I stepped through the portal. A feeling of incredible peace spread over me. I took a deep breath of honeysuckle scented air. It was the perfect temperature. Not hot, not cold. Like a lukewarm bath.

The sky overhead was brilliant blue without a cloud in it. I stood atop a small green hill. A white stone path wound its way downward. The hill fell off steeply on one side in a sheer chalk cliff, 200 feet or more down the sea. Waves crashed against rocks, their whispering murmur a soothing sound from up here.

At the foot of the hill, a small village waited, lots of little two-story stone houses painted coral pink or a balmy blue. People moved between the houses. The village was laid out around three squares with statues or fountains in the middle of each.

"What is this place?" I asked Ames. "You said this was the Lotus Eater level. That feels peaceful enough, but there's no way there's three million people here."

"This is just the intake," he said quietly. "The real entrance is underneath the village. Come, let's stay close."

I followed him down the hill, Grandpa and Sage silent on my heels. Sage hadn't said a word to us the whole trip down. I was worried about her. She had come out of her counseling session silent, nodded briefly when I told her what Ames wanted, and stuck close — but not too close — to us ever since.

People came out of the houses to meet us. They wore white robes or togas, embroidered with gold designs at the edges

A trio detached from the throng of thirty or so and approached us as we reached the outskirts of the village, two men and a woman. The woman carried a cup with her. Ames raised a hand in greeting. “Go ahead and greet them,” he told us. “We won’t spend long here. The important part is underneath.”

The delegation stopped a few feet away from us. "Welcome to Elysium," one of the men said, holding up his hands. “Do you come to seek the wisdom of Cronos, or the peace of oblivion?”

“Neither,” Ames said briskly. “Greetings, elder. You know who I am, don’t you?”

The man blinked. “Of course, messenger. Welcome back. These others are?”

“Here to learn,” Ames said.

“Then be welcome.”

“You should know, violence is not permitted here," the other man told us, looking me over.

“I haven’t received a notification that this is a no miner versus miner violence zone," I commented.

"The alien System has no power here," the woman said. "Our patron takes care of us all."

"Patron?" Grandpa asked, raising an eyebrow.

I tried checking my menus. Nothing came up. I tried taking a water bottle out of my inventory. It didn't work. I went to send a note to Grandpa, and the interface didn't come up.

Ames smiled, seeming to notice my consternation. "They're right," he said. "No System here."

“I didn't even know that was possible.” A little thrill of excitement ran through me. For the first time in months, I was alone in my head. Or — was I? There was a pressure on my mind, like a presence. Who was this patron they spoke of?

"We're not sure if the alien System can see or hear us. We fear that it can," one of the men warned. “But come. Be welcome."

The woman held out the cup to Grandpa. He took it, shrugged, and took a sip before passing it to me. I sipped as well. It was pure, clear water. I didn't detect anything strange in it, though that meant nothing.

I hesitated, but Sage held out her hand. I gave her the cup. She took a sip. Then, a deeper one, her eyes going wide. "Oh," she said, "what's in this?"

"Only a release," the woman said.

I was glad when Sage handed the cup back. The trio gestured us toward the village. "We are the delegates chosen today to welcome guests and speak for our patron Cronos,” one of the men said.

"So, somebody else is in charge tomorrow?" I asked.

"No one is in charge here," the woman said. "We all act together for the good of all."

I exchanged a look with Grandpa. His face was set in a sardonic grin. "I'm just glad that was water, not flavor aid," he said. I didn't catch the reference myself. “So who is this Cronos?”

“Let me show you more,” Ames said, “rather than trying to tell you. Come.”

We followed the trio into their village. "So, how many people live here?" I asked, still not quite believing what Ames had told me.

"Only our patron knows for sure, but many have sought their protection. We welcome all as long as they come with good intent. This is a sanctuary, and it will remain so."

"Who is this Cronos?” Grandpa asked. “How did you meet him?”

I had a sneaking suspicion I knew the answer. There was only one entity I could think of capable of pushing the system out, and that was the reality engine itself. I thought about the strange person I had met deep in the bowels of the loot halls.

"They revealed it/him/herself to us,” the woman said. “The first of us to meet them of us called him/her/it Cronos. He agreed to use the name, so the rest of us followed.”

