The Wellsprings

“Kiran, have you ever been to the Conservatory?” Requiem’s voice was calming to the former moth and any anxiety that he had accumulated throughout the day melted away. He loved when his creator came to visit him, he missed them when he wasn’t visiting Flicker. 

“Conservatory? What’s that?” Kiran moved to sit next to his creator, watching as Rosemary ran through the fields by their little outfarm with Solomon, his head turning left, then right, then left again as Rosemary bolted this way and that.

“It’s a place exclusive to esk. Animals, aside from familiars, and humans cannot visit, and our worldly possessions stay behind as well. Some esk do physically leave this plane for the next, but some, their bodies stay here while their mind travels to the Conservatory. Either way, you get the same result. A place that esk like to visit and play with others where they have all of their strength. I think you would like it there. There’s currently a celebration going on for the font we call the Wellsprings, and I wanted to bring you there.” Requiem looked down at their creation. “Does that sound like something you’d like to go to?”

Kiran tilted his head a little at the idea, but when Requiem mentioned a celebration, he couldn’t hide the way his tail wiggled happily, even as the heat of the embarrassment rose in his face. “I… well…” Kiran turned back to look out at Rosemary. She was being taken care of, she had Lacey and Solomon to look after her. He usually had a lot of responsibility that, admittedly, he put on his own shoulders. 

“That’s an interesting look you got there on your face.” Lacey said, peering up from her place in the grasses. Kiran nearly jumped out of his skin, forgetting that he could no longer see her from how tall the grasses were. “Conflicted? You should go celebrate. The Equinox is a big celebration, most esk never forget their first.”

“Wha- You know-?”

“I’ve been to the conservatory before.” She hummed. “Last Equinox was rather big. More esk than there have ever been, celebrating. Usually our population is in a steady decline because they’re choosing to pass on from this plane of existence - less and less esk are deciding to do that these days. There weren’t many places that didn’t have esk last year, except personal rooms.” 

“But…” Kiran fidgeted. “Does time pass here normally?”

“It does, but don’t worry about it. You deserve a break, even if you’re gone for a week or two. You work constantly, take a break.” Lacey reassured him. “You also deserve time with your creator. Solomon and I will watch Rosemary.”

Kiran looked down at Requiem, who merely chuckled as they stood up. “Well? Does that mean we’re going?”

“I… I guess.” Kiran looked to Lacey, and felt a small well of gratitude slowly fill and overflow as she nodded, turning back to rifle through the grass and go help Solomon with the child who was hopping and galavanting through the overgrown fields.

Requiem nodded to Kiran, beckoning him closer, then turned their head down to the ground. 

Kiran walked over and watched as the ground slowly faded down into an abyss that never ended, and was filled with a pond that showed a perfect reflection of the esk looking down into it. Kiran had never seen his reflection, he had no idea what he looked like, before everything or now. He turned his head this way and that, his antenna flopping as he looked at himself. 

Requiem chuckled. “Step in.”

“What?” Kiran looked up at his creator. “Step in what?”

“This will bring you to the Conservatory. If you step in, you’ll end up on the other side.”

Kiran gave them a sceptical look, but - well, Requiem had never lied to him, now wouldn’t be any different, right?

Kiran put one paw on the surface of the mirror, and it slipped right through when Kiran put even a little bit of weight into it. He was glad he didn’t put all of his weight into the step, or he might have gone tumbling. His wings fluttered a little, mimicking the feeling in his gut but he tried to calm back down - he couldn’t disturb his spider. He slowly pushed his head down and through the portal, peering into the Conservatory. 

He had resurfaced through into a forest. Kiran’s head was peeking up from the ground up into a mass of plant life that was unlike anything Kiran had ever come across - there were some trees that seemed impossibly tall, others that were little more than big shrubs, flowers from every corner of the planet grew alongside one another.

Kiran pulled his head back out, just to find Requiem staring at him inquisitively.

“Er- sorry, I’m just… I’m just getting my bearings.” Kiran laughed weakly. Requiem let out a reassuring hum, moving to his side.

“It’s okay if you’re nervous, Kiran. Just climb through, I’ll help you navigate every step of the way.”

Kiran breathed in slowly, nodded, then dove back through the mirror. Getting his whole front half in through and getting himself leveraged onto the ‘cliff,’ and pulling himself through.

Requiem passed through shortly after, and the mirror disappeared as the edges of Requiem’s tail slipped into the mirror.

Rosemary stopped when she saw her creator and Requiem disappear into the ground.

“Lacey? Where’d Kiran go?” Rosemary stopped in her bouncy tracks just before she accidentally tackled Lacey, but mostly because of what she just saw. “They just disappeared into the ground.” She was used to Kiran sometimes disappearing into his mist, but Requiem never did that, not without saying goodbye.

“They went to a place called the Conservatory.” Lacey said. “There’s a celebration going on right now, and Kiran’s never been to it, so I told him to take some time off to go celebrate.”

“What?!” Rosemary jumped, her limbs sprawling out as she landed, each paw firmly planted on the ground but they were about as far apart as Rosemary could get them before she’d fall over. “Well what are we doing here then?! We should go too! I’ve never been! Let’s go find them!”

“Oh, dear, the Conservatory is humongous, and Requiem’s portal has already disappeared. Let’s just wait until the actual Equinox celebration is happening, yes?... It’ll be easier to find them if they’re all in the same area.” Solomon hummed as he walked up, trying to hide how out of breath he was from chasing after Rosemary. The younger esk pouted, letting her paws slip apart until she was on the ground in a pitiful mope, but Lacey merely rolled her eyes, knowing it wouldn’t be long before she was up and hopping around again.

The forest was even more lush than any tree or plant was in the overworld, and Kiran was still in awe over the beautiful, colourful growth everywhere he looked. The only thing that was odd, was, well… the only animals here were ones that belonged to esk, so it was eerily quiet.

Requiem stepped through shortly after Kiran, and the mirror closed behind them just as the rest of their tail slipped through. Requiem looked up and around them just to confirm their whereabouts, then down to Kiran. “Ready to go?”

“Where’re we going?” Kiran asked, never once moving his gaze away from the trees. The canopy seemed to stretch up for miles. Kiran couldn’t even see the sky, it was too dense. Not to mention the various under canopies, making it even more difficult to see above it all.

“The Wellsprings moves and manifests based on the will of the esk that are in the Conservatory at any given moment. During the Equinox, it’s much more powerful from all of the esk pooling together their strength, and easier to detect. If I’m reading the vibrations all correctly, it should be in the mountain biome, possibly in the caves underground or within the mountains. We’ll have to travel through a couple of biome wings to get there, most likely.” Requiem said, nudging Kiran out of his stupor, then moving to the underbrush to guide the way.

Kiran shook his head quickly, then moved to follow his creator. His light shone bright here, just like it did whenever Kiran walked along his path by the farm. Inside his boundary. Kiran was about the only bright thing there in the forest, which did make him a bit nervous, admittedly. But his light bounced off of Requiem’s mirrors that floated alongside him like wings, lighting up their immediate area. Kiran could see him twisting them methodically to get the most coverage, and he was thankful to have a creator that understood him. He was glad he chose Requiem.

The forest seemed to stretch on forever, and as they walked through the forest, Kiran kept spotting strange structures or bubbles floating around that looked way too out of place to belong there. But then again, the trees didn’t end. Who’s to say the giant rose-coloured bubble didn’t belong?

“Requiem, what are all these… floating things? The buildings… that look like the cities from Europe?” Kiran squinted at one such structure, which looked like something from the buildings in the country next to Iso’s home, which was on a peninsula, not in a random, never-ending forest.

“They’re rooms.” Requiem said, turning to look at the structure he was eyeing. “You can create a personal room here in the Conservatory, all of these are the outside manifestations of those rooms. Not everyone displays them outwardly unless they’re inside - so when no one’s home, they don’t exist for our eyes, for example. But some just let them be visible.”

