An Asnean Odyssey: Bastien
Chapter Fourteen

Fourteen

“Every single time!” the man cried out in agitation. “It’s never just ‘Oh, hey Sylvan. How’s it going?’ I feel like the only reason you do this is because you know that if it was anyone else, I’d have them thrown out of here in a heartbeat. Does that gizmo of yours even do anything else, or is its sole purpose to bring me grief?”

“Hey Sylvan. How’s it going?” Skye responded with a humble tone. She had folded her hands behind her back and was rocking back and forth on her heels, trying to act innocent. Sylvan let out a deep sigh.

“Normally I would thank you, but you’ve already flooded one of my rooms. Sometimes I just don’t know what to do with you,” Sylvan said as he leaned on his desk, a crudely carved chunk of crimson rock, which was jagged and rough, with the exception of the smooth top.

“Oh, come on, I was just showing my new understudy the wonders of a multi tool”

“Yes, yes, I’m sure. What did you come he-” Sylvan stopped mid-sentence and shot up from the desk, rushing towards Liet.

“Um, is something w-wrong?” Liet asked fearfully.

“Do you mind?” Sylvan asked politely.

“Uhm, I...no?” Liet hesitantly responded. Sylvan held Liet’s left eye open and gazed into it. Sylvan’s eyes were a steely color which shifted to a softer gray color. Mahogany hair spilled over his shoulders and onto his frilled white shirt, which he casually wore with the top two buttons undone.

“Ah ha! You’re wearing lenses. I knew those weren’t your natural colors. Hmm. I wonder if that means...” Sylvan began to mumble to himself as he started pacing around the room. The walls were lined with bookshelves, each one stuffed full of books. They seemed to be organized based on age, with the older books that looked as though they would fall apart at the slightest breeze on one side of the room, gradually working their way into the newer books, with the pristine ones on the opposite side of the room. There was a small fixture in the ceiling, which created the illusion of fire dripping a few feet, then dispersing into the air.

“Y-yeah...Skye gave them to me.”

“Who are you again?” Sylvan stopped and looked at Liet quizzically.

“Liet.”

“What?” Sylvan asked with a dumbfounded look on his face. “Say that again.”

“Liet.”

“Write that down for me,” Sylvan said, bewildered, as he handed Liet a piece of paper from his desk and a large feather which he had dipped in ink. Sylvan then turned around. “Here, use my back.”

Liet placed the paper against his back and began to write his name. He could feel Sylvan’s ribs through the paper, but they felt strange. They stopped about two inches from his spine, and were much thinner than they should be.

“Alright, there you go,” Liet said as he lifted the feather and held out the piece of paper. Sylvan snatched it up and began flipping and spinning the paper.

“Oh! Elliot! Why didn’t you say that?”

“No, it’s Liet. Lee-Et.”

“That’s not what this says.”

“Yes it does.”

“Uh, no. This says Elliot,” Sylvan stated as he gave Skye a worried look.

“It’s my name, I should know how to pronounce it!”

“How old are you?”

“Twenty-two.”

“I should hope that after twenty-two years you would kn- Hey, you’re the same age as Skye. She had her twenty second birthday just a few years ago. Not that it’s really relevant, but I just thought it was interesting. My mind wanders, you know how it is.”

“No... not really...” Liet said slowly, a bit bewildered.

“Now that I think about it, I suppose if it was a few years ago that makes her older than twenty-two, huh...forget I said anything, Elliot. I’m sorry if I confused you.”

“LEE. ET. It’s pronounced Lee-Et.”

“How about we compromise. Would it be alright if I called you Ell?”

“I’d prefer it if you called me Liet.”

“Alright, perfect, glad we sorted that out. Ell. What a name...” Sylvan said to himself as he began to get lost in his own thoughts.

“Is it really that hard to pronounce my name?” Liet asked Skye under his breath, to which she responded with a sigh.

“Sylvan Beaumont,” Sylvan said as he stuck out his right hand, palm facing upwards. Liet instinctively slapped his hand. “W-what was that?”

“Sorry, I’m still not used to your greeting yet,” Liet stated.

“Skye, greet me,” Sylvan commanded. Skye rolled her eyes and stuck out her hand. Sylvan then slapped her hand. His eyes lit up and a smile began to creep across his face as he stumbled back to his desk and collapsed into his throne, which was made from the same material as the desk. “What was it you were here for again?”

“I’m here to talk to you about the king.”

“Oh...Oh...Hmm...Alright,” Sylvan’s quizzical expression was replaced with concern.

“I think it’s time to deal with him.”

“What do you mean deal with him?” Sylvan questioned. “We can’t just waltz into Asnea and politely ask him to step down.”

“We could assassinate him,” Skye bluntly stated.

