Chapter 14: The Last Journey

After her conversation with the spirit in the snow and her realization of the power contained within the Crystal Heart Wonder knew what she had to do. It wasn’t that there was a sudden solution to the problem; she just realized what was right and what was necessary. So she set off immediately with Desmond by her side. They went wherever the Crystal Heart guided them, waking up any creatures they found along the way. Whenever an animal regained its senses Wonder always asked if they would like to join her. Most of them did, but some of them preferred to stay behind. Rocks and trees were affected by the Heart’s power as well, though they obviously couldn’t come along. In this way Wonder quickly gained a substantial following.

They travelled for days on end, not wanting to lose the momentum they had built. With the Heart guiding them they made excellent time across the land, amassing more followers and heading toward their ultimate goal. Everything seemed to be falling into place, but Wonder couldn’t ignore the sadness that was brought on whenever she thought about her friends she had left at the tower. She had accepted her fate, but she would have liked to have seen them once more to say goodbye. Unfortunately she only had the Crystal Heart to guide her, and she didn’t know where it was leading. That’s why she was so surprised when the group found themselves in Jethimadh.

They had travelled through a similar region once already, but as soon as they crossed the border into Jethimadh Wonder could see the tower in the distance and she knew where they were. She decided to make a detour to the tower to check on her friends regardless of where the Heart wanted her to go. Coincidentally the Heart was leading her right back to the tower anyway, and this gave her confidence.

With her animal followers at her back she arrived at the tower just in time, it seemed. Magic Rock and Mr. Trinkets looked as if they were on trial and poor Koro was locked up in a tiny cage being swung about by Uncle Friendly. Listening to the end of Friendly’s rant about traitors and saving Ur she knew she had to speak up, but this time she wasn’t afraid of what might happen because she knew she was right.

“I’m sorry, but this world can’t be saved. Not in the way that you think. If you really want to be saved the Giants need to wake up, and I’m the one who has to do it.”

The crowd seemed to be holding its breath, not really sure what to make of this new development.

“What is this?!” Uncle Friendly didn’t try to disguise his anger this time. “The traitor has returned? This doesn’t change anything. Now you can stand trial with your friends and we can keep you all from doing any more harm.”

Wonder stared Uncle Friendly down and approached the steps by a path that had opened up in the crowd. Desmond followed immediately behind, but the rest of the animals stayed where they were at his request.

“No, you’re wrong,” Wonder answered back once she was face to face with Uncle Friendly. “We’re not traitors and we’re not trying to destroy your world, you just don’t want to see it.” Her words were firm, but not angry, and just loud enough for everyone gathered to hear.

“I heard it from your own lips; you want to wake the Giants and doom us all to non-existence!”

“True, the Giants need to be woken, and this land will cease to exist, but that doesn’t mean we will. The Glitchen have already moved on and this land will follow one way or another. Ur was always a temporary thing. A land created in a dream could never last forever.” Wonder turned to address the crowd. “You all had your time here to enjoy your lives. It was too short, but holding on to the decaying memory of what this place used to be is not the way to celebrate it.

“I can’t put the Giants back to sleep, and even if I could it wouldn’t do any good for anyone. In this state of half-waking Ur is slowly dying from the inside out. You’ve already seen the rocks, trees and animals losing pieces of their old selves. Eventually entire streets would start to fade until there was nothing left. It would be a long, slow, painful death. Ur deserves more than that and so do you. Help me, and let’s end this world the way it was always supposed to end: with music and cheering and friends by our side. I can’t save the world in the way that you had all hoped, but I can lead us into the next one the way the Giants intended.”

Wonder stared out at the Vendors and they stared back at her, too shocked to say anything. She turned to face Uncle Friendly who was staring down at her as if seeing her for the first time. His shoulders dropped and Wonder could almost swear she saw a tear forming in that giant orange eye of his. He opened his mouth to say something, then closed it again and instead handed the cage to Wonder and walked away. The Vendors took this as a sign and cheered for Wonder. It didn’t seem to matter that she planned to end the world, it somehow gave them hope.

Magic Rock and Mr. Trinkets rushed over while Wonder let Koro out of the cage.

“You made it back!” Mr. Trinkets shouted.

“We were so worried about you!” Magic Rock added.

Wonder laughed in spite of herself. “It seems like you should have been more worried about yourselves. What happened here?”

“You were gone and we didn’t know what to do, so we sort of tried to start a revolution.” Mr. Trinkets said. “It didn’t really work.”

“I can see that.” Wonder lifted Koro up in her hand and looked her over. “Are you OK?”

“I’m fine now. I stuck around to help after Uncle Friendly sent you away, but I got caught. It’s a good thing you showed up or I don’t know what would have happened.”

“Speaking of which, how did you find your way back?” Magic Rock asked. “And what’s with all the animals?”

The animals that had followed Wonder were now mixing in with the Vendors and they seemed to be explaining things as best they could. Animals in Ur always had a knack for sensationalizing events or remembering them somewhat differently, but the main parts of the story seemed to be getting across.

“When I was in the tower I met Gwendolyn, a spirit from a lost age. She told me everything about Ur fading away and waking the Giants. She gave me this,” Wonder held up the Crystal Heart, “And told me it would guide me to the end of my quest. When I got sent away it led me back here and along the way I used it to wake up any animals I found, to help them remember who they used to be. Which reminds me, guys, this is Desmond,” Wonder motioned to the piggy at her side. “Desmond, this is Magic Rock, Mr. Trinkets and Koro.” They all nodded and greeted Desmond.

“I’ve heard a lot about you fellas. Nice to finally put a face with the names,“ he replied.

“So, what’s our next move?” Magic Rock asked.

Wonder thought for a moment. “Gwendolyn said this would guide me to the end of my quest, and it brought me here, but I feel like this isn’t it.” She held the Heart in her hand and closed her eyes, turning one way and then another, taking a few steps and then walking back. Finally she opened her eyes and smiled. “It’s that way,” she said pointing off in the distance.

“What is?” Koro asked.

“I’m not sure, but we’ll find out soon enough.”

Once the situation had been adequately explained to everyone they were all given the choice to go wherever they wanted. Most of the Vendors chose to follow Wonder, but a few stayed behind, including Uncle Friendly who seemed quite ashamed of everything that had happened. Wonder tried to comfort him and say that she understood his heart was in the right place, but she couldn’t convince Uncle Friendly to come along. Instead he stayed at the tower with Helga and a few others, determined to meet the end where they had made their new home.

All-in-all for a party that was heading toward certain destruction the group that left the tower base that day was in pretty high spirits. Animals and Vendors were talking and laughing, remembering better times and enjoying the company.

Wonder led the group with Magic Rock, Mr. Trinkets and Desmond at her side. Koro flew happily above them occasionally coming in to land on Wonder’s shoulder and talk about unimportant things. They tried to enjoy what they expected to be their last journey together, but it was hard to ignore the fact that none of them would be coming back from it. Still they kept things light and happy as they traveled through Chakra Phool and into a dark, craggy region. The terrain proved to be a bit of a challenge, but they were greatly aided (and entertained) by the fungus-like growths that shot them up into the air allowing them to easily reach new heights.

They kept traveling and eventually the sky lightened and the weather turned cold. Snow covered the ground and ice covered the rocks. Wonder and Desmond told the others about their first meeting and the beauty of the snowy forest at night. They each secretly wished they could see it one more time, but kept that to themselves. It wasn’t long until they reached a street that looked like many other streets they had traveled through, but to Wonder it felt different.

“It’s here, something’s different about this place,” she said, looking around.

High above them she noticed a door.

“There,” she said pointing it out to the others before springing upward from a bouncing growth. The others followed suit and shortly Wonder, Koro, Magic Rock, Mr. Trinkets and Desmond were all standing on the ledge to the door. The rest of the group waited down below, talking among themselves, not aware that this might be the end of the line.

