An Asnean Odyssey: Bastien

Thirteen

The smell of cinnamon filled the room as Liet opened his eyes. Skye was crouched in the wooden chair again, with a small fold out table beside her. On the table were two empty cups, a dark red thermos, and two plates. On the plates were two pieces of toast and scrambled eggs.

“Good morning,” Skye said to Liet as she twisted the lid off the thermos and poured coffee into each of the cups. “I brought some food for you. Are you feeling better?”

“Ah, thanks. Yeah, I feel a lot better,” Liet replied as he took one of the plates from the table. The plate was hot when he picked it up. He sat there looking at the food for a moment before Skye handed him a small spike with a crude wooden handle.

“What am I supposed to do with this?”

“You eat with it. Like this,” Skye looked at Liet hysterically as she exaggerated her gestures. She took the spike and jammed it into the eggs, then raised it in front of her mouth. Her lips separated and she stuck out her tongue, which then proceeded to split in half and wrap itself around the gooey white mass, then retreat back into the safety of her mouth. Liet jumped upon seeing this, almost knocking his food to the floor.

“Wh-what’s wrong? You’re acting like you’ve never seen someone eat eggs before!” Skye exclaimed as she laughed uncontrollably.

“It’s like you’re not even human,” Liet said in almost a whisper, his eyes wide with astonishment.

“Oh, I’m human. Just not quite the same as you.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Well, I guess I could explain it to you. But you’d better start eating, before your food gets cold.”

Liet began to shovel the eggs onto his toast with the spike, then made a sort of scrambled egg sandwich.

“Alright, so,” Skye began to explain as she sipped her coffee, “This is kind of like...An alternate universe. It isn’t really, it’s just...The easiest way to explain it. Think of it like two worlds with a gap between them. Now, that gap is more like a mirror. Here’s the thing about a mirror. You can never really see yourself; you can only ever see your reflection. That’s pretty much what this is. A reflection of your world, just like your world is a reflection of this one.”

“Alright, so then how come I’ve never seen any ‘reflections’ before, or even heard of them,” Liet asked, as he wiped the crumbs from his lips.

“Have you ever looked down an alley at night and stared into the darkness? Did it feel like perhaps everything in the shadows had ceased to exist? Like you were staring into an open void? That’s pretty much what it would look like to you. We can see it no problem though,” Skye said with a smirk as she pointed to her eyes, “Thanks to these.”

“Alright, alright. Let’s say this is real. Let’s say it isn’t a dream. Why do you have a drain in the floor of your bedroom?”

“A better question would be why do you have a bed in your bathing room.”

“B-bathing room...?” Liet asked, his face beginning to flush.

“Yeah, I had to wash all that blood off of you. I just figured it’d be easier to move a bed in here than carry you to the sleeping quarters.”

“Wait, did you change my clothes?”

“Of course, they were covered in blood. I couldn’t just leave them on you.”

“O-oh. Well, that’s...I mean, I-”

“Yeah, thank me later. You should probably get up and have a stretch. I’m going to take you for a walk in a bit,” Skye told Liet as she began to clear away the plates. Liet stood up and admired his new clothes. He hadn’t even noticed them before, but like the blanket, they were incredibly soft. He had multicolored socks that rose up to just below his knees. His pants, much like his shirt, were somewhat tight fitting, yet very comfortable. They were both a sort of faded black color, the shirt having several silver buttons leading from the bottom right pocket up to his neck in a jagged line. The pants had multiple thin silver chains wrapped around the legs and hanging between the belt loops.

“I didn’t have any clothing for men, so I had to use some of mine,” Skye shouted from out of the room.

“Well, I guess it’s the thought that counts,” Liet shouted back, although Skye had now returned to the doorway. She was holding a small rod with rounded bulbs on the end.

“I’m going to have to ask you to put these on,” She said as she twisted the rod, causing the bulbs to spiral open. Inside the bulbs were two thin lenses.

“Contacts? Why?”

“Because I don’t want anyone taking away my new pet.”

“Your...Pet?”

“Yeah, now hurry up and put them on.”

