Chapter 41: A Far Cry From Glass Beach
I don't know when I started feeling this way.
It's strange, almost funny, how it crept up on me. One breath, one blink, and suddenly I'm standing here, staring at the bright blue sky, wondering how long these thoughts have been growing inside me.
Mel and El… they've found something. Maybe not their purpose,that's a big word, too big,but at least something they care about with their whole hearts. Cooking. Farming. Things that make them light up in a way that feels solid, grounded, real.
And I'm happy for them,truly.
But it leaves me with this quiet question echoing inside me:
What about me?
Ever since we left Veloria ,ever since the world cracked open and showed me how impossibly big and terrifying it really is,I've just been going with the flow. The wind pushes us; chaos shoves us; fate,or whatever it is,keeps throwing quests and disasters and impossible choices in our path.
The giants.
The people frozen in Veloria.
The Codex.
These powers.
All of it.
It's like I'm standing in the middle of a story that already decided what it wants from me, and I'm just… being dragged along.
And I can't shake the question:
What is my actual purpose?
I want to save everyone,of course I do. And part of me believes I can. The Codex makes me believe it. These strange abilities make me believe it.
But wanting to save people and being born to save them… those are two very different things.
Ever since Good…..even before that,maybe since Magnus… I've realized something I never wanted to admit:
Most of the time, I have no idea what I'm doing.
And recently, something else hit me even harder:
Life… life is terrifying.
Not because of monsters, or gods, or the horrors we've seen. But because of the idea of life itself.
How fragile it is.
How one wrong step can end it.
How it belongs to each of us, and how easily it can be taken away.
I'm not suicidal. It's not like that.
but, I'd give up my own life instantly if it meant Mel or El would live. No hesitation. No second thought.
But that's exactly what scares me.
Because if my life is only worth something when it protects theirs…
Then what is it worth on its own?
If I lost either of them,God, the thought alone makes my chest hurt….I don't think I'd have anything left to live for.
Life is valuable. I know that.
I knew it on the Day of Red, when everything changed.
But now, on this strange quest we never asked for, that truth is so much clearer.
So if life matters,if every breath, every heartbeat means something,then what am I meant to do with that truth?
Good is at the bottom of the ocean now. Because of me. Because I chose to end a life to save others.
Magnus ended lives too,but for his wife, for his daughter. For love.
He believed he was right.
I believe I was right.
And now I'm terrified that, moving forward, I'll have to make more choices like that….take more lives. Break more pieces of myself.
Destroy something I now see as impossibly precious.
What right do I have to do that?
I know exactly what it feels like to lose someone.
So how can I do that to anyone else?
It makes me wonder…..dangerously,whether this is what I was born to do.
Whether this is my purpose..
No.
No, I refuse to believe that.
That cannot be why I exist.
That cannot be the reason I was given life.
I let out a long, heavy..... sigh.
"What do you think, Bob?"
Bob looked up at me with those bright blue eyes, staring straight into my soul. His white feathers waved in the wind as he laid stretched across the sun-bathing bed beside me.
He didn't say a word.
"Exactly," I whispered, grateful for his silence. "You really do understand me."
A few days had passed. Mel and El still intended to follow through with learning farming and cooking. I hadn't had any near-death experiences, which was nice.
It's crazy,all this time we've just been floating through the sky headed for First Thing. There was little to no reason for us to go to the sea surface… but I was curious. It's not every day that you're flipped into a new world, and we were missing it. From up here, it was just clouds and sun, nothing else.
The day we left, Stella and Stello warned us to stay away from any islands we might encounter. It would make things easier that way, but still, it seemed like a waste.
"What do you think, Codex? Do you have any wisdom to share on this new world?"
My library speaks of a distant world outside the dome, but the shelves have little to no more information on it. It seems that for us to learn more, we will need to explore. The shelves seek to be filled with this foreign knowledge.
I smiled. "Just say you wanna explore. No need to make it so formal or tightly worded," I said.
Bob still had nothing to say.
No it is nothing like that. I wonder too. It seems something stops me from seeing the world's stories are my libraries truly empty. I wonder because it seems like something in this world blinds me only letting me see when it's convenient for them.
Then, the Codex,as if on some type of ironic cue ,shook and flashed like it always would, flipping to a blank page.
"Hey, I was joking. Don't side-quest us right now," I said dryly.
On this page, a new chapter wrote itself into the Codex's pages:
When girls go falling from the sky
What I'd learned about the Codex is that it kept a journal of all our adventures. Every important thing we'd done had its own chapter in its pages. And besides that, even things we didn't experience ,like Magnus and his past, and Good and his past ,all had a page in the book now.
It feels like the Codex and I have begun to have a stronger connection. Like I said before, I no longer need to read the pages to see the memories. Just like they're written on the pages, they're also being written in my mind.
I wonder what the Codex's whole role is here. I've asked on many occasions, yet all I get are vague or abstract answers. I've given up asking, but I still hope that at some point I can understand it more.
