The Rift's Divide

Seren's old magical carriage landed into the fields with a squeaky bump, and an orange pouflon with a red cape flashed out of it. She was running at her top speed, sweat flying from her face, towards the darkened town of GoldFair. Fire, red, and black goop stained all parts of the previously peaceful farms. Unholy critters colored red and black flitted about the skies, and tracks of fleeing citizens were stamped all over the ground.

Aiza, the running pouflon, was glancing around frantically. Searching for a good friend, an old caretaker of hers back in the day. She had promised them she'd come visit him again when she was a fledged mage… But this was not the visit she had in mind. No, far from it...

"Uncle Klein! Where are you?!" She yelled as she leapt over rubble.

Claw marks raked the houses and ground… And a large trail of black goop snaked through the entire town…

No sign of anyone…

She made it to the orange barn and farm where she spent her childhood in and blasted through every room, panic setting in. No one here either.

A cloud of darkness began to coat over the pouflon. She exited Klein's farm and kept running.

Her steps became heavier and heavier… Then, she saw it again.

In the distance, a large black and red beast craned over a small, mustached, brown ursuki with a pitchfork.

"Uncle Klein!!!" She called.

The lass attempted to run towards them, but the two figures seemed to incoherently move farther and farther away. Her legs felt hot, and as if boulders were tied to them, slowing her down.

Then, she saw the beast swipe the farmer away.

No! Not again! She thought.

The brown ursuki, with his mustache, became consumed by the substance immediately, eyes becoming red.  Klein, now moving strangely and covered in the black tar, gave her one look. 

He was no longer the kindhearted ursuki that helped raise her. The look he gave was not one of love and welcoming, but instead wild and unhinged. Aiza could feel the gaze grasp her heart and squeeze it.

Klein then bound away into the darkness of Goldfair, disappearing into the red sky and clouds.

"Nooo!!!" Aiza screamed. Her vision became heavy, and once again her mind plunged into darkness. 

 

---

 

The orange pouf woke up in a cold sweat. She hyperventilated for a few seconds before recognizing the shiny shells in the ceiling…. She was still in Aequor.

Sighing in relief, she collected herself. That was another nightmare. The same real memory of the events that happened in Goldfair a month ago… ever since that day, she began to have these recurring dreams.

If only they were dreams… They felt more like the same memory was replayed over and over again.

She sighed again, looking around the barrack they were staying in. Many of the net hammocks were empty, despite it being the early wee hours of the morning. Next to her, was Seren. Who slept on a large kelp stack since she was too large to fit in one of the net beds. 

The vespire cracked open an eye, sensing Aiza. "Bad dream again?" She croaked.

"Yeah… I couldn't help him. Again.", Aiza grit her teeth, pounding her hooves down angrily.

"Dammit! We've been here a week now… I feel I should be out there trying to find Uncle Klein!"

Seren rose, her black fur blocked the dim light that filtered  through the porthole window. "He could be anywhere. It's pointless. For now all we can do is aid the situation here in Aequor. Come on, it's time to head on over to the castle plaza for today's tasks.", She stated.

Aiza gave a frustrated puff. She knew that. But still, she felt useless about not being able to help Klein. The dreams continued to remind her of that… And she wanted the nightmare of the world to just end. And for Uncle Klein to come back. 

But for now.. 

The pouf got out of her net bed, and stared longingly at the red mantle Klein had given her. 

Klein… wherever you are, please be safe, She thought. 

 

---

 

At the plaza, it was a busy sight. Sea dust rose as merpoufs were busily hauling around supplies and weapons. Boxes and heaps of items bunched around every corner, and the prominent bubble fountain was hidden away by a small command tent that was set up by the royal Aequoreans. Princess Naia was inside it, carving letters at her makeshift box desk, netting covering half of the thing.

She looked busy, and a group of able poufs were floating around in front of the command tent.

The princess promptly finished and then rose above the crowd, holding a stone ledger.

