EPISODE X

Sanctuary’s Infestation

The afternoon sky beat down upon the umbrella mushrooms that dominated the humid, mossy landscape. A thin mist weaved in and out of the fungal trunks, continually supplying the verdant ground cover with moisture. The mushrooms themselves took more muted colors than the ground; dull browns, blues, and purples with the occasional toadstool-like mushroom that stood out like a sore thumb. Running between the various patches of fungal forest was a simple road composed of badly maintained cobblestone. An eternal war was waged between the hard road and the persistent moss. Bit by bit the plant wormed its way into the road’s cracks, breaking it further and further; though the road would not give in, persisting even in the face of a battle doomed to failure without help from an outside source.

Amaris walked along the road, hands gripping her backpack straps. Her expression was deadly serious and her gaze was fixed straight ahead. Every step she took was deliberate, methodical, and without any expression—had she military training, she would have been walking in time, but as it was her motion was but an imitation of such precise movement.

Internally, she was fixated on the shape of the road in front of her, cataloging every crack and uneven surface as a potential tripping hazard, finding the best places for each individual foot to land. It was a constant, engaging little problem that kept her from thinking about much of anything else.

Which was the entire point. She could have easily walked along a road much worse than this without so much as a thought, and she wasn’t gaining much time by putting this much brainpower to the task. This way, nothing would enter her mind that was… unwelcome.

She’d had a lot of unwelcome thoughts lately. Usually at night, when trying to fall asleep in that tiny tent of hers. Alone.

Amaris kept walking, onward, forward, and without a goal in mind. She recognized the tips of buildings appearing at the edge of her vision, indicating that there was another town up ahead. A good enough place to stop; perhaps to rest, take stock of the situation.

As she entered the town, she turned her mind to the much more productive task of analyzing the various buildings and people. Like most of the other towns she had passed through in this seemingly endless mushroom forest, it was inhabited by humans, toadstool-like creatures with three legs and three arms called shroomites, and j’loons; spherical hydrogen-filled entities with numerous eye-spots on their globe-shaped bodies and eight loose tentacles. When she’d first encountered a j’loon Amarais had found it fascinating: unhindered flight with extreme motor control and a wide variety of useful limbs. How they spoke by vibrating their tentacles together was amazing. However, that was several weeks ago; she was used to their presence at this point.

The town’s buildings were either composed of chiseled stone or charred mushroom flesh that took an appearance not unlike that of blackened wood. It was clearly a farming community, given all the racks of fruit-bearing moss arranged in towering multi-level scaffoldings. In much of the world, farms were flat objects, but here they were generally large green cubes with occasional dots of orange or red fruit in them. Growing the moss in volume was much better than standard area cultivation.

To Amaris’ surprise, despite its small size, the town had a library. She stopped in front of its door, a frown coming to her face. With a dismissive shake of her head, she turned around and continued on her way.

Now arriving in the center of town, she took note of what she believed to be the town hall and a school of some sort. However, nestled behind these two structures was a small, round building made of ornately chiseled stone. Curious, she circled around to the front.

She gasped—she knew what this was.

Above the ornate arch was a large, cyan triangle composed of many smaller triangular gemstones arranged in a fractal pattern. The triangle pointed upward to the sky, and it was currently the perfect time of day for the gems to catch the light of the sun.

A Sanctuary.

Amaris hadn’t seen a Sanctuary since… since before her parents took her on vacation to the Cat-Ival! She’d looked for one from time to time in the places she’d visited, but there had been no sign of one anywhere. As time went on, she’d thought less and less about them.

She hadn’t realized until that very moment how much she’d missed them.

With no deliberation on her part, she entered the Sanctuary. The interior was vaulted and filled with an abundance of people in strange white robes. The robes vary considerably depending on what race the individual was. The humans have what one would expect: essentially nothing more than a baggy cloth flowing along the ground. The shroomites were quite similar, though their robes were of wider stature. The j’loons were the worst of the three, looking instead like ghosts made out of sheets with only a hole in the top for their heads. Somewhere on the bodies of all robed individuals, there was a triangular pendant made out of the single cyan crystal, upward-facing, just like the emblem outside. Currently, every individual was arranged in a series of rings, each pointed towards the center of the room in a meditative pose.

There were people without robes in the outer rings. Amaris took a spot amongst them. As she sat there, she realized that this Sanctuary was much smaller than the one she had grown up with, as she could easily see the center of the room without craning her neck over a sea of people. Currently, everyone was either in meditation, prayer, or, like the old gentleman seated next to her, was fast asleep due to boredom.

Amaris took a moment to go back to a time before the curse where her parents would take her to the Sanctuary every week or so. While it had been a long time since she had tried proper meditation, surprisingly, she found it much easier now than she had when she was younger. Something about just sitting and thinking about nothing more than the truth of everything allowed distress to release from her body that had built up for so, so long. The pain, the loss, the confusion; all of it seemed to melt away in this memory of childhood bliss.

She had always thought this was all kind of silly. Before, her experience was that of thinking everyone got together just to sit in a circle thinking for a while about nothing in particular. But here, now, she felt something that only someone who has lived can experience. The experience of worries being lifted away.

It came to an end all too soon for Amaris. After all, she had arrived in the middle of the ceremony; the full time allotted was up before she was ready for it. She was jolted out of her trance by the ending words: “As with all things, the focus of time must draw to a close.” Lifting her head, Amaris saw an older man with a long, silvery beard standing in the center of the room, his arms folded together under the sleeves of his robes. “Go forth to your homes, remembering what Dia has done for you in this time, and what She has done in the past, looking to what She will do in the future. Wherever we go She is with us, guiding us through the Choice.”

The Choice. Amaris stood up with a soft smile on her face. How could I have forgotten? With a newfound spring in her step and a lifted spirit, she headed toward the door with the crowd. It was slow-moving, especially because she went against the flow of people initially—apparently, outward flow was counterclockwise rather than “nearest to the door gets out first.” By the time she was at the door, the bearded man was sitting at the door greeting the various people. He soon fixed his gaze on Amaris with a calm, welcoming smile. “I don’t believe I’ve seen you around here, miss?”

“Amaris. Amaris Kelvin.”

“I am Keeper Ashton,” he said with a slight, respectful bow. “I am surprised you were able to blend in so seamlessly, there aren’t many Aware out this far.”

“I haven’t been to a Sanctuary in a… long time,” Amaris admitted. “And from where I’m from, the ending prayer was a little different.”

“Oh? We only have minimal contact with other Sanctuaries, but I am not aware of a different liturgy.”

Amaris closed her eyes, thinking for a moment as she dredged up the old memories. “Go forth to your homes, remembering what Dia has done for us in all that is, was, and will be. Wherever we go, She is with us, guiding us through our Choice.”

