The Quest for the Fallen Angel... Island

[Mami Tomoe]

On my way out the gate I stumble, turning over in midair. As a kneejerk response I plant my hands on the ground, flip forward and land on my feet.

"And she sticks the landing!" I cheer, only to remember I have a sleepy Histy that will be Pissty if I wake her up. And then I remember I was just upside-down with Histy on my shoulder.

"Neptune, could you please keep the acrobatics to a minimum?" Histy's irritated voice requests from the ground behind me. She floats up and onto my shoulder again. "My tome is dusted in sand now. Please give me a moment to clean it off."

I take my time to look around as best as I can without moving. "Woah! Lookit this place! It's like coastal Leanbox here - seriously, Histy, look! This is awesome!"

It looks like what Histy would call 'antiquated', or sort of classical, at least compared to Planeptune. To me it just says 'Leanbox' - well, again, coastal Leanbox, anyway. Colour scheme aside, Vert would be right at home here, I think. People walk up and down the streets - not many seem to hold to any sort of theme, which makes me feel a bit more at home. My eyes water a little bit - there's saltwater somewhere nearby, I'm guessing. I wipe my parka dress sleeve across my eyes, drying them out and hoping they adjust a little.

"I can't believe I'm saying this, but you're right, Neptune," Histy interjects. "But while it may be nice here, we have plans at the moment. We can come back here some other time."

"As a pudding connoisseur, it would be a crime for me to wait more than a moment to try to find the one true holy pudding here! Custard pudding may come close, but this world may yet be blessed by something greater!" I shout and dash off.

"Wait-- Get back here! Neptune!" Histy shouts and trails along behind me.

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After a little while spent looking around, I end up in front of a cute little beachside restaurant of some kind. The inside is open-air, with the windows not having any glass in them or anything, but fortunately the smell of food pleasantly drowns out the burning sensation the saltwater not far away creates. Just inside the door is a podium that looks like it's made out of... whatever baskets are made of. What are baskets made of again? I'll have to ask Histy later.

Speaking of, she finally catches up and rests on my shoulder again. "Nep... stop... too tired," she pleads, then shuts her eyes and presumably goes to sleep, resting her head on her tome.

Some guy, who I'm guessing is a waiter here, rushes over to the podium and smiles. "Table for four, I'll assume?" he asks. I look at him confused. "For... for your parents?" he continues.

"Just two," I say. "Also, uh, can I pay in the weird glowy stuff, or do I have to go find money somewhere?"

"Omnilium," Histy clarifies. "We don't..."

"Oh!" the man says, sounding a bit shocked. "I didn't know you were a Prime! Or are you both Primes? Pardon me," he adds, "this will be on the house. I'll escort you to your table!"

I gently pluck Histy from my shoulder, then look at her, hoping for some kind of explanation. "Uh, what was that all about?" I ask, hoping she knows something - and, clearly, she doesn't. She sighs. "I'll look into it while you're eating."

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Six different cups of pudding later, Histy calls for my attention again. "After some searches on a network called the Dataverse, I've found something you may find interesting," Histy says. "Well, it would mean reading, so I'll just pick out a few more interesting points for you." She clears her throat and explains.

"Primes have been given an extraordinary gift: The ability to create on a whim," she begins, "so explains a book called the Monotruth. This ability to create what one desires with Omnilium might make Primes, as they're called, subjects of reverence. After a quick examination, I believe it warrants further exploration. It might teach us more about why we've been brought here." Then she continues, "I should add that you may have been brought here, then you may have subconsciously brought me here with this 'ability to create on a whim'. This would make me a Secondary, not a Prime, I'm humbled that you first thought to bring me here of all people, but I'm still annoyed about you running off without me."

I scratch the back of my head and look away. "That was a really big text dump. So, uh, thanks or I'm sorry, whichever one works."

"Regardless," Histy starts again, "I would like to meet with whoever wrote this at some point. It would be an incredible educational opportunity for me, which - since you likely would have no interest in such a thing - I could then relay to you in terms you can understand. But we have another task at hand," she explains. "Look out at the beach - there are so many islands out there, and while the ones we can immediately see are likely inhabited, we could probably find our new Planeptune out there. We'll eventually need more than one island, but that's beyond the point right now."

