After passing through the illusion of the oasis, Gi found himself standing atop a crater made of shards of glass. It looked as though a bomb had exploded at the base of a greenhouse the size of a skyscraper, creating both the crater and the kaleidoscope of glass that lay everywhere.
Dotted around the landscape, strange creatures or automatons made of what looked like a diamond of glass panes that were wrapped around a glowing orb of light. Delicate ribbons of that same light floated out of them, lazily drifting out of them to keep them in air. Strangely, they seemed to ignore Gi. When he'd stepped through, one had been right beside him, but it made no sign that it even detected his presence.
What caught his attention most though was the spire. Down in the center of the crater, a shining tower of glass shot upwards and was flanked on all sides by dozens of much thinner columns of glass. The tower only rose maybe three or four stories so its tip barely peeked over the top of the crater, but a beam of light extended out from it, powering the domed illusion.
"It's so shiny!" Poe said
"And sharp," Gi said. His paws were already standing on the shards of glass and if it wasn't for his Quicksilver Body, they'd probably already be shredded. Walking on it shouldn't cause any issues, but he didn't want anything to slow him down if he had to run.
He fed a little Aether into his [Expanded Pocket] which allowed him to "see" into his extra dimensional space. It had his mace, rock, and now bare dagger blade. Otherwise, it was just rations and bandages.
He took out the knife and cut off the extra sleeve of his robe. Since it wasn't enchanted, he didn't really care, but he had to find some better gear eventually. Cutting the sleeve in half, he placed a section over each of his feet and then wrapped them up with more of his bandages. He'd thought Tiria had given him too many, but at this point, he was already running low.
His large paws weren't the best fit for shoes, but these makeshift ones should help protect him. An experimental step onto the glass ensured him that it would get the job done. His eyes returned to the spire which radiated light like the sky-ocean always did. Night had started to fall, but the entire crater reflected that warm light making everything visible.
“Let’s go,” Gi said. Poe clung to his shoulder and Gi took cautious steps down into the crater towards the tower. As he walked, he realized just how many of those strange glass diamonds there were in the crater. They were practically camouflaged against the ground, but there had to be hundreds as he picked his way through.
After maybe fifteen minutes, the two of them reached the bottom of the tower where a grand staircase made of glass was. Unlike the ground outside, both the tower and the staircase looked to be made of smooth, unbroken glass rather than the shards that were embedded around the crater.
A tentative step told him that the staircase was both solid enough to hold him and not as slick as he thought it would be. The stairs curled around the inside of the tower disappearing into a solid floor a couple stories up. Everything inside was made of that same smooth glass walls, banister, and even a small chandelier.
One hand on the banister, he made his way around, expecting something to attack him in the silence of the tower. Despite being able to see the outside through the walls, the slight reflective sheen made him feel like he was surrounded on all sides, making his gaze constantly shift to the corner of his vision.
Slowly, he took the last two steps to the top.
The roof rose upward and disappeared into a point that would be the tip of the tower outside. Otherwise the floor looked like the first with the exception of one thing. A slime made of light lay in the center of the room, unmoving other than a gentle pulsing that told him it was alive. Strangely, panes of glass floated above it and giant ribbons of light ran off of it like hot wires curling at the end. It was as if one of the diamonds outside had grown to a disproprtionate size and then melted against the floor.
Gi took another step into the room and the light pulsed in reaction. An awareness settled on Gi and he heard a nebulous voice in his mind.
It’s been awhile since I’ve had company…
Gi glanced around the room, but there could be nothing other than the giant slush of light in the middle of the floor as the source. “Who are you?”
The light rippled as though the being was considering that. I called myself Speckle once. A young elf that had fallen into magic far too difficult to control and I ended up stuck here. In this strange dimension.
“You’re not a monster then?” This surely had to be the source of the light aspected Aether that forged the illusion outside and fueled the light that lit up this entire area.
Hrmm… Perhaps I am now. I must admit I do not know. Many years after I crashed here, I became injured and my power leaked out of me. That birthed my children here as well as reshaped the remains of the glass meteor that brought me here.
