Behind The Vale

Welpen: “And there is this guy named Lihard and he is super cool. Look, he made this sword for me. It can hold a bunch of chaplets and is really powerful.”

Ezra: “It seems like you are surrounded by many wonderful people. I shall honor them when they come to the Spirit Realm.”

Welpen: “Yeah, they are awesome. So is Astro. He is awesome too.”

Ezra: “I can certainly see that.”

Welpen: “Astro, how much longer do we have to go? My legs are getting tired.”

Astro: “Suck it up. We still got half a day.”

Ezra: “Here Welpen, let me show you something. Jump in the air as high as you can. I can carry you on these 2 orbs.”

Welpen: “Woah cool! I’m floating.”

Astro: “What kind of chaplets are those? I’ve never seen that.”

Ezra: “Oh? Finally interested in something? They are Levitation Chaplets that I channel my mana through. I’m surprised you don’t know what these are. A lot of people use them to fly around. Although, with this chaplet, it’s based upon how much mana you hold in your body. It chips away at your mana, however I am in my spiritual body right now that is connected to these, so I have an infinite supply.”

Astro: “Seems a little unfair, no?”

Ezra: “Maybe…Maybe not.”

Welpen: “Ah, this is nice. I can feel the sun shining on me. I love it. Astrooo? How do we get more chaplets? What’s this about a Yellow Chaplet? It can teleport us to places?”

Astro: “Don’t worry about it. You don’t need it right now. You will find out along the way when we get one.”

Welpen: “Hmph! Meanie, meanie bambaleenie. Astro, Astro, he’s not cool. Astro, Astro, is being rude.”

Ezra: “Oh, I liked that rhyme.”

Astro: “Don’t encourage him. It’s gonna make this journey harder if he keeps running his mouth.”

Welpen: “My mouth doesn’t run. It speaks. Big idiot.”

Ezra and Welpen both laughed at his comment, especially because Astro was becoming flustered, but they continued on for another half day until they got to a stone path leading to a door in the distance. They had made their 2 day trip without any problems and now had to enter a domain to see if Isara had not left yet.

Welpen: “I’m coming Isara! Sorry Ezra. Please carry me later, but I want to be the first to see her.”

Welpen ran in and entered first, followed by Ezra and Astro. Ezra hid in Welpen’s clothing when they appeared in the clouds to not cause any problems with the villagers around.

Welpen: “Wow. This is awesome. I’m walking on a cloud right now. Oh! There are bridges where I can go to different clouds? Once I find Isara, I will tell Clara about this place. Maybe we can come live here.”

A male villager approached them and warned them to leave. He explained to them that outsiders are not welcomed as usual and there could be consequences. Astro calmly avoided any hostility, but made the man aware that he could kill anyone 50 times over before they could touch him.

Astro looked up at the Whispering Vale on the backside of the village. It was huge. He remembered it from the two times he had visited, but it seemed to be bigger than the last time he was here. He ignored the villager’s warning and asked him about Isara. The villager said that nobody like that has come through in a while and prompted him to leave again.

They moved on over the bridges and continued to ask others, but they all gave the same response. The way the town was set up was strange. Each section was just the same thing. People’s houses and farms were in each area. There was no guild, no shops, not anything like a typical village.

One thing stood out from the rest. It was a graveyard covering the entire cloud. They walked over to it to see a large gravestone in the middle.

Ezra: “The spirits are strong here. I can see every single one calling out.”

Welpen: “What is that one in the middle? It’s huge compared to the rest. Ezra, Ezra. Who is that? He must be popular.”

Ezra: “Let me see…Charles Foster. I do not know. He is not in the Spirit Realm and he is not present right now. I do not know who this man is. Although, I do believe he is dead. It may just be a grave of honor. He might be in a different realm.”

Welpen: “I see. Maybe he was really famous here. I want to meet him someday.”

Iris: “I do not usually like when people are in my cemetery.”

Welpen: “AH! Oh, you scared me old lady. Sorry, we did not mean to disturb you.”

Iris: “It is not me who you are disturbing, but the dead.”

Welpen: “Sorry, sorry. I also didn’t mean to call you old, hehe.”

Ezra: “Do not worry ma’am. All the dead here do not mind us here. In fact, they are honored that they are so close to home.”

Iris: “What are you? Some deity?”

Ezra: “I command the Spirit Realm. A place beyond here where souls come to live a good life beyond this world.”

Iris: “So you are one who does not let them rest. Let them move on. Some of those people do not wish to be there. They wish to move on from the life they had.”

Ezra: “Do not worry ma’am. Only those who wish to be here are here. I do accept people who internally do not want to be here even if they think they do.”

Iris: “And what do you do with those people? You send them to hell, don’t you?”

Ezra: “Well, that is not my choice. Yes, there are different realms outside of the Spirit Realm, but I do not have control over the other realms. Once I send them away, I do not know where they go, however it is my duty to bring those to my own realm here.”

Iris: “Yeah, yeah. I don’t want to hear any more. You’re not justified either. You just send them somewhere else where they suffer. I’ll just continue to do my job and honor each and every grave.”

Ezra did not like that comment, but shook it off. She knew the woman did not understand considering the simple life that she had been living. Ezra would remember the woman when she died and would accept her into the Spirit Realm. Although, like the rest, she would have to look at her soul, which would probably decline the Spirit Realm’s intentions, but she would fight for her.

Iris introduced her name to the others and walked over to overlook the graveyard.

