Chapter Text
Wake up.
You walked straight to the elevator, buzzing Slate off as you’re… less enthusiastic about exploring this time. You enjoyed every part of it so far, but there’s one thing you don’t enjoy.
Throughout your years of training, there's one thing you just can never get used to: quantum shenanigans. That is how Gossan describes those weird purple alien blocks that teleport around when you're not seeing them, despite Hornfel's scientific-naming rants, and Gabbro's philosophical rants. Still, these quantum rocks have given you a fair share of scares, especially when you glance back only to have the rock directly on your face. It is unclear how they choose which locations to teleport, or how Hal and Hornfels even managed to make it stay at the museum, but whatever force moves it sure likes to embarrass you in front of your colleagues. One time during a training session where everyone in the village can watch ‘your favorite future astronauts,’ Hal once saw you get your teeth knocked out by one, and you swore to launch yourself off a geyser out of embarrassment…
“Stars forbid… I swear I’m going to kill Porphy one loop for how long they laughed…” you grumbled to yourself as you put on your suit, buckled up and launched, immediately locking on to Ember Twin and letting autopilot do its job while you continued thinking.
The reason that these quantum trainings exist is so that “if anything awry happens, you’ll be most prepared.” It’s mostly staying in the zero-g cave with no lights and trying not to be decked in the face with the rock, but you figured it was easy enough once you concentrate. Put on the flashlight, pray you don’t give in to the instincts of blinking with both pairs of eyes, and pray there's no second rock haunting you. Gossan did that once, and it resulted in more casualties, mostly from you and Riebeck. So, imagine how pissed off you were when not only was your first spacefaring journey trapped in a time loop, but quantum training is almost entirely useless. Almost. When you visited the Tower of Quantum Trials at Giant’s Deep, you were pleasantly terrified that the rocks aren’t the only thing capable of moving around, but entire structures. (Somehow you forgot Timber Hearth has more than just your village.) The tower itself does have a calming aesthetic however, barring the constant howling of the raging weather, but Ember Twin is an entirely different story.
You hated Ember Twin. It’s dark, desolate, claustrophobic, and the sand has a desire to crush you. It has crushed you before. That was the worst death you’ve ever experienced, tied with the anglerfish’s slow digestion. You also hated quantum shenanigans. Naturally, the indifferent universe, uncaring of what you think, decided to combine these together. You pout with clear annoyance before manually landing near Chert’s camp, as they slowly wave at the new visitor. You wave back to them through the cockpit's window. Originally, you were gonna make it snappy, but seeing the fall to the lakebed made your stomach lurch. So… well, it’s only 22 minutes, right? There’s time to kill, you said. Getting out into the dusty empty place, the heated orange rocks and atmosphere greets you rather unwelcomingly as you sit down on the opposite side of Chert by the campfire, pulling out a marshmallow. The seat's hard and sandy, making quite the uncomfortable experience as the overbearing heat is probably enough that you don't even need the fire, but pointing it at the air like an idiot won't look good on you.
“Goodness, it’s you! Hello! I take it your first launch went well, then? Welcome to the Hourglass Twins. Mind the sand, now.” Chert asked with a croaky tone while playing their drums, and you only nod. You minded the sand long enough, and now you’re just stalling for time. Hopefully the sand does claim you again just so you can put it off longer.
“Yeah, launch went pretty well. Hope I didn’t interrupt you with anything important.” you replied, slowly rotating the stick.
“Oh no, I’ve simply been updating the star charts lately. Weirdly enough, there’s been a couple of supernovae I noticed, and usually we’re lucky to even see one!” Chert continued, your eyes widened while still being a little dead.
You’ve grown numb to the whole supernova ordeal, but hearing Chert talk about it, this close to our sun no less? It brings back the sorrow when you first witnessed the supernova and died. Chert noticed your point blank stare however, stopping their playing and asked.
“Hey friend, have you been feeling well? You could go back to Timber Hearth, no one except Gossan is going to judge you for having a short first trip–” You raised your hand up, cutting the traveler off.
“I’m doing fine. It’s… funny when you think about it, how these supernovae happen instantly to our eyes, yet they are light years away in reality. They have probably exploded eons ago and only now do we see it, right here… maybe we’re at the center of the universe.”
“...did Gabbro brainwash you or something? I don’t recall you being the pondering type.” Chert quipped back, but their posture changed more to intrigue.
