"It's amazing," Mavis said, stunned at the sight of the outside world.

The lane was covered with enormous trees, unable to see what was on the ground below. In the distance, a waterfall could be seen on a giant elder tree that seemed to stretch beyond the clouds.

"Anyways, you can gawk all you want later but right now we have to be diligent," Ash said as he pulled a long rope out from his backpack.

He knelt down and began to tie the rope tightly to the clip that was carved into the top of the wall. Giving it a few tugs to test its strength, he then stood up with a smile.

"All set here," Ash said with a smile.

"Just have to hope everyone is able to make it up," Mavis replied as he peered over the side of the wall to check on the others.

The sight of the ginormous difference between the ground and the top of the wall made him dizzy as he felt his head become light. He knelt down and reached his hand down to Tristan who had just reached the top portion of the wall.

"Come on, I've got ya." Mavis grabbed Tristan's wrist and began to pull him up. "Uh, a bit of help here." He glanced back at Ash.

Ash grabbed Tristan's other arm and helped pull him up. The three of them laughed before suddenly hearing a distant yell from the other side of the walls.

Peering down the side, the three of them saw the glow of a lantern approaching the wall quickly.

"Oh shit, one of the guards noticed!" Tristan exclaimed as he looked below to see who was lowest on the wall.

"Who is it? Who's still down there!?" Mavis asked frantically.

"I can't see! It's too dark!" He replied as his heart began to race.

"We can't exactly do anything to help, we just have to wait and hope," Ash remarked as he narrowed his gaze down the wall.

"This is bad though, if the guard sees us leaving then they'll probably send a group to retrieve us. If that happens, you can kiss any chance of leaving again goodbye." Mavis rubbed his temple.

"I doubt it." Ash replied quietly.

"Why's that?" Tristan sat up as the cold wind blew atop the wall.

"I get that it's fine to stay aware of potential problems, but thinking that they're going to send a group after us is silly. They fear the outside world more than anything. They barely manage to scrounge up a small team each year for an expedition." He explained as his hair blew in the night wind.

"He's got a point, Mav," Tristan said quietly as he looked back at Mavis who had a nervous look painted on his face.

"I just don't want to leave anyone behind," Mavis spoke softly as he squinted his eyes down, watching the others climb up. "I know if I got left behind during this, I'd give up on everything else if I was kept away from the outside world."

"Not everyone has that same crazy ambition for the outside like you," Ash remarked as he stood on the edge of the wall, looking over the scenery of the city he grew up in.

"Don't cut any of our group short, Ash." Mavis turned to him with a proud smile. "You need a hell of a lot of ambition to do this. No normal person would give up on everything else to chase this. We all have different reasons exactly for leaving, but it all comes down to the same source. We want to see the world we were born in."

"There he goes again." Ash sighed to himself.

"Yup." Tristan let out a sigh as well and smiled.

Mavis shot them a thumbs up before opening his backpack and pulling a rope out.

"I came prepared in case you didn't, Ash. Now both of you help me out!" Mavis shouted as he tossed one end of the rope down the side of the wall.

Tristan and Ash stood behind him, holding onto the rope as well and bracing themselves.

"Grab one!" Mavis shouted at the top of his lungs, his voice echoing down the wall.

In the next moment, he felt a weight tug on the rope as he then began pulling. He planted his feet against the stone wall, straining his arms as he pulled alongside the other two.

"Come on, almost there!" Tristan grunted as he pulled using all of his strength that he had left in his body.

With one final tug, they brought Lena and Misha up at the same time, falling back against the top of the wall and gasping for air. The three boys let out weak chuckles as they caught much-needed air.

"T-thank you." Misha thanked them shyly.

"Yeah, my hands were really starting to cramp up, you guys saved me." Lena smiled as she looked at her reddened palms.

Mavis sat up, giving them a thumbs up with a warm smile before stretching his arms. "Alright, now that there are five of us, the others will be easy to bring up!"

"Bastard, let me rest." Ash groaned as he stood back up and stretched his back.

"Not until we are all out of here," Mavis replied with a chuckle and grabbed onto the rope again, looking down.

The others followed, grabbing onto the rope closely near Mavis as they waited for the next person to grab on. This time, a heavier weight tugged on the rope as they began to pull.

