"Sa Machine Ailée" et autres histoires

[Sandentwins]

Ptites illustrations.

rnpcxundersleep.png

rnpcxbindingagreement.png

[mathieu proum]

Ptites illustrations.

rnpcxundersleep.png

rnpcxbindingagreement.png

Pas mal les illustrations...

[Estebanlover]

T’es histoire sont géniales !, mais poura tu refaire des fanfiction en français s’il te plaît, je ne suis pas très fort en anglais

[Estebanlover]

Ps: j’ai adorer ta fanfiction salamandre, personnellement je trouve l’idée d’un couple a trois esteziatao géniale ! Merci de m’avoir permis d’imaginer ça! Continu sur la voie des fanfiction (mais en bon French please)

[Sandentwins]

T’es histoire sont géniales !, mais pour a tu refaire des fanfiction en français s’il te plaît, je ne suis pas très fort en anglais

Par contre le truc c'est que j'ai plus beaucoup d'idées pour des fanfictions MCO, ou même de fanfictions tout court. En ce moment je travaille surtout sur de l'art que je peux pas montrer ici pour raisons évidentes. Donc je pense pas en refaire, sauf en cas d'éclair d'illumination.

[Sandentwins]

Bon allez, je poste la dernière.

Wishing Upon a Meteor Shower

Chapter 1: To the Unknown and Back

The dream always goes the same way.

There's fire. Fire and heat everywhere, and this blinding light that makes it impossible to feel for anything. Esteban is trying to combat it, to fight back against the heaviness of his body, to reach something he knows could help them- but he can barely move, his feet are stuck to the ground, everything is going too fast, and the searing heat is just unbearable. He hears Zia shouting, calling for him, but he can't make out her words. In the middle of all this chaos, only one thing is clear.

They're both going to die.

It's all going too fast. Raising his head, he can see stars, shooting by like silver trails as the light of the sun overshadows them. It's burning, it's breaking away at everything, and the fabric of reality itself is shattering under the force of this solar flare that will engulf everything in a matter of seconds. He manages to reach for Zia, and she embraces him tight, for she too knows what is about to happen.

And then, in the middle of all of the noise and light, someone reaches for him.

Esteban woke up, hands grasping at the silken sheets with unusually sweaty palms. His heartbeat was quick, quicker than it had been at all these past few months. He had to actively take a moment to ground himself, to remind himself of where he was, and to bring himself back to reality.

It was just a nightmare. One that was starting to grow familiar, yet a nightmare nonetheless. Slowly, he let awareness wash over him like the tide, breathed out a sigh, and sat up in bed.

Around him, the bedroom hadn't changed, still decorated lavishly with golden ornaments and sun-shaped motifs. The various orichalcum appliances let out the slightest of rumbles, one that was familiar by now, and the bedsheets his feet had gotten tangled up in still emitted the same warm glow. Everything was normal, and he had nothing to fear. Finding no use to staying in bed any longer, he stood up, put on his clothes, and held onto his medallion as to will himself out of the room.

I must go to Zia.

Light engulfed him, and the familiar sensation of weightlessness carried him for a second. Then his feet touched the ground again, and the warmth of the sun's light welcomed him. The sound of water falling around them was the first thing he noticed, before he even realized where they were.

This was one of the terraces in the upper towers of Ophir, closest to the ever-blue sky and with an impressive view of the cloudy sea below. Staying clear off the edge, Esteban stepped forth until he got to meet with Zia, who was currently busy with the usual machinery.

He didn't even need to announce himself. The moment he stepped closer, she opened her eyes and looked up from her lounging chair, barely surprised to see him here.

“I thought you'd wake up sooner.”

“I wish I'd have.”

She handed him the mechanical cube she's been holding, but he turned it down, preferring to let the sun's rays hit him instead. He sat down on a chair next to her, and felt energy course through his body wherever light happened to hit his skin.

“Another nightmare?”, Zia asked.

“The same as always. I’m starting to grow tired of it.”

Esteban closed his eyes for a moment, enjoying his morning energy replenish, but opened them again after a moment to gaze at the azure sky. All around them, the sounds of falling water made the rest of the world a little hard to hear, but it didn't impede on their conversation.

“I bet they're still not back?”, he asked after a moment, his tone filled with ironic hope.

“Obviously not. I don't think they ever will.”

“Not even to wish us a happy anniversary?”

Esteban looked at his bare arm, which had become well-tanned from constant sun exposure. Yet as if painted on his skin, a few lines had remained pale and contrasting, tracing odd square spirals all over his arm that he knew extended further onto his whole body.

It's only been three years, yet the changes were showing so quickly.

“Don't be so silly.”, Zia said, looking at her own patterns in turn as if by mimicry. “The Princess has better things to do than wish us a happy anniversary.”

“Well, I sure wonder what'd be more important than us! Especially when they were so eager to meet us and everything.”

He stretched his arms a little, letting the sun hit more of his skin. Already, the remnants of his morning fatigue were slipping away, and every bit of hunger he could still feel was being sated just by sitting here.

“I mean, it's not that I'm not happy exploring the Flipside or anything. But isn't it about time they gave us some more direction?”

“And pass on this golden opportunity to give us complete freedom? As if.”

Zia put down the cube between them. Even from there, Esteban could feel the heat it emitted; Zia has always been more attuned to the energy of volcanoes than that of the sun, and preferred feeding on these tiny reactors. So why she was choosing so spend her days in the City over the river puzzled him.

“I suppose...it's just lonely.”, Esteban said after a moment. “There's only so much the two of us can do.”

“I know what you feel.”

The both of them looked out at the horizon, where they could see other shapes and towers of gold peeking from the sea of clouds. A world so strange, so unknown, only wanting to be explored...and yet, this vastness was also frightening. Like an ocean they had the freedom and leisure to cross, with no idea as to what would be on the other side.

For years, the two of them had been with their friends. Searching for the Cities of Gold, following clue after clue on a trail left for them. A quest to find all six Cities already existing in the world, and unite them as to build the seventh and stop a great cataclysm from happening again. And together, they've saved the world.

And now, it was just the two of them. Alone with their eternal reward, with all the answers to their burning questions right in reach, but without any trail to follow or guide to help them. And most of all, the people that they had wanted to meet and get answers from, had disappeared and not come back since.

They literally were the only two people in this whole wide world, surrounded by all the Cities of Gold they've ever explored.

“Do you think it's another riddle?”, Esteban asked hopefully. “Or...maybe something has happened to them?”

“I don't think so. The Princess would not have done that to us. And if it were a puzzle to solve, or some kind of hide-and-seek...she'd have given us a heads-up at the very least, wouldn't you think?”

“It's been three years! We've barely gotten to spend a month with them! I tell you, either they've abandoned us, either something's happened to them.”

“Why are you only worrying now, then?”

In all honesty, Esteban had worried at the start too. The last time he's seen Princess Rana'Ori and her nacaals, they've spoken of something grand that would take place soon. By the next morning, they were all gone, and the two of them had waited obediently, kept busy with research and other exploration opportunities. The topic had come up now and then, but never enough to truly make them worry. There was no reason Esteban should keep worrying now.

Except that now...the nightmares had taken a hold of his sleep. Recurring, vivid, almost like premonitions. And not even the seven Cities of Gold reunited could answer Esteban's burning questions.

“...I guess it's better late than never.”, he simply said. “Besides, I have some questions for the Princess.”

“Mhm...I can't blame you there. There are so many things I had wanted to discuss with her...”

“It's pretty irresponsible of them to leave kids without supervision, too!”

“Oh, come on. You of all people, saying that?”

She chuckled, and Esteban looked away, knowing he wasn't serious either. They've never needed supervision, and they weren't quite kids anymore either. In all the time spent here, they were both reaching the cusp of adulthood. What an odd surprise it had been for Esteban, to glance at his reflection in the mirror polish of some orichalcum surface and notice just how his face had changed in so short a time. And what an odd surprise it had been to see that Zia had also changed, that she no longer was the scared little girl he's met aboard the Esperanza. How long ago this all seemed!

How he missed these times. How he missed his friends...

“Well, it still wasn't the best move on their part.”, Esteban shrugged. “We've barely even had time to get a grasp on everything!”

“We've eventually figured it out.”

She picked back the cube, and in a flash of light, disappeared. Esteban showed no surprise, and just waited for a few seconds before Zia reappeared on her seat, now empty-handed.

“I have to admit, that part's taken me a while.”, Esteban commented. “Getting the coordinates right is tricky.”

“Speak for yourself. You just go wherever I go, anyway.”

“Oh, hey, we can't all have hyperspatial awareness here! All this dimensional stuff is making my head spin. If Tao were here...”

And his voice trailed off. Zia didn't even keep smiling, for she knew exactly what he meant.

Perhaps more than guidance or company, this was what they missed the most. They've always been a trio, a group facing all sorts of odds together; to be missing one third of their team weighed heavily on them. More than once had Esteban gotten annoyed at Tao's displays of knowledge and facts; but now that their only seeming goal was the exploration of the Cities, how he could use his old friend's insight and help! Had Tao been here, learning to read the language of Mu would have been a much easier task, and opened so many doors.

And even besides that, it just wasn't the same. Without their friend, things just felt...oddly silent. There were times where Esteban had wanted to be alone with Zia, away from Tao's babbles and the sailors' presence; but now, it only felt like crushing loneliness.

The kind that couldn't be overcome.

“I wonder how he's doing.”, said Zia, as if understanding his thoughts. “If he got successful with his idea of founding a new order.”

“Mendoza and the others, too...”

“It's kind of sad how everyone had to part like this.”

What journeys have they gotten to, by now? Had Sancho and Pedro successfully opened their tavern in Zimbabwe, and started a family of their own? Had Mendoza and Laguerra done the same? Was Gaspard really still with them? And what about Ambrosius, and his father, and everyone else in the Order of the Hourglass? How Esteban wished he had the means to know!

“It's miserable, you mean.”, he sighed. “I wish we could see them, just once...”

“Well...what if we could? The energy doors are still open.”

