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Eli moved quietly through the tunnels, but her attention was focused on her friends. Everyone was on edge. It was like that from the start of course. Now it just felt like all of the nerves and existential crises the group had faced long before they entered the sewers had built up. She could feel it in the atmosphere around them like static electricity.

Yet as the group continued to walk and nothing but the sound of the distant running water echoed within the walls, the atmosphere stagnated until it felt relatively comfortable again. Eli could have jumped with joy when she saw the door to the Spire tunnel illuminate before them. This was it. Frightening misstep behind them, they had made it to their second to last destination. Or was it their third to last? Or their third and last destination because they were going to come back through the same door?

Eli stared at the door. Her heart beat faster. Behind this door, there really was no coming back. At least, she wouldn’t be coming back the same. So many secrets, lies, and gut-wrenching truths were waiting behind it. The door swung open. It felt as if Eli was going to be sucked out into the open space before them. She’d spotted an edge of one of these tunnels before, years ago. She’d forgotten how clear the glass was. As if it wasn’t there at all. The bridge was one long ladder to The Spire. Just bars floating in a perfect line between the two worlds on The Promise.

Eli woke from this momentary daze as soon as Archie stepped through the threshold. She stepped forward, going the extra step ahead of Lynn until she was at the door herself. The first door shut before she could follow him inside. She should have gone first. If this… if this was a trap, she should have taken the first hit. Archie could handle it, of course, but she was the reason he was down here. She anxiously watched as the outer door slid open. Archie Anderson was weightless, but he didn’t float off into space. He made it to the other side. No alarms, and no sudden swarm of officers. Were they really going to board The Spire without getting caught? Eli glanced at Packet. Cara really was on their side.

[b]”Fucking boat farmer.”[/b] Eli smirked softly.

Eli could have gone second, but she decided to stay behind. She needed just one more moment before she could step into that void. She leant against the frame of the door instead, watching the others slowly pass through to the other side. By the time it was her turn, she hadn’t even realized that she was the last one to go.

[color=E5D0FF]“Oh- Uh…”[/color] She took a deep breath and stood before the doors. Her head turned to Packet. [color=E5D0FF] “Thank you, Packet. For everything.”[/color] She cleared her throat and looked out again. Her friends were waiting for her at the other side. [i] Funny, how I’m the most reluctant to go…[/i] She thought to herself. She softly murmured one last thing before she stepped into the chamber.

[i][color=E5D0FF] “Though wise men at their end know dark is right,
Because their words had forked no lightning they
Do not go gentle into that good night.”[/color][/i]

Eli pressed the button on the pad. The second door opened, and she felt as if the air had left her lungs. Quickly, she realized that she could still breathe. She pushed off of the ground with her tiptoes and propelled herself towards the nearest ladder rung. She climbed, and as she slowly made her way to join her friends she looked out of that crystal clear glass and into space. The darkness was so deep, and so wide. It was split into a crescent moon around the big blue Earth beneath them. It was beautiful, the view.

[color=E5D0FF] “Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray.”[/color] Eli whispered.

After what felt like ages, Eli found herself at the other end. She looked at each of her friends, and then turned herself around just in time to catch Packet closing the door on the other end. She looked back, took another breath, and nodded. [color=E5D0FF] “Welcome to The Spire, guys.”[/color]