Liet grabbed the rod and walked over to the cracked mirror. For a few seconds, he admired his reflection. His charcoal hair was very neat and appeared to have been combed, even though he had just gotten out of bed. Liet gently removed one of the lenses and pressed his face against the reflective surface of the mirror, prying open his left eye. He noticed his hand was shaking as he raised the lens to his eye. Liet slowly slid the transparent disk onto the surface of his eye. Immediately, he began to blink uncontrollably at the discomfort. Quickly, he grabbed the remaining lens and slid it onto his other eye. For a few moments, he stood with his eyes closed, a few tears of discomfort sliding down his cheeks. Once he had gotten over the irritation, he opened his eyes and gazed into the cracked mirror. The mahogany iris he had found so comforting to gaze into previously was no longer present. It had been replaced by a deep green color that fluctuated between a golden brown, almost like grass when seasons change. His spherical pupil had also been replaced by a rectangular one. Although his vision was still a little blurred from the initial insertion of the lenses, it seemed to remain unchanged. Liet reached down to the sink and twisted the silver handle on the right side of the sink, which was labeled with a capital C, and cupped his hands beneath the tap. Water began to spill out of the faucet, allowing Liet to gather some in his hands, which he then splashed upon his face. He blindly reached around beside the sink for a towel, which he found after a few moments. Liet briefly opened his eyes before smothering his face in the towel, which caused him to see a thick, black sludge oozing down his face. After he had wiped off his face, he looked back at the mirror. His face was clean, if not a bit pale. He looked down at the towel, which was moist with water, not some slimy goo.

“Did you see that,” Liet asked Skye, his voice quivering slightly.

“You mean the part where you washed your face? Yeah, scary stuff.”

“No, no. There was some kind of...goop...”

“Yeah, don’t worry about that, your brain is just getting used to the lenses. Different wavelengths.”

“Oh, so I’m just going crazy? No, that’s cool. No problem at all.”

“You’re not going crazy. You’re just adapting.”

“That makes me feel so much better,” Liet sarcastically responded as he walked over to Skye and handed her the now empty rod. She twisted it again, causing the bulbs to shut, then slid it into the pocket on the front of her shirt.

“Alright, let’s go,” Skye said cheerfully as she turned around and headed out of the room. Liet followed her closely as they walked through a dimly lit corridor. The sweet scent of pollen seemed to radiate from the glossy oak walls as they passed a door labeled “BG 3”. They passed two more of those doors before finally entering a large room.

“There should be some shoes in there,” Skye said, gesturing to a small drawer embedded in the wall. “Just pick whatever you feel like wearing.”

The room was mostly open, with long hallways on either side of it. There was a staircase that spiraled into the wall in the center of the room. Directly across from the staircase was a large set of ebony double doors with intricate floral carvings etched into the surface. Another chandelier hung from the ceiling, which seemed to be modeled after a tree, with multiple branches spanning the ceiling and each light resembling a leaf. The drawer that Skye had gestured to was on the far-left side of the door, almost directly in front of where they had entered. It blended in well with the oak wall, as the only noticeable part of the drawer was its thin silver handle, which resembled a rosebud. Liet had already walked over and was tugging on the handle.

“Oh, no no no. You have to twist it,” Skye giggled. “It’s just a sort of habit of mine.”

“Yeah, I was going to try that next,” Liet forced a smile as he said that, trying to avoid looking stupid. He wrapped his fingers around the bud and rotated his wrist. The drawer clicked and shot out about two feet, then a section of wall above the drawer about seven feet high slid open, revealing a massive collection of shoes and overcoats. Liet strolled into the open closet awestruck, his eyes jumping around the small room from one coat to the next. After a few moments of thought, he picked out a dark gray overcoat with sixteen silver buttons up the front. Looking down at the shoes, he chose a white pair that had black lining around the outside.

“Well, don’t you just look precious.”

“Eh, what’s wrong with how I look?”

“Nothing,” Skye said with a sly smile.

“You’re something of a horrible person, y’know?”

“Yeah, I know,” Skye giggled as she struggled to push open the over-sized doors. “Come on, we’re going to take a walk before we go to dinner.”