“But there's no guarantee of where everyone has gone. And we were clearly told that we should wait here.”

Zia huffed, remembering the words of the nacaals, spoken just a few days after the two's arrival in the Flipside.

“To travel in and out of this realm can be dangerous. For your own safety, you must wait until we've secured a better way of crossing through.”

“...what did they even mean?”, Esteban asked. “We've crossed through these doors before, and arrived right where we needed to go. What dangers could there be?”

“Perhaps...if we do it too often, we might suffer from spatial displacement, or something?”

“Do you remember how we've built Aegis? We've used energy doors for months. So have a lot of people, and nothing bad has ever come of it.”

“Yes, I remember how we've built the Shield.”

She cast him a sideways glare, to which all he could do was roll his eyes. In all the precipitation, it's completely slipped their minds to officially name the seventh City of Gold, and that poor skeletal tower had remained nameless since, for the last two people in its realm could not agree on a name for it. It had almost become a joke between the two of them, even though Esteban knew in his heart that his name idea was the best out of the two.

“Anyway...we could try, then?”, he continued. “Peek through one of the doors, and come back.”

“But which one? Imagine we can't go back.”

“If we have the Double Medallion with us, it should be a breeze.”

And Esteban poked the ornament pinned on his tunic.

What an odd idea that to split what was meant to gather two parts of a whole. But it simply seemed like the best solution: along with their own medallions, each of them would carry one half of the Royal Medallion of the Kings of Mu, if only for convenience. Its powers would only work when the whole medallion was complete, the same way many doors would only open for the two of them at once. They were long used to it, but it gave them some safety to know they could split apart and yet be reunited if they needed to be. Besides, it made it easier to track each other, and Esteban had a hunch it also helped them transport to one another more easily.

“Alright, let's say I agree with your plan.”, Zia said, in a voice that meant she did not agree at all. “Which door should we take? We've only ever found two in the world, and we've got no clue of where the others might lead.”

Esteban thought for a moment.

“Shouldn't there be some map? These doors have been made by the people of Mu. Their knowledge is stored here, after all.”

And he gestured to the horizon, in the vague direction of the other Cities.

“They've had to establish which door goes where at some point. Surely if we look, we'd find what we need!”

“A map of hyperspatial networks...but where would that be found?”

Esteban closed his eyes, and thought back on his self-taught lessons.

“Let's see. Traveling between dimensions...this is obviously a technological feat, so it would fall under the Circle of Gold. But everything related to travel and logistics falls under the Circle of Ways. So while the doors themselves could have been constructed in Badalom, the connections between them would have been overseen by the Circle of Ways, meaning that any records of it are kept in Sundagatt.”

He opened them again.

“I'm sure that if we were to search the archives, we'd find that map.”

“And you managed to remember all of that? I'm impressed!”

Zia chuckled, and Esteban shrugged. Stuck with nothing else to do, even he would be interested in learning the political system of Mu and how its ministries related to the different Cities.

In the past, they've never gotten to spend more than a couple hours in every City they've visited. And now that time was all that they had, they could afford to freely roam without any risk of collapse or sudden closing. All the treasures, the documents, the records and machines were theirs to freely see, read, play with and use as they pleased.

Zia stood up, and thought for a moment, before disappearing in a flash of light. A few seconds later, Esteban followed, and the two of them found themselves in the entrance hall of what was once the Japanese City of Gold. They stepped through the wall of water, and once more, the statue of the lady with the sea dragon greeted them with its beautiful craft.

“I wonder what's become of the Thallios.”, Esteban pondered, looking behind him as they walked. “Last time we've seen it, it seemed to be going somewhere on its own...but it never reappeared here.”

“I think there's questions even the Cities cannot answer.”

A small price to pay, if it meant having all sorts of other questions answered.

They knew the way by heart, by now. Heading down into the main auditorium, they passed a few halls to make their way into the City's archive room, containing rows of shelves decorated with sea dragons and other depictions of marine life. As Sundagatt was associated with the ministry of travel and commerce, everything kept here was of relevance to that field: maps, records of transactions, administrative documents full of jargon that neither of them could understand. Why this City was also the one where students would come learn the ways of mageia kind of evaded Esteban, but he figured that it had something to do with keeping up Mu's image as that of powerful mindbenders. The Circle of Ways also handled foreign relationships, after all, and it helped a country's credibility to have a population of strong magic users. At least, that was how it made sense to him.

Zia splayed out a few maps of the world on a worktable, examining them. They showed various travel routes, spots of interest, resource deposits and detailed cartography elements that Spanish sailors would have killed to get. With information like this, sailing around the world would be a breeze. Esteban briefly wondered what Mendoza would have done with such maps at his disposal, but he knew by now that it was useless to ask questions he'd never get the answer to.

On one of the walls, hung up in a glorious display, a huge map of the world listed detailed topography elements. It was very similar to maps Esteban had seen, with a notable exception: in both the Pacific and the Atlantic oceans, an extra continent was visible. They both had mountains, rivers, lakes, seas and islands, and should he not know better, he could have sworn the world had always looked this way.

Yet it had, at one point. Two continents had once stood on this Earth, before disappearing almost overnight in a great cataclysm. The solar weapons destroyed both Mu and Atlantis, and both sunk down into the ocean, never to reappear again. Such was what the legends told.

All over that giant map were little dots of light. Esteban recognized seven of them that each corresponded to a City of Gold, but the others made little sense to him. Some roughly matched with meaningful sites they've seen on their quest for the Cities, but some didn't. Many were placed in countries he's never been to, or even heard of; not that the map told any of their names. It was the most important display in this room, yet there was no legend, no title, nothing to help him know what these dots were about.

“I think I found it!”

Esteban snapped back to reality, watching Zia lay down a scroll on a table.

“So? Does it say anything about the other doors?”

“Well...not exactly, no. At least, not in terms I can parse.”

Esteban looked over her shoulder. Those were indeed depictions of the orichalcum gates that they've seen in the Transportation Ziggurat; and next to them, seven entries that could well correspond to seven doors. Yet no indication of which door led where, or how they linked together, if they even did.

“Let's take this one step at a time.”, she said, thinking. “We know the gates between Chambord and Zimbabwe have always been linked. Whenever we opened them from either side, we knew where we'd end up.”

“I recall hearing that the gate in Chambord was actually brought back from another place...yes, this was how the Queen of Sheba and King Solomon could keep in touch, or something like that.”

“Do you think their two gates have been locked in a way where they'd only ever link to one another?”

“It's a possibility.”

Esteban looked at other entries in the list. Numbers, no place names or whatever. He looked up at the huge map on display, and tried to remember what cartography lessons he's received from Mendoza.

“If these are coordinates, we could match them to places on Earth...”

He tried to mentally estimate where the first gate on the list would be, but his calculations ended up in the middle of the ocean. Was he that far off? Or perhaps...

“...but those are Muan coordinates, not European. Perhaps they used a whole other system of measurements!”

“It would make sense.”

Zia thought.

“Leaping into a gate at random would be too dangerous. It's best we stick to what we know.”

“That leaves us with two destinations, then. And we're kind of banned from one of them.”

“We are. But...this is also the location of a City of Gold. Should things not go our way, we could use the Shield to return to the Flipside.”

“Can Aegis even do that? It has withdrawn.”

“We'll just summon the Shield once more, and have it withdraw while we're inside. This shouldn't take long.”

Right. This would be fine. Looking once more at the map, Esteban spotted the glowing dot in the middle of France, and nodded to himself.

“Do we bring anything with us? Maybe a reconciliation gift?”

“We've saved the world from a catastrophe. I'm sure they'll be thankful to see us again.”

Zia put the list back in its place.

“Besides, perhaps some members of the Order would know where Tao has gone. They could well have kept in touch over the years!”

“Perhaps my father would know.”

It was decided, then. The two of them held hands, and in a flash of light, found themselves atop the Transportation Ziggurat. Where all seven gates were open, waiting to be explored. Zia looked around, until she found the one that led right to Chambord.

And yet, instead of stepping through, she hesitated.

“...the princess has told us to wait for her. What if we're disobeying some important order?”

“Well, she's not here to say so. And if we do run into her...”

Esteban shrugged.

“...we could always guilt her for abandoning us?”

“Oh, you've got no consideration.”

“Well, neither has she!”

He huffed, and they both looked away for a moment. There were more pressing matters at hand.

Slowly, Zia stepped up the orichalcum steps, and Esteban followed. Their hands found a way together, and they both took a deep breath. Then, with one last moment of determination, they stepped together into the golden void.

