"W-Why the hell are we in the air?!" Danny blurted out as he stepped back a few steps. The last thing he expected to see when he opened that door was the endless expanse of the sky and the floating clouds.
The others quickly rushed toward him, only to see the same thing. The door outside simply led them to nowhere.
"It seems this room isn't as simple as expected," Arthur muttered as he looked down from the edge. They were so high in the sky that he couldn't see any land beneath them. Just cloud and nothingness. The wind was present yet not too strong.
"That would've been instant death if I didn't grab you at the last moment."
"..." Danny frowned. "Don't expect me to be grateful."
'This bastard.' Arthur held his breath so as not to lash out at the arrogant idiot, and instead focused on the door. He looked left and then to the right, that's when he noticed something.
"Hm?"
Right to the side, attached to the wall was a broken wooden platform that led somewhere to the side of the room. The platform wasn't that far away and could easily be accessed with a precise jump.
"I think I found our way out, guys." He said as he signaled for them to take a look.
"Oh, that definitely looks like where we're intended to go," Emmy said as she peeked over his shoulder.
"Where does it lead though?" Herculia raised an eyebrow curiously.
"... We have to discover it ourselves it seems," Isla replied.
"Who wants to go first?" Danny muttered. He still had a strong frown on his face as if he wasn't happy with the situation at all.
"Haha, what? are you afraid, Danny?" Herculia laughed loudly.
"Shut up."
"I forgot that you are afraid of heights. Sadly, this place doesn't seem to be the perfect one for you."
"He's afraid of heights?" Arthur turned around with a smile.
"He's scared shitless of heights. He had been from when we were kids. He couldn't even get on amusement park rides if they go too high. Instead, he would start crying." Herculia replied.
"Herculia! You bastard!" Danny growled with a strong glare.
"What? I'm just telling the truth. No shame in being afraid of heights."
Arthur's lips wiggled as he tried to hold his laughter back. He didn't understand why he found this funny when he usually doesn't judge people by these kinds of uncanny fears. However, since it was Danny, he didn't feel any guilt about it.
'So much for a tough front, huh, coward boy?' Arthur mocked him with eyes. Danny saw that and could only clench his teeth in frustration. His eyes screamed 'I will kill you if you say anything'.
"Anyway, I will go ahead first," Arthur said. "Since I'm the experienced one here."
[Location: The sky ship 'Adula'.]
[Time: Unknown.]
[Memory: Pillar Islands Revolution.]
"Revolution?" Arthur frowned. Somehow, the information he was given made him even more confused. 'What revolution? The entire ship is empty, there is nobody.'
"What the hell is going on here?" The others were as confused if not even more confused. "Is this a part of the test?"
"... It brought us back to some time in the past when a conflict of some sorts occured. This one seems to be the 'Pillar Islands Revolution'."
"Pillar islands sounds like a made-up name," Herculia commented. "So, where are the enemies? I'm itching to fight."
"There doesn't seem to be anyone here. It's completely abandoned as far as I can see." Emmy replied while looking around her.
"And completely destroyed," Isla added. "This had definitely gone through a battle. The damages are very heavy. Particularly the part where we came from. It looked like there was supposed to be a section of the deck right there but it's gone." She said.
Everyone quickly looked back and that's when it clicked in their heads. The broken platform that protruded out of the side of the ship was in fact a missing part that was probably destroyed in the battle.
"That must've been one hell of a battle. This ship is in pieces." Kicking a random barrel, in front of him, Arthur walked forward. "Well, there must be something we're supposed to do. It should be an enemy that we must kill or maybe an objective we must accomplish."
Seeing that Arthur didn't seem to understand what was happening either, Isla decided to change their approach.
"Let's spread across the deck and search."
"For what exactly?"
"Anything that you might think is interesting or eye-catching." She said. "We don't have options he-"
*RNNNNNNG*
At that very moment, and out of nowhere, a very sharp sound assaulted their ears. The noise was akin to the creaking of old wood against each other. Thousands of these old planks just howling loudly as if they were living beasts.
"What the hell?!" Arthur and the others quickly covered their ears as they almost fell to the ground. The sound was simply too loud.
"What is happening?!"
"My ears!!"
They all struggled against the pain of the noise. It lasted for a few seconds and they were unable to move at all. However, upon regaining their composure, the source of their noise presented itself in the most horrifying way. Something was descending toward them.
After all, if they're on a ship flying through the sky... There is nothing that should stop another ship from falling on their heads. Sky ships are after all... Sky ships.
A grandiose shadow loomed over their small bodies from above. Everyone instinctively looked up and for a moment, all they could see was nothing but darkness.
A//N: Don't forget to give the book some golden tickets for good luck! :3