Right after we switched to our corporeal forms, Axton asked a question. “Are we traveling on our own?”
I shook my head and held my finger to my lips. Kian grinned. He loved the silly Earth gesture.
With my Sight on, I glanced around the area but found nothing unusual. I rapped my knuckles on the door lightly, trying to keep the noise down, and Taris soon cracked it open. One green eye peeked out before opening it fully, and he stepped back to allow us in.
In a line, we crossed the threshold with me at the front, and Trace taking the rear. Unlike my last visit, no Soulless seemed to be in the building, though they were likely still sleeping rather than gone.
It wasn't until we entered the portal space that we saw life. Con hunched over the panel, chatting softly with the Soulless that acted as the Tech. He appeared to be dressed up. His clothes were never shabby. After all, running the Soulless sector provided some perks. But his hair seemed to be fixed with a little more care than usual, and his boots shone a bit brighter.
I glanced behind me to take a peek at Grace and narrowed my eyes at her golden hue.
Jerking my head back around, I yelled, “Con!”
He snapped straight and spun. His open mouth quickly morphed into a wide smile that grew impossibly wider when he looked behind me. My eyes narrowed further, and my lips tightened.
“Wonderful to see you all,” he said.
“I bet,” I mumbled under my breath. Louder, I continued, “Is everything prepared for us?”
At his nod, I dug the sheet of numbers out of my pocket and thrust them at the young Soulless male sitting at the panel.
“Good. Then we are ready to go. Just start at the top,” I said, gesturing for everyone to step onto the circular platform. I hesitated a moment, then looked at the stand-in Tech and added, “Stay aware. I have no idea if this planet actually exists. If it doesn't, we'll be flung back. Hard.” I hope, at least.
Once we were together, I gave the others a smile that radiated the confidence that I didn't feel. Still, it seemed to put a little more steel in their spines and erase some of the tightness in their faces.
I switched forms, and they followed. A few moments later, we found ourselves in the stream. We would have to enter the pain voluntarily many times throughout the investigation, but all of us except Grace had grown used to it. Thankfully, the fuse had been fixed, so it didn't leave us as damaged as our last trip with Con's portal had.
When we were spat out the other end and landed on an actual planet, the racing in my mind exploded. My entire soul buzzed, and I felt like one of those dick-shaped vibrators that Earth memories showed me. I glanced over at Trace, knowing that he would be feeling the effects much more than I did.
His soul form appeared to have an aura around it, but that was caused by the tiny, rapid movements he made. Around him, essence floated in place, packed in so tightly they couldn't have raised their arms without their hands entering another soul.
From what I could see through the mass of almost completely faded shaped forms, nothing remained of their previous world. Blue leaves blanketed the ground, and in the distance, the tops of what I thought might be trees could be seen. No structures existed, but I had no way of knowing if they had lived underground or if the buildings had simply disintegrated.
The air of despondency showed heavily in the souls. Some turned to us, but only a few actually moved, as if they'd passed the point of believing that they could move on. That more than anything led me to think that they'd been blocked before Earth had.
With nothing else left to do for now, I reached out and latched onto Grace. She twisted, her body shining and her face mirroring the thoughts in my head. I raised my hand and pointed towards Axton, resulting in a slow nod. She laid a palm on his shoulder, and the others quickly joined together.
We launched into the stream once again. We knew nothing but pain until we reached Con's portal on Delon. Even then, it lingered in my very molecules.
Once I became visible, the emotions that tainted my essence hit hard, spiraling from my gut. I wobbled