The holidays were one of the most treasured times of the year in the Westinghouse home. Not just because it was a time of togetherness, though that certainly topped the list for all the adults in the house, but because it was the one time of the year that everyone shared in the spirit of the season, and there was joy all around.
This was most true in the case of eldest son, Gabriel. He sat now, in the dimly lit living room, watching as his younger sister played with the one gift that she was allowed to open early. The doll was plush, dressed in early Victorian dress, her yarn hair held up in an updo that brought everything together. It had been a gift from their grandmother, and was always expected to be opened upon its arrival. That was always way Gabriel and Chantal waited so expectantly fit the gifts to arrive each year. But this year it was different.
Gabriel looked down at the small, antique , box, that rested upon his lap. Being twenty-two had brought more adult gifts, and he remembered this box from his grandfather's bedstand. It was ironic, he thought to himself, that she would seefit to give him this particular item, seeing as he had one much like it, on his 'work' days.
He chuckled lightly, leaning back in his chair, eyes closed as he thought to himself 'a pocket watch for the real world and one for the magical. Gran, if you knew what humor you have brought with this gift.' He fumbled the box in his fingers, his eyes fluttering open as he heard his mother and father talking in the kitchen. Their voices were so soft, but he could tell they spoke of his younger sister's gifts. It was always the best part of the holidays for them. He wondered if they had been this excited for his gifts?
He sat up straight, stretching as a yawn came from his lips. He looked to the young princess as she played on the floor, he rising slowly. "I think it is time for this knight to hit the hay. And some little princess should go and tell the king and queen that she needs a story read." He winked at Chantal.
The pale haired child smiled up at her brother, shaking her head at first, knowing what story time normally meant, but the way he winked and joked with her won her over. She curling her doll in close to her chest as she wandered toward the kitchen. "Thank you for your service, knight. You have done your duty well." She made the doll curtsy to her older brother. "Lady Madeline says thank you as well."
"Then I am honored, my lady. I do hope I can be of service again in the future, Princess Chantal." He bowed once more before taking his leave of her and darting up the stairs toward his bedroom, stopping half way before looking down once more. "Night night, Tally!" And with that he was gone, his dark-clothed form darting down the hall and into the furthest room on the right. It was time for Gabriel to relax, perhaps even take some time to ponder that which was his wonder.
He had been meaning to explore this aspect of his knighthood long before now, but life seemed to always get in the way. Be it work, school, or family, life just simply did not give him time to focus on the more personal growth that he knew he needed to move further as a knight.
That would not be so tonight. He would make a point to focus on that nagging voice in the back of his mind. That voice that kept calling him, telling him to return. He had learned, through the meeting on Olympus, that one's wonder called to them. That they would know the words that would bring them there. This, he figured was this nagging. It was a drawing power, and it seemed like day after day, since his awakening, it was getting stronger. "Now to remember what they said I needed to do."
He moved abit his darkened bedroom. He closed the black out curtains and turned on some soft music. He found that music often helped to focus the mind and calm the soul. Two things he knew he needed for this venture. "The words will come to you when you have need of them..." he sighed and took up a place on his bed. He had to be comfortable, what better place than here?
Pale blue eyes closed, he taking in the deepest of breaths to calm his racing heart. Whoever said this was easy would need a correction. It was exciting, stressful in the best of ways. Gabriel focused on his weapon. Drew on the power of the song pocket watch, it forming from the ether before him, falling into his outstretched hand. The second that skin touched gold there was a wash off power through the room. Where once sat Gabriel Westinghouse, now sat Nirvana. His clothing shed for those of a knight of Pluto. This was his first time powering up when not engaged in patrol or a battle proper. It was strange for him.
Though as the power of Pluto flowed through him, he felt it again, that calling. He felt it in his soul, his heart and soul, summoning him, begging him. 'I pledge my life and loyalty to Pluto, and to Nirvana. I humbly request your aid, so that in return I may give you mine.' He heard those words over and over, his heart repeating them over and over in some ancient beat. So strong was this drumming that in the end the words escaped their confines and ran freely passed his lips.