Iris: “It is still too early to water the flowers. I was woken up by unwanted visitors. I will water them in a few more hours. The sun has barely even risen. However, please ask your question. I assume you're not here just to look at these gravestones.”

Astro: “You’re pretty smart for an old woman.”

Iris: “How about you learn to respect your elders boy.”

Astro: “Yeah? How about you answer our question before I slice you in two.”

Welpen: “Astro, Astro. It’s okay. She will answer without the threats…Sorry Miss Iris. He gets like this sometimes.”

Astro: “I’m a busy man. I need to get this over with as soon as possible. 1 month to be exact. There was a girl that came through here. Her name is Isara. Have you seen her?”

Iris: “Isara? Hmm, it doesn’t ring a bell. Now please exit my property.”

Astro drew his scythe at her neck. The villagers in the distance came rushing over with their own weapons ready to defend their place. The lady smirked at Astro as he shouted out to everyone.

Astro: “Listen up all of you! A girl named Isara came through here I presume not too long ago. The next person that lies to me about it will have to pay for this lady’s head on a stick. I don’t need to use a Thinker Chaplet to know you all are lying.”

???: “We do not know anything! Let her go!”

Astro pushed the blade of the scythe further to her throat that made her bleed. Iris laughed before eventually telling him the truth.

Iris: “You’re persistent. She is a goner now. Go and discover it for yourself.”

She pointed to the Whispering Vale.

Astro scoffed at her, grabbed Welpen, and darted towards the entrance of the Vale. Without hesitation, he entered, pushing through the smoky fog. Even he could not avoid the intensity of the mana that overtook their bodies. They were dragged through multiple images of young children and animals in perfect condition and then all of a sudden, they bled to death.

In one image, Isara was standing in the middle of nowhere and bled profusely from her torso. Welpen cried out loud, but could not move. They felt paralyzed. Eventually, the images faded and a deep voice called out to them.

???: “Leave this place. Isara is not dead, but she is no longer here. I do not know where she went.”

Astro: “Tch! How do you know what we are here for?”

???: “That boy’s reaction was enough to tell me. She was here less than a day ago. If you go now, then you may catch up to her. Although, if she does not want to be found, then you best leave her alone. Goodbye now.”

All of their minds went blank and before they knew it, they were at the stone entrance of the teleporter on the ground.

Astro: “Goddammit. Let’s move. She probably went north. She wouldn’t have gone backwards and the only thing East of here is Death’s Forest. She wouldn’t have gone there if what you told me about her fairies is true, Welpen. Come on.”

Welpen: “Wait, Astro. Ezra isn’t responding. Ezra! Ezra! Hello?!”

Ezra: “Wh-What happened? Why are you yelling?”

Welpen: “Oh thank goodness. You’re okay.”

Ezra: “Huh? What do you mean? How did we get down here?”

Astro: “What do you mean?”

Ezra: “We were just entering the Vale. How did we get back to the entrance?”

Welpen: “Miss Ezra, we did enter, but we got sent back down here by someone.”

Ezra: “Huh? Wh-When did that happen? My mind went blank? That has never happened before. There are a lot of strange things going on in the last couple days. Wouldn’t you agree, Astro?”

Astro: “Our minds went blank too. Don’t blame us just because you spaced out right before we went into the Vale. Come on. Let’s get going…”

As the three headed off towards the nearest town to the North, someone else entered through the teleporter right behind them a few minutes later. The villagers were already angered and approached him with weapons in hand.

He introduced himself to them.

Reiken: “My name is Reiken Ento. Pleased to meet you all. It is truly a pleasure.”

???: “Get out of here. We’ve had too many visitors lately. We don’t want any of you here, don’t you get that?!”

Reiken: “Yes, yes. I completely understand. I suppose even my suit and tie is not a big enough gesture of respect. I apologize. If I may, I just wish to enter into that foggy mist over there. Is that okay with everyone?”

???: “What’s the catch?”

Reiken: “There is no catch. I know that seems a little silly, but that is all I am here for.”

???: “Sure, go ahead.”

The villagers laughed as Reiken approached the entrance of the Whispering Vale. The same images appeared for Reiken. Images of happy life and then miserable death. However, Reiken stood there for a long period of time, just watching without a change in mood or appearance. He truly did not care at all for the images that were portrayed in front of him.

Finally, an image of Hills Palace appeared burning to the ground while people screamed and died in the fire. When he saw this, he walked forward through the image unlike anyone from before.

He was simply pretending that he could not move, but he walked until the deep voice spoke out loud.

???: “Stop before I get serious.”

Reiken did not stop, but only kept moving forward slowly. He suddenly was frozen mid step. Although, this time, he actually could not move. He tried, but could only nudge forward little by little. It was useless to continue like this.

Reiken: “You’re not the only one that can get serious. However, I am simply not here to argue. I am here to have a conversation. This power–”

???: “No. I will put a bigger hole in your body than you could imagine.”

Like the voice said, he stuck to his words and struck Reiken who began to bleed from his stomach. However, it quickly healed without the use of a chaplet.

???: “Ah, I see your trick. I should kill you for real before you cause any more chaos in this world.”

Reiken: “What an empty threat indeed. For you cannot touch me even if you see through me. Although, I cannot necessarily touch you either. I am simply making my rounds around this world and it is my time to meet with you. Now, if we may do so, let’s have a talk, King of the Fairies, Morlin the Magnificent.”