Boy

With every time they visited, the world around him was clearer and clearer. On his first visit, he didn't even notice what colour the floor was, the people around him were identical with only partial features barely resembling a face. In fact neither his memories of the venue nor the events were concrete. Regardless of how hard he tried recalling his previous encounters it would always end with him mumbling "Cavina", only stopping when he realised he was drooling and had never paid any attention to the details.

But this time was different, Slinx was here alone. Or rather he was waiting for Cavina. She was uncharacteristically late for their weekly trip to Atlas Fair, thus Slinx sat quietly on a bench waiting for her, and for the first time Slinx caught a moment of silence to unravel this splendorous theme park. The first thing to catch his eye was the iconic ferris wheel, a true maverick not even the finest of modern architecture can contrast. The ferris wheel was composed of eight circular orbits each with its own circular orbit circulating them. It was like a model of the solar system with each of the eight circular tracks representing one of the eight planets travelling orbit that circulated the sun, and just like the eight planets they each had their own moons that revolve around them, the complexity of the system resembled the eccentric principles of beauty found in every natural composition. The wheel did not look inanimate or man-made, but rather like a colossal group of fireflies going round and round a light.

Then he shifted his focus to the left, from a distance he saw a waterfall. Even from far away Slinx had to raise his head and stretch up his neck to catch a glimpse of the source of the raging water, but it was only expected given the outrageous proportions of the facilities in Atlas Fair. A few seconds later a roller coaster emerged from the mist that covered the top of the waterfall, and in an instant the coaster accelerated at a near vertical direction charging straight towards the ground. Slinx watched in horror as he anticipated the tragic crash of the vehicle, he covered his ears out of fear for the screams that will soon be of horror rather than of joy.

"Splash!"

"Wahh!" Slinx cried.

But nothing happened. Aside from a very dramatic splash the roller coaster was still in one piece with the people on it evidently safe and sound. Knowing this Slinx brought himself back to ease, he continued gazing at the park and tried to concentrate on the peculiar details that he found interesting.

On his right was a merry-go-round with all sorts of vehicles in the place of the normal horses used as seats. It was quite special but it paled in comparison to the oddities that constructed Atlas Fair. Behind the merry-go-round was a tall wall, above the wall was another floor which led to an exit. It was quite dark which was quite strange when Atlas Fair was bright and colourful. It seemed to lead towards the sewers Cavina and Slinx once entered.

"What are you looking at?" The voice made Slinx's heart skip a beat.

"Hey there! Err… just looking around you know? I never really did take a closer look at the other rides haha…"

"I find that quite unacceptable Slinx, it's like our fifth time here and you still haven't tried all the rides!? Come on, I'll make you play each and every one of them!" Cavina grabbed Slinx's hand, and the two ran towards the nearest ride.

The rides went by one after the other, his heart pounded ever so rapidly as their joyous moment proceeded, and he knew it wasn't because of the rides. Slinx had felt this strong desire ever since the day he met her, and as each day went by he found it harder and harder to hide. He had to tell her how he felt, and he needed her to tell him the same. They were now on the ferris wheel having gone through all the other rides feeling exhausted, it was the perfect moment.

"Cavina… I… I have something I want to say… for a long time…" Slinx heard himself saying the words, "Oh god" he thought.

"Hmm? What is it?"

" I… I love you!"

He said it. With every cell in his body panicking and crumbling under the immense fear of letting his fate be in the hands of Cavina, Slinx stared at her face intensely, desperate to hear her response.

Yet, she said nothing, only lingering silence. Slinx thought she may not have heard him, but he dare not repeat.

The rest of the ride went by awkwardly. Neither initiated conversation, Slinx glanced at Cavina from time to time but she kept her gaze towards the window. She did not look happy or sad, just calm.

The ride was over, Cavina was the first to step out of the cabin. Without looking back at him she said:

" Let's end it here, Slinx. Thanks for the fun night, goodbye."

Slinx was heartbroken, the Cavina in front of her was no longer the Cavina he knew. The beaming joyous girl who mended his heart had now become the one to shatter it once again.

But why? He simply could not accept this as an answer, so he grabbed her by the hand and pleaded "Please! Stay with me for a bit longer! You mean the world to me!"

"I'm a bit tired today Slinx, would you please let go?"

"Why are you acting so cold? Did I do something wrong? Well, tell me! I'm willing to change anything for you!" Slinx held her even tighter, he knew he would lose her if he let go.

"You did nothing wrong. Please let go Slinx."

