The Orb

Avea stayed close behind Briggs whose buckled metal shoes with every footstep sent shaking vibrations through the pipeline. They didn't speak choosing to fall into a sullen silence that was driving Avea slowly insane, as she was now twitching with an anxiousness that made her want to rip out of this pipeline with her bare hands. She had so many thoughts squirming in the back of her mind, that there was now a fierce throbbing behind her temple. She was tired at staring at Brigg's hunched back that moved with a dangerous grace, and all the while trying to understand her instinct to trust this man. The network of pipes were all interconnected throughout the Valent with endless possibilities of where it could lead out. For all she know Briggs was planning on leading her straight to the guardwatch patrols as payback for ambushing him. Or better yet take her straight to Cyrus Elrod to collect on that bounty.

Despite her conflicting feelings on trusting Briggs Avea forced her aching legs to maintain pace. The silence was now deafening, but she got the distinct impression that Barnaby Briggs was a man of few words and wouldn't divulge any information regarding her mother until he was ready. Nevermind that with every passing second her mother could be in further danger. Dead. No, Avea thought Dolunay had said that they needed her for this 'claiming'. She wasn't dead, not yet.

During the long dreaded walk all Avea could do was let her mind recount the exchange between her mother and Dolunay. She'd gone over every word that was spoken.The Minotaur had been looking for her, surrender the girl, Avea remembered the way that Dolunay's ancient voice seized her behind her mother's shields. She couldn't hear all the words that were said, but Avea was certain that Dolunay wasn't going to give up the hunt for her.

She also couldn't stop thinking about what had happened in that cave.The way the power flowed through her veins and erupted out of her in that blinding luminous light. She'd never experienced that sensation before, that connection deep within herself that made her feel entirely alive, like there was something that had lay dormant inside her that had finally been awoken. Avea craved it with an all consuming hunger that could never be sated and without it there was a emptiness that struck deep inside her. She'd felt the remnants of that power when her mother had weaved the light into that rift before shoving her inside. The strands of light that streamed between her fingertips, but while Avea's had been erratic and uncontrolled when she'd unlocked the gateway. Her mothers had been powerful and disciplined, each stroke forceful in its delivery yet she'd moved with such poise in the way she'd tied it together to form that rift.

She really wished Bebop was here to distract her from her thoughts, but the bot had run out of juice and needed a recharge. Bebop was currently attached to her back in shut down mode while its systems rebooted. Avea had to admit she was more than a little envious of the bot, she couldn't feel her legs anymore and she kept glancing over her shoulder expecting to see the guardwatch chasing them. "Relax kid or you're gonna snap your neck," Brigg finally said, not even turning to face her."Can you at least tell me where you're taking me?" she asked, unable to keep the exhaustion out of her voice.

Suddenly there was a glaring light ahead of her and Avea found herself at the end of the pipeline standing on a ledge that opened out to the inside of a wide cylinder tower. She looked upwards and couldn't see the top, realising they were very far underneath the Valent streets. There were electrical wires, whirring machinery and oversized piping overlapped trailing downwards like a cascading waterfall that disappeared into a bottomless hole far below. She spotted many pipelines openings scattered all around the curvature of the tower, sneaky bastard, Avea thought. No wonder Briggs could evade the guardwatch so easily, these pipelines were his escape routes. "So this is your hideout?" Avea said, turning her attention to Briggs who was standing on the slim ledge with an enviable ease. Her statement was met with stern silence."Hideout, makes it sound like I'm runnin scared," Barnaby drawled."Aren't you?" the words slipped out without thought. Briggs head snapped to hers with a glare that could have scorched the earth, but then he huffed out a laugh,"you remind me of your ma" he said, not quite meeting her eye.

Avea couldn't ignore the pang in her heart at the mention of her mother. The two began carefully shuffling along the curvature of the cylinder, "I ain't hidin only a fool would stay out in the open," Briggs said. Avea couldn't argue with that, Barnaby Briggs was one of the most wanted men in T'alli, he couldn't exactly buy real estate on the main lanes."How are we supposed to get down? We can't climb the whole way." Briggs shrugged, "be my guest I'm gon take the elevator.""The wha...," Avea gawked as Briggs pulled back a grated doorway hidden deceivingly behind a curtain of thick wires, the elevate gate slid to the side with ease obviously from being oiled regularly. She raised her eyebrows in surprise, "not bad" she said impressed by the craftiness of a hidden elevator shaft. "You ain't seen nothin yet kid," suddenly the grated doors slammed shut behind her and without warning plummeted.