“Whoa, hold on,” Liet interrupted. “I thought you were supposed to be the good guys? I mean, really? Assassination? Can’t you just go talk to him? I’m sure he’d understand.”

“Do you really think we haven’t tried reasoning with him? All he cares about is power. If he strikes a deal with us, he’ll lose his position of power,” Sylvan stated. Liet turned to Skye with a worried look on his face, which Skye comforted with a playful smile. “Now, how would you propose we go about killing him? Surely Oscar isn’t just sitting around in the gardens waiting for someone to shove a blade down his throat.”

“That’s where Liet comes in,” Skye announced with a confident tone.

“N-no way. I’m...You’re not d-dragging me into this mess,” Liet stuttered.

“Yes, what if he fails?” Sylvan defended Liet. “Are you really willing to lose your pet?”

“I’ve got a backup plan, alright? If things start to get dicey, we’ll just recall him.”

Sylvan let out a sigh the moment Skye finished speaking. “Which prototype do you plan to use? The P.T.M.D. or the S.U.M.T.?”

“The matter transmitter. Or maybe the time manipulator...” Skye said hesitantly as she tried to decide. “Maybe we could try both...”

“I would advise against the use of either. We’ve barely got them working, there’s no way we could predict what sort of side effects might occur.”

“What do you suggest? We just sit and wait until he dies of old age?”

“We could assault him head on. I feel that our army could overpower him. A good old-fashioned rebellion,” Sylvan explained with a voice filled with vigor.

“With Solomen on their side? That’s highly unlikely.”

“And your idea is so much better? Do you really think Ell has the stones to kill a man?” Sylvan gestured over to Liet, who was half hiding behind Skye.

“I can do it,” Liet whimpered. “I’d like to talk to him first, though. If he truly is as evil as you make him out to be...I’ll kill him.”

“We can at least try, right? And if he can’t go through with it, we’ll use one of the devices and you can go ahead with your attack,” Skye suggested.

Sylvan gently stroked his hair, apparently considering Skye’s proposal. “He’s going to notice the eyes.”

“What?”

“Ell’s eyes. He’s going to notice something’s up.”

“You’re just a crazy old fool,” Skye joked. “He won’t notice anything. The only reason you noticed is because you have a weird eyeball fetish.”

“Hey, I’m not old,” Sylvan feigned sadness. “We’ll give it a shot, but it’s going to take some careful planning.”

Skye ran over to Sylvan and gave him a giant bear hug. “Alright, you prepare the rebels and head outside the city and I’ll take Liet to see the king.”

“Hold on a... just...wait,” Liet tried to form a proper sentence. “Couldn’t one of you guys do it?”

“We’re defectors,” Sylvan said with a serious look plastered on his face. “We could probably enter the city, but anything after that is just speculation. There’s a rumor that Oscar’s adviser is a cannibal, and enjoys ‘playing’ with his food.”

“So that’s why you need me then. He won’t recognize my face.”

“Exactly,” Skye said. “Now which do you prefer? Time manipulation or matter transportation?”

“What do each of them do, exactly?”

“Time manipulation should slow down time to almost a complete stop for a very brief period, allowing you to escape. Matter transportation, on the other hand, should pull your atoms apart and reassemble them in a different location. Now, I say should because they haven’t been tested before.”

“Time manipulation,” Liet responded almost without thought. “I feel like a lot more could go wrong with being torn apart than simply slowing down time. Especially if they’ve never been tested.”

“Alright, we’ll head to the lab and get you fitted with the P.T.M.D., then we’ll head for Asnea.”

“Isn’t there something shorter that we could call it? I don’t want to have to say P.T.M.D. Every time I refer to it, y’know?”

“Hmm...” Skye thought for a moment. “Why don’t you name it for us? Since you’re going to be the first test sub- User. The first user.”

“Oh, um...how about...The Manipulator?”

“A bit...simple. But I suppose it’ll work,” Skye said as she began to walk out of the room, gesturing for Liet to follow.

“I’m not good with names,” Liet sighed as he followed Skye.

“Simplicity is a good thing. We don’t want some weird name like ’The Resonating Objectifier.’” Skye commented as the pair climbed a set of stairs and emerged in the lobby of the Beaumont. Liet waved to Walter as they exited the restaurant, though Walter didn’t respond. There were hardly any people wandering about now, which made it much quicker for them to walk to another of the smaller pillars. Skye pulled the multi tool out of her front pocket and gently squeezed the end of it. The stone surface of the pillar shifted, allowing the couple to enter.

