The wormhole through the Lanes Between twisted violently as Helios leaned forward on his glider. The eternal black void seemed different here—alive, almost sentient, its light trails fracturing into jagged patterns like veins of cracked glass.
Kurai followed closely, her Umbra Serpentis glider coiling sinuously behind her like a phantom snake. The violet glow of its segmented body rippled through the air, casting ghostly shadows on Skuld's sleek, avian-shaped glider as she fought to keep her balance.
"This part of the Lanes…" Helios murmured through the comms, his voice low. "It feels… wrong. Like something is watching us. The gaze feels familiar."
"Could it be that eye?" Kurai's tone was colder than usual. "This place reeks of darkness so old that even I find it unnerving, but I doubt it matters. Whatever it is, I'll cut it down if it moves."
Skuld gripped her handlebars tighter, her voice shaky. "It makes me feel… sad. Like I've been trapped somewhere forever, waiting."
The darkness ahead began to shimmer. Strange lights appeared, faint and flickering at first—like fireflies in the distance—then blooming into radiant streams of turquoise and teal energy.
"Helios… what's happening?" Skuld asked.
Helios narrowed his eyes behind his visor. "Something's interfering with the passage and pulling us to another destination. Don't resist it. If we fight too hard, it could destabilize it, and who knows what will happen."
A surge of gravity tugged at their gliders as they broke through the wormhole's passageways and threw them out through a new opening. What they saw was a vast expanse unlike any they had seen before.
While the normal Lane Between Realms was slightly colorful, it always resembled an ocean of stars in a night sky, but this was a cosmic ocean.
Endless colors stretched below them, glowing faintly as if lit from within by a million sleeping stars. Great leviathan-like silhouettes drifted far beneath the surface—too large, too alien to comprehend. Above, the sky bent in impossible angles, lit by swirling auroras of deep aquamarine and pale gold.
The trio glided in stunned silence, the roar of their engines muted against this strange, suffocating stillness.
"...This isn't a part of the Lanes Between that we've ever traveled through," Kurai said quietly, her usual edge dulled by wonder. "Neither Helios nor I have seen this place… and that saying something."
Then they saw it.
Suspended in the center of this space was a massive, floating island-like structure, orbiting a luminous crystal heart. The crystal pulsed gently, its glow casting ripples of turquoise and teal across the void. It was alive, breathing.
Around the crystal sprawled intricate stone buildings etched with glowing Atlantean glyphs—ancient yet impossibly advanced. Bridges of light and water wove through the city, cascading in silent streams that dissolved into stardust as they fell away into the void.
Colossal stone guardians stood vigil at the edges of the island, their hollow eyes burning faint blue. They were carved into majestic warriors with outstretched arms, each holding fragments of broken shields as if they had defended the city for eons.
Glyphs and symbols danced lazily in orbit around the crystal heart, glowing faintly and then flaring in rhythmic pulses—like the city itself had a heartbeat.
Skuld gasped audibly. "It's beautiful…"
Kurai didn't speak at first. Even her visor couldn't hide her momentary pause. "...It's radiating power," she finally said. "This city isn't just ruins. It feels alive somehow."
Helios felt the energy thrum in his chest, resonating with something deep within his heart.
Atlantis: The Lost Empire
"This world is what I was looking for," he whispered. "Strange… as we're traveling, a wormhole just so happens to open and then a problem happens, and we miraculously arrive in front of the world I was looking for."
The gliders slowed as the group approached the glowing city. Streams of luminous water spiraled around them like celestial serpents, casting glimmering patterns across their armor.
"Helios," Skuld said softly, "why here? Why this world?"
He didn't answer immediately. His visor reflected the crystal's light as he studied the city below. "Because… there's something I need here. A hidden power. And something tells me we're not the first to look for it."
Kurai's glider curled closer, her voice sharp again. "If this is a trap, you'd better have a plan."
Helios smirked faintly. "When do I not have a plan?"
As they drew nearer, the crystal heart flared brighter, sending a wave of energy through the void. For a brief moment, their visors flickered, and images danced across their minds—Atlantean warriors wielding glowing spears, a massive flood engulfing the city, and a woman with silver hair whispering an ancient incantation.
Then it was gone.
Helios steadied himself, gripping the controls. "Did you see that?"
"Yes," Skuld whispered. "It was… memories?"
Kurai said nothing. Her glider surged slightly ahead as if to challenge the crystal's gaze.
"Let's land," Helios ordered. "But stay alert. Whatever's happening to this place isn't going to be easy to deal with. The natives won't roll out a welcome mat."
The trio descended through a barrier of shimmering glyphs, the air growing thicker as they passed. Below, the city unfolded in all its glory—sprawling streets lined with glowing glyphs, towering spires covered in intricate carvings, and glowing pools of water that seemed to defy gravity.
And in the distance, near the heart crystal, something stirred.
The stone guardians shifted. Their glowing eyes brightened as cracks of light raced across their bodies. Slowly, agonizingly, they began to move.
Helios tightened his grip on his glider. "Looks like the welcome committee is awake."
"Good," Kurai murmured darkly. "It's interesting. I'd like to see what this power looks like."
Skuld's voice wavered. "We can't fight them in the air. We need to land quickly."
"Agreed," Helios said. "Brace for combat the moment we touch down."