“Can anyone just enter them?” Kiran asked, looking up as they passed under a strange hut structure, then noticed there were hundreds of them above them, looking to be constructed out of the branches of the trees themselves, like they had slowly and painstakingly been bent to form the hut over years. But as Kiran watched, he could make out another one of these little huts unfurling from a gathering of leaves within an instant, like an egg hatching. Trinkets dripped from them, soft crystals that glowed dimly, fading in and out of life.

“Most often, you’d need an invitation to enter someone’s room. My own is open for anyone who needs a retreat.” Requiem turned back to watch Kiran, and the soft light surrounding their creation seemed to fade in and out with the crystals. Not intentionally, Requiem was sure of that, but it was an interesting sight. “Would you like to visit it? I believe the developed wing is on our way to the mountains.”

“Could I? I’m sure your room has to be spectacular if this is what the conservatory itself looks like…”

Requiem chuckled. “I don’t know about that. I certainly like it, though. But that’s to be expected. I did make it, after all. I could teach you how to make your own, if you’d like.”

Kiran’s antenna perked up and he looked up at his creator, his eyes sparkling a little. He gave a quick, sharp nod, and the light surrounding him began to glow brighter than ever.

Requiem shifted the mirror fragments to reflect the light onto the ground to give them a bit more light. If they were walking through the dark forest, the least that they could do was provide their once skittish little creation a little more light.

You could have told Kiran that the walk through the forest wing had taken them a whole week and Kiran would have believed you; it seemed to stretch on forever and Kiran had long run out of new stories to tell Requiem. It wasn’t like they didn’t still keep in touch even when they were separate. It wasn’t bad, however. Kiran quite liked walking around in silence with his creator. It wasn’t uncomfortable or awkward. Just peaceful.

But the developed wing far exceeded anything Kiran would have imagined.

The space seemed almost distorted in on itself, the streets stretched out for miles in front of them, but they also curved upwards into an arch and then reflected itself onto the sky above, skyscrapers nearly colliding with one another, hung upside down in the sky. Esk were walking around on the streets above, also upside down, and esk with wings were flying upwards, and having lopsided conversations with those walking on the sky. The only thing that really separated the two halves of this city were the colourful clouds that floated through, split by the metal and concrete spires. 

Kiran was surprised by the amount of esk all around them, but it made sense. Kiran’s little group were the only esk around for a good while, but there also weren’t many people or animals to begin with. Cities anywhere would be more densely populated, but still - having so many esk around overwhelmed the moth a little. His ankles were beginning to turn to mist, and it was threatening to climb up his legs.

“It’s okay, Kiran. My room isn’t far. You just have to endure the noise for a little while.” Requiem tried to reassure.

“I-I know-” Kiran whispered, clearing his throat a little, fluffing up the fur on his chest a little as he attempted to raise his voice. “I know. I’m okay. It’s just… different.”

“I know it is.” Requiem chuckled fondly, but knew any moth would probably feel overwhelmed in a city full of lights and sounds, not just their own little moth.

True to their promise, the bubble wasn’t far. Kiran recognized it instantly. Not because it was a special structure, not really, it was a bubble like a lot of the rooms in the forest wing - but it was shimmering so brightly from all of the light coming out of it, which shone through the cracks in the bubble. Requiem was so fond of light and reflections, it had to be theirs.

Requiem did indeed head right for that bubble, and Kiran could feel his excitement grow palpable at the idea of seeing his creator’s room, their home away from home.

But he hesitated. Kiran trotted right up to it, then stopped, staring at it in front of him. The bubble itself was huge - significantly larger than Kiran, it was more like the size of a house. Requiem stopped just behind Kiran, confused as to why they had taken pause and tilted their head at their creation.

“Kiran? Is something wrong? I thought you wanted to go inside?” Requiem moved to stand next to him, looking for the plight in his form.

“I-I do! Sorry, this is all just-”

“It’s a lot, I know. My room is also a lot. We don’t have to do this now, if you don’t want to. We can wait.”

“No! No, I- I wanna do this now.” Kiran chuckled weakly. “Lemme just-” Kiran took in a deep breath, then slowly pushed their paw in. His misty grey paw disappeared within the cracks of the bubble, which separated at even just a little force, and the first thing Kiran felt was the familiar breeze of an ocean, salty and sweet against his wispy fur. 

He pulled his paw back, and the mist had been gusted ‘away’, but it slowly reformed now that it was out of the grip of the salty sea that lay in wait. 

And before he could overthink it again, he plunged into the bubble, using his antenna to hide his eyes so he didn’t have to look immediately.

Kiran shook the dew from his fur as he entered into the bubble that Requiem called home - home away from home, anyhow. The bubble wasn’t quite solid, more like thousands of dewdrops forming to shape a ball that glittered as light passed through them. As soon as Kiran got most of the dew out, he looked up, and had to sit back to take it all in.

White brick built layers and layers of what could have been a cathedral in a different time, or perhaps, Kiran mused, one of its towers. Spires stretched up at every corner, and every window glittered with stained glass. Images of various esk that Requiem had met over the centuries, depicted in artfully crafted murals. Gold filled the cracks instead of lead, bright and eye-catching rather than dull and gloomy. The pillars that held up the lowest, open level that Kiran had stepped out onto were all lined with various stones, flattened and polished to shimmer in the golden light that seemed to be coming from every side of them, trailing up the white marble and eventually fading out into the soft white. The roofs of the spires and the top of the construct were shingled with a mixed batch of shining crystals, nearly translucent but the light shimmered through, revealing the insides - including the bells hiding inside the towers, which rang softly, shining with their own form of light as the noise bounced off of the crystals.

Soft waves crashed against the steps leading up to the building, which would never wear down but still were stained with the smell of salt. Every time the waves crashed further up, droplets would spew and begin to float, glittering in the light as they drift through the air.

Kiran turned about as he took in the tower from down below, and the new sights and smells all around him. It was overwhelming, admittedly, but a good overwhelming. Requiem wasn’t far behind Kiran in this travel, and looked fondly at their creation as he found the steps leading out into the ocean and tried to peer up to look at the rest of the building.

As Kiran stared up towards the tower, water began to curl up out of the surrounding ocean, twisting on itself and wrapping around the light that formed, and as it twisted further and further up, it would slip away from the base it formed - leaving glass in its place, golden filigree decorating the newly formed path way, etching carved into it to give better traction so those who tried to climb wouldn’t slip. As the path formed, small tea lights began to appear to line the path way, floating just off to the side, the small flames reflecting off of the glass. 

Kiran had flinched at the sound and movement of the water, but watched with awe as it climbed in a spiral up the tower, connecting with the very top floor, which was open farther up. He took a step out onto the glass, then looked at Requiem, this tail wiggling happily. “Well? Aren’t we going up?”

Requiem laughed softly. “Yes, yes. Let’s go up. You seem eager to explore.”

“This is your home. And it isn’t a destroyed city, or castle. It has you. Of course I’m excited.” Kiran yipped, and began to trot up the path.

Requiem could only chuckle to himself. Yes, Rosemary was Kiran’s kid, alright.

Ivy grew over almost every bit of trim and pillar available to climb, but didn’t cover the gems. It climbed and climbed but avoided the windows, letting the light shine through them still, and beautiful jasmine grew on the vines, matching the ones on his creator’s tail. The white flowers seemed to give a dim glow of their own, and made the dew drops that covered them shimmer even in the shadows, drawing the eye. The ivy grew all over the pathway now, too, creeping up over the edges and twisting around with the filigree. As Kiran looked closer, some other levels of the tower were also open with the same pillars, with bushes and vines growing within boxes inside the rooms, but still outgrowing their containers and filling the space with a lovely floral scent, trying to overcome the salt water.

Signs of civilization could be seen even if human eyes would never lay upon the beautiful pocket dimension Requiem had made for themselves. The second to highest floor was a sight of its own. Timeworn but well-built tables were scattered amongst the strange space, with scraps of paintings torn from their frames now covering the tables like a cloth and encased in glass that looked as if it had been shattered and put back together. Broken hand mirrors and random trinkets littered the tables, collecting dust amongst the plants and glass. Pillars held up this floor as well - but instead of the beautiful coloured stones that made up the pillars on the ground floor, these were broken up - random shards of mirrors that floated but didn’t reflect the rest of the light around them. The vines infected the ceiling of the floor, climbing up the pyramid-like dome the ceiling formed, leading up to a giant glass ceiling. The stained glass figure in this one seemed to resemble Requiem themselves, though it was hard to tell from where Kiran was on the path, and at the angle he had to try and peer at it from. Light shone down through the glass, creating a colourful pattern that shimmered across the floor and the tables.