Keeper Ashton took a moment to run his fingers through his wiry beard. “I have never heard it phrased that way, Amaris.”

“Yeah… I’m from… really far away. I think.” She braced for the inevitable ‘what are you doing so far from home?’ question.

“Are you in need of a home-cooked meal?”

Amaris started, thrown by the unexpected question. “Wh-huh?”

“I merely asked if you wanted some proper food.” He gestured at her backpack. “You no doubt grow weary of whatever nonperishables you have stored in there.”

This guy is very observant. I think I like him. Amaris nodded in confirmation. “I do have a lot of things in here, but… well I don’t exactly know how to cook much.”

“A girl your age, not knowing how to cook? Come! It’s time to learn!”

“Waiwaiwait!” Amaris waved her hands. “I didn’t say I wanted to do any cooking…”

“Oh, I’ll be doing the cooking, you’ll just be doing the watching. Come, we have a kitchen in the first basement.”

“First basement…?” It had never occurred to Amaris until that moment that the Keepers who lived in Sanctuaries needed places like kitchens to survive. She had held the places in her mind with a sort of mysticism, thinking them above any “normal” locations like those found in her home. But, lo and behold, Ashton led her down the stairs beneath the Sanctuary’s hall to… a very normal stone hallway. The only oddities were the luminescent blue mushrooms that let them see, but Amaris had noted those all over the town.

The kitchen was through the third door to the left. It had all the appliances Amaris would expect from a kitchen: an oven, a sink, a stovetop, several pantries, and an icebox in place of a fridge since there was no electricity in such a small town. Ashton ran his fingers along the stovetop knobs, prompting a red spark from the heating elements before creating fire. Amaris wasn’t entirely sure of the mechanism behind the fire, since there was no electricity, but when she asked about it Ashton only shrugged—it helped him cook his food without the need to start a fire outside. Very helpful in such a humid environment.

Ashton got out a frying pan and poured some oil into it. “Now, Amaris, oil comes first. Not for the taste—though it does help. No, we add oil first so the food doesn’t stick as it is cooked. Wait for it to get up to temperature, and…” He produced a plastic container filled with chopped-up vegetables, mushrooms, moss cubes, and a few bits of meat. With a smirk he tossed the container in the air, sending the various chunks flying. He proceeded to catch them all with one swish of the frying pan. With a clatter and sizzle, the pan was back on the stovetop, filled with the delectable contents.

“Never had moss cubes before,” Amaris noted. “I’ve seen people eating them. Why not just eat the fruits, though?”

“Sometimes, you just need some fuzzy green things in your mouth!”

“E-e-ew!” Amaris squealed.

“I assure you, it tastes simply wondrous. Now, watch closely, we have to keep stirring to make sure everything is evenly seared…”

It took a surprisingly short amount of time to complete the meal preparation. The two of them took seats in a mostly-empty dining room with only a single j’loon Keeper dozing in the corner. Ashton divvied up the various food bits and the two dug in.

Amaris took the moss cube first, just to get the experience over with. To her surprise, it actually tasted good, like slightly-seared lettuce with a hint of pepper and… was that mulberry?

The fuzzy texture was a bit off-putting, though, especially considering that the edges were charred and disintegrated on contact with her tongue.

“…Interesting,” she managed, staring at the other cube on her plate. She decided she might as well and ate that one as well, finding it much more enjoyable now that she knew what she was in for. Then she quickly moved on to the rest of the food, finding it much more like what she was used to.

“Thanks, Keeper Ashton,” she said when she was nearly done. “That… was something.”

“You know, with a little oil and a frying pan, I’m sure you could learn to cook like this yourself.”

“You know, I do make fires, maybe I should make use of them…”

Ashton smiled warmly. “I’m sure I can offer you a pan and some oil when you head out.”

“You know…” Amaris tilted her head. “Most people assume I’m too young to be out journeying on my own. Thanks for just… accepting what I am.” She blinked a few times. “Wait, uh, how old do I look?”

Ashton couldn’t help but chuckle knowingly at the question. “You appear to be a young girl; twelve, thirteen, maybe fourteen, it is hard to tell given how much your body has been shaped by your journey.”

“You’re quite observant.”

“It helps in my duty as a Keeper. We are not just keepers of the Sanctuary, but of the people who visit, you understand.”

“So…” Amaris drummed her fingers on the table. “You’re ‘keeping’ me right now, then?”

“For as long as you are under the Sanctuary roof.”

I really never thought too deeply about these people or what they do, did I? “I’m almost sorry that I have to go, keep moving.”

“Already?” Ashton smiled warmly and shook his head. “It is getting late, you would not make it far before the sun sets. I see you have accommodations on your back, but consider staying with us for the night. There will be no charge.”

Amaris’ smile dropped. He was right, it would be nice to have an actual bed, a room, and something other than a river to bathe in. But… who knew if, by staying here, she would bring the curse on him and the rest of the Sanctuary? She’d stayed in hotels before, and nothing had happened, but what if…

“Child, you would be no burden to us, we have housed much more… interesting individuals in the past. And, if you leave now, I wouldn’t get to give you a full tour of the Sanctuary.”

Alright, that settles it. Amaris put on her best smile. “You’ve convinced me! I’ll stay. Now, how about that tour?”

As it turned out, most of the “tour” wasn’t very exciting. There were storerooms, bedrooms, a meeting room, a meditation room, and a library filled with a mixture of religious, educational, and other books. It was slightly larger than she expected since it had to serve over a dozen Keepers, but otherwise it was just like any other place.

Except for the basement under all the other basements. The last room… it was something else. Here, deep beneath the rest of the Sanctuary, was a single circular room lit only by seven large candles. Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, and magenta—as it should be.

Amaris had heard of places like this, the “hidden lights of the Sanctuary” that burned beneath the earth with the seven colors of creation. But she’d never actually seen one, and it was somehow both more and less than she had expected. Less, in the way that the room was rather plain and had no fancy designs or ornate carvings—it was just made out of stone like the rest of the Sanctuary’s lower floors. However, the candles themselves were impressive: each occupying a point on the far edge of the room, their flames illuminating the vibrant colors of the wax. To add to this simple sense of awe was a simple glass cube in the center of the room that refracted the light every which way. It was not a prism—for no rainbows were created, and such beams would not have been welcome anyway since they did not display the unifying color, magenta.

Amaris looked to Ashton and, finding no concern in his eyes, she slowly approached the glass cube. She dared not touch it, only permitting herself to approach and appreciate its simple beauty.

“Why a cube?” Amaris asked, eventually. “Why not use Dia’s pyramid?”

“Dia herself is represented by the room above. The cube, dear Amaris, represents us.”

