Intermission 2: In the Light of the Blue Planet

Date: 172 human years before present time.
Location: Crystal Fortress, The Red Moon.

The doorport to the Viewing Chambers rippled, leaping back from his touch. As always, the verve-crystals within the room gave a warm melodic welcome as KluYa stepped over the threshold. They knew their master’s presence.He carried with him the clinging icy air of the Red Moon’s surface. It misted off of him, the flakes of frozen moisture shivering into water droplets that dotted his furs in an azure shimmer. It was so much warmer within the lower chambers of the fortress now that he had the absorption and distribution system fine-tuned.

It’s a good thing moon crystal is a natural conductor of heat. I don’t think I could stand being stuck in the Core Room for warmth all the time.

It was within the Core Room that they slept.There was something about sitting in the same room with hundreds of Lunars in a cadaver-like sleep that unnerved him. Especially since he had known a number of them personally.

Pulling first one glove, then the other from his hands, KluYa knocked them together, and tossed them aside in the far corner.

“You have been to the surface again, have you not?”

“I have,” KluYa answered, working down the straps of his hide boot. Long white hair streamed down into his face as he lifted his gaze to peer unerringly into the palely lit corner. He knew he would find his brother sitting there.

FuSoYa gave a strong look of disapproval. “You know I have told you how it is far too dangerous to—“

“Pash,” the younger brother made an indelicate sound. “Get off my back, Fu. I was tweaking the heater.”

The old Lunarian gave a harsh grunt.

“Come on, you’ve gotta admit it’s warmer in here?”

FuSoYa’s face grew sour. Then he answered slowly, “You know that you are supposed to inform me before you leave the fortress.”

“You were napping.”

“You would ask me to do the same.”

“Not really. You can handle yourself just fine. I don’t require myself to keep tabs on your constant whereabouts.”

“What if something were to happen to you and I did not know where you were?”

“Highly unlikely.”

“But possible. Do you not think that I worry about you when you run off like that, boy?”

In a quick practiced motion, KluYa shrugged out of his bulky warming furs, discarding them in the corner with a heavy scowl. This did not portray the Lunar as anything less imposing. He then began to pace the room, his strides swallowing the length and width of the crystal floor whole, his gait like that of a caged wild animal. The room shrank and bowed before his presence.

“Fu, I’m a big boy. And quite capable of taking care of myself,” KluYa turned on his heel, his hands splayed to call attention to his towering height. “Just because you raised me doesn’t mean you run me. You’re my brother — not my parental unit.”

The moment of silence was only broken by the sound of the big Lunar tossing his boots in the corner one at a time.

“You have been tinkering with the Whale again.” It was not a question.

“Maybe.”

“KluYa… we have talked about thi–“

“Time and time and time again. Yes,” came the sighed response.

FuSoYa gave a sharp look, speaking volumes about his brother’s lack of manners. Without further hesitation, he rose to his feet. “You are not going to the Blue Planet. I said it before. I meant it.”

”Fu…” the younger Lunar’s face suddenly fell with a shattered expression. His words were choked. “I wasn’t going to go alone, of course. I wanted you to come with me!”

“Absolutely out of the question!”

KluYa winced, “But…”

“No, KluYa.”

“But…”

“I said no, KluYa!”

“But…!”

NO!

“You won’t even listen to me!”

“I have already heard you. And I said it is not going to happen. We have probes that work just fine for exploration of the Blue Planet. There is no need for us to abandon our post here. We have a duty to the others. How could you think to for–”

“Fu… what about us? Look at you… look at me! I want… I want a life! I’m tired of this cold, lifeless rock! I don’t want to die here never knowing…” Klu Ya leaned against the viewing portal, his gaze far away. “The planet… do you see how green it is? How it flourishes? I bet it’s warm there.”

“Foolishness!”

“Foolishness?” the big Lunar rounded with a flash in his eyes. “Foolishness is us sitting up here waiting for something to happen! What are we doing, Fu? What do you think we can accomplish by just sitting up here?”

“You know full well that if you or I were to go there, we could greatly upset the life cycle of the planet.” FuSoYa followed his point with a forward jab of his finger. “Maybe even cause the u–“

“Ultimate destruction of the world… yeah… yeah… I know,” KluYa rolled his eyes with an unconvinced huff.

