Well, that wasn’t likely. It certainly felt like a door, as Ari looked at it, but the featureless black void in which they were both suspended didn’t lend itself to feeling like much of anything. Or seeing, for that matter. But it felt and looked like a door all the same, a strange and shimmering gap in the distant darkness. How had he even gotten here? Where was here? Ari thought to look around, but found he couldn’t move - he was fixed on that point in space, with nothing but himself and that… threshold, he decided, was a better word. He had a sense that there was something beyond it, something he couldn’t come back from if he passed it.
As Ari regarded the threshold, he noticed the darkness around him begin to stir, as though the void itself had folded up into a cloth to cradle him. Stars twinkled into existence in the fold, their soft light putting him suddenly at ease. He felt a weight on his shoulder, what might have been the caress of a hand he couldn’t see.
You are found; you are safe. Come, child. The final step remains.
Ari realized he was moving towards the threshold, slowly guided forward by his only companion in the darkness. The swirling, starlit pitch caressed him like the ocean surf, cool and comforting as it lapped against his formless body. Tension he didn’t realize he was carrying fell away like weights from the soul as he was propelled forward. Whatever was behind that door, looming ever closer now, Ari now realized he was ready for.
Suddenly, he was jerked to a halt, pulled backwards by an unseen force. Ari felt the starlit fold grip him tighter, a protective embrace - but then, it released him and faded away. The force pulled again and terror seized him, the glimmering threshold still fixed in his view. So close now, and yet beyond his reach alone. He was flying backwards now, the doorway receding from view until it was just a point in the distance. And then it was gone.
Gravity shifted - or maybe just his perception of it - and Ari was falling now. He felt himself tumbling, all control gone, and a dull roar grew in his ears until it was almost deafening. If he cried out, or was even able to, he could not hear. But just as quickly as he’d been pulled away from the threshold, Ari stopped falling, and he felt a cool pressure on his back. For a moment, he wondered if he’d been caught in the folds of his guide. But the sound remained, fading into a distant rumble that ebbed and crashed. Ari opened his eyes, blinking a few times as he did so to make sure it was something he could do. The pitch darkness that greeted him was indistinguishable from the void before, but he knew this was somewhere different.
Ari focused, and his senses began to return. From blurry nothingness, he began to perceive colorful clouds of stars, swirling and blinking as he beheld them. He found that he could move his head again, shaking it gently in appreciation of the ability. Flexing his hands, Ari felt mounds of sand fall from them, glittering gemlike in the dim purple light of his surroundings. The rumbling sound came again, and what must have been water rushed to his bare feet. Ari mustered his strength and sat up.
The view was spectacular; a beach at the edge of oblivion. He stared out past the breakers, towards where a horizon line might be, but there was none. The dark nebula that comprised the sky seemed to continue into the water, meandering its way through the surf to lap at his skin. Warm, he thought, and somehow less wet than it should be? As each little wave receded, he found no trace left on the sand or his body. Still somewhat dazed, Ari sat still and took in the vista, allowing the waves to comfort him as he thought again about his experience at the threshold. Doubt began to creep in; had he just fallen asleep here, and his environs given rise to a dream?
"Oh, we got a new one. They're gonna love this."
Startled, Ari turned to look for the speaker, sand flying as he scrambled to his feet. Seated on the rocks behind him, dressed in a whimsical but nevertheless clean and kempt suit, was a sort of man - but the proportions were wrong. His body was just a little too long, arms and legs drawn unnaturally thin, and his curled form leaned forward on spindly knees. One arm was draped over them in a carefree way, evidently not supporting his weight, and the other he held out lazily in front of him; with spider-like fingers, he twirled a coin in his hand, regarding it disinterestedly. He spoke with a lagging cant, as though he chose his words one at a time.
“Up then, are you? Good, that’s good. Not like the sea could drown you, but some strange tides do come in. Would’ve made for a rude awakening, and we do like to make that first impression a good one.”
His wits now mostly returned to him, Ari sputtered out the only thing he could think of. “Who are you? Where… where am I?”
“Where are you?” The tall man stopped toying with the coin and looked at Ari. “A harder question to ask than it is to answer, especially when you don’t know what you’re asking. This here’s the domain of Corata Aiya. As to where it is, well that depends.”
