A small pyramid of meatballs sat on a plate, obediently awaiting their fate of being munched on by the Lamenter of Sorrowful Partings. One might say that it was those meatballs' honour to be eaten by a Named tetra-folder, although Dia would just call anyone who said those words a blithering buffoon.
Those meatballs should be positively begging to be eaten by her aunt.
"Alright, Celestia." Aunt Lumine popped a meatball in her mouth and chewed on it. "So…the Celestia Ruins currently hovering above Lostfon is just a small piece of the real deal. Beyond this world, this…dimension—"
"Dimension?" Dia asked. "Like Dimensional Anchor?"
"Uh…right, we're starting from there." The Lamenter of Sorrowful Partings leaned on her chair's back. "Wow. Where do I start? Okay, do you know the geography of this world?"
"There's Grandis, Nihal and Lacheln, separated by a huge ocean," said Dia.
"That's about correct, yes." She picked up a meatball and pointed at it. "The three continents are approximately here, here and here on the planet. Got that so far?"
Dia blinked at the meatball. "Huh?"
"What are you all confused for?" Aunt Lumine asked. "Oh, I see. Yes, the world we live on is shaped like a ball. You just didn't know that bit. Not many do, but again, not many actually seek to question these issues."
"…If this was common knowledge, shouldn't people know more about it?" Dia asked. Those words felt a bit surreal. The world was a ball? But when she thought about it, the Moons were in the shape of a ball too. There had to be something in common for them to be in a ball-like shape.
"People rarely ask the correct questions, my little Dia." She chuckled. "And most people would snort in disbelief if someone were to tell them that everyone lived on a ball of earth and water. Anyway, a dimension is…well, consider a tank of water and a meatball floating in it. That's a dimension. Celestia…these fragments of Celestia came from an adjacent tank of water."
Dia rubbed her head. It wasn't hard to visualise it, and before long, she was already nodding her head. "Still, how did a meatball move from one tank of water to another?"
"That's a mystery for the Coloured Gods," said her aunt. "And it wasn't a whole meatball that arrived in our tank of water. It was tiny shreds of meat. One of them happened to float above Grandis. That's all."
Picking up a meatball with a fork, Dia glanced at it. "Can something like that happen to us too? The meatball that's…torn into shreds and scattered over many different tanks of water. Is that possible?"
"For us?" The Lamenter of Sorrowful Partings sighed, and a profound air of sorrow whirled around her. "Believe me. I really want to say no. I really do. But Celestia is a ruined meatball. Maybe it's even a broken tank of water, and what we see are just shards. I'm sorry, child. Maybe it's too early for me to say these things."
Dia looked down. "No, it wasn't. Just that I think we should prepare for this."
"Prepare for?"
"If something tries to tear our meatball into pieces," Dia replied. "We at least need to fight back, right?"
"Dear sweet child…that's not something the two of us are qualified to say," said Lumine. "Leave that to the Coloured Gods and the Moons. And besides, it's just a hypothetical issue. I don't think meatballs are shredded this easily or on a regular basis, after all. You just need to live with the knowledge that reality as we know it may end at any time."
Poking a little meatball, Dia let out a puff of air. "I guess that's the only way, really."
"I'm glad you understand. Anyway, the Celestia Ruins that are floating above Lostfon is just a fragment of the real thing. It's full of treasures and things from another dimension, but at the same time, we're somewhat limited inside. The most egregious example is how our status seems to malfunction there."
"Malfunction there?" Dia replied. "But the status is a creation of a Primordial God…"
"Lyceris has been dead for a very long time, reduced to innumerable shadows that operate her last legacy," Aunt Lumine replied. "There's not much power left to do anything else."
"Yikes."
"Which is why Named mana-users and the Eyes of Grandis are sent there instead. They're the most confident of the bunch, after all," said Lumine. "The gains are great and many treasures can be found there, but there are also many dangers lurking inside."
"What are the others?"