"I pledge my life and loyalty to Pluto, and to Nirvana. I humbly request your aid, so that in return I may give you mine." Near instantly that drumming beat crashed upon him in a wave of power. It was not a burning heat, but more like a calming wave washing him away from this earth and sending him adrift on the seas of time and space. He floated there, mind focused, searching for that one location that called to him, begged him to once more grace its terrain with his presence.
"Nirvana..." His lips firmed the word, his heart reaching out and grasping that line if energy like a tow rope. He has it, he feeling himself being pulled in like a child being embraced in the arms of its loving mother. "...my wonder."
The next thing he knew, he was standing in the middle of a vast darkness. At first he thought his eyes to be closed, but no, there was no light to be seen here in this world. It took him time to adjust to this, time for his eyes to form shapes from the massive black shroud that covered the land. There were structures here, bleak though they may be, and grey. The buildings that he could see were made of grey stone, their exteriors fallen into disrepair from ages of units unuse. "What happened here?"
Cautious feet moved forward along the dry, fragile grasses. Each step stirring up a cloud of dust that filled Nirvana's nose. Dispute the land being so very dead, even he has to admit that it was beautiful. There was a strange serenity here, a calm that seemed to seep out through the ground and into the air, filling it with a sweet scent.
The deeper he moved into the vastness of the area, the more detailed the structures seemed to become. There were not many, but he could tell from sight that they had once been dwellings, simple, compact. Those that had lived here must have had a simple life, or perhaps there was more to it than there seemed.
In the distance there was a large, gleaming tower. Even in the darkness it seemed to glow with its own inner light. It was the only life left here, the pulse of Nirvana running through it in slow, lazy waves. "This, this is its heart." He whispered the words to himself, his mind forcing him to speak out loud just to price that he was, in fact, here, and not dreaming.
The tower was made of fine, white, marble, the facade cracking in places. Atop its form rested a shining, gold, minaret, it sporting dents and scratches from battles well fought. "You have been through so much, and yet you stand the tests of time. I understand, and I am proud that you are mine." A soft grin moved over his face as his finger fumbled over the small piece of tech that he had received from Olympus. He had to stay focused on his goal. He was in search of his signet ring. But where would such a treasure be?
He did the only thing he could think of. He took a seat on the cold, dust-covered ground. Crossing his legs under himself, he focused his mind on his goal. He felt his own personal energy rise, it tingling on his skin much like it did when he powered up. 'Where are you?' His mind poured over the area, running through the earth like a metaphysical archeological dig. He could feel the chill of it in his mind, each small rock. He darted forward, touching the marble of the tower, feeling the slick texture that spoke of water. There was water here. Water near the tower.
Icy eyes flashed open, staring off into the distance, fixed on the tower as he rose from the ground, taking off at a full run in its direction. He had not seen the water, how could it be there and he miss it? He could see the tower so plainly. There was a purpose in his motions, and the longer he ran the faster he seemed, but the tower was still far off, almost as if it was trying to stay just out of his reach. 'Please, all I ask is to set eyes upon this shining lake that you claim to have. A moment beside it, just to see if it holds the answers I seek.'
It was as if the building had heard his pleas, for moments later that distance that had seemed so far, closed before him, leaving him dashing toward the banks of a silver lake. Had he not taken note of the sudden change, he would have surely gone head first into the lake. But as it was, he stopped just short, falling to his knees before the shining body, he calling forward to all fours as he dated to splash just the smallest amount up onto his flushed face. "Thank you." He spoke the words to the endless void.
Nirvana knew, but with his mind, but with his heart, that the land before him was content. He speed of the shining water, its touch on his lips giving him new life and an energy that he had lost on his run. He rose one more, his eyes looking out at the tower that now loomed over him. there was no bridge, no crossing. But how could that be so?