“I always thought we were the sphere…”

“Other Sanctuaries have spheres, that is true,” Ashton admitted. “The records use both. I have read much on the subject. Some suggest that that which represents us is not meant to have a definite shape, just as it has no color.”

Amaris let out a chuckle. “Oh, I remember mom and dad having playful arguments about what counts as colorless. Are we white, black, or clear? It always seemed… silly.”

“In many ways having an argument about such minutiae is quite silly. But…” A sad look came over him. “There have been wars fought over such seeming trivialities.”

“Are we cubes or spheres…?” Amaris tilted her head to the side. “Yeah, that’s for you and your Keepers to worry about. Let me know if you find a definite answer, hmm?”

Ashton gave her a wry smile. “I shall endeavor to uncover the mysteries for your sake, Amaris.”

“Good. Watch us actually be icosahedrons.”

“…What?”

“Math thing, sorry.” Amaris chuckled awkwardly.

“Perhaps you can tell me more of this math while I show you to your room?”

“Well… alright, see, there are five Uniform Solids. One of them is Dia’s pyramid, the other is the cube, and then there’s the octahedron, dodecahedron, and icosahedron; you can see many of these in crystal formations…”

~~~

Amaris woke up, discovering that she had not only wrapped herself up in the blankets like a cocoon but also rolled off the mattress onto the floor below—and given how far she was from the bed she’d somehow managed to do this without waking up.

“I don’t even know how to sleep properly anymore.” She didn’t let this deter her, however. She stood up, made the bed, and did her usual morning routine of slipping into her boots and checking over her supplies. She gave Pitch the usual greeting and feeding, taking a few minutes to give him the proper amount of head scritches.

“Well, Pitch, this place is nice, but we should get going. Don’t want to stay too long, or else… you know.” She slipped her backpack on, with Pitch currently slithering around her arm. “Still, it was nice. I missed this.”

She silently slipped out of the guest room, making as little noise as possible—she’d rather not make a fuss about leaving. Luckily, everything was stone, and stone didn’t tend to creak when walked on, so she was somewhat easily able to muffle her motion, even as she climbed up the stairs.

Amaris made it all the way back to the main hall unseen, discovering that the sun hadn’t even risen yet, though the dull lights of the morning were beginning to appear on the horizon. The Sanctuary itself was well lit by a large number of mushrooms and lamps, though only half of the lamps were ablaze. There was a shadowy figure moving about the edge of the chamber, lighting one lamp after another.

Amaris tensed. Was this guy an enemy? Some vile fiend setting up an arcane ritual to attack the poor Keepers of the Sanctuary? Did he think she was trespassing and was prepared to launch an all-out assault?

“Oh, Amaris!” Keeper Ashton removed his hood. “You’re up early. Come, walk with me while I prepare the hall for morning meditation.”

Amaris reasoned that she didn’t have to go quite yet, and so walked alongside him as he continued to light the lamps. “Do you guys always get up before the sun?”

“It depends on how the sun feels, to be honest. In this part of the world, the circadian rhythms are not… consistent.”

“Yeah, I noticed. I only had eight hours of daylight one day, seemingly out of nowhere.”

“One of the many mysteries of the heavens above…” Ashton noted with a solemn nod. “There are occasional prolonged nights that worry the farmers when they occur. But Dia has never permitted one to last long enough to starve us.”

“Then why’d you settle down here?”

“Me? To help build a Sanctuary in a distant land. Most of the others either followed us or are natives of this ecosystem. J’loons and shroomites would not fare well on the journey to the rest of civilization. The great Shard Desert is difficult even for humans to pass.”

Amaris couldn’t help but smirk. “Looks like I’ll have a challenge.”

“I am not worried about you. The way you hold yourself says that a simple desert would be nothing to you.”

“Yeah…” Amaris fell silent, shuffling alongside Ashton. “Ashton… can I ask you something?”

“Anything, child, though I do not promise an answer.”

Fair enough. “I’m just a kid. Am I… messed up?”

Ashton took a moment to finish lighting the next lamp and stopped, thinking. “I believe any professional doctor would probably consider you damaged in some way, if that is what you are asking. However… there is something to be said for the maturity gained through suffering. You are a strong girl, and I don’t just mean physically. You have asked thoughtful, introspective questions most your age wouldn’t even consider.”

“Well, I’ve always been thoughtful.”

“There is a difference between playing with a math puzzle and wondering if your experiences have psychologically damaged you.” Ashton leaned down to her, placing a hand on her shoulder. “I don’t know what you’ve been through, and I’m not asking you to tell me. But I can see that it has been hard.”

Amaris didn’t entirely understand why she was tearing up at this.

“Amaris… you’re safe here. Don’t worry. Nothing is going to hurt you.”

“What if… what if I hurt you?”

Ashton smiled sadly. “It is always an honor to suffer for a good cause, Amaris. You do not need to worry about me or any of the other Keepers. We have chosen this part of the Choice.”

Amaris let out a short chuckle. Pitch slithered up her neck and started licking her face—and Ashton didn’t so much as recoil in fear at the snake’s presence.

“Such a fascinating and regal creature… is he your companion?”

“The one and… only.” Amaris forced a smile. “He’s Pitch. My parents got him for me and even made this entire enclosure that could fit in my backpack. Dad’s a bit of an engineer; it’s held up very well.”

“I would very much like to meet this father of yours, he sounds like an interesting man.”

“Yeah, he is…” Amaris shook her head. “But I don’t even know where he is. Or home. Or anywhere I’ve been. I’m… quite lost. Very, very, stupendously lost.”

Ashton stood back up with a curt nod, turning back to lighting the lamps. “I’ve often found that when I’m lost, a good, deep meditation does wonders.”

“I meant physically lost.”

“Are you sure that is the only kind of lost you are?”

Amaris considered this for a moment. No, she really wasn’t sure. And the partial meditation yesterday had been so relieving. But she didn’t want to wait around until the next service…

“You can join me and the Keepers for morning meditation if you remain silent.”

“R-really? Won’t the others find that improper or against the code or something?”

“There is no written law regarding such, only custom. And as you have told me, the customs vary somewhat across the world. Come, sit with us this morning.”

Amaris didn’t hesitate this time. “All right. Where will I sit?”

“Right next to me.”

Amaris beamed at the old, kind Keeper. Why couldn’t you have been the Keeper back home? Keeper Harold was such a bore…

~~~

After morning meditation came breakfast, which was largely moss cubes and eggs. Ashton guided her into the dining room and, despite it being absolutely packed with other Keepers, Amaris found herself welcomed. Ashton introduced her to many of the others: his best friend, a shroomite named Avocado; and the ‘self-proclaimed theologian’ Wurph the j’loon. Wurph quite appreciated Amaris’ inherent curiosity.

