Wonder hit the door running and
kept going. He had never experienced betrayal, but he found it to be more than he
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 he knew it could be one big Rook trick! The
only thing he could do was get as far from Koro as possible.
He ran back through the
unfinished hallway, past the Interrogation Room and into the endless corridors
that lead back down the tower. His head was still spinning and he wasn’t really
paying attention to where he was headed, so he didn’t notice the sign on the
door that read “Room 23” when he opened it and charged headlong into the
darkness.
The sudden change of surroundings
brought him up short. He had been expecting another hallway with another series
of doors; instead, he 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 he was underground. Wonder knew that was
impossible; he hadn’t gone that far down the tower, and it made him a little
bit nervous.
He was trying to see into the
distance, struggling with the decision of whether he should explore or go back
and find another way. With a sigh he took a step further into the room. His
curiosity combined with his desire to find anything to take his mind off of
Koro pushed him on.
Wonder took a few more steps before
he tripped over something. Picking himself up he was cursing the darkness when he
remembered the Firefly Jar he had in his bag. He reached in and grabbed the
jar. The Fireflies were dancing around inside and looked quite content. When
they saw him 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 him. He 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. He looked
down to see what he had tripped over and found another log with crudely carved
arms and facial features like the one he saw in the Rook Museum. He wondered where
they had come from, and it made him kind of sad to see them lying on the ground
helpless.
He followed the path, but the
room wasn’t quite as big as he had imagined at first and he 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 he sat with his back to it trying to
think of what to do next. He started to think about Koro, but decided he wasn’t
ready to deal with that yet and instead turned his thoughts back to the
mission. He tried to consider what to do about getting back to those other
rooms he hadn’t checked, but his heart wasn’t in it and his thoughts began to
drift to feeling sorry for himself.
Just as Wonder was beginning to
settle into a nice little pity-party he thought he saw something out of the
corner of his eye. He covered the Firefly Jar and looked again. There, a little
ways above him he could swear he saw a faint blue glow. He pulled the Firefly
Jar back out and looked around. Sure enough there was a ledge of rock above him
and a vine growth climbing up to it that he hoped would support his weight.
He hooked the jar to his bag and
tested the strength of the vines. They seemed sturdy enough so he climbed
slowly at first trying to feel it out before gaining some confidence and making
the rest of his way fairly easily. When he got to the top the path looked very
similar to the one he had just left. He covered the Fireflies and saw the blue
glow in the distance directly in front of him.
Wonder’s thoughts were racing
about what he might find down there in the dark. So far it hadn’t crossed his
mind that it might be something dangerous, but now he 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? His
steps slowed as he approached the glow and considered that he might not like
what he found. Just as Wonder was thinking about turning around and getting out
of this room as fast as possible a voice startled him so badly he 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 him. He slowly began walking
toward the glow again. As he got closer the blue light was enough to see by so he
put the Firefly Jar away. He 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 his 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. He 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 he began to
cry softly.
“Why are you sad?”
Wonder looked back up and wiped
his 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 his hands. There didn’t appear to be anything special
about it on the outside, but he could feel a force pulling at him from within.
He placed it carefully in one of his 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 his eyes, and then it began to die. When he moved his
hands from his 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 he saw or
heard from Gwendolyn. The only evidence of their conversation was the Crystal
Heart still softly glowing in Wonder’s hand.