This time, they did not look back.

~~~~~

“Scouting patrol reporting for duty, sir.”

“Well, then? What have you found?”

“Unlike the last few destinations, this one appears promising. Oxygen levels are enough to sustain life, and there is an abundance of water that, while not safe for consumption for most Clans, could be of use to our energy production. Moreover, the sun's light in this world is much stronger than in our own.”

“Very interesting, indeed.”

“However, sir, there is the matter of creatures currently occupying this land. We've scouted many continents and found them scattered about.”

“What kind of creatures?”

“They...it will sound strange, but they...resemble us.”

“What? This is impossible. If any of our people had already entered this realm, you of all should be able to tell!”

“I believe it is merely a coincidence, sir. We have tried approaching a few of them, but they grew frightened. I do not believe they have the ability to understand speech, nor the capacity to fight back.”

“Hm. This complicates our plans somewhat.”

“Should we move on to the next coordinates?”

“Not yet. If this place can sustain animal life, then it might be more viable than we've thought. Return there at once, and bring back samples of soil, water and sunlight. We could make something out of this location, but we might need to metastasize first.”

“Right on it, sir.”

The three scouts equipped their masks, spread out their wings, and disappeared once more into the golden void. The commander watched them leave, pensive for a moment, before turning to his assistant.

“Send a message to the Circle of Land. If there are resources to find here, we will need an outpost. A large one.”

The assistant nodded, before slithering away.

meteorshower.png

[Sandentwins]

Chapter 2: Something Transformed, Something Blue

At last, their feet touched ground again.

It didn't feel as if anything had changed, really. Esteban thought he would have been surprised by the difference in temperature or air quality, but he didn't find anything to be bothered about. Even the room was silent; it was the treasure room in Chambord, the same place they've first found this gate in. At least, they've made it to the right destination.

“What are we going to tell them?”, he asked after a moment. “Will they chase us?”

“I don't think they would.”

Behind them, the gate was still closed, due to no medallions powering it. If needed, they had both their own as well as Rana'Ori's with them, so it wouldn't be an issue. Zia took a look around the room, at the various statues and artifacts and random treasures, before quickly losing interest in all these stolen heirlooms.

“It feels quite silent in here. I don't think they've expected us to come back.”

“This wouldn't be surprising.”

Peeking out of the hall, they saw no one. Their footsteps echoed around the large halls, without they could hear any in return.

“Last we've checked, the King had ordered Chambord to be evacuated. Perhaps it was left vacant ever since?”

Esteban opened a random door, and found nothing there save for some empty tables and chairs. He wouldn't have thought twice of it, but he noticed the plates and cutlery still laid on the table as if waiting for a meal.

“They've left in a hurry.”, he commented.

They kept going. In various places where the foundations of the seventh City had once stood, nothing remained to tell of their presence. Zia touched to a part of the wall that she clearly remembered an orichalcum pillar passing through, and found no dent or trace of its existence. As if nothing had happened at all.

The more halls they passed, the more doors they opened, the more emptiness they found. It was as if everything had been vacated; yet the furniture, the papers, everything was still there. Nothing seemed to have been moved or taken, which was all the more worrisome.

The laboratory was especially silent. On the central table, remains of experiments were still strewn about, as if whatever the alchemists had been doing was suddenly paused. This wasn't surprising by now...but that's when Zia saw something move.

Right here on the table, was a phyto-accelerator bell.

“Where did they get this?”

She came closer, watching the plant inside withering to ash. Those were the same glass bells they've found in the Sleeping Garden, back in China; she's heard that the Order had been working on copying that technology, though with meager results. Had the Chambord branch somehow procured one? After a while, the plant inside started to sprout again, and slowly grew to a reasonable size, at which point Zia opened the dome to pause the process.

“What...is this?”

This wasn't a plant she knew. It was entirely blue, from the stem to the leaves, and she saw that the latter bore strange spiral patterns. Looking around the desk, she found a paper bearing a sketch of it, and quickly read through the accompanying notes.

Her blood ran cold.

“There is no telling what causes this contamination. Crops, ornamental plants, orchard trees and wild plants are all susceptible to developing it. While they do not pose immediate risks to human health, their consumption is still too risky. Further tests needed.”

“While the infection has been contained for the most part, rainwater and airborne pollens still present a risk of spreading it. Even the trees that had been culled managed to grow back from their roots. The orchard has been moved to a quarantined area indoors.”

Meanwhile, Esteban made his way down the double-helix staircase, and found no one there. Outside, he could see the construction of the rampart wall, which didn't seem to have progressed whatsoever. Quirking a brow, he made his way down, towards the court.

“Feeding afflicted cattle with contaminated plants seems to improve their health. However, we've observed strange changes in behavior as well as appearance. Something in these plants is affecting them, but they will accept no other food now. We will keep some specimens for monitoring, but they are to be put down as soon as they become aggressive towards humans.”

“What untouched meat remains is to be kept for human consumption, so the hunting dogs had to eat that contaminated pig's meat. As we've expected, the infection is making its way up the food chain. The dogs remain docile even after showing obvious symptoms of contamination; however, they will not listen to the huntsmaster anymore. They will only take orders from the scullery maid of all people. When questioned, she said that 'they just listen, and so do I'.”

The air outside was warm, very warm. The sky showed a shade of azure that he was familiar with by now. The air smelled different from what he remembered. He looked around to have a better view of the castle, and found that it had been taken over by what looked like ivy over a whole section. Even the grass beneath his feet didn't look like what he recalled grass to be like. Everything seemed...different, in a manner he couldn't place. Yet he had a feeling it was linked to why this castle had been vacated.

“The hoarding of uncontaminated meat and crops had created a food shortage in some areas, especially those of lower socio-economical status. It was only inevitable that people would take to tainted foods to survive. Even among the remaining staff at Chambord, some have admitted to eating the purple meat they've been ordered to throw out. We know that animals that have fallen sick due to the airborne contamination have gotten healthier after consuming blue plants; current expectations state that this might hold true in humans as well.”

Esteban took a few steps around the court. This was where the Gate of the Ancients had once stood, where their construction project had been going on for months. Turning a corner, he saw a dark shape against a wall, and his heart skipped a beat: there was someone! Quickly, he hurried their way, but came to a stop once he realized that they were not moving at all.

“This makes no sense! Why are the effects so random? Some people have only gotten sicker from eating strange-colored foods, while some have gotten healthier. There is no way to know what could be the cause of it, and no one dares running controlled tests. Not when lives are at stake. So far, all we know is that eating those plants and meat can either boost someone's health, or kill them slowly. It is a gamble every single time, and I dread for the day it happens to us.”

No pulse. Esteban sighed in dejection, standing up, watching the man's corpse left to rot in the shadow of a wall. Why did no one notice him? He looked over, heading further towards the back, and an odd smell hit his nose: rotting meat. Already he dreaded what he would find, should he turn that other corner and lay his eyes upon what he knew would be a sordid scene.

“Autopsy reveals symptoms of poisoning in all deceased victims. The contamination is both a poison and a medicine, yet so far there is no indication of the effects it might have on an uncontaminated person. Acclimation is suggested, and the five of us have started consuming very small doses of contaminated plant every day while carefully monitoring all possible signs of poisoning. My current hypothesis is that sudden introduction of the contamination to an otherwise healthy body might induce shock, resulting in complications and death.”

They were everywhere. Flapping about, pecking at the remains of what was obviously a human body, tearing meat apart with their sharp beaks. Esteban stepped forward, ready to chase these birds away, but they turned to him and stared at him with empty blue eyes. He stopped right in his tracks, unable to move any further, and the ravens resumed their work. Their feathers had markings that Esteban had never seen, and they seemed way bigger than what he remembered ravens to be.

They had all moved at the same time. They've moved so clearly that he could almost have heard them say in a clear voice: 'Go away'. But...this was senseless, wasn't it? Feeling he would not be able to do anything, he turned around and left, trying to forget the gruesome vision of these birds' feast.

“Nostradamus has gone mad, even more than usual. He's locked himself in his den and keeps rambling to himself. I hope he's not up to anything dangerous. The castle is relatively safe from outside influence, but we will have to leave soon. Athanaos says”

Zia's reading was suddenly interrupted by a loud noise. It came right from above, as if something had bumped into the attic. She hesitated between fear and hope, but knowing what she had just read, she chose the latter.

Quickly, she hurried upstairs, until she found the door she was looking for. She pressed an ear against it, and indeed, she could hear something moving on the other side. Was it a beast? Or...someone? She hesitated, before raising her knuckles to the door; but before she could even knock, a voice came from within.

“Come in.”

A voice that she knew. Wasting no time, she opened it, and the sheer darkness of the room felt like walking into an abysmal void.

There was someone indeed, sitting on the ground among what Zia made out to be papers and scribbles. She did not quite recognize him at first, for he did not wear the familiar robe; but once he stood up, she could make out his blond hair, and a wave of familiarity washed over her.

“Nostradamus...!”

She stepped closer into the darkness, but found her feet didn't quite obey her. For once his face got into the light, she saw something that shouldn't have been there.

He looked oddly pale. Heavy bags circled his eyes, eyes that were so bright that it felt like gazing into the noon sky. Yet as he looked at her, she could tell he wasn't really seeing her; silently, she stepped aside, and it took him a moment to turn in her direction again.

“What...happened to you?”, she asked. “You look sick...”

“You already know why.”

She did. The notes founds in the laboratory were quite clear on the blight that seemed to have spread throughout the kingdom. But to see it in action...truly was something else.

“I'm sorry if I keep my distances.”, Nostradamus said, feeling his way around for a seat. “I don't feel exactly too well, even after all this time. You'll find candles on the mantlepiece, but I'll ask you to close the door. That light just hurts my eyes...”

Yet that light was very dim, being in a windowless part of the castle. However, Zia did as told, and lit up a few candles before closing the door.

It was already messy before, but now it truly could be called a “den”. Sheets have been draped all over the walls, especially around the windows, plunging the room in darkness. There was odd, slightly phosphorescent moss growing on the stone, and papers were strewn about like straw in a chicken coop. It smelled extremely strange, and it felt to Zia like this poor man hadn't left the room in years.

As she sat in front of him, she could see him a little better under the candlelight. His hair had grown to an unkempt length, and his eyebags actually looked closer to markings. She slowly waved a hand in front of his face, yet he showed no reaction.

“Of course I have.”, he replied, even though she hadn't said anything. “Out of all the alchemists, I was perhaps the most affected.”

Zia blinked. How did he know what she was going to ask?

“Have you been...staying here the whole time?”

“The outside world would not have welcomed me. Besides...it isn't so unpleasant, to have some time to myself at last.”

He chuckled, in his usual cheery manner. Yet Zia didn't have it in her heart to smile.

“Nostradamus, the alchemists' reports all talk of a 'contamination'... What exactly happened after Esteban and I left? Everything now seems so empty...and all this talk of plants and animals being affected, and people dying...”

“None of us could have known, I am afraid. In fact...it took me months to uncover the reasons.”

He looked up, as if trying to reminisce.

“I'm not sure of when it started. A few months after your departure, we've received worrying reports from Paris. People all over the kingdom had found their crops and cattle afflicted with something unknown. We've taken to study these phenomena, but unfortunately, we weren't spared from them either.”

“What exactly is it? Some kind of germ?”

“No, it goes beyond that. It's something that is carried in rainwater and wind, perhaps in the air itself. It is both high in the clouds, and deep underground. Healthy seeds planted in the soil will grow up to be these strange, unknown plants.”

“I've never seen a plant like this one. It's...all blue.”

“Some have shown even stranger colors. People call it a contamination, but I see it for what it is...a transformation. Everything is changing, from water and air, to plants, to animals...and eventually, to people.”

It made no sense. It seemed so hard to believe. And yet…

“How do you feel?”, she asked. “Did you get sick from it?”

“For a little while. But then...everything started to become clearer. I could not predict what was going to happen, and yet at the same time, I was...seeing things. The visions were becoming clearer, every day, but no one wanted to believe me.”

Nostradamus stood up, and felt his way around until he reached a shelf.

“Did you lose your sight from this...change?”, Zia asked.

“My eyes are not what they used to be. But I won't need them anymore. Not when I see so clearly!”

And he produced a mass of scribbled papers that he put in front of Zia.

“I saw you coming here. I saw you finding out the truth. And I saw you could use these dreams of mine.”

Zia took one of the parchments, and tried to read it by candlelight. Nostradamus' signature chicken-scratch was very hard to make out, especially when it seemed to have obviously been written after he went blind, judging by all the overlapping. But then, Nostradamus did something strange, and gently put his hands on her shoulders.

Immediately, it all appeared to Zia. Not the words and their letters, but something even brighter. It was as if visions were taking directly over her mind, and as she read the mangled paragraphs of text, she could see images shaping themselves in her head like a vivid dream.

First will come the air, then the water, then the flora, then the fauna. Painted by color no Earthly eye has ever seen, they will make their way to the mind of those born from the mud. They will awaken the blood of the Ancients in those worthy of it. They will shape the world into one worthy of the Ancients. Waiting, slumbering, patiently counting the hours, we are on our way.

Zia blinked, feeling the beginnings of a headache take root. What...was that?

“Was that a vision?”

“I had it a long time ago. I thought you would be interested to see it.”

“How...how did you do that?”

And then, she looked down at the parchment again.

“Awaken the blood of the Ancients...wait. Wait, you don't mean-?”

“This is what I believe is happening, indeed.”

He looked at her again with his bright eyes.

“The stars do not lie. In the darkness, I can still see their light. And in them, I have seen revelations of the past and future. I have seen...dreadful things.”

“What? What kind of things?”

But Nostradamus shook his head. Instead of replying, he picked another sheet of parchment from the pile, and this time Zia could read it on her own.

She whose throne was built on lies rests where it all began.

She had no idea what it meant, and yet, she could feel it was important. More importantly, right below that phrase were a series of numbers arranged in a grid-like pattern. Could they be...coordinates?

“I was made out to be a madman.”, Nostradamus said in a soft voice. “Whatever I say might not convince you. You have to seek the truth from the source of it.”

Zia hesitated, before pocketing the parchment.

“You're coming with us.”, she said. “You can't stay alone while everyone else has left.”

“I can just fine. That's the strange part of it all!”

He chuckled, though not without a bit of irony.

“You are of those that thrive in the heat of the land. Esteban thrives in the light of the sun. I thrive in the darkness of lonely, starlit nights. I can stay here for as long as I please.”

“What does that even...”

She couldn't finish that sentence, for her own body betrayed her: her stomach growled, in a way it hasn't in three whole years.

“...wow. That feels strange.”

“In your current state, you will not be harmed by eating changed foods. There might be samples in the laboratory. I suggest you go find Esteban, for he's experiencing the same symptoms.”

Esteban! In all of the mess, she's forgotten about him.

“But...I still have so many questions! What about the alchemists? And Athanaos? And...and Tao?? Have you got any idea of where he is?”

Nostradamus thought for a moment.

“Athanaos and the alchemists have left with everyone else, trying to flee the oncoming blight. They have not deemed it necessary to check in on me. As for Tao...I cannot guarantee anything, but I will look to the stars to see his fate.”

This wasn't a pleasant answer, and Zia growled slightly. But she knew there was nothing else she could do about it.

“Just what is even going on? Just as we've saved the world, something else comes to ruin everything...”

“Perhaps the two are linked in ways you cannot yet see.”

“What about you? Can you see them?”

“I can.”

He smiled at her.

“But there are better voices than mine to hear of it.”

“You know, after three years...hearing a voice at all feels strangely good.”

She sighed.

“Are you sure you don't want to come?”

“I'm sure, Zia. I'm right where I want to be. But there are many whose fate hasn't been so kind with them. You have to seek them out, and help them so they can help you.”

He stood up, and faced her again.

“There is so much more to eternity than what you can see. Explore all the possibilities, both those that could have been and those that never will be. In the cradle of clans beyond the mirror, all dimensions come to meet. So go, and meet them in turn.”

And with that, he blew out the candles, leaving them in darkness.

Outside the room, hurried footsteps could be heard climbing the staircase. Finding nothing else to say, Zia came to meet them.

“You won't believe this!”, Esteban said, out of breath. “The birds...and the trees, outside, they're all...”

“Changed.”, she completed. “I'll explain what I've learned, but I must warn you: it's not a pleasant tale.”

And she walked alongside him, back down into the laboratory. Esteban glanced behind at the door she came out of.

“What were you doing in Nostradamus' room? Did you find anything?”

“...no. There was nothing in it.”

She didn't know why she said that. But she knew how sensitive Esteban could get, so perhaps she could spare him the truth.

There were better voices than hers to hear it.