Wonder looked at each of her friends. “I think this is it, guys. Through here is the end; where Gwendolyn says the dream world and the waking world are closest. Are you ready?”

They nodded in agreement and Wonder opened the door and stepped through. Everything was dark and she turned to see her friends still standing on the ledge. “What are you waiting for? Let’s go.”

Koro shook her head. “We can’t come in,” she said. “It won’t let us pass.”

“I’m afraid she’s right,” said Magic Rock. “It looks like this is a place for Glitchen only.”

The words hit her hard. After everything she had done in the past few days and all the confidence and courage she had gained Wonder still couldn’t help herself and broke down crying right there inside the doorway.

“But I don’t want to go alone!” she sobbed. “I need you with me.”

“You’re wrong,” Mr. Trinkets said. “You don’t need us there with you. You’re strong enough to do anything on your own.”

“He’s right you know,” Magic Rock added. “You’ve done more in your short time than most Glitchen could do in a hundred lifetimes.”

“Besides, you won’t be alone. We’ll all be right here, thinking about you and waiting to meet back up on the other side.” Desmond offered.

Wonder looked at them each and smiled through her tears. It wasn’t until that moment that she remembered the last words Gwendolyn ever spoke to her, “You have friends. Trust them. Lean on them to get you to your goal, but in the end you must walk the final road alone.” And Wonder knew she was right.

She stepped back out and gave them each a hug because she couldn’t say goodbye. Last of all she sat on the ground in front of Koro.

“We’ve had our ups and downs, but you were my first friend and you stood by me when I wouldn’t return the favor.”

Koro looked up into Wonder’s face. “You were my first friend too, and friends don’t just abandon each other. You never let me down. You always came back for me.”

Wonder offered her hand and Koro hopped onto it. She lifted Koro up to her face and kissed the top of her head. “Goodbye, Koro. I hope we see each other again.”

“Goodbye, Wonder. I’m sure we will.”

She placed Koro back on the ledge, stood up, gave her friends one more sad smile and then walked through the door without looking back. It was the scariest moment of her short life.

Once the door closed Wonder found herself walking on a narrow strip of grass in the sunset next to a wide body of water. It seemed so peaceful she couldn’t help but stop and stare out over the water for a moment. In the distance she could see another narrow strip of land with a hill on it. She was completely alone.

After another moment of quiet reflection she listened to the Crystal Heart. This place felt like the end of life, but not the end of a world. She still wasn’t where she needed to be so she moved on through another door opposite the one she had come in. When she walked through she expected to be in a new place, but instead she was standing on the hill she had seen in the distance. The rules of time and space seemed to be breaking down here near the edge of reality, but that didn’t bother her much. What did bother her was the lack of a door or another way out of any kind. She knew that she was close to her goal, but she wasn’t sure where to go next.

Wonder sat in the grass on the hill and stared out over the water once again. The colors of the perpetual sunset made her sad and she wished her friends could have seen it with her. She let her eyes follow the gradation of the sunlight from bright yellow to orange to pink to violet to blue and up to where the stars began to twinkle in the dark. She lay back, feeling the grass under her hands; trying to soak it all in before everything went away. She closed her eyes and breathed in the air here at the end of her life. It was sweet and pure.

She opened her eyes again to try to count the stars and see their patterns, but something else caught her attention. Up in the sky she saw what looked like letters among the clouds. She sat up and tried to make them out, but wisps of cloud kept drifting by obscuring the shapes. She continued to stare until her eyes hurt from the strain when finally the sky cleared revealing the simple message.

“Bye.”

She whispered the word to herself while she stared up into the sky. No sooner had the sound left her mouth than she began floating up toward the word. She looked back down to see the ground retreating as she kicked her feet and flailed her arms, but it was no use. She was being pulled up by some mysterious force and there was nothing she could do about it. Then in an instant she was calm as if a wave had washed over her. She felt the Crystal Heart and realized that she was finally going where she had been meant to go since she had woken up alone in the forest all those weeks ago.

Wonder floated up into the sky until the letters dissolved into nothing and she could see Ur laid out below in patches of blue, brown and green. From up there she could see where the outer edges were already starting to fade just like Gwendolyn told her they would. She wondered how long this world would have lasted left to its own devices, but there was no way of knowing.

Below her was Ur, above her were stars and empty blackness, and all around were chunks of rock floating independently. She guessed that these may have been bits of Ur pulled away from the surface when the Giants awoke, but it was just speculation. She found she could jump between them quite easily, and with a little effort she could even float around without touching the ground at all if she wanted. She wasn’t as graceful as Koro, but Wonder could understand what she meant about flying being preferable to walking.

She floated from rock to rock, exploring. There weren’t any trees or minerals here, but on every rock, covering every inch, she found notes left behind by Glitchen. She had stopped reading the notes scattered around Ur a long time ago because they made her sad, but she decided to take the time to read some now. These were some of the last thoughts of the Glitchen and she thought someone should remember them.

Wonder sat and read the notes for a long time. Some of them were short and sweet; simple goodbyes. Others were longer, more dramatic, but equally as heartfelt. She read poems and songs and confessions and each one she read she placed back exactly where she had found it.

Once she was done she dried her eyes and took out the music block Gwendolyn had given her. She held it in one hand with the Crystal Heart in the other. They both seemed so insignificant. It didn’t make sense that the objects that would bring about the end of the world should fit so neatly in her grip. The thought made her laugh and think about herself and how insignificant she had felt her entire life.

She sat down at the edge of one of the floating rocks and let her feet hang over the side. She held the Crystal Heart in her lap and sat the music block next to her on the ground. She pushed the play button and as the first notes rang out she looked down between her feet at the world she had helped bring to a close.

<< Chapter 13: A Failed Conspiracy | NOTES | Epilogue: The End of Ur >>

Chapter 13: A Failed Conspiracy

Days passed without any sign from the Tower and Magic Rock and Mr. Trinkets were growing anxious. Uncle Friendly shrugged off their questions about Wonder, stating that the tower was a confusing place and she was likely just lost. He never mentioned their confrontation to anyone.

“I’m worried about Wonder,” Mr. Trinkets whispered to Magic Rock a few days after she had entered the tower.

“I know, so am I. She should have found her way out by now one way or another,” Magic Rock whispered back. Uncle Friendly had become irritated at the mention of Wonder and they didn’t want him over hearing their conversation.

“I’ve been thinking. Why couldn’t one of us go in after her?”

Magic Rock shook his head. “You heard what Uncle Friendly said; no one but a Glitch can get in the tower.”

“Yes, that’s what he said, but what about Koro? She was in one of Wonder’s bags and she obviously made it inside.”

“True, but I imagine it was because Wonder took her in. And anyway, Uncle Friendly rarely leaves the front steps and I doubt he’ll be too keen to send in a rescue party.” Magic Rock watched Uncle Friendly pacing in front of the tower door.

“He has been acting strange lately, hasn’t he?” Mr. Trinkets asked. “I don’t know if he’s really up to something or I’m just feeling suspicious, but I don’t trust him. I think I’d like to take a walk around the tower and clear my head a bit.”

Magic Rock nodded. “Yeah, OK. I’ll stay here and keep an eye on things.”

Mr. Trinkets stood up and shuffled through the crowd of Vendors around the side of the tower. He tried to act like nothing was wrong even though he was beginning to feel very uncomfortable there. He shambled around the side and began inspecting the tower base. There was a door here, but it didn’t do him much good as it was locked and had a sign reading “Coming Soon” hanging on it. Whatever was planned for this entrance was never finished so he kept walking.

Around the next corner he still didn’t find anything out of the ordinary, but he tried the door here too. This one also seemed to be locked, though he thought he could see a hallway on the other side through the dark windows. He jiggled the handle a few more times before getting exasperated and moving on.

