Chapter Thirty
"Kavin."
"Yeah?"
"What do you wanna do today?"
"Hmm. Wanna go see what the sparklies are up to?"
Kashin's tail twirled around curiously as he pondered the thought.
"Yeah, I guess we could."
The sparklies were what the kids had taken to calling the denizens of the Abyss. It was because to them, these people were walking shows of light. The two had gotten up from their bunks in the room that they, and the rest of the other beast children, had been sleeping in since they had arrived in the abyss. They were not quick in their preparations, but all their movements mirrored each other so perfectly that they left little room for laziness or inefficiency. One could say It speaks to the special connections that twins are supposed to have with one another. Another take though could be that their proficiency was as a result of the time they spent traveling with nobody but themselves to take care of each other.
Regardless, the two left out in the dead silence of the early morning. None of the others even had so much as an inkling that the two of them had departed as they slept soundly.
Kashin took the lead, briskly walking their way out of the tower's study in less than a minute. Going down the tower, the two dodged countless sparkling ones who were either idly talking with one another or posted as guards for the various laboratories that the tower held.
"What do you think are in those rooms Kashin?"
Kashin looked over his shoulder as they passed another room quietly and then back ahead of himself. His face was one that showed a clear respect for the privacy of the denizens of the abyss.
"Whatever it may be, it's best if we do not pry."
The two nodded simultaneously.
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"Hah… Hah… Hah… This tower is… waaaay too big!"
The two boys said in unison as they panted at its foot. Kavin slouched down into the ground, laying on his back. His eyes wandered from the base of the spire all the way up to the top of the tower, where they had come from. He chuckled as, after a certain point, he could not actually see the top of the tower. It was covered by thick cumulonimbus cloud aggregates spanning as far as the eye could see. Kashin knelt down and held his hand out to his brother. Kavin wiped his brow and took his brother's hand. The two pulled each other back up onto their feet.
"Alright, well that's the first obstacle down. Now all that's left is to explore!" Kavin said with enthusiastic vigor. Kashin nodded with closed eyes as he pondered where exactly they wanted to go. From the top of the tower and the midsection, they could see so much of this wondrous place, but now that they were at the bottom everything seemed strange. The walkways were strewn about in no coherent manner and there were tons of little paths that lead to completely different places.
"It's almost like a labyrinth from those old books that we saw in the land of the Sylphs. All windy and crazy looking." Kashin remarked as he started down one of the marble pathways.
"You know, you're right! This honestly may well be the most interesting place we've been to so far!" Kavin declared as he followed closely behind his brother.
For a time, they walked in silence, simply observing the world around them. This place truly made no sense to their conventional understandings of the laws of reality. Floating items, upside-down rooms where gravity seemingly reversed itself, and outright celestial vistas compressed into small tunnels that made it seem as if one were walking through the stars themselves. Of course, along the way, they saw many equally interesting people too. Singers, painters, writers, academics, and warriors all with utterly unique appearances and aesthetics, as if they were from different periods of time.
And in one such person, they found that they couldn't help but want to talk with. They walked off the neutral marble path and into this person's space with little warning, though it seems that the resident paid little mind. They just continued to focus their eyes on a sparkling slab in front of them. Both Kavin and Kashin split from one another, looking eagerly at the marvelous displays before them. Humanoid sculptures from various different types of gems and other rocks seemingly went on endlessly as the hallway expanded at the demand of the viewer's interest.
"They're all so beautiful," Kavin said as his eyes sparkled in awe.
"Of course they are, I am not known as Fionn the perfect without reason."
Kavin turned his head to the sound of the voice. It was the person who had been standing by the slab when they had entered. The strange thing was that it was not actually the person standing in front of the slab but rather one of the sculptures adjacent to them. Their form was a jade curvaceousness that exemplified the innate beauty of the humanoid body, though its face and chest were seemingly left unfinished.
"Welcome to my soul's emporium, fleshlings. Feel free to admire the infinite possibilities on display for you here."
The Jade creature grew still on the plinth following the conclusion of its dialogue. Without warning, another sculpture began to move elsewhere in the room, doing whatever tasks it was doing. The two brothers gradually linked up to one another again after taking thorough views of the many and varied sculptures that they could see. Together they made their way to what seemed to be a desk that was shuffled off to the side by the entrance where one of the sparkling people sat.