~~~~~

“So? How is it looking so far?”

“Remarkable. Samples have shown promising data, so we're being given the go to build an outpost and conduct further survey. Just by being there, we've amassed plenty of sunlight for our generators, so power will not be an issue.”

“What about the local fauna? Any troubles?”

“They seem afraid of us. We've brought an Arcadian with us to rein them in, but her mageia did not resonate with these animals.”

“You should have picked someone with more skill.”

“No, that's not it. She said that while she could get a grasp on the creatures of this realm, this one species evaded her. Their minds were too advanced to be resonated with.”

“Animals with advanced minds? Now this looks most curious...and I was told they also resemble us.”

“Should I capture a few for study?”

“I see no harm in it. Make sure they are alive. Paralyze them if needed.”

“Understood.”

The scout's hands shone with blue light as they prepared to enter the portal once again. With one last breath, they leaped right in, fearless as ever.

“There is no way that intelligent lifeforms exist outside of our own...”, the commander spoke to himself. “But then again, if there is an infinity of dimensions...there also is an infinity of possibilities.”

He frowned, but said nothing else, and returned to his duties.

[Sandentwins]

Chapter 3: Storm of the Morning Star

“I don't get it.”

Esteban spun around in his seat once more, looking at the ceiling.

“She whose throne was built on lies? What does that even mean?”

Zia sighed, as she had a feeling she already knew the answer.

“Well...the throne part means we're dealing with a royal, or someone of status. And the 'she' can only refer to one person, if we're being honest.”

She glanced at him.

“Which she hasn't been, by the way.”

“What, royal?”

“No, honest. I have a feeling Rana'Ori hasn't told us the whole truth.”

Esteban didn't look so convinced.

“If her throne is built on lies...that means more than just 'not telling the whole truth'. That'd mean she's lied about a lot of things, not just hidden the truth.”

“Either way, there's no big mystery here.”

She looked at the parchment again.

“But 'where it all began' just puzzles me. Is it a literal place? Or is it more metaphorical?”

“Assuming it is a place, it can be anything! Where...our adventures began? Where we first met? Where the world began? How should we interpret this?”

“There's what could be coordinates, too, but...they just puzzle me. They don't look like anything I know of.”

Esteban sighed.

“If Tao were here...he'd solve this in an instant.”

“We could indeed use his knowledge, but where is he? We have no way of finding him.”

But Zia thought some more.

“He did say he was headed to Patiala...we could try going there.”

“How? There's no energy door that leads to it.”

“No need. If I remember correctly, the Snow Dwelling reaches into India as well. We could enter it through the City!”

Esteban looked at her with wide eyes.

“You want to...open a City of Gold from the Flipside?”

“And why not? Nothing says we can't do it.”

“I don't know...this sounds very risky. What if something goes wrong?”

“Then we'll flip it back through. We've managed to return from Chambord, so transdimensional leaping can be done in case of emergency.”

Esteban didn't seem to believe it, and yet, he appeared thoughtful.

“It's still a long way from Tibet to India. Not to mention, we'd be stranded in the middle of the cold mountains...unless you feel like trudging through the snow for days on end.”

“You seem to have forgotten something.”

And she teleported away, Esteban following a few seconds later.

The familiar humming of vibra-crystal lattices welcomed him, as orichalcum parts were moving on their own all around.

“Badalom is a factory, Esteban! The Nest of the Golden Condor! We can just use one as our mode of transportation!”

Over there, Zia's latest construction project was taking shape: some random assembly of parts that seemed to only make sense to her. But all the other Condors were still neatly aligned in rows, fresh off the factory line and ready to take off.

“I don't know. The Condor wasn't suited for weather conditions like the ones we've encountered in the mountains. And even if we build one here, there's no telling whether we can take it out of the Flipside.”

He thought for a moment, before turning to one of the command consoles. Taking out his half of the Royal Medallion, he slotted it in, and all sorts of displays appeared to him without holding back. Having administrator privileges to all contents of the Cities had its advantages.

“What are you doing?”, Zia asked.

“If we are to travel the outside world, we'll need to take a few cautions. Which means we must secure a ride that checks requirements the Condor sadly doesn't.”

He could access the blueprints library from here, and select a new project to start on. But the sheer amount of models available was making his head spin: which one to pick? There were all sorts of vehicles, ships, aircrafts and miscellaneous carriers that he honestly didn't know where to start looking.

“Let's work by process of elimination.”, he said. “Seaborne vehicles won't be of use to us...ah, we can filter them by category. Let's see...”

“It doesn't have to be a flying machine.”, Zia said. “Going the land route might be safer.”

“Flying is still useful to cross large distances. Especially around mountain terrain. But...I wonder if there's some way we can have both.”

Zia put in her own Royal Medallion, and more options appeared. Notably, an option they've never seen before: Create New Model.

“...you're thinking what I'm thinking?”

“I believe so.”