“Nah, just a thought I’ve been having.” you eyed on the marshmallow, smirking to yourself. Saying all that kind of feels… freeing. Cathartic. Maybe you should do this more. Engaging in actual genuine conversations between the travelers, your friends, even though they won’t remember it… at least they’ll know your current thoughts, and they’ll be happy. Chert, though… maybe you should try distracting them one loop.
“Well, there’s only been a few supernovae so far, but… that does make sense. Huh, to think we would be special enough to witness the end of early life at the center of it all.” Chert pondered on their end too, as you suddenly feel very better to do your mission.
“Crazy, thinking about it.” you pulled your mallow out, a perfect golden brown as you took off your visor and chewed it heartily, savoring it this time round.
“Wait, how did you get so good at that? You always burn the mallow off from what I’ve seen, worse than Slate even.” Chert inquired, genuinely struck by your sudden mastery as they continued banging on their drums.
“Eh, I learned it through time, and the stomachache is not worth it. Not as good as Feldspar though, they’re a master chef at it.”
“Yeah, you’re right…” Chert sighed, still aching dully at Feldspar’s disappearance. “So, where are you headed for today?”
“A lakebed cave just underneath here. I’m figuring out the disappearance of a Nomai called Coleus, might learn something from it.” you answered rather excitedly.
“Really? How’d you learn so much from your first launch?” Ah stars, you forgot about that. “I know Hornfels knows a thing or two about the Nomai, but we don’t even know when they originally existed!”
“Well… maybe you underestimated the old Hearthian.” you bluffed, as Chert gave a small chuckle.
“Maybe you’re right, it has been a while since I returned. Even though I've been nice and snug here for the while, my feet are aching to explore somewhere and the heat is killing me. I stuffed so many cotton inside my suit and it still feels like a boiling pot." They sighed, stretching themselves as you get up on your feet.
"You could follow me to where I'm headed, it'd be nice to have a friend on the dark- I mean, a friend to explore with." you suggested with uncommitted effort, shrugging to Chert as they snickered to themselves.
"Thanks for the offer, but I meant it more as a hyperbole. Perhaps someday else though!" They said with hopeful enthusiasm, one that fills you with dreaded joy.
"Ah, guess I'll be going solo then. See you soon!"
"Well, safe travels! Look out for the sand.” Chert waved.
“You too.” You bid farewell before putting your visor back on and taking a deep breath and jumping off the cliffside, as Chert yelped and yelled out your name. Oh right, you forgot. Other people still worry about death.
“D-Do I need to call someone?!” yelled Chert, their voice raised a good octave as they dropped their drums and immediately began pointing their Signalscope to Timber Hearth.
“I’m totally fine, don’t worry!” you yelled back, giving the worried egg a thumbs up as you reassured them. Well, so much for calming Chert…
“Here goes nothing… remind me to meditate if I’ll be crushed by sand.” Jumping down the lakebed, the chilling cold and darkness brings back the fear and reluctance instilled in you, but you keep on marching. You travel through incredibly tight caverns and briefly go nauseated, trying your best not to throw up your burnt marshmallow moments ago.. From what you’ve learned, Coleus seemed to have disappeared along with the quantum shard, and that much is known. Climbing up the sand avalanche, you pondered where he might’ve been. You believed that magic doesn’t exist, unlike poor Chert who kept praying to the stars to have at least one growth spurt. Supposed they learnt it the hard way, which may explain their personality. Going deep into another narrow cavern, your flashlight flickered a little and the rock formations around you disappeared, instead giving you a path to traverse.
“Oh great, awesome, Coleus’ disappearance just has to be related to something quantum. Stars above…” Your mind races on what happened to Coleus, and your heart sinks. Was he abducted by the wandering rock? Was quantum something malevolent, intent in causing discord to the best of its ability? Still, you remembered your training, kept your cool and controlled your labored breathing, fighting the feeling of fainting even though your oxygen tank still has plenty. Turning your flashlight on and off, making sure the path is clear until the end of the tunnel is revealed through the sand… It’s just a lit room?
This certainly isn’t what you expected, but you’ve learned to not expect anything. You let out a big sigh of relief still, at least with there being no immediate danger. There’s a big quantum shard to your left, and a few messages as well as a light switch to your right. You felt that weird feeling again whenever you see a pile of Nomai bones, the sort of remorse that you felt even though they don’t know anything about you. It’s a one way conversation you’re having about the Nomai, and they have no way of asking back (You hadn’t found out about Solanum then.)
You pull out your translator and read the scroll of texts:
[MELORAE: If you've come to look for Coleus, this is where we were when he vanished. He's been missing for two days now!]
[ANNONA: Your strange, wandering rock friend is here, though Coleus isn't.]
