"Grandpa, where is he?"
Wrapped from head to toe like a mummy, except for the eyes, a figure walked toward the old monkey, who had his back to them and his head raised toward the Keeper of Time looming above him.
"He is grieving the past, as he should," the old monkey replied.
He stood before a glowing pool that reflected the light of the blue moon above. Within it, glowing blue flowers swam gently.
"What do you mean, Grandpa?"
The mummy figure paused beneath a large shrub bearing glowing white flowers, facing the old monkey’s back.
"He is crying his heart out. We should let him be," the old monkey replied. Then he turned his head toward the highest peak many kilometers away—illuminated by the blue moon that dominated a sky of drifting clouds.
So that's where he is. Why act like you don't want me to know?...
The mummy figure shifted their gaze from the distant peak, turned, and disappeared into the glowing herb garden behind the pool.
My granddaughter has grown up indeed...
The old monkey’s eyes reflected the mummy figure running toward the highest peak—appearing almost in slow motion. He looked again toward the peak and frowned.
"Hmm..." He paused. "Very unusual," he murmured before turning his face away from the aberration—resuming his silent observation of the blue moon.
A ghostly figure—looking more like a blur—scaled the top of a giant rock several kilometers high, highlighted by the blue moon’s light. With great ease, as though gravity held little power over them, the blurry figure moved at bullet-speed across the steep rock face.
Soon, the figure reached the summit—a jagged rocky plain roughly the size of a hundred and fifty football stadiums. Potholes dotted the terrain like craters, with smaller rocks scattered across its surface.
The figure slowed rapidly, revealing the mummy figure heading toward a rectangular rock about two meters tall. From the opposite side of the rock, a peculiar shadow stretched outward.
"Idiot. So this is where you are—I've been looking everywhere for you," the mummy figure hollered while approaching.
Shortly after, the mummy figure leaped onto the rectangular rock, lay on their stomach, and peered over the edge toward the source of the shadow—their wrapped face aligning with Skylar’s silver hair as he sat leaning back, facing the sky.
"So, it's you. What do you want?" Skylar asked in a low voice, tilting up his swollen face as his eyes locked with the mummy figure’s unique ones.
"Just wanted to see you..." the mummy figure paused. Then, feigning aggression—he added, "Or am I not welcome?"
"Okay. You're welcome," Skylar replied with resignation.
Silence followed for several seconds before they broke it simultaneously.
"Why were you crying?"
"Why are you wrapped like a mummy?"
"You first."
"Me first."
They spoke at the same time.
Guessing right the figure’s insistence, Skylar tilted up his head.
"Okay, I wasn't crying. Something stung my face when I was coming here. Very obvious, right?"
"You are clearly lying," the mummy figure muttered.
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With heterochromic pupils—one golden and one silvery white—he stared deeply at Skylar, who returned a playful smile.
"So, Karo, why are you dressed like that?" Skylar asked.
"Must you know?" Karo replied, turning and lying on his back.
"Did you use perfume?" Skylar sniffed the air.
Karo turned again, now lying on his stomach. "Why do you ask?"
"You smell like a girl. You've even been acting girly lately..."
"Idiot," Karo huffed playfully, rolling onto his back again.
Wait... one of her eyes has changed. It wasn't like that before. Did she do something to it, or has it always been like that? Even the pitch of her voice has increased a bit...
"Karo, did something happen to you?" Skylar asked while looking toward the sky where the eight heavenly stars gathered.
"Nothing happened, except the ritual. But what about you? It's unusual for you to be here at this hour," Karo answered, sitting up with his feet dangling over the edge of the rock while peering down at Skylar.
Maybe nothing really happened... Skylar shrugged internally.
"Just checking out the stars—"
"Wow! All eight of them are lined up. Are we entering a monumental point in time?" Karo interrupted.
"Why do you say that?" Skylar asked.
"According to what I read, the eight of them have never been in the same half of the heavens like this in a very long time. They're even very close to one another and lining up side by side. Very, very unusual."
Both watched as the eight heavenly stars finally aligned horizontally.
"Do the eight planets have names?" Skylar asked, breaking the silence.
"Of course," Karo began, pointing sequentially.
"The dull gray one with brownish-red streaks is Merdia—the Sly One.
Next is Sirone, the white one—Mistress of Vanity.
Then Lars—the Red Fury.
The largest, with several colors, is Jupiter—Mightiest of the Heavens.
The colorful one with many rings is Ulyssis—the Puppet Master.
The greenish-blue one is Khyros—Watcher in the Shadows.
The deep-blue one is Niggoh—the Heartless.
And the smallest is Pluto—the Spirit Guide."
They basically copied the nine planets except Earth... They might have even excluded Earth to avoid complications.
"Do you think they're very close to the ground?" Skylar asked.
"Impossible," Karo replied, shaking her head. "They're hundreds of sols away. They only look close because they're massive."
Skylar stretched his hand toward Jupiter, which seemed within arm’s reach.
"What's a sol?"
"A sol is one billion mitas," Karo answered.
She gestured through the air. A straight carved line appeared on the rock’s surface.
"That's one mita."
"Oh... almost a meter. Convenient," Skylar smiled.
"One thousand mitas is one Yoda.
One thousand Yoda is one Tor.
One thousand Tor is one Sol.
And one thousand Sol is one Divine Mita."
"Oh! I get it," Skylar nodded.
For the next couple of hours, they silently watched the heavens unfold—the shifting stars, dying meteors streaking downward, drifting nebulas, and comets slicing across the sky like arrows. Skylar focused on a massive meteor, nearly the size of the lunar moon, ejected across the heavens.
Meanwhile—
["Cousin. Bring him to my place."]
The transmitted message shattered the tranquility as Karo stood reluctantly and instructed. "Sky, follow me."
"Oh! Must be the big ones in charge..." Skylar muttered, rising to follow.
Karo burst into a hyper-sprint across the massive rock surface, appearing as a speeding blur. Skylar did the same, following behind.
Seconds later, both leapt from the summit like moonlit phantoms, descending in a graceful parabola toward the basin far below. They landed lightly upon massive tree branches and continued their superhuman leaps from tree to tree until stopping at the bank of a clear lake bordered by glowing flowering shrubs.
Before Skylar, gigantic trees rose from the illuminated water, arranged in concentric circles. Beneath their vast canopies stood enormous wooden houses built around their trunks—each similarly large and fantastic, partly blocking the rays of the moon.
"Interesting," Skylar muttered while stepping onto a narrow wooden bridge behind Karo.
"Sky, be careful," Karo warned.
Lost in fascination, Skylar nearly misplaced his footing.
He always does this whenever he sees something new... Is he from a cave or something? Karo wondered, glancing over her shoulder at Skylar engrossed with observation.
They continued across branching bridges connecting the trees until reaching the central one.
Standing before its massive gray trunk—nearly half a kilometer wide—Karo pushed it. A hidden door receded and slid aside, revealing a passage.
"So sophisticated," Skylar muttered as they entered the hollow interior illuminated by glowing crystals lining the walls across a spiral wooden stairs.
As they climbed, Skylar suddenly paused.
"Karo... why has your rump grown bigger?"
"Idiot! Must you say everything that comes to your mind?" Karo barked, clutching her wrapped rear as she turned around. "You go in front. I'll stay behind."
Why is she overreacting? I just observed...
Skylar obediently moved ahead.
Soon, they reached the top.
Skylar stopped before a massive double wooden door carved into the tree’s interior wall.
"Just push it," Karo instructed from behind.
Silently, Skylar pushed.
The enormous doors opened slowly.
"Fuck!"
Eyes widened, he stared at the sight unfolding before him.