Why me? Why can I see all these past all these peoples lives what does it really mean?
I looked at my blackened hand "even more so i wonder what my purpose is too there has to be a point to all this …..right?"
"So are you going to give me any hints about this new chapter you've written?" I asked dryly.
No, it replied.
"Well, what was I expecting, to be honest."
Simply all I'll say-
"No. Don't do that. You said no, now you want to still give a hint? What's wrong with you?" I sighed.
Do you want the knowledge or not? The Codex had no expressions ,it was a book, after all ,but I could sense the sass in those words.
"Sure, whatever," I said. "Go on."
When girl and steel fall from the sky From Glass Beach will be a cry.
"Ok…?" I said, confused.
"So I should look out for steel ?" I asked.
I do not… know, the book wrote back.
I slammed it into my magical locker. It was either that or burn it, since it was not even slightly helpful.
Later that night
"So let me get this straight …the book you always talk to is the one that sent us to that strange dream place that one time, the one you found in your orphanage library, that is also magical and talks to you, ....journals all our adventures, has a psychic connection with you… AND told you to look out …for a girl who will fall from the sky ? Is that about right?"
"Yeah," I said dryly.
"Well, ok," she said. "My mother got frozen in a lightning strike by some guy named First Thing after a dome surrounding our home broke, revealing we lived on a giant stump with giants living in a food kingdom under it. So, whatever at this point." mel said dryly
When she put it like that, I also realized a talking book wasn't too far-fetched. It was actually on the more normal side, really.
"But Stella and Stello asked us to stay away from any of the islands, Maddox. Do you really think it's a good idea to explore things we don't know again? You already lost two limbs. You don't have many more before you die," she said dryly.
"Yeah, you're right. But the Codex only ever has a new chapter when something important needs to happen, so I'll trust in that for now."
"Fine," she said. "I hope your shadows can regrow a head," she muttered.
"Calm yourself " I said dryly.
For the next few days, I sat tanning ,it had become my favorite thing to do, honestly but I kept looking out for this girl the Codex spoke of. Three days later… nothing.
I mean, it was possible that the Codex could be wrong… right? Was it? I wasn't sure.
It's not like the book has made any mistakes so far, even though its language is vague. I was rambling, lost in thought, when suddenly a loud and violent explosion followed by gusts of wind reverberated from below.
"Oh…. well damn What is this timing?" I said dryly. "It can't be… right."
Then, in the distance, a small figure ,shaped like a human…..I think flew through the sky, followed by steam and a trail of white fog coming from below. We were high up, so for anything to break through the cloud line and make it this far was already shocking. But for it to be human? Insane.
It flew high, as if going to space, then suddenly stopped mid-air for a moment before plummeting back down.
"Wait, wait, what is it? Mel! El! Quickly, set the propellers to full blast, something is falling, and I think it's human!"
"What?" they said, trying to understand.
"Just do it!" I shouted, launching off my sunbathing chair.
We whooshed forward at incredible speed toward the figure. I mean, it wasn't a girl , so I doubted it was what the Codex mentioned, but even if it was, if that was a human, I could not …would not ,let them die.
A fall from that height would be deadly.
As we approached, I got a closer look: two arms, two legs, and a head. Human-sized for the most part… or… was it? I summoned a few shadow tendrils to catch it. The weight was insane ,too heavy to be human.
I gasped as it landed in the web of arms I'd made. Its speed didn't slow, and it fell further. Shadow arm after shadow arm, I summoned more and more until it finally stopped, just before crashing into the cloud.
"What the hell is that?" I said, confused.
It was human-shaped but bulky, made of steel that was rusted and weathered. Its face was a simple slit dark, lifeless, no mouth. It was hot, burning hot; we couldn't touch it.
Mel, El, and I looked at it before it made a swooshing sound near its neck. The metal face plate slid off, and my eyes widened.
A cocoa-light brown shade of skin came into view as the plate slid off. Sharp, pointed ears. A small nose. Her eyes ,I couldn't tell, since they were closed ,and then soft locks of light brown hair. She frowned slightly.
My heart seemed to skip a beat, which was strange. I'd thought things like that only happened in corny books and movies. Maybe it was the way her lips looked soft, lush or maybe it was the expression she made that reminded me of mine when I looked in the mirror. She had dark circles under her eyes, like she hadn't slept in years.
I was breathing, right? If so, why did I feel like I was suffocating? Was my breath taken away? No way… right?
Then it hit me. I'd seen her before. No way it could be anyone else the girl from that dream I had. The girl in the Codex.
How could this be? Up until now, the Codex only shared moments from the past, but here she was ,the girl from…what the hell is going on?
She opened her eyes ,cocoa brown as tears fell.
"Help.... me," she cried, before passing out again.
"What do we do with her?" El asked.
"Is she going to die? What kind of person falls from the sky like that?"
"I don't know. And no, she won't die… I think. Anyway."
They were going back and forth. We were in the kitchen, and she was asleep in the spare room.
