Part I: Six Packages, Six Journeys, One Big Wooden Door

82 83 The Chosen: Battle with a Cerberosian Prince 1st Projection was standing directly on top of a circular-shaped surface. He shouted across to the others, “I found something.” They staggered towards him. While waiting, he tried to examine the surface he was standing on. It appeared to be some sort of marble material. He had very minimal feeling in his feet, but the texture felt rough. He knew this because of the resistance in his boots when he scraped it along the surface. Moving his eyes back to the initial rock that drew him to this area, he put his hand on the rock. He was doing this so he could feel what looked like an indentation in the rock, a dagger-shaped indentation. Only, the snow all fell on the ground the moment he touched the rock. It had become like the rest of the rocks on the mountain that didn’t have snow. TJ tried to find more. More clues. Or symbols. Strange-looking rocks. Something. On either side of him, he noticed the same circularshaped surfaces on the ground. They were positioned a few steps away from him, but slightly ahead of where his was positioned. It was only when Fang stood on top of another circular surface that TJ realized there was one for each of them, and they formed a circle. “Are we all supposed to step on these?” asked Tumi. “Yeah, I think so,” TJ replied. Tumi and Fang stepped on the surface. They were followed by Pippa, who was followed by Ana. Ethan was the last one to step on the circular-shaped surface since he was helping Ana get to everyone else. “Now wh—” Before she could finish speaking, Tumi was interrupted by a loud noise. With a sudden jolt, she began to sink into the snow. Looking around her, she noticed everyone else was also going down. As she kept descending, she could no longer see anything. She couldn’t move either. It was a strange experience. It became apparent to her that she was actually going into the mountain itself. She kept moving down at a steady pace, like she was in an elevator. Smooth, consistent, sturdy. Unable to rely on her sight, she paid careful attention to the surrounding noises. It sounded hollow, like they were in a cave. “Are you guys still there?” TJ yelled. “Yes,” they all responded. “Can anyone see anything?” TJ asked. “It’s pitch black,” Pippa responded. “Same here, mate,” said Ethan. “What is going on?” TJ said softly under his breath. They remained in the silence for a while, each internally asking their own questions, wondering what was happening, and more importantly, what was coming next. Finally, a light came on. As they looked around at one another, they could see a light shining on each individual. The light appeared to be in the form of a cylindrical tube from the ground to the top of the cave, surrounding each of them perfectly. They eventually realized that there was a mini platform in front of them, in the center, with all of them surrounding the platform equidistantly. As they were surveying their surroundings, attempting to make sense of what was going on, almost out of nowhere, a figure appeared before them. He had a towering presence about him—as tall as the tallest basketball player they could