“You know, for one so young you have a knack for finding the right questions,” Wurph said as he shoveled some kind of bluish gel into his mouth; food Amaris had, in no uncertain terms, been told was toxic to non–j’loons. “I believe I’d been here two years before I fully understood why magenta is missing from the rainbow. No, I don’t mean the scientific reason, which, going from your expression, you are very aware of.”

“Physics is closely related to math,” Amaris admitted as she shoveled a moss cube into her mouth without really thinking, ending up with a minor gag reflex. She managed to get her involuntary response under control. Never eat those without being prepared for it.

“Regardless, magenta is associated with unity, connections, and complexity. Rainbows, by nature, exist as a chromatic line from one end to the other, but magenta ties it together. Its placement is clearly one of unity. But, as you pointed out, there must be more to it. Why were rainbows designed to exclude the color, and why were we given the capacity to experience it? It is rather simple: magenta represents our inability to fully unite in our own power. It is a natural symbol of the required reliance on Dia to bring true unity in the face of the world’s natural chaos and disorder. To complete the circle we need that which does not exist in a physical sense, but was bestowed upon us in a spiritual one.”

Amaris blinked a few times. “I… think I knew that somewhere in the back of my mind?”

Wurph chuckled. “Do not worry, little one, you are not a Keeper who specializes in the great mysteries. It is not as fruitful of an endeavor as you might think.”

“Well, since I have you here, what about the stars? I—“ Amaris forced herself to trail off. She’d almost went into her experiences of being launched into the sky, and as nice as these people were, she didn’t want to burden them with that. However, Wurph was able to go into a miniature rant about the nature of the cosmic heaven as opposed to the spiritual heaven and the between lands until he got out a complex chart and started illustrating the entire cosmic connectedness of the universe.

At which point Amaris got a little bored.

Ashton must have noticed her glaze over because he quickly finished his meal, stood up, and cleared his throat. “I do believe it is time to move on with the rest of our day.”

“Oh. Yes.” Wurph’s body shivered. Amaris had no idea what emotion that was supposed to represent in his kind. “I look forward to continuing this conversation, young Amaris. But for now, I must record the nature of the hexagon…”

Ashton led Amaris out of the Sanctuary. He kept walking through town and Amaris just followed him around. In the back of her mind was a sense that she should be going, but she pushed that aside with the fact that she could just walk away at any time. Might as well spend some more time with Ashton, right? Once she left she could never come back.

Ashton’s first stop was the poor section of town with people huddled around fires next to shoddily constructed houses. He went around to the various people and gave them blessings while asking how the work to rebuild their homes was going. Unfortunately, not well, since the only architect in town could only work on one house at a time, even for charity. Ashton promised he’d look into getting the Keepers to organize something if they could.

“Is it really that hard to make sure everyone has a home?” Amaris asked.

“Yes and no,” Ashton said. “We Keepers will do all we can to feed everyone, and there is enough to go around. But there is a certain pride in people that prevents them from taking too much assistance.”

“That’s dumb.”

“Can you tell me you’ve never refused help just because you wanted to prove that you could do it on your own?”

Amaris had no response to this.

Ashton made his way to the school next and Amaris continued to follow. The school only had young children—the oldest of which were about Amaris’ age—and only two classrooms. The kids were currently playing outside in the mushroom yard while a haggard-looking man stood at the door, trying his best to make his hair presentable.

“Mr. Rey,” Ashton greeted.

“Oh, Keeper…” Rey looked down at Amaris and frowned. “Please don’t tell me you’ve got another kid, Mrs. Effini is sick today and I’ve already got my hands full teaching her half.”

“Amaris is not here to learn,” Ashton informed him. “I do believe she knows significantly more than most of us do in the academic disciplines.”

“Heh.” Rey rubbed the back of his head. “Then maybe she could teach math for me.”

He was clearly joking but Amaris lit up like a firework. “Can I? Can I?”

“Uh…”

“What’s the topic? Differential equations? Statistics? Real Analysis?”

“…They need to learn about square roots.”

Amaris processed this for a moment. “I can do that. They already know about exponents then?”

“I…” Rey stared at her like she was an alien from another planet. “Yes? I think?”

“Then let me at ‘em!”

“Can’t hurt,” Ashton suggested to Rey.

And so Amaris was placed in front of a blackboard with a piece of chalk and a step stool to stand on. “All-right class, so… how many of you think math is boring?”

Almost everyone raised his or her hand.

“Well, I’m here to prove you wrong!” She scribbled a 2 on the board, raising it to the second power. “So, as a review, what’s this mean?”

“It equals four…?” one of the older kids said, clearly finding it odd to be talking to someone close to his age as a teacher.

“Exactly!” Amaris said, getting a little giddy. “Two squared, two times two, is in fact four. But, here’s the fun thing—we can also do this backward!” She slid over to another section of the board and wrote down “√4=2” and explained that it was the square root, proceeding to give lists of many of the square numbers the class was probably familiar with, including drawing up several large squares to showcase it all—ending up with a clever little thing called a “squared square” which was a square made entirely out of squares, in which the roots were used to find the side lengths.

“But now, everyone, what if we do this?” She wrote “√2” on the board. “Hmm… what times itself equals two?”

One of the smarter kids raised her hand. “Some fraction!”

“Close! A fraction would be a good approximation, actually! But when we take square roots of numbers that don’t divide evenly, we get…” She waved her hands ominously. “Irrational numbers!”

Given the tone with which she had said it, the kids all gasped in fear. With a smug grin, Amaris continued. “The value is something 1.4142 but it goes on forever and ever with no pattern. But we have a saving grace: we can just write this number as root 2 the entire time! Who cares about writing it out exactly, we can work with it. Of course, this means…” She wrote down “√2” = “2/√2” and “1/√2 = √2/2.”

“Weird, right?” Amaris asked. “Well, you see, the reasoning behind it is rather simple…”

She kept going like this for quite some time, trying to bring out every interesting factoid she knew about simple roots and squares out for the class to see. Not all of them were interested, that was fair, but since she was in the position of teacher they weren’t just dismissing her like the kids back home used to. Or, heck, even most of the girls at Genk and Jenny, who had little care for math.

Eventually, she came out of the classroom for lunch and said she could do more if Mr. Rey wanted, and he consented. The poor guy was clearly overworked—but hey, that was her gain.

Amaris wasn’t as well acquainted with the other topics of various scientific disciplines, but she managed to push her way through. And at the end of it all the kids, while all fully convinced she was weird beyond belief, appreciated her excitement.

