(32.1) Cosm Island Interlude

Stars and nebulae stretch out further than the eye can see in the vast array of an endless cosmic darkness. A faint light halos her feet, the only sign that she isn't simply floating in the glimmering void.

Behind her, the gate she crossed sputters and cracks and just beyond it, water gushes through the boulders and clashes against the spatial magic. A thin light stretches from the halo, leading into the distance where dozens of similar gates shine at varying elevations in the void. 

"This is…" Aki adjusts Dent on her shoulder and tightens her grip on Necra.

Her body feels faint and fuzzy then, almost as if something is attempting to squeeze her through a miniscule tube. The stars begin to stretch themselves, their cosmic presence becoming nothing more than shining lines encircling Aki and her carried companions.

Despite the appearance of moving, Aki hasn't taken a single step yet zooms along all the same. She also feels herself becoming fainter, her presence thinner and completely stretching itself similar to the cosmic surroundings to the gated destination.

Aki tries to breath, gasp even, from the vertigo but all it does is make her light-headed. She involuntarily shuffles her foot to the side and feels nothing but emptiness. One wrong move would mean falling into whatever supernatural dimension exists within the Space Gates and her balance is already off from the vertigo.

Just before falling off completely, she flies through the veil, stumbling along solid ground to land in a heap. Dent rolls to a stop past her and slams against a rock while Necra's cloak lands with a heavy thump by a boulder a little further away.

"I'm gonna feel that way worse in the morning…" Aki feels sand, compact and smooth at the same time, beneath her body. Hard enough to be uncomfortable but loose enough to sink her fingers into.

"Quite the dramatic entrance." Someone says.

Shuffling footsteps move past her head. Over by Dent, people kneel to check his condition while some others check on Aki. By the flow of their mana and the familiar tint of their emotions, these are sailors of the Grand Volume and some strangers, though non-hostile in the slightest.

"Aki! You're okay – let me go now – right? What happened over there?" Winter says.

"Yeah, yeah, right?" Aki gingerly pushes herself up, her head pounding as she moves it. Next to her, a sailor holding an herb bag open for a darker-skinned man with white markings on his body sits by her, padding at her cuts and bruises with antiseptic. "So where are we?"

She rapidly blinks and finally looks up.

"...What happened here?"

The boulder Necra landed by and Aki landed in front of also has Winter tied to it. Demelkas and some of his crew flank him, holding the ropes that keep him securely against the face.

"Well… uh."

"There is good reason why this sight greeted you, if you would allow me to explain." Demelkas raises a hand and motions for his men to release Winter, letting him fall free.

Aki sits up properly now and brushes herself off, confused but nodding all the same.

"So this is Cosm Island," Winter says first. He rubs his wrists and arms, causing Aki to involuntarily do the same. "The real Cosm Island. See that fog out there on the water? It's some type of perception-manipulation spell."

He points out to sea and nods sagely. "So the lore is, you can't get through it if you've got bad intentions, but you also can't leave once you've crossed it." Winter clenches his fists by his side, an excited expression growing on his face.

"But! It also has another layer where you could end up on a fake island with nothing on it. Kinda like a closed world." Winter hops over to Aki and whispers in her ear, his childlike excitement perfectly matching his physical body. "The Space Gate acts like a backdoor in the program, so we were able to enter and could probably exit without the fog affecting us. Ah, I so so wish Kokone was here to see this secret level!"

His expression drops then and Winter takes a step back. Aki gives him a sympathetic look and squeezes his hand. "Thanks Winter. But what about that scene? And who are these people? Islanders? I don't remember seeing them on the ship."

She gives one of the strangers, a young man with tattoos like his compatriots, watching them a friendly smile.

"As soon as we breached the gate, the boy ran off and met the islanders that reside here and was welcomed into their closed society." Demelkas explains with an air of disbelief. "This allied us to receive supplies and treatment as a favour to his sudden, venerated status."

"All the while, we could see far in the distance, a pillar of water holding aloft an island cradled by a cage of darkness and flowing water." Demelkas stares out toward the open sea with a hard expression. His brows scrunch together and the muscles of his jaw clench tightly.

"As soon as he returned and saw the scene, he tried to leap back through without so much as a plan and riled some of the sailors to try and rescue our compatriots. I could not allow such futile and reckless acts and such was the result."

Twilight has already become dusk, making the sea-based horizon Demelkas looks out toward, completely indistinguishable from the starry night.

However, the Space Gate Aki came through is still well lit by torch light and glow stones embedded into pillars around it.

