P.5: Leap of faith

— Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, Dwayne help me! — Brie quickly ran to one of the beacons, climbing up until she reached the point where the zero wave panel was located, holding it with all her strength to prevent it from closing completely.

Dwayne in turn rushed up to the opposite beacon, holding it tightly, preventing it from closing. — Lewis! Hurry up now! If you don't do it, we'll die buried in this place anyway!— The floor next to the foundation had been compromised, from the huge hole in the floor a moment of smoke was coming out, spreading around the room quickly.

The Paladin was observing everything from a distance, with a proud smile and a confident look on his face.— Haha... See what you just did...? All that smoke... it's coming from the pipes below, they were feeding part of the energy of this place... the good thing is that zero point is self— sufficient enough to depend on something as banal as a complex electrical circuit.

— Shut up!— The Origin could not listen to him any longer, his irritability had reached its limit, frowning more while threatening to raise his fist about to hit him in the face.

— Hey hey calm down... That highly flammable smoke... if you don't control yourself you're going to blow up the whole place with your flames.— The paladin remained watching him still with a faint smile on his face as helplessness invaded him once again, aware that he was cornered. Origin had no choice but to control his transformation, repressing all the courage he had built up inside his body, acquiring again the pale blue tone in his skin, though without taking his eyes off the Paladin at any moment, looking at him with a false lack of expressiveness, clenching his fists with the little strength he had left. While the rest of the group tried to keep the zero point beacons working.

— I've got it! We can go now!— Lewis had managed to calibrate the zero point. Brie and Dwayne remained holding the panels, maintaining the frequency flow.

— Lewis... shit. How long can it stay stable?

— Well Brie... it's hard to say but... as long as there are more than 5 active beacons we can go in without problem— .

— Bzzt! Zero point preservation protocol, 60% complete— After the words of the voice command, a second tremor shook the place, throwing some rocks in the surroundings, shaking the crack beacons, causing Brie to end up slipping, barely managing to hold on to one of the tubes of the same, hanging over the zero point.

— Fuck! Brie! Hold on tight, I'm coming!

— Wait Dwayne!

Dwayne looked down, staring at Lewis with confusion.

— The rest of the Beacons!... they are deactivating...— The beacons began to contract to initiate the preservation protocol. Dwayne reached to place one of the bracelets he had on his wrists to jam the beacon mechanism where he was now, observing how 3 of the beacons had contracted completely, leaving only 3 others intact.

— How many did you say we need to cross!?

— 5 ... We need only 5!— Lewis rushed towards one of the beacons, climbing on it, jamming the mechanism with his hands, preventing the panel from closing completely.

The Origin observed what happened, without showing any concern on his face.

— Tell me... What are you going to do? You can finish what you started at the cost of killing them... Or leave me and save their pathetic lives...— Hearing the Paladin's words, Origin looked at him out of the corner of his eye, without saying anything.— This is what I meant, what I said down there... I see you understand now, don't you? ... — The Paladin took his arm, squeezing it with difficulty, looking directly at him with confidence even though he was limited to not see it completely. — You have softened quite a bit since the last time... In the end, you may have finished off most of my people that day, but I... I ended up destroying you. — Those last words resounded like bells inside his head, awakening in him a slight annoyance, the straw that ended up breaking the camel's back. Turning to look him directly in the face, without showing any other emotion beyond a stoic countenance, slamming him to the ground, observing him for a few moments before taking his shield, which was partially broken at the top, he turned around and ran as fast as he could to where the others were.

— Bzzzt! Zero point preservation protocol, 80% complete.

— Brie! Give me your hand! — Dwayne had managed to get to where the blonde was, holding her by the arm to help her up, however, at that moment an aftershock shook the place again, causing the beacon where they were to end up breaking.

At the moment of the fall Dwayne had managed to grab hold of the surrounding railings, without letting go of the girl at any time, hurting his arm in the process. Meanwhile, Lewis was lying on the ground, holding a hand to his head, feeling his ears ringing and his vision blurred.

— N— no. I need to... stop the beacons.— Despite the pain he struggled to try to sit up again, lifting his head, observing how the beacons they had previously managed to control had begun to disable, closing one by one — No... No... no... no... no... — Despite the discouraging panorama Lewis persisted, fighting against his strong headache to try to get up. When at that moment a strong blizzard passed by his side, a figure was lost in all the smoke moving at great speed all over the place until finally stopping in front of the pit, approaching where the zero point was lodged.