"Cavina… just give me a chance…"

"Enough!" In seconds Cavina conjured a bat, she swinged at him so hard he went flying in a comedic way.

"You are really stubborn, Slinx. I heard you loud and clear the first time. And I'm sorry but I don't share those feelings! Forcing me to stay here is not making me like you any better!"

With that she stormed away and took off her ring, she was gone.

…

"Hmm? What is it?"

"Oh… I… I … I'm so glad to have you as my friend Cavina! To be honest I have never felt so happy when I'm around someone else." Slinx said instead.

Having simulated the scene in his head, he knew he couldn't say it, because the results were obvious. Who would fall in love so easily? And so deeply just through holding hands? Besides, no one (besides his mother) had ever called him handsome, he was abnormally average with nothing strikingly attractive. He had crushes on a few girls, but none of them had ever reciprocated those affections.

So why in the right mind would he ever do something like that and ruin his longest and closest relationship he had ever had with someone he was fond of?

"Me too" smiling, Cavina replied in a calm and soft tone. Indeed, just being around her made him happier than anyone in the world, there was no need to claim her as his own.

"Well then, I'll see you again next week!" Cavina said.

"Yep! See you!" Slinx waved goodbye as he saw her leave. Cavina waved back at him, and it was that moment he realised something peculiar.

Cavina was not wearing her ring. And yet she did not seem to be aware of it.

"Hey Cavina! Your ring…"

But then the unthinkable happened, Cavina's body disintegrated into particles of light just like the way Walder did. Slinx was shocked, for all this time he thought the only way to leave was to use the ring's powers. Now it was clear that it was never necessary.

As usual, Slinx stayed behind to go on his own expedition. The concept of time seemed to be non-existent in this wondrous realm, sometimes he would stay for what seemingly felt like hours but still wake up exactly when his clock struck seven. And so there really wasn't any price or limit to his long voyages, it was up to him to decide when to call it a night.

But today's trip ended quite abruptly.

" You are quite fond of my granddaughter aren't you, Slinx?"

"Wha…? Walder!? How did you…!?"

" Why, it's all written on your face boy! Pretty unmanly for you to not tell her!"

" I… I'm…"

" Not good enough for her? I can tell. That is precisely why I'm here to help you."

Walder searched his pocket, he took out three glowing rings identical to Slinx's.

" Slinx, having experienced their power personally, I'm sure you would agree with me that these treasures have the potential to revolutionise our lives. I truly believe that these rings will bring mankind into a new era of greatness and triumph. Think about all the things we could do here! All the daring experiments we can do, all the unfulfilled desires we can satisfy, all the ideas we can develop!" Walder spoke with a great deal of passion, with every line Slinx could feel his voice amplifying and his pace accelerating.

" Yet… There is one big problem." Walder suddenly came to a halt.

" You see Slinx, there aren't that many of these rings in the world… Currently." Walder said.

"Currently?"

" The rings have long been possessed by the descendants of the Tavats and have been kept scarce. These rings I have here are the rings originally owned by some of these descendants, and I estimate there are still a couple remaining."

" How did you get those rings?" Slinx asked.

" Simple. I asked nicely." Walder smiled, Slinx took the hint and kept his mouth shut.

" Slinx, you shouldn't see me as a pillager. These greedy hoarders are the ones keeping this kind of technology all to themselves. They are literally holding us back!"

" But even then, there's just that many rings. It's not like you can make any…"

" That is where you are wrong, Slinx! The recipe can be found!"

Walder held out one of the rings. The ring engraved a green sphere that shone mysteriously in Walder's palm. Walder rubbed the sphere, and suddenly a dim beam of light appeared, it pointed directly towards one of the other rings.

"Look at this fascinating technology, Slinx! These rings guide you to the next one! And look at the other side of the ring. Each ring has its own number written on it, so ring number 9 here leads you to ring number 8, and ring number 8 to ring number 7 and so on!"

"Slinx, I must admit that the current you is not worthy of Cavina. I fear that if you continue to live like this you will lead a meaningless life, just like many of the aimless souls in today's society. But today, I will give you the chance to help me rewrite history. Help me find what lies beyond ring number one, and I'll turn you into a man even Cavina would go mad for."

Slinx stood there silently. He did not look Walder in the eye and instead stared at the ground. His eyes were watery and his face pale. He looked like a defeated child who wanted to go home.

"I'll give you until Monday. Meet me here by then." Walder said. He turned around to leave.

"Remember Slinx, right now, you're just a boy."

And with that the old man vanished into thin air.