"Hello!" Kashin said excitedly. Looking in from the outside, it would only take a glance to see his eagerness to learn about this place practically radiating from him.
The sparkling one's eyes shifted up from whatever manner of article they were reading to the young Kashin's face, taking in the sight with what all others would identify as someone who was bemused.
They opened their mouth and spoke to the young lad, but like much of this strange and wondrous place, something other than what would normally be expected happened.
The beings' voice came from right next to the boy instead of from where the person's body was.
"Looks like two children have stumbled into my workshop." Its voice said in no particular manner, betraying the expression it held on its face.
"This is amazing! The sculptures can talk!" Kashin exclaimed with that youthful wonder lingering in his eyes. Naturally, he came to the conclusion that this sparkling one was the owner of said space, so he was surprised when the sparkling someone spoke again.
"Those are all my failed creations. They have a faux personality based on a great historical figure from the ballads. Believe you me, they are nothing special at all."
The Sparkling someone lazily returned their eyes back to the previous subject of their attention.
Though not at all deflated, Kashin's face grew calmer at the sparkling one's response, as if in an attempt to not agitate a clearly sore memory.
"Hoh. Still, I'll remember this as long as I live."
Kashin said as he looked back over his shoulder and back at the gallery, which was now filled with an entirely different set of sculptures.
This comment caused the sparkling ones shoulders to rise in what one could only recognize as a faithful recreation of the organic inhalation of breath.
"Will you? I suppose that is something."
Kashin chuckled a bit at the scenario he saw himself in. Whilst still looking onward he pulled out a small notebook from his pocket and turned it to a fresh page.
"You don't mind if I record this, do you?" He asked politely as his other hand rummaged around his pocket for a writing utensil.
"Is that a journal? No, I don't mind at all then."
Picking up on the question, Kashin decided to ask one of his own out of curiosity.
"Would it have been if it had been elsewise?"
The sparkling someone nodded. This affirmed Kashin's line of thought.
"I don't want to have such creations be publicly associated with me is all. My talent is more than these failures of mine would show. I just need more time.
Done fishing out the utensil from his pocket, Kashin started writing in his journal. This whole scenario was something straight out of a fantasy. Even the "Failed artist". If anyone with any semblance of sanity could consider this display as such. Still, he wanted to know more.
"So you've been working on these sculptures for a while now?"
The sparkling one shook their head.
"The sculptures as you say are simply the bi-product of my attempts."
"Attempts? So you're actually trying to make something else?"
The sparkling someone side-eyed Kashin from their casual position.
"You're asking a lot of questions."
Kashin stopped writing in his notebook for a second, returning his gaze to meet the Sparkling ones. The two stared at each other for only a few seconds before Kavin's voice cut through the silence.
"That was AMAZING! You're amazing Mister!"
Kavin ran up and around the desk, patting them on the shoulder.
"Mister? My name is not Mister. Shining Red Ocerion Blade Felling Star. That is my name.
The two brothers looked at each other a moment before Kashin jotted something down in his notebook, presumably the Sparkling ones name.
"That is one really long name err…"
"You may simply call me Felling Star."
"Alright, Felling Star it is! Does your name have some special meaning?"
"Special? I don't know about special, but I suppose It does have meaning."
The two brothers unconsciously moved closer to Felling star, causing them to uncomfortably shift around in his chair. They did not like the sudden feeling of claustrophobia that had strung over them as a result of the kids' keen interest. Felling Star put down the previous article of their attention and sprung up from their chair, holding both of their arms out to keep the children from breaching their space. Their hands were like stone walls to the brothers, proving to give pause to the twins' uncouth advance.
"Don't get so close to me. It makes me uncomfortable."
The two quickly backed off, giving Felling Star back the space that they had encroached on. Kavin pocketed his hands, leaning on the side of the desk. Kashin did the same, though his hands were still ready and raring to write in his journal.
The three shared glances with one another for a short while till Felling Star lowered his hands, presumably returning to the semi-neutral atmosphere of before. Feeling that shift, Kashin went ahead and asked the question that lingered on his mind.
"So what does it mean?"
Felling Star inhales slowly as they take their seat, looking onward to the gallery of moving gems.
"It means one who cleaves through Mystery. Of course, I'm omitting quite a bit of nuance, but that should suffice to answer your question."