The interior of the pillar wasn’t at all what Liet was expecting. It was a single small, well lit room with various things scattered about. There was a bookshelf that took up an entire wall, similar to Sylvan’s, except the books weren’t organized in any recognizable manner, and a lot of them had fallen to the floor. A plain white table stood alone in the center of the room, with plants and beakers carefully arranged on its surface. The only thing that really stood out was a pristine set of lockers which were along the wall next to the bookshelf. The opposite wall was fitted with a painting which looked like someone had flung a bunch of different colors at a sheet of paper.

“I was kind of expecting a giant white room that we’d have to shower before we came in and wear space suits and stuff,” Liet commented, only half joking.

“Are you saying you wanted to shower with me?” Skye asked casually.

“I-no, I just meant...”

“Relax, I’m just teasing you,” Skye said with a smile. “I don’t think you could handle showering with me yet.” Liet was silent as the thought of Skye’s naked, soapy body filled his head. His imagination was running wild at the thought of what might lie beneath her skirt.

Skye giggled as she brandished her multi tool and walked over to the lockers. She flicked the multi tool, causing a small cylinder to slide out of the tip. Inserting the cylinder into a hole in the door of the locker, she rubbed her thumb along the width of the multi tool, then twisted her hand. The locker hummed for a few seconds, then stopped. Skye flicked the multi tool again causing the cylinder to retract and placed it back into her pocket.

“What’s that painting supposed to be?” Liet asked as he awoke from his daydream.

“It’s a self-portrait.”

“I’m not sure if you’re really artistic or a terrible painter,” Liet commented.

“Just shut up and take your shirt off,” Skye commanded with a fierce look in her eyes. Liet obeyed, awkwardly unbuttoning his shirt.

“Why do I have to take my shirt off?”

“I need to run some tests,” Skye answered as she grabbed a few fold out chairs from the locker and placed them beside the table, which she proceeded to clear off. Once she was done and Liet had taken a seat, Skye returned to the locker and grabbed a small syringe, a tube with three segments, and a small circular pendant with an oval depression on its surface.

“You’re not afraid of needles, are you?” Skye asked.

“I’m not particularly fond of them.”

“Then you’re not going to enjoy this,” Skye informed Liet, who had grown pale at the sight of the needle. Skye casually tossed the pendant on the table as she sat down in front of Liet. “Close your eyes and hold your breath and I promise this won’t hurt.”

“What if I want to watch?”

“Then it might sting a little.”

“I survived getting stabbed, I’m pretty sure I can handle a needle.”

“I wouldn’t really say you survived it,” Skye began to explain. “If you were to go back, you’d still be drowning in a puddle of your own blood.”

After a moment of silence, Liet finally said, “Alright, let’s just get this over with.”

Skye nodded and slid the segmented tube onto the blunt end of the syringe. Liet closed his eyes and slowly took a deep breath as Skye positioned the needle above a vein in his arm. As soon as the needle had broken his skin, bright red blood began to flow into the tube, filling the top segment first, working its way down to the bottom. Once the tube had been filled, Skye removed the needle and slid the tube off of the end. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a container about the size of a pack of gum. She flipped the lid off and pulled out a small gray blob about the size of a round grain of rice. After licking the blob, she plopped it onto Liet’s arm where the needle had pierced his skin.

“What’s that thing?” Liet asked as Skye rubbed the blob into his wound.

“It’s synthetic skin. It’ll bind with your skin, closing the wound. Once it’s healed, the synthetic will rub off. You won’t even notice it.”

“Does it work on large injuries?” Liet inquired.

Skye held up the container and said, “This stuff wouldn’t work. It’s just your common household synthetic. Even if it was strong enough to stop the bleeding, you wouldn’t have enough to cover the entire wound. There is a variant that can effectively close and sterilize wounds like, say, a severed limb, but they cost a fortune. There are only a few hospitals which keep it in stock, so it’s very unlikely that you’ll ever get to use it,” Skye explained. “Although, when I was working for Oscar, he kept a lot of high-grade synthetic in the lab, just in case there was a serious accident.”

“You used to work for Oscar?” Liet was shocked to hear this.

“Yeah, it’s a long story. Maybe I’ll tell you on the way to Asnea,” Skye told Liet as she snapped the blood-filled tube into three parts, two of which she slid into her pocket. “We’ll be walking, by the way.”

“Why can’t we drive there?”

“All vehicles entering the city require identification, and mine just happens to have expired,” Skye joked. “Besides, it’s not too far away.”

Skye grabbed the pendant from the table and attached the remaining vial of blood to a small spike protruding from its underside, then tapped the surface a few times and held it to her ear.

“Why does that thing need blood? Isn’t it just a piece of jewelry?”

“This thing is the Manipulator. I need to make sure your blood is compatible.”

“What were the other vials for?”

“One was for Susan, the other was for...well, just in case.”

“Just in case what?” Liet asked, trying to think of another reason they might need his blood.