"So, lemme get this straight," I interrupt. "We're gonna go find an island - a water-island, not a floaty-island - and then we're gonna make it a floaty-island?"

"To grossly oversimplify, yes," Histy answers. "But we need to first find a Sharicite. It takes immense power to make Planeptune float, power that would either take what I assume is unrealistic amounts of Omnilium or some kind of power we haven't yet found. It's also important that, as soon as possible, you regain your powers as a Goddess."

"So we need a plot device! If we were in a tavern, maybe the barkeep would have leads, but, uh," I lower my voice, "this isn't really a tavern, is it?"

"No, not quite," says someone behind me. Somewhat panickedly I straighten my back and look around. My eyes rest on the waiter-guy from earlier. "Oh, hey, it's you! Uh, do you know where we could get a mmmmphh..." Histy slaps a hand over my mouth and holds my lips shut. She's not strong, but she's stronger than she looks.

"You were saying something about an island, right?" the man asks. "Well, I've been hearing legends about an island supposedly southeast of here that fell from the sky into the ocean. Apparently it's sinking now - you can only see the mountain peaks now. I've taken to calling it the Fallen Angel - seems fitting, right?" he pauses for a moment, then looks as though he's thinking, and finally looks at me with concern.

"Now, I don't know how true that is," he continues, "but if you're a Prime, you're gonna be around for a while, right? No harm in looking around for the island, I figure. Just be careful if you go some place like that," he finishes, "and whether you find anything or not, you're welcome to come back here again anytime!"

Histy blinks. "That's quite helpful, actually," she responds, releasing her deathgrip on my mouth. "Thanks, waiter-guy!" I add and grin.

"Not a problem," he chimes. "Can I get you anything else, or will you be on your way?"

I raise my hand and open my mouth, but before I can say anything, Histy glares at me and says, "that should be all, thank you". Even though I'm a bit bummed about not getting to have more pudding, I close my eyes and start to think. Compensation. Payment. Something... something valuable. I try to grasp at words, but it doesn't seem to work. Something dominates my mind - something shiny, yellowish, rounded. There's a power symbol that takes up most of the coin.

Clink-clink-clink. About a dozen golden coins, just like the one I imagined, appear on the table before me. So, when trying to come up with something valuable, I create value itself. That makes sense if I don't think about it too much.

I could fit half of them in my palm, but my hand's small. Histy could probably only hold onto one at a time, based on their size and their weight, at least from the looks of things. There's a note, too. On white paper, in purple ink the words The pudding was rad! -Neptune are scrawled across in my own printing. It's... readable, but not exactly the neatest, so it's accurate enough to how I normally write. Histy looks at my handiwork with an approving smile.

"That's quite the generous tip," she says. "Though I suppose it's not much to you now, is it?" she adds, "I can trust you with money now, too," with a laugh.

As I walk out of the restaurant, Histy makes herself comfortable on my shoulder, using a clean napkin as a makeshift blanket. "Don't get too comfy," I say, "we're gonna be on a boat soon! Or should we go by plane? Or train? Histy, do you think there are trains here?!"

[Mami Tomoe]

The beach seems about as lively as any beach is. As much as I'd like to go swimming or play beach volleyball or make sandcastles or something, Histy'd kill me if I went sidequesting again.

...Well, kill is a stretch, but...

I look around the beach for a dock. My eyes land on a slab of concrete maybe six meters across with enough length to show compensation issues in its maker. A pair of boats - a long, trusty wooden sailboat and a sleek, metallic motorboat are anchored on either side. Nobody's near either of the boats, and since stealing doesn't sound like too great an idea, I ask myself one question: whose example should I follow?

"I know you're above stealing, Neptune," goes Histy, "but in case you thought you weren't... don't."

"Relax, relax! I'll just make a new boat from Omdeediddlydum. No problem, right?" I say, dusting my palms against each other as I step towards the shores. I'll just let this stuff make the choice for me, I think. I need a way to get across the water quickly. I need some kind of boat. Something like...

