“Last night, I dreamed that I wasn’t just the king. I had ascended to much more than a mere mortal’s position of power. I was… a god.”
-Arel Vanelos, the Last Kozan King, 111 GA.
So… that’s why you saw this place before in your dreams, Battus. This whole place… it's connected to the dreams of all Illudians, somehow.
Battus had been sitting against the geode, taking in Crystal’s story. Tintin had long since rolled over to the Crystalline Heart, scanning it top to bottom. Battus shook his head. “But I think I would’ve heard about other people having this same dream. I’m the only one who’s had it.”
I… don’t know why you’d be the only one. But it has to mean something, right?
Battus racked his brain, trying to think of any more details about his dreams. He remembered… no, wait!
“Crystal! I know why the Heart- you, why you’re here!” Battus stood up suddenly.
R-really? Crystal’s emotion conveyed shock. Wait, how? Why!
“My dreams! I remember something from my dreams. I remember…” Battus held his head in his hands. “Several people, in purple robes. Carrying the Heart and placing it here, inside this geode. Something about the Divine Satesta’s will… over a thousand years of waiting, something in a vision, or a prophecy. Urgh….” Battus leaned back against the geode again.
And? Do you have any idea why?
“I don’t know… I’m sorry. This place and the Heart are so clear, but everything else is fuzzy, like a faded memory of a conversation. Every dream was a little different, but this place, and the Heart itself, are always just like this. I think you were put here deliberately, for some reason.”
Battus’ heart threatened to beat out of his chest. He had never been the type to believe in prophetic dreams, but, well, today had been his first for a lot of things. Now he was sure that he wasn’t here by coincidence.
Mercury, who had remained silent and eerily still up to this point, finally spoke through the translator. Battus couldn’t be certain, but the Silicarite’s light seemed dimmer, the monotone translations quieter, each word taking longer than before.
“The signal was you, Crystal. I understand now.”
Yes… although, I didn’t know who would show up. But I’m glad it was you all.
“Clearly Pentagonal Prism caught wind, too, even if it was just gonna crash the party,” Battus looked around at the group. “Do we have to worry about more uninvited guests?”
I don’t believe so. I can detect the thoughts of anyone near the island, and besides everything sleeping here, it’s just us.
“That’s good,” Battus nodded, sighing in relief.
Mercury tilted forward slowly as if losing its balance, its light going almost completely dark for a moment. The towering crystal alien threatened to collapse forward onto Battus, causing him to jump away in surprise. The Silicarite snapped back to attention, flashing rapidly but dimly.
“...apologies. One moment,” Mercury gestured to Tintin, and the robo-dog rolled over. “Please avert any light-sensitive organs at this time.”
Battus was about to ask why when he was blinded by a bright flash from Tintin’s display. He blinked away the spots in his vision, and when he could see again, the little robot was beaming a bright stream of light directly into Mercury’s core.
After a moment, the light stream faded, and Mercury’s arms and legs extended out, then returned to their original positions, like a spring. The Silicarite was glowing much more noticeably than before.
“Significant improvement… being underground for excessive periods of time has drained my photon reserves.”
“Huh?” Battus was still disoriented from the light burst.
It means that it needs light. Just like you need food and water!
“Ah, yeah,” Battus’ stomach growled. He hadn’t really considered it, but it had been ages since he last ate. He wasn’t about to chance a nibble on a magic mushroom from down here, though.
Mercury… now that you’ve recharged a bit… I needed to ask you something.
“What is your inquiry, Crystal?”
You had been talking about taking the Heart, and leaving Illudia with it.
“That is correct.”
But… I can’t let you do that. Crystal flew in front of the Crystalline Heart, almost as defensively as a floating point of light could. Her voice didn’t sound malicious, or evil. It was almost… scared.
The Heart is me, and I am the Heart. If you take it with you, I… I don’t know if I could follow. I would lose half of myself.
Mercury paused for a long moment.
“If your desire was not for us to take the Crystalline Heart, then why would you lead us to it?” Mercury asked. Battus had been forming the same question.
Back in the jungle… you mentioned something about the Heart. Crystal’s mindvoice wavered, like a child asking for dessert before dinner. Propagation. Something that the Heart was capable of?