“You never know, it’s good to be prepared.”

“Hold on, why did I need to take my shirt off for you to draw some blood?”

Skye’s face turned to concern. “The Manipulator needs a constant supply of blood.” Skye said as she slipped the now empty tube off of the Manipulator.

“You’re going to jam that spike into my chest, is that it?” Liet responded sarcastically.

“I can jam it wherever you want as long as it’s covered up.”

“Does it have to be in a vein?”

“Preferably. It should just need to draw blood, but we’ve never tried it out before.”

“Might as well put it on my forearm.”

“Alright, I just need to make some minor adjustments,” Skye said as she returned to the locker and began fiddling with the device. When she had finished, the depression had been filled with a silver coin and the pendant had been lined with spikes.

“What are those for?” Liet cautiously asked.

“Sciency stuff. Don’t worry about it, just think of them as decorations.”

“What’s the point of decorating it if it’s just going to be covered up anyways?”

“They aren’t decorations! I just don’t feel like explaining it to you when you won’t understand anyways, gosh.”

“Fine, whatever. I didn’t want to know. Just hurry up and put that thing on me, I want to get going,” Liet grumped. Skye couldn’t help but smile as she gently slid the device into Liet’s right arm. It began to make a quiet humming noise, which Skye stopped by tapping its surface.

“Right,” Skye said in a drawn-out manner. “Anyways, when you want to activate it, slide your finger across the length of the coin.”

“How do I know when I need to activate it?”

“If you think Oscar is getting suspicious and you can’t get out, activate it and meet up with us. We’re not really sure how long it’ll last, but it should be a reasonable amount of time.”

“Where am I supposed to meet up with you?”

“We’ll camp outside the city overnight. If things go sour, we’ll meet up there.”

“And if they go well?”

“We’ll still meet up there,” Skye stated as though it were obvious. Liet stretched his arm, trying to get used to the feeling of having the Manipulator attached to it. He carefully slipped his shirt back on and began to button it up while Skye put the chairs away. Before she closed the locker, she put the needle in a small compartment and pushed a button, which caused it to emit a bright green light.

“Can we go now?” Liet asked impatiently.

“Geez, why are you in such a hurry?”

“I’ve just had a foreign device attached to my arm that’s slowly killing me. I’m not exactly in a mood to wait.”

“It’s not going to kill you, Mister Exaggeration,” Skye said as she giggled quietly to herself. Liet rushed out of the lab and Skye followed behind him.

“You don’t even know where you’re going.”

“The same way we came in, right?”

“Wrong. We’re going out the back,” Skye pointed to a giant set of stone doors at the far end of the cavern. “If we go through there, we’ll be on the edge of the forest, and pretty much at the city.”

“What’s the point of having a super awesome secret elevator if you’ve got a normal entrance you can use?” Liet asked with disappointment.

“Maybe because this is the super awesome secret exit, and the elevator is the normal entrance,” Skye replied as the pair made their way to the doors. Liet decided to try opening them, as it seemed that most doors responded to some form of touch. First, he tried tapping it, then rubbing it, then slapping it. Eventually he gave up and Skye pushed it open.

“That looked really heavy.”

“It’s actually quite light. Here, try closing it,” Skye said, making a pushing motion with her arms. Liet pressed his hand flat against the door and pushed gently. The slab of stone easily swung shut.

“I don’t get it.”

“It’s a door, how do you not get it?”

“I don’t understand why it’s so light. It’s like it’s made out of air or something.”

“Magic,” Skye said with a serious tone. The pair began to walk down a small corridor of rough stone.

“You’re joking right?”

“Obviously,” Skye responded.

After the pair had walked for a while in relative silence, Liet noticed that the cave had no noticeable source of light, yet he could see clearly.

“Why isn’t this place pitch black?”

“Silent light.”

“Silent...light...?” Liet asked.

“It’s a little bit tricky to explain. Think of it like light that can’t be seen.”

“That makes absolutely no sense.”

“I could just say it’s magic,” Skye teased Liet.

“I wouldn’t believe it was magic unless you could whip up a fireball,” Liet joked.

“What if I sa-” Skye began to say, but tripped, crashing into Liet. The two tumbled down to the cold floor of the tunnel.

“As I was saying,” Skye began to finish her sentence, still lying on the ground. “What if I told you I could shoot a fireball right now?”

“I’d ask you to prove it,” Liet said as the pair got back to their feet. Skye cupped her hands together just in front of her chest for a moment, then pushed them forward. A small funnel of flames shot out, causing Liet to stumble backwards into the wall.

Skye smiled at Liet and opened her hands, revealing her multi tool “I told you it was useful.”

“You tripped on purpose, didn’t you?” Liet accused Skye.

