It was the sound.
A klaxon blared, low, guttural, and continuous, with only a brief pause after every fifth ring.
That sound is causing the tremors in Speranza!
The mechanical howl dug into my covered ears, each shuddering blast burying itself deep into my brain.
“Turn it off!” I shouted, shutting my eyes as if that would somehow decrease the volume.
Aina’s voice came from everywhere as the klaxon cut to silence. “Critical alert systems cannot be disabled. However, I can initiate a temporary hold.” A beat passed. “Please use this grace period to orient yourself to Paradise and proceed to the High Temple so that we may converse directly.”
“High Temple…!” Nora crowed. “Rae, we made it!”
“Warning. SSS Class Threat detected in the vicinity of the Chosen One. Initiating security lock.”
A blazing white magic circle started to form around Nora’s boots.
“Wait, that’s just Nora. Stop!”
“Nora not recognized.”
Glowing shafts of light shot up from the circle’s perimeter as if to seal her inside.
“Nora! My best friend, who’s put up with not only me but all sorts of nonsense to help me get here! She’s not a threat!”
“Memory updated. Please proceed, Chosen One. …and Nora.”
The magic circle faded, and the barrier disappeared back into the umbra floor.
Nora blinked several times. “I’ll uh, make sure to introduce myself properly when we get there…” she said with a nervous titter.
“I’d better go first, though,” I replied. “I didn’t like her tone one bit.”
Randomly, blocks of black disintegrated around us, revealing the absurdity that was Paradise.
The sky was every color but blue. Pink, gold, periwinkle… all of them and then some ran together in broad, glossy bands that stretched across the horizon. The clouds they shared were tussled by colorful koi that swam through the air. Rolling meadows shimmered below, each blade of high grass a different shade of blue or green. Rabbits with antlers popped in and out of view as they jumped over the tips of their stalks, as did foxes with multiple tails.
Small, wooded groves of various tree species dotted the landscape, each with its own season. The one closest to us housed a large white wolf with glowing blue eyes, idly sitting beneath a pine tree, while a giant stag lay content at its side, as if their friendship were the most natural thing in the world.
Off to the right was a river that flowed in the opposite direction from the one adjacent to it, with frogs jumping and spinning the lily pads between them. A sandy beach met the ocean far off on the other side, with pink and purple dolphins jumping and flipping playfully.
Nora shaded her eyes from the oversaturation of color as she remarked, “It looks like my middle-school art binder threw up in here.”
“It certainly is a… uh… fantastical aesthetic choice, isn’t it? But let’s keep moving. I want to see if we—Actually…” I paused and squinted up at the technicolor sky. “Aina, can you do anything to help the others on the other side of the portal? It’s just the two of them against an entire army of demons!”
“I am unable to assist.”
There was a long pause from Aina, and I swore fervently under my breath.
“Status update,” she eventually continued. “The Orders of Silver, White, and Blue have engaged the demon army following Sparkles’s guiding flames. Supplemental data suggests that multiple demonic factions are also engaging one another in combat. Portal remains open but secure at this time.”
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Nora and I shared a hopeful glance.
“How did the Orders get here so quickly?” I asked.
Nora frowned. “The translocation circle in Atramentis? If Sparkles originally disabled it…”
I shook my head. “It still would have taken days for them to make it through the mountains. You don’t think General Ragnerus had anything to do with their—”
The klaxon started sounding again.
“Hold!” I shouted.
“Five-minute hold initiated,” Aina replied.
“Good thing you’re still in charge of his eye,” Nora mumbled. “But I wouldn’t bet he had a change of heart.”
I patted my cloak for reassurance. “Yeah…”
Nora cleared her throat, a dark shadow momentarily crossing her face. “Now that it’s just the two of us… I should let you know that Clare wrote back.”
I straightened. “Anything important?”
“Here,” she said, shoving the parchment in my hands. “Instructions on rebooting.”
I skimmed the letter for the short procedure.
Prior to issuing the “Reboot NAUGHT” verbal command, please complete the following protocol:
1. Review and address each alert in sequence.
Review system context notes as provided.
Where operator discretion is required, align selections with your standard ethical framework.
Do not defer or bypass decision-based alerts, as this may have unintended consequences (e.g., Euphridian Error).