Avea screamed loudly over the screeching of metal grating along the shaft. There were no railings to hold onto, as the elevator shook forcefully throwing her body to the ground. Briggs unsurprisingly stood with his back to her ignoring her while waiting patiently for the elevator to make its decent. The elevator hurled downwards at an unrelenting speed and all Avea could do was plant her hands and knees firm in an attempt hold back the rolling nausea that threatened to spill over the elevator. The rattling of the elevator so intense Avea feared it would fall apart before it even hit the ground. She tried focusing her breathing in and out, but the horrendous high-pitched squeal of the metal made that impossible, in and out...in and out...I'm going to throw up, she thought, as another wave of nausea hit her. She collapsed onto the floor no longer possessing the strength to stay upright.

The elevator gave a sudden lurch upwards for a second Avea thought maybe the ride had stopped, but then the elevator jolted forwards and sent her sliding on her stomach. Its moving forwards? What kind of elevator is this? After what felt like an eternity the elevator skidded to a halt with a mocking 'ding'. Avea lay sprawled on the ground struggling to ease the sickening churning of her stomach. The sound of hoarse chuckling distracted her long enough to look to Briggs who leisurely strolled out of the elevator as though they hadn't just fallen hundreds of feet below the streets of Peccatrix.

"You could have warned me it was going to do that!" she wheezed struggling to stand on her feet. Briggs stared at her with nothing short of smug amusement, "where would be the fun in that?" Avea glared at him while he chuckled at her weak attempt to steady herself, that closely resembled a swaying drunk. "Now come on we're almost there." Avea wasn't sure her heart could take the strain of another elevator ride. Despite her misgivings about Briggs she stumbled after him into his hideout, it was a dense vessel that looked distinctly utilitarian with the exhaust ports and open access hatches lining the corridor. There were electronic keypads stationed outside each door that had been hacked off violently. She had a suspicion that they were in some sort of wreckage, because even in the dark she could clearly see the it was a giant metal husk with brutally dented walls and bullet holes that could only be obtained through battle.

Briggs halted at a dead-end and finally turned. The red glare from his six eyes was solely fixed on her face, "if you do this there's no going back." There was no threat to his words, it was an offering. Perhaps Briggs thought to pay her a final act of mercy by giving her the chance to turn back. Avea didn't flinch staring directly into Brigg's six lens, "she's my mum," she replied. Brigg's gave a nod and pulled a lever on the side wall. The wall rotated around bringing them to a secret room on other side of the wall. Not a dead-end after all. Avea curiously peered out into the dimly lit room which was lined with stacked shelves of binded ledgers, deadly weapons and tons of unspeakable incriminating evidence.

She was in the secret vault of the infamous Barnaby Briggs.

Avea couldn't indulge her curiosity by allowing herself to get distracted by Brigg's collection of leverage and shady dealings. The time for waiting was over, she turned to Briggs, and the two of them stood facing each other. "Alright now tell me" Avea said, turning very solemn and serious. "Tell you what exactly?" Briggs said, Avea's anger flared and her fists clenched at Brigg's callous remark. "The truth. The reason you dragged me all the way down here," she said through gritted teeth. "I don't know the truth" Briggs said calmly. Avea expression darkened, "you told me that..." "I told you that you'd learn the truth, I never said I knew what it was," Briggs said cutting off. Avea was fuming,"then how I am I supposed to find out?" she gritted through her teeth. Briggs shifted his stare to Bebop who had awoken detached from Avea's back and hovered deliberately out of Brigg's line of sight. "Bebop come here" Brigg's demanded, "pass" Bebop chirped. Briggs glared at Bebop's attempt at insolence, and the bot reluctantly flew up to Briggs.

Briggs hand latch out holding Bebop firm, before turning the bot over and rubbing away the burnt rust to reveal an indent on the back of its bodice. Avea of course had noticed this branded mark on Bebop before, but she'd always assumed it was just the brand of a former manufacturing sector. Nothing unusual almost all the old discarded scrap parts had a brand prior to the dismantling of Valent industries. Now her eyes lit up with intrigue, but quickly disappeared as Briggs brought the 'corpsemaker' out and Bebop squealed. Avea lunged forward, "Brigg's don't..." she gasped, but she halted seeing the seal stamped on the wrist of the 'corpse-maker.' It matched Bebop's brand. "You're the one who built Bebop?!" Avea exclaimed unable to contain her shock. Briggs lifted a brow clearly not appreciating her obvious surprise. "Lets just say I know my way around mechanics" he grunted lifting the stamp to Bebop's mark to scan. Bebop squealed desperately scrambling to get out of Briggs clutches, "I'm not gonna cut you up now stay still damn it!" Briggs growled. A small hatch opened at the back of Bebop's bodice and Briggs reached inside pulling out a strange looking key.