I leave the thought hanging. I open my eyes and see a white metal sailboat with the Planeptune logo on its sail. It has a deep purple underglow, so I can see into the water a little, with a similar glow running in horizontal lines down the sides of the ship. It's about ten meters across, from the looks of things, or at least that's the best guess I can offer at a moment's notice. For a second I wonder if I can sail this thing all on my own, but the thought's immediately brushed under the rug by holy crap I just made a boat this cool out of thin air.

"Okay. Real talk, Histy?" I say, and feel Histy nod against my neck. "I love this place."

The ship has already floated out to the water. I leap on board, trying to be careful not to wake Histy in the progress. I survey the boat, first looking for somewhere to set her down, since my shoulder isn't exactly the most stable place for her to sleep, as I've proven. I see a metal table with a pair of chairs next to it embedded in the deck, which I guess is because they'd sway around if they weren't embedded in the deck. I put Histy down on the table with her tome beside her. "Please be careful, Neptune," she says airily.

"I got this," I respond, giving her a thumbs up. How do I get this?

On top of what I'm assuming is a captain's quarters - a very humble captain's quarters, at that - is some kind of steering wheel. Small indents on the saily-post-thingy act as a ladder to the top, where a lookout would go if I had enough of a crew for that.

A crew. I sound like a pirate. On that thought, I summon an eyepatch and put it on. It doesn't take too long, since it's a pretty small thing to summon, I guess.

I jump up to the steering wheel, where upon closer examination, I also see a lever and a few buttons. All the buttons glow a shade of purple, the lever is tipped with a plush purple ball, and the steering wheel as the same purple glow as the underside of the boat. Following the typical trend, I once again whistle in approval.

The lever has nine increments, from the looks of things: Zero through eight. I immediately assume zero miles per hour, ten miles per hour, so on, so on, and push the lever to the "2" mark. I hear the engine rev into action somewhere under the boat. I almost trip under the sudden movement and in response strengthen my grip on the wheel. A smile spreads across my face as I reach back over to the speed lever and push it up one notch each second. I stop around sixty miles per hour - the wind whistles past my ears, brushing my hair backwards and pushing my sleeves up against my wrists.

This is the feeling of a new adventure!

"Fallen Angel, here we come!" I shout over the rushing winds. The sails billow in front of me - the motor's probably doing most of the work, I think, but the sails look nice enough that I'll keep them around. I just hope Histy's not having a problem with how fast we're going. On the thought of speed, I kick the lever up to the "8" notch. "We'll be there before we know it!"

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"Uh, which way are we going again?" I ask. Histy's sitting on the lever now, which is resting comfortably at the "1" setting. We've been sailing for what's easily been an hour or so, probably a lot more, and we've had little luck finding much of anything.

"Southeast," Histy answers, "but right now we're heading south-southeast. Remember? I recommended we start at a farther west point and sweep east from there?"

I blink. "Er, yeah. Right."

"You haven't been listening, have you?" says Histy irritably, then she exhales softly. "I can't exactly blame you. We haven't found anything that even remotely matches what we were told about, and even aside from the Fallen Angel, we haven't seen any islands that could handle being airborne."

I yawn. "Maybe we should get some sleep," I suggest, looking up at the sky. It's getting dark already, which feels jarring - it doesn't feel like it was that long ago I was complaining about it being dark already.

"That sounds like a good idea," she replies. "Just make sure you anchor the boat. We can't let ourselves get lost." Histy floats off to go to sleep where I had last left her with her napkin and tome. I pull the lever down to the "0" notch and the boat comes to a total stop. I search the sides of the boat and find an anchor tied to a long, thick, white cord. I make sure the cord's tied to the boat well enough, then drop the anchor overboard.

I count the seconds. "One, two, three," I start, watching the cord fly over the boat's edge. "Four, five, six," I continue, the incredibly large coil feeding off into the depths. "Seven... eight... nine?" I keep going, watching the cord continue to sink into the ocean. "Ten? Eleven? Twelve? ARE WE FEEDING OUR ANCHOR TO A SEA MONSTER?" I ask worriedly, then rush over to the wheel again. I press a button labeled Underglow and run back over to where I dropped the anchor.