The last side of the tower looked much like the other three, and like the others it had a door that he suspected he wouldn’t be able to open, but he never got the chance to try because as he was walking up to it he heard a voice from the trees whisper his name.

“Psst. Mr. Trinkets! Mr. Trinkets! Over here! In the trees!”

Mr. Trinkets turned toward the voice, but he didn’t see anyone standing among the trees. “Hello? Where are you?”

“Shhh! Keep your voice down! Look up, Mr. Trinkets.”

He did as instructed and there, among the branches of the tree closest to him, was Koro. She looked half-crazed, eyes darting side to side like she was looking for someone, but it was definitely Koro.

“Koro, what are you doing up there?” Mr. Trinkets asked in a whisper. “Where’s Wonder?”

“Wonder’s gone! That big fat slug with the tie sent her away!”

Mr. Trinkets tried to process this. “What are you talking about? You mean Uncle Friendly? What do you mean he sent Wonder away? Wonder never came out of the tower.”

“Yes she did. She came out days ago! She came out of this door and talked to me and then that monster showed up and yelled at her and asked her about the tower and then POOF! she was gone, just like that!”

Mr. Trinkets wasn’t really sure what to make of all this and it didn’t help that Koro was so panicked. “Koro, you’ve got to calm down and tell me what happened. I can’t help if I don’t know what’s going on.”

“I can’t! He’ll hear me! I almost flew away for good when he told me to, but I stayed because I didn’t know what else to do. Wonder’s gone and I don’t know where he sent her. I only stayed because I thought you guys might know what to do, but I couldn’t risk getting caught.”

“It’s OK, Koro. No one’s going to catch you.” He thought for a moment. “Let’s move to a different street. No one will hear us and you can tell me everything that happened. Then I can go back and tell Magic Rock and we’ll figure out what to do next.”

Koro nodded and led him two streets away just to be safe.

Once Koro calmed down a bit she told Mr. Trinkets everything she could remember about what happened in the tower and afterward. She recalled something about Wonder’s conversation with Uncle Friendly, but she never got the full story of Room 23 from Wonder so she didn’t know all of the details; she only knew that Wonder’s plan had changed and she wanted to wake the Giants up, not put them back to sleep. Mr. Trinkets seemed a little upset at that, but without knowing the whole story he was determined to keep an open mind until he could discuss things with Magic Rock.

Mr. Trinkets thanked Koro and before he went back to the front of the tower he told her to stay nearby and be on the lookout for either himself or Magic Rock to return soon. She cawed an agreement and flew back into the trees to hide.

When Mr. Trinkets returned he found everything exactly as he had left it. Magic Rock looked up as he approached.

“Find anything interesting?” Magic Rock asked, slightly teasing.

“Yes, actually, I did,” and Mr. Trinkets proceeded to recount his meeting with Koro as quickly and quietly as possible.

Magic Rock was stunned to hear what had happened between Wonder and Uncle Friendly, but he quickly made up his mind. “We can’t let on that anything is wrong. I’m not sure what he’s capable of and I don’t want to wake up one day to find myself teleported halfway across Ur as well. We can do more good here while we try to come up with some sort of plan.”

The days dragged on with no word from Wonder and it was beginning to look more and more like she wasn’t coming back. Magic Rock and Mr. Trinkets occasionally made trips to speak with Koro, but the more they talked the less they were sure of what to do. They tried to make sense of the little bit that Koro heard during the exchange between Uncle Friendly and Wonder, but they couldn’t understand her new plan. They were trying to save the world, why would Wonder want to end it?

With nothing to go on Magic Rock decided to change tactics. He and Mr. Trinkets began spending more time talking to the Vendors; trying to feel them out about Uncle Friendly’s new role as leader. Unfortunately the Vendors seemed more than happy with the way Uncle Friendly was handling things even if they weren’t entirely sure about his plan to put the Giants to sleep. The main problem seemed to be that no one else had any answers nor were they willing to take charge. Magic Rock hinted that he might be up for leading them, but without a better plan of action no one seemed very interested in supporting his coup.

After a few days Magic Rock sat down with Mr. Trinkets away from the main group to talk about what should be done.

“If we’re going to do something we need to do it soon,” Mr. Trinkets insisted.

“I know that, but what would you suggest? The Vendors all think Uncle Friendly is doing a fine job. No one suspects him of anything and I don’t have anything better to offer them anyway.” Magic Rock had become increasingly frustrated with the situation.

“Well, maybe taking over for Friendly isn’t what needs to be done.”

“What are you suggesting, Mr. Trinkets?” Magic Rock’s eyes narrowed.

“Maybe it’s time we left. We know Wonder is gone and every day it seems she’s less likely to return. There’s nothing for us here. Let Friendly have his group of Vendors. What harm can they do?”

“That’s just it; I’m not sure what harm they could do, but I’d rather be here to stop them from doing it! As far as we know this is the last group of sentient beings in Ur and you want to abandon them? No, we can’t leave. We have to stay and do what we can.”

“Do what we can about what, my dear Magic Rock?” Uncle Friendly’s voice oozed with false sweetness from behind Magic Rock whose eyes almost bulged out of his head at the sound.

“Uncle Friendly! I didn’t realize you were standing there.” He stammered as he spun around.

“No, I should think not.”

“Whatever you heard, I’m sure it’s just a misunderstanding.”

“And I’m sure it’s not. I heard enough to know you’re conspiring against me. Now why would you do that?”

“Conspiring? We—I—no, definitely not, it’s just—“Magic Rock was tripping over his words in a panic.

“Save it,” Uncle Friendly cut him off. “I’ve suspected you ever since I saw the Glitch talking to that Rook; I just hoped it wasn’t true. Well I’ve got more than enough evidence now.” Uncle Friendly pulled a cage from behind his back and in it was a very defeated looking Koro.

“You thought you were being very sneaky about this whole business I’m sure, but I’m sneakier. I’ve been watching you two over the last few days and the last time you met with this filthy bird I followed you. As soon as you left I laid a trap for it and here we are.”

Koro looked up at Magic Rock and Mr. Trinkets. “I’m sorry, guys. I tried to get away, but I wasn’t quick enough.”

“It’s OK Koro. You’ll be alright,” Mr. Trinkets reassured her, though he wasn’t so confident himself.

Uncle Friendly smiled menacingly at them. “Now, let’s go address the people, shall we?”

Uncle Friendly led Magic Rock and Mr. Trinkets to the steps at the foot of Jethimadh Tower holding Koro out in front of him like he might hold a lantern to light his path. Once they were all standing at the top of the stairs he called for the crowd’s attention, though it was unnecessary because the sight of a caged Rook was more than enough to silence the group.

“Attention, everyone! Attention! I’m afraid I have some dark news to announce.” He shot Magic Rock a sideways glance. “It seems some of our own have been conspiring against us!”

The Vendors looked around at each other confused.

“It seems that Magic Rock and his butler here don’t want Ur to be saved! They want to see this world destroyed, and you along with it! They want it so badly that they even conspired against us with the Rook!” At this last exclamation Uncle Friendly thrust the cage up high in front of him so that everyone could see. Koro squawked in surprise and the Vendors all became agitated at the sight.

Uncle Friendly pushed on. “Even worse, I’m afraid, is that young Wonder, who we sent into the tower with hopes of saving Ur, has fallen under the sway of the Rook as well.”

At this the crowd let out a collective gasp. It was one thing for butlers and Magic Rocks to work with the Rook, but it was utterly unthinkable that a Glitch should ever even consider it.

“Unfortunately our hopes of putting Ur back together with Wonder’s help have been dashed, but that doesn’t mean we are defeated. I have taken care of the Glitch-traitor myself and I am committed to finding a way to save our world if it takes me the rest of my life!”

Uncle Friendly was feeling quite pleased with himself, but before the crowd could react a voice interrupted from the back of the assembly.

“You’re wrong, Friendly!”

