In between micro naps, Luka sipped a steaming mug of jrum and stroked Leo’s white fur. Across the booth, Franky sat holding the newest issue of the Sneerhome Chronicle. A familiar demonic reporter once again hit the front page with a breaking story—THE GODS GATHER!

“…And while it is still unknown to the Chronicle why all of the gods appeared in World Walker Park, one thing is for certain: World Walker Park will be crowded for the foreseeable future. Here at the press, we’ve received notes that employers are closing shop today and tomorrow to give their employees a chance to visit Sneerhome’s newest neighbor.

“There are whispers among the divine district of a new world holiday as well. Tentatively being called Earth Day, named after World Walker Luka’s home world, this day will be an annual event celebrating the gods’ collective grace. At the Chronicle, we suspect World Walker Park will be cited as holy ground for this day, if not every day.

“The Chronicle will update the public when we receive any future news on the matter, including a statement from the World Walker himself, as well as the various high priests of the many gods.” Franky ended the article by saying, “Authored and edited by Stell Metus.”

Luka grunted. “Nothing about Mage Farr?”

“Nothing.”

“Good?” He said it like a question. Tram was all for the mage’s death, and as much as Luka didn’t want to agree, he didn’t. The man punched Franky in the park with a magical fist—an attack that would have killed a human or the various other ‘weaker’ races. Or so Luka was told by Eve. Attack magic was above his purview.

“It is good. Maybe the Guilds will just forget about the whole ‘court’ thing,” Franky mused, sipping his own mug of jrum.

“Probably not. Your aunt has been battling the court for days now, no way they’d ‘forget’ about me.” Luka yawned and glanced out the window. Silhouettes of people stood around outside, the crowd waiting for the park to open flooded back this far from the gate.

“We’ve got a few more minutes,” Franky said, almost as if he could read his friend’s mind.

“What? Oh, no. I was thinking about morning drinking. If Todd wanted to open the bar in the morning, I think he’d do pretty well.”

The orc nodded. “Sell some hot breakfast, maybe some of Iop’s pastries?”

“And jrum and beer, yeah,” Luka said, a smile growing. “I was thinking about live music as well. Not just at Todd’s but around the park. We could even create small venues where guests can rest their feet and stay and listen a while.”

“Maybe some shows, too?” Franky asked. “Like one of those traveling puppet shows. I love those!”

“Puppet show? Aren’t those a bit childish?”

The bald, freakishly muscular man cocked an eyebrow. “You haven’t seen a puppet show from this world yet. Trust me, you’ll love them.”

Luka took another sip. “Touché.”

“Toosh-wha?”

“It means—never mind, I don’t know myself now that I think about it. I think it’s French.”

“You’re just making up words now,” Franky chided.

“Am I? Because last I checked, ‘jrum’ isn’t a word.”

“Yeah, it is. You’re drinking it.”

“Uh huh, what about ribblelit or that lemon one?”

Franky feigned irritation. “I’ll have you know, gra’mak’lish’lem is a perfectly sensible word!”

Luka laughed.

Franky then drummed his fingers on the table. “I think it’s time.”

They stood and started for the door. Luka paused with his hand on the knob. “Eve will bring Annie over if she wakes up during the speech, right?”

“If Annie’s up for it, yeah. Eve doesn’t want to miss it either, you know.”

Luka gave a single, decisive nod and strode forward. The nearby guests turned their heads, some nudging their companions and murmuring about the World Walker. His gaze met theirs, and for a moment, the air went still. His posture was straight, his shoulders square. They were here for Luka, the man who summoned the gods. Giving them anything less than confident respect just wouldn’t do.

Whispers rippled out, sparking and igniting a wildfire of intrigue. The murmur grew into a wave, heads continued to turn in Luka’s direction. Parents lifted their children high, others climbed on nearby boxes to get a better angle. A corridor formed for him, an opening amongst the rawness of the massive crowd. He stepped right in, surrounding himself with the people who came to visit the park—who came to listen to him speak.

A raven circled overhead, one of Sol’s—or Sol herself. It carried a stick, one you might find anywhere in the forest. Luka met its eye, and the bird released its grip. The stick was magical, a microphone that amplified the speaker’s voice through the nearby grass.