Gi was… confused. How could an elf, one of the human races, make their way here? Where did a glass meteor come from? How strong had this elf been that their power spilled out and spawned a whole clan of the strange diamond monsters? Before he could ask those questions, Speckle spoke again.
I have been here… alone… a long time. I know not what manner of creature that you are, but if you can take myself and my children out of here, I’ll help you achieve whatever goals you have. Any knowledge that I have is yours or any power I can muster. I’m just so… lonely.
Perhaps because he'd just had his conversation with Poe about the little dragonfly being lonely, but pity tugged at his heart. How would he fare if he’d been stuck unmoving for years? The mere thought made him shudder and a flash of the dopey follower in a hospital bed appeared in his mind.
He wanted to help this creature.
…But doing so would put his clan at risk. According to Elizabeth, he needed to upgrade his Heart to help secure his clan’s future in the Dungeon. If he could do that, he could secure their future in Igna. If he could do that, he could build a base of power strong enough to empower his goddess. It all hinged on this.
Will you help me?
Conflicted, Gi rested his paw on one of the glass panes, looking down at former elf. If Jalx were here, he'd absolutely save Speckle, the elf turned monster, just as he'd saved Gi that first day on the mountain. An aching hole opened up in Gi's heart and he wondered if Danna would be proud of him.
A [Divine Bolt] shot through the glass pane anddirectly into Speckle’s bulk. The light pierced him harmlessly doing no damage, but the lonely mass of light knew what Gi had intended.
Murderer! Betrayer! Speckle’s voice wailed in his mind and beams of light started to shoot out of the former elf at random. Gi flinched backwards as the sudden attacks scored the glass walls of the tower, but in Speckle's currently broken state, they had no control over the direction of their attacks.
Watching their ineffectual attack, a vice squeezed on his heart as Speckle continued to shriek at him. The former elf’s curses reminded him of the Father speaking to the follower, but it didn't matter. He’d already made his decision. His mace dropped into his hand from his [Expanded Pocket] and he rushed over to the mass.
Gi sidestepped a beam on his way over, but no more came to stop him as he crashed his mace into the flat glass that covered the puddle of light. It shattered and Speckle’s wail grew louder.
Coward! You seek to murder me when I can’t fight back! MURDERER!
His mace slammed down into Speckle and shards of light exploded outwards, mixing with the glass that now floated in the air. The former elf’s ribbons of light curled into tight balls as Speckle screamed.
“Boss…” Poe said, but it was a quiet word. Unbelieving. A glance at Poe told him that his oldest friend in this world looked at him with a new light of disappointment and horror. Did he see himself in Speckle?
It didn’t matter. Gi had to finish this if he wanted to protect everyone. If he wanted to give Poe a family.
With one final mighty blow, the mass of light that was Speckle gave one last scream that faded into a mumble as the light spilled outwards like a balloon breaking in slow motion.
Stillness. Shame.
Both of these things only lasted a moment before a brilliant light burst from the body of Speckle and slammed into Gi’s chest. His body thudded back against the glass floor, but his mind and vision was transported elsewhere.
The Follower sat in the Principle’s office of his school. They’d had a student teacher over their class that day and the follower had told the more aggressive students every mistake that she’d made. Kids, as cruel as they are, yelled out all of her mistakes over and over until she left the room crying.
Their usual teacher had been furious when she'd learned he was behind it, sending him directly to where he currently sat. The Father had been even moreso, but not at him. The straight backed man loomed over the principle’s desk as he spoke calmly but cruelly towards her.
“You’re punishing my son for pointing out the errors of an adult?”
“A student teacher, Mr.-,” the principal barely got a word out before The Father spoke over her.
“I don’t care. Did she not go to school for this? Was she not trained? Why should my son be punished for correcting someone about their own job who is six years his senior? If she had been competent, there wouldn’t have been any issue.”
“It’s not the correction that’s the issue. Your son started a mini riot-“
The Father slammed his hand down on the desk, silencing her, and then returned to his cold tone. “My son instructed his fellow students about the errors that your teacher was incorrectly teaching them. If you’re concerned with the actions those students took afterwards, take it up with their parents."