Everyone turned to see who was challenging Uncle Friendly’s authority, and there at the end of the street, with her own gathering of piggies, chickens, butterflies, batterflies, sloths, foxes, heli kitties and all other manner of creature, was Wonder.

“I’m sorry, but this world can’t be saved. Not in the way that you think. If you really want to be saved the Giants need to wake up, and I’m the one who has to do it.”

<< Chapter 12: The Forest at Night | NOTES | Chapter 14: The Last Journey >>

Chapter 12: The Forest at Night

There was that squeezing feeling again, just like the time she touched the Visiting Stone. The only problem was Wonder hadn’t touched a stone this time. When she popped back into existence Wonder’s legs gave out from under her and she fell to the ground. Teleporting is no fun when you’re not expecting it, and unfortunately Wonder was never expecting it.

Her head was swimming trying to process what had just happened. The last thing she remembered was Uncle Friendly towering over her and pushing something into her hand. She looked down to see the paper still clutched there, but it was disintegrating from the edges in. She frantically tried to read the words on the page before it was nothing but dust, but all she managed to make out was the word “Drifa” and some sort of official seal stamped with Uncle Friendly’s name. The paper finished crumbling into nothing and Wonder let it fall to the ground. She wasn’t exactly sure what happened, but she knew Friendly was to blame and all she could think about was how to get back to her friends.

Wonder got to her feet and looked around for the first time. She was in a place unlike any she had seen before. The land was stark and white; there were mountains in the distance and trees dotted the landscape. The ground was covered in a soft powder that was cold to the touch. “Snow?” she wondered aloud as she scooped a handful. “I think I remember Magic Rock talking about snow when I asked him about the different regions of Ur.”

There were several small ridges on the street, so she climbed the tallest of them and took another look around. The view was tree-covered and snowy in every direction. She knew she was in a snowy region, but she had no idea where this might be in relation to where she had been before.

“Why does this keep happening to me?” she asked herself. Exasperated, she sat down in the snow to think about her options.

‘Obviously my first task is to get back to my friends,’ she thought. ‘Uncle Friendly is not the helpful cyclops they think he is and I need to tell them what happened with Gwendolyn. So then, the question is how to do that?’

Wonder sat for a while taking out all the things she had brought with her. There didn’t seem to be much in her bags that would be immediately helpful: some food and drinks, as well as some tools she still hadn’t learned to use yet. She also pulled out her Cumbimal—Firedog—as well as her Firefly Jar, and the music block and Crystal Heart Gwendolyn had given her. These last two she examined very closely.

The music block was still giving off an intense feeling of power and it made Wonder a little nervous. She considered playing it to see what would happen, but quickly decided against it. She didn’t want to risk making things worse if she played it in the wrong place.

The Cyrstal Heart looked very much like it had when Gwendolyn had given it to her, though its light had faded some. It felt cool to the touch and she liked the way the light reflected through it when she turned it in her hands. She wasn’t entirely sure what she was looking for, but Gwendolyn had told her that the Heart would help her find the way.

Unfortunately unpacking all of her belongings didn’t do anything except highlight the helplessness of the situation. She fell backward into the snow with a groan of frustration, closed her eyes and yelled into the sky, “WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO DO?!”

She hadn’t really expected a response so you can imagine her surprise when she got one.

“I’m not sure I understand the question.”

Wonder’s eyes flew open as she bolted upright and looked around. She couldn’t see anyone, but she had learned that voices might come from anywhere in this world. “Hello? Who said that?”

Slowly a figure faded into view in front of her. “I’m sorry; I forgot you couldn’t see me. It’s been so long since I’ve actually talked to another Glitch.” Floating in front of her was a Glitch, gray, see-through and sad-looking. It reminded Wonder of Gwendolyn.

“Are you a spirit?” she asked.

“Some Glitchen call us ghosts, or the Half-Forgotten, but you may call me a spirit. It all means the same thing.”

Wonder climbed to her feet. “I met one of you. Another spirit I mean.”

“You found one of my brothers?” the spirit asked.

“No, not exactly. I mean, it wasn’t a ‘he.’ I met Gwendolyn, in the tower.”

The spirit smiled. “Ah, well this all makes much more sense then.”

“Umm… OK.”

“Did she give you a quest?”

This took Wonder by surprise. “She did, but how did you—“

“And did she give you anything to help with that quest?”

Wonder held up the Crystal Heart. “She gave me this.”

The spirit looked at the heart and nodded. “Then you should know what to do.”

“But I don’t, that’s the problem! I’m supposed to save everyone, or disappear everyone or whatever, but I don’t know how!”

“You have the Heart, let it guide you. It will help you find your way, and while you are on your way it will also help you remind this world of what it once was.”

“Do spirits only know how to talk in riddles?” Wonder’s frustration was getting to her.

The spirit just laughed. “I’m sorry; as I said it’s been a long, long time since I’ve spoken to another Glitch; really had a conversation I mean. The Heart helps. It makes it possible for us to speak like this. These are all things that make sense from my perspective, but are harder to explain to you. Just keep it with you, use it as a guide, you will understand.”

“Will you come with me? I’ve lost my friends and I don’t want to travel alone.”

He looked sad as he responded. “I’m sorry, but I can’t leave this street. I’m stuck here until you set me free.”

The spirit’s words brought back the monumental task Gwendolyn had set for her. He seemed to know what Wonder was trying to do and looked forward to it.

“But don’t worry,” the spirit continued. “I’m sure you won’t be traveling alone for long.” As he spoke these final words he faded from view and Wonder was left alone on the snowy ridge.

After packing everything back into her bags, Wonder considered what the spirit had said and looked back down at the Crystal Heart in her hands. She held it out and faced this way and that trying to get some sort of feeling or indication from the Heart. Once again she got nothing, so she had to resort to common sense, which was less than reassuring. The only saving grace was that she figured she couldn’t possibly get more lost than she already was.

Thinking back on the route they had taken to the tower she knew it was at a low point in Ur so she turned her back to the mountains and headed in the most downhill direction she could find. Wonder didn’t know it, but this was actually a pretty good idea and she was going in the right direction.

Before long she came to a cave entrance and immediately began to doubt her choice, but just as she was about to turn back the Crystal Heart started to glow a little more than it had before. It was enough to make Wonder pause in her tracks and turn back to the cave. The Heart shined a little brighter as she moved toward the cave and Wonder began to feel that she was headed in the right direction. Finally some of what Gwendolyn and the other spirit had told her started to make sense.

She followed the path through the cave which dropped steeply before coming out the other side. When she emerged from the cavern she was met with the breathtaking site of the snow covered forest in a moonless night. The sky was dark, but the snow caught the light radiating from the Crystal Heart and reflected it back into the trees. Wonder was awestruck and sat down to try to take it all in.

She wiped back a tear thinking about how she would never see this place again or any of the other places she never got to visit. It hadn’t been that long since her conversation with Gwendolyn and she was still trying to come to terms with what she was supposed to do. Right there, sitting in the snow, she realized that knowing what’s right and actually doing it are two very different things.

As she sat and stared into the trees she heard a shuffling noise behind her. She looked over her shoulder and saw a piggy snuffling around in the snow. She had seen many piggies around Ur, but never really thought much about them. Now she wondered about this Piggy. She wondered what its life was like before, what its voice sounded like and what kind of things they might talk about if it could still talk.

The piggy walked up to Wonder and nudged its head under her hand asking for a pet. She obliged and turned back to look into the forest again. While the piggy sat under Wonder’s arm the Crystal Heart began to glow brighter in her lap. Wonder noticed it out of the corner of her eye and watched it pulse gently a few times before returning to normal.

“It’s beautiful, isn’t it? The forest at night, I mean. That’s why I hung around here.”

Wonder’s head spun around so fast she almost fell over. “Did you just talk?!” she asked the piggy.