“Dinner? But we just ate.”

“Yeah, well, by the time we get there you’ll be hungry anyways. Grab that umbrella on the way out.” Skye pointed to a thin metallic black pole with a silver handle. Liet finished tying his shoes and stumbled out the door, grabbing the umbrella on the way.

“Catch,” Skye yelled as she threw a small bead at Liet without any warning. The bead hit Liet across the bridge of the nose, startling him. Upon impact, the bead sprouted two arms, which then latched onto Liet’s nose. Afterwards, two flat, semi-transparent glass disks shot out from the sides of the bead.

“Those are some pretty fancy sunglasses. But uh, why am I wearing them at night?” Liet asked as he recovered from the initial shock.

“It’s not night yet, idiot. Besides, they’re stylish.”

“That’s harsh. Style over functionality, right. Sounds good. So how is it not night again?” Liet’s brow furrowed as he tried to make sense of Skye’s claims. The sky was pitch black, with a few stars sprinkled here and there. The moon was almost invisible, only the outline could be seen.

“Well, night, technically, starts at six pm, right? Well, it’s only five twenty-three. So, it’s not night, now is it?”

“How do you know what time it is when there’s no sun?”

Skye lifted up her arm and pointed to her wrist, with an exaggerated expression. Strapped to her forearm was a silver rectangular disk, with several dials and symbols, which was gently vibrating and producing a small amount of smoke. “It’s called a chronometer. I’m pretty sure you’ve heard of it.”

“Why is it steaming?”

“That’s smoke. It’s got an internal combustion engine. I just prefer to not be constantly drained of my precious life blood.”

“I... see?” Liet sighed as he gave up trying to make sense of anything Skye said.

“Any more questions? No? Then let’s go,” Skye chirped cheerfully as she stuck out her elbow. Liet, not wanting to look like a fool, stuck out his elbow as well and started walking across the grass towards a solemn street lined with small shrubs that were emitting bright light, which illuminated the sidewalks.

“You really are an idiot,” Skye said as she slapped the back of Liet’s skull before forcefully wrapping his arm around her elbow. “That’s how you’re supposed to do it.”

Liet pretended to look around to hide his embarrassment. A path, which was surrounded by trees, had been trampled into the grass, which led to a gravel sidewalk. Only a few buildings could be seen, one of which was the one that the pair had just come out of. The structure wasn’t much more than a large, obsidian box. The numbers 21573 were indented in the wall beside the doors, which was most likely an address.

“So where are we going?” Liet finally asked as they headed onto the empty street.

“Just a little walk. You wanted fresh air, didn’t you?”

“Yeah, I suppose I did. Why’s it so empty out here?”

“We’re in a somewhat rural area.”

“That would explain why there aren’t very many buildings.”

“Yeah, it’s pleasant, isn’t it?” Skye asked in a dreamy voice.

“I guess it is nice to be able to inhale without tasting smog,” Liet said, taking in a deep breath and running his tongue across his upper lip. As he turned to look at Skye, expecting a response, he noticed that she was staring at his tongue. After a moment of silence, Skye’s eyes shifted slightly upwards. Her eyes changed to a soft red color as she realized that Liet had seen her staring and she turned her head away. The pair continued to walk in awkward silence, pretending not to notice each other. After about five minutes, they reached a parked vehicle which was black, with silver trim. The hood of the vehicle was quite a bit shorter than expected, only reaching about half a foot from the windshield.

“This is Susan, my vehicle. We’ll be driving to town.”

“I thought naming cars was a guy thing.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Nothing,” Liet said, trying to imitate Skye’s voice and force a smile.

“See, we’re both horrible. Now get in, she won’t bite.”

“Wait, that thing is alive?” Liet asked as he climbed through the small hole that had opened up in the side of the vehicle.

