimly at Callista and she quickly looked away from his gaze as she snickered a bit.
"Refrain from cursing at your spirit guide, Ashton!" Marcus warned. "It could end you."
Ashton shrugged as he rolled his eyes in frustration. "She said I am not worthy to attune to her and now I'm the prat!"
"Just do it…we have a pending mission in the Eastern part of the city. Aurelia told you about the breach did she not? And besides we cannot stay here for long because we might get lost in a nightmare if we miss the golden hour." Marcus announced urgently hoping his words would give Ashton more courage and better urge to try and attune with his spirit guide.
"You think it's that easy?" Ashton fired as he began to pace around.
"Do you want to get lost in a nightmare forever? Do you think you can survive the harsh nightmares you will face? Just so you know they are more ferocious than the Arkillians!"
"Oh please! Give me a break!" Ashton shrugged, still pacing about.
Marcus heaved a sigh exasperatedly as he was not sure how well he could use his words to convince Ashton to attune with his spirit guide before the golden hour strikes in.
"Ashton," he began to say. "I came in here to fetch you out while risking my own life and all you resolved to is you cannot get past the state of attunement?" Marcus pleased, his frustration and unease growing.
Ashton turned at Marcus and with an annoying and rude tone, he gave Marcus a small reply.
"I never asked you to risk your life for me so don't try to play the victim here."
"What?!" Marcus exclaimed slightly as he couldn't believe those words had just came out of Ashton's mouth. "You know what Ashton, you are the most pig headed person I have ever know!" He muttered with difficulty.
Ashton rolled his eyes again and then finally raised his hands up in mock defeat.
"Oh…yeah, okay. Yeah thanks. I will just try to attune to my spirit guide again and then fail at it again and then die!"
"You're impossible!" Marcus hissed, clearly irritated by Ashton's words.
Ashton finally concentrated his energy into one fold and then he was back in Callista's presence away from Marcus. Callista who had been invisible all long to Marcus suddenly started to snicker as Ashton appeared before her again.
"Look who's back…the; would be Magi." She teased clearly, enjoying how she was taunting him.
"Look," Ashton began clearly not enjoying whatever Callista was all about. "I don't have time for this."
Callista swerved into the air again now hovering in front of Ashton. She folded her arms before saying, "Well, I have all the time in the world for this."
"You don't get it! I am going to die if I don't attune…same as Marcus!" Ashton protested trying to suppress his brewing anger as he spoke.
"So you die an unworthy vessel. It is better to die now than to live as one."
"That's enough! You do not know me!"
"I know you're a stain on your family name…a reproach to the whole world…the damnation of every human alive. You're an unworthy vessel and I do not choose you to be my host!"
"To hell with being an unworthy vessel! Let me attune!" Ashton shouted at Callista in protest at the top of his lungs.
Callista seemingly wasn't affected by his outburst and it seemed she had casted all her cares into the air. She said,
"Not while I do not choose to let you attune to me…not while I live."
"You do not live!" Ashton fired back. "You were once an incarnate and now you are dead! You had your time…now it's my turn to fight the Arkillians. Let me attune to you!"
"I will now allow it."
Ashton let out a small sigh of disappointment as he faltened his resolve. As he lowered his gaze to the ground with the thought of Marcus' words running through his mind, a sudden rage then ensued in him and he looked at Callista menacingly as he shouted;
"I DO NOT CARE! LET ME ATTUNE!!"
Alas, Ashton had bore an elemental gift from birth and for the first time it had emanated from him due to his sudden rage. An arcane magic began to course round him in fury as if it had been expecting an opening for years but it wasn't for long as he was not sure what was happening to him so the magic subsided as soon as he let his rage flow out.
"What the hell just happened?!" Ashton asked as he looked at himself promptly.
"Took you long enough." Callista said with a smile on her lips.
The magical lights began to emanate again and now they became more powerful than it had ensued at first. It hurled round him creating spikes and a vortex behind him. Suddenly, he began to feel his feet were being lifted off the ground as he got suspended in the air bit by bit.
"I guess it was me holding back all along." Ashton said to himself as he watched Callista also swirling up in the air with him.
And with a single blast, the swirling vortex stopped and he suddenly got pulled back to the earth by gravity as he fell, he couldn't see Callista hovering above him any longer.
'Where did she go?'
[Congratulations, you have attuned with a spirit guide]
[You have been granted your spirit guide]
As these status materialized before his eyes, he couldn't see them as he was concerned only about why he was falling back into the earth with such great speed.
As he was about to fall deep into the earth, he let out a loud gasp as he awoke from his trance.