The piggy looked up at her in surprise and replied, “Why yes, I believe I did.” And then, “Look at that! I did it again!”

“But piggies have never talked to me! How… why…?” Wonder was completely baffled until she remembered the Heart and what the spirit told her. “Remind them of what they once were,” she whispered to herself.

“I don’t know what happened. I remember being here, in the forest, with Glitchen running all around waiting for something, and then… it’s like I was in a daze until I woke up sitting here with you.”

Wonder smiled at the piggy. “I know what happened, and now I know what I need to do. I’ll explain it all to you on the way if you’ll come with me.”

“Go with you? Well, sure I guess. I don’t have anything else to do at the moment.”

“Great! By the way, what’s your name?”

The piggy thought for a moment, “You know, I’m not sure. I think I used to have one, but I can’t remember it. I suppose you could name me.”

Wonder considered that before responding, “How about Desmond?”

The piggy laughed. “And they shall call me ‘Desmond!’ By the way, where are we going?”

For the first time Wonder felt confident about her decision. “Not far, just to the end of the world.”

<< Chapter 11: Things Aren't Always What They Seem | NOTES | Chapter 13: A Failed Conspiracy >>

Chapter 11: Things Aren't Always What They Seem

Koro was still in shock several minutes after Wonder left her in the Rook Museum. This was exactly what she was afraid of happening. She should have explained things as soon as they met, but she was afraid of how Wonder might react. She definitely should have broached the subject when Magic Rock and Mr. Trinkets joined them. They seemed to come to an understanding and maybe they could have helped explain things to Wonder.

Koro knew she could sit in the dark for hours thinking about all the ways she had messed up, but there wasn’t time for that now. She needed to get to Magic Rock somehow and tell him what had happened. She quickly came up against her first problem when she realized the door was shut and door knobs were not designed with Rook feet in mind. No matter how hard she tried Koro could get the door open. She was stuck in the Rook Museum.

“This is no time to panic,” she told herself, though she suspected this might actually be the perfect time to panic. She sat perfectly still trying to force an answer into her brain. She was concentrating with all her might when her feathers were ruffled by a slight breeze.

“A breeze?” She looked around the room but couldn’t see much in the dark. “If there’s a breeze then there must be a way out.”

She took to the air to search the room and find the source of the draft. She was flooded with relief when she found several small windows set into the wall near the ceiling and one of them was open just enough for her to squeeze through.

It wasn’t a perfect solution because she still couldn’t get back in the tower to search for Wonder, but it was better than being stuck in that awful museum for the rest of her life. From way up here at least she could easily keep an eye on what was happening on the ground without alerting any suspicion. She desperately wanted to talk to Magic Rock, but she found him on the steps of the tower talking to several Vendors and she didn’t dare risk exposing herself to them.

She flew a few laps around the tower and made a note of the exits and then perched on a ledge above a side door to think about what to do.

***

Inside the tower Wonder was still turning the Crystal Heart over in her hand and sifting through everything Gwendolyn had said. She knew Gwendolyn was telling her truth about not being able to put the world back together, but it wasn’t easy to think about.

Wonder also thought about the advice Gwendolyn had given her about trusting her friends. She thought about Koro and if she was really her friend. Wonder just wasn’t sure after what she had seen. The voice in the museum said that the Rook are evil, and Koro hadn’t tried to deny it. Even Magic Rock and Mr. Trinkets were terrified when they saw Koro, and they had talked about how terrible the Rook were. Of course, they had also traveled together after Wonder introduced them and even seemed to get along. They never did tell Wonder the truth about the Rook, which made her question what the truth was.

Maybe Koro was different. She certainly didn’t act like she wanted to destroy everything. And she had mentioned several times that she never really fit in with her family. Maybe she really did just want a friend.

“I’ve made a huge mistake.” Wonder admitted to herself. She resolved to find her way back to the Rook Museum and talk to Koro. She still wasn’t sure what was true, but she would decide for herself and not base her feelings on some voice in the wall.

Wonder climbed back down the vines and walked out the door into the familiar hallway. She tried to retrace her steps as best she could. The run down to Room 23 had been a bit of a blur, but she made her way back to the Mezzanine with relatively little trouble. She opened the door to the Rook Museum and cautiously poked her head inside.

“Koro?” She asked the dark room. “Koro, are you still here?”

No reply.

“Come out, Koro, please. I need to talk to you.”

Still nothing.

Wonder stepped all the way into the room and pulled out her Firefly Jar. She checked the museum, avoiding looking at the other Rook-related artifacts as much as possible. Koro was nowhere to be found and Wonder was at a loss until she looked up and noticed the open window. Her spirits fell. “I’ve probably frightened her off and she’s flown away to where I’ll never find her again.” She stepped back outside and sat down in the hallway to think about her next move.

“Koro’s gone, maybe for good. Everyone else is waiting for me outside to tell them how I’m going to save them and fix Ur, but now I know I can’t do that.” She let out an exasperated sigh and leaned back against the wall. “This is a fine mess.” Further down the hall she noticed a set of stairs leading down and got an idea. She thought up her new plan while she was walking down the stairs.

‘Maybe there’s another exit I can try. If I can sneak out a side entrance I might be able to get Magic Rock’s attention and talk to him alone. He always has good advice.’

This set of stairs ran straight and long right down to the ground floor. She inched open the door at the bottom and found it opened directly onto a street adjacent to the one the Vendors were waiting on. She stepped silently out and closed the door behind her. Now she just needed to figure out how to get Magic Rock’s attention without alerting anyone else.

Wonder had only been considering what to do for a moment or two when she heard a rustling noise in a tree nearby. She looked up into the branches but didn’t see anything.

“Koro? Is that you?”

The street was silent for a second before she heard Koro’s voice from the tree. “Please don’t run away again.”

“I’m not going anywhere.” Wonder was so relieved to hear Koro’s voice she almost shouted, but then she remembered the feeling of betrayal and it cooled her excitement. “Why did you lie to me, Koro?”

Koro’s large, black bird head peeked from around the trunk of the tree. “I’m sorry. I really am. I just thought if you knew what I was you would run me off like everyone else.” She sounded sincere and Wonder’s anger lost some of its edge.

“I didn’t even know what a Rook was, why would I have cared?”

“Because everyone hates the Rook! If I had told you what my people did what would you have thought of me?”

Wonder considered that. “I don’t know, but it would have been nice to have gotten the chance to make up my mind. You were my only friend; I’m sure I would have taken your word over some old stories about what happened in the past.”

“You’re probably right, I was just so afraid of being left alone again. You were my only chance at having a real friend. The Rook kicked me out because I didn’t want to attack the Glitchen, but the Glitchen only ran or tried to attack me because I’m a Rook. I spent most of my life on my own, hiding and watching. I thought the Giants waking up would be the best thing that could happen. I would disappear and nothing would matter anymore, but then I was still here and everyone else was gone. I was more alone than ever! When I saw you just waking up I thought, ‘Here’s my chance. Maybe this is the start of something better.’”

Wonder was dumbfounded. Koro had always changed the subject when Wonder asked about her family. She just assumed Koro missed them and it was too sad to talk about. She had never considered that anyone might be happier in this new version of Ur. “Oh… wow. I don’t know what to say. I’m really sorry, Koro. I didn’t know.”

Koro dismissed it with a flap of her wing. “I know, I know. It’s not your fault. I should have told you. When you’re forced to live your life as an outcast I guess it makes you paranoid, but that’s no excuse. I just wish—“ but Koro never finished her sentence.

“Well, what do we have here?” Uncle Friendly stepped out from behind a large root near the end of the street looking very pleased with himself. “I heard voices and thought I would come investigate. I’m glad I did. Conspiring with the Rook? I expected more of you, Wonder.”

“No, Uncle Friendly, you don’t understand!” Wonder protested, but Uncle Friendly cut her off.