“Aiya…? That means… We’re on the comet? Is that it? Is this Mialura?”
The man grinned, a strange expression on his pointed face, and pocketed the coin. “Mialura, the ship of legend. So you must be Itherian, then. Most folks call this place Janattari, but of course you’d have a different connection to it. Yep, by any name, that’s where you are.”
“I didn’t think she was real. Or at least, I thought… I thought she was just something out of history.” Ari gazed up the beach, struggling with the realization that he
“Well that’s true enough. I’m something of a historian myself, so I can tell you. And now, you know why it was such a tough thing to ask.”
With a groan, the man on the rocks stood, towering over Ari though they were on even footing. His full height was just a guess, however, as he carried himself just like he sat: hunched over, as though to make his lanky form seem smaller. Without stepping forward, he extended one hand and tipped his hat with the other.
“As for your first question, they call me Caroax. How about I show you around. What’s your name?”
Ari hesitated, then trudged across the beach to take Caroax’s giant hand. It was bony, and the strange man’s long fingers wrapped around Ari’s wrist in an unsettling way as he shook it. But there was warmth, and his smile was genuine.
“I… I think my name is Ariocas. But, call me Ari. Yeah, that sounds right as I say it.”
Caroax chuckled. “We’ve had so many new arrivals recently, and they all start out the same: memories fuzzy or gone entirely. Maybe you’ll remember, maybe you won’t. At least she gave you clothes, the first of the bunch didn’t even get that. Anyway, well met, Ari. Shall we?”
Following Caroax’s lead, Ari picked his way across the rocks, absently tugging at the loose-fitting robes he was only just noticing. The tall man’s much longer legs made it an easy task for him, but he kept his stride short so that Ari could keep up. Shortly, they arrived at a road leading up the hill away from the water. While they had so far walked in silence, when Caroax crested the hill he turned to look back the way they’d come.
“I like to stop and take it all in, every time I head back this way. That beach, it means something to me, though I can’t figure what. Maybe as just a nice, quiet place far from my… companions, we’ll call them. Or maybe more. I always have a last look because it might not be here anymore, next time I come through.”
Ari looked out over the coastline and realized there really wasn’t much of it. From this vantage point, he could now see that the ocean fading into the sky wasn’t just an illusion, but reality. The water literally ended, somehow falling away to nothingness even as the waves still crested for shore. With mounting dread he traced the road they’d walked, finding it led to a bridge that also crumbled into the void. The stones simply came apart, suspended unmoving in the air. Caroax sighed, and Ari turned back to look at him.
“What’s happening here? It seems like all I’ve done today is ask questions, but… why is it like that? What’s happening to Mialura?”
“This plane is… fading,” began Caroax, “just like all do, eventually. Aiya preserves us, but only she knows how long she can keep that up. Come on, let’s head for town.”
The pair continued down the road away from the coastline, through alien flora and more rocky outcroppings. Every once in a while, Ari would get another glimpse into the distance, seeing parts of the comet just… floating away. It was unsettling, to say the least. Eventually, though, they rounded a bend and Ari saw buildings in the distance. The lights twinkled warmly, overshadowed literally by a looming peak with a castle atop it.
“That’s the center of it all, right there. Where Aiya holds her keep, and where most of us lesser folk reside. There’s lots of names for the town you might’ve heard of, but generally we just call it after the castle: Anathema.”
“Anathema?”
“Yep. Anyone tells you Aiya doesn’t have a sense of humor, you remember that.”
Caroax led the way as they walked into town, fortunate since Ari was not watching where he was going. His eyes were fixated on the buildings. Anathema was the most architecturally incongruous town he could imagine. Buildings were built on top of, beneath, and through other structures. No two were alike, and few held a consistent theme throughout. Here, metal sheeting supported windows framed with wood. There, marble columns supported a curling shingled balustrade. Towers stretched into steeples, with other buildings perched on top. Whole alleys seemed to be upside-down. It was as though someone had had the concept of a town described to them, and then they told someone else, who told someone else, and then that person had been tasked with building it. Improbable parts, creating a bewildering whole.
“Caroax, do you live here? In one of these… uh, houses?”
“Oh, goodness no. Anathema has its charm, but I live with my companions not far from here. No direct route, anymore, but that won’t be an issue.”
