Hidden in the lush, emerald labyrinth encircling the Fountain, four figures prowled the ceremony's edge, senses alert for the slightest threat.
A woman slipped through shadows, her dark hair streaming behind. Beside her, a burly figure in a misty cloak scanned the forest intently.
They stood like guardians at the cliff's edge. The man leaned in and whispered.
"Happy Fountain Day," he said. "Ms. Drimi."
The slender, woman-shaped figure faced the speaker. Drimi pressed her finger to her mask, signaling for silence, then hugged herself, muttering instructions while scanning the forest for threats.
"Stop with your yammering and happening. Remember Narcissa's orders."
Sunlight crept through treetops, slowly dissolving shadows and outlining their silhouettes.
Green eyes gleamed. His dark, braided hair caught the light. His brown cloak billowed in the wind. Hood down, he stared at the Fountain, intense and silent.
"Fountain Day is for the people. Someday, they'll see its meaning," he said.
With memories of the three-day loop fading, Belial glanced at the others, resolved to speak up.
"Have we met them before?"
As the last echoes of the ceremony faded, a sense of transition lingered in the air. In the quiet that followed, the wanderers gathered their belongings, prepared for the journey ahead, and set their sights toward the Fountain.
Soon after departing, their journey reached its destination. Akwan's carriage rolled to a halt near the Fountain. Clover remained nestled inside, quiet and observant. Asahi and Aletha stepped outside together.
Cautiously, they set foot on the grassy trail and exchanged anxious glances. Their steps sank into the earth. Surveying the area, they listened. Leaves crackled underfoot, releasing a rich, earthy fragrance into the breeze.
The island was edged by beaches hurling sand against jagged cliffs. Water sparkled, pure as spring, splashing crystal teal and cyan across the landscape. A vibrant crowd sprawled before them.
Just as in the city, Asahi and Aletha noticed something peculiar—no one, not even the most elderly, possessed hair as white as the wanderers'. The fountain's surface looked shiny and smooth, silver lights and twisting vines revealing its age.
Crisp air heightened the scene. It crafted a moment to savor.
"The Fountain is beautiful once you see it from up close," Akwan said as they took a vivid look. "People from all over the world take their time to visit Pladtioa just for Fountain Day."
"Really?"
"Why else come here? Didn't I tell you?" Akwan snapped. Aletha flushed and slapped his hand away.
"Hey!" She screamed with a pouty face. "I am NOT stupid."
"Doubt it," Asahi replied, folding his arms.
As they left the bustling crowd behind, the mood of the day changed. With the peaceful celebration fading into the background, they faced a new challenge: the wild fields around the Fountain awaited them.
They ran across the grassy field, their hearts pounding. At the base of the Fountain, a deep chasm opened up, surrounded by thick clouds. The Fountain shone above a blue sea, with waterfalls pouring down to feed the streams and lakes below.
Asahi squinted at the Fountain, studying its surface, while Aletha looked around. Her long white hair followed her as she turned to take in the view.
Above her, the sun beat down, shining harshly on her head.
Aletha quietly commented on what she saw, watching the grass move as the wind passed by.
"Wow! So pretty!" After glancing at the map, Asahi muttered,
"Yes, it's beautiful. This is nothing like my map," he said, crumpling it and tossing it in the water.
"The Great Fountain was built to end war," he said. "They say Rulers from Above and Below clashed here. Beneath lies the grand void. Above—no mortal can see it." His voice softened. "The most enthralling legend is its origin. The Fountain was shaped from the Rulers' tears, shed for humanity's endless conflict during the War of the Wish..."
Akwan paused, drawing in a breath as he gazed at the spectacle before them. The Grand Fountain's mysteries stirred questions about their lost world and the fate of their family.
As he lingered, Akwan's unrest grew. Shifts in the area's sounds drew his focus from the Fountain to the forest.
Metal boots clanged through the forest, colliding with the rustle of hurried belongings. It left them wondering: who pursued so closely?
As the footsteps drew nearer, realization dawned: the knights of Narcissa were on their trail. Akwan's dark blue eyes darted, scanning for escape routes as he urgently ushered the wanderers out of sight.
"Asahi," He said with a desperate, nudging tone. "Aletha,"
"What?" they whispered together.
"Run," he said, pushing them toward The Great Fountain as he blocked the guards.
"HEY!" A knight said as they unsheathed their blades. "Stop them!"
Asahi and Aletha raced in the direction Akwan indicated. Beside the Great Fountain stood a podium and a green board. If they could just reach it, safety would await them.
But getting to safety was never simple.
Asahi tried to use his positioning skills as he had before. Instead of just shifting from place to place, he now needed to figure out a way for both of them to hide.
(We could go to the bushes…")
But then he recollected the swords.
With just one swing, they would kill the bush.
Remembering a previous failed attempt at hiding in a bush, Asahi decided not to trust that method again because the knights' swords had easily exposed their last hiding spot.
So they moved on to plan B.
"Let's try the shore," Aletha mumbled.
The shorelines cut deep into the rock, making them ideal hiding places.
They thought about trying that, but realized the waves might pull them in.
They didn't want to swim again. Remembering how they were pulled under before still made them uneasy.
Choosing plan C, they quickly moved to the bottom of the podium. Aletha and Asahi crouched down and squeezed into the narrow space beneath it, aware they were only partly concealed. Both concentrated on making themselves as small as possible, focusing on hiding while listening for any sign of pursuit.
After ducking behind a rock to stay out of sight, Asahi and Aletha sprinted to the base of the podium, trying to avoid being seen by the knights above. Their feet barely touched the ground as they hurried. When they saw an opening near the podium, they each summoned a small glow of magical energy to guide their steps as they slipped quietly into the shadows beneath it.
"We did it!" Aletha started, but Asahi quickly covered her mouth as heavy footsteps approached.
As the clanging of metal faded, Asahi and Aletha wiped sweat from their brows. Relief surged through them. For a moment, safety seemed real.
A shadow fell over them as they crawled further under the podium's wooden ceiling. Surrounded by darkness, both continued moving ahead on hands and knees, nervous and sweating as they listened for any sound from outside.
It didn't make sense for the space under the podium to be this big, but they found themselves lost in the darkness.
"Bro," she whispered. "Are we lost?"
Although the sun may have shone on the crevices, they realized that above their heads wasn't entirely wood. Instead, the ceiling above them did not belong to the bottom of the podium.
It belonged to the bottom of the…
"The FOUNTAIN?!" they shouted.
Under the Fountain, a stone corridor seemed to go on forever, with darkness all around.
As they pressed forward through the corridor, Asahi suddenly realized that the stone ceiling above them was actually part of a giant ancient castle structure, not the earth as he had originally thought. Confused by how the hidden passage kept extending, he mumbled to himself, trying to make sense of their route.
"I could have sworn we went the right direction…"
Even here, the clash of metal boots echoed down the stone floor. Asahi and Aletha exchanged baffled looks—why would a knight follow them so deep? Their eyes widened as a shadow approached, marked by long teal-green hair, pale skin, and an aura that seemed to wrap around him.
"Stop thyself!" He said as a green luminance coiled around him. "State thy presence."
"The Adtraic!" they yelled.
"Adtraic?" The man muttered, slowly lowering his blade. The mysterious atmosphere faded, giving way to clarity. Asahi and Aletha prepared their blades, having heard these final words. "I haven't heard that name in the last thousand years."
The man stood before them in enigmatic armor, teal-green hair framing brilliant blue eyes. An ornate eyepiece hugged his left eye, and he radiated an imperious beauty as he spoke plainly.
"Never would I have expected... to see white-haired wanderers travel this far down."