That name rang a bit of a bell. "That's from Greek myth, isn't it?" I said. "One of the early gods?”

Ames leaned in and said, “Father of the Titans, maker of the universe, who devoured his children, then was destroyed and usurped by them."

"Right, I remember that," I said. "Can't really blame them for not liking to be eaten."

If what the aliens had told me, that the progenitors who built this reality engine were in fact responsible for the start of life on Earth, then maybe Cronos was an apt name. "Do we get a chance to meet Cronos?"

"Cronos reveals itself to who it will," the woman said. She turned to Ames. “Welcome back. You have a hard job on the outside. Be welcomed into peace.”

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

"Just doing my job," Ames said. “There’s more peace here than I can stand, and I’m here to shake things up a little. Cronos and I are going to have words later.”

“What the hell is going on?” Grandpa asked.

“I swear, you’ll get answers. Just give me a little time,” Ames told us.

The woman turned to Sage, her eyes softening. "Have you come to us for help? You are too young for all of this. We have other children here."

Sage brightened up. "Other kids? Really?"

"We have done our best to find and give succor to all the children who were swept up in this nightmare," the woman said. "Would you like to meet them?"

Sage looked from Grandpa to the woman, seemingly hesitant. "I don't know," she said.

"No one will force you," one of the male representatives assured her. “Why not come for an hour or two and see? We will help you find your relatives again as soon as you ask.”

“They’re telling the truth,” Ames said.

I was feeling more and more uncomfortable about all this, even as the feeling of peace pervaded me. It felt unnatural. Or maybe I was so used to fighting, being on edge all the time, that an afternoon off felt wrong.

"I think I'd like to visit for a while,” Sage said to Grandpa, "if there's other people my age here."

"Go on, then," he grunted.

"I will lead you to them," the woman said. I didn’t like it, but I held my tongue. This place seemed safe, and Sage could make her own decisions.

Sage followed the woman off to the far side of the village, where they disappeared into a domed building.

"I thought you wanted Sage with us," I told Ames in an undertone.

"Don't worry. We'll find her again. Besides, she might enjoy herself. Let her have some time with other kids.” He spoke to our greeters. "Is that enough ceremony? I want to take them below.”

“Do not disturb those who are sleeping," one of the men warned.

"We won't.”

They ushered us into one of the nearby buildings, which turned out to merely be the entrance to a grand spiraling stairwell leading down below the ground. The stair was lit every half turn by a bronze basket filled with gleaming purple crystals that cast an eerie glow on the grey granite steps.

"After you," said Ames.

I started the descent. Each stair tread was just a little too short. I had to watch my step carefully as we descended.

Down, down, the stair wound and curved on itself. I lost track of how deep we had gone.

At last, we stepped off onto a landing. A hall led off to our left and our right. Arched doorways, shrouded in darkness, lined the hall. "Where now?"

“Left,” Ames said. "You'll see. You're not feeling any weird effects, are you?"

"I feel relaxed," I said. "That seems strange."

"Yeah, that took me a little bit to get used to," Ames said as we set off along the corridor, passing dark doorways every eight feet or so. "I'm still not sure if it's the influence of the mind is controlling this place, or if it's just from a lack of the system interfering."

That was a disturbing thought. If I couldn’t trust my own mind, what was even real?

"How's that?" Grandpa asked.

“The aliens brought their system along with them, plugged it into our reality engine. It's what runs all of our menus and interfaces," Ames said.

"I know that," Grandpa snapped. "And I can tell it's not here, since I can't get at any of my gear. You think it's been doing something else to our heads?"

"I suspect it is giving us all low-level anxiety, keeping us on edge, like we have something to prove. Some people are a little more resistant to it than others, but I definitely noticed a difference here."

The darkness beyond the arches was impenetrable. "Are we supposed to go into one of these?" I asked.

"Those," Ames said grimly, "are the sleepers. You'll know when we get to something else."

Sure enough, about eight doors on, I found one brightly lit. I still couldn't see inside, but at least there was no cloud of darkness. Ames saw my inquisitive gaze. "Go ahead," he said. "It's going to be easier for you to see this than for me to try to explain it."

I stepped through the arch and found myself in a green meadow full of flowers. Birds sang in trees that edged the meadow. A rippling brook ran across, and bunnies gamboled in the ankle-high grass. "This is laying it on a little thick," I said.

