Nearer, My God, to Thee

The scene two brothers were viewing was akin to a standard hotel lobby that would have been in its prime in the 1920s. Off to the right from where they were currently standing, around a hundred feet, was the entrance the kidnappers had escorted them through a short time ago.

Cynrik closed his eyes momentarily as he built the floorplan of the hotel lobby in his mind's eye. All he needed was to see it only once before he could perfectly reconstruct it in his head. As the room started emerging, he imagined putting his back against the front doorway and looking out over the open space. Several feet in front of him, and taking up the entire right side of the room was a sizeable L-shaped concierge desk, plain and straightforward, made of a strange metallic material, but covered with a green and maroon embroidered cloth. Turning away and looking to his left, he spotted the door leading to the hellish hallway, tucked away in the far side corner of the room. Its placement could be easily overlooked as it appeared to be a basement access point and was tucked away, hidden behind one of two large pillars stationed at opposite sides of the lobby.

Cynrik's floated away from the door to the center of the room, where a massive Grand Staircase that led to the second floor was placed. Although the entire lobby floor was a checkered styled metallic white and black coating, the Grand Staircase was layered with gold and red carpeting that was way past its prime. As a result, it looked dingy and unkempt. The staircase handrails reminded him of the ones he saw in the movie Titanic when he was a child. This memory alone almost made him smile. Unlike how the building itself was made of metal, the staircase appeared to be made of wood, which gave it a conflicting image compared to the rest of the room. One long handrail split the stairs in half, creating a familiar look, one that made Cynrik start humming into the mind link the song "Nearer, My God, to Thee." In the movie, a band played the song the night the ship sank, and since the staircase had triggered this memory for him, Cynrik figured he might as well go all out.

Taking a step forward in his constructed plane, Cynrik watched as the world around him lit up and showed what the lobby would have looked like in the past. Then, walking along, he nodded slightly to an imaginary man, standing behind the concierge deck wearing a pressed old-time suit. The man had no face or hair under his little cap and was more like a mannequin than an actual person, but this didn't break Cynrik out of his immersion. Looking up, he was greeted by a massive mural, dingy, cracked, and ancient. But as Cynrik observed it, the cracks sealed, and the paint brightened. What was once a destroyed and faded painting melded together into its former glory; the mural depicted a significant battle between a group of six people and a massive blue dragon.

The dragon was a typical western dragon with four legs, a long neck and tail, horns on his head, and massive wings. Its lips were curled back, exposing dagger-sized teeth, its mouth wide open and expelling bluish flames directly on the group's tank, which was holding up his shield and blocking the attack. Behind him, a mage and cleric were casting bright green and purple spells that, Cynrik believed to be buffs of some kind. An archer and two swordsmen covered in blood were on the ground behind the tank but had valiant expressions on their faces as the person defended them against the dragon's breath.

Although this mural would have been impressive to someone like Brance, Cynrik just gave it a casual look before continuing towards the Grand Staircase. Each step he took caused the world around him to ripple like liquid as the lobby went from its drabby, dirty state to one of impeccable cleanliness.

Reaching the foot of the staircase, Cynrik placed his hand on the banister and slowly walked up. Behind him, the entire lobby was reorganized and clean as if it was a typical business day. The only thing missing was people, but that was a fact Cynrik had overlooked.

Upon reaching the second story, he turned around and looked at the lobby below. In front of the concierge was a sitting area with several small sofas made of the same material as the carpeting of the Grand Staircase. On the opposite side of the room were two elevators with access to the hotel rooms; they shined in gold metallic plating. Cynriks eyes scanned over the place giving it one last good look before smiling and nodding in satisfaction.

{CYNRIK!} Brance's voice was like a wrecking ball to the image Cynrik had built in his mind. The mural cracked and was suddenly destroyed. The desk looked like a professional wrestler had been slammed through it. The Grand Staircase fell apart; the handrails decayed and were missing posts. The once beautiful carpeting of the stairs faded, and grey mold took hold of it, discoloring the entire thing. The furniture of the sitting area was broken and scattered about as if a beast had rampaged. Lastly, he watched as the mural chipped to pieces and faded.