“No, it’s an expression,” Skye replied with a blank stare. Liet looked around for a seat belt as he sat in the passenger side. The interior of the vehicle was black, lined with silver, as expected from the exterior. There was no back seat, which was surprising, considering the car had looked much larger from the outside. Skye had rolled up her sleeves and placed her right arm onto a platform with two arm-shaped indents in it. Reaching over with her left arm, she removed a silver needle from the platform. Sliding her right arm into one of the indents, she took a deep breath as she plunged the syringe into her arm. As soon as it had broken the skin, bright pink fluid began to flow through a tube connected to the needle leading into the car. Liet began to grow pale as he witnessed this, sinking down in his seat.

“First time driving?” Skye asked with a quirky smile, “It’s okay, I won’t make you help me feed Susan.”

“Would I... I mean...My blood...Is it even compatible?” Liet stuttered.

“Huh, I hadn’t thought about that. We’ll have to conduct some tests later,” Skye said with a sadistic smile lurking within her lips.

“Relax, I’m kidding,” She quickly said with a quiet chuckle. With her available arm, she flipped a switch on the roof, causing a shutter to slide up, revealing the windshield and allowing the pair to see outside. The windshield was lit, filled with symbols and shapes that Skye had gently started tapping. In between taps she would mutter something under her breath and occasionally rub the dashboard. It was then that Liet noticed that there was no steering wheel.

“Alright, we’re ready to go,” Skye announced as she relaxed in her seat, gently flicking her right arm. She reached forward with her left arm and twisted a silver rosebud on the dashboard, causing Susan to lurch forward, slowly at first, eventually speeding up to a reasonable pace.

“So... what happened to the sun? I mean, why isn’t it there anymore?” Liet asked Skye as she spun her locket between her fingers. Liet noticed the sharp edges of a tattoo peeking out from beneath her sleeve as she allowed the locket to slip out of her hand.

“The sun is there. It’s just not on right now,” Skye whispered softly with her eyes closed, “You might be able to see the outline in the sky if you look hard enough.”

“What do you mean it’s not on?”

“Oh, well, I guess I should tell you that about twenty years ago our sun burnt out. An oracle told our king about it, so he had an artificial one built to replace it, which they decided to call Shefira. But then the king died, and his greedy son took over. He decided that if we wanted sunlight, we’d have to pay for it.”

“That’s horrible,” Liet interjected.

“Logically, it makes sense. I mean, think about it. Can you imagine what it takes to keep that thing operating twelve hours a day?”

“That must be a lot of blood...”

“There are other means to fuel machines. It’s just that blood is the most abundant, everybody’s got it, which means no one has to pay for it. Well, that’s not entirely true. There are those who choose to purchase blood rather than use their own. Not to mention that if you go on a long journey, you’ll need more blood than you can manage to part with.”

“I see. But without light, how do you survive?”

“Well, the light the sun produced didn’t have the proper wavelengths to support life as efficiently as the original anyways, so we had to develop some new ways to grow our food. Have you seen those shrubs around my house? I’ve been working on those for a while. Hopefully one day I’ll be able to make larger greenery, and perhaps some decorative plants for indoors. But as far as survival goes? The simple answer is that we evolved.”

“What happened to your moon then?”

“It was used to build Shefira. Although once the outer hull was completed, the moon was mostly hollowed out and now the inside is where most of the mechanical functions are carried out.”

“How did you make it to the moon...? Is there any air up there?”

“Leinhardt enlisted the help of the Magnificent Steiner. She helped with a lot of the technological developments in the past. Of course, I’ve never met her. I’ve just heard she’s a genius. Oh, and there’s no air, but there are ways to survive for short periods of time.”

“That’s crazy.”

“Is it? My idea of crazy would be deciding that the sun is going to burn out and everyone is going to die. What’s crazy about wanting to live?” Skye opened her eyes at the sound of a low buzzing. She slowly removed the needle from her arm and placed it back into the pedestal.

“Could you press that button for me?” Skye asked as she gestured to a small silver dot on Liet’s side of the pillar. Liet pressed the button, which caused the pedestal to begin emitting a bright green light.

“I like to keep things sterilized,” Skye said as she slid her hand across the windshield clearing everything from its surface. Looking through the windshield, Liet could see that they had arrived at a short, bland building in the middle of a forest. A sign hung casually from a peg stuck in the side of the walls which said “Welcome to Cirno”.