"Well, you get monsters and echoes of the dead attacking you, for starters. There are also rips in space that would suck you in and spit you out somewhere else. Weird traps. All kinds of traps. There's also this grey border that appears in places. If you step through that border, you'll cease to exist."
"Cease to exist?" Dia gulped. "What does it look like?"
"Well, you'll recognise it immediately. It would seem like the air in front has a tint of grey, and you can feel some resistance upon approaching it. Don't fight that resistance; it's a warning for you to not cross over, since you'll never come back." She picked up a meatball with her fingers. "This makes Celestia a prime place for betrayals, since simply pushing someone across the border is a foolproof way of killing them."
"Killing?"
"Well, I presume that everyone that stepped across it is dead. Considering how no one has claimed to return from the other side, I don't think it's a far-fetched presumption," Lumine explained. "Anyway, why are you suddenly so interested in Celestia? Do you want to visit it?"
"The great Dark is descending," said Dia. "Farah has a point in saying that we should check the place out. There might be some unparalleled treasure in its depths or something. Would be useful."
"True."
"And besides," said Dia, "someone from Lostfon got really lucky with their explorations. Found recipes for an amazing drink there and got rich off it. Farah needs the money, so…"
"Just give her some of yours, then. I'm quite sure you had some platinum stored away when you fled," said Aunt Lumine.
Dia twitched.
"You spent them all? On what? Some great weapon?"
"Experiential Potions and some artefacts," Dia replied. "Someone from the Profiteers was selling Experiential Potions to me, since I wanted to learn the ways of a thief and a bounty hunter."
"To track down Tot." The Lamenter of Sorrowful Partings kneaded her head. "A platinum can go a long way, and you decided to buy some dodgy potion with it. Wow. Well, at least it's actually effective, if you managed to fool a lookalike…okay, fine. What artefacts did you buy?"
"I brought a Band of Duplicity," Dia replied.
"Good choice. Alright, you weren't wasting your money after all. Good for you." She patted Dia's head with her clean hand. "In that case, yes, I think treasure hunting in Celestia's probably the best way to go. Although you and your companions have a steady source of resources, it's never wrong to get more, especially when it comes to chances and opportunities."
Dia nodded.
"Well then, I suppose I can help you out a bit here. Most people have heard of the Celestia Ruins, but to enter it requires some luck. You'd need to enter the Marsh of Remembrance and find a floating red rectangle and step through it. If you're lucky, it'd bring you into the ruins, but if you're not, you'd end up somewhere deep inside the marsh. You'll have to keep trying, but some people just never get inside," said Aunt Lumine. "Alternatively, if you can fly, you can make your way there yourself."
"Fly, huh."
"Yeah. Flying artefacts are really rare, and the Flight skill…yeah, let's not talk about it. You'd need to be insane to learn that one." The Lamenter of Sorrowful Partings popped the last meatball into her mouth. "As usual, be careful, never trust anyone, and make sure that you're well-prepared. You're not a tetra-folder, and we can't access the status there, so make sure to bring a huge bag. You'll need it."
"What does being a tetra-folder have anything to do with a huge bag?" Dia asked.
"Oh, you'll understand in time. Anyway, remember to prepare well," said her aunt. "The Celestia Ruins are dangerous for many reasons. It's a lot bigger than I made it out to be, since I was calling it a fragment, but it's essentially the size of a city. To make matters worse, things shift in and out of existence there, and things randomly appear. That's why there are so many treasures to be found there, despite decades' worth of explorations."
Dia noted that bit down in her mind.
"Well, if you want to play it safe, you can just explore the Marsh of Remembrance. Things fall out from Celestia every so often, even important treasures. If you're lucky, you could literally pick some great tool off the ground."
Her aunt chuckled. "That's all for the little explanation."
"Thanks, aunt."
"No problem. I'm going back to my meatballs now. Have to prepare for the next few days, after all."
Nodding, Dia took the hint and left the kitchen. There wasn't much to do for today, but the same couldn't be said for tomorrow…