Esteban eagerly pressed it.

“Let's see. It needs to be able to fly, but also traverse tricky terrain...should we opt for a large model?”

“The Condor's size is exactly what limits its autonomy time. Something smaller won't hurt for now.”

“A small bird, then. There's some pre-built shapes.”

“Hmm...who says it needs to be a bird?”

“Ah? You'd...like it to be a bat?”

“Here, let me try something.”

And she pressed some more inputs, building a basic 3D shape on the screen.

“Oh, that's...uhm, where are you going with this?”

“Just trust me! There, doesn't it look nice?”

“A quadrupedal build leaves no room for wings.”

“That's because you lack imagination!”

And she typed some more instructions.

“Orichalcum can do amazing things. Instead of having to choose between a flying vehicle and a running one...why not just make one that can switch between both?”

“Wait, it can do that?”

“The Solaris could switch between wind sails and solar sails. It uses something called a 'drive switch', which can be tuned to be any mode we can think of. If we correctly program our vehicle to have two different forms, we can switch between both at any time!”

“...is it limited to two?”

“What more would we need?”

“I'm just thinking that if we are to travel the world...we need to be prepared for any eventuality.”

And he took to another screen to start planning as well. Zia watched him do for a moment, before resuming programming.

Piece by piece, their exploration vehicle was taking form. A quadrupedal orichalcum beast reminiscent of a tiger, that could fold up its legs to reveal fast feathered wings. After some consideration, Esteban decided to implement a third mode, one borrowing some elements from the Thallios, that'd allow them to travel underwater. Which meant that they had to equip this thing with sufficient air reserves, or at least an oxygen recycler, and make it fully impermeable. Tricky, but not impossible, as always.

“All of this will be heavy on power usage. What should it run on? Solar?”

“It'll be unusable at night or during bad weather. What other options are there?”

“Well, submersible vehicles usually use osmosis batteries that draw from saltwater. There's also solar steam, but it would require maintaining a furnace, and take a lot of space.”

Esteban sighed. He glanced around in a fit of distraction, and the humming of the crystal lattices came to him again. He quirked a brow, wondering about that odd pattern in its drum-like sound.

“...I wonder where the Cities get their energy from.”, he mused. “Especially in the Flipside.”

“Well...they just work that way.”

“But how? Do they all work on sunlight? I know Ophir uses the power of the river, and Sundagatt likely uses that saltwater thing...but with all the things going on in them, it's a wonder none of them have had a power outage!”

“Perhaps there is something unique to the Flipside. The same energy that powers our own bodies.”

“I thought we just learned to do without food?”

“Yet during our excursion in Chambord...I felt hungry. For the first time in years. Something here is feeding us in the form of pure energy, in a way that would never have worked on Earth. We've been bathing in sunlight for all our lives, yet still needed to eat!”

Esteban thought.

“I don't know. And yet...it's true that a lot of artifacts we've seen sort of work on their own. Even after thousands of years.”

“How hard could it be to make a vehicle that works without any need for energy? Orichalcum should be able to pull it off...”

“Perhaps...if we installed something like the solar reactor in it?”

And he quickly added:

“A small one! We don't want any repeats of the Burning Shield.”

Zia quickly looked it up.

“It might actually be too powerful for a single vehicle. We'd fry its machinery.”

And then, as she scrolled through some items in a list, her eyes fell over a strange designation. Touching to the screen, she opened a file, and a familiar image appeared in front of them.

A Black Sun.

“...”

“...well, he did say they were energy sources-”

“I don't like this one second, Esteban. This is too dangerous.”

“We wouldn't be using it for anything bad! It would be well-contained.”

Esteban looked up some more data on it.

“It would need to be carefully handled...but it could work as an energy source, even without any sunlight. It's been done before.”

“What's next, you're going to suggest building a weapon for our vehicle?”

“I didn't say that!”

He huffed.

“Besides, I remember what happened to the Solaris. This time, there'll be no mistakes. We won't install any kind of power release of that sort, and we'll be safe.”

Zia looked away. Gently, Esteban touched to her arm.

“We've got to do this. We'll be looking for Tao, remember?”

She remembered, indeed. And she didn't like that he tugged at her heartstrings like that.

“...alright. But you'd better put safety checks in place.”

“Obviously.”

And the two of them resumed building.

It took them some time to get things right, to carefully place each and every piece, to plan accordingly so that the drives would switch seamlessly and the power supply wouldn't explode with them inside. But eventually, this brand new creation passed all required quality checks, and was ready to be made a reality. Esteban and Zia watched as orichalcum shaped itself into the right wedges, dowels and panels, and assembled itself as if by magic. From legs to head to tail, their perfect vehicle was taking form.

When everything was ready, Esteban and Zia brought the City back into Earth, forcing it to open from the Flipside with them inside. A risky operation, but one that worked. The warm azure sky left, and cold white air took its place; but as soon as they sat down in their craft, inserted the control key and powered it on for the first time, warmth came back to them like hope.

Three seats at the front, a bench at the back. Just like old times.

“Ready?”, Zia asked, hands on the controls.

Esteban took a deep breath, re-familiarizing himself with the feeling of being inside an orichalcum craft. Three long years since he's felt like this…

“Ready.”

He pulled a lever to activate the drive switch, and wings unfolded from the side, golden feathers spread out, and the displays turned a different color. The beast ran on all fours before leaping off, folding its legs back into its body, and starting its thrusters to bolt out into the sky.

As planned, the City of Gold closed behind them once they were a certain distance away from it, leaving no trace of its existence in this earthly realm. Zia checked the displayed map, and turned around to head west. She worried a little once they entered a more stormy area, but their craft was solid, and they barely even felt any change in flight.

This could work. This would work.

Under the rising mountain sun, the Chascowa beat its wings, and headed straight towards the horizon.

[Sandentwins]

Chapter 4: From Stardust to Bloodstream

“What do you think we'll find?”

Zia's voice came to Esteban like a sudden wake-up call from his contemplation.

“Oh...uh, well. If we find anything at all, it'll be a good start.”

“I hope the fort is still standing. If there really was a catastrophe, people would have taken refuge inside.”

“I wouldn't be so sure about that. It was in quite a mess when we've last seen it.”

And the world below was in no better condition.

As soon as the snowy peaks of Tibet had changed into warmer landscapes, the signs of contamination could already be seen. Under a hot sun and azure sky, green vegetation everywhere had been browning and withering; but in its stead, new plants have grown, speckling the land with seafoam green and teal blue. Some trees had managed to resist the unknown blight, and their colors and shapes were being changed too; as for what animals they could see below, they too were no longer of the old kind.

During a landing somewhere in the northern regions of India, Zia had tried to beckon a few goats closer so they could get something to eat. She's never had any issue with animals before; but where she once could guess the thoughts of a tiger or command a pack of mole rats around, she found these changed goats to respond differently. Their coats were bearing stripes and patterns that would not naturally occur, and their thoughts were...ordered. They were wild animals, but they came to her before she reached out to them, as if they could tell her intentions. The tricky part was to get them to be milked, for even if they seemed docile enough for wild animals, they were quite defensive, and did not hesitate to voice it with their oddly acute minds.

“It's very strange.”, Zia had commented, looking over the odd tint of the milk she's managed to obtain. “I've always managed to guide their thoughts where I wanted them...but it's like they were fighting back with me. Like they were arguing.”

“You did say that some animals are too aggressive to be reasoned with.”

“It's not that either. An aggressive animal will refuse to listen to me; it will not engage in mental conversation.”

She took a cautious sip. It was her first time drinking any milk in years, so she could not tell whether there were differences in taste from a normal goat's milk.

“Do you think that animals are getting...smarter, or something?”

“I wouldn't put it past all that 'contamination' business. I ran into crows back at Chambord...they seemed to be oddly organized. I could almost hear them in my head.”

Zia picked a few blades of grass by the Chascowa's leg, where they were sitting to eat. She's never recalled grass being this almost blueish color; yet somewhere over there, goats were grazing without issue.

“Air, then water, then flora, then fauna.”, she recited. “The air and water that feed the plants change them...and plants change the animals that eat them. Presumably, anything that eats these animals will be changed too.”

“Anything...or anyone, right?”

“That's where it seems to go astray. There have been no notes of animals dying from the change, only people.”

She thought back to Nostradamus in his den. Blind, thriving in darkness, yet having stronger visions than ever.

“But some people see themselves changed.”

“I don't get it. Why would some people die, and some receive...upper powers?”

They will make their way to the mind of those born from the mud. They will awaken the blood of the Ancients in those worthy of it.

Zia aimlessly poked some dirt with her foot. Those born from the mud...born from dirt...from stone...? She recalled the legends of her homeland, the legend of Viracocha creating men from small stones, picked out from the mud left after a great flood. Air, water, flora, fauna, then humans.

Humans, by way of the food chain, would awaken the blood of the Ancients if they were worthy of it. But what did it mean to be “worthy”? As for the “blood” part...Zia already had an idea of what it meant.

“I wonder.”, she said after a moment. “Do you think that...there's many descendants of Mu out there?”

Esteban chuckled.

“With all the times Tao had called himself the last of them...there wouldn't be, no.”

“But then I learned I was one. So...what if there were others? And descendants of Atlantis, too?”

“I mean...there weren't many Muans or Atlanteans left after the Great Cataclysm anyway.”

“Even if there only were a handful left...what if they had large families? A lot of children, whom in turn had many children, who all spread out over the world over thousands of years.”

“But wouldn't they know?”

“You didn't.”

Esteban stumbled on his words a little.

“...I was not raised by my parents. I'm sure that if Athanaos had brought me up, he'd have told me of our ancestry.”

“My parents have brought me up. And yet they've never told me anything about Mu.”

She looked up.

“The more I think of it, the more it makes sense. Everyone is born of two people, who are in turn born of two people each, and it doubles with every generation. Going back thousands of years, anyone could have a descendant of Mu among their ancestors!”

“Where are you going with this?”