— Shit!... — Dwayne closed his eyes as he clenched his hands tightly, feeling a sharp tug on his shoulder. The pain had begun to numb his grip, weakening as the seconds passed.— Damn! ... Aghh.

— Dwayne! Let go of me! You don't need to play the hero now! — The girl released his arm, watching him with a frown and a questioning look, decision in her words.

— When are you going to stop dramatizing everything!? Just take my hand! — Dwayne tried to hold on as tightly as he could, squeezing his eyes shut trying to endure the pain that forced him to give in the longer they hung on a simple steel bar.

— Then you know I'm right, we both know that with your arm like that you won't last long! Then all this will have been in vain! — The girl rolled her eyes denoting her frustration on her face, frowning at the same time that she penetrated him watching him with gun eyes. Both were suspended in the air with the glow of the zero point illuminating them under their feet, giving off light waves of energy that generated small air currents around them.

— Stop talking nonsense! I can do it! I know we'll get out of here! — Before Dwayne could say anything else, a pale hand, cold to the touch, took him by surprise, causing him to startle.

— Shut up, both of you, I can hear you fighting from here. — The apathetic voice was recognizable. Dwayne looked up expecting to find who he thought it was. His eyes widened and the muscles in his face contracted, forming a big smile on his face.

— Origin! Did you really fucking get it?!?

— Hey, you're still alive! Looks like the hard— headed scientist was right to believe in you after all!

— The scientist? But it was me who had the idea to recruit him in the first place!

— How can I be sure of that Dwayne? After all you haven't been completely honest with everyone these past few days? Or am I wrong?

— Please we don't have time for your banal discussions, just hold on tight. We have to get out of this damn place. — Origin had finally managed to get them out of that predicament, leading them back to solid ground. — Listen to me... with work I barely managed to slow down the beacon lockout protocol... although some of them were completely destroyed.

— Wait... How many were finally left? — Brie immediately sat up and moved to the side of the scientist's unconscious body. Removing small pieces of debris from him.

— Only 3, why?

— Because to keep it calibrated, 5 of the 8 beacons are necessary...— Lewis abruptly burst into the conversation, walking with a slight limp to where they were.— It's good to see you again, old man... Although I don't know how you managed to keep 3 beacons stable, if we didn't manage to keep just one.

— I used fragments of your Paladin's shield, then I simply melted them with the heat of my hands, together with the retractable mechanism of the beacons. — He answered with disinterest in his words as he approached the railing of the pit, observing for a moment the huge orb that was moving away inside, feeling attracted to him somehow.

— Like some kind of glue... wow, do I envy you. You don't know how many hours I would have saved at work if I had powers like that... ha ha.... Agh.— Lewis approached the railing along with the rest of the team, all staring gloomily at the glowing orb of energy, with the little gusts of air frolicking in his hair.

— We must go...

— Lewis... What is the probability of dying dismembered by this thing? — Asked Brie with a serious tone in her voice and the scientist still unconscious in her arms.

— Well... in this state... and only with the power of 3 beacons... I'd say 50/50— Lewis released a slight sigh before turning to look around.

— So our success rate dropped by half...— The blonde gave a small jump, standing on the railing, catching the attention of the others immediately. While she was still carrying the body of the scientist, she observed inert before the depth of the abyss. — Mhh... it is not such an unfavorable result. — Having said this, the woman plummeted, dropping her body into the abyss, taking a leap of faith. Allowing the wind to hit her in the face, she became totally immersed in her thoughts, keeping her eyes closed, clinging to the scientist's body until she finally broke through the orb, disappearing into it. The rest of the team was stunned by the girl's sudden action.

— Both Lewis and Dwayne stood with their arms outstretched into the void, staring into the void with a lost gaze immersed in the immensity that loomed before them, taking their breath away as they watched what she had just done. The Origin remained without showing any reaction on his part, standing on the other side of the railing, being only one step away from falling into the pit.

— Don't just stand there... this place will soon collapse... so you will die anyway if you stay here...— said the Origin without looking at their faces, pointing towards the pit. — I will see you on the other side...— After pronouncing his last words, he let his body fall in free fall.

The sacrifice of both would be enough reason that in the end ended up leading them to take the risk, thus, both Dwayne and Lewis deposited body and soul in what would most likely be the most significant jump of their entire existence, while the gate closed behind him, surrendering himself completely to the machinations that the universe had prepared for him, letting fate decide on his life and the value that it would have, crossing the zero point. To finally remain silent underground next to the remains of what once was the Oathbound, preparing to enter its hibernation phase, waiting for the day when something or someone manages to wake him up from his eternal rest.