121. Portals

Isaac and Mortimer stayed atop the cliff until the procession ended, watching as the line slowly disappeared into the fissure, fading into the darkness. More and more remnants joined from across the Graveyard, appearing on the perimeter of the field and extending the line. The whole while, Morrigan simply overlooked them from above.

Finally, after enough clouds of dust had been kicked up to blur the boundaries between earth and sky and even the hard ground was trampled enough to leave indentations, the last remnant twisted and twirled into the gap, vanishing from view.

The barren field, formerly covered by the beings, now looked uncanny in its emptiness. Isaac stared, eyes tracing the lines of the sky. He’d never realized just how large the realm was. Without trees or buildings to obscure the horizon, there was a visible endlessness to the Graveyard that made it stand out from other realms.

He waited, watching for more remnants to appear and continue the procession. Several moments passed, and none did.

Finally, Morrigan slowly raised her skeletal hands again.

With a smooth, methodical motion, she slipped back within the inky fissure. Her black veil blended into the darkness until her head and torso were once again out of view, leaving only her hands. White bone fingers gripped the edges of the broken sky, still that same muted shade, and carefully pulled.

The ground beneath them rumbled, low and echoing. The landscape shook as those two halves of the sky were slowly pressed back together, closing like the doors of a gate. The hands disappeared from view entirely, and with a final resounding crack, the rupture was rendered into nothing more than a thin line.

At first it seemed like the cracks would remain, scars lingering across the flat sky. But then, a soft white light glowed from the horizon, burning and flickering like a candle flame. It climbed upwards, lining the cracks with that same light until a web of branching lines glowed softly above them.

In a brief flash, the lights flared, temporarily blinding Isaac. He squeezed his eyes shut on instinct, and when he opened them again, the cracks had disappeared. There was nothing left but the smooth, uninterrupted expanse of the sky and the same empty jagged landscape that he’d seen from the station.

The Dance of Greys was over.

Isaac exhaled, shoulders slumping. He felt oddly exhausted even though he’d only been sitting there watching. The Traveler raised a hand, and he found it shaking a little. And yet, when he focused on the feeling left behind by the sight, he found it wasn’t a negative one. He understood that he’d just witnessed a true once-in-a-lifetime event.

Isaac turned to Mortimer, who was standing back up.

“Thank you for inviting me here,” he said sincerely. The half-undead man nodded, his usual deadpan expression back into place. Now, though, Isaac felt like he was easier to read than ever.

Mortimer paused for a moment, thinking to himself, before finally speaking. “Before we leave, there’s one more place I’d like to show you, if you don’t mind.”

Isaac nodded and stood as well. His legs were a little weak from sitting down for so long, and he dusted off his clothes while he waited for his muscles to readjust. He could feel the beginnings of pins and needles and attempted to shake the limbs out. All the while, Mortimer waited patiently, nodding behind them.

“It’s this way.”

The two turned and walked further back atop the flat cliff top. Below them, the dust was beginning to settle back down after the procession had kicked it upwards, and Isaac noted the few scraggly trees they passed.

Finally, Mortimer came to a stop, and Isaac peered over, eyebrows rising in surprise.

Situated atop the cliff was a large, round lake. Hard stone dipped down in a perfect circle, the ground’s smooth slope feeling almost artificial in its uniformity. The water within the lake itself was flat, so still that it could easily be mistaken for hard ground if it didn’t faintly reflect the light.

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What caught Isaac’s attention the most, however, were the images reflected on the “lake.” Instead of a mirror of the sky above, a deep red color bloomed across the surface. Tall, mismatched buildings and winding streets occupied the lower half of the image, a few figures walking along looping roads. It was showing Solonell City.

Mortimer stepped forward, bending down and placing a hand over the surface. There was no ripple or movement, no wave in sight. The image remained hard and solid. He straightened again, nodding at the lake.