“The Heart has dense deposits of propagite, yes. It is an ideal mineral structure for Silicarite propagation.”
Could I… convince you to propagate instead? Instead of taking the Heart off of Illudia?
Mercury did not respond.
I… look. I know you’ve come a long way. You want to do right by your people and your culture. This is important to you. But where the Heart goes is even more important to me. Illudia is my home, it’s part of me and I’m part of it.
But your story- Mercury, the Silicarite that propagated the Crystalline Heart. That’s a name for the history books. You could start the next chapter, right here on this island. Illudia could be a new home, if not for you, then for other Silicarites.
I know it seems strange for me to ask this of you. But… I think the Heart might be what’s tethering me to the island. If the Heart were a Silicarite, maybe then… maybe we’d both be able to see Illudia, together.
This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
Mercury remained silent, but Battus could tell that it was thinking very deliberately. After what seemed like ages, especially with Crystal’s tense words hanging in the air, Mercury finally responded.
“...very well. I have long been a mineral seeker to fulfill others’ wishes of propagation, to preserve the lineage and history of my species. But I had not considered fully whether I would ever proceed with the process myself. Seeing as you are strongly opposed to the alternative, however… we shall go forward with the plan for propagation.”
Excellent! Crystal beamed even brighter than usual, lighting up the room. So, um… what do we need to do, then?
“For Silicarite propagation, three things are required. First, a silicate-based mineral formation with a sufficient amount of propagite. The Crystalline Heart,” Mercury gestured towards the gem. “Second, a Silicarite donor. Myself. And lastly, a strong light source. The nearby star is ideal.”
Well, we’re running out of daylight, and fast!
Battus realized he had lost track of the time of day. Had they washed up in the morning? Or was it late afternoon by the time they got to the jungle? Daylight hours was the last thing on his mind.
“What’s the rush, Crystal? Can’t we just wait to do this in the morning?”
I’ve waited one hundred damned years for this. I’m not waiting a second longer.
“Alright, yknow, fair enough,” Battus empathized and accepted her impatience.
“…C’mon, then. We gotta get this big hunk of rock to the surface, quick. Oh, and we should bring the Heart, too.” Battus grinned. Crystal giggled in his mind, and Mercury did not respond. It only took hold of the boulder-like geode that was housing the Heart, hefting and lifting it from the natural pedestal that had been its home for over a thousand years. Tintin rolled next to Mercury, using the robotic arm out of its back to help steady the weight.
“The Crystalline Heart is secured,” Mercury’s grip was tight but delicate enough to not cause the geode to fracture.
Got it? Okay! Be very careful… but also, there’s no time to lose!
***
They reached the surface in almost no time, Crystal pointing out a shortcut that led up and out of the labyrinthian caverns quite quickly. The trek was steep and arduous, but Battus was surprised how quick it was to get back up to the jungle, next to the beach.
They emerged from a shallow entrance somewhat close to the chasm they fell in, although there was a significant clearing with fallen trees here now instead of thick forest. Crystal noted it would’ve been faster to take this route, but Pentagonal Prism had still been patrolling the jungle, making it much safer to take the longer route instead.
Night was arriving soon, the shadows of the tropical trees were growing long, and the sun was starting to set across the sea straight ahead.
“According to Tintin, there should be a sufficient amount of light for the propagation process to begin,” Mercury set the Heart, still lodged inside the geode, in the jungle foliage near the cave entrance. A clear view of the sky that was hinting at twilight cast sunlight across the gem’s surface. The daylight reflected inside the Heart’s internal structures, causing the crystals of the geode that held it to sparkle with dazzling reflections.
Crystal floated near the Crystalline Heart.
…I’ve never been so close to the beach before. Like this, at least. The Heart hasn’t seen the sky for over a thousand years, huh…?
“If my weird dreams are to be believed, sure,” Battus sat on a stump next to the Heart.
Right… Crystal moved towards Mercury. Okay. We should get started.
Mercury stepped in front of the Heart, extending its left arm to place it against the crystal.
“Once the propagation process begins, I will be unable to detach myself from the Heart until deposition is completed. My core will be somewhat vulnerable, as I will need to share some of the Silicarite replication material with the recipient structure. This may take quite some time,” Mercury explained.
