Jasper grunted as he landed, and nearly fell over as he gazed at the city he now found himself in the heart of. He realized why a part of him didn’t want to come to a new world as he tried to catch his timid breath. There were rings of buildings spreading from the center of the city like a tree stump’s rings. All around were buildings of different colors, styles, and sizes so strange and each one so unique that Jasper nearly got a headache from the sight.
The most obvious and most fantastic spectacle was the giant point in the city’s center. It stretched impossibly high, becoming thinner as it went and ending with a sparkling orb that seemed to change from dazzling white to glorious gold to deep red with every blinking gaze. At its base, the spire attached to an equally impressive building.
To Jasper, it seemed the size of a small mountain with three ascending levels. From his position a few hundred feet from the massive building at the center of the city, he could easily see the different levels. The first was a deep black, circular base that spread out and held up the other floors. The next level was made up of three separate sections: one white, one gold, and one red. All three had a staircase heading up from the ground. Each color was of an enormously pure quality, and made Jasper think he was looking at great gems rather than buildings.
These sections were shaped somewhat like giant swirling triangles. They curved and swept inward, as if the building itself was spinning toward its center. The top tier was of a marble-like stone that blended white, gold, and red together in a sort of beautifully chaotic fashion. The spire itself came through the whole center and dove into the lower levels of the building and out of sight.
As Jasper looked around, he saw something that nearly equaled the height, to his view, of the spire. All around him were the edges of cliffs, all but in one direction. He then realized that the whole city seemed to tilt downward, toward the spire, in a nearly unnoticeable way. It made you feel somewhat drawn to the spire. And with the layout of roads, he could see that it was not only the center of the city but the center of trade and activity as well.
“Are you alright, Jasper?” Nin asked. “I hope that you don’t feel overcome by all this. It would be a shame to have our first off-world visitor have a stroke on his first day here.”
“The… the… big, stuff,” Jasper mumbled as he licked his lips, his brain trying to catch up to his eyes and his fearful instincts fighting for control over his curiosity.
“Mm, big stuff, eh? Sounds like he’s lost it alright. Let’s send him back and get another one,” Chrisholm said with a smile.
Jasper could sense that his tone was the opposite of sincere.
“It’s, it’s day here,” was the only coherent idea Jasper’s mind could put forth. He had many other questions swirling around in his head, but they all bottlenecked, a swarm of bees trying to go through a tiny knothole.
“Yes, Jasper. Pinnacle is on a different position relative to its sun than where you are from,” Nin said, bending down to look Jasper in the eye.
It was only then that Jasper realized how silly he looked. He stood up and wiped himself off. The streets were actually paved, and instead of being in a forest he now saw trees in random bunches, separated by the rough pavement and stone buildings.
“Pinnacle, what’s that?” he asked, and looked around, trying to regain some composure. “Thought you said I was on Sevens.”
“You are. Sevens is the name of the planet. Pinnacle is the name of this city,” Chrisholm said, spreading his arms and waving around, emphasizing the location.
“On the plateau of the ancient crater top, this city was founded. And through its history we have advanced our culture and civilization to embrace the power of peace and the joy of friendship,” Nin said with a smile as she stood up and scanned the city with pride. She pointed to the different levels, all the way to the huge fields that surrounded the buildings, with farms scattered further beyond. “You can see our history laid out before you. We progressed outward, and the style and shape of the buildings reflects this as one ring fills up and we move on to the next.”
“Like… tree rings?” Jasper asked, trying to put things into words he understood.
“Exactly.” Nin smiled in return. “But I’m sure history is one thing that you don’t need to overwhelm your already hampered senses with, for the moment. Come. There is much to show you and many who would like to meet you.” Nin put out her hand for Jasper to take.
Jasper pulled away from it, not wanting to go anywhere and half-ready to ask Nin to take him home. As he did, he caught a glance at the sparkling jewel atop the spire.
Julia, he thought. He felt a sudden sense of courage, comparing his star to the jewel, and took a step forward, not taking the woman’s hand.
“The child has courage after all. Maybe we can keep him,” Chrisholm said with a wink as he walked beside Jasper.
Nin led them through a gate in a thick wall that separated the mountain-like building from the rest of the city, where they entered the compound. Nin told Jasper that the great building was called The Pinnacle, the city being named after it, and was home to the Sevens Prophets.
“You said that before,” Jasper said as they reached the broad, black staircase at its base. “But… what’s a Sevens Prophet?”
“We are,” Nin replied as she fluidly made her way.
Jasper saw many other men and women, in similar garb as his three companions and with similarly striking weapons, walking these grounds. He fought the urge to hold onto Nin’s dress. The Prophets excited and intimidated him, and he did his best to send out feelings of friendliness to all who came near. Many people smiled in return, and Jasper didn’t feel quite as alone.
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“All those carrying a weapon blessed with the power of one of the White, Gold, or Red weapons is a Sevens Prophet, Japser,” Nin continued. They reached the first landing, standing on the shiny black surface of the lower level. “We have been blessed with a power that others would never have possessed without our aid. With this power, we have taken up the cause to bring peace to other worlds. You, Jasper, your world was the first one we’ve visited. And we hope to one day bring peace to your world.”
Jasper thought about this for a few seconds. “You’re going to kill all the beasts?” he asked.
The three Prophets looked at each other with confused expressions.
“No, what I meant was we’ll stop the wars on your world. We’ll help end discrimination, and allow people to see each other as part of a whole, loving world,” Nin said. “That’s what we do. We are prophesied to reunite the seven planets and end all wars.”
Jasper smacked his lips, thinking this over. “What’s a war?” he asked.
Nin’s eyes went wide.
“Um, mission accomplished?” Chrisholm offered with a shrug.