“The boundary between realms is thinner here,” he explained. “I used to always sit here watching.”

Carefully, Isaac placed a foot down on the lake’s surface, and it was both hard and also more slippery than he’d expected. It felt a bit surreal, to step on an image of Solonell City’s streets from atop a Graveyard cliff.

“I didn’t know this sort of thing existed,” Isaac muttered half to himself. “I thought most of the realms were separate before Lilith merged them.” Even the ones that were always connected, like Paradise and the Inferno, had still had clear entrances and paths from what he understood. This felt more like a crack, a mistake or a gap in the usual fabric of the realms.

Mortimer hummed, slowly pacing around the lake and peering distantly down into it.

“These areas have always existed.” He cocked his head. “Before the Collapse, there were portals that would sometimes open between different realms. Lilith only stabilized those passages when she created the subway tunnels.” Mortimer nodded down at the image. “That’s how I ended up in Solonell City. This lake is part of one of the portal’s patterns. One opened up while I was here, and I fell through.”

Isaac blinked. “You fell through?”

“Yes,” the man said simply. “It was rather surreal.”

That sounded like a massive understatement. Isaac tried to imagine sitting there, staring down into another realm for what had likely been years on end, only to one day fall through and land in that very same realm. It would be akin to landing inside a novel he was reading; there was a certain unreality to those flickering images, even when he knew they were depicting an existing place.

Isaac stopped, a sudden thought crossing his mind.

“Wait, so were you able to go back to the Graveyard?”

Mortimer shook his head. “I didn’t return here until after the Collapse and formation of the Underside,” he explained.

“So if the Collapse hadn’t happened, you wouldn’t have been able to come back.”

“Probably not, no, or at least not very soon. I would’ve needed to wait for another portal to open up.”

Isaac frowned at that, pensive, and Mortimer raised an eyebrow slightly, faint amusement in his eyes. He hummed, gaze shifting to the horizon.

“It’s alright. I did miss the Graveyard after I landed, but I quite liked Solonell City as well.” He smiled a little. “I was fortunate to meet many wonderful people there.”

Isaac studied the half-undead man carefully. The rebel leaders, from what he’d heard, had all died at this point. Most in the coup itself, and a few during and shortly after the Collapse. Only Mortimer was left.

Mortimer must have noticed his expression, because he continued. “Perhaps it’s because I’m half undead, but time has always passed a bit differently for me.” He shifted his weight. “If the Collapse hadn’t occurred, I could’ve waited thousands of years for a portal to the Graveyard to appear if I wished. I can let things pass me by.” He frowned, glancing over at Isaac. “It’s a bit different for you, I think. The short-lived have much less time for regret and passivity.”

Isaac stared down at the red sky flashing across the lake’s surface, so different from the surrounding landscape. He wondered how much time he’d spent regretting what had happened to Lloyd. It was a strange thought, to try and count those years now that he’d finally begun to sort through his feelings on the matter.

In his pocket, the tablet was a constant weight pressing against his side. One of his hands drifted to the device absently, his eyebrows furrowing. He’d planned on waiting a little longer before talking to Lilith, but the image of the remnants disappearing into the fissure remained clear in his mind. How easily they forgot and how easily they passed. The impermanence.

In truth, Isaac didn’t think waiting longer would help him sort through his thoughts much more. He would have to accept that his feelings on the Underside, the system, and the trial would likely remain complicated. But, he thought to himself, that didn’t mean he couldn’t start trying to untangle the knots.

“Thanks for bringing me here,” Isaac said. “I…” his voice trailed. “Enjoyed” didn’t feel like quite the right word here. Thankfully, Mortimer seemed to understand. The half undead simply nodded.

“Are you returning to the above world after this?”

Isaac’s gaze shifted, moving across jagged grey cliffs until they landed on a faint, distant speck where the subway station stood. He took a deep breath.

“I will,” he said. “But first, I’m heading to the Golden Lands.”