From the many visions that Gi had of The Father and the dopey follower, this was the only one he’d seen where the follower felt grateful. The Father had used his cold rationality and charismatic power to dominate the situation. The principal wanted to argue or to correct him, but she found his logic too poignant to ignore. With The Father's position in the community, she couldn’t force her way past his concerns either.
“Perhaps… you’re right. I don’t see how your son here is responsible for the actions of others.”
“Good,” The Father said and then gestured to his son. “Now thank him for helping your teachers do their job.”
The principle pursed her lips. That was clearly too much for her, and yet… this was The Father. She turned icily towards the child. “Thank you for paying attention. You may go back to class now.”
The Father grabbed the follower by his shoulder and the two left the room. The grin that spread across The Father’s face seared into his memory. This was a man who enjoyed conflict and dominance. A man who loved nothing more to see someone subservient beneath him.
Was that what Gi should be? The type of monster who’d destroy Speckle to further his clan?
Light flashed and Gi felt himself twitch, but something had him pinned down. He didn’t come out of the vision though. The scene changed.
The follower sat on a steel bench outside of a running track. He bounced his leg and squeezed his hands as he stressed internally. Danna, wearing yoga pants and a crop top, jogged onto the track, catching her breath on her hands. The follower looked at her and Gi could tell that they were both younger than many of the visions he'd seen.
“There you are,” Danna said as she finally caught her breath. She walked over and plopped down beside him as though she was unconcerned about the anxious air around him. “I thought we were meeting up tonight? You okay?”
“I… I failed another test in Physics.”
“What did you get?”
“A 74.”
“What? That’s a C! That’s a passing grade!”
“It might as well be an F. I couldn’t make it into an Ivy League school and now I can’t even make A’s at my backup. I’m just so useless.”
“Hey, whoa. Don’t talk about my boyfriend like that! Don’t you know what they call students who get Cs in med school?” She didn’t even wait for him to ask what. “Doctor.”
He snorted, some of the tension leaving him, but all of that anxiety wasn’t so easily removed by a simple joke. “I doubt my Father sees it that way.”
“Well frankly, he sounds like an asshole.” She took his hand from where he had a deathgrip on his other and squeezed it. “You get good grades in high school so you can get good grades in college so you can get a good job so you can have a nice family so you can die leaving behind a legacy. Is that really all there is to life?”
The follower squeezed her hand back. “You make it sound like a bad thing. Don’t you want a family?”
It was her turn to snort. “Of course I do, but do you really think getting a C in one class is going to have that big of an effect? What do think that translates to in salary? 1k? 2k? You could fail a lot harder than that and still have a family. Poor people have been having families for a long time. Trust me. My family is dirt poor.”
Sometimes talking with Danna reminded the follower of talking with The Father. She always took control of a situation that felt like it was spiraling. She was calm and rational but kind. How could the two be so similar and yet so different? “Then why does it feel so bad?”
“Because your father’s an asshole. He taught you that perfection is merely adequate so everything less feels like abject failure. That’s just not how the world works.”
Tears filled the follower’s eyes. Somehow, her view of the world made him feel like maybe he was worth something. Like maybe, it was okay to be flawed. Like maybe, it was okay to just be… happy. He wiped his eyes on his sleeves.
“I love you, Danna. I hope we get a chance to convert our good grades into something special.”
She smirked. They hadn’t been dating long enough for I love yous or thoughts of marriage, but she didn’t judge him for that either. Instead she just squeezed his hand and looked up at the stars. “Maybe we will…”
The scene ended and Gi floated in an endless light. Sensation still pressed down on his body, but he understood what the light was trying to show him. There were two paths laid out before him. One led by The Father. That one promised strength and competency at the expense of empathy. The other led by Danna promised strength through a family. A group of monsters that stood by each other and raised each other up together.
Danna’s path was the obvious choice for him, but could he afford to be so kind? Would his family survive if he was?
Despite feeling conflicted between the two choices, the strength of both settled into his Heart. Insecurities had no place within the new light that shone inside of him. It wasn't that he couldn't be afraid or question his decisions, but it pressed upon him the power to confidently make a choice.
You've developed a Unique Heart!
You've gained: Heart of Crossroads
Aspect: Light