“Imagine, Esteban. Imagine if all those changes happening in the world are meant to benefit those with Muan or Atlantean ancestry. Imagine that...somehow, the contamination could tell of your origins, and awaken abilities of your bloodline, just like I did!”

“Which means that the people that died...weren't descendants of Mu or Atlantis? I mean, it's possible, but...”

He thought deeply for a moment.

“...why? Why would this unknown illness only affect those who have a distant relation to the old continents, and kill off everyone else? What about animals, why aren't they harmed? You can't tell me that all animals on Earth are of Muan blood too!”

“Obviously not...but this would make sense.”

“Make sense with what? Where did you even come up with that theory?”

“I had a vision.”, she half-lied. “Something about...the blood of the Ancients, awakening through...through the flora and fauna, and everything.”

She's twiddled with that piece of grass so much by now that it had broken into bits between her fingers.

“All over the world, an unknown pestilence spreads.”, she pondered. “It spreads through the water and air, and affects the plants. It spreads so fast that there's no containing it. Animals that eat the plants get changed in turn, and become smarter. And then, humans that eat either the animals or plants get changed, but only if they have Ancient ancestry; if they don't, they die of poisoning. In the end, only plants, animals and people affected by the contamination remain.”

They will shape the world into one worthy of the Ancients.

“But why?”, Esteban asked once more. “Why would that even happen? If the Muans could foretell things, why wouldn't they tell us that it'd happen?”

Zia frowned.

Waiting, slumbering, patiently counting the hours, we are on our way.

Her throne was built on lies.

“...we must find Tao.”, she decided, suddenly getting up. “I have a bad feeling about all of this.”

“Right...well, at least it's good to know he'll be spared.”