“Cirno, huh,” Liet commented as Susan’s doors opened and the pair climbed out. “Why does a shack in the middle of nowhere need a greeting sign? I guess maybe if this is someone’s house, but even then, who names their house?”

“It’s a city, silly,” Skye said as she twisted the knob and pushed the door open.

“This is a pretty small city then,” Liet replied as he followed Skye into the building. Upon entry, Liet closed the door behind him. As he turned around, he noticed how bare the inside of the building was. A poorly constructed wooden table sat in a corner with a window above it, surrounded by a few wooden chairs. There was a small hole in the ceiling as well that somehow managed to provide light for the entire room. Other than that, the room was empty. Skye had already walked over to the center of the room.

“Hand me that umbrella, will you?” Skye requested. Liet walked over and gently placed the umbrella in her hands. Skye gripped the umbrella with both hands, pointing it towards the ground, and twisted the silver handle of the umbrella causing the shaft to spin furiously, eventually ejecting a thin translucent fluid that solidified mid-air to form the bell of the umbrella.

“That’s a fancy umbrella you’ve got there,” Liet said, somewhat amazed.

“You think that’s cool, wait till you see what happens next,” Skye replied, allowing a small smile to crawl across her face. She pulled the handle off of the umbrella and tossed it into the hole in the ceiling, causing the room to be engulfed in darkness. The light seemed to be seeping through the plugged hole, creeping down the shaft of the umbrella. Eventually it reached the bell, which began to liquefy and spill to the floor as the light dripped down it, leaving glowing trails hovering in the air. Skye pulled Liet into the middle of the room beside her as the glowing trails began to brighten. The dripping light eventually formed a small circle in the ground, which began to slowly descend.

“Was all that really necessary? I mean, couldn’t you have just made an elevator?” Liet asked.

“Are you saying that wasn’t amazing?”

“No, I mean, that was pretty cool, but it just seems a bit much.”

“Well, it has to be a secret, otherwise everyone could get in, and if you’re going to have a secret elevator, it’s got to be pretty damned cool.”

“So, this is some kind of hidden city, then?”

“Yup,” Skye chirped gleefully.

“Then how do you know about it?”

“I’ve got connections,” Skye winked.

“Great, I’ve been abducted by some kind of criminal mastermind,” Liet said, thrusting his face into the palm of his hand.

“Do I look like a criminal to you?” Skye asked as she put on her most innocent smile.

“I don’t know what criminals look like here.”

“That’s a good point. I guess that might have an impact on your judgment,” Skye said. The wall of the stone tube opened up in front of them revealing a large cavern as they began to slow their descent. “Now, there are a couple things I’m going to need you to do while we’re here. First off, act normal, alright?”

“Could you be a little more specific than ‘act normal’ please?” Liet asked as he gazed into the cavern in admiration. There was a large lake at the bottom of the cavern that had eaten away at the surrounding stone, leaving its surface extremely smooth. Glowing holes were scattered around the surface of the lake, which Liet assumed were buildings carved into the walls. Glowing crystals hung from the ceiling of the cavern, raining light down upon the lake, which reflected off of the smooth surface illuminating the area.

“Act like you’ve been here. Act like you know the place. Don’t get excited at anything new.”

“When have I gotten excited since I woke up?”

“You got pretty excited when I ate those eggs. Does that count?”

“Well, that’s different. Th-”

“That’s exactly what I’m talking about,” Skye interrupted Liet. “If you see something ‘different’, don’t freak out.”

“Alright, got it. What else should I do?”

“Order soup.”

“Alright, order so-” Liet paused for a moment to think. “Order soup?”

“I told you we’re going to be eating, didn’t I? So, order some soup.”

“Why?”

“If people see your tongue, they’re going to get curious. Which leads me to the next point. Well, this one kind of ties in with the first one, but eh, whatever. Don’t ask stupid questions. Like that stuff about the sun earlier. I’m not saying you’re stupid, it’s just...that’s kind of common knowledge.”

“Oh, yeah, no problem. It’s not like I woke up this morning in a strange world or anything.”

