Chapter 44: Back So Soon
Off the coast of Glass Beach.
I'd never seen it before from the outside ,I mean the actual island as a whole .
At its center was a huge mountain, and woven into it was a city. Actually impressive, too. It had bowers and bridges going back and forth, connecting huts to each other. The huts at its base were small and modest, but the higher up you went, the bigger and fancier they got, from one-bedroom spaces to full-on mansions.
The whole mountain was surrounded by a thick green forest, and along its edge was a beach… not a normal one. The beach wasn't sand at all, it was made of jewel-like rocks that shimmered in the light. No sand in sight, just millions of small, smooth, shiny stones, red, blue, green, purple, black, and so on ,each one glinting like treasure.
"So this is your home," I said, in awe.
"It used to be," she smiled sadly. "When you turn of age, you're sent down below to the mines," she said, looking down. "Then for months on end you stay there, never able to see sunlight except on one special day ,your off day."
"They call it the Rise. They say it's from the generosity of the Lady herself… but I always thought it was sick."
As we looked over the island, you could feel a strange aura. Brook's Cavern always had this warm and sweet energy, like it was welcoming you home. But here? It felt cold. Like a prison. No happiness anywhere in sight.
As we kept scanning, we saw a sister islet connected to the main island by a small, narrow sandbank. On it was a strange door that led to nowhere, huge, almost the height of two giants standing on each other's shoulders. It had a weird glow, pulling in light unnaturally.
"What's that?" I asked.
"It's… the Lady says it was built as a gift to the founder of Glass Beach. But besides that, I don't know either."
"Well, that just sounds like a big fat lie," Mel said.
"Yeah. The Lady Medulla is not to be trusted,we all know she lies to us. But we can't question her. Those who ask too many questions… tend to go missing," Mara said quietly.
"Who is this Lady Medulla?" El asked, interest piqued.
"She's the ruler of Glass Beach. We don't have kings or queens here, but… that would be the closest explanation," Mara said.
"Interesting. But for now, it's time to go," I said. "Are you ready?"
We floated higher up into the sky, blending in with the clouds above.
"So, Mel… you sure you want to stay behind?"
"Yeah, it's fine," she said. "Someone needs to look after the Neptune. And I'd like to keep my plants taken care of.
"I do want to see Stella and Stello again"
"You mean you just want to eat more of their food again," El interrupted.
"Hey, shut it," Mel said. "Anyway, it's best if we have someone here to watch the Neptune. Might as well be me."
"Okay," I said. "Anyway, let's go over the plan again."
Later that day
"Okay, so we all understand, right?"
"Yeah, but… how sure are you that this'll work out how you think it will? Maddox, this feels like a very poorly planned plan, if you ask me." mel said dryly
"It will work, don't worry," I said, maybe a little hurt by the lack of faith in my plan.
"If we do things this way, we have a solid backup and a solid main plan," I defended. "Let's do it!" I shouted.
"Hollow Step!"
And just like that poof we appeared in Stella's Kingdom of Sweets once again.
Before we'd left last time, Stella had built a small monument, a suspended light that cast a permanent shadow onto a rock. It would always be there to let us come and go as needed. They called it the Shadow Gate, which was… lazy naming, but a nice gesture I appreciated.
The gate was near the Velvet Frost, just a single road's walk from Stella's castle. On our first trip here, I'd never made it to the castle, we spent most of our time at the Candy Cabin on the fray. Weirdly, that made me realize we never actually got to explore this beautiful kingdom much.
At the center of Sweet Point Plateau stood Stella's castle, towers of pink and white sugarstone, crowned with gumdrop domes that caught the sun. Glass-sugar bridges spanned between them, and below ran chocolate streams through candy-brick streets. A single bridge at the center allowed entry to the gates, gold and delicate.
The only other time I'd been here, we'd stood on the roof of the castle. From there, you could see all the lands in their full glory, a perfect view of all of Sweet Point.
We crossed the chocolate river moat and went inside. Peppermint floors led to a throne beneath a vast rock candy chandelier. Everything gleamed. That warm, sweet scent was just as strong as the first time.
We were met by giant gummy bears holding spears and shields,the guards, I guessed. Cute, but serious… which somehow made them even cuter. They kneeled.
