For a flicker of a second, Lilith’s gaze moved towards the storm calculating and measuring. Then the air around them twisted and darkness swallowed them.

They reappeared at the very edge of the storm, their elements keeping them afloat above water.

They were closer than anyone had dared to stand.

The difference was immediate, the air felt as though it was pressing down on them. It was as if the storm was alive, pushing back against them.

The roar of the storm was deafening there. Wind screamed past them sharp enough to cut if Atheline hadn’t been regulating it around them.

The ocean churned below, black and violent, rising and collapsing in unnatural patterns.

For a second nothing happened. The storm was still reacting to the earlier attack without the knowledge that someone had passed its first layer of defence.

His hand tightened around her.

’Please light ... protect us’

"Don’t stop," he said.

"I won’t. "

They wouldn’t really have much of a choice on that, the moment Lilith tries to overpass the storm’s internal defence.

A small exhale left her, then she moved with pure will. The defence bent again, darkness devouring it but it resisted.

Darkness wrapped around them, in a cocoon-like shape as she pushed through.

It felt like forcing something closed, open. Atheline wasn’t to be left behind.

The violent winds around them, stopped forming a wall against the other winds that tried to enter.

The air around them flickered, but the barrier wouldn’t budge. Fire travels through the darkness, merging with it as though trying to burn through the barrier.

Ice followed freezing in an instant. All of this happened in less than a second.

It was at this time that the storm noticed. Lightning shifted direction mid-strike. The wind pushed even harder but it couldn’t win against Atheline’s perfect control.

Lilith’s expression didn’t change, but her Aether did. It surged, impossibly high wrapping around him in an instant. A tight, controlled area that blocked everything else out.

She tore through the barrier violently going against Atheline’s warning. The backlash came like a snap in the space itself. The teleportation twisted under the strain, the path she had used so often collapsing, and each time, she forced it open.

For a fraction, Lilith felt as though she was going to fail as space folded around her at the same time, then...

They were through.

They didn’t have a clean landing. They hit the ground first, rolling a little before they both regain their senses.

What followed was absolute silence. The familiar roar of the storm was gone.

Even the air felt different, but none of that mattered. They had made it through that monstrosity.

Atheline pushed himself up slightly, breath steady, body intact.

"We made it," he said quietly.

There was no response. He turned, worry taking over his features.

Lilith was already sitting up, but she wasn’t moving. On hand was placed lightly against the ground while the other... slightly trembled before it stilled.

"You okay?" he asked.

Her head tilted slightly to his side, just enough to look at him.

A small breath left her lips.

"I’m fine," she answered quickly.

Atheline’s eyes narrowed. He had noticed her abnormalities and a small word wouldn’t push him away.

"That doesn’t look fine."

His gaze was on her hand.

"It’s fine."

She stood up but slower than normal.

The moment she was up, her posture straightened as though nothing had happened.

Only, for the briefest moment, faint thin black lines flickered along her arm. They were not part of her normal tattoos.

It vanished just as fast.

Atheline walked towards her.

"It tried to interfere," he said quietly taking her hand.

"Yes," she said, almost carelessly.

"And you forced it through anyway. "

Atheline felt like reprimanding her, but she had done it. A feat that was clearly never meant to be achieved.

"Idiot."

He exhaled, shaking his head slightly.

Lilith didn’t respond to that; instead, she stepped closer. Her hand lifted, hesitating only for a fraction of a second before resting lightly on his chest.

Her aether invaded his body, checking for any injuries.

"You’re not hurt."

"Of course I’m not, you blocked everything. "

"Good."

Atheline pulled her into his arms, just feeling his body against hers. He had been so panicked when she isolated him and the next moment he was on the island.

A small hot breath left her, nearing his neck.

She stepped out of his embrace, her expression returning to normal.

Her gaze shifted to the land ahead then stilled.

He followed her line of sight.

At first, he saw nothing unusual, just terrain, uneven terrain with patches of stones, sparse vegetation clinging to light under the bright blue sky.

The ocean was nowhere to be found.

"This doesn’t look right," he murmured to himself.

His eyes narrowed, his gaze focusing on the horizon. It seemed to have been split into two.

He took a few steps forward just to confirm, as he tried to make sense of the distance.

"Wait."

It wasn’t one vast deserted land mass. It only looked like it at first glance, but the further his gaze travelled the more the illusion started to unravel.

Four islands, and they seemed to be standing on the largest of the islands.

Beyond theirs, split in a distance were two islands. One to the left and another to the right.

They were much smaller than the ones they were on, but they seemed to hold their own importance.

The left seemed to be covered in darkness, the light even at its edge seemed to be swallowed by it.

The right one was the complete opposite, it was brighter than anything and seemed to shine its reflection on the darker islands which wasn’t working.

And above, further ahead, almost centred between them was a fourth island.

It was the smallest and seemed to be elevated high enough that it seemed to be floating.

"The arrangement seems too practical," he muttered to himself, glancing at Lilith slightly.

Her gaze was fixed on the front, her brow furrowed.

"This looks like a deliberate pattern," she loudly said.

"It does."

His eyes traced the pattern slowly. Bottom, left, right, and top.

"What kind of pattern is this," he said quietly.

"You should focus on the shape it’s forming," she evenly said.

He let out a breath, something close to disbelief and confusion.

"Is it part of a circle?" He asked.

That was the only thing he could think of that made the most sense.

"No."

His gaze hardened slightly.

"It’s a seal."

The words settled more heavily than he had intended because they fit too well.

No one likes sealed places, they were the harbinger of disaster. With a world this old, there are bound to be secrets everywhere.

His gaze flickered back to the still raging storm wall. To be able to place this inside the eyes of the storm or the worst possibility, the storm had been built around it.

A faint disturbance shifted his attention from the wall. Lilith had stepped slightly ahead now.

Her eyes moved across the islands, then frowned.

"I can feel the moon crystals ... but I can’t place them, " she quietly said but she didn’t seem happy about it," Something is wrong. "

He gave her a dry look.

"That has been kind of the theme through this whole ordeal, " he said," don’t forget the saintess warning. "

She didn’t react to the comment. Her fingers lifted, flexing slightly.

For a moment, her aether flickered but she reduced it right after.

"Do you feel something?" He asked.

She didn’t answer immediately. Her gaze remained unfocused in the way she did when she was trying to figure out something hard or dangerous.

"No, except for the moon crystals, " she quietly said, " they seem to be everywhere and nowhere at all."

"Do you want to go?" He cautiously asked.

She nodded.

"I came here for a reason."