Luka caught the stick mid stride; the crowd was dead silent. A few steps away, World Walker Park’s welcoming sign hung overhead. It was a gnarled hunk of wood, an organic structure that held lettering like leaves on a branch. It craned over the path and gate—a perfect backdrop for an opening speech.

But Luka stopped early, directly in the center of the crowd. Many thoughts swam through his head after Mage Farr punched Franky and Not-Annie’s subsequent appearance. One of which was simple: magic wasn’t to be taken lightly. And while Luka refused to harm someone, that didn’t mean his magic wasn’t impressionable. Creating rides and storefronts was something, but Luka knew his magic could be so much more.

It was time to stop kidding around and get serious. It was time to use magic.

It’s the lava problem all over again, Luka thought, reminding himself of a duo of teenagers at the park’s soft opening. This world and Earth have different standards of mystique and amazement. It’s time to give them a show.

Luka glanced behind, finding Franky meshed with the crowd a safe distance away. They locked eyes, the latter smiling.

Luka imagined magic as strands of hair—or, more precisely, he imagined magic as Goddess Tippy’s hair. Her magic was the first he’d seen; her magic was what directly fueled his own. It was her gift that permeated his blood and allowed him to create amazing things. It was divine in aspect—but not perfect like Tippy’s.

No, that wasn’t right. Luka's magic wasn’t perfect like Not-Annie’s. Maybe it was his imagination. Maybe it was his trauma welling up. Maybe it was knowing there was something out there, even the gods feared.

Whatever the case, Luka had seen it. He had felt it. He had experienced it. The first time he experienced magic, Tippy was gentle and loving. Not-Annie was anything but. And yet, Luka was in awe. He felt his view of reality narrow and widen at the same time. Magic wasn’t magic, but rather a set station of rules he was too arrogant to understand.

Luka knew the basics of his magic but also knew it was time to experiment.

He closed his eyes, and the crowd of eager guests held their breath. He held his hands out wide, and the crowd went dead silent. He sent his strands of magic out, connecting to any and everything, and the crowd smiled.

The best explanation of his magic Luka had found was fabrication—he could create things from something. But that wasn’t correct, not really. In reality, he could take already made things and reshape them into something new.

And it was that small, subtle difference that Luka now touched on.

Air was something. So was light. And sound. And shadows. And time. Heat. Momentum. Gravity. Static electricity. Frequencies. Space itself.

Luka smiled to himself. Some of those were a bit esoteric for now. One day, sure. But right now, he needed to open the park.

His strands of magic connected to the air around his feet. They took the invisible thing firm, molding it and packing it into a brick. Luka put one foot on the brick, raising up. He created another. He put his other foot on it. Another formed and floated one step higher than the last. Then another, and another. Soon, Luka walked on the air, standing above the crowd on an invisible platform.

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The crowd gawked, as did Franky and the other villagers.

The sun peeked over the tall emberwood trees to the east. Luka glanced at it, grabbing hold of the light it produced. A spike of pain ripped through his head.

Okay, okay, not like that… Luka calmed himself and re-tried. Grabbing the light was above his pay grade. Light was everywhere, the sun was simply too strong. He remembered attempting to move several heavy piles of materials a few days ago. It strained him to do such a task, even causing his nose to bleed. But through that pain, he found the trick: divide and conquer.

Instead of grabbing all of the light, Luka grabbed the light around him. He felt the connection bolster through his strands and brace against his mind. What he envisioned would be tough, but he felt the crowd deserved something special.

Standing on the air, the light around Luka waned until it was nearly gone—until he was nearly in shadow. Manipulating light, as he quickly found, was more akin to closing the shutters on a window than molding dough into a shape. Did that mean molding light wasn’t possible? Luka didn’t know, but he intended to find out soon.

Soon, the World Walker looked as if he were standing on a dark stage, with a spotlight directly at him. He cleared his throat and glanced around. He spotted a few familiar faces in the crowd—namely villagers, but a few guests and VIPs. The journalist, Stell, and his haunting eyes. The girl, Sally, and her mom. Zora, the veterinarian from Sneerhome. Even a god or two.

Neb and Tippy stood amongst the crowd, the former an old man with wrinkled leather for skin, the latter a young woman with hair so red it almost looked on fire. Both smiled at him, and he smiled back—at least, until Tippy nodded toward a particular person opposite her near the back of the gathering.