“I never get to be excited about math anymore,” Amaris said, scratching Pitch’s head as she walked out of the school. “That… man, maybe I should become a teacher, put all those stuffy boring adults out of business. Knowledge is fire! And you need to dance to it!”

“I see you enjoyed yourself,” Ashton said—evidently he had been waiting outside for her.

“Ashton, were you waiting all day?”

“Oh, no, I just knew school was about to get out and dropped by. I am glad to see you found a calling in there.”

“We’ll see, we’ll see. Maybe I can become a traveling professor…”

She followed Ashton without really thinking around the town as he dropped by various people to say hello and occasionally introduce Amaris. Eventually, however, he returned to the Sanctuary.

It was time for the evening service and meditation again.

Where did the day go? Amaris asked herself, quite baffled at how caught up she’d gotten. However, she wasn’t on edge, she actually found attending the full service and meditation ceremony to be exactly what she needed to wind herself down after such a… surprisingly pleasant day.

Wurph was the speaker for the opening and closing ceremonies. While the closing was the same, word for word, as yesterday, the opening had with it a unique message. He spoke on the ability to choose being a divine gift and right.

Afterward, Ashton stood at the doorway, waiting for her.

“Well…” Amaris rubbed the back of her head. “Guess I stuck around, huh?”

“Would you like to stay for dinner?”