Thunk goes the cord against the edge of the boat - it's stopped. I can't see much other than the cord underneath the boat since it's so deep and dark. "I guess it was nothing, but the water here's really deep. You can swim, can't you, Histy? Or do I need to give you water wi--"

CRASH. The earth - er, ocean - shakes beneath the boat. Tremors threaten to double the boat over, making Histy and I both fall over onto the deck. Water explodes out from its place onto the deck from the right, drenching everything in seawater. I shake myself dry, quickly summon a towel and wipe my eyes dry. Histy blindly fumbles over to me and I give her a towel to roll around in. She, too, wipes her eyes dry. I count my blessings, remembering she was going to sleep in the captain's quarters, so her tome was spared the rain of saltwater.

The peak of a mountain meets our eyes. "Histy? Is this..."

"It's what we were looking for, Neptune," she answers. "It's the Fallen Angel."

[Mami Tomoe]

After a little bit too long an amount of time spent pulling the anchor back onto the boat, I steer the boat over to the lone spire that may or may not be what we're looking for. We drop anchor again next to a chunk of land off the side of the spire - it's only a few steps from the actual mountainside itself. The anchor lands much more quickly, which helps me relax a little. I put Histy back on my shoulder, where clutches her tome hard against her chest.

I step onto land and look at the mountain face. There's a crack that weaves and zigzags, starting at the ground and ending about six feet up the mountain. A bunch of smaller cracks branch off from it, and I immediately realize what I'm supposed to do. "You know what this means, right?" I ask Histy.

"Please don't do anything dangerous," she responds.

I reel back my hand, spin my fist around a few times on my elbow and, with a loud shout bring my closed hand down on the crack. The wall caves in before me and, with a satisfied smile, I look back at Histy. "See? Not stupid at all."

Then the pain sets in. "Ow. Ow. Okay, maybe very, very stupid. Owwwwwww."

After shaking my hand a bit and dusting off the powderized stone, I realize the injury's not that bad. It just hurts a bit, is all - I just probably shouldn't try punching rock any time soon. Luckily it wasn't too thick. From the looks of things, the rock was only about two times as thick as my thumb. "Isn't stuff underwater pressurized or whatever? Wouldn't rock that thin break or something?" I inquire.

"Well," Histy answers, "that appeared to be what it was doing before you took nature into your own hands." She adds, "perhaps more literally than most."

I laugh a little at that. "Sooooooo, do you think we need a light for this, or is this gonna be one of those caves that's lit up without having any light sources?"

Histy weighs the options for a second, then shrugs. "If we really need one, we can make one when the time arises." At that we step into the cave. It's a bit dark, but I can still see. It's cramped and doesn't seem to be leading anywhere, but--

Suddenly my foot comes into contact with... nothing. I shriek and we plunge into the dark.

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I wake up feeling groggy and tense. I feel sore all over, but for some reason, I feel an oddly comfortable warmth coming from somewhere. My muscles loosen under the heat. "Histy? Histy, where'd you go?" I ask, looking around and blinking.

"I think I'm on your back, Neptune," she replies, pressing down on my back as if to check. I straighten out in response. "Yes, I think this is you."

She hovers down from the top of my line of sight to between my eyes. "So, where are we?" I question as I stand up. I could've sworn I was going to die there. What happened? "I don't know what it is about this place," Histy interjects, "but I don't think we're supposed to be here."

I don't feel so great about it either, but I try to think positively. I offer a smile. "Well, that mountain rose up for a reason, right?" I grasp at ideas in the dark. "It didn't just come up for air or something. Mountains don't need to breathe, do they?"

"Mountains aren't alive," Histy affirms. "If it isn't alive, it's safe to assume it doesn't need to breathe. You had a better question earlier," she continues, "and it's wise that we address it. Let's keep going."

As Histy plops down on my shoulder, I start walking along in the cave. As I do, I notice the source of the warmth - waterfalls of lava. Or, better put, lavafalls.