"Thank you for gathering here early this morning. As you all know, the last carriage came into the city walls yesterday, marking all evacuations of Aequor to the capital successful." She spoke. The large crowd cheered.

"Following that, a giant quake occurred, and almost tore Aequor in half… but we too have successfully averted it." She continued. "Now, today, we must continue to stabilize the rift so that no further quakes will tear our nation apart." 

A murmur of agreements passed over the crowd.

"To any who are magically inclined, please speak to the foreman at the rift site." The princess looked briefly at her ledger. "To anyone else, speak to the Division General at the castle gates."

A claw from an ursuki rose in the back. "Princess, may I ask, who can go into the rifts?" 

"We advise against anyone going in currently. Too much is unknown. For now, we are piling supplies for the first team to go in." The princess responded swiftly.

The group was dismissed, and Aiza swam over to Seren. 

 

"Soooo. I'm going to go help out at the rifts. Maybe I'll even go sneak a peek into it!" Aiza chided.

"Don't even think about it." The vespire growled, glaring at her. "You could be walking into danger. Promise me you won't jump in head first…. It would be troublesome."

The orange pouf shrugged, "Fine, fine seesh. Geez, you've got no sense of adventure right now!"

"You've never been that close to the rift. Trust me, it's dangerous." Seren flashed a serious yet grumpy look. It was true, the vespire had done some intensive research on the sky crack when the Mage's Order called for any abled mages to come and investigate.

Aiza definitely wasn't there for that, and was instead at the time helping the recovery in Chrysanthos after the beast incident.

"Okay okay, warning heard." Aiza replied, bouncing off towards the rift site, leaving the vespire sighing. The older vespire had a feeling the pouf didn't take the warning seriously… But she too went on her way towards the medical tent, to work on investigating healing potions for the rest. She knew she couldn't always keep an eye on the pouf, even when Aiza was a bloom.

 

---

 

The rift site was around mid-city, just a ways off from the castle. Currents of heat billowed from the scar in the volcano, and could be seen from all corners of the city. 

A temple was erected atop the scar, a quick and impressive feat by the Aequoreans… It was a monumental black stoned building that sat over the entire rift and covered it, though it didn't stop the heated current from seeping into the ocean.

Aiza was impressed by how fast the Aequoreans built it. Perhaps it was the fact they had mastered stone masonry and architectural magic…? She would have to look into that. Or ask Seren, who apparently consumed a monster's worth of Aequorean knowledge to bring back to the surface… to sell to librarians. She shuddered. What a frightening thought.

The pouf spotted the foreman with a bright yellow shelled hat, and swiftly went to talk to them.

The foreman repeated the same task to her as he did to many who came to him… 

They needed help placing enchanted stone runes at specific points in and around the temple to help stabilize the rift.

The foreman explained that the runes had a simple earth magic spell in them that softened quakes. One of them was not powerful on its own, but when they chain together at a certain distance, they could be a nation saving spell. Aiza found the stones extremely fascinating.

She put a pin into her brain on the subject of enchanting items. That could be useful to use sometime!

 

After the explanation, Aiza grabbed a bag full of enchanted stones and swam towards the temple housing the rift.

She waved and bowed to the guards stationed outside it, before going further in. Because the inside of the temple had oxygen and was waterless save for the long pond in the center of the corridor, Aiza was able to lose her mertail and regain her legs. She was relieved to be able to walk again, almost stumbling from the change in motor-motion. As she went forward, her steps echoed around her.

It was a large place. The ceiling towered way above, casting an ambient shadow from its vastness, and it was so dark that sea lamps were floating around, chained to walls.

Unlike the castle and the buildings in the city, which had pretty shells and carvings in the walls, this temple was a cold fortress, bearing no artistry but just thick, hard stone.

This made Aiza slightly uneasy as she continued. It really felt like a prison…

As she neared the rift down the enormous corridor, she felt the temperature rise, and… something else.

There was a slight tugging sensation coming from up ahead. She squinted. A reddish glow was coloring the air, and lighting the darkness. 

There it was.

The rift...