“I understand enough! The Rook are the enemies of this world and if you’re conspiring with them then that makes you the enemy as well.”

“But—“

“Now, I know you’re young. You’re still learning about this place, but you need to understand: the Rook are evil and they want nothing more than to see this world destroyed. Now, I’ll give you a chance to redeem yourself.” Uncle Friendly was towering over Wonder staring into her with his gigantic eye. “What did you find in the tower? Did you learn how to call the Giants back?”

Wonder didn’t know what to do. She was feeling panicked and her brain wasn’t working. All she could squeak out was, “No, not exactly.”

“Not exactly? Well, what does that mean?”

And then it was over. Wonder was too scared to think straight and started recounting everything that had happened in Room 23 including Gwendolyn’s plan to wake the Giants. Luckily she was so frightened she jumbled most of it and forgot some key parts, like the Crystal Heart, but Uncle Friendly got enough to understand that she wasn’t going to put the Giants back to sleep, she was going to wake them up and end this world for good.

He stared down at Wonder for a long time in shock until his surprise turned into a self-satisfied smirk. He pulled something from his pocket. “I don’t blame you, Wonder. You’re too young to understand what’s going on and the Rook have twisted your mind. But I can’t let you destroy this world. I have to do what I can to protect it.” He pressed something into Wonder’s hand.

Wonder looked down and saw what looked like a piece of paper. “What is—“

Uncle Friendly squeezed Wonder's hand around the paper and with a pop she disappeared.

Koro squawked and flapped her wings in the tree, but Uncle Friendly just looked up at her and smiled. “Go back to your friends and let them know your plan failed. Uncle Friendly is defending Ur now, and he won’t go down without a fight.” With that he turned and walked back toward the front of the tower.

<< Chapter 10: Room 23 | NOTES | Chapter 12: The Forest at Night >>

Chapter 10: Room 23

Wonder hit the door running and kept going. She had never experienced betrayal, but she found it to be more than she could deal with. How exactly is a Glitch supposed to react to finding out that their closest friend is actually their oldest enemy? True, Koro had never acted much like an enemy, but Wonder wasn’t in any position to consider things rationally at the moment. For all she knew it could be one big Rook trick! The only thing she could do was get as far from Koro as possible.

She ran back through the unfinished hallway, past the Interrogation Room and into the endless corridors that lead back down the tower. Her head was still spinning and she wasn’t really paying attention to where she was headed, so she didn’t notice the sign on the door that read “Room 23” when she opened it and charged headlong into the darkness.

The sudden change of surroundings brought her up short. She had been expecting another hallway with another series of doors; instead, she was in a large, dark, open room. In fact it didn’t really seem like a room in a tower at all; it seemed like another street in Jethimadh or Chakra Phool, only it felt like she was underground. Wonder knew that was impossible; she hadn’t gone that far down the tower, and it made her a little bit nervous.

She was trying to see into the distance, struggling with the decision of whether she should explore or go back and find another way. With a sigh she took a step further into the room. Her curiosity combined with her desire to find anything to take her mind off of Koro pushed her on.

Wonder took a few more steps before she tripped over something. Picking herself up she was cursing the darkness when she remembered the Firefly Jar she had in her bag. She reached in and grabbed the jar. The Fireflies were dancing around inside and looked quite content. When they saw her looking in they seemed to get a little brighter and dance a little faster like they were trying to show off.

Wonder held the jar up and it cast a warm light all around her. She still couldn’t see the ends of the room, but at least the dirt path was lit up clearly. There were vines and other plants growing up from the ground and hanging from the ceiling far above. It definitely looked more like an outdoor street than an indoor room. She looked down to see what she had tripped over and found another log with crudely carved arms and facial features like the one she saw in the Rook Museum. She wondered where they had come from, and it made her kind of sad to see them lying on the ground helpless.

She followed the path, but the room wasn’t quite as big as she had imagined at first and she quickly came up against the back wall. Wonder was a little disappointed to find nothing but smooth rock at the end of the room and she sat with her back to it trying to think of what to do next. She started to think about Koro, but decided she wasn’t ready to deal with that yet and instead turned her thoughts back to the mission. She tried to consider what to do about getting back to those other rooms she hadn’t checked, but her heart wasn’t in it and her thoughts began to drift to feeling sorry for herself.

Just as Wonder was beginning to settle into a nice little pity-party she thought she saw something out of the corner of her eye. She covered the Firefly Jar and looked again. There, a little ways above her she could swear she saw a faint blue glow. She pulled the Firefly Jar back out and looked around. Sure enough there was a ledge of rock above her and a vine growth climbing up to it that she hoped would support her weight.

She hooked the jar to her bag and tested the strength of the vines. They seemed sturdy enough so she climbed slowly at first trying to feel it out before gaining some confidence and making the rest of her way fairly easily. When she got to the top the path looked very similar to the one she had just left. She covered the Fireflies and saw the blue glow in the distance directly in front of her.

Wonder’s thoughts were racing about what she might find down there in the dark. So far it hadn’t crossed her mind that it might be something dangerous, but now she began to get a little frightened. Why would Glitchen keep something down here in the dark where it was hidden away from the rest of the world if it wasn’t something bad? Her steps slowed as she approached the glow and considered that she might not like what she found. Just as Wonder was thinking about turning around and getting out of this room as fast as possible a voice startled her so badly she almost dropped the Firefly Jar.

“Don’t be afraid, little Glitch. Come closer and let us speak.”

Wonder stood perfectly still for a moment, but something about the voice reassured her. She slowly began walking toward the glow again. As she got closer the blue light was enough to see by so she put the Firefly Jar away. She approached the source of the light and the voice spoke again.

“Welcome, Wonder. This has been a strange life for you so far, hasn’t it?”

As it spoke the light dimmed and Wonder could make out the pale, translucent shape of a Glitch in a flowing dress, floating several inches off the ground. Wonder thought she looked a little sad.

“Don’t be shy,” the Glitch teased, “I’m a friend.”

Wonder tried to shake the surprise from her thoughts. “Another Glitch? So I’m not the only one left?”

The floating Glitch gave a small smile. “No, I’m afraid you are the last of our kind. I’m no longer a Glitch as you are. I am merely the spirit of a Glitch that lived and died long, long ago. You may call me Gwendolyn.”

“Gwendolyn.” Wonder repeated the name. “But why are you here?”

Gwendolyn laughed, and it sounded whisper-thin like the wind through leaves. “That is a loaded question. If you mean, ‘Why did I remain in Ur after I died?’ well, that business is my own and doesn’t concern your current situation. If you mean, ‘Why am I still here if the rest of the Glitchen disappeared?’ that is a mystery to me as well. If you mean, ‘Why am I here right now talking to you?’ well, that one’s easy. I want to help you.”

“Help me?”

“Of course! Someone has to save this world and I believe that someone is you. And right now you need someone to help, and I believe that someone is me.”

“I don’t think you can help me… unless you know how to put the Giants back to sleep?”

Gwendolyn looked down at Wonder thoughtfully. “No, I’m afraid I don’t know how to put them back to sleep, but I don’t think that’s what saving this world means.”

Wonder was confused. “But Uncle Friendly said we need to put them back to sleep to restore Ur. He said they must not be fully awake if we’re still here, so we need to get them all the way back to sleep and it will reset things.”

“Uncle Friendly is right about one thing: the Giants aren’t fully awake. That is the reason we’re still here. Unfortunately putting them back to sleep is neither easy, nor is it the right thing to do.”

Wonder still didn’t understand. “But you said I’m supposed to save Ur. How am I going to do that if I don’t put the Giants back to sleep?”

“You’re going to wake them up.”

This was not the answer Wonder had been expecting. She wasn’t sure how to respond. “But… won’t that destroy the rest of the world?”