Avea let out a startled laugh and Bebop released an indignant huff, but both of them intrigued by the key that Briggs held. The key looked medieval, angular and spindly with the bottom sticking out into three angular parts.They watched Briggs walk to the center of the room and crouch down to the floor. Where there were three lines in a triangular shape, the keyhole that had gone unnoticed by Avea. Briggs plugged the strange key into the ground and the floor began to open up. A glass cylinder began rising out of the floor until it reached Avea's shoulders. She felt that familiar pulsing of energy drawing her closer, calling to her. There was an orb inside that from the outside didn't appear to be anything special, but Avea could feel the power thrumming in her veins and she shuddered as she reached inside the glass casing and her fingers wrapped around the spherical object.

She lifted the orb up to closely inspect it, it was a strange blend of mechanics and the otherworldly.There were cogs, screws and jagged pieces of metal, but there were also occult etchings and patterns that she didn't understand woven into the orb. She found there was no way to open it."Of course it couldn't be simple" Avea muttered to herself, the truth was in the orb and she couldn't open it. Avea whirled to face Briggs who was looking at her expectantly, "is this a joke?! I can't open this!" She watched Brigg's shoulders slump, "look kid it's an orb from outer space it's not gonna have a twist cap." Avea glared at Briggs, not wanting to admit that she'd wanted it to be that simple. She looked down at the orb in her hands, her mother had left this for her to unlock so it had to be possible.

Avea gritted her teeth in frustration, turning the orb over and over trying to find a hatchet or a keyhole. Something to go on with, but she could se beyond the small spherical orb. "How does she expect me to know how to open this?" She turned the orb over and over again looking for a clue to open it, but there was nothing, only occult etchings covering the outside that she didn't understand. "Look kid your ma made sure that you were the only one that could open it, believe me I tried. So whatever the secret is, its locked somewhere up here" Briggs said, placing a dirty calloused finger to her temple.

"I don't know ... I never seen ..."

"To take down a mark I don't strike, I find their weak points and force their secrets out," Briggs replied, staring down at Avea. She didn't know how, but she understood what Briggs was trying to tell her. Force the secrets out, Avea took a deep centering breath, she had to look beyond the singular orb in her hands to unlock its secret. So she closed her eyes and listened and she heard a soft humming coming from inside. She moved her fingers lightly across the orb listening to the fluctuations in frequencies, however it was all muddled, somehow incoherent.

She strained her ears locking in on a faint melodic key and she pressed with her fingertip. To her astonishment swirling lines appeared moving across the orb, and its mechanical pieces shifting to unlock a layer of the orb. When she lifted her finger she saw a spot of light glowing like a star in a constellation. She concentrated on the orb and like the fine tuning of an instrument listened out for the right key. "It's just like the cave," Avea whispered, a cosmic music box. Dragging her finger delicately across the orb till she found the next key and another glowing light would appear connecting to the previous, unlocking another layer. It was beautiful the making of a constellation as with every beat she felt the orb surrender a little more. With every detection of a chord she could start to hear them sync together in a harmony. Finally she found the last chord the entire constellation was complete and the path that she had carved shone brightly. The orb played all of the chords together in a perfectly pitched tune that rang out clear.

Avea recognised the melody, it was a song her mother used to sing to her every night. She'd made it a key, something only the two of them would know.

Everyone held their breath, as the orb lifted out of Avea's hands and all of the folded layers began folding themselves into a diamond prism. Another puzzle hidden within, and Avea intrigued looked closely at the diamond that had been sectioned off into three different tiers with scripture etched around its edges. Briggs and Bebop were now standing directly behind her no longer concerned with giving her space. They were standing so close that she could smell the guzzler on Brigg's breath, Avea cleared her throat giving Briggs the not so subtle hint to back off. Briggs grunted, but obliged stepping back so she could continue. The were symbols etched over the diamond that resembled obscure sigils, and Avea realised that this was her mother's native tongue.She rubbed her thumb over the sigils and they transformed into letters. Avea instantly recognised the first words.

