Chapter 39: Egg

I stared blankly in despair, my eyes fading out of focus. Awaiting the hard-cold steel to crack my head like a raw egg, splattering its contents all over the place. My body too pained and broken to respond to whatever it is my brain commanded it to do. This it it, boys. I chuckled sarcastically. Who knew the Spiritual Plains would turn out to be the transit point instead of the destination. Then a spatial turbulence occurred, causing the denizens of the Spiritual Plane to halt in alert. A distortion manifested above me, spitting out something, then vanished as abruptly as it appeared, leaving a bulky leathery object right in front of my face. A wolfish grin took form on my face as I realized what the object was; Sigrid's knapsack that I'd previously filled with marbles. The spirits stirred a second too late as I sucked the power within the marbles dry, leaving them to crumble, deflating the knapsack. The next instance, a spear came to my eyes, millimeters from contact. I bellowed out as light erupted from me, incinerating every spirit in my vicinity with resplendence, bathing the inverted forest in a silver flash.

The scene became quiet again, remaining unchanged except for the absence of any other being aside myself. My flesh and bones were whole again, leaving me with a giddy sense of vigor. Right, Bastion. I rose to a jog, heading to Bastion. He didn't move, nor breath, nor anything. But I knew he wasn't dead. I attempted to cut through the air in attempts to create a portal back home, swinging my blade like a madman. Though unlikely, it would be bad if more of them were to show up. I didn't have infinite power after all. I continued stroking my blade like a paintbrush with the empty space as my canvas. "Damn it!" I spat. I doubt any help would arrive from the other side soon. Lia must've poured all her remaining power in order to send me the care-package.They must've trusted that I'd be able to return together with Bastion, else Ellariel would've used up the power to drag me back out from this Plane. It's just that, their decision comes with a teeny-weeny flaw. I have no idea how to open up the rift. If I were in my body at the time Ellariel tore through dimensions, I would've known how to do so by imitation. Like how I did when I first summoned my soulblade without Ellariel's help. I shuddered at the thought of being stuck here for another few hours. As I was busy grimacing about a solution, a familiar voice suddenly called to me. "Heya, mister!"

I jumped, holding my soulblade firmly, but relaxed as soon as I noticed the owner of the voice.

"Don't… do that… Damn it, you almost made me sh*t my pants," I sulked.

She let out a girlish giggle. Her eyes landed on the unconscious Bastion, her thoughts unknown to me. I looked at her and saw a teardrop trickling down her cheeks.

"Adel?" I called. She ignored me. Bastion groaned. Oh look who's finally awake. He slowly opened his eyes, coincidentally making eye contact with Adel. She gasped and disappeared. I felt a clutch on my shirt and found her relocated behind my back, using me as cover.

"Diana?" Bastion muttered emotionally.

She didn't reply, instead I felt her grasp tightening.

"Her name isn't Dianna. It's Adelrinthia," I explained calmly.

Bastion expression became aghast, "A-adel?"

I furrowed my brows, trying hard to comprehend just what the bejesus was going on. I heard a familiar call. The spirits were coming again. Aw hell.

"Sorry to interrupt any bizarre reunion you have, but we got a bigger problem here. More of the creeps are coming and we're screwed if they get to us. How did you get here? Is there a way back to the mortal planes?" I demanded from Bastion.

"I… I don't know… I remember I was in the forest, then I was here."

I peeked behind and saw a dozen moving outlines increasing in size.

"Goddammit! Think, Bastion! Remember!" I directed my gaze to the incoming spirits and spat out profanities. They were more of them this time. Tons more. My power must've attracted them like blood in the water. I scanned around to see which where to run only to find the outlines closing in from everywhere. My heart sank. In about a minute or so, our position would've been overrun by them. And I wasn't confident enough to even believe I have enough juice to deal with even a couple dozens, let alone all of them. I felt a slight tug on my clothes and hope suddenly arose from within me. The girl who could teleport. I turned my head. "Adel," my tone gentle, "Is there any chance you can get us out of here?"

She nodded, still hiding behind my back. "Where to, mister?"

"Out of here, doesn't matter where."

"Anywhere?" she said apprehensively.

I blinked, thinking about how vague my instructions were.

"On second thought, could you bring us back to the mortal plane? You know, where me and Bastion came from?"

"Sure thing, mister!" she closed her eyes.

More howls reverberated through the air, the duration before the spot where we stood becomes ground zero for spirit central inching ever so closely.

"Uhh, Adel? Anytime would be good," I said nervously.

She ignored me, her focus unshattered.

"Adel?" I called again anxiously. The spirits were now a dozen meters from us, humanoid ones dashing with their spears and Hoppers leaping mid-air to tackle us with their bulky torsos.

I brought out my blade and prepare for a desperate battle, putting one last breath into a deafening roar, "Diana!"

Her eyes opened and we disappeared.