Opening his eyes and silencing his humming in the mind link, Cynrik made eye contact with his brother, who was wearing a frantic expression. In his mind, 10s of minutes had passed as he explored the lobby, but in reality, he had been standing in place zoned out for over 2 minutes.

While zoned out, Cynrik had accidentally dropped his ShadowVeil, which left him and Brance standing out in the open. Realizing what happened, Brance dashed forward and grabbed his brother before ducking behind the destroyed former concierge desk and shaking Cyrnik frantically in an attempt to wake him up. But all of his efforts were wasted; Cynrik just sat there expressionless and with glazed-over eyes. If Brance didn't know better and couldn't hear the song Cynrik was humming in the mind link, he would have believed his brother was dead.

{Hm, what happened? Why are we behind the desk?} Seeing his brother was panicking, Cynrik asked in confusion.

{WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT? YOU JUST SUDDENLY STOPPED, STARTED HUMMING, AND THEN WENT UNRESPONSIVE. TO MAKE MATTERS WORSE, YOU EVEN DROPPED YOUR SHADOW VEIL. ARE YOU TRYING TO GET US KILLED?} Clenching his fists tightly and trying to avoid punching Cynrik, Brance started screaming at his brother.

{Oh…my bad;} was the only response he got back, infuriating him further.

{NO, you don't get to "my bad" this one. What the hell just happened to you?} In the past, Cynrik had a habit of zoning out randomly but never like this. Back then, a simple snap was enough to bring him back to reality. But this time, it was like Cynrik's soul had completely left his body.

{I…remodeled the layout of the lobby…in my head;} no longer caring about being scolded, Cynrik activated his Mana Sight again, but this time, he looked up at the second floor of the hotel, where the Grand Staircase led. Panning his eyes left and right, he could see two hallways leading in opposite directions of the stairs. These hallways were lined with several rooms on each side, and while the majority were empty, several had one or two people in them.

{Six rooms on the left, eight on the right, each one at least Tier 1, hehe, I've got an idea, little brother;} seeing that there was no one in the lobby with them, Cynrik lightly dashed away from the destroyed concierge desk and to the wreck of a staircase, leaving a stunned Brance staring at his back.

{What the hell? CYN, you can't just avoid this; we need to figure out what the hell just happened to you;} jumping up and following after his brother, Brance complained as he made his way over to the staircase.

{Sure, sure, we can talk about it later. More important stuff to do, more XP to grind;} holding up his left arm and waving in Brance's direction, Cynrik dismissed his younger brother's concerns.

Sensing that Brance had arrived next to him, Cynrik began spelling out his insane plan. {Ok, as I said, currently, six rooms on the left of the stairs and eight rooms on the right are occupied. Looking at their Mana signatures, it's pretty easy to tell they're asleep. Well, all of them except the one on the far right, which has three signatures, one adult, and two kids. They don't appear to be in danger at the moment sooo ima just ignore them for now.}

{The plan is simple, sneak in and assassinate our targets. Be mindful that they're all at least Tier 1, so they'll all be over level 10. It's all about stealth. Unlike the guys below, or even the people we ambushed earlier, these targets are asleep and defenseless, so they are basically pigs ready for slaughter. Even though we are only Tier 0, we shouldn't have any trouble killing them off with our stats.}

Finishing up his statement, Cynrik looked over his right should at Brance, who was wide-eyed at the moment.

{HOW THE HELL DO YOU GO FROM BEING IN A COMA ONE MINUTE TO ASSASSINATING A BUNCH OF PEOPLE THE NEXT?} Brance was utterly at a loss.

{I don't know…ADHD brain?} Shrugging, Cynrik started walking up the stairs.