“…Sure.”

~~~

Amaris woke up in the middle of the night, this time still on the mattress. After dinner, Ashton had asked her to stay again, and she’d consented since it was late and there was a bed with her name on it. However, as her currently awoken state attested, she was having a significantly harder time sleeping.

I was supposed to be gone already.

Amaris stared up at the ceiling, finding that continued sleep eluded her. Pitch happily slept in his enclosure, which left Amaris utterly alone with her thoughts.

I should have left already.

Why?

Normally, at this point, she’d let out an annoyed huff and tell herself to stop having internal arguments that never went anywhere good. Tonight, however, she couldn’t muster the willpower for it. Her thoughts continued to run rampant.

I’m a danger to them.

They’re the sort that’s willing to take that kind of risk.

Ashton doesn’t know.

Do I think he’d reject me if I told him?

No. No, if anything, it’d become more of a reason to watch over me.

So why not stay?

Amaris was fully awake now. Why not stay? She didn’t like the question at all. Because the only reason she could think of not staying was that, if she did, she would never get home. But she was never getting home as it was; she’d already admitted that to herself! It was impossible to find it in the expansive world. Why not stick around anywhere that was nice?

Why not here?

Why not stay?

I’m a danger to them didn’t seem to be all that powerful of an argument anymore. Her curse would affect everyone she came into contact with, and she wasn’t prepared to live as a hermit and go insane from lack of human contact. It might even be argued that, if she stayed in one place, fewer people might be affected by her curse. There was no way to be sure how the curse worked without gathering lots of data and, even then, the influence would be rather subjective.

So if there was no way to really tell if harm would be greater by interacting with more or less people… the best assumption was that there was no difference.

Ergo, I could stay, or I could go. Probably won’t make any difference overall. But then she remembered Jenny getting continually mutilated, smashed, and cut by everything they encountered. Was that just her natural recklessness, or was Amaris’ curse really that lethal? Of course, if it was that lethal, why was she still alive?

Amaris sat up in bed, more than a little horrified. Why was she still alive? The sheer number of close calls she’d had was absurd, and she’d been injured many times. And yet, here she was, alive against all odds.

She attempted to run the numbers, connecting statements, conclusions, and information—trying to get to the end of this mental tangle. There had to be an answer, there had to be. Suffering would be most likely minimized if only she… if only…

The mental tree of logic she’d been building collapsed under its own weight of complexity. Amaris flopped back down onto the bed, staring dead-eyed at the ceiling. She couldn’t do it, she couldn’t think her way out of this. And it wasn’t a matter of just “thinking a little longer” about it, it was simply too much to keep in mind at once. The further she’d thought the more things she’d needed to keep track of, and then… no more.

There was no math equation for this. And the wisdom of her parents didn’t really apply here, so far as she could tell. She had nothing.

“What am I supposed to do?” she asked, aloud.

She didn’t know. She wasn’t sure it was possible to know. This made her angry. Why were things like this? Why couldn’t she just fixate on the problem and get to a hard, fast, satisfactory solution? 1+1=2, Q.E.D. Not a cloud of uncertainty without a single signpost.

With an angry huff, she got out of bed. She started grabbing her things: bow, quiver… but didn’t grab the backpack. It would just disturb Pitch. Without putting on her coat or even bothering with her boots, she left her room and marched through the empty Sanctuary halls until she was outside. The mossy ground squished beneath her bare toes, sending a shiver up her entire body.

The crescent moon was high in the sky, casting the entire town in soft light. Using it as a guide, Amaris strung her bow, looking for something to aim at. Finding a random fence post she released the arrow, striking it dead-on.

She let loose a few more arrows, hitting the post again and again.

It didn’t make her feel any better and it was a terrible distraction.

Dejected, she marched over to the post and reclaimed the arrows, turning back to the Sanctuary. Even in the moonlight, the triangle glistened a beautiful blue. She couldn’t take her eyes off it.

“What am I supposed to do?”

What do you want to do?

Amaris sighed. That thought of hers didn’t help her at all. She didn’t know what she wanted to do. There was no new information to be drawn, no conclusions to reach, nowhere to go. She wanted to stay; she wanted to go. That was the entire reason she had such a problem in the first place.

She walked back into the Sanctuary, no closer to any personal answers. She prepared for a long, restless night as she descended the stairs back to her room.

At which point, she heard a laugh coming from further down the stairs. Immediately, she was put on high alert, stringing an arrow in her bow. She considered rushing to her room to get the rest of her supplies, but she disregarded the thought—whatever this was, if it was anything, she might need her agility.

All thoughts of her personal uncertainty were gone, replaced with the instinct of survival. Another Predateor, another witch, another Toad? Granted, it was probably nothing. But Amaris couldn’t afford to ever assume it was nothing.

She didn’t have to go down there and look, strictly speaking. Maybe some of the Acolytes were just having a late-night joke—or maybe it was a monstrous behemoth she should run away from as fast as she could. Despite this, Amaris knew it was generally better to know what one was facing as opposed to not.

Also, she was curious to a fault. Being aware of this did not make the curiosity go away, so she descended the stairs as quietly as she could, armed and ready. With bare feet, she was remarkably quiet.

No more laughter came from the bottom of the stairs, but now that she was straining her ears, she could hear chattering down in the lowest basement with the colored candles. As she continued down, she began to make out the distinctive voice of Keeper Wurph.

“…and it seems to me that we are being given another Choice, my fellow Keepers. Here, we have an opportunity to use the trust of the people to bring about a brand new age. Now, I know many of you are uncertain…”

Amaris got down as low as she could while still retaining control over her bow, looking through the crack in the stairwell and the ceiling of the candle room. All seven candles were lit, as usual, and the glass cube was exactly where she remembered it. However, surrounding the cube was a hexagon painted on the ground with some kind of neon yellow pigment that harshly refracted the light given off by the candles. Six lines were drawn inside the hexagon, looking a bit like teeth or perhaps sideways closing eyes. Keeper Wurph floated just above the hexagon design—and on his head was affixed a star-shaped mask with six eyes.

Amaris froze. No… that’s not…

Virtually all the other Keepers in the room were also wearing the six-eyed masks; even the j’loons like Wurph, despite not having a traditional face to put it on. All the masks were of different shapes and materials, but one thing was sure: they all had six eyes.

“…But you have trusted me to study the way of the Choice,” Wurph continued. “And I have come to the conclusion that this is the only real choice we can make now. Come. Let us begin the summoning ritual.”

Chanting began in a language Amaris couldn’t identify. She noted that there were a dozen people down there—too many for her to take with any reliability. What she needed to do was warn the town. She vaguely remembered the location of the mayor’s office; he could probably round up some people to take care of this…

Carefully, she walked back up the stairs. Now was probably a good time to get her things back, just in case everything went south.

How could I have thought that this place was safe? She ground her teeth. Of course my curse won’t let me have anything. This was all a trick from the beginning. What was I thinking!?

She continued up the stairs until she got to the correct basement and made a sharp turn back to her room… only to find Keeper Ashton walking through the hallway.

Amaris froze.

“Amaris? What are you doing up?” Ashton asked.

Amaris narrowed her eyes. “I couldn’t sleep.”

“Evidentially, you look like you’ve seen a ghost.” He took a step toward her—prompting Amaris to take a step back. “Amaris? What’s happened?”

“Little jittery.”

“Amaris, what have you seen?”

He’s onto me. She bit her lip as her eyes began to water. It was an act the entire time.

She would have run right then and there had Pitch not been on the other side of Ashton. With a slight whimper, she pulled her bowstring back and pointed it right at Ashton. “Let me through.”

“Amaris!” he shouted in absolute shock.

“Just… let me through.”

He threw his hands into the air and pressed himself against the hallway wall. Slowly, without taking the bow off of him, she moved past him. Get to my room, grab Pitch and everything else, then run.

“Amaris, tell me what’s happened, maybe I can help.”

He sounds so genuine. Amaris clenched her jaw even tighter—she couldn’t let herself fall for this. The Keepers were up to something evil, and that meant all bets were off.

“Amaris…”

“Just… stop talking.” Amaris didn’t dare remove her hands from her bow to wipe her eyes, so the tears flowed freely. “You can’t… fool me anymore.” With a heavy sniff, she took off in a run toward her room.

Suddenly, she was encased in an ethereal red bubble that levitated her off the ground. He got me. Ashton. I should have shot him. The thought was almost unbearable, but she maintained composure. She managed to turn herself around while inside the levitating bubble and point her bow back at Ashton… who was also in a red bubble.

“You know,” Keeper Wurph said, drifting into the hall. “Loud anguished shouting actually interrupts rituals. It is quite annoying, especially when people get excited.”

“What… what is the meaning of this?” Ashton demanded.

“Come down with the rest of us, dear Ashton, and see what’s been brewing under your nose.” Wurph chuckled. “Though I do wonder why you aren’t out cold on that bed of yours, we made sure everyone was sleeping.”

“I woke up… sensing a disturbance. Wurph, what are you doing!?”

“Ah, you really are in-tune, aren’t you… though, really, it makes no difference now. Come, both of you.”

Amaris caught Ashton’s bewildered, fearful eyes.

He was never with them.

Amaris couldn’t take this. She broke down into bawling tears, unable to rid her mind of images of an arrow-studded Ashton. I could have done that! Me! To an innocent man who has shown me nothing but kindness!

“Some kid you’ve found, Ashton,” Wurph said as he floated down the stairs, the two red bubbles bobbling behind them. “And quite the troublemaker. If you hadn’t shouted I likely never would have known she was awake. I wonder how much she’s seen…”

Ashton was silent, and Amaris was in no condition to provide a retort.

Wurph took them all the way to the basement in full view of the rest of the mask-wearing Keepers, at which point the red bubbles popped, depositing the two prisoners on the ground.

Amaris was a bawling, heaving mess. Ashton, meanwhile, was utterly bewildered by what he was seeing. “What in the world…? How… how could you have gone this far wrong?”

“Look, Ashton, I like you—really, I do.” Wurph drifted toward the bearded Keeper, placing a tentacle on his shoulder. “You had a dream to establish a Sanctuary this far away from modern civilization. It takes something special to do that, and even more to succeed. It’s just…” Wurph shook his head and sighed. “From the beginning, this Sanctuary was intended for a higher purpose. In the developed world, there are those who would… object to our investigations. This far out, we can be free.”

“Free to betray everything we stand for?”

Wurph let out a trill-laugh. “My my, you are reading too far into this! This is no blood sacrifice, no brutal beginning of conquest. It is simply a motion to contact the darker side of the Choice, the remnant. Amaris!” Wurph twisted to the side, no longer looking to Ashton. “Do you know the significance of the Six-Eyed One?”

Amaris shook her head slowly.

“I had hoped that distant lands would teach the wrongly forbidden arts more freely, but I suppose my hopes are in vain.” He turned to the hexagon on the floor. “The Six-Eyed One is an entity that exists outside the Seven Colors, and one that can provide us knowledge not found in our meditations.”

“Wurph… I implore you, do not do this,” Ahston said, getting on his hands and knees. “Dia keeps some things hidden for very good reasons.”

“We have already made the Choice, Ashton. What are the consequences of choosing wrong now?”

“Wurph…”

“Perhaps you will see once we are complete here. Perhaps not. Either way, you can no longer stop us.” He turned to the rest of the masked Keepers. “If either of them makes a loud noise, gag them. Otherwise, let us restart the chant.”

The ancient, unfamiliar words returned, swirling through the air in a haunting refrain. The interior of the hexagon began to darken, becoming a black so thick the shadow of the basement seemed bright by comparison.

“I’m sorry…” Amaris whispered to Ashton.

“You are forgiven, young Amaris,” Ashton said with a sad shake of his head. “I would not have trusted myself after witnessing this.”

Amaris scooted closer to him and pulled him into a hug. She noticed he did not return it—and that his muscles were very tense. As if he were waiting for something.

Does he have a plan?

The shadowy hexagon slowly lifted out of the ground, enveloping the central altar like tar flowing upward, eventually consuming the entire cube. As the mass grew in size, occasional flashes of yellow could be seen, criss-crossing through the darkness almost like circuitry on a hexagonal grid. With a lurch, a tentacled limb twisted out of the mass, slamming onto the ground with such force that cracks ran though the stone. At the edge of the tentacle angular fingers formed, scraping deep cuts into the floor.

Another limb erupted, and then another, and another, until six of them were splayed around. Six massive yellow gashes appeared on the being’s top, arranged like eyes on a face, a dead-ringer for the many masks being worn by the Keepers. The eyes had no pupils, but they opened and closed with shockingly organic blinking motions.

It skittered around, rotating until one of its legs was facing Wurph directly.

Wurph bowed slightly. “Oh being from beyond the Seven, we humbly beseech you for your knowledg—“

When the creature spoke, no mouth moved. Rather, Amaris felt the sound come from vibrations in her bones, giving the words a rattling, haunted feel.

“Hubris is always so delicious.”

Wurph had no time to make a move. One of the creature’s many limbs lashed out, popping him unceremoniously, releasing a gush of faint red fire from his interior gasses.

The rest of the Keepers started screaming, running for the stairs—but it was not designed for such a large volume of people and the passage jammed, making an easy target for the monstrous beast. It jumped across the room, a tendril of darkness attaching it to the central altar. With one quick swipe, the fleeing Keepers were no more.

“Oh, I could answer your questions. But I won’t. Because I know who you serve, ultimately.”

“Doesn’t that make you afraid?” Ashton asked the beast, standing in such a way as to draw attention away from Amaris.

What is he doing?

The beast seemed to find Ashton’s question curious. “Your kind are always so sure of protection, and yet by your own admission death is but a return. Why are you so certain to avoid that which is a blessing?”

“You’re oversimplifying,” Ashton said. With a quick motion, he took a glass bottle out of his robes and threw it. The brilliant-white liquid inside sloshed around as it flew, revealing a symbol on the bottle formed from a hook and a straight line over a dot. The glass shattered, dousing the creature in the glittering concoction.

The beast shrieked as the doused areas were suddenly transformed into beautiful wildflowers that continued to spread along the dark tar like a disease. “Hypocritical monkey!” It lashed out wildly, hitting Ashton and a few others with a blunt strike that sent them flying. Ashton went directly into one of the walls, passing out from the impact.

He’s old. That can’t be good for him.

The worst part was that the potion he’d thrown didn’t finish the job—the darkness was able to fight against the flowers, bringing their spread to a standstill. The creature was merely preoccupied. “Flowers… ironic, but not ironic enough to spare your lives…”

Amaris carefully pulled out a pink-tipped anti-magic arrow and placed it in her bow, keeping its slight glow out of sight of the creature until the last moment—at which point she whipped the arrow to the side and shot the tendril connecting the creature to the altar it was summoned from. The darkness disintegrated into absolute nothingness from contact with the arrow, severing the creature from its source.

This immediately robbed it of the power it was using to fight the flowery infection. “How in the… you.” As the darkness continued to be overrun by the flowers, the creature used its remaining limbs to turn itself toward Amaris. “You have been touched by a fool.”

Amaris loaded another anti-magic arrow and pointed it at the creature. “Don’t come any clo—“

She had failed to take into account that the beast had nothing left to lose, so it jumped at her with two fully functional limbs. Amaris let the arrow fly, hitting dead center—but the mass was so large it continued at her. Parts of the shadow transformed into fire or bursts of light rather than nothingness, but this did nothing to hinder its progress.

Instinctually, Amaris jumped off the ground and twisted herself sideways. The creature’s swipes went above and below her but didn’t touch her at all. However, she was unable to land in a good position, tumbling awkwardly along the ground; exposed.

The creature rushed to claw Amaris right through, but at this point the flowers won. The grassy roots severed the glob of darkness from its center, allowing it to fall harmlessly over Amaris’ legs. Thick, slimy goop of darkness mixed with a healthy amount of roots and flower petals was enough to make Amaris gag as she scrambled out from under it.

The creature wasn’t moving anymore, so Amaris decided the fight was over and ran to Ashton. “Ashton! Ashton!” She lifted him up, finding a pulse and breath but getting no further response from him. “Somebody get a doctor!”

The Keepers that remained stared at her in shock, clearly not sure what to do with this situation.

“I don’t care that you tried to summon a demon-thing, just get help! Now!”

None of them moved. Whether it was out of fear, delirium, or anger, Amaris couldn’t tell. However, at this point, some of the Keepers who had been asleep started to descend the stairs, bewildered.

“You!” She pointed angrily at a fat shroomite that was coming down. “Keeper Ashton has been badly hurt! Get a doctor! Now!”

Despite the visible carnage, the shroomite did as instructed and ran back up the stairs as his fungal feet would take him.

“There, help’s on its way…” Amaris put her hand on Ashton’s face, looking him over. “Stay with me, now... Please…” She let out a shaky, heaving breath. “The curse can’t take you too…”