“It’s only strange because you’ve never been here before. So... just try to have a regular conversation. Just comment on my clothes or tell me I have nice hair or something.”

“I feel like you just want me to compliment you,” Liet joked. Skye’s eyes shifted to a soft red color and she hit Liet on the back of the head.

“Alright, last thing. You’re going to be my new understudy. So just...don’t answer any questions.”

“I can do that. Can I ask one more stupid question before we get down there?”

“Yeah, go ahead.”

“Where’s that light coming from?”

“All natural elements emit some form of light. These particular crystals happen to emit a rather bright light that we can actually see. Well, you couldn’t see the lights without those lenses I gave you.”

“I guess those lenses are a bit more helpful than I thought,” Liet commented as the elevator retreated back into its stone tunnel.

“Ugh, give me those,” Skye demanded as she flicked the bridge of Liet’s nose. The bead released its grip, launching itself into the air for Skye to grab. “That’s what I get for letting you be stylish.”

“Uh, what?”

“No one wears sunglasses inside, jeez.”

“But we’re not inside yet. Well, I mean, there was that little hut, but that hardly counts, right?” Liet asked as the elevator gently stopped moving. The stones in front of them were smooth and light spilled through the crack between them.

“It does count,” Skye said with an air of superiority. She hit Liet on the back of the head one last time before she stuck her finger into the handle of the umbrella, causing a quiet click. “What’s your name?”

“W-what?”

“Your name. If I’m going to be pretending that you’re my understudy, I should probably know your name.”

“I suppose that might be a good idea. I’m Liet Rochben.”

“Skye Curiousitas,” Skye chirped as she stuck out an open hand, palm facing upward. Liet instinctively responded by slapping her hand. “What was that?”

“I um, thought you wanted a high five. Like a sort of ‘Hey we’re pals now, let’s high five’ kind of thing.”

“You’re an idiot. You’re supposed to do this,” Skye grabbed Liet’s hand and scrunched up all of his fingers except the index, then forced it into the center of her palm, which she then proceeded to wrap her fingers around.

“What the hell was that?”

“It’s called a greeting. When you meet someone for the first time that’s what you do.”

“We’ve met before now though.”

“Not formally,” Skye said as the shaft of the umbrella came plummeting down the tunnel, embedding itself in the floor. Skye struggled to remove it from the ground, eventually requesting Liet’s help, who managed to remove it with a single hand. Upon removal, the stones in front of them slid open. Skye slipped the handle back onto the shaft of the umbrella and walked into the city. Liet, unsure what to do with the umbrella, simply held onto it and chased after Skye.

As Liet followed closely beside Skye he examined the strange underground city. It was surprisingly open for a cave, and very well lit. Small crystal fragments were constantly falling from the roof, making it seem as though it were snowing. A few stone pillars rose from the ground, reaching up to the ceiling. There were also smaller pillars that only rose up about half way to the ceiling. An enormous jagged crystal cleaved through the center of the cave, illuminating the area. Despite the size of the cave, it was still bustling with activity to the point where Liet had trouble trying to avoid bumping into people. After a few minutes of walking, they arrived in front of one of the smaller pillars.

“Welcome to The Beaumont,” Skye said as she casually pushed open a faded blue door. Liet continued to follow closely behind Skye as the pair entered the pillar. A middle-aged man with solid gray eyes was waiting behind a podium. He had frosty white hair, tied into a ponytail which reached his shoulders.

“Ah, welcome Miss Curiousitas. Would you like the usual spot?” the man asked as he stepped out from behind the podium and bowed slightly.

“Come on, Walt, how many times do I have to tell you to call me Skye?”

“Probably about the same number of times that I have to remind you that I could lose my job over something like that.”

“Sylvan will understand if I just-”

“Your usual spot then?”

“Yes, yes,” Skye responded blankly, as though her mind were preoccupied.

“And you are...?” Walt asked as he turned to Liet.

“Oh, I’m...I mean, my name is Liet.”

“He’s my understudy. I figured it’s about time I get a new one.”