"And that armor," El said, placing a hand on her chin. "Something that heavy could fly?"
"Well… 'fly' is a stretch. More like she was falling," Mel said.
"So that's the girl , I'm guessing, Maddox?" El asked. I was deep in thought. I didn't even hear her.
She'd asked for help before she passed out. I wondered what the hell had happened.
A few days later
I woke up to screaming from the guest room, followed by a loud thud.
When I got there, I saw her.
She looked around as we stood over her. She blinked, swallowed.
"Hi," Mel finally said, breaking the tense atmosphere. "I'm Melody, but you can call me Mel. What's your name?"
Her hair shifted, revealing pointy ears ,she was an elf.
"My name… my name is–" she stuttered. Then her eyes widened. "Where am I? Did I make it off that island? Are we safe?" She trembled.
"Y–yeah. You fell from the sky and landed on our cloud while we were passing by," I explained.
"Cloud?" she said, confused.
"It's complicated," El said dryly.
"Oh. Um… my name is–" she sighed, a bit of relief in her voice "Maranielle, but you can just call me Mara."
She passed out again.
A few days later, I woke one night to a loud thud coming from the guest room. I ran to see what was happening. It was Mara. She'd been in and out of consciousness since that day, but now she sat on the wooden floor beside the bed, crying.
"Hey, you're not supposed to be stressing your body right now. Get back in bed," I said.
"Oh… er, yeah." She wiped her tears as she stood. "Sorry for waking you. I'm being a bother on your already generous accommodation."
She was kind. Well-spoken.
"How are you feeling?" I asked.
"Better. Just a bit woozy from time to time, but nothing you should worry yourself about."
I observed her for a moment. "Hey, the view from up here is pretty amazing at night. Wanna go look at it with me?"
She stopped and thought for a moment. "I'd like that. Thanks. The fresh air would help me."
I pulled out another sunbathing chair (Bob's chair) and we sat out on the cloud. The stars were bright tonight, and since there were no clouds this high up, we could see it all. The moon was full, casting its blue light over everything, creating a peaceful, soft atmosphere. The stars shone in every shape and size.
We laid on our backs in silence. She tried to hide it, but I could hear her crying softly.
"So… what's your story?" I asked, more directly than I intended.
"Er… pardon me. I'm a bit emotional today. The moon is fully out, which means, if I'm correct, it's the 17th of August. Today's my birthday. I just turned 18." She laughed sadly. "Around this time, my sister would be taking to go look at the stars. She does… did… it every year on my birthday."
She wiped her eyes. "I find it strange that somehow, today, at this exact moment, with a complete stranger, that tradition of ours still managed to happen." The tears fell faster.
"That's actually… really sweet." I didn't want to pry too much. I could sense she wasn't fully ready to open up yet.
I studied her face. Even after all this time resting, she still had heavy bags under her eyes, as if her body was used to sleepless nights.
"I know who you are," I finally said.
She blinked.
"I know it sounds crazy, and I know I've never seen you in my life. But I saw it, the mine, the explosions, the water, your people, and that suit."
"Wait… how do–" she began.
"I don't know why the Codex showed me that. But…I know you."
She stared for a moment. "That's crazy… It's like you were there."
"Yeah," I said quietly.
"Well then… you know what I need to do. I can't leave them."
"Yeah. And honestly, even now, when all I can think about are my friends stuck in that ice… it still feels right to help you." i said
She smiled. "Thank you. You're truly a kind person."
"So… what's your plan?"
"The best thing I could do now is find an island with resources.That was the plan and the suit was meant to drop me off on an island not too far from here See, we built a submarine called Noah and it needs to be destroyed before any of us can leave glass beach. It's complete, but for our escape well that's still a work in progress but we have no time. My job is to build an energy cell I couldn't build in Glass Beach."
"Oh… so if you can build it, then you and your people can leave?"
"Well, it won't be easy, but yes. The Noah needs to fall it can not under any circumstance leave the shores of glass beach.
"Mhh," I thought to myself before finally speaking. "On one hand, everyone I've ever known is trapped on a stump, frozen in lightning, and I really don't have time for side quests. But on the other… the Codex showed me your escape for a reason, and I'd probably regret it if I left you to fend for yourself.
"Not to mention, Mel would probably be all like, 'Ohhh, Maddox the selfish, too preoccupied to help those who need it, willing to lose an arm and a leg to look cool but not help a poor elf girl.' Then Eliza would add something like, 'Disgraceful.'
"On the other hand, if I did help you, Mel would probably say, 'Ohhh, Maddox the knight in shining armor, always there to save a weak, frail girl in distress, how kind of you,' in her sarcastic tone. And El would probably call me a pervert just to shame me more.
"There's no winning, is there?" I thought to myself. "Anyway… what the hell. Let's get you that battery."
She smiled and stood, matching my energy.
"It's a pleasure to be working with you, Maddox. I'm glad you're so kind."
Notes-
You dont just take another chicken's sun bathing chair dick move lowkey :(