~~~

Keeper Ashton’s next conscious sensation was that of a somewhat intense burning in his chest.

Thank you for sparing me.

With a deep, pained grunt, he opened his eyes. He was graced with the pleasant image of Amaris looking down at him with hopeful concern.

“Amaris…”

“Oh, thank goodness…” Amaris let out a sigh of relief. “I was beginning to think you’d never wake up.”

“It will take more than a dark monster to end me…” Ashton didn’t even try to get up, he knew that anyone with this many bandages on them needed to stay still as much as possible. Instead of focusing on himself, he turned his gaze to Amaris, noting that she wasn’t wearing her normal clothes—no backpack or bow either. The only carry-overs from her previous outfit were the tattered remains of her original shirt hung around her waist and Pitch, sleeping around her neck. Everything else had been replaced with the silvery robes of a Keeper Acolyte, complete with the triangle necklace.

“Amaris…? What is this?”

“There… was a lot of chaos after what happened. I needed to watch over you, and…” She shook her head. “It’s been nice, belonging somewhere for a while. Having a purpose. Doing my best to keep everyone’s hopes up. It’s… strange. But I think they needed me. With most everyone in jail everyone else needed another set of hands around, and, well…”

“Ah…” Ashton nodded. “What is their sentence?”

“The mayor wanted you to be awake before making a decision. They…” Amaris looked distant for a moment. “None of them were prepared for that. How could they have been so stupid?”

“Amaris… what they did was wrong, but do not deride their intelligence. All of us wish to justify what we do, from the dumbest to the smartest. Wurph… was astoundingly intelligent, and yet his thirst for knowledge gave him ample justification to seek answers in all the wrong places.” Ashton took a long, deep breath. “It is my experience that the smarter someone is, the more likely they are to make that mistake.” He locked his eyes with Amaris. “Be careful, my child.”

