The sun is low in the sky, as Voidbound Indigo scans the horizon. He’s not quite sure what he’s looking for, but he has a promise to keep.
“I’ll not let you be dragged down by what I’ve done. Don’t worry, I have a plan. Wait for me. Look to the evening skies. You’ll know when you see it.”
All well and good, but Between Golden Sunset hadn’t been more specific than that. So once Indigo returned to Iterovati, he was left sitting atop this hill every evening, looking for he knew not what. It’s been too long already. If they managed to get out of Emporium, they should have been here weeks ago, and Indigo is starting to worry that something went wrong. Still, it’s far from an unpleasant view, and Indigo muses that he wouldn’t mind spending time like this with the one he waits for, if they are indeed coming back.
Something on the horizon catches his eye. At first he thinks it nothing but a mirage, or his imagination. A blinking light caused by the glare of the setting sun against his eyes, but no, this is something else. A point on the horizon, at the border between night and day, begins to glow, getting brighter every second until …
Suddenly there’s a tear in the sky, like some kind of gaping, empty mouth opening along the line of the horizon. A streak of light emerges from the void and careens across the sky erratically. Whatever it is, for Indigo cannot tell at this distance, is leaving trails of both silver light and black smoke.
Aaaaaand it’s getting closer … oh dear.
Indigo raises his claws in readiness as the object approaches, pale blue flames ghosting across crimson bone. As it gets nearer, he can see that it looks kind of like … Is that a flying saucer? They don’t have such things in Iterovati, but Indigo vaguely recognises it from a display in Emporium. For a second, Indigo wonders if the object is going to crash directly into him, but it suddenly swerves downwards, ploughing into the ground and gouging a great scar in the land.
It stops three metres shy of going straight through him.
A hatch in the front opens, and a familiar figure stumbles out.
“Ah, you’re here!” Between Golden Sunset exclaims, before collapsing to the ground, clearly out of sorts. “Don’t suppose you could give me a hand up? I had a couple of stowaways, and they’re making life somewhat difficult.”
Seeing his companion, albeit looking slightly worse for wear, Indigo sheathes his claws and offers a hand to them, pulling them upright in the process. They’re still off balance, though, and he’s forced to support Between Golden Sunset with his shoulder under one arm. “Don’t sound so surprised,” he rebukes, “you told me to wait, after all. Also, stowaways?”
Between Golden Sunset indicates the ship, whose hatch is still open. A familiar looking group of small furry creatures is huddled in the entrance, wide eyed.
“You’ve got to be kidding me.”
“I kid you not. They’ve apparently been hiding on board for a while now. I had no idea until one chewed through part of the control panel. Still, they seem well meaning. I said I’d let them have the ship if they’d stop causing trouble long enough to get me here. The idea of travelling the multiverse seemed to appeal to them, if only to try new types of food.”
Indigo just shakes his head in disbelief. “You make strange friends.”
One of the Kerbies waddles up to Indigo with a letter in its mouth, before dropping it at his feet.
“FOR YOU!”
Lowering Sunset to the ground so they can sit and regain their legs, Indigo takes the letter.
“Anything interesting?” Sunset asks, curiously.
“Just an RSVP from their old boss. It said it’d come by to visit sometime.”
“That’s … good?” Sunset doesn’t seem sure, but shrugs. “Enough of that. Come sit with me. Tell me what I’ve missed. You can’t have been gazing out at the horizon waiting for me this whole time.
Indigo flushes slightly, but nonetheless, the two sit together under the setting sun, catching up and generally enjoying each other’s presence while the Kerbies play together. As time passes, the sun sets completely, leaving the two under the stars. Eventually, their conversation turns to talk of the future.
“So now you’re here, what do plan on doing?” Indigo asks.
“Hmm …” Sunset thinks deeply, “Not entirely sure yet. They turn to face Indigo from where they sits beside him. “I guess I’ll be sticking with you for a while. If that’s alright with you, of course.”
“Of course!” Indigo practically blurts out, before collecting himself. “I mean, it’d be good to have you along.”
“Likewise, I think I’d rather enjoy spending more time with you.” Sunset leans back gazing up at the stars. “In this world, certainly, you are my dearest companion.” While their tone is somewhat sardonic, their soft smile is sincere.
“Where does that leave us, then?” Indigo asks. “I mean, should I consider you the same? It wouldn’t offend?”
“Not at all,” Sunset waves off Indigo’s concerns, “At the end of the day, we’ll be whatever we are.”