The final touch to the whole room was the soft mist that seemed to sit at the bottom of the walkways, dampening the light just enough for one to still see past all of the glitter, and really put Kiran in a feeling of the fantastical, whimsical land that the conservatory was promised to be.

Kiran’s coat turned to grey, mist overcoming his form to match his surroundings, light shining through his fur. As he climbed higher up the glass pathway, careful to avoid the vines, he took a moment to look out across the sea.  The golden hour sun seemed to come from everywhere but had no discernable source, and the sea seemed to go on forever, despite Kiran knowing that this was, in theory, a limited space. This building, this… tower, seemed impossibly tall, especially compared with the scattered buildings that Kiran could see out in the water.

Most were one floor, lots were little more than a pair of crumbling walls with empty holes for windows with the floor almost entirely taken up by sea water. The only building intact was the tower, which probably would have drawn anyone closer even without the lack of anything else nearby.

One had a tree sprouting up from the cracks of the foundation, and hanging from it were beautiful crystals, manifested and given to Requiem by guests who had come and gone from the room. They shimmered with their own little bits of light. Another was taller, it had a second floor even if the second floor was just a pair of walls, and other trinkets that had been gifted were left there in a pile, all shiny metal or glass that reflected the golden light.

“Requiem, what’s that, across the way?”

“Hm?” Requiem followed Kiran’s gaze to look out across the water as well, finding the building Kiran was referring to. “Ah. The esk who come visit the room looking for a moment of peace will sometimes leave me things, often shiny and new with messages stashed within. It’s not uncommon for us to give gifts to hosts, but they leave them even if I’m not here to give them guidance. I keep them over there - and go through them when the memories get stronger.”

Kiran could only snicker to himself, thinking about Lacey’s new friend, the crow - he could only imagine that poor little crow losing his mind over this room.

Climbing to the top of the tower, Kiran could see it all more clearly now. Some of the floors had giant holes in the side, revealing the inside. Rooms that had random furniture strewn about, all made out of odd materials but seemed to be important despite their gathering of dust, with vines creeping through the bricks. Other rooms that were filled with plants that were leaning towards the light, growing around the edges of the hole, creeping out like hands grasping at the edges of a cliff. Several rooms were entirely empty, and some had water just pouring out of them, forming waterfalls that refilled the ocean down below and had no signs of emptying in return. 

The top of the tower was indeed built like the top of a church. It vaulted up and a lantern tower was left in the middle. Instead of the sides being left open, they enclosed the space with more stained glass windows, and a giant ball of light sat in the middle, shining down into the space. It pulsed as Kiran walked out across the floor underneath it, and Kiran could look down into the room below. He had a feeling in his gut that he couldn’t enter that room. He could see the dozens of plants hanging down from pots, and how the plants had far outgrown the pots - roots and vines hanging down from the pots they had cracked to try and escape from. 

Despite the light glittering over everything, the mist dampened the brightness of everything, and it wasn’t overwhelming. It was like being around windows at sunrise, shining in your peripheral, soft and cosy and not blinding. And all important, bright and welcoming. No part of this room knew darkness, and probably never would. Not with Requiem in charge of it.

Requiem was trailing behind Kiran as he found his way up towards the top of the tower, with the light shining down onto him from above, his mist shimmering under the glow and his own light.

“Requiem.” Kiran whispered. “You downplayed this place quite a bit.”

“Did I?” His creator sounded bemused by Kiran’s soft complaint. “I suppose I didn’t want to tell you everything outright, and let you experience it yourself.” Requiem said. “Your room will probably look nothing like this.”

“I wouldn’t want it to.” Kiran said, spotting the carved stone steps down into the tower, and trailing towards them. “I would want it to be unique to me - and… possibly Flicker, if she’d join me.”

Requiem followed the mist and light of his creation down into the building. They didn’t go down to the next floor like Kiran thought they would, the open floor with all of the tables and the mirrors. Instead they entered inside the building, stained glass windows being the only mode of light entering the room. Dust floated all around them, and mirrors decorated every inch of the pillars that supported the ceiling. Light shimmered against the mirrors, creating reflections of light against the floors and the unto other mirrors, creating more reflections, rinse and repeat. The light shone through Kiran’s body as he walked through them, dimmer from having to go through the mist. His wings twitched excitedly as he inspected every inch of the room, including the ivy overgrowing the walls, which had seeped in through the cracks in the grout.

Lots of floors were open to the bright glory of the outside, others were enclosed like that first one but had their own lights inside, small orbs of light like what adorned the very top of the tower. Very few were dark like that very first one, but Kiran never saw that room that was up top, despite the fact that sometimes they seemed to jump up and down the floor count as the room pleased. Sometimes he was in the middle of the tower when he entered an open room, and then later when he found another open floor, he’d be above that previous one. The enclosed floors often had lots of random furniture strewn about and some of the furniture had objects left there by previous visitors, keepsakes and things of sentimental value. The furniture was often a strange, marble-like mixture of stone and wood, and the hardware was like nothing that would actually appear on human furniture. Kiran suspected that Requiem actually had no idea what purpose these pieces served, because they didn’t need to. Kiran had some ideas from hanging around the farmers at Lacey’s, but otherwise he was the same. Humans and their fascinations eluded Kiran at the worst of times. He was pretty positive that most of it was to store their strange clothes, though.

They finally came to a floor that had no stairs down further, and Requiem looked at Kiran as he seemed to sniff around, looking for another staircase.

“There are no other floors, my little moth.” Requiem teased softly. “What are you looking for?”

“How come we never visited that top floor?” Kiran said, turning back to Requiem. “The one with all the tables with the weird images on them?”

“Ah. I have to invite you in if you wish to visit.” Requiem chuckled. “I don’t really wish to go into that room today. Lots of memories I would rather not address during a visit.”

Kiran paused, there was a temptation to ask to visit still, but he shook himself out of his thoughts, knowing that was rude. His wiry wings twitched as he moved back towards Requiem. “Alright… then… well, we should probably continue towards the wellsprings…”

“You don’t wish to build your room first?” Requiem teased. “We still have some time before the Equinox celebration.”

Heat rose to Kiran’s face. “I-I worry I’ve spent two days alone just exploring your room, I wouldn’t want to hold us up any further-”

“It’s alright, Kiran, really. Come on, let’s go back up.” Requiem turned back towards the stairs, nodding to them. 

Kiran took in a deep breath, ready to have to climb up hundreds of flights all over again. His little spider crawled up from her nestle into his mane, standing on his head, and he could feel her trying to reassure him. It was going to be alright, even if it was exhausting-

But as Kiran climbed up the flight that brought him down to that bottom floor, he found himself right back at the top of the stairs, staring out at the vast ocean once again, waves crashing against the random islands of ruins all around them, golden light still bathing the entire world in a softness Kiran couldn’t quite express.

“Wha- But we-”

“The Conservatory is an amazing place, no?” Requiem teased the confused esk, nudging him gently. “Come now, no time to gawk.”

Kiran shut himself up, eyes following Requiem as they walked back towards the overgrown glass, but decided against saying something. Nothing had made sense since they stepped through, and Kiran supposed that it didn’t have to. If this place was magic, that was fine. He preferred it not make sense.

They left the same way they came in - making it back down the pathway led to a bubble that wasn’t solid, light shimmering through it, and it led right back out to that twisted city. As Kiran shook the dew from his coat once more, he shook the mist from it too, the browns slowly seeping back into his pelt.

The journey through the city led them right into the mountain wing. Just as peculiar as the last two wings, two mountains in particular made up the majority of the landscape, and one of the mountains had a hole punched into it. Not just a hole, no, that didn’t really sell the strangeness of the sight. It was like someone had taken a circle shaped cutter to a bit of dough and taken a chunk out of it, but to a whole mountain. It wasn’t straight down the middle, the entire side of the mountain was missing along with the insides, with sharp curves on either side of the ‘entrances’... if they could even be called that.

