CH 1- DORA: SWEAR UPON THE RABBIT.
Dorotha’Tereme Corusca, Gama’Senzema Rudele, and The Cold-Gem.
City Zodoro’Manrythe, Soul-System Sarufo’Tasemathe, The World Surumkathe.
01.01.3206 ChoTre [Cho’s Treason]
The door to the front passenger seat opened, and Dorotha’Tereme Anvamede Corusca’s heart skipped a beat. The person who’d made your life hell while growing up crouched and looked in through the open door, green eyes blazing under gray-tinted spectacles, and for a moment. You felt a need to drive off, and let the monsters who would form behind you have her. The car stayed in place, though your hands clenched at the wheel, and Gama’Senzema Rudele’s eyes moved to look at them like a snake’s analyzing their prey. You loosened your grip and not before long, your first client entered.
“Hope you don’t mind,” Gama said, banging the door close before smoothing out her gray suit and long-skirt. “I prefer the front to the back.”
You did mind. You liked your personal space, especially when there was room to afford it, but she already knew that. “Customer’s always right.”
“Not just. You’ve got Zodoro’Manrythe’s most underpaid Educator in your car. Ground-breaking stuff. I’ve got a legion of children that will hunt you down If you get me killed. Probably to thank you, but do youreallywant to give them the satisfaction?”
Gama’Senzema; a teacher. Probably deserved the underpayment. “I’ll keep that in mind.”
She nodded, finger pushing glasses closer to eyes that turned to the windscreen and the neighborhood street beyond. No other words were said. You let in a deep breath, eyes closed, and allowed your soul to peer out at Zodoro; at the planet and Soul-System that was Sarufo’Tasemathe. At the whole breadth of Surumkathe itself. Nothing but darkness, and oddly a rabbit. But then, a spark of light; crystalline and cold, just a few light-years above Surumkathe. You jumped for it, but it skittered up and back once you fell. Another jump. A snicker from the wellspring. A groan left your lips, and you’re sure Gama heard it. You’re sure she was watching; judging. You crouch, bracing your knees, eyes on the watching, living energy you needed for the job, and jump harder than the last two tries, hand reaching out for it.So close.The wellspring went dark. Your soul fell, and hit the gravel, without power in its hands. Palm on the ground, you shook your head, and then swerved it all around. Peered past the city and the Soul-System itself. No light, bright and cold. Just darkness; and a rabbit. It hopped toward you, mouth chewing at nothing. Standing from the gravel, you picked it up. Lighter than a feather; more adorable as well. With a smile, you petted it, forgetting the world, and the car, and the lifelong enemy in your car; before the rabbit let out the oddest sound. Before it let out a snicker. The first instinct you had was to drop it, but the snicker gave you pause. Power in your hands? A brightness coalesced above you. Brighter than before. Colder than before. But the same Wellspring that had evaded you before, you knew. It came closer, and your soul squinted, tears forming. You backed a step, and the energy stopped. Reassessed? Out of instinct, you moved two steps towards it, refueling its movement toward you; brightening it up even further. The light floated closer, you stepped closer, while the rabbit continued to chew at nothing. Till a cold sun hovered an inch from your face.
Sky-Wheeler?
The light had spoken. Hands tightened a little bit around your rabbit. Mystic Well-Springs could talk?
Dorotha’Tereme Corusca, yes? You are the Sky-Wheeler?
Forgot the Anvamede.“Uhm, yes. Merely one of many,” you said, before the rabbit bounded off you and onto the light, biting at it in an instant. You gulped.
Why would your… device need wheels in the sky, if it could already float?
The rabbit continued to chew at the many-hued crystal, growing brighter all the while. You didn’t know whether Wellsprings could feel pain, or if the rabbit’s teeth were sharp enough to cause pain. Did it even have teeth? Both didn’t seem to mind, so you let the matter drop and remembered…Oh right! The question.
“Our cars spend as long a time as they do in the sky, on the road. So wheels are needed.”
Planes use wheels too, Anvamede. The difference is they pack theirs in once they get up. Why do yours stay on?
Tapping the opposite sleeve of your black leather jacket, you considered. “What’s a plane?”
Oh, right. Your people don’t have those.
And then, you saw. The image of a semi-cylindrical behemoth, black and slick entered your mind. Two wings on each of its sides, reminiscent of the Frost-Emblem known as Starglade, all spotting metallic propellers the size of your car. And beneath the behemoth, the tiniest of wheels, retreating into larger openings above them before gray doors slid close as the plane flew into a white cloud. At its head, an emblem of its own. A glimmering boulder. Inside the boulder, a name. Graystone Corporation.
