As the walls of the cube fell down, both Aqualina and Celestia instinctively flinched before quickly guarding up, their bodies tense and ready for an attack. But… to their surprise, there was no one here.
Not a single soul! Except for the chamber!
“Who the hell opened this?” Celestia muttered, her sharp eyes scanning the empty space with a wary expression.
“Aether…?” Aqualina whispered, trying to reach out to him through their connection. But… nothing… It was like hitting a solid wall. Something was still blocking their link, making it impossible to communicate with him. A deep frown formed on her face.
Celestia shifted uneasily, her gaze flickering toward the only door in the chamber. “Should we leave?” she asked, hesitantly. Her gut told her something was off—way off.
Who had opened the cube? And why? If this was a trap, then stepping out blindly could be the worst mistake they’d make.
Aqualina remained silent for a moment… Was this some kind of elaborate trick? A way to lure them out only to throw them into something worse?
But then—
‘What if Aether is helping us… in his own weird, indirect way?’ Aqualina thought, her eyes narrowing as she considered the possibility. If there was even a slight chance that Aether was behind this, she couldn’t afford to hesitate.
“We don’t have a choice. We need to figure out where we are first,” Aqualina finally said, her tone firm. She walked toward the door, her fingers wrapping around the cool metal of the knob. There was a small square window embedded in the door—similar to glass—but when Aqualina peered through it, she couldn’t see anything beyond it.
Just darkness!
Taking a deep breath, she summoned her sword in her other hand, her grip tightening around the hilt as she braced herself for whatever lay ahead. She had no idea what was waiting for them on the other side, but she sure as hell wasn’t stepping out unprepared.
Thud!
She pushed the door open and halted!
What she saw made her pause.
An empty corridor stretched out before them, dimly lit and eerily silent.
“No one’s here?” Celestia stepped forward cautiously, her brows furrowing. “This doesn’t make sense… Where are the guards?”
Aqualina’s frown deepened as she scanned both sides of the corridor. It extended far in both directions, the sheer emptiness making it feel even more unsettling.
“Let’s go right,” she decided, nodding toward the right corridor.
“Alright.”
As they moved carefully down the corridor, their senses remained sharp, alert for any sign of movement… But as they walked, they began to notice something strange—door after door lined the walls, identical to the one they had just stepped out of.
“There are so many of them…” Celestia murmured, her curiosity piqued. “Are they holding prisoners here?”
The doors had small square glass windows, allowing them to peek inside. As soon as they did, their eyes widened in surprise.
Monsters.
They were holding monsters.
Aqualina’s jaw clenched. “What the hell is this…?” Her gaze darted from one door to the next. Each held a different kind of creature—some she had never even seen before. But there was one thing they all had in common…
The rainbow arcane crystals embedded in their bodies.
“This isn’t good,” she muttered under her breath. “We need to leave. Now.”
Celestia didn’t need to be told twice. She could feel it too—that deep, unsettling sense of danger pressing against her chest. Without wasting another second, they quickened their pace.
No—RAN!!
Their feet pounded against the cold floor as they sprinted down the corridor, their breath coming out in short puffs. Finally, they reached the end of the hall, stopping just before a turn. Both of them pressed against the wall, cautiously peeking around the corner.
No one.
“Hmm… Still no guards?” Celestia whispered, her unease growing stronger by the second. “This is getting creepier by the minute…”
They didn’t wait. They ran again.
And then—they reached a staircase.
It led only one way.
Up.
Celestia hesitated, staring at the steps warily. “Are we really doing this?” Her voice was quiet, laced with uncertainty. “Aether could come for us at any time, but… this whole situation feels off. Who the hell opened that cube? It’s almost like someone wants us to keep moving…”
Aqualina met her gaze, then exhaled sharply. “We don’t have the luxury of standing around and thinking about it. We either move forward, or we go back and wait for something worse to happen. And I, for one, don’t want to wait.”
Celestia swallowed her doubt and nodded. “Alright. Let’s go.”
They climbed the stairs.
Reaching the next floor, they looked around.
Nothing.
Everything looked the same as before. The same sterile walls. The same long halls. The same eerie silence.
“I think we need to keep going higher,” Celestia said, her tone laced with urgency. “If we’re going to find a way out—or at least understand where we are—we need to reach the top.”
With that, they ran again.
One floor… Then another…. And another….
And another.
Until—
“Huff—Huff…” Aqualina and Celestia panted, their bodies growing weaker with every step.
Something was wrong.
It wasn’t exhaustion… It wasn’t pain…
It was something else.
“A-As we go higher… I feel it…” Aqualina gasped, gripping the wall for support. “Something’s getting denser. It’s like… the air itself is pressing down on us.”
Celestia, barely able to catch her breath, nodded. “Yeah… This isn’t normal… They must have set this up… If we keep pushing forward like this, there’s a real chance we might—lose consciousness.”
Aqualina clenched her teeth. She knew Celestia was right. But what choice did they have?
Go back?
Then what was the point of someone letting them out in the first place?