[MELORAE: Coleus and I observed this unusual-looking rock shard (and several smaller rocks) in at least two other caverns. I'm unsure if this is relevant.]
[BUR: What happened before Coleus disappeared?]
[MELORAE: We were examining the different rocks. I recall Coleus standing on the latest one (the wandering rock). I was taking notes, and then my lantern died.]
[MELORAE: When I lit it again, Coleus and the rock were gone.]
“Huh, strange… what happened anyway?” You ponder about where Coleus may have been, considering there’s no secret entrance anywhere… then your brain suddenly had a flash of a thought, a few events from the back of your head strung together in an instant, a lightning in a bottle. Gossan always turns the lights out while quantum training. Hornfels once reported about their stuff disappearing when they put it on top of the rock during the museum’s construction. This cave has a light switch… a-ha! You get teleported when in total darkness while in direct contact with a quantum shard! That’s how Coleus disappeared! You gave yourself a prideful smirk as you solved yet another mystery.
“Take that, Feldspar!” you thought as your pride blinds your fear, which is a good thing at the least. So, the plan is simple: turn the lights out, walk to the shard, get held back by a skeleton- get held by what?!
You jumped and fell back with a yelp that echoed round the cave, dropping your flashlight before picking them back up and pointing at the pile of bones, somehow reanimated as if they never died. One of them is reaching out to you as if to lift you up, while the other two are watching with their skulls tilted. What is this…? Is this also quantum related? Your curiosity is drowned by your fear however, as you’re frozen solid, stuttering a question.
“W-w-what are you…?” You barely choked through your gritting teeth, looking dead into the skeleton’s eyes as it’s not moving… why isn’t it moving? Oh right, forgot about the flashlight! You hastily grabbed the flashlight back, shaking from your hands as you turn them off and on, and they change position; pointing at an excerpt of text you read moments ago. It took you a while to reverse engineer which word they’re pointing at, but it appears that the word is ‘MELORAE’. Your eyes widen after the realization. You met a Nomai! The remains of a Nomai, but one that can communicate! Your fear quickly morphs into excitement as your lips can't help but to creak a huge grin, your body shaking slightly with newfound adrenaline as you flicker your flashlight between off and on, eager to see if she has anything more to say. What you didn't expect was for them to collapse back down.
"No, no no no, come back!" You shook the bones and desperately tried to rearrange them, disrespecting the dead. As you're deep inside your frenzy to put them back together, the other skeletons become unnoticed. You try over and over again to connect the bones, resorting to duct taping the end parts such that they connect. Unfortunately, Nomai bones are brittle, and the average strength of a Hearthian makes you snap one of Melorae's femur bones by accident.
"Oh hearth, I'm so sorry! I... I..." You were ready to give up by then, but looking around you see the skeletons pointing at you. You felt surprised and equally guilty, stepping away and blinking. They three are now pointing at each other again. You blink again, and the other two Nomai pointed at their names: 'ANNONA’ and ‘BUR’. Phew! Your knowledge of them are quite sparse, only that Annona made a warp core based on a conversation in Brittle Hollow. Oh, how you wish you could share this to Riebeck. They’d have a heart attack knowing there’s a Nomai right under their nose! Though, communication seems to be limited. More! You want more!
“How can I talk to you…?” You spoke aloud, but not directly asking the question to the three. It’s second nature to talk to yourself at this point, partly to set your plans straight, partly because no one cares in space, but mostly you being lonely. They heard your question however, though they may not understand it. Bur seems to be miming something, holding a tall stick of some kind. You think about what it could be… ah, a staff! You never knew they were used for writing, but they do have an interface of sorts. Maybe they could teach you how to use it? You weren’t the best at Nomaian language, but working with the translator with Hal does give you a headstart.
Only, the Sunless City is far away, and your time with Chert as well as the perilous journey here had taken up a fair bit of time. It’ll have to be on the next loop. A little disappointing, but still, you’re excited to finally have a new lead to follow, and you get to talk to not one, but three Nomais! It’s a wonder how quantum shenanigans can somehow entangle living beings as well. Are they even still alive? How do they feel? Do they even feel? Your mind preys on these hundreds of questions overflowing through you, as you struggle to keep ahead.
You wave farewell to the skeletons, flying on top of the shard and turning off the flashlight as the rock takes you somewhere else. Your back was turned, but they were waving back. You couldn’t focus on other matters after this however, and eventually decided to just meditate. Gabbro teaches a fine lesson in ignoring death.
You believed that magic doesn’t exist. The universe agrees, but gives you something else.
A mystery.