2. Once all alerts are addressed, issue the verbal reboot directive: “Reboot NAUGHT.”
Euphridian Error?
She has a whole error type named after her?
Hah!
“Makes sense… I guess,” I murmured after reading it over once more. “Here you go.”
Nora turned away. “Keep it. I don't want it back.”
“I don't under—.”
“Read the top. It says I'm supposed to give it to you.”
Sure enough, while it was addressed to both of us, Clare had added a note that Nora was to present the document in its entirety to me.
“I still don't understand—.”
“Which way do we go from here, Aina?” Nora shouted, cutting me off.
Aina eventually replied rather abruptly, “Arranging transport. Please wait.”
We lingered for only a few minutes or so, and every time I tried to ask about what was wrong, Nora brushed me off with a few mutters and impatient stamping of her feet. Just as I decided to try to engage in small talk instead, a giant roc descended from the clouds and landed before us. It flared its wings, stirring up a small gale. When it finally folded them, I could see that it had banded hues of gold and blue.
We match!
Slowly, it lowered its neck, as its right, unblinking eye fixated on us.
“To expedite your travel to the High Temple,” Aina’s voice echoed. “Please board.”
I blinked, took a step forward, then started climbing it, using its warm feathers as makeshift handholds.
Nora cast Ventos on herself instead, catching the wind and vaulting onto the creature’s back.
“Just checking if my magic works here,” she said, now smirking in delight as she landed ahead of me.
I suppose the arrival of a mythical creature as a form of transportation could lift one's spirits.
“Fine, fine, you can ride up front,” I sighed. “Consider it my thanks for coming here with me.”
Shenanigans should be shared, right?
The roc shifted, warm wind flaring from its wings as it crouched low, then launched into the sky. Despite the air roaring on all sides, we stayed anchored, as if the creature carried its own pocket of gravity. Paradise sprawled beneath us in dizzying color: glittering rivers, prismatic trees bearing gemstone fruit, and hills painted in every hue of the spectrum.
"Unicorns!" Nora shouted, pointing at a sparkling waterfall.
Sure enough, there was a herd of them, running up against the water's flow.
Farther off lay a small village that had long since surrendered to the elements, its streets overrun with vines and moss. A tall stone tower, draped in ivy, rose from its center, with paneless windows facing all sides.
“Now passing Tower of Relias-Sage,” Aina announced. “Prepare for landing at the Gates of the High Temple.”
“Uh, how exactly does one prepare—”
The bird dipped without warning, swooping toward a crystalline fortress of white and gold whose spires radiated flares of sparkling sunlight. With a triumphant cry, it landed in a single bound, the impact barely jostling us.
“You’re a big show-off, aren’t you?” I said as the roc lowered its neck.
Its enormous eye rolled back toward me. “Caw?”
“It’s okay. You did great.” I fluffed a few of its giant feathers after we descended from its back. “Thanks for the lift, but sorry, I don’t have a tip.”
Once again, the klaxon sounded, and the roc started flinching.
“Hold!” I shouted again.
“Coo…” the bird said almost gratefully before taking off.
I can’t imagine how they all stayed sane with that obnoxious noise.
Aina’s voice came again as we approached. “Welcome, Chosen One. Welcome, Nora. You have reached the threshold of the High Temple.”
Twin gold gates, standing several stories tall and decorated with delicate crystal leaves, slowly split apart, filling the air with the scent of flowers.
I nodded resolutely to Nora and stepped through first, enveloped by a bright light.
Let's hope there's a dimmer switch in here somewhere...
“Please continue forward.”
“If you insist.” I took another careful step, still unable to see anything but white. My boots clicked against marble, but there wasn’t a second set of footsteps behind me.
“Nora?”
There was no answer.
When the brightness finally faded, I found myself standing in a vast, circular chamber of mirrored floors and floating runes.
Alone.
“Where’s Nora?!” I demanded.
From one of the mirrors, a young woman emerged. Her blue eyes glowed faintly as her long, rainbow-hued hair danced in holographic waves. She folded her hands at her robed waist, her smile just a little too precise as her head tilted slightly.
“Subject ID: Nora,” she began pleasantly, “has been quarantined for containment and further evaluation. All unrecognized thaumic entities are automatically designated SSS-Class Threats until verified safe. Rest assured, Chosen One, containment is nonlethal.”
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