"I didn't want to leave you guys with my mess. Necra's my responsibility, so I just wanted to help." Winter looks down, frowning as he rubs his neck. His long lashes shine with iridescent tears just on the edge of forming but he wipes them clean.

Winter clears his throat before continuing. "When the Space Gate started sparking, that's when I kinda lost it trying to save you two and well, that happened." He offhandedly waves to the ropes and rock to which Demelkas and the standing crew nod in agreement.

"Everyone thought you guys were goners when the glyph on the gate was destroyed, so things really got out of hand until you came through." He walks over to the Space Gate and points.

Just like the Space Gates inside the relay station within the temple, this one too is made up of stones stacked on top of one another to form an archway, Various glyphs are inscribed onto the visible faces of the stones. Some are dull while others are in sharp contrast, but the Gate itself appears to be in good condition aside from the top right hand corner when facing it.

What appears to be burns and scratches have torn into the otherwise glossy face of a museum quality structure. The glyph that once resided on the face isn't simply erased but was completely obliterated from existence.

"Flames spewed forth with a blinding roar, I nearly thought the mythical dragon had finally shown its existence to be true." Demelkas helps wrap up the loose rope while he speaks.

"Sounds like it was exciting over here too." Aki tries to stand but falls back down on her knees. She waves away the islander healer with a sincere thanks, urging him to treat Dent. "But Sir, er, Captain, about the rest of the sailors…"

"Please."Demelkas' silvery hair falls over his face, the red band around his forehead has fallen loose to cover his eyes. Aki can only see his sharp jaw quirk up as his lips purse together for a moment. "Speak not."

He reaches a hand out to help Aki to her feet. Heavy emotions permeate Aki through his hand. The injured pride of nobility as well as the deeper sadness of a man who could not protect those he was responsible for.

"Risks are always held, especially at sea. I am simply glad you and the adventurer survived."

Behind him, Winter touches Necra's cloak. The moment he makes contact, the bundle shudders and Necra's multi-tonal voice groans. It swells up, swirling shadows rise around it then spits out over a hundred of the Grand Volume's crew onto the beach, dead and alive.

With its contents freed, Necra sinks into the shadows completely and rejoins Winter's own shadow.

"Skies above…" Demelkas jaw drops alongside the rest of the crew members already on the beach.

Meanwhile, the island healers too are in awe, though their attention is directed toward Winter and his shadow where Necrra retreated to with a mix of reverence and fear.

"Close your mouths, lest you ingest seaborne bugs." Dent coughs. Having restored his faculties enough to regain consciousness, he immediately used the healers as a crutch and stood up and joined Aki's side.

"Oh, yes. Please spare your aid once more, people of Cosm."

Demelkas sets out to speaking with the islanders, dragging Winter away before he has a chance to speak with Aki and Dent to get the rescued ones treated posthaste.

Meanwhile, the healer that Dent had been leaning on, pulls at his arm and urges he and Aki to follow.

The healer takes the pair further inland beneath the hill the Space Gate rests on to a makeshift campsite where the Grand Volume's crew is receiving treatment. A large bonfire burns in the centre of the oddly well organised tent community for something that was built quickly.

Winter waves, but his expression says he won't be able to escape for some time to speak with them.

Still the healer marches on, his steps so light he hardly makes a mark on the sand and rock they step over. Similar to the lights around the Space Gate, the campsite also has torches and glow stone pillars erected at regular intervals. Were it not for the moans and cries of injured sailors and the animal skin tents, Aki could have confused the camp for a legitimate village with proper streets and homes rather than a triage camp.

Even the large bonfire in the camp centre provided a sense of 'hominess' Aki felt.

------------

[Gift Activated: Empath]

------------

Without thinking, her gift activated and she felt the rush of emotions much stronger than before, and she realised why the presentation was made as such.

The sailors were injured to varying degrees and the stench of blood permeated the air. Alongside this, so did the fear of death flow. However, comfort and warmth suppressed these fears. Firewood overrode blood and stability overrode uncertainty.

Some emotions that wrap around Aki surge with life so completely, Aki felt she was in their shoes for a brief moment.

Then, those emotions snapped, unable to be felt any longer. Others completely stabilised, growing stronger and falling into a peaceful rhythm.

Aki's breath hitches and she makes note of everyone whose emotions vanished to visit them.

Quickly they arrive at some larger tents and he points to one then another, followed by Aki and Winter respectively. He says something in a language Aki can't understand, and Dent translates for her, describing that these tents are for them with basic aid inside.

 Aki thanks him as best she can, letting him go on his way then turns to Dent, who had already taken a seat by the mouth of his tent.