"Oh, it gets better," Ames said. He pointed. "Look."

Off among the trees, I caught a glimpse of creatures, not human, moving about. A moment later, one of them ambled just past the edge of the tree line.

It was half horse, half man. Well, woman. And she was naked from the waist up. The waist down was a horse's body. Her dark, curling hair fell forward across her breasts. She lifted a hand and waved to me before venturing back into the trees.

"There's nymphs, too," Ames said gloomily. "And satyrs, though considerably toned down from their origin myths. I've seen rooms that more resemble something out of an Eastern mythology, but it's definitely playing on our visions of paradise and ancient worlds. Those are who you’ve come to talk to, though.” he gestured off to the other side. “I’m going to have a quick word with Cronos while you get acquainted.”

I turned to see a group of humans wearing togas seated on a hillside. They were listening to a man declaiming he stood atop the hill, one hand raised to the heavens, the other touching his breast with a wreath of branches in his hair. I turned back to Ames, and he was gone.

“Where’d he go?” Grandpa asked.

“I didn’t see.” I hesitated. “Guess I’ll go have a listen.”

“Listen. Yeah.” Grandpa sounded distracted. He had turned away, facing back toward the arch through which we had come. It looked, from this side, like a pair of pillars with an arch set between them. I could see right through, and it was just more meadow on the other side. I guessed if we stepped through it, we'd be back in the hall.

"What's wrong?" I hadn’t seen him this lost since Abuela’s death. I’d been feeling a little better since talking to the shrink, back on the Hub, but maybe Grandpa’s session hadn’t helped.

“Just thought I heard someone," he said, shrugging.

I made my way over to where the people were listening. The speaker was saying, "And so we wait for Cronos to speak to us, to reveal what task they have for their children. Do not be lulled away by the false promises of the invaders. Neither their threats nor their promises hold any weight here. Cronos itself protects us. As long as we do their will, we are safe."

I sat down between a middle-aged woman and a man about my age, both of whom were wearing togas. A cushion appeared as I sat. I tucked it underneath myself. It was pretty comfortable.

"New here?" the woman asked me with a motherly smile.

"Yeah.”

“It's all right. It takes some of us longer than others to hear the call of Cronos. You will be welcome here."

"Who's that?" I asked, gesturing to the man atop the hill.

"Merely an elder brother who has heard Cronos for longer than the rest of us."

I sat and let the man talk. He kept going on in the same way, talking about how Cronos was to teach us how to harness the powers of reality, and how this was the true future that the aliens were here to usurp from us.

I burst in at that. “What sort of powers are we talking about here?”

The speaker turned to me. "Forgive me, it seems you are only recently arrived." His eyes traveled across me, taking in my hat and drover's coat. "Perhaps you would be more comfortable if you went through one of our regular intake sessions before joining the more advanced class."

“I’m just waiting for a friend,” I said. “Sorry for the interruption.”

Mollified, he turned back to his audience. "So, meditate on these words. Listen for the voice of Cronos. As its voice becomes louder and louder, your mind will be expanded. Soon, soon we will be brought forth to join the blessed campaign."

He sat down, and that seemed to be a signal to the others to stand up and begin stretching. They spoke in low tones about the wisdom of his words.

The woman who had been beside me, and the young man with her, smiled at me. "Can we take you to intake and help you get comfortable?" the woman asked. "You could use a bath."

That was true enough, but I wasn’t going anywhere. I shook my head. "I'm here to visit a friend," I said, trying to look for some excuse that would satisfy them.

"Oh," her face fell. "Then you do not heed the voice of Cronos."

The young man cocked his head and held up a hand. "Sister," he said, "patience. I feel that he is as connected to Cronos as any of us."

"It's all well and good to have a place of shelter like this," I said, "but at some point, some of us are going to have to fight. Humanity needs you folk to do more than just sit around listening to Plato over here.”

The two I had been speaking with shrank back. "We'll talk of this later," the woman said, and then fled.

I realized with a start Grandpa wasn't here anymore. "Where'd he go?” I looked around. There was no sign of him. "Grandpa?" Damn it. I had been listening to that preacher a little too closely. Where would he have gone?

By then, I was running for the door.