“Maybe,” Skye chirped with a smile.

“You’re just really not a very pleasant person sometimes, y’know?”

“I’m always a pleasant person,” Skye denied as she punched Liet in the arm.

“Hey, that hurt,” Liet cried.

“Stop being such a wimp.”

“You’re so mean,” Liet joked, looking around the cave for something to occupy his mind. The tunnel was boring and brown, with nothing really standing out.

Noticing an oddly shaped rock, Liet bent down to pick it up. As he lifted it, a strange bipedal blue and green lizard sprinted out from beneath it, startling Liet. He stumbled backwards to the ground as the lizard stuck out its tongue, which curled around its body, then ran up a wall and into a crack, out of sight.

“W-what the hell was that?” Liet asked as Skye began to laugh at him.

“It was a pidlon. It’s a lizard that eats small rodents and insects. When it’s scared, it wraps itself in its own tongue, which stimulates glands beneath its arms that produce adrenaline, allowing it to hastily escape.”

“That’s something I’m not used to,” Liet slowly stated.

“Are you scared?” Skye joked. “Do you want me to hold your hand?”

“Maybe a little bit,” Liet replied as he rose to his feet and brushed himself off. Skye closed the gap between them and grabbed Liet’s hand, entangling her fingers with his. When Liet looked at Skye, he noticed that her eyes had become a soft red again, giving him an idea. “Y’know Skye, this is kind of like a date, don’t you think? I mean, you took me to dinner, and now we’re having a nice romantic walk through this lovely cave.”

“S-shut up,” Skye stuttered as her eyes began to rapidly shift between red, blue, green, and orange. She squeezed Liet’s hand tightly, causing him to wince, then gently knocked her head against his as she loosened her grip. “You’re such an idiot.”

Skye continued to lean her head against Liet’s as the pair walked down what little remained of the tunnel, as they soon found themselves at the exit to the cave.

“Well, if this isn’t just every secret entrance ever...” Liet sarcastically said to himself as the duo emerged from the cave. They were in the side of a large cliff that had a waterfall pouring over its peak into a crystal-clear lake. The area was still heavily populated with trees, but a large city was visible in the distance.

“It’s a secret exit,” Skye corrected. “And how is it ‘every secret exit ever’?”

“It’s just that every secret exit is behind a waterfall. It’s not very creative, y’know?”

“Have you ever seen a secret exit before?”

“Well, no, but-”

“Exactly,” Skye triumphantly stated. Liet sat down beside the lake and examined it closer. Droplets of water were occasionally floating into the air, dissolving after a few moments.

“This lake is kind of like that soup.”

“No. But I get what you’re saying.”

“Wait, wait, wait,” Liet said as he rushed over to the mountain of water. Upon closer inspection, Liet noticed that the water was rising up the cliff, rather than spilling over it. “This waterfall is backwards.”

“Check this out.” Skye picked up a stone and casually tossed it in her hand. Once Liet had shifted his attention, she chucked it into the water. A large pillar of water rose up, floated in the air for a few seconds, then dispersed and crashed back into the lake.

“Why does it do that?” Liet inquired.

“I’m not really sure. That was one of the reasons this spot was so attractive. I was going to study it and figure out how it ticks, but other things got in the way,” Skye explained. “The tunnels are pretty nice as well.”

“It must be pretty hard to drown in it,” Liet observed aloud.

“Drown?”

“Yeah.”

“What’s that?”

“It’s when you choke on water while swimming. At least I think it’s only while swimming. I mean, I guess you could choke on a glass of water, or your own saliva, but I don’t think that would count.”

“Swimming...?” Skye asked in a mystified tone.

“You’ve never gone swimming before?”

“If you told me what swimming was, I might be able to answer that question.”

“It’s when you take off all of your clothes and splash around in the water.”

“I’ve never gone swimming.”

“I might have to teach you sometime,” Liet laughed under his breath. “Where are we going to camp out?”

“At the edge of the forest. It’s not too far from here.”

“Would you like to go swimming now?”

“We don’t have time,” Skye said awkwardly.

“Of course we do, we’ve got all night. Although, to be honest, I’d like to get a decent sleep before I talk to the king.”

“Maybe I’m just not too keen on submerging myself in water and splashing around aimlessly. Not to mention the fact that you have a word for suffocating in water. That means it happens a lot,” Skye explained.

“Come on, it’s not so bad. Look, I’ll be there too, so you’ll be alright. Alright?” Liet tried to convince Skye.

Skye thought about it for a moment. “Fine. Once we get back, I’ll...I’ll go ‘swimming’ with you.”

“I’m looking forward to it,” Liet smiled.