At first, Luka thought Tippy was guiding his attention to Eve—the orc stood a few steps from the crowd, watching him with wide eyes. But Luka quickly realized his mistake. Beside Eve was a woman.

Last time Luka saw her on Earth, Annie was in her late twenties. She asked him to leave and never return, content with living her life without a father. And at the time, Luka had been alright with that. But not anymore. Now Annie looked ten years younger, a symptom of reincarnation it seemed. She looked around cautiously, almost as if she was afraid.

She probably is, Luka thought. I know I was my first day here.

Eve nudged her and gestured up. Luka and Annie locked eyes. Father and daughter reunited across space and time on an alien world.

Luka quivered, his eyes turning to glass. Annie… Annie looked conflicted. She stared at him like he was a ghost—which he supposed he was. Her lips were pressed thin, her shoulders hunched, and her head low. She didn’t dare move, caught in some internal battle of grief, loss, guilt, shame, anger, and many, many more emotions.

Luka gave her a soft smile, one that was not reciprocated.

That’s fine, he told himself. I deserve that.

A butterfly floated across his vision. Luka glanced over, finding Tippy gesturing for him to hurry up. He chuckled to himself and cleared his throat.

“Alright Leo,” he whispered into the shoulder Leo rested his head on, “give me the biggest howl you’ve got.”

Luka held the microphone stick to Leo’s maw. The little guy looked between the twig and Luka, eyeing both like they were stupid. Leo then shook his head, clawing his way out of his rider’s hood. Luka helped the wolf clamber down, the invisible platform of air large enough for both.

Leo then activated his size-changing enchantment, growing into his full size. The crowd gasped at the floating dire-wolf. Leo gave Luka a cocky smirk, receiving an eye roll.

“Show off,” Luka muttered, holding the stick out to Leo. Leo pushed it away with his snout.

The wolf then welled up and howled, shaking the air and resonating with the crowd. Somewhere in the sea of people, Sebby howled as well. Then another dire-wolf, likely a guest’s mount. And another, and another. Luka even spotted Olive the emu with her beak pointed toward the sky, a strange noise echoing out. The beasts sang, their howls like a choir.

Leo held the song for as long as possible, ceasing with a guttural, primal flourish. He then adopted a very content gaze as he looked out over his crowd.

Luka then held up the microphone and spoke, the grass echoing his every word:

“Ladies and gentlemen, mystics and mages, adventurers and explorers, welcome to our humble slice of the extraordinary—World Walker Park!”

The crowd erupted in applause, shouting, and shrill whistles.

He let the noise die down. “Thank you, thank you. But I don’t deserve your praise, none of us at World Walker Park do. The opposite is true. We should be applauding you.”

The crowd softened, confusion setting in. Luka’s voice carried a note of warmth, the familiar warmth of his time in the village. Of those who accepted him, who guided him, who trusted him. He wasn’t speaking just for himself, but for everyone who put their money on him. The people he now called family.

“Without you—your curiosity, courage, and hunger for the extraordinary—this place would be nothing more than a village with lost dreams and muted hope. You bring life to it, not me, not us. Every step you take here, every smile you wear, every laugh, giggle, gasp, and scream make this park what it is. It feeds its soul; it forges its heart. So yes, we should be the ones applauding.”

Luka started clapping, as did the villagers in the crowd. He gestured out with his hands, and the applause exploded. The crowd clapped and roared, parents cheered and hugged their kids close. Adventurers hollered and raised their swords high. Mages celebrated with pops of magical color and energy.

When things quieted down, Luka continued, “But let’s not forget the people who aren’t with us today. Loved ones, friends, family. A moment of silence for their resting souls.”

Luka took the moment to glance at Annie. Her head was up, her shoulders back, her spine straight. Her arms were crossed, and she stared at him with pursed lips.

“She sees through your World Walker façade,” a voice said directly into Luka’s mind—Tippy’s. “Think nothing of it for now, you’re almost done with the speech.”

Luka took a deep breath and said, “Thank you. This park was created under the flag of hardship and pain. The villagers of Emberwood experienced something only they may explain. You all have surely experienced something dark of your own. I know I have.”

He waited a moment, scanning the crowd. People nodded in solidarity; others held hands with their loved ones.

