Bck Gold

  Thick, dark liquid filled the pools like ink from a giant squid, as staff shut off the valves as quickly as they could.

  "Every year it gets worst!" said Froxo, struggling to break free from the slippery bck goo that had its legs ensnared. Rosso lifted him up.

  "What is it?" he asked the angry, squirming animal.

  "What do you think it is? It looks like oil, it smells like oil—it even feels like oil" it said, letting out a loud groan as it tried to wipe it off his ruined bathrobe. "The Default hasn't taken over Blueberry Hall yet, but mark my words—it'll arrive here too, eventually. This—this is just the beginning."

  "Where's it coming from?" asked Rosso, putting him down.

  Theya rushed back, furious at the sight of her bathhouse covered in muck, her steps pounding on the wooden floors.

  "Where do you think? It's coming from up the Pace, from Default World—courtesy of the almighty Lord and his grand, Old Order! The Shadows run their machines with this crap, they fuel their wars with it, they sell products made of it, move their assets using it—hell, their whole profane society runs on this garbage—and we? We get to clean!" her bathrobe flew open as she turned, storming about, screaming at staff.

  "Why don't you fight back? What happened to all the fighters?" asked the Sunflower, his eyebrows furrowing.

  "Fight back? Against their monstrous resources? Against their endless power? Who's going to fight against them—these four fools here?" she cried out, pointing at everyone emerging from the pools. The Jumpers, who had been ughing moments before, grew somber, their expressions tinged with shame as they hastily covered their exposed bodies. "The best way to fight now is to mind your own business and survive." The boy shook his head prompting her anger, "well, if you really are the Sunflower, then why don't you of all people do something about it?"

  His nickname made the other Jumpers pause, gncing at one another and murmuring softly as their gazes shifted to the boy.

  Roa and his friend stayed behind, assisting in scrubbing the muck from the edges of the baths as most of the others cleared out and left.

  "Why are you two still here? You're not getting anything out of this, if that's why you're still around" said the angry proprietor, shooing them away.

  "We don't want anything," he reached down, kneeling, cupping his palms and lifting some of the water from the pool. "All of the waters of the Earth are sacred," the Sunflower said, urging Theya to stop her furious scrubbing. She gnced over at him, her fiery stare gradually softening. "Someone said that to me once—I don't remember who. Maybe someone from my past." He paused, staring at the water in his hands. "I think they were right. All water is sacred. Water is the vessel of life. It's a universal right that belongs to everyone, equally." The boy opened his hands, dropping the water back into the pool. "A right that must be defended, at all costs."

  Roa's profound response drew scoffs and giggles from the remaining Jumpers, who whispered among themselves, mocking him as they pointed their fingers. For Theya, whose eyes now glittered with newfound intensity, those words must have struck a chord deep within her, however. She froze, staring at the Sunflower as if she had seen a ghost. After all, she must have grown accustomed to hearing nothing but opportunistic drivel from her customers. Perhaps, it had been ages since anyone with a genuine reverence for anything, let alone for life, had crossed her threshold.

  She sighed.

  "Maybe you are the Sunflower, after all. They say that he would speak that way, back in the day. Half warrior, half poet." She scoffed. "I never met the fool, so I wouldn't know. It doesn't matter now. I've been born in a time when the world has already given up."

  Her eyes fixed onto the walls of the pool, she stood there for a moment, as if lost in thought, then continued scrubbing. Roa kneeled and put his hand on her shoulder and said:

  "I might not know where I'm going, nor where I have been, for that matter. I'm lost, and I'm confused—and honestly, I'm also kind of scared." He shrugged his shoulders. "Hell—my whole past is a lie, and I'm certainly not some great hero with a reputation. My name, my nickname—I'm sure they're just coincidences. I am nobody," he paused and looked at her in the eyes. Then his eyebrows wrinkled, and an intense stare repced his once soft and kind gaze. He said to her: "I'm no one—but I refuse to live in a hopeless world. I refuse. There is always some solution, some kind of way. Without hope—why even live?"

  Theya invited them to stay, and the two retreated upstairs to a small room for the night.

  "I checked the Compass earlier today," said Roa.

  "Yeah? What about it?" Rosso replied, his eyes heavy.

  "Well—it looks like it points in the same direction as the source of the pollution—up. Theya told me that if we follow the pollution, eventually we will get to the Shadows' headquarters—near the chokepoint that other Jumper told us about."

  "What exactly are you trying to say? There's no way we should go to a pce teeming with Shadows—let alone their base of operations here—most of all, we should absolutely avoid where that monstrosity is."

  "I think that—wherever we need to go next, might be through whatever is causing all of the problems in this pce. Anyway—it's not like heading further down to the lower Basements is an option."

  "Maybe we can ask more Jumpers about what Exits appear around here, and leave the Pace altogether," proposed the heretic.

  "Sure—but it seems like all of the Exits that are still working only lead to worlds that eventually lead back to the Basements. If not, wouldn't have all these Jumpers—just have bypassed the chokepoint to avoid drowning here?"

  Rosso had a defeated look on his face.

  "This is all very confusing. I'm already starting to feel lost—and we've been in the byrinth for only a few days—I think. I can't tell with all of these different rooms, and isnds, and whatever."

  They decided to follow Roa's Compass for the time being, hoping the path would become clearer as they moved forward. Neither of them was particurly fond of the idea, but they had no other direction to take. After all, the Gift was the only thing leading them anywhere.

  Theya approached them as they were packing their stuff up for the road ahead.

  "I don't know your history with Nirvana—but be careful of that girl. I'd watch my damn back. She used to be one of the leaders of the failed revolution against the Lord, but now she's known only for one thing. Being the head of one of the rgest crime organizations in the Innerverse. The Calyx Syndicate, the very criminal underbelly of Free Society. If I were you, I'd never trust a thief."

  Roa expined that they would continue up the Pace, following the pollution in the Compass' direction. She gave him a wary gnce.

  "If you two are serious about following the tar trail to its source, I would recommend you meet the old coot in the oasis first. He's got a few loose screws, but he sure knows a lot. Plus—he's pretty good with his aura and might be able to give you some training before you two dive head first into the coffin."