Right. If anything, this was some hope to hold onto.

~~~~~

As they've expected, the fort of Patiala was a mess. It was clear that reconstruction hadn't progressed a lot following the events of three years ago. And yet, as they approached the red walls, a familiar sight came to grace Esteban's eyes.

Landed right at the base of the fort, was none other than the Golden Condor.

Zia carefully brought the Chascowa closer, and Esteban switched it to land drive so that it could rest on solid feet. The feline-like craft laid down, allowing them to leave through the window hatch, and take a few steps under the hot Indian sun.

“Just look at her. It's as if nothing has changed!”

Esteban flicked his medallion, and the Condor replied, though with a little bit of delay.

“Where are you going?”, Zia asked.

“I'm just going to take a look!”

How it all felt so familiar. Everything was just as he's left it, and he could still recall what had caused each of the little dents and bumps over the seats and controls. But as he passed his hand over the dashboard, he noticed that the control key had been taken off: a caution he's once taken, but that had felt unnecessary ever since they've discovered the beak access.

“Tao must be keeping it with him.”, he concluded.

He looked around the empty cockpit, as if expecting something to happen. He didn't know why, but there's always been something about this winged machine that felt...peculiar. A comforting feeling that he's never been able to put into words. Yet now that he stood there, something just felt missing.

Something he's never noticed before, but whose absence weighed on him.

Climbing back down, he followed Zia towards the palace. Everything seemed oddly silent, and the jungle all around had not been spared. Through the dying green branches, blue ones had started to grow, although many trees had been felled. This region hasn't been spared by fear either. Even the rich red soil seemed to have morphed somehow.

The palace doors were closed, but there were no guards keeping watch. Zia feared the palace had been vacated; but just as she thought that, the doors opened on their own, leading the way to the main court.

“That's odd. Was that the wind?”

They stopped, and carefully listened. There were voices coming from there!

“I don't think so.”

And slowly, the two of them made their way in.

There were people. Actual human beings, for the first time in ages. Esteban gasped with wide eyes, visibly delighted, whereas Zia knew what to look for; and indeed, when the palace workers turned to them, she saw the marks of change on their bodies too.

Patterns. Spirals. Little details that should not have been there.

“Over here!”

She quickly turned in direction of that voice. She knew it…!

“Is that…?”

“Gunjan!”

The boy ran their way, and the two came to meet him. He had obviously grown, but he still was recognizable.

“What a pleasure to see you here! We thought you'd never come back!”

“It's so good to see you too.”

His face was still the same, but it now bore familiar spiral patterns too. It didn't surprise Zia: after all, if Patiala truly had been a capital of Mu at some point, then many people still living here today would have Muan ancestry. There might be hope after all.

“Gunjan, we've been away for too long. What has happened here? Is it the-”

“The blue plague? You've caught it too, I see.”

He gestured around them.

“It seemed to have come out of nowhere! We've done all we could, but we couldn't find an antidote...”

“I don't think it will be so simple. Take us to the Order's laboratory, please, I'll explain on the way.”

“The place is still in quite a mess...but alright. This way.”

And as the three of them walked, Gunjan shed some light on their situation.

It was just as Zia had guessed. Crops were affected first, then cattle, then people. Many measures had been taken to prevent the spread of what was thought to be a dangerous illness, but none had managed. Neither medicine nor prayer could save lives fallen to poisoning. Neither science nor spirituality could explain the odd abilities awoken in those that survived.

“I've been practicing.”, he explained. “The other day, I managed to lift a whole rock only with the power of my mind! But it still left me with a horrible headache.”

“And...can everyone do the same?”

“Some are more skilled than others. But everyone is wary, and it's best to not show off these kinds of things.”

He sighed.

“Tao has been hard at work trying to come up with an explanation for this...”

“Where's Tao? We need to see him!”

Zia looked at Gunjan, who avoided her gaze. He said nothing for a few more moments, before sighing, and leading them towards another wing of the fort.

“I bet he's developed some crazy ability.”, Esteban mused. “Maybe he can shape orichalcum with his mind!”

“That would be very useful.”

But Gunjan didn't seem to share their enthusiasm. Without a word, he brought them to one of the bedrooms, and turned to the two.

“Be careful. He's very weak. I should not let you in before you've purified yourselves, but...if what you've said is true, then it might make no difference.”

Zia didn't seem to understand. But still, Gunjan opened the door, and she and Esteban made their way in.

The sight they were met with immediately made their hearts sink.

Laid on a bed, surrounded with books and flasks and all sorts of tools, was Tao. He was unusually pale, his breath frail. He was young, just as young as the two of them, and yet in this pose of ailment, he could have well been an old man on the brink of death.

“Tao!”

Esteban rushed to his bedside, and held his hand. A familiar hand that felt awfully cold. Most of all, Zia noticed it bore no patterns.

“Tao, can you hear me? It's me, Esteban!”

Slowly, Tao turned his head, and opened weak eyes.

“...Esteban?”, he breathed. “What...?”

Zia came over in turn, to hold his hand as well. Tao looked at the two of them, as if he couldn't believe it; and in turn, neither could she.

“Tao, what's going on?”, she asked. “How come you're...?”

“The...blue plague.”, he said, as if trying to warn them. “It's in the wind, and the water...”

“Yes, Tao. We know. Nostradamus has told me all.”

Both Tao and Esteban looked at her, but she ignored the latter.

“How come you haven't been changed? I thought...you of all people would be fine! You're a descendant of Mu, after all!”

Tao weakly chuckled.

“It's funny how life works...”

He coughed a little, and Esteban helped prop him up on a pillow so he could sit up.

“That's what I was always told. And it holds true to this day. I've given my life for Mu...but Mu hasn't given me that life.”

He looked at Zia.

“My father was a descendant of Mu. His culture is my culture, and he taught me all I know. And yet...it remains I am not of his blood.”

“What? How can this be?”

Esteban didn't have to wonder.

“You were adopted.”, he deduced. “Like I was, at the monastery.”

“I've tried my best to acclimate to these changes, even though they could only occur on those carrying the blood of Mu. At least, that is what I thought.”

“And you were right to.”

Zia held his hand tighter.

“Tao, I think we haven't been told the whole truth. Something's gone wrong, and we thought you of all people would know where.”

She looked at him in the eyes. How sickly he seemed...

“Nostradamus told me something strange: 'she whose throne was built on lies rests where it all began.' Does this mean anything to you?”

“Where it all began...”

He closed his eyes, either in thought or in fatigue, before opening them again.

“I'm not sure what this means. But I am certain of something: these changes in the world took place soon after we destroyed the meteorite. If my instinct is right, then the two are linked somehow.”

“But how? We destroyed it, you just said so!”

Again, he remained silent for a moment.

“When it exploded...a rain of rocks and dust fell all over the Earth. I've since calculated their trajectory and where they would have fallen...and they happen to match with the first reports we've had of the blue plague taking place.”

“You mean...the meteorite is what brought the plague to Earth?”

“I'm not saying it did...but there is a chance it might.”

Esteban and Zia looked at each other.

“Is that what the Muans wanted us to prevent? The contamination of Earth by this blue plague?”

“But that means we've failed! We've destroyed the meteorite, and yet...”

Zia blinked.

“And yet...”

She thought back to the beginning. To when they've met the luminoprojections of the nacaals in Badalom, and were told to unite the Cities of Gold. Seven Cities, one great goal. One final solution to save the Earth from danger.

They've done it. They've done as told. They've found the six Cities, united them into a seventh, blasted that huge rock to bits. And now...the bits have fallen back on Earth, and corrupted it into an environment with Muan plants, Muan animals, Muan-blooded people. Those that did not share that blood would die of poisoning or starvation.

She looked outside the window openings. The sky was the exact same shade of azure as the Flipside. Everything...everything seemed tailored to Muan preferences.

Her throne was built on lies.

“The princess...the nacaals, the Muans...”

She turned to the boys.

“What if, ever since the beginning...they've all lied to us?”

Esteban frowned.

“Why? You mean...they wanted this to happen?”

“What if they did?”

Their sudden absence, right after the destruction of the meteorite. The slow but steady cultivation of a world meant for a Muan-blooded population. The oddly convoluted plan of finding seven Cities of Gold throughout the world, gathering all sorts of data, using all kinds of artifacts in a specific spot, all to destroy a meteorite that somehow had been drawn in twelve thousand years ago by a war so tremendous that it changed the very motion of distant stellar bodies.

We are on our way.

“What if...they've tricked us?”

And like a wave of winter snow, the weight of revelation sent a cold chill through the room.

“We have to find her.”, Zia said, feeling something start to rise within her. “We need to.”

“You're coming with us.”, Esteban told Tao. “To the Flipside. There's got to be a way to heal you!”

“I can't. Look at yourselves: you've been touched by the blue plague, even if you don't see it. What if this world kills me faster than this one?”

He had another coughing fit, and Esteban helped support his back.

“Besides...”, he continued. “The Order of the Condor isn't over just yet. I have to finish my research while I still can.”

“But...what if you don't make it? What if we never see you again?”

Tao looked at them. His eyes were full of an emotion Esteban couldn't name, and yet he didn't need to put words on it either. It just was something they knew.

They knew they'd never see each other again. Not in the cruel way this world played with them.

“Tao...where is Mendoza?”, Esteban asked, feeling like he already knew the answer. “And...Laguerra, and Gaspard? What about Sancho and Pedro, do you know what's become of them?”

Tao didn't answer. He looked down, and Esteban understood all the same. His heart sunk in his chest, heavier than it had ever been.

“You need to go where it all began.”, Tao suddenly said, as if trying to change subjects. “The source of all of this.”

“But where could that be? The Cities of Gold?”

“No, way before that. You need to find the continent of Mu.”

Weakly, and with some help, he reached for a scroll near his bed. Unrolling a map, he pointed to a part of the Pacific Ocean that has been drawn over, showing a rough outline of the sunken continent as well as annotations.

“Trade ships have sent word of odd sightings around this area. Islands that were not there before, wind that behaved strangely. I would have gone to see it for myself, but I know I won't.”

“Don't say that!”, Esteban denied. “We'll find a way to make it all better. We'll heal you, and you'll come with us!”

“Esteban, please. Don't make this any harder than it needs to be.”

Yet it was obvious Esteban would not listen. Zia decided to act, and showed Tao the parchment from Nostradamus.

“Do these numbers mean anything to you? I think they're coordinates, but...I'm not sure how to read them.”

Tao looked them over, having to hold the paper close to his face.

“...this is an old charting method, but I've seen it before.”

He compared to the map, and followed a line somehow dictated by the grid of numbers.

“Somewhere around...here.”, he said, pointing to an area in the middle of what would be the continent. “Esteban, I think you can translate it to modern coordinates. You just need to convert units.”

“...I'll try.”

Esteban sighed.

“We'll find a way. We'll find a way to save you, and all the people that need it! If we've been tricked...then it's up to us to fix our mistakes.”

“We couldn't have known.”, Zia said. “Besides, the alternative would have been to let the meteorite crash on Earth.”

She looked at the map. Where everything began...

“We'll find Rana'Ori. And she ought to tell us how to fix this.”

“I doubt there is anything to be done at that point.”

Tao sighed, looking out the window.

“Nor is there pondering the what-ifs and should-haves. We can't erase the past.”

The sound of a bird's wings flapping came to Esteban. He looked around, but saw nothing.

Mendoza was gone. Everyone was gone. The people he's known and loved...everyone, everything was falling apart.

Zia had seen this before. Or rather, she had dreamed of it. Tao, Mendoza, Laguerra, taken away by darkness spreading over the Cities. She thought the construction of the Shield and the destruction of the meteorite had changed things...but perhaps her dreams had never been about the meteorite's approach. Perhaps what she's seen was something even worse, that would only come once it was too late.

She sat on the bed, looking at Tao with sad, tired eyes. Slowly, she leaned in, and planted a gentle kiss on his forehead. It did not mean anything; after all, they've always been close enough to afford it. Esteban sighed, before moving to sit on the other side of the bed; and, after some hesitation, did the same.

“This isn't the last time we see each other.”, he assured, trying to sound confident.

“...I hope so.”

Tao weakly smiled. Outside, someone knocked at the door: it seemed it was time for him to take some medical treatment. Esteban and Zia left the room, map in hand and questions in mind.

“We should not have left him.”, said Esteban, once they've returned to the Chascowa. “We could have brought him with us!”

“You heard him. The Flipside would just aggravate his symptoms.”

“What if he's wrong?”

“We can't risk it.”

Esteban sighed. All of this was starting to be too much for him.

“...I want to go home.”, he said. “Before we search for Rana'Ori. I need to replenish myself.”

“Right.”

Esteban grabbed the commands, switched to the greenish sky drive, and the Chascowa moved off the ground. Now was time to part from this sight and place, and return to the world of azure and gold that they've known for three years.

One of loneliness, endless exploration, and unanswered questions.

[Sandentwins]

Chapter 5: The Four Sides of a Triangle

“We should try to pack some food.”, Esteban suggested. “Or some way to replenish our energy. If we're going to be at sea for a while, we won't have any goats to chase.”

“Do you think we can feed off generators in the outside world?”

“We ought to try.”

Zia remained dubitative.

“I'll see if I can find something we can bring with us. Go back underwater and check for any points of interests along our route. We should try to take the shortest path available.”

“Very well.”

Zia then turned around, and focused. She pictured the heights of Orunigi, the tree City, and a few seconds later found herself transported atop its branches.

How sad they couldn't do that on the opposite side.

While this City mainly acted as a vault of historical records, with each of its chambers containing a century's worth of data as kept by the Circle of Tomes, it still had a few more mechanical uses. Mainly, the large fruits kept in some of its branches could be opened up like pods to reveal little black pearls shining with sunlight energy; the same kind that powered the Yellow Dragon.

Zia picked one like a berry, and the energy it contained immediately coursed through her body, washing her fatigue away. The pearl lost its light and heat, but she simply put it back in the pod to let it slowly recharge. Those were not very energy-efficient, but a pod's worth of pearls could equal a week's worth of calories, in a much more portable form. She unplugged one of the large fruits to carry under her arm, and while large, it wasn't that heavy. At least the issue of food was solved for now.

She took a look around. She was standing on the amphitheater on the highmost point of the tree, and had a splendid view of the Flipside all around through the branches. Over there, the tall towers of Ophir; over here, the feather-like constructions of Badalom. And over there, the Shield, standing like a hollowed-out pyramid without the castle to support it.

