Inferno Ascended

The last thing he felt was his eyes slam shut as if he faced a strong, blinding light. His body tingled unbearably and became light as a feather.

"DAFUQ!"

He tried to cling to something solid - for example, Parin - but suddenly, she wasn't there. Everything around him dissolved into dust, like a movie he saw in his other life.

And suddenly, his feet hit another floor. His nostrils caught other scents. His eyes saw another landscape before him.

He was in a long pavilion, with a pale, polished marble floor, under an embroidered rug several feet long. Long shadows crossed the floor line lines of dim light and darkness. 

Many meters away, there was an empty throne. There was no one in the room. 

Somehow Glax knew they were all dead.

He knew where he was. 

Valya.

The astonishingly tall black columns ran on either side with an irritating symmetry. Glax walked around cautiously. He reprimanded himself for being too reckless to reach for master Arsaces' clock and accidentally sync himself up with Valya.

But now that he was here, he wasn't going to waste time whining.

Past the columns, he saw tall arched windows, evenly spaced. All were open. He couldn't name the style or an era for this grandiose palace. It felt like everything and at the same time, like nothing he could recognize.

A sweet, intoxicating smell was good and gross at the same time. It reminded him of the smell of sultry flowers… masking the smell of death. 

He came to one of the windows. In the distance, he saw mountains and a vast city engulfed in darkness.

In contrast, the night sky was so dotted with stars it was luminous. The multicolored galaxy looked alive, and almost at reach range.

The sound of a thousand clocks in sync made a soft tick in unison with the pulse of the stars. Every watch in the realm except Glax's, of course.

Everything seemed static, choked, and dull. Then he walked to the opposite side. Near the throne, he saw an open door and went out into a small garden.

The garden was stunning under the starlight. Half-hidden under the foliage, fruit that appeared to be made of glass gleamed softly.

Glax then saw a boy, who stared back. The boy was next to a golden metal droid, who had fallen to the ground, judging by its awkward pose.

The boy, who wore princely clothes and couldn't have been more than ten years old, stared at him without flinching or fearing him. He had very pale skin and two-colored eyes, the part near the iris more violet and the outside more greenish.

His look conveyed, above all, resignation, and when he saw what he saw, a slight concern.

"Why only you survived?" Glax asked the boy with long black hair with a braid whose tip was painted blue. "What are you?"

The boy made a gesture with his hand, showing everything around him.

"I am Kaine. And you are Glax."

Glax felt himself pulled by force from that reality. Before he could say anything, could ask anything. 

He had the same sensations as before, only this time it felt like he was waking up from a dream he didn't want to wake up from. 

Was it another one of Morpheus's tricks?

He felt Parin's cold hand on his wrist as he heard the girl's voice calling his name.

He was back in Stygia. Glax held back a grunt of irritation. If it was really what he had felt — a kind of time and space travel to Valya — he would have liked to have had time to talk to Kaine.

Kaine was a young boy! Really?!

"What happened?! Lord Glax, you suddenly rolled your eyes and... I just knew it had to do with the clock. I moved its hands a bit and you went back to your normal self!" The girl exclaimed, not knowing if she had done it right or wrong.

"I think this clock has a reason to be early, Parin," he muttered almost to himself. The tranquil and mysterious images of Valya did not leave his head. "It needs to be synchronized. But maybe not because of my reckless attempts. And yes, as you said, according to another clock that is correct. As you know," and he tried to smile at Parin, unsure if he had succeeded. "I'm hooked up to a broken clock."

Parin was still too scared to actually smile. She took her trembling hand from the warrior's wrist. "You're not mad at me, are you?"

The girl's question intrigued him. Glax asked, curious.

"Did you do something on purpose?"

"I wanted to know... If you would recognize your gift." She surrendered without flinching.

"My… Gift?" He spoke the words slowly, trying to understand. He also didn't like being made a fool of by Parin.

She noticed his tone change and shrugged her shoulders, speaking in a squeaky voice, "Forgive me, Lord Glax, I should have said it right away, and not play games! I apologize, I was much bolder than I should have been for my little position!" Her head bowed, and the tears forming in her eyes showed her fear.

Glax touched the tip of her chin to make her look at him.

"I'm not mad, but you need to understand how dangerous that was. Don't test what you don't understand that way. Not only can you hurt someone… but you can end up hurt, too."

She nodded, swallowing hard and seeming to take in all the nuances of what the Lord Krios in front of her was telling her. A Lord linked to time in a fascinating way.

"Now tell me about this gift," he asked as calmly as he could muster.

"I made up the whole story about the clock, Lord Glax! Forgive me. My master wanted to personally deliver this clock to you, but he didn't survive. He had been hopeful that he could survive to see you… And he made me swear I would give it to you! That's why I tried so hard to find you, Lord Glax!" she confessed in a rush.

"Ah, you little fox!" Glax was angrier with himself for having trusted her so blindly. But again, he only had himself to blame, for viewing Parin in a superficial and stereotypical way. For some reason, the pythoness' recollection of the prophecy seemed to sting his heel like a serpent: 'the hand that caresses you will also betray you!'

Apparently, the pythoness was really good at the guessing business, and her predictions were wide-ranging. Who would have thought?

"So be honest this time. Tell me everything you know about this clock."

"Master Arsaces said the child who came on the ship from Valya was no ordinary child. That all the Lords swore to the Prince to keep it a secret. And each of the Lords had a clock, which they were supposed to hand over to the boy when he came to see them. Only then could 'the plan' be put into practice. He received the 'Hesper Globe'. Once the ship landed on Stygia, one side of the clock stopped." Even the way she spoke showed she didn't know much more than what she was already saying.

"The plan? What plan?!" He asked through clenched teeth, just to confirm. All this mystery was wearing out his patience quickly.

But Parin shrugged, insisting he didn't know. At the same time, Alexandre had returned, impatient for his master's delay, whispering to the mistress of the house.

"Master… Are we going to return with the others to the fort? We're delaying the group…" he asked, poking his head inside the window. Glax compared his pupil to a cat demanding attention. He wouldn't leave until he saw Glax come with him.

Glax closed the crystal globe in his fist, and raised an eyebrow at Parin -it is,  the only brow that made sense - keeping the secret between them. "You fulfilled your last promise to your master, Parin. Thanks. Now I have to go."

She nodded and waved at them as they left Stimhena.

::::::::::::::::::

Last night at the fort, Glax tucked Uniq into his arms, who was sleeping peacefully in his narrow bed. He didn't know if it was still a secret that she visited him in his room at night, but he couldn't do much about it.

He twirled the crystal object in his hand. The only working clock said it was 3:15 in the morning. The clock with Valya's time was still stopped and early.

'Do the other Lords have other clocks? And are they all important to me in some way?' His mind kept working on the reasons for it to be that way.

He had heard, long ago, that it was the custom of kings to hand over possession of keys to special subjects scattered throughout the kingdom. The treasure would be protected as only with all the keys together could the room or safe be opened. There must have been some truth to this myth, since it was recurrent.

Was there something safe and protected by multiple locks in the clocks?

A clock was given to each of those chosen to travel to Valya. People from each of the Five States: Echelians, Pharys, Rhytosia, Thyria, Delpia. 

Does… each of them hold one of my locked powers?' he asked himself.