13 The Secret
"What the hell? Is it morning already?" Peter's eyes squinted as soon as he opened them.
Their bedroom suddenly had all its lights turned on. There was also the loud and annoying sound of an alarm which was the perfect combination to bring them all back to the world of the living.
"No we're supposed to be given this alarm two more hours from now." Sol thought to himself as he looked on the digital display of time just on top of their room.
"Somebody kill that alarm." Jake said covering his face with a pillow.
"You can complain all you want. We still need to follow orders." Alice said, putting on her training clothes for that day.
All of them were given black skin tight shirts and jogger pants. The top had some sort of runes engraved on it but Sol didn't think about it. He didn't have any clue nor idea what these were for and, speculating that early would do him no good.
"You may have to run another hundred laps if you don't get up." Sol teased, getting the three jumping to their feet. With Jake remembering how he was the one who needed to run that extra hundred laps.
Just like that, everyone began preparing. Washing their faces, brushing their teeth, and doing everything else that they did during mornings.
The next day came quicker that the five expected. Their legs were still sore from all the running they had to do. But they weren't allowed to have any more time sleeping and, they were soon about to find out why.
"Everyone, please follow the light outside your room. It'll lead you to the training facility which will be used for this day." A voice said on the speaker crystal.
"Achrenerng whert?" Jake asked while gargling.
He wasn't able to get any response as the other four immediately followed the order. Leaving their room and following the only light that was turned on at that hour.
"Sol what do you think? Are they gonna make us train this early?" Sol was covering his nose with his hand.
"I have no idea but you could've at least gargled before leaving the room."
"Is it that bad?" Peter said in reply, smelling his own breath and thinking that it was normal.
"It smells like you ate a corpse, threw it up, then ate it again." Sol said, thinking how the stench seemed to claw its way within his nose.
"Eww gross man. Why do you have to put it like that?"
"I do. Because that's exactly what it smells like."
The corridors of Pandora were dark and lifeless, it was almost as if they were the only ones within that area. But Sol knew better than to take things at face value. There were hidden surveillance cameras all around them. He could feel it and, aside from this speculation, he knew that those running Pentagon would always keep a close surveillance of them.
"You are almost there. Please search your pockets, there should be a gem there."
"You mean this?" Alice said, raising a necklace which had an amber colored gem tied on it.
As a thief she has always been meticulous of what she brought and what it was that could've been put on her.
"Yes exactly that. You'd be the example for the other four then." The voice said and seemed to be waiting for when it needed to speak again.
The children soon arrived at a dead end. It was another wall and so, they all thought that there must've been some sort of mistake. Only Alice and Sol were able to grasp a bit of what was happening, remembering Onyx the knight and the method upon entering Pandora.
"Please step in front and place the gem directly on the glowing part of the wall." The voice said, with the wall immediately lighting up a small part of it.
Alice did exactly as she was instructed. Slamming the gem on the cold hard surface and, soon enough, they saw an exact repetition of their entrance to Pandora. Various lines were created; moving around the walls in an orderly rhythm. This continued for roughly three seconds before they came back to the center which was the gem.
A door was then shaped by these lines and, soon enough, the walls on this part divided. Creating an opening for Alice.
"They're giving us the same thing as sir Onyx, holy hell." Ethan commented.
"As you can see, a pathway has been generated by Miss Alice's gem. All of your gems will be able to do the same. However, please bear in mind that you can only enter a door created by your own gem."
"What'll happen if we try entering through another door?" Zeke asked.
"You will die. There are certain defenses made on the areas which ensures that only those compatible could pass through."
"Sounds fair enough." Alice commented; walking through her door as it closed behind her. The lines then dispersed and, the wall was back to a regular dead end.
"Okay I'm going next!" Jake said being as hyper as ever.
Sol just allowed them to go before him. One by one the other three passed through their doors and, Sol noticed something weird about this.
The gems were of different colors as well as the line created in order for them to pass through. Even his gem was of a different shade. It was black, without any luster or shine.
"Solomon it's your turn." The commanding voice said.
"Yeah yeah. Here I go." The boy placed his gem on the wall and getting an immediate reaction.
"Black?" The voice said, as if in disbelief of what was happening.
"Why is there something wrong with it?"
"No nothing, you can proceed inside." She said and the boy did as told; opening the door which immediately caught him in a blinding flash of light. It was so bright that Sol was forced to close his eyes.
"See what did I tell you? I knew he would arrive here!" Only after hearing this familiar voice did Sol know that it was okay to open his eyes again.
"Yes you did my liege."
Right in front of Sol was King Jubilee and the maid he saw last night.
"Ahh you must be wondering where you are correct?" King Jubilee said with a smile on his face.
Sol looked around him. It didn't seem like he was still in Pandora because there were nothing but tall buildings around. People wearing strange clothing walked all around him and, all of them also felt real because they bumped against him several times.
"Oh I'm sorry. This scenery must be a bit weird for you. Let me change it for a bit." The king said, snapping his fingers and changing the location to the slums of the [Void Domain].
"My liege…what…" There were so many questions that Sol needed to ask. Everything that was happening at that point was foreign to him, so much so that it all felt unbreal.
King Jubilee smirked as he saw Sol's expression. Knowing that instances like that would eventually get rare.
"Solomon, you and the other four titans have been chosen to take part of the culmination of the [Void Realm's] hundreds of years of research and cultivation." Sol didn't know what to respond. He simply looked at the king as Jubilee continued.
"Everything you will hear and, everything you will see from this point onwards are top secret information. So pay close attention because, I will show you how we will rule the ten Domains."