“After deposition has occurred, there will be an incubation period which will more than likely last much longer. Then, the new Silicarite will emerge. The moment I initiate propagation, however, there will be no going back.”
I understand, Mercury.
“Then I shall begin,” Mercury’s light pulsed, its internal structures shifting.
Its left arm took hold of the Heart’s upper left rounded edge in a tight vice grip, and Battus watched in half fascination, half disgust as strands of the Silicarite’s core pulsed and moved up through its body. The darker, strange crystal structure inside, half-visible through the semi-transparent red Mercury, flowed like murky water slowly through its arm, depositing material that flowed into the center of the Heart.
Tintin rolled over to Mercury, scanning the Heart as the process began. Suddenly, Crystal spoke up with urgency.
M-Mercury… w-wait, I…! Her light flickered, and she drifted like paper in the wind, her voice coming in hazy like radio static. She started to drop to the ground.
“Crystal? Crystal!” Battus rushed over, sliding on his knees to catch the little ball of magic in his hands. She gently floated, lighter than air, just above his palms.
“Crystal, what’s happening?!”
I… I-I don’t k-know. Something with the Heart, I… I c-c-can’t…!
“Mercury, stop it, you’re killing her!” Battus pleaded.
“I cannot end this process. It is no longer under my control.”
Battus’ eyes welled with tears, watching Crystal’s light fade slowly as she drifted listlessly against the edges of his cupped palms.
“I am truly sorry Crystal. I do not believe that any of us could have predicted this outcome,” Mercury’s translator didn’t convey it, but Battus felt the Silicarite’s sincerity.
I-I can’t… see… Slowly, Crystal drifted up and out of Battus’ hands, gaining speed as she approached the Heart.
“Huh? Crystal!” Battus desperately wanted this to stop. He stared helplessly as Crystal fell into the center of the Heart, her glow almost completely gone as she disappeared deep into the gem. He pressed his hands up against the glassy surface, trying to see anything inside the gemstone.
“I apologize, Battus. This is an unforeseen consequence of propagation.”
“...what do we do now? Crystal is gone,” Battus wiped his eyes with his jacket sleeve, slumping onto the tree stump again.
“There is only one possible activity now,” Mercury’s arm, still attached to the Crystalline Heart, shifted slowly with the dark red core matter. “Wait.”
***
An hour had passed. Or, maybe more, maybe less. Battus hadn’t been paying attention. Mercury was nearly motionless as it continued to propagate. The sun was approaching the horizon, the light of the day starting to fade into dusk.
“...how much longer, Mercury?” Battus’ words nearly caught in his throat, having been almost unmoving himself since Crystal had disappeared.
“Tintin indicates that we are at approximately 82% propagation deposition.”
“Okay…” Battus wasn’t sure why he bothered to ask. Nothing really mattered anymore, anyways. He just wanted to go home now.
Battus was suddenly shaken from his mood as a long, vertical razor sliced up the sand of the beach.
“Mercury! Look out!” Battus tried to warn the Silicarite. The crystal-like sawblade that was easily as tall as Battus was rapidly rolling up the slope, headed right for the Heart.
Mercury barely managed to shift itself to the side in time, still firmly attached to the gemstone.
CRACK!
The blade split the Crystalline Heart, and the geode, completely in two. The half-heart not still attached to Mercury fell uselessly to the side, rolling awkwardly into the pastel foliage. Crimson fragments of the split crystal and the boulder that had housed it littered the ground. But Battus had no time to process the implications of this.
“LIAR,” A booming robotic voice very much unlike Mercury’s echoed through the canopy. That could only be-
“Pentagonal Prism is back!” Battus stood, shielding his eyes as a white crystal ship appeared as if from nowhere across the sea. The sun’s bright light had obscured its approach from the horizon.
It was similar to the Shard, and it rotated to be perpendicular to the shore as it descended towards them. Hanging out the side of the ship’s hatch, facing directly towards them, was none other than the antagonistic blue Silicarite itself.
The ship was armed with multiple cannons, each independently pointing at Mercury and the Heart, loaded with deadly sharp crystal blades. Battus froze, the Killer Quartz’s deadly intent now very clear.
“Uh oh.”