...No, that sounds weird. Waterfalls of lava it is. Waterfalls of lava behind thick brownish stone pillars. I'm not sure why the lava isn't flowing into the hallway - maybe whoever built this place just wanted it to look cooler, so they used the staircase budget on poorly secured waterfalls of lava.

Seven marble pillars in a heptagon pattern lie ahead, with one big heptagon quarter-pillar at their center made of a deep bluish stone. The brownish stone at my feet lowers in a sort of natural-looking staircase down into a large cave where, at the center, there's the set of pillars.

As I approach, I look at the center pillar again. It looks more like a pedestal than anything, like something should be there that isn't. "Aw, man! Histy, we're late! Somebody else got the treasure, didn't they?" I complain. "I don't deserve this anymore," I decide, removing and discarding my eyepatch.

"Neptune, there might be more to this than we can immediately see," says Histy. "Let's look into this some more."

I step closer and rest my hands on the pedestal. I look at the walls past the pillars - there's a set of carvings that pans across them. From left to right, there's an intricately-cut gemstone of some kind, a picture of an island at sea and a picture of the skies. "Histy, are you seeing what I'm seeing?"

"Was there a Goddess here before us?" chimes Histy. "Uh, I think you're reading ahead. I hadn't even thought of that yet."

"...No, this isn't like any Sharicite I've ever seen before," she says, floating over to the gem design. "At its size, I doubt it would function as a proper Sharicite..."

She stops herself, then floats back over to me. "But, uh, this isn't the world we know," I respond. "This is the Omniverse. If so much is different here, why wouldn't Sharicites be different?"

Histy blinks. "I suppose that makes sense. Now all we need is this new Sharicite, and we'll have this island floating in no time."

Seeker of the Emerald, booms a voice in my mind. Through the blistering sands, you will find what you desire within yourself.

I jump back. "Uh, did you just hear that, or--"

"Yes," Histy says with annoyance dripping from her words. "I just said..."

"No, I mean the other thing! The, y'know," I make as deep a voice as I can, "SEEKERS OF THE EMERALD bit." My throat hurts a bit after my voice going so deep. I cough a few times.

"I didn't hear that," she says apologetically. "Then again, you're touching this pedestal. Maybe that has something to do with it. What did you hear?"

I clear my throat and lower my voice. "SEEKER OF--"

Histy stops me. "Without the impression, please."

"Oh. Well, it said, 'Seeker of the Emerald, through the blistering sands, you will find what you desire within yourself.' Some help that is," I conclude, scratching the back of my head. "What, do I have to tear out my still-beating heart or something? All that'll do is cause a fatality."

Histy sighs. "Well, a better way of doing things is we could ask around somewhere. the 'blistering sands' part seems like a good starting point. Let's go back to town for now - we can find this place again once we've found the Sharicite."

Histy sits down on my shoulder again. I run back over to where we landed and look up. "Wouldn't hurt to try jumping," I suggest and, before I can hear any objections, take a big leap. We soar upwards through the dark and, after a few seconds spent with air rushing past us (accompanied by squealing from the peanut gallery), I plant my feet on the narrow ledge to the cave we entered through. After a short climb, we're under fading moonlight.

"Let's get back to sailing, then," orders Histy. "We shouldn't waste a moment!"

[Mami Tomoe]

Sailing from the Fallen Angel took... not quite as long as getting there, actually. I guess actually knowing where we were going helped. We reach the docks again - I anchor the boat just offshore. I place my hands down on the beach, close my eyes and focus. I need a dock. Something sturdy, something that won't just last long enough for me to use it, but something everyone here can use.

I wait a few minutes. I peek one eye open - the Omnuhdumdoodeedum's forming, but it's still not changing material, and the shape it's taking is really rough-looking. I close my eyes again and keep thinking. Something like... concrete, maybe some wood to make it look nice... I don't know, just... make it look like the other one! I finish at last and open my eyes again.

There it is - two identical-looking docks next to each other. I walk across the dock, tie my boat to a hook on one side of the cement slab and walk back to the sand. I glance around idly, noticing awed stares from beachgoers and odd-looking people alike.

