Rising Shards

I was immediately on a train. No theater this time either, which I was more than fine with. The train pulled to a a stop, and then we were on a beach, changing as rapidly as a dream changes from like my bedroom to school to the dentist. It looked just like it had the night Jeans took me to see it, a place of natural beauty like Sky Clay’s beach. I felt almost like I did when I saw Rising Shards for the first time.

I couldn’t shake a queasy feeling. Even the sand felt different under my shoes. Rising Shards felt so much more welcoming than this place.

“Where’s the school?” I asked.

I looked around, not seeing it. Outside of the station, the island looked empty.

“The jumping around is really a pain,” Kalei said. “Oh, that’s why it’s called jump fifteen then!”

“Is this the right place?” I asked.

Oka nodded. A teacher came up behind us with a floating cart.

“Another one arrived,” The teacher said, gesturing for us to follow.

The teacher showed us the way to a gravel road with jagged rocks bordering it.

“They’re supposed to be Cani fangs,” Oka said.

“How charming,” Kalei said.

As we walked, we came past a bunch of construction workers, who the teacher introduced herself to. Oka kept drawing circles on her palm.

“Can I do anything to help?” I asked.

“Just stay close to me, please,” Oka said.

I didn’t know what else I could do, but I was glad Oka asked. I didn’t want to be too far away from her either. Oka grabbed my hand more tightly.

“That’s it?” I asked. “That’s a school?”

We had stopped at what looked like a pathetic shed bought from a megastore that had aged thirty years. Poorly. Vines and other trees grew all around it.

“Yup, this is Tesata Elementary in all its…glory,” Oka said.

“Where did they leave them this time, Maestro?” A man said from behind us that would have made me topple over if I wasn’t holding on to Oka. There was another man behind us that the teacher had apparently really been speaking to. The man was tall and gruff looking, with long grey and black hair and a scraggly beard. He wore a trench coat. One of his eyes looked completely dark. I thought it was a fake eye at first, but he blinked, and the darkness inside of it swirled around like octopus ink.

The teacher gestured to a small crib. A crying baby tossed and turned inside it.

“That’s you,” I said.

Oka nodded.

“And she has her fangs already?” The man asked.

“Zeta, Kalei, no matter what you see—” Oka said before vanishing.

“Was mine like this?” Kalei said. “I’m gonna be honest, I’m quite unsettled by this.”

“A bit,” I said.

“Cute story, right?” Oka asked. Her voice echoed around us. “Too bad it’s all lies.”

“O-Oka…?” I asked. “Void Oka, I mean? Or, what do you mean?”

“The real Oka has no idea how she ended up at that festering stinkhole known as Tesata Elementary. Why would a baby know that?”

“That’s true,” Kalei said. “Not-Oka makes a good point there.”

“And even then, there are some gaps in the story she told you, right?” Void Oka said.

“Like…what?” I asked.

“Then you’re in for a real treat, Zeta Faleur.”

“Hey, you know I’m here too.” Kalei said.

“Oh, I’m very aware,” Void Oka said. “But what’s in the school won’t hurt you.”

A queasy feeling returned.

“It’s probably some weird crap that won’t make any sense,” Kalei said. “No reason to make yourself sick with worry just yet.”

Three steel doors appeared in front of us.

“These are the doors that hold that which wears on Oka Ohri’s heart,” Void Oka said. “But they won’t open without you.”

“And you guys say I bad grammar,” Kalei said.

“You do, on purpose,” I said. “And what do you mean, Oka?”

During the first two temple visions I was a part of, the only involvement was just to watch. In Kalei’s, Oka and I didn’t do anything until the end. In Oka’s, she only reached me at the end.

“Well, are we gonna open these doors, or are we gonna stand here like idiots?” Kalei said. “Let’s get this done.”

“Right,” I said.

“So…which one do we go into first?” Kalei asked. “We have a lot of door related things in the void, don’t we?”

The three doors weren’t like the ones in the temple. They looked like big slabs of metal just placed randomly in front of Oka’s school. They each had a label on them.

“’Tesata and Teacher’,” I read on the first door. “Then it’s ‘Caelum and Kilander’, then ‘The Door that Oka Ohri Never Wishes to Be Opened.’”

Kalei went to the third door and tried to open it.

“Hey! Kalei!” I said.

“What? You know the best stuff is gonna be behind this one.”

Kalei pushed on the door, but nothing happened. “What gives?” She asked.

“Only Zeta can open that door,” Void Oka said. "If she really wants to."

“OK Zeta, open this door,” Kalei said.

“I don’t know,” I said.

“The only way we’re gonna get through this is to open these doors, probably. So why not get the big one over with?”

“Maybe they’re all big?” I said. I went to the Tesata door and opened that.

“You’re no fun,” Kalei said.

I shrugged. If the third door was the one Oka was worried the most about, I didn’t really want to open it at all.

“An intriguing choice,” Void Oka said. “Welcome, my friends, to the lovely school of Tesata!”