That's Aeith's voice. It sounds like she's rushing her to get out of her bedroom. Second opened the door promptly, and Aeith pulled her.
Second saw Sevenzen on the girls' floor. "Open up, get out. Author is in the living area."
She and Aeith knocked on the door of some girls' rooms to let them know that Author is here. As they descended, everyone gathered in the living area, where Author would often show up.
"Greetings to all of you! You have stayed in this castle for a long period. I hope you enjoyed your cozy living here."
"What are you talking about? Tell us what your purpose is," Thirtwen is obviously irritated whenever he sees Author. He doesn't have the time for a long talk with Author that may result in an insult.
"Okay, going further to my point. Wealth Level: Stage 3 will begin any moment."
"What? We're going to play again?" Sixzen is confused with furrowed brows. They will play because level 3 is still a long way away. They are currently in level 1, nowhere near halfway to level 3.
"Your happy days and nights living here are about to end. Be ready for the next stage."
And Author is gone. That was a short visit. It was a simple instruction and announcement to alert them of the next incoming game.
"We're not going to live here anymore? What a pity," Seventh commented with a tone of regret.
"What do you mean? We should be happy because we can be freed from here," Aeizen countered.
She doesn't know if she will be glad or not. It's a good thing to finally get out of this castle trap, but a new challenge is about to come across them.
***
It is now morning, and she just woke up. Yesterday, Author announced that they are about to leave this castle at any time and that stage 3 will start at any time.
As she was walking down the stairs, she saw the others, and she was the last to wake up today. A routine such as playing and chatting with each other, as they always do. When she stepped on the last stair, everyone was dazed by what happened.
She felt something on her head and face. She touched her face. There was an unknown gray substance. She itched because it was rough on the skin. She looked up to where it came from and saw the castle slowly sinking as if it were melting. They were startled by the sudden fall of small and large chunks of material on which the castle was made.
"What are we going to do? We can be trapped in here!" Forzen panicked.
"Let's go there!" Sevenzen guided them to a safer space.
"Everyone, duck, cover, and hold!" Third commanded them.
Everyone is panicking, but they try to calm themselves down. They protected their heads from ash, concrete, and metal falling. Curiously, she remained standing in her last position with her hands on her head.
"Second!" Someone is calling her, but she can't figure out who.
She peered up at the falling of the large iron bars that if will fell on her, would surely injure her or worse, she'd die.
"Get out of there!"
She ignored their concern, but just looked up, and the iron bars finally fell into her head. She closed her eyes and ducked.
"Ahhh!" she screamed.
She closed her eyes and waited for the result of her discovery.
"What just happened here?" Thirtwen wondered.
"How the heck?" Fifzen muttered.
She opened her eyes to check herself out. No scratches or wounds. The iron bars continued to fall from the collapsed roof and ceiling of the castle.
"Magic!" Seventh exclaimed in amazement at what he saw.
Second doesn't know if it's magic, but it can be considered one. Large metals and concrete chunks are falling. They are melting like ice but turn into ashes. The ground did not shake. The surroundings are still smoky. The miracle is that they are not hit by any of these. It appears that there is some barrier that protects them to deviate from the direction of the falling debris. When the metal debris fell before it set foot on the ground, it automatically turned to ashes, rendering it non-fatal.
After a few minutes of collapsing, everything calmed down. No one was hurt. The former river that became a castle is now just land and ashes. They waited to get out of this castle and breathe natural air. It has been a long time since she last saw the sun and the beautiful view of this paradise.
"Where are we going to live now?" Forzen's mumbled concern while brushing off her cute bangs from the ashes.
Everyone shrugged because they also didn't know where they were going to live and what was going to happen next.
Ninezen waved his hands. "Author! Are you there? Answer us!" He yelled into the air.
They waited for an answer, but no signs of Author hinted. It only means one thing. They must find a new place to live.
"Check this out," they all turned to the one who had just spoken, it was Ninth.
They approached him, and he pointed to something on his left foot. There is an engraved circle on the ground. It looks like someone drew a perfect circle on the soil using a twig.
"There's more here," Fifth reported. He pointed to some more circles carved into the ground.
"Here also. Quite a lot." Twentieth added.
They counted how many circles they saw, 18 in all.
"Aren't these circles for all of us?" Thirtwen wondered which gave them an idea and a possibility that he is right. There are 18 drawn circles on the ground, and there are also 18 of them.
"What are we going to do with the circles?" Fifth questioned.
"No one knows yet, but it's probable," Third speculated this probability Thirtwen mentioned.
"Can we dig?" Seventh suggested. Since it is soil, they can dig in it. But what's in there for them to dig into?
"Um, maybe, we have to step on the circles, because there are 18 of them and we're also 18." Fourth's vague recommendation, but it makes sense. It may be strange, but they shoot a shot.
"Sure," Sixth agreed. "I mean, we can try." She hopes she's feeling better after the passing of Firstwen.
"Alright, let's try it." Forzen concurred.
They agreed to try what Fourth suggested. They're not certain if this will work, but it's not bad to try. They positioned themselves in carved circles randomly scattered on the ground. They slowly stepped on it and placed themselves in the middle.
"Nothing's happening," Fifzen noted
"This is foolish. It is not working," Ninth complained.
"How can I-"
What Fifth wanted to say didn't go through because they all screamed over what happened next. About ten seconds later, when they stepped on the circles, the ground automatically opened, and they all fell to the ground.