"What? Can't a girl make a dock for her boat from thin air in peace?" I ask, then laugh a little. "I'll be here all week. Except probably not."

I stride through the group of onlookers with Histy in tow. Immediately realizing that I have the perfect opportunity to ask for directions, I turn around and look at the crowd that continues to stare. "Oh, uh, I gotta ask," I say. "Where can I find 'blistering sands'?"

"Blustering Sans?" goes someone in the back. "No, blistering sands," I reaffirm. "A desert or something, I guess."

"Oh!" the same voice responds. "You're looking for the Endless Dunes! Just go straight from the gate you came in here!"

"Thank you, random person! You will be immediately forgotten, but your advice will live on!" I run off into the city.

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"...And from here, the way to the gate looks straightforward," Histy chimes. She's been sitting on my shoulder since we got into town, with a map pulled up from the Daytodayverse or whatever it's called. "See? That should be the gate," over there." She points it out to me. I can barely see the tip of her finger out of the corner of my eye, but I know what she wants me to see: a pair of palm trees curved down so their leaves meet. But this time something looks different - there's five nondescript-looking people in white suits of armor waiting at the gate. Each one has a gun that looks like something Uni would like.

"Halt," says one of them, clarifying that at least one is a dude. "We've received word that there's an unidentified Prime in the city. Supposedly she's about four foot nine, with pinkish-purple hair, and she has a..." he slows down. "Floating little girl with a book as a companion. It's you, isn't it?"

"Yup, yup, yup," I respond without hesitation. "Unless this is some kind'a freaky clone situation where somebody's been messing things up and they look like me. That's not happening, right?" I ask. Histy looks like she's ready to lose her mind on my shoulder.

"Not quite," he answers, "but for safety's sake, we would prefer to have you identified, miss. So long as you don't plan to do any harm to the Empire, this wonderful city or its inhabitants, we'll get along just fine."

"Empire, huh?" I repeat the word. It's not a word that gets thrown around often, and when it comes to gaming in Planeptune - no, gaming in all four Lands - Empire usually doesn't mean good. I decide to give them the benefit of the doubt. "Well, Mr. Empire," I respond, "I'm Neptune!"

I hear an audible sigh. I'm not sure if it's from Mr. Empire or from Histy. "My name isn't Empire. I'm not even sure what made you think that," he says, "but regardless, it's nice to meet a Prime that carries herself well." Mr. Empire offers a hand. I close his hand into a fist and then bump fists with him.

Mr. Empire looks to Histy. "I don't mean to be rude," he starts, "but how do you put up with her?"

This is the beginning of a beautiful friendship. Probably.

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"So you're looking for the Endless Dunes," Mr. Empire clarifies. "If you're headed that way, you should really be careful. A few groups of Primes have popped up in that area and have started causing trouble. You'll need someone to watch your back if you're going to keep safe," he explains. "Fortunately, it looks like you have that covered."

"Yeah," I respond. "I mean, Histy's more a lover than a fighter, but I'd probably still be eating pudding in that place where the texture pop-in's really bad," I joke.

"I should introduce myself," Histy jumps into the conversation. "I am Histoire, the Tome. It's a pleasure to meet you," she says, "and while it would be wonderful to stay and chat, we have an urgent task at hand, and I can't imagine that we're your only priority. We apologize for occupying your time - we'll be on our way."

"Things get a little crazy here from time to time," Mr. Empire admits, "but for a while things have been pretty nice. We haven't had much to do, since it's been pretty peaceful around here for a little," he explains. "It's nice to talk with a Prime, even if they're not an outspoken supporter of the Empire."

"Well, maybe we can keep in touch?" I ask. "Histy has one of those Dumdeedumverse thingies. We can talk over that somehow, right?"

"Well, you can e-mail using a Dataverse Device, if that's what you're trying to say," he explains, "and that sounds like a nice idea." After figuring out how to make an e-mail account, making one for Histy and then making one for me, we exchange e-mails and part ways.

"Well, that was interesting," Histy observes. "Shall we get going?"

"Alley-oop!" I shout, leaping through the portal.