The tautological non-answer wasn’t quite what Indigo was getting at, but he suspects that pushing any further is only going to take the conversation in circles. So instead, he lets things lapse in to silence, and the two lie together under the stars for a while longer.
They say that you do not truly know your true self until you have walked in the dark places of the world, and seen what you are in the dark. It isn’t unusual, then, for the people of Iterovati to take a pilgrimage into the nearest mountains and caves on the night before they come of age. There, they seek out a pool or stream and gaze into it, then spend time there in prayer and contemplation.
The goal here is to confront who one becomes when the world isn’t looking, to hold the mirror up to every corner of ones life and return stronger and wiser for the experience a day later. One is not considered to truly be an adult in this world until going through this ordeal.
The ritual is based on an old legend. Voidbound Indigo was once a young warrior who struggled with an inner darkness. He always meant well, but every day was haunted by these impulses, either struggling to fight them, or facing the jeers of the people who had a sense for such things, and thus feared him.
Unable to bear this any longer, he sought a way to confront himself. He did not know how, but one day, gazing at his reflection in a shallow pool under the stars one night, it was not his own face he saw. It may have resembled him, but it was twisted by hatred and malice, and seemed to be trying to claw its way out of a bottomless crimson abyss.
The being in the pool asked him many questions about himself. It told him many truths and many more lies, and Indigo spent many days in reflection, sorting verity from falsehood. All the while, the being attacked savagely, not with violence, but words and accusations.
The lies were painful to hear. Everything that had ever been spoken about him in secret, what the people whispered when they though he couldn’t hear. But the truths hurt far more, having to confront his shortcomings and flaws. He railed against it at first, and the creature in the pool grew stronger as a result, matching vehement denial with words so hate-filled they would burn the tongue to speak.
Eventually, Indigo could take no more. He could not continue fighting this adversary. And he began to confess the truth. And when he had finally accepted the parts of him which he would rather never see the light of day, he was able to stand with his head held high.
When he returned to his people, he was not readily accepted at first. Hearts take time to change. But soon people began to see the difference. There are many heroic deeds attributed to him, such as deposing The Unjust Judge and bringing peace and contentment to a people long lost to mindless violence and hedonistic consumption.
His deeds were so great and so many, that rather than allowing him to pass, Esti granted him an eternal life, and Azlio made him a home among the stars, form where he still watches down on us.
So fear not. The mountain road is treacherous, and the night is filled with danger, but those who travel in the dark places of the world need not fear. For a great hero walks at your side, even if you do not know it.
It had been a tiring day for Elesia. Having just returned from her Pilgrimage, she’s exhausted, but although the evening sun is already beginning to set, the day is far from over. As she approaches the the village she left days ago now, she can hear the noise even from far off. She used to curse that her birthday fell on the same day as the festival, and she imagines that exhaustion will lead her to do the same this year, but she cannot help but give a small smile at the sounds of laughter and merriment.
As she passes through the gate, she’s greeted by a sight that’s both familiar and novel. The festival, a celebration of the time her once nomadic people were led safely through the mountains by a kindly guardian. The very same mountains she has just returned from. So once a year, when the wandering star passes through the heart of Voidbound Indigo in the sky, the town is transformed in honour of the event.
The village is lit by many-coloured lanturns, with decorations crafted from glistening beads of glass and stone adorning many of the buildings. Children run in the streets and play games (she remembers doing the same herself, although in later years she preferred to simply curl up by the fire in her mother’s home, and wish the noise away) while adults who would usually be in the tavern at such a time instead drink and dine outside.
At the centre of it all, lies the village’s pride and joy, a shining red gemstone pillar taller than a person and many times as wide. For the festival, it is illuminated by crimson lanterns, and many come to it to think and pray.
Elesia had always thought the strange rock feature was a bit of an eyesore, but her mother simply laughed the one time she said so.
“That’s the point, my dear,” she told her, “That stone was said to have once been the home of the Crimson Chasm, a terrible being of hate and suffering. It is there as a reminder of the parts of our life that we’d rather not think about, so we can always seek to better ourselves, and face our problems.”
She hadn’t understood back then. But she’s older now. She’s had the chance to think about herself and her place in the world and the kind of person she wants to be.
She’s not there yet. She wonders even if Old Man Aaron is fully content with who he is. He certainly works hard for someone who is. But as she’s welcomed home by her people, and a great cheer goes up among the partying crowd, she knows she won’t be alone in her endeavour.
‘Besides,’ she thinks to herself, ‘we’re never alone here, are we?’
She can just about make out a figure, almost invisible against the indigo void of the night outside the village. But then her attention is called elsewhere, and when she looks back, there’s nobody in sight.