Nin glared at him, her hair shifting around with her sudden movement.
“We meant we’ll end your fighting and bring peace and unity to your people,” Nin suggested, smiling back at Jasper.
“Far as I know,” Jasper said, scratching his head, “we don’t really fight, except the beasts. And we’ve got those pretty well under control. And what with our catching each other’s feelings so well it’s hard to be too mean to someone. Matriarch told you about empathy, right?”
Nin blinked. Then she nodded. “Yes, your race’s strange empathetic abilities must be the reason for your docile attitudes.”
“Do what now?” Jasper asked.
Nin smiled and tilted her head, pleased. “Suffice it to know, then, Jasper, that we Sevens Prophets are here to help those planets that do have wars and to end hate on the planets where it is rampant.”
Jasper felt a twinge of worry from that. He could sense a little disappointment in Nin.
This was all very confusing to a young mind that had thought only an hour ago that far-away planets were just a fanciful idea.
“That sounds like a worthy cause,” Jasper said, and felt very small. He gulped, and hoped that he could understand what Nin was talking about one day. It was all just coming in too fast for much of anything to stick. He stroked the walls of the building as he passed. They were cool and smooth.
A man clad in a robe of shimmering gold exited a door and, spotting the group, ran up to Nin. “Nin! You’re late — everyone’s been waiting,” the man said, and gave a quick glance to Jasper. That was when Jasper noticed his strange, thick golden glove. “This is him?”
Nin raised her eyebrows to silence the man. “Go on, Folde,” she said.
Folde, the man with the big gold glove, nodded, a little confused, and ran off after giving Jasper a quick grin. Jasper sympathized with the man’s confusion, but also felt excitement brewing from the others.
“Jasper, if you wish to learn more, we can teach you anything you’d like to know about the Prophets,” Nin said. “However, we did not bring you here simply so you could gape at our city.”
Jasper shut his mouth with a click of his teeth.
“You must do something for us in return,” Nin went on, and began walking toward the other end of the building.
Jasper heard a faint roar, in voice and feel, of excitement.
“Come this way, Jasper. I have a surprise for you,” Nin said.
Jasper hesitated, wanting to back the way they’d come, but Gorn pushed him on. Jasper felt it wise to not get between Gorn and whatever direction the large man was going.
As he made the long walk over the middle roof of the Pinnacle, between the three swirling buildings, Jasper began to see the streets of the strangely shaped city. Jasper felt it odd to think that all the homes he’d seen in Pinnacle were filled with people. The cities on Mother were specks compared to this.
The roaring excitement in his heart and ears grew louder and louder. Nin was guiding him, but Jasper didn’t really want to go. He felt an eagerness all around him that teetered on threatening. He breathed deeply, and that twinge of fear, the voice of instinct that Jasper hated yet relied on too much, suggested that these people were going to hurt him.
Jasper saw people standing around a large platform up ahead. It looked very ceremonious, and many people, Prophets, Jasper realized, held weapons. He stopped, suddenly afraid of what was in front of him.
“Come now, Jasper. You shall not forget this,” Nin said. She grasped him firmly by the hand and walked him up to the platform.
As he reached the platform’s edge, Jasper heard the massive roar thunder all around him.
“The dawning of a new age has arrived!” Folde shouted as Jasper and Nin reached the platform and stopped beside him.
Nin held their clasped hands up high and the source of the thunder erupted in cheers and shouts of joy. Thousands of people, of all shapes, sizes, and colors gazed back at the open-mouthed Jasper and applauded his presence.
Jasper froze, eyes wide as the city itself. If it weren’t for Nin’s strong and smiling grip he surely would have collapsed, or bolted. The multitudes felt a wave of joy and gave it all, unknowingly, to Jasper. They had no idea what this kind of attention would do to a person so attuned to people’s feelings.
They stood on rooftops, clustered in groups on the streets, and sat in chairs laid out for the occasion, cheering this new age. Jasper took it all in, and his heart felt like it’d been clawed to pieces.
Nin let him go then, and approached the center of the platform, silencing the packed crowd.
Jasper panted beside her, flanked by the steady presence of Gorn and Chrisholm.
“Brothers and sisters from all of Sevens,” Nin began. Her voice seemed amplified, and it echoed all around the shallow bowl of a city. “It has been many years since the day we were blessed with the goal of seeking and aiding the peoples of this universe, and uniting the seven planets in peace. And today, we mark a grand step in that journey. For today, we have the first human being from another world to come to Sevens. He comes as a child in a strange land, as we will soon be children in strange new lands. So welcome, from the planet Mother, Jasper!”
The people cheered again, and Jasper couldn’t help putting his hands against his ears. Men and women up to and over six times his age leaned around each other to catch a glimpse of him. People cheered his name, and the weapons displayed in his honor now glowed white, gold, and red.
Jasper fell back into Nin’s strong hands, and she prevented him from losing his balance.
“Say something, Jasper,” Nin said with a smile, and edged him to the middle of the platform. “This is your celebration.”
Jasper looked back at her, pleading, but she was too absorbed in the moment to notice. She left him standing alone in front of the masses.
After a few moments, the people quieted down. Jasper didn’t need heightened senses to feel their anticipation for his words. He swallowed, and tried to think of something, anything to say as he struggled to keep his balance.
His mind was racing, his instincts begging him to shriek in terror. All that had happened crashed into him, yet he felt words coming to his mouth.
“I…” he said. His voice echoed across the city, through the people’s ears, into the thoughts of the Prophets, and back to Jasper with a strange reverberation. He had been pushed, urged, and thrown into a place that was not just new, but intimidatingly massive. And that’s when the whole situation exploded, the gravity of his situation crashing into his inexperienced mind and collapsing all rational thought with a shattering blow. “Hi?”
Jasper bolted.