The Barque of Dante

As soon as we made it through the third gate, our senses were inundated by what seemed like some sort of massive festival. Lavish silk banners hung from every massive Victorian-style mansion on either side of the road through our entire way towards the city center.

It wasn’t just the buildings either. Children ran around with red and yellow streamers, every slightly older person on sight wore huge smiles as they snacked on roasted chicken and ice cream cones, and the knights strolled around in their spotless shining armor with a lack of urgency that could only be seen during a party.

“Hey, kid,” I pulled aside one of the passersby at random. “What’s everyone celebrating for?”

“Don’t you know, mister? The evil lady is getting executed!”

“T-the evil lady?” I held my breath. “Who do you mean by that?”

“The one on all the wanted posters. Mommy says the evil lady tried to kill our king!”

“I-I see…”

“Thank you,” Aila interrupted me and knelt down, patting the kid on the head.

“M-my mom says I’m not supposed to talk to you. She says you're dirty!” The kid stammered out, clearly enjoying Aila’s pats.

“Well, do I look dirty to you? For all she needs to know, I’m just a nice passerby!” Aila got to her feet, steadying her breath. If only I could hide my emotions like she could.

As the kid went back to join his friends, we continued on our path. It wasn’t far from here now; I could see the castle cover more of the horizon with every step. Its brilliant white towers reflected the suns like it was made out of glass. Something that bright was impossible to miss.

A grand moat surrounded the castle, with crystalline blue water underneath. Red and yellow flags topped every high point of the structure. There was a sense of grandness that not even Gallai’s castle could match, with an aura that threatened to overwhelm me as I got closer and closer.

The golden helmet wearing guards all cleared the way as we approached. They held curved spears with dual-tipped points that looked like they might be able to pierce the air around them.

We stepped together on the bridge without another word. I could clearly see the guards’ faces shift, the itch in them that made them want to attack us for daring to approach such a sacred place to their kingdom.

Yet they didn’t try anything. It was clear Thien had orchestrated every part of our arrival.

The inside of the castle felt like a continuation of what we’d just seen outside. Massive paintings covered the ceilings, showing people dressed in colorful linen and standing on clouds of silver and gold.

As we reached the entrance hall, a grand dome showed us a scene straight out of the Vatican. Five people held small bowls of fruits up to gods staring down at them without a single expression on their faces. There were five of these godlike angels, four male-looking and one female, all with massive birdlike wings and a soft pale halo of light around them.

“East…” Above them there was one last figure looking down. “That has to be him, right?”

Part of me was dumbfounded. Forget the image of some divine god wrapped in holy robes, instead the man looked straight out of the countryside.

He wore a simple red button-up plaid shirt and jeans—yet despite that, his image still drew my eyes like a spotlight. A blur effect hid his face from view as he held a shimmering bow with one hand and an arrow in the other.

“It is,” Aila scowled. “You don’t see many pictures of him outside Eastol.”

From what Seth and Francis told us, that was the man responsible for creating this entire system, the absent godly parent to this universe.

I tore my eyes away from him as we passed by the dome. Until Thien was finally taken care of, East would have to wait. Francis was somewhere on that queue as well.

“This place feels really quiet,” Aila said as we walked through the bright yellow halls.

“There’s no one here, forget any source of noise.” Those guards back at the entrance were the last people we had seen. The entrance hall was empty, as were the dome and the inner gates—frankly, all of it.

There weren't the familiar noises one might expect from the kitchen, nor any maids hurrying to dust the shelves. Nothing.

“Thien always did seem like the type for a dramatic entrance,” I said.

We eventually reached the throne room. Two enormous wooden doors stood in our way, adorned with carvings of golden leaves. Marble lions looked down on us from either side, their eyes ruby gemstones and their hair made of silver strands.

“You ready?” I pressed my hand against the door’s silver handle.

“Never been better,” Aila gripped her new sword. The katana hummed as she placed her hand on the other door. “Let’s head in.”

Yet before we could push, the sound of wood on stone burst into the room as the doors opened on their own.

I took a quick step back, letting light form around my fingers.

“Rin!” Lilly’s voice came instantly before I could comprehend any of the environment around me.

“Don’t worry, we got you!” I said with confidence, more for my reassurance than hers.

She hung from the ceiling in a slim metallic cage. A cocoon of thread bound her hands and feet, every slight attempt at movement causing her to swing midair.

We stepped into the gilded throne room, weapons drawn. Just like the rest of the castle, the throne room had that similar golden motif, with velvet curtains blocking the twin suns and a matching bed at the center of the room.

Thien sat on that very bed with a relaxed posture and a cocky expression, a brown shining crystal conspicuously in his hands. “Hello again, it is truly nice to see my old friends come so far just to visit me.”

“Cut the crap,” I rolled one of Francis’ die in my palms. “We both know how this is going to end up.”

“Do we?” He said with an amused tone. “I look forward to you showing me this so-called predetermined ending. If you don’t desire to fight, though, I will gladly oblige.”

“So you can keep at it unopposed and throw this world into war?” I scoffed. “No thanks.”

“What if there was another solution?” He jumped off the bed and walked towards us. “Lilly, Rin, neither of you are from this world, yes? Why go so far to defend this experiment?”

“We live in your dammed experiment.”

“That you do, that you do! But what if you didn't?"

I gripped my fist, not saying a word.

“What if I were to send you two home, all the way back to Earth, and in exchange, you two vow never to deal with the politics of Sarai again?” With a grin he stepped towards us, dropping his blade on the ground. “Does that sound like a deal?”