Amaris nodded slowly.

“I must ask… do you really want those robes?”

“I… I don’t know,” Amaris admitted. “I took them because it was necessary and I was needed. But I don’t know if I’ll hurt you again if I stay too long or—“

“Amaris… this was not your fault.”

Amaris shook her head, placing her hand on Ashton’s. “Ashton… I’m cursed. Cursed to have my life be interesting. Everywhere I go, things like this happen and will keep happening.”

Ah… Ashton closed his eyes, pondering this.

“I… I’m telling the truth, Ashton.”

“I believe you,” Ashton said. “But Wurph had been planning this for multiple years. Amaris, had you not come, it would have happened anyway.”

Amaris frowned, opening her mouth to object.

“And even if you would cause more problems by being here, it would be unimaginably cruel to force you to face them on your own. I am more than willing to be injured by whatever insanity comes my way, believe me.” He narrowed his eyes. “My question is if you want to stay. If you want to become a Keeper.”

“I… I don’t know,” Amaris said, hanging her head. “I keep thinking about it, examining the tree of possible options of what’s good and what’s bad and I’ve got nothing. Nothing. It’s like there isn’t an answer and I need there to be an answer.”

“Amaris. Calm down.” Ashton smiled. “You don’t need there to be an actual answer. If there appears to be no better way… ask your heart.”

“You’re not seriously telling me to just follow my heart,” Amaris deadpanned.

“Actually, I am!” Ashton couldn’t help but chuckle, painful though it was. “The heart may be misleading and its whims fickle, unreliable, and often deceptive. But it has its uses. It knows best what you want.”

Amaris stared at Ashton for quite some time. He said nothing—Amaris needed to process this in her own time, and it wasn’t like he had anywhere to be. He had no idea how much time passed, and he didn’t particularly care, for it was what this young, troubled girl needed.

When she eventually spoke, it was almost in a whisper. “I want Mom and Dad…”

“Then go search for them.”

“But… but I don’t know where they are, I’ve been searching and searching and... the world’s too big! The chances are so absurdly small!”

“Hmm, then wouldn’t it be interesting if you ended up finding them?”

Amaris stared blankly at him. “It can’t be that simple.”

Ashton gave her a wry smile. “Why not?”

“Because… because…” Amaris broke out into a dumb smile and giggled. “Because no reason whatsoever.”

“Oftentimes in life, you’ll find it helpful to ask, every now and then, if what you’re thinking is true. You’d be surprised how many things we come up with are blatantly false and fall apart with the slightest scrutiny.”

Amaris put her hand to her chin. “Well, this has given me a lot to think about…”

“Let me know what you decide.”

“I know I’m staying at least until you’re all better.”

“That could be several weeks. Months, even.”

“And that’ll give me plenty of time to think, then!” She winked at him. “Now, you stay right there, I’ll cook up some moss cube lunch for you.”

“Have you become a chef while I was out?”

“I’ve done a little bit of everything...” She gave him a slight bow and laid her hand on his forehead sideways in a blessing before scampering off.

She’ll choose to go, Ashton thought, closing his eyes. She’d make a great Keeper… but she has a much greater destiny than that.

~~~

Amaris closed her eyes, thinking for a moment as she dredged up the old memories. “Go forth to your homes, remembering what Dia has done for us in all that is, was, and will be. Wherever we go, She is with us, guiding us through our Choice.”

She opened her eyes, smiling at the congregation of evening mediators in the Sanctuary. “And goodbye, everyone.”

It had been a bit unusual to have a mere Acolyte lead the congregation in meditation, but everyone knew that was her last day there—it was symbolic, Ashton had said. As she descended from the center of the Sanctuary, she stopped to shake hands with the many people of the town she’d come to know over the last few weeks—many of which called her a hero. She tried to dismiss these notions, but single-handedly stopping a monstrous lizard from flattening the town tended to give people ideas.

Her curse most definitely had brought threats to the town, in the form of the aforementioned reptile, but also in a malevolent thief, a strange fungal rot in the crops, and an ancient evil tree. However, it had also brought other amazing things. A traveling salesman with a brand new kind of crop, a visit by a beautiful balloon creature of great wisdom, and a wedding of two people who would have gone on hating each other without Amaris’ presence.

Interesting did not always mean terrible. Deep down, Amaris had known this since the time with Coleus. But now, after having spent some time with these people, she was consciously aware of it. The curse brought with it good and evil—all it ensured was that things were never the same.

She was getting somewhat good at detecting the destructive occurrences and doing what she could to stop them. Already, the musicians of the town were writing songs of “the wandering girl cursed with life.”

It would not have been hard to stay here. She would have a nice life with people who respected her and wanted to help her.

But, in the end, she wanted her Mom and her Dad. With any luck, the curse would eventually lead her right to them. All she had to do was keep looking.

When she stepped out of the Sanctuary, she took off her Acolyte robes for the last time, offering them to Ashton. He took the robes, but removed the triangular necklace and gave it back to her. “Keep it.”

“But I’m not…”

“Anyone of Dia’s can wear the necklace, Amaris.”

Amaris made no further fuss about it, taking the precious accessory and placing it around her neck. She then accepted her backpack from him, complete with tent and quiver. Naturally, the backpack itself was now lined with an excessive amount of moss fruit and moss cubes, as well as a proper frying pan and miniature cooking utensils.

“It’s getting late…” Ashton said with a grin.

“Oh no, we talked about this!” Amaris chucked. “I’m going now. Not gonna end up staying more and more and more and more days, gotta cut the cord! Marching into the night!”

Ashton bowed slightly in respect. “You can’t blame an old man—habits die hard.”

“I’ll blame the habit then.”

Ashton chuckled, then laid his hand sideways on Amaris’ forehead in a blessing. “May you find your parents, Amaris.”

“Thank you. For… everything, Ashton. You have no idea what it means to me.”

“And thank you, Amaris, for breathing a little life into this town of ours.”

“Not going to thank me for saving it?”

Ashton leaned in and tapped her on the nose. “Nope!”

“Good call.” Amaris winked, then set off on her way. Before she got out of sight, she turned around and waved while walking backward. Ashton waved back, as well as several of the Keepers—including a few that had been part of the summoning ritual and graciously forgiven. Next to them were some of the children she’d taught and a few townsfolk she’d gotten to know.

I’ll come back here one day, if I can, Amaris told herself. Let them know how it all went.

With a spring in her step, she walked down the road to the desert and the promise of further civilization. She had no specific goal in mind. No concrete leads of any sort.

Yet, she felt surer than ever that she’d find her parents.

I’m coming home. Just you wait.