[BL] I Didn't Sign Up For This-Chapter 117: In Which We Make Terrible Decisions Together

Chapter 117: In Which We Make Terrible Decisions Together

"So," I said, staring at the massive dimensional gate that definitely shouldn’t exist. "We’re going through that, right?"

"Appears to be the only option," Azryth confirmed.

"So, we have no idea what’s on the other side, and our brilliant plan is ’walk into it and hope for the best.’"

"That’s been our strategy for most things," Mara pointed out.

"I know, and I hate that you’re right."

We’d moved back to the command post to discuss logistics, which was a fancy way of saying "figure out who’s stupid enough to go through the scary dimensional gate."

Chen Wei was listening with the expression of someone who desperately wanted to help but had exactly zero useful suggestions.

"Azryth and I will go through," I said. "You all stay here and..."

"No," Mara interrupted immediately.

"I didn’t finish my sentence."

"You don’t need to. The answer is no." Her expression was steel. "Last time I let you two walk into danger alone, you went to Limbo and came back weaker. I promised myself I wouldn’t let that happen again."

"Mara..."

"So," she said. "I’m coming with you." 𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚

"So am I," Henrik added, not looking up from his tablet where he was already preparing equipment lists. "You’ll need analysis. Real-time monitoring, someone who understands dimensional mechanics beyond ’hit it until it stops being weird.’"

"I’m also going," Ryota said.

"Of course you are," I muttered.

"Someone needs to watch your backs," he continued. "And provide tactical support when things inevitably go wrong."

"When, not if. I appreciate the confidence."

Azryth was watching this with calm acceptance, like he’d known from the start that arguing would be pointless.

"You’re not going to try to convince them to stay?" I asked him.

"Would it work?"

"No."

"Then no."

Void made an excited chirp from my shoulder and created a burst of sparkles that clearly meant "adventure time!"

"At least someone’s enthusiastic about walking into potential death," I said.

"We’re all enthusiastic," Mara corrected. "We’re just not showing it with sparkles."

"Speak for yourself," Henrik muttered, which might have been the closest thing to humor I’d heard from him all day.

Chen Wei cleared her throat. "If you’re all going through, we need to establish protocols."

"Protocols for what?" I asked.

"For if you don’t return."

"Wow."

"It’s realistic," she said, sounding tired. "We need evacuation procedures, perimeter expansion plans, contingencies for if the gate destabilizes further."

"What happens if we don’t come back?" Ryota asked.

"We’ll evacuate Interlaken entirely and establish an exclusion zone." Chen Wei’s expression was grim. "And hope whatever is on the other side of that gate doesn’t decide to come out."

"That’s a fun thought to carry with us," I said.

"You asked."

"I’m regretting that now."

Azryth moved closer, his arm settling around my waist in a way that felt grounding. "We’ll come back."

"You sound very confident for someone about to walk through a dimensional gate of unknown origin into a probably-destroyed world to deal with an entity fragment."

"I’m confident because I’m with you," he said simply.

Something warm settled in my chest that I absolutely did not have time to process right now.

"Okay," I said, looking at Chen Wei. "How long do you give us before you assume we’re dead and start evacuating?"

"Twenty-four hours."

"That’s generous."

"It’s realistic," she repeated. "Time moves differently in other dimensions, what feels like hours here could be days there, or vice versa."

"So we could be in there for five minutes and come back to find a week has passed."

"Potentially."

"I hate dimensional mechanics."

"Everyone does," Henrik said.

We spent another ten minutes going over contingencies that all basically boiled down to "if we’re not back in a day, assume the worst and run."

Then we were walking back toward the gate.

The wrongness hadn’t lessened. If anything, it had intensified, like reality was getting more uncomfortable with the gate’s existence by the minute.

Coalition personnel watched us pass with expressions ranging from relief that someone was handling this to pity that we were the ones handling it.

Void bounced on my shoulder, making happy sounds that suggested it had no concept of danger whatsoever.

"You know this is probably going to be terrible, right?" I asked it.

An enthusiastic chirp.

"That wasn’t a yes or no question, but I’ll take it as acknowledgement."

We reached the epicenter, and the gate loomed before us.

Up close, it was even more imposing. The dark metal panels stood at least fifteen feet tall, fitted together with seams that glowed faintly with concentrated energy. The patterns covering the surface shifted when I looked directly at them, hurting my eyes and making my warden senses scream warnings.

"So," Mara said, scanner already active and beeping frantically. "How do we open it?"

"Combined power, probably," Azryth said, studying the gate with the intense focus of someone analyzing a complex problem. "Warden energy and demon power together."

"Like everything else we’ve done," I said.

"It’s worked so far."

"Yeah."

Henrik was circling the gate, making observations on his tablet. "The seal is designed to respond to specific energy signatures, dimensional power, concentrated and directed."

"So we just hit it with power and hope it opens?" I asked.

"Essentially."

"I love how our strategies always boil down to ’throw power at it and see what happens.’"

Ryota had positioned himself at a tactical angle, ready for whatever might come through when the gate opened. "Standing by."

"Okay," I said, looking at Azryth. "Let’s open the scary dimensional gate."

I summoned my warden power, feeling it flow through me in familiar patterns. Azryth’s demon power manifested around him, dark and controlled.

We reached for the gate simultaneously.

The moment our combined power touched the metal, the patterns flared bright.

Energy coursed through the seams, illuminating the entire structure from within. The panels vibrated, a low sound that I felt in my bones rather than heard.

Void made an excited sound and created sparkles that got caught in the energy wave, scattering like confetti.

The massive panels began to move.

Slowly at first, grinding against whatever mechanism held them sealed. Then faster, swinging outward with the weight of something that had been closed for a very, very long time.

Energy pulsed out in waves, making the air distort and shimmer. Behind us, I heard coalition personnel backing away, smart enough to increase distance from whatever was happening.

The panels opened fully, and beyond them was darkness.

Complete, absolute darkness that seemed to absorb everything.

I couldn’t see what was beyond the threshold except that impenetrable black.

"Well," I said. "That’s not ominous at all."

Mara’s scanner was screaming. "I’m getting readings, but they don’t make sense. The space beyond that threshold is... wrong."

"Wrong how?"

"Wrong in every measurable way. Dimensional coordinates don’t align with anything, energy signature is off the scale, physical laws appear to be non-standard."

"So, a destroyed dimension," Henrik said.

"Most likely."

Azryth was staring into the darkness, power still manifested around him. "We won’t know what’s in there until we cross the threshold."

Void made an impatient sound and tried to launch itself toward the darkness.

I caught it. "Not yet. We’re going together."

An offended chirp, but it settled.

I looked at the group. Mara with her scanner, Henrik with his tablet, Ryota with his weapons, Azryth with his power, Void with its enthusiasm.

"Last chance to back out," I said. "No judgment, this is objectively a terrible idea."

"We’re going," Mara said immediately.

"Agreed," Henrik added.

"Ready," Ryota confirmed.

Azryth’s hand settled on my shoulder, warm and steady. "Together."

I looked at the darkness beyond the gate, at the threshold we were about to cross into a dimension that was probably destroyed and definitely dangerous.

"Okay," I said. "Here we go into the scary darkness to find an entity fragment and probably fight something terrible. Just another Tuesday."

"It’s Wednesday," Henrik said.

"Even worse."

Void made an excited sound and created sparkles that drifted toward the darkness and disappeared into it without a trace.

I took a breath, felt Azryth beside me, solid and certain, felt the group’s determination, their absolute refusal to let us face this alone.

We stepped forward into the darkness.

The transition was immediate and deeply unpleasant.

One step in Switzerland.

One step out into total chaos.