The City they've built. The City that was supposed to unite all the other ones. But the more Zia looked at that pointy mass of brambles and branches, the less she felt about it. This, the union of all Cities of Gold? It felt like she was being cheated out of something. There was no way that something so simple, something so chaotic, could be the end result of their quest.

There was no way something so simple would require the data of six other Cities to be made.

Zia huffed, and drew her eyes away from that sad contemplation. But just as she did, she caught a glimpse of something else in that direction, right over the horizon.

Over the sea of clouds, just off to the side of the Shield. There was something golden.

Zia rose a brow, and mentally counted the landscape around her. All seven Cities of Gold as well as the Transportation Ziggurat were there and accounted for. And yet...there was something over there, wasn't it? The clouds were moving like waves on the ocean, and had parted just enough that she could see it. Was she dreaming?

She had to make sure. Quickly, she transported herself to the bottom of the tree City, looking in direction of that faint shape. She couldn't see it from the ground...but she clearly recalled it.

Chascowa. Come to me.

Like an obedient animal, the vehicle appeared behind her, and lowered itself to let her in. Zia wasted no time climbing in, putting the pearl pod in some storage compartment, and switched to sky drive. The vehicle opened its wings, folded its legs, and its jaguar-like spots gleamed in green colors as the engine turned on. Soon enough, Zia was taking to the sky, flying high above the sea of clouds.

There was so much she's never noticed before. From this angle, past the Cities, there seemed to be other shapes hidden by the fog and the distance. What exactly were they? She had to know; and the first goal on her list was the one she's spotted before. If it turned out to be nothing important, at least she'd know; but if it were more than that…

There is so much more to eternity than what you can see.

And as she flew closer, carried by her quite reliable steed, she saw it. She saw the shape that she's never seen before, and yet that she recognized. For there was no doubting its nature. She descended onto the ground, switching drives to land right in front of the structure, and its size and might left nothing to the imagination.

In front of her, was a City of Gold that she's never seen.

She wondered whether to summon Esteban here, for there was no way she'd enter it alone. But as she stepped closer to the gates, she saw that they were already open. Of course they were; no City had ever asked them for identification here. Not when they've proven all they had to prove. So she entered in, passing the high golden walls, heart beating like never before.

A garden. A gigantic garden of trees and plants of all shapes and sizes. They did not bear any signs of the blue plague, and it felt strange to see a healthy forest of green in a place like this. She could hear noises around, and she knew there were animals hiding in the branches and digging in the soil. In front of her, cutting through the trees, a path of golden stones led the way, flanked by irrigation trenches flowing with clean water. The air was fresh, and the shade of trees was a relief from the hot sun that she didn't know she needed.

All around her, plants were moving. It was subtle enough that it couldn't be seen unless close enough. They were growing, blossoming, withering, and sprouting anew. The soil of this garden had the same properties as that of phyto-accelerators, with the added difference that the cycle did not seem linear. Some plants would go back and forth irregularly, and not all would change at the same pace. As if they all had control of their own growth.

Following the path soon led her to the center of the garden, where a large pond was standing. All around, animals were drinking and living their life, herbivores and carnivores standing next to one another in peace. Raising her eyes, she could see the City itself just past that walled garden: a gigantic bird of gold, its wings spread around the forest walls as if to hold it close. Its beak was open, water pouring from it as to feed into the pond and freshen the air. She was not familiar with the kind of bird it was, but she knew from its shape and details that it was a specific species.

Following the path of gold, stepping over an intricate bridge of gilded wood, she found herself to the main entrance. Engraved over the door, she could read the City's name: Shikera. A name she's never heard or read anything about. Once more, the door easily opened to her, and she made her way in.

The inside was a palace of copper and glass, tinted with metallic greens and oranges. It felt like a laboratory: intricate devices were moving, turning, displaying phenomena she's never witnessed before. Everywhere she looked, she could see hourglasses, celestial globes, imposing flasks containing sparkling substances, and more depictions of this specific bird.

But most of all, she could hear noise. Among the regular and rhythmical sounds of sand, gears and ticking timepieces, there were footsteps right above her. Someone was here.

There was no other way to know whom than to get there. Following a spiral staircase, she found herself to the upper floor, where glass windows let in the light. And as she climbed, her own steps echoing over the metal steps, she could hear a voice singing.

“Raise the seas and cleave rocks, bend nature to your wish...smile at the burning sun, hold the sky in your breath.”

A man's voice, a quiet melody. She reached the final steps, and finally saw a silhouette.

“Revert the course of time, triumphant over death...bring forth the rain of sand, and let them all perish.”

The figure had its back turned to her. But as soon as she stepped onto the tiled floor, he stopped, and made no further motion.

“...right. I forgot you two were there.”

He turned around, and Zia had trouble seeing his face in the shadow of the sunlight. He was dressed in a different manner than that of a nacaal, and seemed just a bit older than her. He had fiery red hair, even redder than Ambrosius'; but what she noticed after a moment were his eyes.

He had cold, dark eyes, flanked with pale markings like a falcon's blemishes.

“Well. Either way, feel free to explore. I'll just ask you to not touch any of my instruments, their calibration is very sensitive.”

And he proceeded to ignore her presence, humming under his breath as he kept working. The silliness of the situation only caught up to Zia a moment later, as she remembered what she was doing here.

“Hey- wait a minute! Who even are you? And...and what are you doing here?”

The man glanced at her again. He had a soft expression, and seemed lost by her question more than offended.

“What, don't you remember?”

He had a bit of an accent too, that reminded her a little of Waga Fayat. Yet no one she's seen in Hormuz had hair that red, which simply puzzled her. His clothing was simple, hand-sewn, and he could well have passed for a random nobody if not for the golden brooch on his chest.

“Unless that wasn't...”, he muttered to himself. “Hm. I suppose it's only fair you don't know me. I'm losing track, too.”

“I...I don't get it. Who are you? And...what is this place?”

“This? Oh, this is just where I come do my research. We have a wonderful view of the Everlasting Garden and its...”

He paused.

“Wait, you really don't remember? You're the one who brought me here all those years ago. When I was just a kid. You were there, and Esteban and Tao too-”

“How do you know them?!”

To that, the man simply sighed. Something in his expression seemed...saddened.

“Then you're not the Zia I've known. It's sad...you were such a nice soul.”

He chuckled a little.

“Tell me, then. What's my name?”

“Uhm...it should be the other way around. I don't know you.”

“At all?”

“...at all.”

This left the man rather pensive.

“How strange. A world where you've never met me...say, does the title of 'Falcon King' ring any bells?”

Zia shook her head, and once more, the man seemed perplexed.

“Why, this is...huh. I had a feeling, but it's not outside of the realm of possibility.”

He gazed outside the window.

“After all, this place is a crossroads between times and dimensions. It would make sense.”

“What does make sense? And...does it explain why there is an eight City of Gold in the Flipside?”

“Eight? Oh, you're mistaken.”

And he chuckled.

“There are way more than that! Dozens of Cities, just waiting to be discovered! Of course, no matter how you look at it, there can't be any more than seven in any given timeline...but this is the Flipside, as you call it! A world beyond timelines!”

And he invited her to come closer, which she did warily.

Outside, past the walls of the garden, she could see other shapes behind the clouds. Other golden mounds, that while fuzzy and unclear, definitely were there.

“This place holds all the possibilities. Cities that could have been, Cities that never will be. Each of them exists somewhere, or rather somewhen, but you might never have even heard of them. Your knowledge is just a cup of water in a pond full of fishes.”

“...do you know how many there are in total?”

“That's the fun part. There is no known limit to something such as the crossroads of all dimensions.”

Zia didn't know what to make of this. A world where all the Cities were reunited...did that truly mean all the Cities, even those that never came to exist?

“These 'timelines' you speak of... If I understand correctly, they are different instances of reality, right? There is one where I've met you, and one where I haven't.”

“It's a little more complex than that, but you've got the idea. If you were to replay the universe over and over, from its creation to destruction and eventual rebirth, you'd find that things change a little every time. Some events are fated to happen no matter what, and some never happen more than once in a billion timelines.”

He showed her some complex instrument, whose purpose she had no idea of. Likely it was meant to measure something, using a complex system of sand, glass marbles and weights; but its purpose was nowhere near clear to her. She noticed however that some of the sand was flowing backwards, as if unaffected by gravity.

“We like to think of time as something linear; a clean arrow going from past, to present, to future. But once you start to explore it, to understand it, you find that it is much more complex than a straight line. It is much more akin to a spiral that branches off into a new spiral with every twist, and each of these spirals also branch off, and so on into infinity, until infinity loops back around itself and all its branches meet back in a single point.”

“And...this is what you're studying, I presume? The possibilities of time?”

“Why, it would be a shame not to.”

He flicked a mounted hourglass on a desk, which turned around and started timing sparkling sand. Once again, the sand was pouring up.

“If we were to stand here and discuss it, we would get lost. So let's just get to the point, Zia. Let me ask you one question.”

And he looked at her with knowing eyes. As if he already knew the answer.

“Imagine that you have complete control over time. Instead of being bound to it like an arrow, you can move forwards, backwards, hop from one timeline to the other. You can do any action you wish, but you only get one. What do you choose?”

Zia thought of it.

In all honesty, this wasn't a question she's ever asked herself. Of course, there were times she's wished she could go back in time and erase some mistakes, or warn herself of upcoming dangers; but with the advent of her divination gift, such wishes had become childish. Yet still, there were mistakes she's made whose burden she still carried.

She thought back to the moment she's been captured by Pizarro's soldiers and brought to Spain. She thought back to her father, slain by an Olmec strike. She thought back to the High Priest of Tseila, and the pain his secrets would cause Esteban. She thought back to Zares, to Ambrosius, to all the times his betrayal had caused them troubles. She thought back to all the catastrophes they've been caught in, all the hurdles, all the captures, all the dangers.

She thought back to everything she's done to get out of these situations. To everything these situations had taught her. Should these moments be removed from her life...would she still be the person she's become now?

“...I don't know.”, she eventually said. “I mean, there are events I wish I could undo, but...would that be a good idea?”

To that, the man smiled.

“Then you've already learned the first rule.”

The hourglass stopped. She blinked, but before she could ask what he meant, he turned around to pick something from his desk.

“I'd tell you what the others are, but this is kind of a meta-rule: everything you learn, you must learn by yourself. Otherwise, it would lead to complications.”

And he handed the item to her. It was a small orichalcum plate covered in engravings; notably, it was dark in color, shifting between navy and purple when she held it under the light. And yet, that shape was familiar.

“That's...a drive? I remember we had to install these on the Chascowa...”

She looked up at him.

“What am I supposed to do with this?”

“Think back to my question, Zia. If you could do anything, what could you do? Well, once you know the answer...you'll have the means to do it.”

He poked the drive with a finger.

“I saw in a vision that you'd need it. So I had it prepared a long time ago...but I never thought it'd be this version of you who would need it.”

“Our vehicle can climb, fly and swim. What do we need this for?”

“See, the thing about Muans is that they like things that come in threes. Land, sea, sky...neat little triad, might I say. But what about stuff that doesn't fit anywhere? What about visions, or time reversal? Is it more about matter, or energy, or entropy?”

“Um...well, it's...it's a matter of perception, so it would go...”

She scratched her head, unable to think of a clear-cut answer.

“I don't know. It's related to the human self, but this does not feat neatly into any category. Are you suggesting that there's an unknown fourth pillar of mageia?”

“I'm not here to revise thousands of years of science. Perhaps another me would have, but I'm here to learn, not to change things.”

He put a hand on his chin.

“Three pillars is a neat number. But they leave a lot of gray areas, and unanswered questions. Think of it as everything that's outside of the triangle. All the little things, all the questions that science waves away as it's unable to explain them. Perhaps the human self lies somewhere in there, floating in the ocean of darkness and chaos.”

“You can't be serious. Land, sea, sky...and darkness?”

“You're right, it doesn't sound very serious.”

But Zia thought for a moment.

“...at the beginning, there was night. From night came the egg, and from the egg all life was born.”

“I like the night sky. Filled with stars and possibilities. What's outside of the comfort of our little Earth, I wonder?”

He sighed.

“It happened under a starry night, after all...”

“What happened?”

“The beginning and the end, all at once. Speaking of which, I still have a lot of work to do...this loop won't stabilize itself.”

And he returned to his instruments.

“It's important that everything has both an end and a beginning. You can have both at once, but you'd have to know what you're doing. So...avoid complications, and stay out of trouble.”

“...thank you, I guess. I suppose this will come in handy.”

And she pocketed the night drive, before going on her way down.

“Ah, one last thing!”

And the strange man turned to her once more, stopping her in her tracks.

“I know what your goal is. And I know that...whether you fail or succeed in your mission, the end result will be the same. At some point, you will need to break the first rule.”

Zia dreaded to ask. But she had to, if only because she already knew the answer.

“What happens if I break it?”

“You won't die, no...”

His tone got grave.

“...but only because you'll never have existed in the first place.”

Zia felt a somber chill run down her spine. She took a shaking breath, trying to hide her trembling.

“...if this is the price to pay, then so be it.”

“This goes for Esteban too.”

This time, a wave of ice cold washed over her. She tried to say something, to retort something, but already the man had returned to his tools. So, with shaking steps, Zia made her way back down, and out of the City.

The Chascowa was waiting outside. Once seated, she took a moment to calm herself. Surely this couldn't be as serious as that guy made it out to be. Taking out the night drive, she inserted it along with the other three, and the vehicle's displays showed that new information was being taken in.

A fourth mode indeed revealed itself to her, nameless as of yet. However, she saw that it required full administrator privileges: the both of them had to give their approval to activate it. Zia sighed, and decided to hide that option from the main menu.

It could come in handy, indeed. But for now...it was best to not worry about it. For now, she had to resume calming her palpitating heart, and meet back with Esteban.

They had a royal meeting to head to, after all.