The brothers nodded in unison, seemingly sated. Kashin closed his notebook after jotting a few more things down, pocketing it. He turned to face Felling Star and bowed, Kavin mirroring him. Afterwards Kavin gestured to Kashin to go check out the gem sculptures again with him. Kashin nodded and followed behind his brother as they walked away from Felling Star who was seemingly all too happy to see the duo depart from his immediate presence.
"Check this out Kashin!~" Kavin said.
He walked over to one of the sculptures and knocked his knuckles on its knee.
"It's Lace Agate! You know, from home! Definitely brings back memories…"
Kashin nodded as he walked up and placed his hand on the other leg. The Sculpture itself was situated on top of a marble stand that stood two feet tall.
"What do you think? Should I record it?"
Kavin nodded enthusiastically, pulling out his own whilst shaking it back and forth in his hand.
"Heck yeah! I already did in mine!"
Kashin nodded once again and whipped his own out, quickly jotting some words down along with a simple but well-constructed visual representation. The fur on his back and tail began to stand on end as he continued on. The feeling of a strong piercing gaze above him had caused his body to subconsciously enter its flight or fight response. Warily, Kashin looked up to find the sculpture staring down at him with a straight face. Its eyes pulsated a maroon red that traveled down the intricacies of its structure.
Beads of sweat formulated on Kashin's forehead as he stopped writing and pocketed his journal, preparing himself to run away. As he turned to take the first step, he found that his legs were stock still.
~I-I can't move…!~
In his realization, he found that it wasn't just the Lace agate sculpture that was behaving in an ominous manner. Every single Sculpture, finished and not, had the same pulsating red eyes and all of them were staring directly at him. Kashin felt his chest contort tightly in fear as images of humans suddenly overtook the beauty of the gems. The now Humans stepped off their stands and began to walk towards him with outstretched arms.
"Stay away…" He muttered as he fell to the ground.
The Humans didn't react to his words at all. Instead, they continued their steady advance on him. He could practically feel his muscles screaming at him to move from their paralyzed state and so he did.
"Stay… AWAY!"
Kashin burst forth from the ground at the nearest human, which seemed to be around the same height as him, slashing at its throat with primal savagery. The human dodged and grabbed Kashin by the wrist and shoulder, shaking him. Kashin jumped up off the ground and used the human's knee as a springboard, leaping off of it and away from the crowd. The gaggle of humans soon gave chase, but only for a moment.
A loud *THUMP* resounded through the interior as Kashin ran headfirst into a human unknowingly whilst looking back. The human gripped him by the shoulders harshly. So harsh in fact he could hear his bones creaking under the pressure. The human raised one hand and brought it down in one swift motion.
*SLAP*
Kashin felt the spit leave his mouth as the force of the slap knocked the fight out of him.
"Wuahhh…" He mumbled as struggled to concentrate, blinking rapidly.
"This is why I don't like children. If you can't behave then you can leave."
This authoritative voice belonged to none other than Shining Red Ocerion Blade Felling Star. Kashin laid limp in Felling Star's grasp as they dragged him over to a chair and sat him down. Darkness overcame him shortly afterwards.
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"Wake up already…"
Kavin was sitting on Felling Star's desk looking over his brother as he slept soundly. His hands roamed up to his head, repeatedly combing his own hair.
"You sulking about won't wake your sibling up any faster. Honestly, I'd feel a lot better if you just dragged him out of here. I can't have visitors losing their minds and messing with things."
"Sorry about that… We went through something horrible and-"
Felling Star made a flicking motion with their wrist as they turned around and walked away into the array of sculptures.
"I don't care about your problems. Be gone when I get back."
"Alright."
Kavin sat in silence. He had no clue what had happened. One second they were both looking at the Lace agate body and the next Kashin was acting crazy…
"The only thing I can think of is that… he had a crazy session…? Is that even a thing? I feel like I remember a shaman from one of the coastal towns we passed talking about something like that happening to people who've encountered a lot of pain, but then why does it seem like some warriors don't have it. Maybe I should ask one of our caretakers about what happened."
Kavin nodded to himself with determination. He would figure out what happened so that they could one day continue their journey without trouble. Just then, Kashin woke up, holding his head.
"I feel like I've been whacked in the face with a club…" He said.
Kavin scooted off the desk and pulled his brother up, wrapping his brother's arm around his shoulders.
"C'mon sleepy head. We're not welcome here anymore."
Kashin, still rubbing his head, walked with his brother as they exited the strange space.