Requiem led them straight to this mountain, and as they got closer and closer, it got more daunting to look at. Bits of rock as a remnant of the cut were floating around the edges, pebbles and boulders alike floated around the edges of the mountain path and around the sharp corners of where it was dug out.

The inside of the cut was a humongous cavern, seemingly forming around the chunk that had been taken out. Stalagmites and stalactites that were formed of dozens of crystals and different kinds of stones, different layers of materials stacked up onto one another from centuries of build up. Kiran had to be careful of where he stepped, not wanting to accidentally trip over a smaller rock formation and fall forward onto the wet cavern floor. Somehow, despite the ceiling basically being nonexistent, it was so dark inside the cave. The ‘ceiling’ was hundreds of feet up, it didn’t really cover anything and they were exposed to the sun on either side, and yet it would have been like walking through pitch darkness if it weren’t for the lanterns. Kiran’s light was one of the few light sources aside from those oil lamps, which were only posted every few dozen feet. The posts were connected with a fraying rope, with paper talismans hanging from them with no text, just blank. Any time Kiran passed by another grouping of gemstone stalagmites, his light would bounce off of the mysteriously polished surface and shine light all around them, and onto the talismans. They seemed to speak in soft whispers when the light shone onto them.

I wish for a friend.

I wish for a lantern to light up my forest.

I wish for a cat to wander my graveyard with me.

Could I get a pendant with a picture of my grandmother?

I wish I could find the flower she gave me before she passed.

“These talismans… they’re all wishes?” Kiran asked, looking up the path at his creator, who was guiding him down to the wellsprings.

“Yes. That is what the Equinox is about, wishing. You can do it whenever, but they are especially prevalent now when the Wellsprings are at their strongest.” Requiem said, glancing back at Kiran. “You may make a wish as well, if you want.”

“Oh… no, that’s not necessary.” Kiran said, laughing softly. “I have all of the things I could ever need back at home.”

“I figured that would be your answer.” Requiem chuckled. “I’m glad you haven’t lost sight of that.”

“How could I? I live with it every day. The only thing I could possibly wish for is you and Flicker somehow being closer, but you’d have to fold the very Earth to do that.” Kiran laughed. “I’ll let Earth be Earth and I’ll let the Conservatory stay weird, like this. It’s nice.”

The sound of running water had begun to surround them for a while now, echoing throughout the cavern and creating an almost deafening sound, but Kiran shook off the loud noise. If he didn’t it would be easy to get overwhelmed again. Aside from sections of the forest wing, this was easily the least overwhelming spot they’d been through so far.

“Careful, water.” Requiem warned, and Kiran barely missed the creek that had begun to form underneath their feet, stepping over it at the last moment.

Requiem led him deeper into the cavern, closer and closer to the back wall, where the stalagmites and stalactites seemed to intermingle, sticking straight out of the wall, but still seemed to be getting build up - with droplets flying sideways from… somewhere, who knows where. It was hard to make out which was which at the strange cross section, but the closer they got to it, the wider the creek became, until it was a full on river. It didn’t rage like Kiran expected it to, but it did have its own tide. As they got closer to the source, Kiran began to hear lots of laughter and chattering. Confused, Kiran looked up to Requiem, who merely detoured a little to go up onto a small hill that led up into a ledge. As Kiran wandered closer to the edge, and peered down, his eyes sparkled.

Dozens of esks were down in a giant spring, playing and splashing each other with bright, glowing water, the light shimmering off of all of the cavern walls, creating its own light show. Dewdrops flew up from the splashing water, their own little fireflies of sorts, drifting along peacefully through the air, away from the chaos that was the play going on down below. 

There was a font at the very back wall by the spring, and it was glowing readily, overflowing itself as esk played and wished nearby, growing more and more as visitors came and went.

Kiran moved to lay down, watching it all down below, and Requiem moved to lay down next to him.

“This is the Wellsprings.” Requiem said, watching as the dewdrops flew up again, creating a small galaxy of its own, water glittering like stars. “This is where the Equinox celebration will be taking place.”

“There’s so many esk here.” Kiran said. “Are they…. All from the same place?”

“Probably not.” Requiem said, following Kiran’s gaze as he looked this way and that. “They’re all probably from different places around the world. You retain all of the energy you have in your boundary here in the Conservatory, and since the Wellsprings is here in the Conservatory, well…”

“I understand.” Kiran said, watching a particularly large splash down in the water that splashed over several other esk and caused a round of squeals, making Kiran giggle. But it was then that his eyes were drawn from the glowing of the Wellsprings and other esk to a particular ball of light that caused the moth to double take, and then he was up.

“Kiran?” Requiem looked up at his little moth, then watched him dart down. “Kiran?!”

Kiran sped down the cliff to the shores of the overflowing Wellsprings, skidding to a stop for a moment as he looked around. The view was very different down here, and he was trying to match the spikes he saw with-

There she was.

She had something - well, someone - on her back, so he couldn’t tackle her like he wanted to. But he sped to her light, watching her wings flutter and watching the fireflies dance around her, presumably from the other esk she was carrying.

He stopped just short of catching up to her, barely brushing her tail with the spines lining his forelegs. She noticed, though, and he evaporated into mist just before she turned around.

“Hm?” Flicker’s sweet voice chimed as she glanced around. Kiran felt his soul sing but he tried to keep it down, not wanting her to pick up on his vibrations.

“Is something wrong?” The little esk on Flicker’s back climbed up onto her head to look around with her. His voice was quiet, meek. It reminded Kiran of himself, before everything.

“... Must have just been someone who wasn’t paying attention. I just could’ve sworn that I-”

Kiran formed again next to her and pressed against her side, humming happily against her, his muzzle next to the wing that made up the ear shape on her crown. He felt Flicker stiffen in surprise, her fur raising on end. Kiran let out a short laugh. “Sorry, little light.”

“Kiran?” Flicker whipped her head around, nearly knocking the little esk on her head off, then suddenly jumped on him.

The sheer surprise of it all caught Kiran off guard and he went down, barely having the wherewithal to spread his wings wide so they didn’t get squashed as his back hit the ground and ruin his spider’s web.

“Kiran!” Flicker was now on top of him, white belly fur melded with brown as the mist evaporated off of his pelt and Flicker was careful to rub her muzzle under his chin without poking him with her horns.

Kiran let out a short laugh and pushed back a little, snuggling with his partner. “Hello to you too.”

“You’re the one who thought it would be funny to try and spook me.” She huffed, and Kiran snickered a little.

“Sorry.” Kiran murmured shyly. “Who’s your friend?”

“Friend?” Flicker paused, then sat up with alarm. “Darkling?!”

“I-I’m alright!” Darkling popped back up and sighed. He was still on Flicker’s head, but further back, holding on by her antlers. 

“Darkling?” Kiran looked up at the tiny little thing perched on her head. “This is Darkling?”

“Oh, yes! Yes, yes, I forgot you two haven’t met yet! Kiran, this is Darkling, he’s-”

“The best person ever, better than any creator or esk to ever exist?” Kiran teased, and Flicker flushed.

“Y-Yes, well-” Flicker got flustered and put a paw over her eyes. Kiran could tell she spent a lot of time with the little canary on her head, because he did nearly the same motion, and Kiran could tell he embarrassed him, too. Whoops.

“It’s nice to meet you, Darkling.” Kiran said, lifting a paw to hold in front of the esk. “My name’s Kiran.”

“Oh. Kiran. It’s… It’s nice to meet you, too.” Darkling was shaking himself out of his flustered state, and Kiran could tell he was mustering a lot of courage to not hide behind the wings on Flicker’s head. “Flicker’s, um, she’s told me a lot about you.”

“Flicker’s told me a lot about you.” Kiran laughed. “What are you two doing here?”

“Oh, I-I celebrated Equinox here a couple years back and told Flicker about it. She, uh, well she wanted to… she wanted to see it for herself. So we’re here celebrating.” Darkling was clearly a bit nervous, so Kiran tried tampering down his vibrations again, trying to accommodate. He remembered what it was like being around strange esk when he wasn’t at his best. He didn’t want to pass that feeling unto others. “How about yourself?”