Of the three gummy bears, none spoke. Instead, from behind, a giant figure followed,dressed in guard-cracker armor with a sword made of reinforced sugar.
"Greetings once again, Sir Maddox, Miss Eliza, and… er, I don't believe we've met." He kneeled, and the gummy bears followed suit.
"Hi again, Danny," I said, smiling. He looked different from the first time we met for one, he didn't look homeless anymore.
"We never expected to see you here so soon. I'm sad to see Miss Melody isn't with you this time." His voice was normal here, a night-and-day difference from his fray counterpart.
"Yeah, she decided to stay with the Neptune. She was sad not to come, but she wanted to guard it."
"Very understandable. And who is she, if I may ask?"
"Oh, err… hi. My name's Maranielle, but you can just call me Mara," she said.
"Ohhhh, is that Maddox I hear?" Huge steps pounded toward us from the throne room.
"Err, Queen Stella, you're meant to be in a meeting! Go back right now"
"That meeting was boring. I'm more interested in Maddox and the others!" She burst through.
"Hiiiiii again, Maddox! We didn't expect to see you so soon,I'm so happy!"
"Stella, get your ass back here! This is an important meeting, dumbass!"
"Oh, what a lovely surprise. Hi again, friends!" Stello said, catching up to Stella. "Forget the meeting. Call it off."
"As you wish," Danny said.
Err… I thought it was important, I thought to myself dryly.
We sat in the main meeting chamber, a huge table with many chairs, all made of hard oak wood. The brown room was built from dark chocolate and shiny hardened sugar. Gold crest trinkets lined the wall
I explained what had happened and why we had returned to Stella and Stello all about Mara, Glass Beach, the battery, and the plan we had.
"Oh, you poor thing," Stella and Stello said in unison. "Well, of course we will help. We knew Glass Beach had its share of rumors about misfortune, but we never imagined it was this bad,or that its people were in such a state."
"We both have top-notch science and technology centers, both here in Sweet Point and in Savoryspire," Stella continued. "We'll form a group of our brightest minds to help you. All they'll need are the specifications, and you'll be all set."
"For convenience's sake," Stello added, "we'll use the lab here in Sweet Point, near the Frosted Falls."
He paused, his tone shifting. "But… sadly, Maddox, about the other thing you asked us to do,while it pains us,we cannot offer sanctuary to those of Glass Beach. As much as we would love to aid you, as one of the fourteen continents we cannot, politically, take a stance that directly hastens the demise of another island. We cannot afford to go to war right now. We're truly sorry."
"No worries," I replied, masking my disappointment. "I knew it was a slim chance. But the battery help will be more than enough. I'll make another plan."
After a moment, I glanced between them. "You were having a meeting, right? What was it about, if you don't mind me asking?"
The air in the room shifted, growing heavier.
"A few days after you left," Stello began, "on Savoryspire's seaside edge of the Fray, a strange airship crashed,killing all its passengers and leaving us with almost no answers. We brought the wreckage to our labs, and the technology… it's strange. A steam-powered flying vessel, made with many foreign components. The only problem is, our air systems never picked it up entering our flight zones. It doesn't appear to belong to any of the fourteen nations. It seems…" He hesitated. "…to have just appeared out of nowhere."
"So we had a meeting to tighten our security," Stella continued. "We can't have events like this happening on a whim. This world has become very strange since that dome came down,more activity, more rumors. We need to be prepared for the worst."
I took a moment, then nodded. "I see. That explains a lot. And on top of all that, I pressured you with my plan. I'd like to apologize."
"What? No, Maddox," Stella said firmly. "We owe you so much already. You have nothing to apologize for."
"Yes, but… I may have an even crazier plan I'd like you to consider."
Later
"Well," Stello said, leaning back, "I don't see how we could say no. Technically, that land doesn't belong to us, and in this situation, it would be the best outcome to help you achieve your goal."
"I know it's selfish," I said, glancing between Mara, Stello, and Stella, "on both your nations' parts to aid me. But it's the best plan I have right now."
"It does seem to be the best we can do," Stella said with a small smile. "And we'll always be by your side, Maddox. So,do what you need to do."
"Thank you," I said quietly. "I truly appreciate it."
'Maddox Mara said as she bowed her head and tears began to form i lied to you im so sorry' she shouted
"What" The room went quiet as we all turned to her.
"My mission was never truly about freeing my people."