“I already regret this,” Skye sighed as she began to walk away from the lake, beckoning for Liet to follow. Liet splashed his hands in the water a bit before he got up and chased after Skye.

The forest seemed strange to Liet as they walked towards the city. There was no grass on the ground, but instead, a thin coat of fuzzy blue moss-like plants. The trees themselves were tall and thin, their leaves hanging loosely from the branches as though they were trying not to fall. The usual hard, brown bark that Liet was used to seeing was replaced with a soft, squishy, white skin that gave Liet shivers when he touched it.

“This forest creeps me out,” Liet thought aloud.

“Really?” Skye seemed shocked. “I love it. In the mornings you can hear the folians sing.”

“Folians?”

“The stuff covering the ground.”

Liet stopped for a moment and stared at the ground, examining the fuzzy blue plants. “So, this...er...these...they’re alive...?”

“To some extent, yes.”

“What does that mean?”

“They’re similar to, say, a cactus.”

“They can go a long time without water...?” Liet was confused.

Skye let out a big sigh and grabbed Liet’s arm. “Just forget it, let’s go.”

“I just don’t get how a cactus relates to some fuzz,” Liet complained as he was dragged through the forest.

Skye’s face adopted an agitated expression. “It’s alive, it’s just...plant alive.”

“Plant...alive...” Liet slowly contemplated aloud. “Strangely, I know exactly what you mean. Why didn’t you just say that?”

“It’s not a very good way of describing it,” Skye replied.

“It doesn’t matter if it’s good, as long as it works, right?”

“No, it...ugh, forget it,” Skye said as the pair came to a stop in a small clearing.

“I guess this is it then,” Liet assumed. Skye nodded gently and reached into her shirt pocket, pulling out a strange capsule about the size of a pen. “Alright, this has been bothering me. I haven’t seen you put anything in that pocket this whole time and there’s no way all that shit can fit in there.”

“It’s a magic shirt,” Skye joked as she bit the capsule in two pieces, spitting one half on the ground. As soon as the capsule hit the ground, it began to spray a light mist. Once the mist had filled the air, making it almost hard to breath, Skye crushed the other half of the capsule in her palm and threw it into the air. The mist formed a dome around the remnants of the capsule, which then solidified and fell to the ground.

“Could you at least try to explain the shirt thing?” Liet pleaded as he examined the strange bubble, gently flicking it and rubbing it, even smelling it. The bubble had become very rigid and lost its translucent qualities, adopting a very faded yellowish tint, appearing almost white. It smelled a bit like burning wood.

“Well, you put something in it when you don’t need it, then you take it back out when you need it again,” Skye smiled, knowing that Liet was expecting a different response. She pulled her multi tool out of her shirt and pointed it at the bubble, pinching it gently. The multi tool hummed a bit, causing the bubble to flatten on the bottom and root itself to the ground. Once it was done, the front of the bubble fell forward, startling Liet as it hit the ground.

“What is this thing?”

“It’s a portable house.”

“Oh. It’s uh...It’s different.”

“Do you li-,” Skye began, but then stopped to pick something from her teeth, which she then flicked to the ground. A small campfire erupted out of the top of the part of the bubble which had fallen to the ground. “Sorry, do you like camping?”

“Not really, no.”

“What?!” Skye yelled in shock. “How can you not like camping?”

“I don’t know, I just never really liked it,” Liet didn’t know why, but he felt a little bit ashamed.

“I love camping, but I never get a chance. You’d think I might be able to work in the field for a couple days but nope. I’ve got to stay in the lab,” Skye complained. “Anyways, I brought us the luxury house.”

“This is the luxury house?” Liet struggled to think what the average ones looked like.

“Oh, don’t be like that. You haven’t even been inside yet.”

“I’m not sure I want to go inside.”

“You can sleep on the ground, if you’d like.”

“I didn’t...I just...meant that, I’m not sure if I can...I mean I might not be used to such...high class...not that your place wasn’t...I mean, it was...” Liet stuttered as he tried to cover up his mistake.

“It’s so easy to mess with you,” Skye giggled as she pulled Liet inside the bubble.

The interior of the bubble was about as much as Liet had expected. It was about ten square feet of emptiness.

“Do you really think it’s smart to leave a fire out there? Won’t someone see it?”

“The fire is just for decoration. It doesn’t actually emit any light.”

“Is it like that silent light stuff?”

“No, it just doesn’t emit light at all.”

“Oh, well, alright,” Liet felt kind of stupid. “Is this it then?”

“Of course not. It’s just taking a little longer than I had expected.”

“How long is this going to take?” Liet asked impatiently.

“Got somewhere to be or something?” Skye joked.

“I just want to get some sleep, y’know? It’s been a long day.”

“I didn’t realize that ten hours was a long day.”