“My creator is here showing me around as well. This is my first time in the Conservatory.” Kiran said. “Requiem figured now was as good a time as any to show me around.”

“Ah. Yes, this is a great time to show an esk around...” Darkling said, then looked down at Kiran, up and down, then to his mentee. “Um, Flicker, maybe… we should let Kiran up?”

“Huh?... Oh! Oh, yes.” Flicker scrambled up and Kiran rolled over. He turned, spending some time straightening his wings back out. His spider crawled out from his mane and spiralled up his wings, beginning to fix her web, huffing angrily as she reattached one of the ends that had come undone, and Flicker’s wings lowered sheepishly, remorseful for messing up the web.

“That’s better…” Kiran said, relieved that nothing had gotten too frumped.

“Kiran!” Requiem came walking over to him, leaning down to check him over, and Kiran snickered, letting his creator dote on him. “Don’t run off like that! I was worried you saw Haya again.”

“No, no, nothing like that.” Kiran chuckled. “It’s Flicker.”

“Flicker-” Requiem lifted their head back up to look at the esk in question, then visibly relaxed. “Ah. Flicker. Good. That… That does make me feel better.”

“Hi Req.” Flicker said, her wings fluttering a little. “Sorry.”

“No, no, don’t apologise, I should have figured it was you. He wouldn’t run off like that for anyone else.” Requiem sighed. “I’m just glad he didn’t collapse again.”

“Collapse?... that… that’s unusual. Does he collapse often?” Darkling looked down at Kiran, who was now pointedly looking away, finding something about the wall just… uber fascinating all of the sudden. To be fair was a pretty fascinating wall.

“Kiran used to have really bad soul sickness. You remember me telling you about how weak he was?” Flicker looked up at her mentor, and he nodded quickly.

“Oh. I think I do remember you telling me about that…” Darkling mumbled under his breath, then looked to Kiran, a bit worried for his friend’s partner. “Kiran… has that… gotten any better?”

“Hm? Oh, yeah, it’s gotten a lot better since I started living on the farm.” His wings twitched. “I don’t have issues with it anymore really. Every once in a while.”

“That’s good to hear.” Darkling nodded, sitting down on the crown of Flicker’s head. “Er, well… we were about to go off to my room to quiet down until the celebration. Flicker and I don’t really like all of the noise… Would, ah, would you two like to come with? Txi should be arriving soon, too. If work doesn’t hold him up, at least…”

“Could we?” Kiran stood, twisting around to look at the two of them. “I would love to see another Conservatory room - Requiem showed me theirs, I want to get more ideas for when I build mine.”

“That sounds fun.” Darkling giggled a little to himself, looking down at Flicker, his voice becoming quiet again, but he was relaxing. That was good. “Come on, let's show them where it is.”

Flicker nodded and walked them over to the side of the cave, up against the wall where the rocks stuck straight out of it. Kiran tilted his head a little until a dark opening yanked itself open from nothing, leading inside. Flicker looked back at Kiran and nodded inside.

Kiran hesitated, then slowly stepped into the darkness.

The others filed in after him, and the dark opening closed behind them.

Lanterns lit the way, hanging from wooden frames and connected with rope. As they walked further and further in, the tunnel walls opened up wider and wider, expanding far beyond what seemed to be a mineshaft at first, and then Kiran stepped in grass. He paused, lifting his paw back up, his light shining a bit brighter to try and see what he had stepped in. 

Flicker moved closer, her own ball of light glowing to show the grasses that the rock was beginning to fade into, and the giant ferns and trees that began populating the now humongous tunnel.

Kiran looked to Flicker and felt his soul sing again, and she rubbed up against his side, the two beginning to walk with each other now. The texture of the ground was still hard like stone but grass was sprouting up from it, ferns and tall trees grew up and up into the ceiling of the cave, and a damp air began to surround them all.

The plants sprouting among Flicker’s coals began to glow brighter as well, shimmering in the air.

Kiran could hear all of the noises that he was missing from the forest wing earlier. Birds were singing in the trees around them, making the jungle itself come alive. Twittering and chirping from every direction, singing with a new life here in this strange jungle, something that Kiran had never seen before.

The ceiling of the cavern soon disappeared, buried under the canopy of the trees, and stalagmites began to crop up amongst the ferns and vines trying to crawl up the gigantic trees. 

“Darkling, this is amazing…” Kiran breathed, turning in a circle as he walked to look around up at the forest. He didn’t see any birds, but he could hear them. Perhaps hearing them was the only comfort he needed.

“I’m glad you like it.” Darkling was still very quiet, but Kiran could hear the happy lilt in his soft voice. “You haven’t seen above the, um… the canopy yet.” Darkling said, settling down on Flicker’s head. “All of the planets and stars are visible. I like to… I go up there with Txi. Whenever we visit, I mean.”

“That sounds amazing.” Kiran breathed, turning back around to follow Flicker. He wasn’t extraordinarily fond of stargazing or anything, but Kiran could sense that Txi was important to Darkling, and lying under the stars with his partner was something Kiran never tired of.

A green light zipped past Kiran, and he flinched, stopping for a moment as he watched that green blur zip away into the trees.

“What was that?” Kiran asked, looking around, and saw another green light skitter behind a tree, this one was weirdly thin, like a wire. Kiran turned slightly, trying to see around the trunk.

“Oh, good, Txi is here. I was worried he’d get caught up in work today…” Darkling breathed a sigh of relief.

“Of course I’m here. I wouldn’t miss a date with you for the world.”

Kiran turned back to the side and saw a teal esk sitting on a branch down below the vines above them. Long blue lights trailed down his tail, curling at the ends, feathers dancing alongside them, swaying in the breeze. Tiny little sprouts glowed by his feet, and they reminded Kiran of the seedlings growing on Flicker’s coals. The sprouts moved as this new esk did, trailing up the tree’s branch. Moss and flowers bloomed along the wood even as he moved.

“You must be Txi.” Requiem said softly, finally speaking up after being quiet for so long after entering this cavern. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

“You already know me. You haven’t been talking about me, have you, love?” Txi teased his partner, who flushed in embarrassment.

“Maybe… Maybe a little. It’s easy to talk about you…” Darkling was already moving down Flicker’s snout, ready to jump onto the branches despite his embarrassment. “Is the forest doing alright?...”

“It will be. That’s all that matters.” Txi said. Three little lights zipped up to meet Txi on the branch, and after Kiran focused his eyes, he could see the bird shapes. They were all aglow, hard to see with their fast moving wings. The light intrigued Kiran, and he tilted his head, tempted to get closer to look but thought better of it. “Who’re all these guests you’ve brought with you? Of course I recognise you, little Flicker.” Txi teased, hopping down to a slightly lower branch.

Darkling finally just hopped off of Flicker’s head, trailing over to the tree that Txi was perched on and climbing up to meet his partner there, snuggling up against him just as Kiran did with Flicker.

“Txi, this is Kiran. My partner.” Flicker chirped happily, moving closer to cuddle into his mane again. Kiran felt his body warm over and he leaned into her, embarrassed but happy. “And that’s Kiran’s creator, Requiem.”

“Good to meet you all.” Txi said, tail flicking from its position hung from the branch, vines beginning to curl from the tree where his paws sat, the little glowing seedlings sprouting to show off a little, and maybe to also reinforce the branch that they were sitting on. “I’m guessing you’re here for the Equinox? Why don’t you all settle in for a while, we can get to know one another?”

“What did you say we were here to celebrate again?” Wynstone asked, hooves clicking against the twisted streets of the developed wing as he stepped down from Arkies’s room, looking around. The scenery changed every time he visited - he wasn’t sure why he wasn’t used to it at this point.

“The Equinox.” Arkies voice was focused but still echo-y even as they explained, even here in the vast expanse of the developed wing with the billowing winds. “Everyone gathers at the overspilling wellsprings and wishes, and grants wishes.”

“I see.” Wynstone looked around. “It’s in the mountains this year?”

“It is. Quite the treat for you, no?” Arkies chuckled.