“Ah, of course. You may call me Walter. Right this way then,” Walt said as he turned from the podium and began to walk into a small corridor behind him. Skye followed behind Walt, still absorbed in her own thoughts, while Liet trailed closely behind Skye, gawking at The Beaumont’s interior. The trio weaved through a dim maze of glass panes which seemed to go on for miles. Liet could see that the glass panes were actually small cubes with a glass table and two to four chairs inside. Every now and then there would be a group of people inside one of the cubes eating or talking casually.

“Here we are,” Walt announced as he came to an abrupt stop. He tapped gently on the glass pane beside him, causing it to spiral open from the center. Liet and Skye stepped inside the cube and sat on opposite sides of the clear table. Liet propped the umbrella up against his chair and placed his hands on his lap. “Let me know if you require any assistance.”

“Will do, Walt,” Skye responded as Walt began the long walk back to his podium.

Liet sat silently, unsure of what to say. After a few moments, he found that he had begun staring at Skye. Her milky skin looked flawless in the dim light of The Beaumont. Her eyes were like an ocean at dawn, the orange and the blue blending perfectly together, subtly shifting to a soft red. It was then that Liet realized that he was staring, and that Skye was staring back at him.

“Ah, I, um...Your hair looks fantastic,” Liet stated awkwardly.

“Why thank you,” Skye sung with a smile. “By the way, these rooms are soundproof, you can say whatever you want here.”

“What is this place?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean how does it work? There’s no way that pillar could fit all of this.”

“Oh, well. Let’s call it...Spatial manipulation...just because it’s easier. Basically, we took the space that would be inside that pillar, and can now use it freely, however we want. It’s really quite simple once you get a firm grasp of spatial properties.”

“Right, time travel is next, huh,” Liet commented sarcastically.

“Time travel is...elusive. Time manipulation, on the other hand...is still quite elusive. But at least we’ve got a prototype for that,” Skye said with a smirk. “Oh, don’t tell anyone about it, though. It’s kind of a secret project.”

“Who would I tell?”

“I don’t know, some stranger you just met who smiled at you the right way.”

“What would be the point of telling the person who told me about it?”

“Oh, clever. I see what you did,” Skye blankly stated as Liet unsuccessfully tried to hide his smile. The glass pane opened again and Walt stepped in, carrying a plate and a bowl on one hand, and two small, spherical orbs with some silver utensils in the other. He gently placed the meals and orbs on the table and left the room.

“But we didn’t order anything,” Liet stated, puzzled.

“I told Walt what we were having while we were on our way to our table, but you were busy admiring the scenery.”

“I can’t help it, this place baffles me,” Liet said as he looked down at their meals. Skye had a slab of purple meat, drizzled with a brownish sauce and a few glowing green plants on the side, while Liet had a bowl of chunky white paste. Skye had placed her orb in one hand, and with the other, gently ran her finger around the middle of it. The orb expanded slightly, then the top half folded open, revealing a translucent fluid. Skye stuck out her tongue, which was much longer than Liet had originally thought, and placed the tip into the orb, sucking out the fluid. Liet picked up his orb and placed it in his right hand, then rubbed his index finger around the middle of it. The sphere puffed out for a second, then flopped open, spilling some of the contents onto the table, which rippled and absorbed the fluid.

Skye giggled as she began to cut into her slab of purple meat. “Don’t worry, it can take years to get the hang of it.”

“So how about this table? And what’s this watery stuff?”

“The table is water and that watery stuff is hiblis nectar. It’s sweet and coats your stomach before a meal. It helps with digestion. Also, since I know you’re going to ask, small amounts of minerals that emit magnetic fields when in the presence of mild vibrations have been dissolved in the water, which is why it floats, and can support small amounts of weight.”

“The entire room is vibrating?” Liet asked as he threw back his head and poured the nectar into his mouth. It tasted similar to honey, but with an almost sour taste dominating the sweetness.

“Not enough to be noticeable.”

Skye started cutting into her slab of meat, slicing until each piece was about half the size of a domino. She took the glowing plants on the side of her plate and crushed them between her thumbs, causing them to crumble and produce a strong citric smell. Liet, on the other hand, had taken his spoon and was twirling it around in the paste, which clung to the spoon like glue.