"This must be your friend, Tris!" Mavis grunted as he began to pull, feeling the cold air pelt against his skin.

He became a bit dizzy at the feeling of pulling up somebody while standing on the edge of the wall, feeling his legs begin to quiver and buckle up. Taking a gulp of air and forcing himself to continue, he tugged on the rope, pulling Recon up. Recon crawled onto the chill stone, laying on top of the wall as he panted.

"That was crazy." He said under a sigh as he panted.

"Well, I'd say we are all pretty crazy." Mavis chuckled before looking down to see Abigail near the top now.

Without hesitation, he threw down part of the rope to her and pulled her up by himself, as she was close anyways. He smiled, helping her get atop the wall.

"Is that everyone?" Misha asked quietly, wiping the inner lens of her glasses with the cloth of her shirt.

"No, Michael is still climbing, you have to help him!" Abigail suddenly pleaded, looking at Mavis with eyes of desperation.

"What happened?" Mavis asked as he got the rope ready.

"I think he cut his arm on a jagged piece of the wall, he won't be able to make it up alone!" She said, grabbing onto Mavis' shirt as she looked him in the eyes.

"Alright, alright, don't worry." He said quietly as he planted his feet against the stone, tossing one end of the rope down towards Michael.

He narrowed his gaze in the darkness, watching as the only thing he could make out of Michael was a shadow, feeling him tug onto the rope.

"Okay, help me pull him up!" Mavis barked out as Tristan and Recon got up, getting behind Mavis and grabbing onto the rope.

As they pulled Michael up, he became clearer in Mavis' sight now. His arm was drenched in his own blood, laying limp by his side as he held onto the rope tightly. Slow and steadily, they brought him up near the top of the wall.

"Almost there, steady, steady," Mavis said quietly.

The others watched in anticipation before a quiet ripping noise was heard. Mavis looked down by his hands to see that the rope began to tear, quickly dwindling at the base.

"Shit, grab onto one of the holdings in the wall!" Mavis shouted down towards Michael, who held panic in his eyes.

"Help him, Mav! Please!" Abigail cried out as she covered her eyes in fear of what may happen.

The others seemed to freeze at the moment, not knowing what to do. Michael grabbed onto the wall, clutching his body close to it as he frantically moved his legs, trying to find holdings to keep his toes in. He panted, frozen in fear holding onto the wall with one arm as his blood dripped down onto the far beneath ground. Mavis got down onto his stomach, hanging over the edge of the wall as he reached his arm out to Michael.

"Grab on!" He yelled out as he stretched his arm as far as he can.

Hesitating for a moment, Michael swallowed then nodded, grabbing onto Mavis' hand, trusting his entire body to him. Mavis looked into Michael's desperate, pleading eyes as he held him, seeing a blur of the ground behind him.

If I were to let go..

"Pull me up, please!" Michael pleaded, wincing in pain from his bloodied arm as it turned white, tears were rolling down his cheeks.

..Would she be all mine?

Mavis' expression went blank as he let go of Michael's hand, dropping him. Time seemed to slow down as he watched the boy scream out in complete fear, plummeting down until the sound of flesh meeting the pavement at high speeds filled his eardrums.

"Mavis, what happened? What just happened?" Ash put his hands on Mavis' shoulders, looking into his cold eyes.

Mavis suddenly snapped back into it, faking a wince as he grabbed his own shoulder, "I think I dislocated my shoulder!"

Ash stared at him for a few moments intently before glancing down the side of the wall, only making out a red paste in the darkness of the night on the ground as he nodded his head reluctantly.

"You were tired, you pushed yourself for him, don't blame yourself," Ash said quietly, standing back up.

'What the fuck, what the fuck." Tristan paced back and forth, running his fingers through his hair.

"Shit," Recon muttered quietly to himself.

Misha rubbed Abigail's shoulders soothingly as she trembled, tears running down her cheeks as her teeth chattered.

Mavis stood back up and faced the group, standing in front of the roped hook that led to the other side of the wall.

"We're free now. We must move forward."

Tristan began to step towards Mavis as if to confront him about what just happened and how he is actually but Ash grabbed his arm.

"Let him be, he is probably just handling this differently. He must be feeling like it's his fault, give him some space." Ash whispered.