“Har har.” Wynstone pawed at the ground slightly. “... How many esk, are we referring to, exactly-”

“WHEEEEEEEEEEEE-”

Before Wynstone could finish his thought, a brown and red blur launched past him at top speed, narrowly avoiding hitting him and Arkies. Snow and ice had formed on the ground, and when the two turned and looked, they saw a sheepish esk who called out a shy ‘sorry!’ before scuttling off to find somewhere else to play, perhaps with less esk to run into, or to launch other esk into.

Wynstone turned back and saw the ‘brown and red blur’ was, indeed, another esk, who had face planted into the sidewalk. Little stone bunnies, birds, and mice began to surround the still esk, poking and sniffing her, curious at her sudden stop. Even his doe slowly clicked towards them, her fawns following close by, leaning down to sniff at her, then looking back at Wynstone and shrugging.

Wynstone himself now drew close, looking down at the esk. She had a strange scarf on her twigs that looked eerily familiar, but he couldn’t place it. Worried now, his wisps began to appear around them, red and bright, a warning sign to make sure other esk didn’t wander close just in case something bad had happened. The lights curled around his horns glowed a bit, shining against the brown fur of the esk under him as he drew closer. She had her eyes down, but he hoped that she’d see the light and react to him.

“Hey. Are you alright?” Wynstone tilted his head.

The esk suddenly popped up, her twigs bouncing with the force of it, so much so that Wynstone was honestly surprised that little scarf of hers didn’t go flying.

“Oh. My Gosh. That was so much fun!!” The esk squealed, bouncing up and beginning to hop up and down in place, then stopped, bowing down into a playful stance, her tail wagging as she looked up at Wynstone. “Oh my gosh. Who’re you?! You look so cool! You’re nothing like Kiran! You’re so glowy!!”

“Kiran?” Wynstone tilted his head at the familiar name, though, it wasn’t an uncommon name, it didn’t mean it was the esk that he was thinking of. “Well… You certainly seem alright-”

“Rosemary!” Lacey admonished, running over to the bouncy esk and huffing angrily, splashing her with a rain of dewdrops.

‘Rosemary’ whined indignantly, leaning away, upset by the splash. “Hey! What was that for?” She pouted.

“I told you not to run off on me! You don’t know what sort of esk are here, you could have gotten hurt! You’re lucky it was Wynstone who found you!”

“Lacey.” Wynstone chuckled. “It’s been a while.”

Lacey sighed, looking up at her old friend, and the one who had, unfortunately, introduced her to his over energetic creation. One quite similar to the pawful she was dealing with now. Perhaps it was practice for what was to come. “It has been, hasn’t it?”

“You know him?!” Rosemary gasped. “I thought you said you never went out of your pasture!”

“I don’t.” Lacey sighed. “Wynstone came to me. A long time ago. We still talk sometimes.” She shook her head, looking up at her friend. “Sorry about all of this. I know you’re used to it with Rowan, I just wasn’t expecting this.”

“It’s alright.” Wynstone shook his head, the gemstones hanging from his lights clicked against one another as they swung. “You said her name was Rosemary?”

“Yes, she’s a little girl that Kiran transformed in the forest by the farm. She’s… a handful. Kiran’s here to celebrate, too. I accidentally put us here instead of the plains wing, and now I have to walk us through… this whole place…” She sighed, clearly a bit upset with herself. 

“It’s been a while since you visited here, it’s not your fault. Arkies and I are also here to celebrate. Walk with us?” Wynstone said, nodding towards his companion.

Arkies walked up after they noticed Wynstone beckoning him over, and nodded to the little flames around them. Wynstone looked down, then quickly dispelled the red flames, not wanting to call any extra attention to them now that it was all handled.

“Who’s this?” Lacey asked, looking up at the stranger.

“Lacey, Rosemary, this is Arkies, my mentor. Arkies, this is my friend, Lacey, and apparently her new responsibility, Rosemary.” Wynstone chuckled a bit to himself at the thought, and Arkies squinted fondly at them all.

“Ah. It’s always good to hear from Wynstone about his friends. He told me about you shortly after you met, it’s been a while since he talked about you.” Arkies’s voices were still all very focused and even, talking gently with the same thoughts, even if the younger one seemed a bit excited, chattering like a parakeet, happy to meet more friends of their mentee.

Rosemary was staring up at Arkies with big eyes, staring at the night sky captured within the giant golden ring above Arkies’s head. The stone doe came back close again and was sniffing Rosemary once more, who had gone completely still, and Lacey huffed and began flicking dewdrops at her cheek.

“Wha- ah- hey!” Rosemary pouted and pawed away the last water droplet.

“It’s rude to stare.” Lacey said. “You can simply ask. I doubt Arkies would be mad at answering a question.”

Rosemary pouted, her tail wiggling. “Mr. or Ms. Arkies, is that actually the sky in the giant halo?” She asked, looking up at Arkies with big, hopeful eyes.

“Why yes.” Arkies leaned down, shifting one wooden paw a bit closer so they could do so, and become more eye level with Rosemary. “A lot like Miss Lacey’s water droplets, my sky is an element that I can manifest within this ring. I used to help humans chart skies, stars, and galaxies before I became an esk like you.” The middlest voice spoke, soft and gentle as they explained everything, just like a well-spoken teacher. “Do you like the sky?”

“I do! I like when the moon is big and full, and, and, I like looking at all of the stars and seeing all of the constellations Miss Rachel taught me-” Rosemary began to babble excitedly, and Lacey sighed, knowing that she was lost now.

She did look up at Wynstone though. “... You found a good one.”

“I knew Arkies long before I knew you, Lacey.” Wynstone teased. “They were one of the first esk I met.”

“Oh? You never told me about them.” She questioned, nudging him gently.

Wynstone chuckled. “I didn’t feel the need to bring them up, is all. Or perhaps I forgot. You know, with all the travelling I do, it gets a bit confusing. Sometimes it’s best to leave details out rather than tell the whole story, lest you confuse yourself or others.”

“I understand. It isn’t easy. It’s good to see you.”

“Likewise. Shall we head to the Wellsprings?”

“The journey will be long with this one.” Lacey warned.

“We have a couple days. It’ll be alright.” Wynstone reassured her, looking to Arkies and nodding to head further into the city. He knew how to manage a rambunctious one, and get them to go where he wanted them to. She was too busy climbing up onto Arkies’s shoulders and sticking her head through the sky, anyhow.

The entrance to the garden was hidden but not unseen, especially in the bustling developed wing, where thousands of esk resided and thrived and explored. Nannu’s room was something of a spectacle, especially to the little esk that played like children, reliving their fondest days.

The garden was quiet, for once. Despite there still being plenty of esk exploring this wing of the Conservatory, more still had gone off to the mountain wing in order to play and wish inside the wellsprings, to celebrate the equinox. 

Nary a soul wandered through, except for the room’s owner, a storyteller that the children flocked to in order to play.

The room was an exceptionally normal one. The outer ring was a rock garden with meticulously raked lines through the sand to create swirling patterns. There were various stepping stones throughout so one could tread without ruining the lines, but even if one did, their footprints would slowly disappear after them, the sand seemingly reshaping itself into its master’s image.

The inner circle was a step down from the rock garden, a stone wall making up the ledge. It was a round, green, flourishing garden with rocks and a perfectly circle pond, a tree off the side that hung over the entire pond, the same sort of tree that grew proudly on Nannu’s stone on their back. Blue leaves fluttered down peacefully, and it was quiet in the room.

That is, until Nannu heard the bell ring that a visitor had come through.

Turning back to look at the entrance, there was a tiny little blue esk standing at his door. She squeaked at the sound of the door’s bell, not expecting it to actually chime. Nannu was imposing, she knew that well, and she also knew that she could be a bit grumpy at times - but she had a soft spot for kids. They couldn’t tell you why, they just did. So, on seeing the tiny creature, she drew her water back a little bit, and settled her usually frenzied flowers into a soft float.

“I apologise, I wasn’t expecting any visitors today. It’s close to the Equinox, you know, perhaps you should be going to the Wellsprings as well? I wouldn’t want you to miss out on getting your wish.”