Starglade. How did he know about planes?
That’s a plane, smallest of them, twice the size of your Sky-wheel.
“What do you have against flying cars, Cold-Gem?”
The light flickered, and for a moment, there was silence.Did I…Fighting the need to back another step, you opened your mouth to apologize.
What did you just call me?
The rabbit continued to chew at one of the light’s sides. “Cold-Gem, my… liege,” your voice cracked.
Like the last one a little bit less. That was a lie. I don’t like it at all. Sounds more like companion chewy over here. How about it, Liege?
The rabbit… Liege, glowed brighter for two seconds before continuing with his phantom meal. Blinking fast, you blurted out; “Hold on. You liked it.”
No I didn’t; keep up. That why I gave it to the rabbit.
Shaking your head, you said, “not that. Cold-Gem.” They blinked brighter.
Oh, I like it; I like it very much. Cold-Gem... I’ve never had a name before.
Never. No name. Not at all. You grew up in a broken home, to parents who grew to hate each other, and even they reunited to welcome your birth and give you a name. What kind of parents didn’t…
I am one of the paths God took during their trial of creation; back when the void was all that was. Through me, and my peers, you and yours exist today. I don’t have any parents. Not unless you count the Prime Walker, God themself, as one.
The [Ice-Ghost]? That didn’t track: your sister had a name. “[Sarufo’Tesema]”—You kiss the edge of your thumbs and raise them to the sky—“is your mother?” You asked, and Cold-Gem laughed in response.
Sarufo’Tesema walked my sibling’s path and stumbled off it a long time ago. And by then, many had already tried taking the God-Paths, most failing, like her. When I talk of the Prime Walker, I talk of someone far more powerful than one among the Soul-Systems of Alexander Cho.
Cho?The… God-Path started to leave, floating away into the darkness, Liege in tow. You walked forward.
I will leave now. Thank you for talking to me about your Sky-Wheels, and for giving me a name, Anvamede.
“Wait!” Cold-Gem ceased their departure. “I require of you two things, Cold-Gem.” They sighed.
Name them.
“Some of your mystic energy. To traverse the Maelstrom with. I’m kind of keeping a client late.”
And the second?
“Can Liege visit once in a while? Please.” You said, proud to have stopped yourself from asking for the rabbit forever. In an instant, Cold-Gem was inches away from your face, Liege’s chewing audible.
So that you can hunt him and cut off his foot for luck?
“Wha—N-no. Who does that?” You asked.
Right. Wrong People. I’ll see what I can do. As for the first, takes a special person to handle even the smallest trickle of a God-Path’s energy. Are you willing to walk?
Willing to walk?The path of a God more powerful than [Safuro’Tesema]. One of the paths which had made her into a God. A Soul-System of Alexander Cho, whatever that meant. Power in your steps? Could you do it? Was it even possible? You took a breath, and made a decision. “I’m willing to walk your path, Cold-Gem.”
The rabbit stopped chewing, floating toward you as Cold-Gem backed away.
Swear upon the rabbit.
Holding onto Liege again, the world right, you vowed; “I… swear, upon the rabbit.”
Almost at once, your little Glow-rabbit was bright and cold. And his brightness, and coldness spread. To your hands, and heart, and head, and feet.LET HIM GO!!!Everything screamed. But you knew. If you let go, you failed, before even making the first step.Weather the Cold. Weather the Light.You didn’t let go. Gama’s voice sounded, asking if you were alright.Yes, I am. Just yelling for the fun of it,you thought to answer… or maybe said it out-loud. You didn’t know; hoped it was the former. Another voice—from the sky. A familiar one. Your sister’s mother.
[Dorotha’Temere Anvamede Corusca; will you walk the God-Path of the… Cold-Gem?]
“I will! I will!” You yelled at the Soul-System.
[It will not be a Cake-walk child—]
“I said I will, Safuro-damn-you!” A curse with her own name. You knew she was just trying to help. That she cared for you… probably. But the rabbit was just, so cold. So… much… Cold.
[Understood. God-Path attained: Cold-Gem Level 1.
Skill Attained: Frost-Resistance Level 1; Seven Uses Left.
Item Attained: Leather Jacket of the Prime Walker, Level 1; Seven Uses Left.
Do you accept, Dora?]
“Yes, Goddess.” you said, and woke up screaming, a few feet in front of your car, thumbs frozen beyond repair, Gama holding you with one hand while using a phone with the other, and a rabbit they’d allowed you to keep sitting beside you on the gravel, chewing at a white, winged jacket you’d only just received.