Gwendolyn looked down at Wonder sympathetically. “I’m sorry, Wonder. I know this isn’t what you want to hear, but listen to your heart. You were already skeptical of Uncle Friendly’s plan, you just didn’t know why. Think about what you are hoping to accomplish. The Giants imagined this world and its inhabitants in a dream. When they woke up parts of that dream disappeared. The Giants are still somewhere between waking and sleeping which is why we remain, but the most important and complex part, the Glitchen, are already gone. If you somehow found a way to put the Giants back to sleep the Glitchen wouldn’t just reappear. This world has already been damaged and it can’t go back to the way it was. The Glitchen are gone for good.

“If the Giants were to fully fall back asleep the best we could hope for is to be left alone. More likely the dream would change and become dangerous to us. If we do nothing and leave things as they are we might remain unchanged for a while, but eventually things will start disappearing. Things are already changed aren’t they?”

Wonder nodded. “The animals and trees don’t talk anymore. Magic Rock said they used to talk all the time.”

Gwendolyn considered this and sighed to herself. “So you see, left unchecked things would continue to progress like this. Maybe one day the Vendors wake up to find their minds gone, or maybe streets start disappearing without warning. It would be a slow, painful death for this world. We deserve better.” Gwendolyn floated silently while she let it all sink in.

Finally Wonder responded. “But what about me?”

Gwendolyn smiled down at Wonder. “I’m afraid your story ends with us as well.”

Wonder’s head fell and she began to cry softly.

“Why are you sad?”

Wonder looked back up and wiped her eyes. “Because I don’t want to die.”

“It is hard to be the hero sometimes. I wish I could comfort you by saying your actions will be remembered for generations to come, but that wouldn’t be true. I can tell you that you’ll be reunited with your Glitchen brothers and sisters and this entire world will go along with you. More importantly you will be saving every other rock, tree, piggy, Vendor and ghost whether they realize it or not.”

“But why me?”

“Because it has to be you, Wonder. The Glitchen were the favorite of the Giants and you were the favorite of the Glitchen or else you wouldn’t be here. You are the answer to this problem.”

“But I don’t know how.”

“I think I might be able to help you with that.” Gwendolyn floated backward several feet to reveal a music block lying on the ground below her. It looked very much like any of the hundreds of music blocks Wonder had come across except that the front showed an image of a night sky behind a tree line.

“A music block?” Wonder asked.

“This is a special music block,” Gwendolyn replied. “It’s very old and still holds much power. I will show you where to take it. All you have to do is get there and play it.”

Wonder picked up the music block and turned it over in her hands. There didn’t appear to be anything special about it on the outside, but she could feel a force pulling at her from within. She placed it carefully in one of her bags and looked back up at Gwendolyn. “Where do I go?”

“Ah, here we come to it: the quest. It is difficult to explain, and I doubt you would understand or remember my instruction either way. You’re going to the end of the world, a place where Ur butts right up against the waking world.”

Wonder looked at her questioningly. “But if you can’t tell me how to get there how am I supposed to find it?”

Gwendolyn floated in close to Wonder, only a foot or so away, and spoke quietly. “With this.” Gradually the soft light emanating from Gwendolyn became a blinding radiance. It flared once forcing Wonder to shield her eyes, and then it began to die. When she moved her hands from her eyes Wonder saw Gwendolyn bring a brightly shining object away from her chest. It was like the light had passed from Gwendolyn to this thing that she was holding cupped in her hands. She offered it to Wonder.

“It’s OK,” Gwendolyn said, her voice just a whisper. “Take it.”

Wonder reached up and took the object. It felt round, smooth and cool with some ridges and protrusions near one end. The light had faded enough now to make out the outline.

“It’s my Crystal Heart. It will help you find your way.” Gwendolyn was beginning to sound far away and her form was fading in the dying light.

“Wait! What if I need more help?” Wonder shouted at her almost invisible form.

“You have help. You have friends. Trust them. Lean on them to get you to your goal, but in the end you must walk the final road alone.”

And that was the last she saw or heard from Gwendolyn. The only evidence of their conversation was the Crystal Heart still softly glowing in Wonder’s hand.

<< Chapter 9: Inside the Tower | NOTES | Chapter 11: Things Aren't Always What They Seem >>

Chapter 9: Inside the Tower

When Uncle Friendly said they had a lot to talk about he wasn’t kidding, and he did most of the talking. Magic Rock asked him questions about what had been going on since everyone disappeared—what Uncle Friendly referred to as “The Awakening”—and why all the Vendors were gathered at the tower.

Most of what he said didn’t make a lot of sense to Wonder since she hadn’t been around before and wasn’t as familiar with Ur. He talked about how the Vendors already had a plan in place to meet up if the world didn’t end when the Giants woke up. Once it was apparent that Ur was still there they all teleported to Jethimadh Tower. They had been near the tower since then trying to figure out what to do next.

As the conversation went on Wonder’s earlier excitement turned to boredom and she found her attention drifting to the Vendors standing at the base of the tower. They had mostly turned to each other, coming together in groups to chat while Uncle Friendly figured out what to do. Wonder wondered what their lives had been like before and what it would have been like to trade with them if she had been given the chance of a normal life.

While she was daydreaming Magic Rock and Uncle Friendly had apparently come to a decision and were staring at her. She slowly turned back to them and realized they had asked her something and were waiting for a response.

“I’m sorry, I wasn’t paying attention.”

Uncle Friendly seemed exasperated. “Of course not,” he grumbled to himself followed by something else she couldn’t make out.

“It’s OK,” Mr. Trinkets said. “I was starting to nod off myself.”

Magic Rock pushed on. “Yes, yes, very funny. The long and short of it is Uncle Friendly here believes the Giants are still somewhere between waking and sleeping and that if we can get them back to sleep the world will be restored to its former balance.”

“Really?” Wonder was excited about the possibility, but couldn’t see how they could put the Giants back to sleep. “So, how do we do that?”

“Well, that’s where they’re kind of stuck. There is a theory that we can somehow use the store of Wine of the Dead that Hell’s Bartender brought up with him. Maybe make it into a concentrated powder. It’s deadly to Glitchen and Vendors alike, but it might be just enough to put the Giants back to sleep.”

“OK, so can we try that?”

This time Uncle Friendly answered her. “We’d love to. The problem is we’re not sure how to deliver the powder. How do you sprinkle something on a Giant when you live inside its mind? That’s where you come in.”

Wonder was confused. “I’m sorry?”

“We know that Glitchen in the past have called the Giants into our world and talked to them face to face. We think that if you can do that we might have a chance to dose them up and put them back to sleep.”

The longer she listened the more far-fetched Uncle Friendly’s plan seemed. “And how exactly am I supposed to call the Giants?”

“Well, we don’t really know that either, but we know it’s been done before. Our thought is that if there is a way to call the Giants you’ll find that information in the tower.” Uncle Friendly was waiting for a response.

It seemed to Wonder that he talked a big game, but underneath his cool exterior he was extremely worried. The plan would need several miracles, at least, if it had any chance of working. On the other hand it was the only plan they had. “So why do you need me? You’ve obviously been here a while; haven’t you searched the tower by now?”

“And now we’ve come to our first problem, which you have easily solved just by showing up!” Uncle Friendly seemed pleased to reach a question he could answer with confidence. “The tower will only open for a Glitch. Until now we believed them all to be gone and our hope was lost, but now here you are: the last Glitch in Ur.”

Wonder finally understood her part in this conversation. “So you need me to go in, figure out how to call the Giants and then come back here and tell you so you can put them back to sleep.”

“Yes, well, almost. We need you to go in, figure out how to call the Giants and then actually do it so you can put them back to sleep.”

Wonder was shocked at Uncle Friendly’s suggestion. “What? Why do I have to do it? You are all much smarter and understand this world better than I do. I’m the last person that should be calling the Giants!”

“That’s just it, Wonder, you’re the last person, or at least the last Glitch. You’re the only one that can do it. The Giants don’t listen to us, but they might listen to you.”