“Well, um, you see, Mister… um… Miss?... That’s actually why I came by-” Maple emboldened herself, holding her head up a bit higher. She was trying to gather her confidence, but she was clearly nervous. She hadn’t moved from where she stood by the door.

Nannu tried not to laugh, knowing that would make it worse. Instead they turned away, letting their water drag delicately along the grasses and the camellias began to settle down into the water.

With her back turned, Maple seemed to gather the courage to walk forward. As she trailed closer, flowers and grass began to sprout up within the rock garden, flourishing in the soft light but disappearing as soon as she passed through, and the sand repaired itself. The flowers didn’t stop even as she walked over the parts that already had grass, and even still the grass seemed to extend up, threatening to swallow the little esk that grew them.

Nannu turned back, trying their best to soften their gaze, but the little one still seemed to shrink back a little. “Well? What is it that you wanted to see me about?” She asked. “Please, anything you’d like to know. I may have an answer for you.”

“I heard you tell stories. Very good ones.” Maple said, and suddenly she produced a small flower, seemingly from nowhere. It was a soft bloom of orange and yellow, with sharp petals and proud leaves. “And all you ask is for a flower.”

Invisible hands grabbed the flower and brought it up for Nannu to inspect it. “Is this your wish, little one?”

“Yes!” Maple said quickly. “I wish to hear one of your stories.”

“I do indeed tell stories to the little ones.” Nannu said, and the flower floated over to the base of the tree. As it drifted close, a myriad of flowers began to take shape, hidden from view before but now on full display. The flower sewed itself into the ground, taking root almost instantly. “But it would depend on what sort of story you’re looking for me to tell you.”

“I-I live in a place full of stories, stories that my creator takes care of. Whenever they are given a new story, they take care of it and nurture it for years to come. I want to give them a new story, and I heard that you have tons! I just wish for one story to give to my creator.”

Nannu considered the little esk’s words carefully, then nodded, and moved to lay down next to the pond. His water stretched out from the loops of rocks it contained itself with in, slowly forming a tail that began to flow into the water, and the magic of the room reacted with its owner. The water began to glow, and images began to float above the surface, and Maple sat, watching with wide eyes.

“Once upon a time, there was an esk. This esk was formed from a giant boulder, carved with his creator’s arrows and drowned in golden honey.” Nannu began, images of a goat-like creature forming up out of the water, and another that was lithe like Nannu, with an open chest that glowed fiercely. “This esk wanted to use him for her own selfish purposes. She lived within a labyrinth with a magic chest in the very centre of it, that was cursed to never be open unless with a cleansing magic that she herself did not possess. One day, while watching over this box, the lock began to show the reflection of the boulder she had carved our hero from, and she took that as a sign to seek the magic and pry it from its resting place to come undo the bonds that locked her from the chest’s contents.”

Maple watched in awe as the two figures melted into a complex maze, walls spiralling out from the middle to form an inescapable hell if one were to be lured inside, a large, glowing chest in the very centre, showing the reflection of the goat-like esk’s likeness, with curled horns and glowing eyes. 

“She didn’t care about the esk she made? She just wanted to use him?” Maple asked, looking up at Nannu. She nodded a bit, the labyrinth melting away again to show the goat-like creature wincing away from a stern looking creator, wings outspread and chest flowing with fire.

“She didn’t care that she had forced life onto something that had once been a mere rock. She simply wanted him to obey her. But he didn’t understand, and he didn’t want to leave, and she had made something from a magic so powerful that she couldn’t force it to leave even if she wanted to. She would have to convince him or drive him out, which she would not be successful at.” Nannu murmured, the image flipping to show the goat standing proudly against a shocked villainous, with two humanoid figures standing nearby, watching.

“Who’re they?” Maple moved around the image to look at the pair, their faces were indistinct but it was clearly a man and a woman.

“Those are our hero’s friends. Our hero loved these two humans dearly, and there came a day where they wandered close to his boundary again while playing by his cliffside, and his cruel creator threatened to hurt them. It was then that our hero gained the courage to stand up to his antagonist, telling her to back down before things got ugly. Our villainous, after months of relentless insults and defamation, finally stands down to her creation, realising her mistake in assuming she could control the powerful magic that could cleanse the curse of her locked box. She disappears from our hero’s life, leaving a broken soul who has only known the kindness of humans who are unaware of his existence.”

“Oh… no, but that’s so sad. No, I- that can’t be the end, right? There has to be more.” Maple said quickly, looking up at Nannu pleadingly, and Nannu chuckled, happy with the fact that all of her nervousness seemed to be gone now.

“Of course there’s more.” Nannu said gently. “Shortly thereafter, the Stars pay a visit to our hero.” The water melded itself slowly into an image of a the goat and a new esk, who had a large halo with a moon cutout within their halo. “The Stars tell our hero about many things, including this place, our Conservatory…”

Nannu’s storytelling went on for the next few hours to the little esk, telling the tale of the goat and his friends, with Maple’s eyes sparkling all the while. It wasn’t until Nannu heard the bell ring again and they glanced up did they pause in telling stories of this goat before that very same esk appeared in their doorway, and if Nannu hadn’t stopped, Maple probably wouldn’t have even noticed the entrance of so many visitors.

“Ah, Wynstone. Fancy seeing you here, I was just talking about you.” Nannu hummed.

Maple turned, and then let out a loud gasp, and suddenly sped off across the garden, startling both Wynstone and Arkies as she came to a skidding stop in front of the both of them, grassed and flowers beginning to sprout up all around her.

“Oh my gosh, you’re the hero from Nannu’s story, you’re the magic carved from the stone-” Maple began to ramble to the ‘goat’ and the ‘stars’, talking excitedly, and as she talked, Wynstone glanced to Lacey, then to Solomon, who they had run into and picked up on the way there. Solomon had come in through the forest wing a few days prior and had been travelling ever since - it was only their slow pace while handling Rosemary that allowed him to catch up to the rest of them.

Wynstone looked at their friend. “Nannu, were you telling my story again?”

“I was. You did give me free licensing to retell it.” Nannu reminded the goat, who sighed and nodded a bit.

“I did, I just wish you’d warn me sometimes…” He said, his eyes shifting to blue as little wisps of light began to gather around him, and streaked off of his eyes. This seemed to calm Maple down significantly, it was a trick that he had used on Rosemary a couple times through their journey through the Conservatory. “Hello. I am the esk in Nannu’s stories. I’m glad you liked them so much.”

“Oh, they were wonderful.” Maple said dreamily, the growth around her little patch slowing now.

“Seems you have a fan, Wynstone.” Solomon teased lightly, and the goat sighed.

“Oh, you have no idea. Nannu loves telling my story to the little ones.” He said. “Something about overcoming darkness?”

“Your story is quite a bit like classic human tales of overcoming the evil within the hearts of others who wish to ruin a happy tale.” Arkies whispered. “It’s a perfect story to tell to small children, who still love the concept of slaying dragons.”

“I suppose you’re right.” Wynstone hummed.

“Wait-” Rosemary gasped, pushing herself under Solomon’s legs to look up at Maple, her eyes sparkling. “You’re a kid too?!”

“... You’re a kid too?!” Maple asked, and the two squealed in delight as Rosemary suddenly squirrelled herself out from under Solomon once more and bolted, and the two began to chase each other around the garden.

Lacey shook her head fondly. “Goodness. She truly never does run out of energy, does she?”

“Seems not.” Solomon sighed.

Wynstone looked up at Nannu from afar, watching him curl his tail up out of the water, the images dropping from the pool as it settled and went still once more. “Did you have fun?”

“Hm? Oh, I suppose.” Nannu said, teasing. “You know how I love to tell stories to the little kids.”

“I do.” He hummed, watching Rosemary make laps around the garden with Maple. “Not many visitors today. Will you be joining us for the Equinox?”

Nannu scrunched up her snout in distaste and shook her head. “You know how I am about crowds, Wynstone. You should know me better.”

“I suppose I should.” Wynstone breathed out a laugh.

