The room, which was just lively, went quiet once more. After finding some hope in our way out of here, it was gone entirely. Well, to an extent. We still had an idea; we just didn't know how to execute it, and the worst part of it was that we didn't even know where to begin.
"So any ideas?" I asked, still holding the back of my neck, feeling awkward.
Ael sighed and planted his face in his hand.
"Sorry?" I said, feeling worse.
"Not your fault, just going to have to do more digging," Ael replied. He leaned back on the counter and looked up at the ceiling. When he did, I could hear the wind roaring outside.
"What the-" As I looked outside, I could see the doors shaking as they held back strong winds while it snowed.
Catching the attention of the rest, Eira added, "Doesn't look like we are going to be able to do much tonight, huh?"
"Seems like it," Amiel replied.
Ael, clapping his hands together, gets up from the counter, "How about we sleep on this, tomorrow morning we can discuss what's next."
"You don't think we should try planning something out." I turned to him in shock.
"Well, it's not like we are going to be able to do anything on little sleep, plus we need to be up early; there isn't much daylight in this time of year." He walked past me, heading to his sleeping bag. "We have to make as much use of it as possible."
***
The bell rang, marking the start of the morning. As I looked outside, it was still snowing, not raging like last night, but a nice, calming, and beautiful snow. Genlty falling onto the floor, making a carpet of white flakes. I could hear Ael in the kitchen making breakfast for us. The aroma of it all filled the kitchen. Getting up, I don't see Amiel. Eira, on the other hand, was still fast asleep.
"Oh, hey, you're up. Come, eat." Ael turned from the kitchen, calling me over.
As I walked up to him, I still felt half-asleep. "Where's Amiel?" I asked.
He moved the pan back and forth, keeping his eyes on it to avoid losing focus. "He went out; he wanted to check on the veil and examine it to see if he could figure out how to break it. I told him to wait for you, but he insisted on going alone."
Sitting down in the stool where we usually sat, I processed what Ael said, "He what!?" It shocked me out of my half-sleep.
Ael twitched, "Keep your voice down! Someone is sleeping!"
Behind me, I can hear Eira waking up.
'Say that to yourself,' I thought.
"Ah, morning, guys." She rubbed her eyes, looking towards us.
Ael immediately apologized, trying to laugh it off.
Eira laughed with him, "It's okay, I slept plenty already." Finally, after adjusting to the light, she stopped rubbing her eyes. "Is that food I smell?" Her eyes were still half shut.
"It is! Have some." Ael replied immediately, trying to reconcile, waking her up.
As we all sat down at the kitchen table, Ael served Eira and me food. When he does, I couldn't help but ask, "Now, why would Amiel do something so stupid?"
Eira, munching on her food, replied before Ael could, "He seems to be in an urgent rush to get out of here, and I haven't even known him for that long." She bobbled back and forth in her seat, still trying to wake up.
I looked toward Ael, who stared back at me. "Now that I think about it, that is true," I replied. "Even last night, with the way he was acting." Thinking of last night, it finally snapped me back into what we were supposed to be doing. "Wait, did you guys come up with a plan?!"
"Not so loud, please, still waking up," Eira said before Ael could reply.
"Right, sorry," I said, immediately feeling sorry.
Ael chuckled, "Something of the sort, Amiel seemed to have decided to take on the head-on approach and go to the problem himself, hence why he is not here. I, on the other hand, want to finish translating that notebook we found. If Numen is our problem, a book about the God of Numen might have the answer." He pointed back over his shoulder to the notebook.
Around the whole kitchen, pages of partially translated pages hung. The book was semi-thick, so translating it was taking a while. I stare at them for a while.
"That makes sense. Need help?" I asked, "Don't think it would be best for me to go out in the snow right now." I looked at the snow, still thinking of my injuries.
"That would be great," Ael replied.
As Eira took her last bites of her food, she said, "I'll help too. Just let me wake up first."
***
Pov: Amiel
Staring at the veil that surrounds campus, I look for anything that might help me. I stared at it for about twenty minutes trying to come up with ideas, but nothing came to mind. Snow even started to stack on my shoulders and head.
'I'll find a way out soon.' I thought.
The only thing that stood between me and the outside world was this veil. Something I was desperately trying to get to.
Suddenly, after watching the violent storm around campus, it seemed to shake a bit, becoming unstable.
"Huh?" I let out.
Curious, I reach my hand out, thinking this was my chance out of here; that suddenly, the veil became weak. When I do, I feel my body get filled with a coldness I have never felt before. The energy felt chaotic and powerful, yet calming and euphoric.
The world that I once stood in was gone. I now stood in the middle of the ocean, where a fleet of military fleets sailed, me on one of them.