“Not long time-wise. Long content-wise.”

“That doesn’t make sense,” Skye joked.

“I’ll be outside,” Liet sighed as he walked out of the bubble.

“Come on, I was just teasing you,” Skye tried to console Liet as she followed him outside.

Liet was sitting on the ground by the fire gazing at the city in the distance. It was surrounded by a large wall which blocked most of the buildings from sight, but some of the taller ones were still visible with bright lights glowing in their windows.

“I don’t know why, but I pictured it to be more castley.”

“What do you mean?”

“Like a fortress of death, y’know?”

“A fortress of death...” Skye repeated slowly.

“Yeah. I guess I just figured Oscar is some crazy evil guy who wants to take over the world or something. I assumed he would have some impenetrable fortress on an island, or on top of a cliff overlooking an ocean, or in a volcano or something.”

“None of those seem like practical locations for a city.”

“Well, this just makes me want to talk to him even more.”

“What are you going to say?”

“I... hadn’t really thought about it...” Liet admitted.

“You kind of need to know what you’re going to ask him before you see him.”

“I can’t just ask him if he’s evil, can I?” Liet half seriously asked.

“No.”

“Well, poop. I... I guess that’s what my wish is going to be,” Liet pointed to a shooting star.

“That’s not a shooting star.”

“Can we pretend it is, just for like, ten seconds?”

“Depends on what you’re wishing for,” Skye winked.

“I...um...I can’t tell you. It won’t come true if I do.”

“I guess we can let it slide, then,” Skye said as Liet closed his eyes and made his wish.

“Wait...if it’s not a shooting star, what is it?” Liet inquired

“That’s a good question...it looks like it’s pretty low.”

“I think there’s smoke coming off of it, but I can’t really tell. It’s just too dark.”

“We’ll find out tomorrow. There’ll probably be a report in Asnea.”

“What if there isn’t? This is really going to bother me,” Liet whined.

“Really? You can’t just go back to pretending it’s a shooting star?”

“Not now, no. You’ve made me curious.”

Skye let out a sigh. “Do you hear that?”

“Hear what?”

“It sounds like someone falling.”

“It’s just the wind.”

“I swear it’s someone falling.”

“How do you even know what someone falling sounds like?” Liet questioned.

“I know what a lot of things sound like.”

“How can you even hear it? Wouldn’t it be really quiet?”

“I’ve got sensitive ears. Working in a lab does that to you. Which is also why I kno-” Skye was interrupted by a man crashing into the ground a few feet away from Liet, who skittered away. “Called it.”

The man lay on the ground for a while, groaning and mumbling, before eventually picking himself up and sitting beside Liet. The man had a black eye patch over his right eye, which was partially covered by his smokey hair. He casually brushed the dirt off of his deep blue jacket before looking up, as though he had just noticed Liet and Skye and said, “Hey.”

“That’s it?” Liet asked. “You just fall in here and that’s it? Hey?”

“Yarrr. Ye be right.”

“You don’t actually talk like that, do you?” Skye laughed.

“No. It’s just that I’m a pirate, and it’s easier to rob people when I talk like that,” the pirate smiled revealing a mouth filled with surprisingly white teeth, a few of which were gold.

“Alright Mr. Pirate-”

“Gage.”

“Alright Gage. What’s up with this?”

“What do you mean?” Gage asked.

“Why aren’t you dead?”

“Why would I be dead?”

“Do you not remember slamming into the ground just now?”

“Oh, that,” Gage disregarded. “What are you guys up to?”

“We’re just-” Liet began to say, before Skye cut him off.

“We’re just doing some camping.”

“Oh really? Here?” Gage said skeptically. “Normally, when people go camping, they actually go into the forest. I think you’re doing something suspicious.”

“Alright, you got us,” Skye admitted. “You tell us why you decided to drop in, and I’ll tell you what we’re doing here.”

“If that pun was intentional, I’m going to be very disappointed in you,” Liet commented, causing Skye to giggle.

“Alright. I’m a pirate, as we’ve already established,” Gage began. “My ship got attacked and I had to bail. You probably saw it in the sky.”

“A ship in the sky?” Liet asked.

“Well, yes. Where else would you have a ship?”

“Oh, I don’t know, an ocean maybe?” Liet said sarcastically.

“The hell are you on about? Everywhere you could get to in the ocean, you can get to in the sky.”

“How did you survive the fall?”

“I’ve got a gravitation sphere. I wasn’t sure if it would work in that kind of situation, but I figured I’d rather take my chances jumping than burn alive.”

“A gravitation sphere...?” Liet asked. “Is that like a parachute or something?”

“Full of questions, aren’t we?” Gage’s eye narrowed. “I think it’s your turn to tell me why you’re here.”