“Rose- Rosemary, please calm down.” Lacey sighed and shifted her water to form a glob of a bubble, holding it out in Rosemary’s path as soon as she passed near, catching her.

The rambunctious child nearly flew right through the bubble, but she bounced right back off the outer edge and began to float in the middle, and she let out a bubbly, excited giggle. “Oh, this is so much fun!” She squealed, her voice echoing strangely within the water. “I wish I had a sibling back at home so I could play with them all the time!”

“Maybe in the future.” Lacey sighed. “You’ll have to talk about it with Flicker and Kiran, little one.”

“Oooooh! You’re right! I should ask Kiran for a little sibling!” Rosemary giggled, and Lacey finally dropped Rosemary, who splashed down against the sand and continued to giggle even as Maple came up to make sure she was okay.

“Well… if you’re not coming with us, then we’ll take our leave. It was nice seeing you again, Nannu. Enjoy telling stories to the little one.” Wynstone said, looking down at Maple as one of the bunnies hopped up to greet her, sniffing her curiously as she got flustered as being so close to the hero she had just spent hours listening to tales of.

“It was nice to see you too, Wynstone.”

The Wellsprings was loud and the excitement was palpable as hundreds, if not thousands of esk ran rampant around the Wellsprings. Wynstone had created a ledge for them to sit down on, above all of the chaos, wanting to observe and be a part of the celebration but not wanting to get caught up in the frenzy of the esk playing in the water.

Lacey, Arkies, and Solomon had climbed to join him on the perch. With Wynstone’s glowing lights wrapped around his horns and the glowing lichen blooming across the stones around them, he wasn’t hard to spot and make their way up to.

His golden wisps were dancing around him and a soft golden glow was streaming off of his gaze, bathing the whole of the wellsprings in a wonderful feeling of home.

“Fancy new magic you got there, Wynn.” Lacey said. “When’d you get all that mess?”

“Recently.” Wynstone hummed. “It helps.”

“Were the red and blue ones new too?”

“Yeah. They have their uses - I wasn’t using them to their full extent, I didn’t want anyone malicious coming near Rosemary, just to mark everything so everyone else would keep clear. And the blue ones help calm others down…”

“I see.” Lacey hummed, laying down next to him. 

Solomon drifted to Lacey’s other side. “Neat trick. Helped rangle the little one, anyway. For as long as you could, anyhow. But this is nice. The softer atmosphere. I think it helps with keeping esk from hurting one another on accident.” Solomon remarked, noting how some of the esk were playing gentler than their excitement would tell you.

Arkies came up as well, sitting on Wynstone’s other side, watching the rambunctious celebration going on down below. They all spotted Rosemary amongst the chaos, squealing as she was chased by another esk, laughing loudly as she wove herself in and out of the rock formations to dodge them. She was used to playing in a dense forest, so it was no wonder she was having fun here.

“I thought you said you were meeting Kiran here?” Wynstone asked, looking down at the pond. It was beginning to glow, and the party was ramping up. “It looks like they’re going to miss the show.”

“I don’t know where they are.” Lacey admitted, worried she just wasn’t seeing them in the crowd, though Kiran wasn’t one to want to be in this sort of mess. She found it hard to believe he’d randomly decide to be a part of it all. “I hope nothing happened…”

“Lacey? Solomon? Wynstone?”

The esk in question turned, watching the dark portal close behind the entourage of esk as they filed out of the darkness. One dark esk was resting on Flicker’s head, and a bright green one was resting on Kiran’s. Kiran walked side-by-side with Flicker, while Requiem led them in front, turning and stopping when they’d gotten close to Lacey and Solomon, looking back at the moth and the fox with a bit of pride.

“Wynstone, what are you doing here?” Kiran laughed. “Are you celebrating too? I would have never guessed I’d find you here.”

“It’s good to see you too, Kiran. Good to see you walking around okay.” Wynstone said. “This is Arkies, my mentor. They wanted to show me the celebration. I hadn’t known of it before they told me.” He hummed, nodding back down to the water. “You have quite a few fellows I don’t know.”

“Oh… yes.” Kiran laughed, looking around shyly. “Well… er-”

“It’s nice to see you again, too, Requiem.” Wynstone said, looking up at the mirror. “Kiran reeks of you now.” He teased.

“Ah… you noticed.” Requiem said. “You’ve gotten a better handle on all of those senses of yours.”

Wynstone turned to look back at Kiran again. He shifted shyly and his wings twitched. He couldn’t help but feel like he was being scrutinised, even if it was just a little. Wynstone’s gaze was always… a bit terrifying, honestly. Even if he didn’t mean it to be. “You know my creator.”

“I knew your creator before I knew you. I remember Requiem talking about a ‘little moth’ that they had met. I hadn’t realised that they meant you.”

“Kiran, who is this?...” Flicker asked, confused by the way that he spoke so matter-of-factly, but shimmered so vividly amongst the darkness there in the cave. On top of all of that were the strange vibrations coming off of him and the other esk, the bright tan and yellow one, that gave her conflicting feelings about him. Them.

“Flicker, this is Wynstone and… um, he said your name was Arkies?”

“Yes.” Arkies nodded affirmatively, their sky turning with them as they shifted to talk to their new arrivals. “It’s very nice to meet you, Flicker. Kiran. Wynstone, Lacey, and Solomon have told me much about the two of you in the past couple of hours.”

The two both flushed shyly as the comment and Txi laughed fondly. “New lovebirds, how endearing. It’s nice to meet you, Arkies. I’m Txi, and this is my partner, Darkling.” Txi gestured over to the little dark esk on Flicker’s head, the teal lights in their tail curling happily. “You as well, Lacey. Solomon.” Txi bowed his head slightly in greeting and in respect.

“You’re a rather confident little fellow.” Lacey hummed, looking up at Requiem, who nodded at her unspoken question that he was, indeed, just like that.

“Have to be with my line of work in the rainforest.” Txi said. “Yourself?”

“Farmer.” Lacey hummed. “I raise a pasture to feed the animals that the humans give me to take care of, mostly cows.”

“Admirable. You care for your cows?”

“Immensely.”

“Good.” Txi skittered down Kiran’s leg and then hopped down onto Lacey’s back, watching the play happening down by the water. Both the actual play and what seemed to be some strange recreation of a human theatre production that other esk had moved to clear a space for.

Kiran moved closer to, over to the other side of Arkies, and Flicker followed Kiran just as she always did. Kiran spotted Rosemary in the crowd, and his fur stood on end.

“Lacey? Why is Rosemary here?”

“Ugh.” Lacey rolled her eyes. “She begged me to bring her to the conservatory so she could come see you and come celebrate, too. She wanted to experience her first Equinox alongside you.” Lacey said. “Not that she’s up here, of course. She’s down there playing… it’s fine, I’m glad she’s having fun.”

Kiran calmed down a little, especially as Flicked nudged into him, reassuring him that it was all alright. “Yeah, yeah… me too.” Kiran mumbled distantly, relaxing but still watching her like a hawk, worried over his creation, as always.

The Wellsprings began to glow more and more, and suddenly there was a stillness to the area around as everyone began shushing one another and getting the play to stop.

The water seemed to pulse with life, beating like a heart as the tide pushed and pulled off of the shores, leaving glowing in its wake. It rose and rose, filling up the wondrous cavern like a basin, and several esk began to giggle and squeal in delight as they began treading water, floating up with the tide. 

The actual basin of the wellsprings began to glow, and then suddenly all of the water burst apart into sparks of light, shattering into glitter as the esk seemed to freeze mid-air, then fall back to the ground, or back into the water depending on where they had stopped.

The glowing slowly subsided, and the water was back to a gentle trickle, the pond was normal sized… ish, for the Conservatory.

The celebration then went back louder than ever before as people squealed and gathered up the falling sparkles of glitter dripping from the sky all around them. 

A shard of light fluttered down in front of Rosemary, and Kiran perked up as she watched pause, sniff it, then push her muzzle into it, letting it meld with her.

Kiran relaxed when nothing happened, worried for a moment, but looked to Flicker and felt his worries rush away as she pushed her muzzle into his shoulder.

“... Happy Equinox, Flicker.”

“Happy Equinox, Kiran.”