“How will we get there, then?”
Caroax gave a knowing smile and nodded his head. “Better I just show you. Let’s get you used to one thing at a time.”
Ari was about to ask what else there would be to get used to, given how his day was going so far. But then, he noticed the people. Anathema’s denizens were largely as human as he was - that was noteworthy, given the company he’d kept so far. But… not all of them. Occasionally, he’d see extra features that were hardly standard issue. Ari saw a woman with pale, glistening skin, her long pointed ears glinting in the torchlight. There was someone with their back turned, tail wagging excitedly as they leaned against a counter to order a meal. And was that… yes, a stack of animated teapots, holding stimulating conversation with a friend.
“Zakthri! Good to see you again, give my regards to the wife.” Caroax apparently knew the pottery.
That was enough for Ari. “Alright, seriously, what is this place? What… Who are all these people?”
“Like I said, one thing at a time. There are no ‘natives’ to Janattari, my friend. At one point or another, over a long, long time, Aiya has picked us all up. Some even have the good fortune to keep their original shapes. Wouldn’t know much about... Oh, good, they haven’t moved it.”
As he said that, they arrived at what seemed to be the town square. In the center was a large fountain, its various spouts sprinkling quietly. Caroax strode up to it, then beckoned for Ari to approach.
“Here, take this.”
Caroax fished around in his pocket and produced a coin, just like the one he’d been holding on the beach. He handed it to Ari.
“Think about where you’d like to go, and toss that into the fountain. Any body of water would probably do, but these are… pre-attuned, let’s say. Aiya’s watching over them, so you’ll be safer that way.”
“Safer from what?” Ari had to ask.
The tall man ignored him, producing a second coin and flipping it into the waters. The surface rippled but then suddenly stopped, leaving a rounded pattern frozen in time. The space within began to swirl, a miniature vortex on the otherwise calm surface of the pool, and its reflection of the sky seemed to deepen in color.
“Just think about me, when you leap in. The water will know where to take you. Don’t dawdle!”
With that, Caroax stepped up onto the fountain’s rim, turned sharply about-face, and with a wink hopped backwards into the pool. He entered the water straight as an arrow, passing through the vortex without a sound. As the top of his hat disappeared from sight, the coin’s original ripples resumed their path across the surface, as though it was all that had passed through. Ari did not see it on the bottom of the fountain.
Ari held up his own coin, scrutinizing it carefully. The gold surface was intensely weathered with age and use, inlaid with runes that would now only be legible to their engraver. In the center, a purple gemstone sparkled with a dull light all its own; the flat, mirrorlike surface belied the depth of the facets within. Gathering his courage, Ari tossed the coin into the fountain, and watched as the water began to swirl again.
He stepped up onto the rim, drew in a breath, and leapt.
Ari was dragged down, down into depths far greater than the fountain’s basin had held. The torrent which carried him was powerful, but gentle, drawing him swiftly to… wherever his destination was. He closed his eyes tightly, and in the darkness he thought again of his experience at the threshold. Just as Ari found he could hold his breath no longer - did he even need to? - the water unceremoniously ejected him out onto another flagstone street. He reached up to clear the water from his eyes, but there was none; again, completely dry. He heard Caroax chuckling above him, and a giant hand came down into his view.
“First time’s always a rough landing. You’ll get the hang of it sooner or later, promise.”
As Caroax pulled the man to his feet, he gestured with his other hand. Ari turned his gaze and beheld an archway, perfectly framing the way towards the most magnificent circus tent he could remember seeing. The arch was the only gap visible in an otherwise imposing wall, hemming in the festivities, and a slogan was emblazoned atop it in lights. He read the words even as Caroax spoke them:
“Welcome to the Grand Meridian!”