“Yesterday, something happened at the park, something that warranted the dispatch of every god this world holds dear.” Luka found Tippy and Neb, they nodded for him to continue. “I’ve done a lot of reflecting since then and realized something profound. I realized that this park—this place we’ve made together—is more than magic, happiness, and amusement. It’s a mirror, a reflection of our lives, our world, our fears, our hopes, and our endless imagination.

“But yesterday it cracked.” His eyes glazed over, his heart taking over. “Life is hard. It’s painful and terrible. Sometimes, I think it’d be easier just to end things—whether personal or global. In my old world, I was not a good person. I created things, things that hurt people and ruined the land for lifetimes to come. I realized what I had become too late in life. I realized the things that actually mattered were long, long gone.”

He glanced at Annie, but she looked away. “My life ended in that world alone, cold, and destitute—and I was okay with that. Then, I was reincarnated. I was pulled from the murky void, slapped into a new body, and kicked from the nest faster than I could react.”

He found Franky and Eve, giving each a smile. “But two wonderful siblings caught me and helped me to fly. Even when they learned of my past, they didn’t clip my wings and cage me. They pushed me into the sky along with everyone else in Emberwood. They flapped my wings for me when I felt I didn’t deserve to. They brought me food and water. They provided a home for me—” Luka gave mighty Leo a mighty scratch on the head. “—and forced this little guy to be my friend.”

He paused and added, “My best friend.” Leo nudged him with his snout. “I love the people of this village—my family.”

Luka let the silence stretch, the weight of his words sinking into their hearts. People were crying, some soft sobs, others thick, heavy tears. From hardened dwarf to scarred orc, people connected to the strange man in the sky.

“So let this be my second promise to the world: I promise to give everyone the same chance I got. No matter your background, race, nationality, wealth, or criminal history, World Walker Park has a spot for you. Either as a guest exploring the park to escape the hardships in your life or as an employee looking for hope in a new, unfamiliar land, both are welcome.” Luka gave a somber smile. “And to the people who need to hear it: I forgive you. Whatever you did to survive, whatever you may do, whatever you beat yourself up over, if you want to change, I’ll help you the same way I was helped.”

Luka found the orc siblings again. “My first day in this world I was told that World Walkers provide the world with something special, something unique. They assured me I must have been someone amazing in my old world—and I suppose they were right, but for all the wrong reasons.” He took a breath. “I wondered for a long time what I brought to the table. At first, I thought it was entertainment, so I created this world’s first amusement park. But—no. That wasn’t right. I thought it was festivities and fun. Again, no. Maybe a new way of storytelling and architecture? No, not even close.

“After the gods appeared yesterday, I stayed up the whole night thinking of what I wanted the park to become. A haven for entertainment and amusement? Of course. But that alone wasn’t enough. Maybe I’m greedy, maybe I’m a narcissist, but I wanted more. I want this land to become the land of second chances. I got one. Emberwood Village got one. Everyone deserves a second chance.

“With all of that said, I’m proud to announce the park’s newest attraction—Celestial Rebirth,” Luka said. Above him, the day sky turned to night, the stars building like budding flowers. God Neb’s divine presence ushered through the crowd as all heads were drawn up.

Then, like an afterimage from staring at the sun, Neb appeared beside Luka and Leo. He stood on the air as well, but his old man's façade was gone. In its place was skin made of a supernova and blood made of stardust. The god patted Luka on the back, then spoke to the enthralled guests.

“The World Walker and I spent many hours designing this ride to feel as if you are swimming through the stars. I’m proud to have met the man standing beside me.”

He winked at Luka.

Luka, in turn, frowned at the god and loudly thought, If you told me you wanted to speak, I’d have introduced you.

God Neb’s voice landed directly in his mind, “Where’s the fun in that?”

The World Walker gave an unimpressed look before returning his attention to the crowd. “Celestial Rebirth is the first attraction in World Walker Park’s newest land, Constellation Kingdom. The land is inspired by the stars and space, worlds and galaxies. Once you enter, you’ll be leaving this world behind and exploring the farthest reaches of the known universe.”

Neb nudged him and said, “I think you should explain what a ‘rollercoaster’ is before you get too ahead of yourself and start talking about ‘science fiction’ and ‘lunar modules.’”

Luka gave a suffering glare. Neb injected his laughter directly into Luka’s mind.