“We’re camping out until morning, then we’re going to see the king,” Liet answered.

“Why would you want to see him?”

“I’ve got some things I need to ask him,” Liet quietly stated.

“Look, it’s getting late. We should probably get to sleep,” Skye told Liet. “Gage, you’re welcome to stay the night with us, if you’d like.”

“Eh? Give me a minute to think it over,” Gage said as he rose to his feet and began to walk away.

“Really?” Liet whispered to Skye under his breath. “Do you not realize that he’s a pirate?”

“So?”

“What if he tries to steal something from us? Or kill us?”

“We don’t really have anything to steal, now do we?” Skye pointed out. “And I don’t know if you were paying attention, but he doesn’t really have any weapons, does he?”

“I could steal that pendant of yours,” Gage called out from in the forest. “Or maybe that thing on the boy’s arm.”

“Exactly,” Liet agreed.

“No, not exactly, you fool,” Gage angrily responded. “Do you think I’m some kind of common thug?!”

“No, I just...I’m sorry,” Liet muttered.

“Look, he just lost his ship, and probably his crew. The least we can do is let him sleep here tonight,” Skye whispered.

“I hadn’t really thought of it like that...”

“Go apologize to him and let him know that he’s welcome to sleep here.”

“But he already kn-”

“Then just apologize to him,” Skye growled.

Liet stood up and headed into the forest after Gage. After he had walked for about a minute, he began to hear Gage’s voice. As he got closer, his voice became more audible.

“Of course not...It’s-...No. They just don’t trust me. If I’m not wanted, then I’m not wanted. There’s nothing I can do about it...I don’t want to push it...” Liet could only hear one side of the conversation. As he got within sight of Gage, he noticed that no one else was there. “Fine...But if they treat me like some kind of...Yeah...Alright...”

“Uh...Hey,” Liet nervously greeted Gage. “Who are you talking to?”

“What?”

“Weren’t you just talking to someone?”

“No, you must be mistaken. I was taking a leak.”

“Oh, uh...Okay,” Liet decided to push the thought from his mind. “Well, I just came over here to apologize and uh...if you want to spend the night with us, it’s cool. Alright?”

Gage walked over to Liet, who only came up to about his chest, and placed his hand on Liet’s shoulder, causing Liet to cringe. Gage bent over so that his head was next to Liet’s and softly said, “Thanks.”

“N-no problem,” Liet stuttered as the two of them headed back towards the camp.

Skye had already gone inside the bubble when the pair got back. Liet quickly went inside as well, followed by Gage. The bubble was still empty, but now there was a stairway on the right side of the room. The duo descended the stairs into another rather plain room with a table and some chairs, one of which Skye was seated on, humming softly while fiddling with something in her hand. Liet coughed loudly to make his presence known. Skye spun around on her chair to face Liet and Gage.

“I guess you guys are friends now?” Skye asked.

“I don’t really kn-” Gage began.

“Yeah, we’re pals,” Liet interrupted as he jammed an elbow into Gage’s side. “Can I sleep now, or what?”

“In a minute, I’m just messing with the settings,” Skye went back to fiddling with something on the table. Liet sat down next to her and saw that the surface of the table had a bunch of symbols on it that Skye was tapping and rubbing occasionally, similar to Susan’s windshield. Gage wandered into a corner and raised his hand to his mouth.

“No smoking, please,” Skye said without turning around.

“I don’t smoke,” Gage replied.

“Just letting you know,” Skye chirped. She tapped a few more symbols, then slid her hand across the table, clearing everything from its surface. “Alright Liet, your room is through the door on the left. Gage, yours is on the right.”

“Where’s yours?” Liet asked.

“Why do you want to know?” Skye smiled.

“What if I need something?”

“It’s through that door,” Skye said, pointing to a set of doors that was hardly discernible from the wall.

“Alright, I’ll try not to bother you,” Liet said as he got up and stumbled towards his room. “Sweet dreams.”

As Liet approached the doors they slid open on their own. He paused for a moment as he entered his room. There was a single bed in the center of the room. The bed appeared to be molded clouds with a canopy which resembled bats silhouetted against a full moon. The room itself was dark, but Liet could still see clearly. It appeared as though there were no walls, just an infinite expanse of sky, but Liet knew it was just an illusion. Liet walked along the floor of clouds to the bed and rubbed his hands across it. A thin blanket ruffled beneath his fingers. He kicked off his shoes beside the bed, then peeled off his shirt, pants, and socks, neatly folding them and placing them on the floor. Then, he slowly fell backwards, the soft clouds of the bed cushioning his landing. Liet grabbed the blanket and wrapped it around himself before closing his eyes. The smell of rain filled Liet’s lungs as he drifted away into the dream world.

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