This time, Ari stepped forward on his own, enticed by the sight. Though the wall obscured his view somewhat, other tall buildings could be seen over it, each as strange as the ones in Anathema. As he walked up the stairs and passed through the archway, his senses were accosted by the sounds and smells of the carnival. People of all shapes and sizes ran about, shouting with joy as they played midway games and selected their prizes. Music echoed from sources unseen. Food Ari could not recognize sizzled on oversized grills, with the more familiar popcorn and cotton candy being doled out by the bag. A colorful wonderland of amusement, to be sure, but he quickly noticed that most people seemed to be gathered at the entrances to the huge tents. They seemed to be waiting their turn to enter, with small groups streaming in as others left. The people who came out, usually cheering excitedly, looked somehow… different, but for only a moment, as though within they had been someone else…
Caroax clapped him on the shoulder from behind, startling him slightly. Ari looked up to see that his tall friend had affixed a pair of rivet spectacles to his hooked nose, with fractal seer’s lenses that sparkled in the carnival lights.
“AH! Caroax, you’re back!”
“We’ve been worried sick, where were you? You know how these things are supposed to go.”
A pair of voices broke through the din, startling Ari and eliciting a pained sigh from Caroax. He removed his hand from Ari’s shoulder as two people bustled towards them. Again, person-like; most of the carnival-goers were at least nominally human, but these two were more like Caroax. One was comically short and rotund, almost circular, with stubby legs and a great tall hat affixed to his similarly round face. The other was more conventionally shaped, but her facial features were unsettlingly large and animated. They spoke so quickly, it was difficult to tell when one stopped and the other began.
“Fiacite. Pemetune. Please, all is well. I just went for a walk, you know how I do. And look what I found down on one of the beaches. Another castaway.”
“Well, would you just look at that. So many, recently!”
“Good for business.”
“Good for business! And good for you. What’s your name?”
“His name is Ari.”
“Ari! Pleased to make your acquaintance.”
“Yes, very pleased indeed.”
Caroax had responded for him, but that was fine by Ari. The rapidfire, staccato conversation was making his head spin. His friend took note of this and tried to tone the conversation down.
“Ari, these are my companions. Pemetune, and Fiacite.” Caroax pointed first at the large-eyed woman, then at the rounded man. Pemetune waved cheerfully as he did so, and Fiacite bowed his head so low that Ari wondered how the hat didn’t come off.
“Ari here has had quite a long day. He’s still a bit fogged up from his arrival. Forgotten most everything except his name, seems like. So why don’t we just…”
"Forgotten?” Pemetune exclaimed. “Oh, he's forgotten! How wonderful."
Fiacite was less thrilled. "How inconsiderate, you mean. It's unbelievable how people just leave their thoughts lying around down here, as though someone else would clean up after them."
"Fortunately, someone does. Several someones in fact." Caroax almost gritted his teeth as he said it.
"It's us,” concluded Pemetune with a mischievous grin. “We're the someones."
“Anyway,” interjected Caroax, “I was thinking he would come with me for the first little while, to the Retreat. Don’t want to overwhelm the poor guy. He can join the fun a little later on.”
“Nonsense!” Fiacite was having none of it. “Best way back onto one’s feet around here is to get straight to the action. ‘Rite of Ascension’, that’s what you need. Step right up, right this way.”
Fiacite trotted forward and got an arm around Ari’s waist, making as though to lead him towards one of the tents. But Pemetune also stepped forward, wrapping her own arm around Ari’s shoulder from the other side.
“All that so quickly? No no, he needs a more catered experience. ‘Dreamfarers’ is better for that, don’t we all know? Come, Ari, let’s go that way.”
“Really? That game requires too much reading! You’re still working the kinks out of the early levels anyway, it’d overwhelm him.”
“At least I have intro levels! Hack and slash, that’s all you’ve got. Let me know when you finally figure out character progression.”
“Enough!” Ari couldn’t take it anymore. His walk with Caroax had been comfortably weird, and he was just beginning to get his bearings. But this was all too much - the lights, the cacophony, and now these two. He broke free from their grasp and ran past Caroax, towards the entrance archway. Stopping short to catch his breath, he turned back to look at the trio. Caroax was gesturing and saying something Ari couldn’t hear, while the other two argued back. From this angle, with Fiacite’s ridiculous tophat and Caroax’s hunched posture, they somehow appeared to all be about the same height.
Ari looked again through the archway, now framing the fountain from which he’d entered. It burbled gently, gently lit against the cosmic blackness behind it - he was on an island, different than before. Here, too, chunks had cleaved off and floated into the abyss, some trailing waterfalls as they departed. There was nowhere else to go but the water, and he had no coin.
What was he supposed to do now?