By the moon of the light side. The words were out of order so she twisted the first tier of the diamond so that the words were correctly aligned. By the light side of the moon. Then she moved to the middle section brushing her fingers over the words, that revealed another confused sentence.She twisted the words to form the sentence to; May the divinity of lumos ascend. All that was left was the bottom of the diamond, might of ancients true shall reign. Avea's fingers were shaking as she aligned the words twisting them around locking them into place. To the ancients of might who reign true.

By the light side of the moon.

May the divinity of lumos ascend.

To ancients of might who reign true.

Avea read the phrase aloud. The diamond glowed brightly and began folding out neatly. She heard loud gasps behind her, and she looked down to see a stone sitting in its center. She didn't know exactly what she was expecting, but it certainly wasn't this. It was a breathtaking opalescent stone no larger than the palm of her hand. Its adularescence of ethereal light billowing across the surface, sitting in the center of the now unlocked orb. "Well pick it up" Brigg's barked from behind her. Avea picked up the stone, and a searing pain pierced her mind as it was flooded with an overwhelming rush of sounds and images. She threw her back still clutching the stone in her hand, it was as if her mind were expelled from her body and transported elsewhere.

She opened her eyes everything around her was hazy shrouded in a thick mist. When her vision finally cleared, Avea was standing on a lake of glistening water. She stared into the reflective surface and saw a beautiful sky above her, but when she gazed up at the sky she knew that she couldn't be dreaming because what she saw was far beyond her wildest fantasies. The sky was filled with hundreds of large moons floating above her glowing with luminous glow. The moons spun slowly in the sky as though dancing a waltz, and cast their halos of light onto Avea. The colours that bled across the sky into a mesmerising panorama of celestial wonder. Wisps of violet and sapphire swirled together, holding up the moons, and Avea who felt that she had been swept away by the infinity of space, couldn't tear her eyes away afraid that if she even dared to blink it would all fade.

The moons in the sky stopped spinning, and Avea felt a shift in the air. Avea tore her eyes from the sky to the waters beneath her feet, and her throat closed up seeing black water beneath her feet, like a drop of ink spreading rapidly across the water. The darkness swallowed all the light, and Avea's eyes warily lifted back up to the skies and she gasped in horror as the darkness spread across the sky to the moons draining them of their luminous glow until they were dull grey orbs sinking in the sky. Avea's blood turned cold.

In the distance Avea could see a hooded figure running across the black water, directly towards her with frantic haste. Their hurried footsteps leaving ripples across the surface. Avea couldn't see the face of this being, only a ceremonial cloak flailing behind them and a piercing glow shining outwards from beneath the concealed hood. The hood didn't call out to Avea, even from a distance Avea could sense the hood's fear, looking over their shoulder as though afraid they were being chased.

As the hood got closer they didn't seem to notice Avea standing in the middle of the lake. She was still holding the stone in her hand and she realised that it must be shielding her from this person's sight. The person was dressed in a ceremonial garment under their robe that had been torn and tattered from outrunning whatever horrors they'd escaped. The stone in Avea's palm glowed, it opalescent light dancing around her. The hood must have sensed the stone even in spirit form because their body went still, "stay away from us!" she heard them speak, their voice youthful yet tainted with fear. Pulling their hood back, beneath the hood was a young beautiful women with a stone in the center of her forehead like a crown glowing brightly. The young women still too far away for Avea to clearly see her face, but she recognised the stones as the same to the one in her palm.

The women's hands remained tucked inside her robes, and Avea moved closer towards her trying to get a clearer look at her face. Her eyes saw nothing, but the darkness closing in around them. The woman whirled around in fright, and Avea recognised the scope of the women's nose and the outline of her lips. "Mum" Avea whispered, the tears welling in her eyes. It was her mother, or at least a younger version of her. She was here, standing in front of her and all she wanted to do was run to her and wrap her arms around her. "Mum its Avea, can you hear me?" She called out, but her mother stared right through her, towards the distant sounds of screams and unseen horrors she'd left behind.

Avea reached out touching her shoulder, and the stone on the mother's forehead grew brighter. She'd never seen her mother so frightened, even when she was battling Dolunay, she didn't reveal a hint of fear. However, her mother's breathing was shallow and her youthful face pale with fear. The bile rose in Avea's mouth and she swallowed, the acid burning her throat. That was when she heard a babies cries coming from inside her mother's robes. "Don't cry my girl, please don't cry" her mother begged. Avea looked down and saw the babe cradled to her mother's chest.

She was in her mother's memories.