“One with such power as yourself… should not view the consequences of your actions so lightly.”

The younger brother fell silent, finger tracing the ovular indentation on the wall. His voice came haltingly, “We’re wasting away, Fu… Our time is running out.”

“Time is running out for everyone,” the old Lunar made his way to the doorport, pausing to look over one shoulder before he stepped out. “But for either of us to go down there before the time is right, no matter how long the wait… it would only speed up the destruction of everything you and I have worked for.”

His last words echoed through the chamber.

“There is nothing more I have left to say on this issue.”

KluYa choked down the frustrated growl that bubbled up into his throat as the door closed behind his older brother. Turning on his heel, the big Lunar slammed his palm into the wall. The chamber responded with a hurt and mournful sound.

“WHY? Why won’t you listen?! What will it take before you see what I’m trying to say?”

::Count to ten, boy. And stop slamming your hand like that. It’s the one you write with.::

KluYa did not react to the words despite the fact that they seemingly came from the midst of nothing. For he knew his father’s voice; it had always spoken to him in such a manner ever since he could remember.

In all his trials, troubles, and years, KluYa knew that he had never been alone.

“Father… Look at that,” he said placing a hand against the crystalline portal.

The graceful curve of the Blue Planet rose in a gentle flow below, the living glow illuminating even the furthest recesses of the planetary observatory. It was the only room in the entire palace that constantly faced a fixed position to view the Earth. This was KluYa’s favorite place to be. This is where he basked in the ebbing pulse of terrestrial spirit.

“Even now, upon my thousand-somethingth time seeing it, this world always fills me with amazement,” his voice dropped down to a whisper. “So close… but so far away…”

::Ah, reminds me of how Nefol once was. So wondrous, so alive, yes?::

“The Blue Planet just seems all the more alive since everything up here is… well… dead,” KluYa gave a soft bark of bitter laughter, fingers tracing his own reflection upon the looking glass. “Wait, wait, wait, wait! All we do is stare and wait. Fu talks about the right time. When will it finally come?”

::Impatient child… I see my younger self in you. And I have told you of all–::

“–the troubles that have befallen you for your lack of patience… Yes. Yes! So I’ve heard…” KluYa drummed the tips of his fingers against the wall then broke into a long-gated pacing back and forth over the constraints of the room. “But… I want to see the forests! The beasts… the birds… the oceans! The mountains! The clouds, the flowers, the sunlight! The people! What I wouldn’t do to be surrounded by people who were not dead as duskstone! Uh… present company excluded…”

::Naturally.::

“Fu seems to think it is for the sake of these very people that we do not descend into their realm. I mean, I know we’ve sent probes and gathered information and such… but… how can anyone be sure if no one’s actually given the people down there a chance to talk for themselves?”

::What news did the probes bring back that would make SoYaFu so inclined to hermitize not only himself but the whole Lunar colony?::

“Well…” KluYa frowned. “It is true the Humans fight amongst themselves — a lot. They seem to thrive on war and creation of things just to better their own power. There is even a working seal on the magic in that world. It is as if even those of their own kind are afraid of what their kin might do if given full knowledge. They are a scattered, destructive and rather lost lot, if you ask me.”

::Is that so much their fault?::

“Hrm?”

::Who’s fault is it that a child is not properly brought up to know right from wrong?::

“The one that was responsible for teaching them that, yes?”

::And who exactly was accountable for the nurturing and upbringing of the Human Race?::

“Well…” KluYa squinted. There was a long pause before he finally shook his head. “I don’t know.”

::Precisely. Because there wasn’t anyone. How are they to know the proper ways to do things if no one has ever given them a chance to learn? If no one has taken the time to teach them?::

“But to take up a crusade to enlighten an entire planet… That’s inconceivable!”

::It only takes one tiny drop of water to make a ripple in the pond. You’d be surprised.::

“Well, who in the Seven Universes would be crazy enough to try to do something like that?”

Silence grew heavy within the room. The light of the planet below reflected from the Lunar’s green eyes. Slowly, there grew a deep wisdom within them, a measureless sense of self-discovery.

Within that moment, KluYa knew exactly what it was he was meant to do.


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