Shaking all of these negative thoughts away, Judith decided that no matter what, she would try her best to be herself, as much as she could be anyways.
Removing her thoughts from her head and diverting it to the inside of the metal wall, Judith found this was equally as amazing as the outside.
The inside was not spacious. It was small, narrow and very straightforward. Guards were on either side, standing on platforms that elevated them a few feet off the ground. The inside was also quite dark, leaving the only source of illumination to Light Crystals, which were placed on the wall very few and far between.
This was Judith's first time seeing a Light Crystal. It seemed like a normal light bulb, but the difference was that these crystals — as per Judith's memories — glowed red in cold areas, providing warmth, and glowed white in hot areas, producing cold.
Judith wished her first encounter with the Light Crystals would have been more personal and romanticized, but alas, it is what it is.
Turning her attention away from the Light Crystals and onto the narrow space they were making their way through, Judith found herself becoming more and more claustrophobic.
She understood that the reason for the small and narrow space, was to serve a functional purpose, and was not put in place as a result of a lazy architect's design. If anything, this wall was the opposite of lazy, as the entirety of the wall was not hollow, but completely made up of metal. The strongest this world had to offer.
This overkill of a defensive wall was to ensure that Parabeasts the size of mountains, would not spread its rampage beyond each Kingdom, so as to effectively handle it.
This was one of the wall's functionality. The other was to ensure that this small space which they were going through, would entrap any would-be threat, that was trying to sneak through customs and into Qugan. With nowhere to run and nowhere to go, the threat would be all but neutralized.
The effectiveness at which such an ordeal would be carried out sent a chill down Judith's spine. She suddenly became anxious that she would be found out to be a spy, and immediately executed.
With a deep breath, she dismissed this thought, and looked forward.
Ahead of them, was a large metal desk with an elegant looking woman on the other side. She had sat up straight when she saw people approaching. Few minutes prior, the woman had been lying on the desk, and the drowsiness in her eyes confirmed she was sleeping.
'Must be nice to get paid for doing nothing.' Judith thought with a grin.
Upon reaching the desk, the woman greeted Qui Lin with a smile as she got off her mount. Everyone else that were on mounts did likewise, leaving only Judith and Tsai, who didn't know exactly how to get off without falling face first on the metal floor.
Luckily for Tsai, a Tethered had helped her down, but the same couldn't be said for Judith. Before she had time to think on how to get down from her mount, her attention was suddenly taken by the way Tsai looked.
Her demeanor had fallen and she dawned a look on her face that could best be described as frightened. Wondering what could be the reason for Tsai to be afraid, Judith attempted to make her way down the mount as quickly as she could, so she would find out if there was any impending danger she was not aware of.
Turning her sights forward, her heart skipped a beat for the wrong reason, when she saw the impostor making his way toward her. With a gasp, she frantically made her way down, only to slip and fall halfway through.
With a thud, Judith landed face first onto the metal floor. With pain enveloping her, she rose onto her feet at once, so the impostor would have no reason to approach her. But when she got onto her feet, she found her nose was bleeding.
"Prince Lee," Qui Lin had called out to the prince, completely ignoring the commotion she heard behind her.
Now halted in his steps, Wukong stared at Judith, and watched as her friend came to her side, checking on her wellbeing. Annoyance gripped him as he found this a perfect opportunity to at least show her he meant no harm and foil whatever fear he knows his sister had put into her, but alas.
With a sigh, Wukong answered.
"Yes Qui Lin?" He said, then turned to face her. She had been raising a hand whilst staring at some documentation she had been handed.
"I'll be needing your ring." She said, flicking her fingers in an askance manner.
Wukong had turned his head downward while raising his hand to his face, seeing the ring on his middle finger, he couldn't help but analyze it for a few moments. The ring was made of Jade, it was beautifully designed with an emblem in front. The emblem was an intricate but evident design of a dragon, the symbol of the royal household of Qugan.
Following Qui Lin's orders, he had pulled the ring off his finger and turned to her, with an outstretched arm.
Upon receiving the ring, she at once used it to stamp the document before handing it back to the woman, who now looked like she was sitting on a furnace.
"Please forgive me Lady Qui Lin, this is all just formalities." She said with a squeaky voice which Qui Lin had paid no mind to. She just ignored her and handed the prince back his ring.
Ignoring the girl, she made her way around the desk and proceeded to a wide empty space behind her. As Qui Lin made her way forward, the others followed behind.
Judith at once removed her gaze from the impostor and replaced it onto Tsai, who was still cleaning out the blood running down her nose with a handkerchief. She didn't let Tsai continue, but instead, took the handkerchief from her with a thank you.
"Are you sure you're alright?" Tsai had asked, keeping her voice low so the Tethereds and nobles walking past them wouldn't take notice of them.
Judith responded with a nod, so Tsai fell her gaze, now returning to her fallen demeanor. She turned around and began to make her way forward, so Judith followed behind.
Not able to keep the question at bay any longer, Judith decided to ask.
"Is something wrong?" Judith had inquired, afraid of what response she might receive.
Following her question, Tsai was a bit hesitant, before finally spoke.
"It's just...Bexeng City is beyond those doors." Tsai said, with her gaze still pointed toward the ground. Judith didn't understand what she meant, or why the city beyond the walls held any significance to her, but just then, a faint idea had entered Judith's head.
"That's...your home, isn't it?" Judith had asked whilst her gaze was still fixated on the path ahead.
But out of the corner of her eye, she could see Tsai nodding. Thinking on this revelation, Judith didn't know how to proceed. She didn't even know if Tsai was acting this way because she had missed her home and was eager to see it, or perhaps it was the exact opposite.
Not much could be discovered through mere speculation, so Judith decided to ask.
"Are you afraid of going home?" Judith had asked this in particular as opposed to asking if she was happy to be going home, because more than anything, she wished Tsai would bare some form of resentment for her home, because one thing was for sure, they weren't going to Bexeng city.
After a moment's pause, Tsai spoke.
"You could say that."
"Bad memories?" Judith had asked once more, praying she would be told yes.
"You could also say that." Tsai had said, causing Judith to exhale quietly.
"Well, we won't be going to Bexeng city." Judith had said with a lighter tone, which had caused Tsai to lift her gaze from the floor and onto Judith, who was still staring ahead.
Tsai wanted to ask Judith what she meant, but upon looking at Judith, she found a sudden gleam in her eyes, which told that she was about to get her answers. So instead of asking, she just waited.
Judith on the other hand, was actually quite excited. She felt this excitement flowing through her every neuron like electricity. This excitement was prompted by what was waiting for them just beyond the desk.
The desk which they had finally gone around, with Tsai sticking close to Judith.
Upon getting past the desk, Judith and Tsai found a depression in the ground. It looked as though someone had carved a hole into the metal structure and placed stairs at the rim, so one could carefully make their way down.
The depression was not that deep, but deep enough to drown a person should it be filled with water. Not only that, but it was extremely wide, capable of holding more than a hundred people in the center alone.
Upon setting eyes on this, Judith's heart raced, while Tsai's mouth fell agape.
'This didn't used to be here.' Tsai thought, saying these words to herself with certainty, as she had made her way through this path only four years ago, and there was no such thing.
Further more, underneath the feet of those who had already made their way into the depression, there was an enormous circular stone slab with mystical markings on its surface.
This was the main reason for Judith's excitement, she knew that this was an enormous Alkalis stone, and its primary function, was teleportation.