“He’s right, Wonder. We have no idea if any of this will work, but right now you’re our best hope.” Magic Rock spoke softly trying to convince her. “We’ll wait for you here, but this is something you’ll have to do alone. So, will you do it?”

Suddenly Wonder felt the weight of what they were asking. That morning she had been nothing more than a traveler hoping to find some answers and now all of a sudden she’s the savior of Ur? She couldn’t imagine how any of this could make sense, but at the moment she didn’t have any better ideas. She felt her mind split. One part was completely numb from the shock of what was being asked, but the other part was suddenly kicked into overdrive. There were so many things she still didn’t understand about this world; maybe they were right, maybe she is their last hope to put things back together. Maybe this plan will work and everything will go back to normal and she can lead a normal life with her own home street and her own butler. Maybe Uncle Friendly’s idea isn’t crazy at all, it just needs a Glitch—any Glitch—to make it work.

It was this part of her brain, the hopeful, but slightly illogical part, that agreed to enter the tower alone and look for a way to call the Giants back to Ur.

“OK,” she said. “I’ll do it. Just tell me where to go.”

***

The next few hours were spent discussing the layout of the tower and likely locations of knowledge and resources that would be helpful. Magic Rock and Uncle Friendly did most of the planning without consulting Wonder which irritated her until she realized neither of them seemed to really know much about the tower and most of the search was going to be up to Wonder and her instincts. This did not make her feel any better about the plan.

As far as she understood there were several rooms, likely near the top of the tower, which would have been used as museums or libraries or something similar. Much of the tower was still under construction and there were hallways that suddenly ended and doors that opened into nothing, so she should be careful. Other than that her goal was to head as high in the tower as she could get and search the rooms there.

When it was time for her to go there was little fanfare. Though all the Vendors realized what was happening and were watching her intently there were no announcements made or any official words said. Instead Magic Rock and Mr. Trinkets quietly wished her luck and then stepped back. She took one more look around before opening the large front door, taking a deep breath and stepping inside.

The entrance was not quite what Wonder was expecting. For such a grand tower she somehow thought the inside would feel bigger. Instead she was in a relatively small corridor warmly lit by lamps hanging overhead. There were several doors along the walls and then the corridor just ended.

“Well,” she said to herself, “here goes nothing.” She opened the first door she came to and stepped through.

Jethimadh Tower was at least as confusing as they had warned her it would be, if not more. She didn’t have a map or a guide or really any sense of general direction other than up. The doors all had signs, but they just seemed to be random numbers and letters; none of them made much sense to her. She just kept climbing and going through door after door, finding more hallways and more doors. After what felt like the hundredth corridor she wondered what idiot architect had designed this place, and then worried that even if she found what she came for she wouldn’t be able to get out again.

She was beginning to feel like she would never reach the top when she came to a door with a wooden plank across it and a sign that said “Under Construction.”

Wonder thought to herself, ‘At least this is something different,’ and decided to have a peek behind it. She tugged the plank off of the door and pulled it open.

What she saw when she stepped through was another hallway, but this one was clearly still being finished up. The lamps weren’t all hung and the walls weren’t quite finished. Along one side were two doors. One labeled “Interrogation Room: No Admittance,” the other labeled “Mezzanine.”

Wonder thought a room where interrogations happened was likely to have lots of information, so she tried the Interrogation Room first. The sign wasn’t lying when it said “No Admittance,” because the door was locked and she couldn’t get in. Disappointed, she turned to the other door.

Wonder didn’t know what a Mezzanine was, but the door was unlocked so she opened it and went through. She was in another hallway, but she felt like she was close to her goal as the doors here had signs that read things like “Hall of Records” and “Hall of Rejected Concepts.” Hall of Records seemed like a good place to start, but as she was reaching for the door knob another door caught her attention. The next door over was labeled “Rook Museum” and Wonder’s fascination kept her rooted to the spot.

She knew almost nothing about the Rook, except what Magic Rock had told her, which wasn’t much, but she clearly remembered the fear in her friend’s eyes when they thought they had seen one. She had asked about the Rook several times on their journey to the tower, but the rest of the group had always changed the subject or feigned ignorance. Now here was her chance to find out what they had been keeping from her. She was eager to complete her task and get back to her friends, but she figured a quick peek couldn’t hurt, so she turned away from the other doors and stepped into the Rook Museum.

At first there was nothing to see. The room was large, but it was very dimly lit. There was a small log crudely carved with arms and a face lying on the ground next to the door. She poked at it with her foot, but it didn’t move. Wonder stepped a little further into the room, but couldn’t see much. There was a large picture on the wall near her, but it was hard to discern in the dark. Looking a little closer she noticed a small red button next to the frame.

She pushed the button and a light flickered to life over the image. A crackling noise startled her and a voice began speaking from the wall next to her. Wonder jumped back in surprise, but she quickly realized the voice was narrating the story in the picture.

“Back in the early ages of Ur,” the voice began, “small islands formed spontaneously from the primordial chaos.”

While the voice went on about the dangers of the early days of Ur, Wonder examined the picture. It showed a scene of some early Glitchen running away in fear from a darkness in the background, and flying with them were several large black birds that looked just like—

“Oh no! Koro!” In all the excitement of meeting the Vendors and her new quest she had completely forgotten she still had Koro tucked away in one of her bags.

Wonder tore open the bag and lifted Koro out carefully. “Koro I’m so sorry! You’ve been in there for hours and I completely forgot!”

Koro hopped down to the floor and fanned her wings. She looked a little ruffled, but no worse for the wear. “It’s OK, I’m fine,” she said. “Where are we?” By this time the voice had stopped talking and the light over the picture had gone out so there wasn’t much for Koro to see but a big, dark room.

“We’re in the tower! You missed out on quite a bit. You really should have joined us. I know you said you were nervous, but there was really nothing to worry about.”

“Where is everyone else?” Koro asked.

“They stayed behind. I’ll fill you in on all the details later, but I had to come in alone because they said only a Glitch could open the tower. I guess you got in because I brought you here with me.” Then turning to the picture on the wall she went on excitedly, “But, Koro, look at what I found!” Wonder pushed the button and the picture lit up as the voice began speaking again.

“Back in the early ages of Ur…”

Wonder pointed up at the picture. “Look, it’s us! Our people, together, back in history!”

Koro’s eyes went wide.

“...The ancient Glitchen tribes suffered under constant threat to their very survival…”

“Wonder, where are we?”

“I told you, we’re in the tower.”

“…But by far the most dangerous and terrifying of these was The Rook…”

“Where in the tower?”

“The Rook Museum, why?” Wonder looked at her friend, confused.

“…The Rook, enemy of imagination, visited its wrath upon whatever the Giants created…”

Koro was suddenly panicked. “We shouldn’t be here!”

“Koro, what’s the matter?”

“…It was the very manifestation of fear, doubt and uncertainty…”

“We can’t stay! We have to leave now!”

“Koro, you’re scaring me, tell me what’s wrong!”

“… It pecked and clawed relentlessly at the periphery of the Giants’ domain…”

“Please trust me, we need to go!”

“Koro, what’s the big deal? It’s just…“ but Wonder’s words fell short. As she looked back up at the picture something in her mind clicked. She made connections she hadn’t been able to make before. All of those odd looks between the others, Koro’s unusual behavior, it all suddenly made sense. Those birds weren’t flying from the terror, they were the terror.

“…Black winter to the Giants’ spring of creativity…”

“Koro…” Wonder whispered in horror. “You’re a… a Rook?”

Koro looked up at Wonder pleadingly. “I’m so sorry. I never wanted to hurt anyone. I just wanted a friend.”

Wonder looked back at Koro as if for the first time. She stared in silence for a long moment and then turned and ran from the room while Koro watched her, defeated.

“…It was—if I can say so myself—most awful.”

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