Staring into the depression, Tsai's bewildered expression had overturned to uncertainty and then suddenly fear. Fear which she immediately wanted to share with Judith.
Not able to find her voice and call upon Judith, she just tugged on the sleeve of her red robe, pulling her attention.
While making her way forward and Tsai following behind, Judith turned, wondering why Tsai was calling her. When she had faced Tsai, she became shocked by the obvious look of horror etched onto her face.
Pausing for a second, she wanted to ask Tsai what had happened, when the Tethereds walking behind had bumped into them.
Following this was a slight uproar of Tethereds telling them to move along.
In response, Judith grabbed Tsai's hand, pulled her close and made her way forward.
"What happened to you?" Judith had asked, now becoming very apprehensive and frightened herself. She waited anxiously for Tsai's response, once again fearing what she had to say.
"I'm afraid of Way-Points." Tsai had said, almost freezing Judith in place if not for a part of her that knew to keep moving.
When Tsai's words had thoroughly sunk in, Judith almost laughed, but then thought against it. She wondered to herself if it was possible for someone to be afraid of a Way-Point. From everything she was told by her novel, Way-Points were one of the best experiences a person could go through.
To sum it up in a few words, it felt like flying. Quite literally.
"Have you been on one before?" Judith had asked sigh under her voice. But Tsai responded by shaking her head. "Then why are you afraid of it?"
"Because of the things I've heard." Tsai said with a voice that had barely registered in Judith's ears. But by the time it did, Judith couldn't exactly hold Tsai's fear against her.
There were rumors about Way-Points cutting people in half, merging them with cargo or animals, or giving up halfway through, so the humans inside fell to their doom.
Of course most of these were just rumors and none of it had actually happened — according to the author of the novel — but one thing was true, a malfunctioning Way-Point could give up halfway through, thereby flinging the passengers into mountains, oceans or the likes of which.
But a Way-Point malfunctioning was a possibility near zero. Once Way-Points were dead, they were dead, so no one could use them.
Thinking on all of this, Judith gripped Tsai's hand tight and spoke with an encouraging tone.
"I can promise you, there's nothing to be afraid of. Way-Points are one thing you want to run toward, not away from." Judith had said, trying to ease Tsai of her fears.
"Have you ever been on one?" Tsai had asked, as they now made their way down the stairs leading to the Way-Point.
As Judith looked at the Way-Point and then thought on Tsai's question, she found herself lost on what to say. She had never been on one, neither did she even dream she ever could. And yet, here she was, encouraging someone about something she knew nothing of.
But truth be told, this was false. Judith, more than anyone, knew substantially about Way-Points, so it wouldn't be fair to discredited her for even the most basic knowledge.
Unable to truly answer Tsai's question, she decided on the next best line of words she could think of.
"Just trust me." Judith had said, and with these three words, she felt the resistance in Tsai's grip lessen, even though it was just by a small margin.
Finally arriving at the last step to the Way-Point, Judith held firmly to Tsai's hand, and then led her along.
They both stepped onto the Way-Point, so a sudden glow resonated with each step they took, which made it seem as though a light within the slab of stone was following them.
Tsai in an instant was completely mesmerized by the stone and its ethereal lights. She began to stare with wide eyes. Seeing this, Judith smiled, but did not relish in the beauty of the stone as she was saving her enthusiasm for the best part. A part which, didn't take much time, but took a substantial amount of time to reach, as she ended up waiting for the rest of the Tethereds to gather along with the other slaves which Judith was once a part of.
But after what felt like an eternity, the wait was finally over.
Qui Lin took a step forward, then she bent low and placed a hand on the stone. A few seconds later, the of the Way-Point began to glow despite the fact that no one was moving.
Tsai, who was becoming even more mesmerized by the stone's light, had been called by Judith, so she raised her head as she listened to Judith's words.
"You're going to miss the best part." Judith said with a child-like eagerness in her voice. Of course there was no possible way for Tsai to miss this part, but yet Judith just wanted her to give it her utmost attention, from beginning to end.
As Qui Lin continued, Judith waited and waited, even finding herself tap her feet on the slab of stone. The more Judith waited and Qui Lin worked on the Way-Point, the brighter its ethereal lights became. But no matter how bright the light became, it never affected anyone's sight, neither did it hurt.
After waiting for so long, the entirety of the Way-Point had lit up with a purple hue and suddenly, Judith felt her heart race ten times faster. Within the second, a warping sound emanated with a burst and in a flash, they were all gone.
Before Judith's very eyes, she saw herself along with everyone else, soaring through the sky. Or rather, a warped version of the sky. They were in some domain which looked like it was thousands of feet above the ground, but in actually, this was a different dimension. A dimension directly corresponding to the their world, but also not, in a sense.
All the logistics of it didn't matter to Judith as of now, because whatever this was, it felt like flying, and that enough was incredible.
Remembering Tsai as she flew and feeling her grip on her still present, she turned to her right, so she could see if Tsai was still afraid. But as expected, she found Tsai awestruck. A smile had formed on Judith's face as she saw this, then she returned her gaze forward.
Shutting her eyes, she took a deep breath as the soaked in the cold embrace of the wind flowing through her robe.
It would seem everyone had done the same, they all took this time to enjoy this incredible experience. More so those that had never gone through this before.
They all flew, all of them side by side, forming a ring of humans that resembled angels soaring through the heavens.
Feeling something shift within her, Judith had opened her eyes and at once she felt a sudden fright grip her. Before her very eyes, she saw a horizontal wall above their heads, which they were going to run into skull first.
Judith knew this was not going to happen, but found herself falling prey to her logical mind.
With a deep breath, Judith grinned, then prepared herself for what was next to come. Not too long after, she along with everyone had been reoriented, so that instead on flying head first into the wall, their legs were now facing the wall, and rather than flying, they fell onto the wall as though falling onto the ground.
Except if someone fell onto the ground at such a distance and at such speed, they would be nothing more than smears on the floor, but due to the effects of the Way-Point, they landed on the horizontal wall without feeling the force of gravity pressed them into a pulp.
Opening her eyes, Judith had discovered the world was now upside down. Once again, she became mesmerized, because the sight of buildings, people, carriages and so on, walking around with their heads pointed toward a void of blue below was something to behold.
Unfortunately, seeing the world upside down did not last, because with the passing of a few seconds, Judith's vision had corrected itself, so she saw the world correctly on its axises.
Funny enough, the thrill ride did not end there, because even though she wasn't soaring anymore, ramming into the ground like a superhero, or seeing the world upside down. There was still much wonders to be seen, because as Judith looked into the distance, she saw the world stretch on almost infinitely.
She saw into the distance, several hundred miles away. Though the distance was much smaller, she could still see human civilization, oceans, mountains, forests all in her field of vision. Nothing faded into the horizon, it was almost as though a horizon didn't even exist. Just landscape that seemed to stretch on indefinitely.
Knowing full well what this meant, Judith turned her sights to the sky, so she could see the rising sun. Or rather, the rising phoenix.