“Is this stuff safe?”

“Spit in it.”

“Don’t you think that’s a little insulting to whoever made this?” Liet asked, a bit shocked.

“Do you want me to spit in it?” Skye joked. “That’s how you’re supposed to eat it.”

Liet hovered his face over the bowl. He could feel the heat radiating from the thick goop as he released a gob of bubbly saliva from his mouth, which slowly dripped down into the paste. Upon making contact with the goop, his saliva caused small bubbles to float up into the air and hover momentarily before bursting, causing the white goop inside to fall back into the bowl.

“So now, while the bubbles are in the air, you wrap your mouth around them, then they burst in your mouth,” Skye instructed with a little bit too much excitement. “It’s called Selzen, but most people just refer to it as bubble soup.”

“I’ve never had anyone tell me to wrap my mouth around something,” Liet commented as he engulfed one of the bubbles into his mouth. The bubble burst shortly after, causing a strange numb feeling in his mouth for a split second. Surprisingly, the soup tasted a lot like mashed potatoes and gravy.

“How would you describe it?” Skye asked as she thrust her spike into a piece of meat, then wrapped her tongue around it.

“I don’t know, I never thought I’d be placed in a situation where I had to describe eating floating bubbles,” Liet responded with a bit of surprise. “Since we’re talking about eating, how do you eat your food? Like, chew it, I mean.”

“I can either chew like you,” Skye said as she chomped the air, gritting her pearlescent teeth. “Or I can use my tongue to sort of grind it up into mush. It’s generally considered rude to use your teeth though, which is why you get to eat soup.”

“If all the soup is as cool as this stuff, I’m fine with that.”

Skye giggled as the pair continued to eat their meals. Every now and then Liet would look around, gazing through the glass panes at the other people eating. Occasionally someone would look up and notice Liet staring, causing him to get startled and look down into his soup. As one of the bubbles rose out of the bowl, Liet quickly stole a peek at Skye, who was busy devouring her purple meat. Liet quickly flicked the bubble, causing it to slowly float across the table, bonk Skye on the nose, then burst, dripping down onto her mostly empty plate

“You’re lucky I was finished eating,” Skye said, trying to sound annoyed while she hid her smile. Liet picked up the umbrella as the pair rose from their seats. “You want to see something cool?”

“Uh, sure, why not?”

“Open up that umbrella.”

Liet fumbled with the umbrella a bit, trying to figure out how to open it. “How do I...”

“Here,” Skye squished her body against Liet’s back, holding his hand against the handle of the umbrella. She twisted Liet’s hand, and the handle of the umbrella, causing it to start spinning and emitting fluid, which solidified to create the bell, which was the proper way this time.

“Y-you can let go of me now...” Liet managed to stutter out. He could feel Skye’s breasts pressed against his back, her bra digging into his skin. Her breath was tickling his neck, causing beads of moisture to slide down his back, sending soft jolts of electricity up his spine. “I mean...i-if you want to...”

“You smell like rain,” Skye stated with a soft voice. She slipped her free hand into the pocket on her shirt, pulling out a small rectangular object, which she squeezed the end of. “And no, I can’t let go. Unless I want to get wet, which I’m not particularly fond of.”

Skye spun around to face the table, causing Liet to spin with her. Suddenly, the table seemed to fall for a split second, then shot up to the ceiling, coating it in a thick layer of water. Skye released her grip on the object and slipped it back into her shirt, causing the water to gradually drip down, imitating rain.

“I don’t see how this is practical.”

“It does other stuff, gosh!” Skye defended herself.

“Like what?”

“I can’t just name off things it does. A situation has to present itself, then I’ll use it and you’ll be amazed at how useful it is. It’s like a pocket knife.”

“Well, okay. I suppose this is pretty cool,” Liet stated as the glass door opened. Walter was standing outside shaking his head.

“Please come with me,” Walter said in a calm voice.

“You should be honored, Liet. We’re going to see Mr. Beaumont.”

“Oh, so I guess that’s against the rules, isn’t it?” Liet asked sarcastically as the pair followed Walter back through the glass maze.