He stood before the gate, his expression showing all the thought he put into this. 'Perhaps, just perhaps...' He took one timid step, his foot lingering just above the water. As he lowered it, shifting his weight to that guiding foot, he felt it. A small, marble, stone rose beneath his foot, catching him, guiding him forward. 'A leap of faith, and showing of trust, and one can enter the tower.' He gave a bemused grin. It was surely a trick, and one that he was glad to have figured out. Only those of faith could enter here. Only those that trusted themselves and the land.
He moved with a certain step. Taking each one without hesitation, without fear. It was with the last step that the doors slowly opened, a soft, rolling, line of steam passing through them, making the scene seem more like one from an old silent film, rather than real life.
His heart caught in his chest, watching the doors, watching the darkness beyond come to light. He could make out a line of stairs, one going down, the other leading up to the top of the tower. Lights, the color of the purest ice, rose with the stairs, floating there of their own power. They were almost like little living beings, and who was to say they were not?
Nirvana recalled stories of will-o-the-wisps, spirit lights that would lead people to swamps. These, however, did not seem so threatening. They were the opposite. They moved toward the doors, hovering there, almost beckoning him inside.
He was not one to turn down such an invitation. After all, it was his intention in the first place. It only made it better that they were so accommodating.
He walked through the open doors, the lights wrapping around him, a soft great coming from their form before they darted off, leaving their posts at the upper staircase and quickly taking places along the lower. "Well, I guess if that is where you wish for me to go..." he placed a hand on the railing, walking down the seemingly endless spiral of stone.
Forever he walked, the stairs descending ever further into the heart of the land. He could hear the softest rush of water, both against the walls beside him and coming up from beneath his feet. It was this, and only this, that gave him a hint as to what he would meet at the bottom.
He whispered soft words of encouragement. Words to calm his mind as he placed the last few steps on the ground beneath him. He felt the stairs come to an end, he opening his eyes to a brightly lit room. The pale lights illuminating a pool of silvery water.
Before the pool, on a stone slab, and engraved with golden letters, rested these words "Surrender to me your pain, your fears, and woes. Release your sorrows and become one with our soul." Plush lips mouthed the words, he reaching out and caressing them with deft fingers. He smiled, feeling a warmth from them that reached deep inside him.
"Surrender to me..." he glanced down into the water, the clear pool so pristine that he could see the stones that rested on its bottom. "Surrender..." he took a deep breath, he nodding once before shedding the uniform that makes him as a knight. He placed the garments on the some slab and took the firstfew steps into the water.
It was cool, but he did not care, he would warm up eventually. The task at hand was more important, and as he reached the edge where the pool grew deeper, he dove, the full of his body vanishing into the clear waters.
The further he descended, the darker things became. The water, though being clear as crystal, still could not fight the distance between it and the lights above. It took all of the breath the knight could muster to even reach the bottom, and it did take Nirvana multiple tries to make it in the end.
As his fingers brushed over the shining stones at the bottom of the sacred pool, his eyes noticed a shining in the distance. There was a cave, one that lead to another chamber, he guessed. But this cave held the promise of air, and so he went toward it. He swam fast with the last remnants of breath that escaped him in a stream of bubbles. It was only when he was certain his lungs could take no more thar he surfaced.
The cave was far more vast than he has imagined it to be, but all the same, it was not endless. On the far end of the pool, there rested a stone outcropping. It extending from the water and topped with a small alter. "This has to be it." He grinned, swimming toward it, happy when he found that the water was much more shallow here.
He pulled his body from the water, hair hanging in a heavy, black, curtain about his form, blocking out the cold cool off the dark cavern as best it could. He noted a small circle of stairs leading up to the alter beyond. "Finally, my task is at an end."
He climbed the short distance to the alter, upon it what he had been searching for, a simple, black and crimson, ring. It rested upon a pillow, understated, just waiting for its master to claim it once more.
He reached his hand out, his finger sliding near effortlessly into it. He let out the most contented of sighs. This was home, this was where he was ment to be, and now, he was one step closer to realizing what exactly all of this meant for him.