Her frustration boiled over.
Taking a deep breath, she shouted at the empty halls, her voice echoing in the void, “I KNOW YOU’RE WATCHING US, YOU BASTARD! What’s the point of all this?! Are you deliberately trying to piss us off?!” Her voice carried raw irritation, her eyes scanning the halls for even the slightest sign of something—anything.
But nothing.
Not a single response.
Her fingers curled into fists. “Motherfuckers!! If my boyfriend finds out about this, he’ll fuck you all up!!” she yelled, flipping her middle finger at the unseen eyes she was sure were watching.
She didn’t know who was behind this.
But whoever they were…
They were playing a very dangerous game.
Celestia chuckled, her tone carrying a teasing edge. “Haha… You sure trust your boyfriend a little too much, don’t you think? I mean, you talk about him like he’s some kind of god.”
Aqualina snorted, crossing her arms with a proud smirk. “Of course! Whenever I’m in danger, he always shows up out of nowhere like some kind of divine protector! It’s like he has a sixth sense for when I need him.”
Just then—
BAM!
“SHIT!” Aqualina yelped, nearly jumping out of her skin as the door behind her slammed shut without warning. The sudden impact sent vibrations through the floor, making both of them freeze for a moment.
“What the hell was that?” she muttered, swallowing hard as she cautiously stepped forward and peered through the small glass panel embedded in the door.
Her breath hitched the moment she saw what was inside.
More monsters… Again!
But something was wrong. Something was disturbingly different this time. Her sharp eyes caught an unsettling detail—fragments of tattered, blood-stained clothing hanging from some of the creatures.
Clothes that were once worn by people!
‘No… It can’t be…’
Her face paled.
Celestia, noticing Aqualina’s sudden silence, furrowed her brows and turned to check the other doors. She took one step closer, hesitating before glancing inside.
And the moment she did, her stomach twisted in sheer horror.
More creatures. More grotesque, twisted forms that looked barely recognizable. But the longer she stared, the more details she noticed—their faces, their hands, their torn clothing.
Features that were once human… a normal living being!
“They… they were experimenting on them?” Celestia whispered, her voice trembling. “These things… they were once people?”
She felt a deep unease settle in her chest. The monsters they had seen earlier weren’t just random creatures locked away in some facility. No… They had been turned into this.
Her hands balled into fists as an overwhelming wave of nausea and disbelief crashed over her. ‘What the hell is this place?!’
Then— Experience tales at My Virtual Library Empire
“Oh my god…” Aqualina suddenly gasped, her voice cracking in sheer disbelief as she stared at one of the glass windows.
Celestia’s heart skipped a beat. “What is it, Princess?” she asked quickly, stepping beside her.
Aqualina didn’t respond right away. She was frozen, her wide eyes locked onto the horror beyond the glass.
Curious but hesitant, Celestia followed her gaze—only to immediately regret it.
Inside the room, pressed up against the glass, was a massive pink spider with a grotesque human face.
Celestia’s entire body recoiled… she felt goosebumps seeing that shit!
“Sssss!” She inhaled sharply, a shudder running down her spine. “Fucking hell, that’s disgusting! I don’t even want to know what kind of twisted experiment that is!” She turned away, feeling a deep revulsion creeping into her bones. “Princess, you really don’t need to be looking at—”
But before she could finish—
Aqualina’s voice came out in a broken whisper. “T-That’s… Kenley.”
Celestia frowned, “Kenley?”
“Yes… Kenley. Kennedy’s niece. The same girl who tried to destroy the Academy with her uncle” Aqualina’s voice trembled slightly as she pointed toward the twisted, monstrous form trapped inside the cell. “It’s her.”
Celestia blinked, then took another reluctant glance. And the moment she looked closer, her blood ran cold.
She recognized those features. The remnants of what was once a beautiful girl, now warped beyond recognition. Her once-elegant face was stretched and distorted, her body transformed into an unspeakable horror.
“What in the actual fuck…?” Celestia breathed, struggling to process what she was seeing.
Shock!!!
That was the only emotion plastered across both of their faces—but for two very different reasons.
Celestia was horrified by what had become of Kenley. The idea that someone could be forced into this kind of monstrous transformation made her stomach churn.
But Aqualina?
Aqualina was furious.
“A traitor in our Academy,” she muttered.
Kenley had been severely punished for her past crimes. She had been sentenced to rot in the Academy’s high-security prison for the rest of her life. There was absolutely no way she should be here.
Unless—
“You’re telling me there’s a mole inside our Academy?” Celestia asked.
“There’s no other explanation.”
Someone had freed Kenley… Someone had helped her escape, only to turn her into… this!!
Her body tensed with rage. “We need to get the hell out of here—now!”
Just as she was about to break into a run—
A hooded figure suddenly appeared before them, standing ominously in the middle of the corridor.
Both Celestia and Aqualina flinched, their instincts kicking in as they immediately dropped into battle stances. Their weapons materialized in their hands, ready for a fight.
Whoever this was…
They had been waiting for them.