It had taken far longer than she liked to work up the courage and the energy to will herself to her wonder. And yet, as she found herself standing on one side of a beautifully carved crystalline bridge, Nis felt her heart give a great thump of gladness. Even dead, her Wonder was a place of serene beauty. For a moment, she paused to consider the bridge and where it might go. To another part of her Wonder maybe? But as she reached out to touch the handrail, she felt a gentle warning through her fingertips. Whatever was on the opposite side was not for her.

Fair enough, she thought. Besides, she hadn’t come here for bridges, no matter how pretty. Turning resolutely from it, she began to walk towards a little valley. Or at least, the rising cliffs and huge, fossilized trees made it seem like a valley. And though she wasn’t entirely sure, just yet, the faint starshine all around seemed to glint and sparkle almost as if there was water ahead.

The thought of a body of water made her quicken her steps. Something connected to water with this place felt important somehow. Something to do with a duty. The feeling vanished as she tried to probe further. But by then, she was stopped, mouth hanging open in shock. A bare ten feet away was the biggest lake she’d ever seen. Surrounded as it was by cliffs, it was an imposing sight. Slowly, she began to move closer, admiring how the sentinel like trees made a path to follow. At the bottom of the path was a small, sandy beach.

Nis knelt, feeling greatly daring as she reached out to touch the still waters. It was achingly cold, but something about them triggered a momentary sense of deja vu. Of having knelt here before to give greetings to… something. She had a disorienting sense of looking into a great, soft eye and laughing at her own reflection within. And then, just as quickly as it had appeared, the vision vanished and Nis found herself staring across the lake. The beach on which she stood was directly opposite what looked like a mostly submerged cave. It wasn’t too far to swim, but oh! The cold of willingly going into that frigid water!

“I can’t swim with my clothes on,” she muttered softly and quickly removed her clothing before she could think better of it. Something about that cave called to her, demanded that she investigate. Stretching out carefully to warm up her muscles, Nis back up a few feet and then ran at the lake, taking a deep breath as her feet hit the water and diving once she saw that the water got deeper much sooner than expected. The shock was the icy water on her bare skin was enough to make her gasp and flail for a moment before she took control of herself and began to swim for the cave.

Soon enough, she was at the mouth of the cave and wondering what she had gotten herself into. The cave was submerged and if there was anything beyond this mouth, she’d have to swim blindly and hope that she wouldn’t drown. Treading water for a moment, Nis considered her options. She could swim back, get dressed and go home pretending that none of this had happened. Or existed. Or, she could take the risk and trust that her own Wonder wouldn’t kill her out of hand. In the end, trust won and taking a deep breath, she dove under the water and through the cave mouth. She opened her eyes and felt along the cave walls, pulling herself along rapidly. Then, just as she could feel her lungs begin to scream for air, a faint glow caught her eyes and she swam toward it. Seconds later, her head broke water and she gratefully suck in deep gulps of air as she stared around her.

It was clear that at one point, this cave her been beautifully furnished and cared for. Pulling herself up onto a low rock ledge, she sat, legs still in the water as she tried to figure out what to do next. There was a feeling of power in this room that she felt like she should know and understand.

Then, Nis turned and looked at the opposite side of the watery mouth and felt her jaw drop in shock.

A pulsating orb of energy, about the size of a baseball, hovered within the depths of the cave seeking out shelter. It seemed to have a presence—like it was more than just a light. While it did not share the same mist-like appearance as the Code Piece on Olympus, there was no denying that this orb of light was one in the same. Although smaller, it still seemed powerful.

“You… you’re the Code!” she gasped and slipped across the water to pull herself up on the opposite bank, wanting to be closer to the orb. “Will you speak with me? Can you tell me about this place? Can you tell me about my Wonder?”

"If you want to know more about your Wonder, perhaps you should spend more time here. It is disappointing to see a Knight so disjointed from their Wonder. Honestly, I'd think you'd want to use this place as an escape. Your life at home is crumbling around you. Nis is all you really have going for you--and you're failing that. Just like you failed your husband. Pity."

The words were like a slap in the face. How could the Code know about any of that? Or be so bluntly cruel. This was nothing like Hver and Babylon had described! Narrowing her eyes, she studied the orb for a moment before asking, in a soft voice that would have sent anyone she knew well running for cover, “And what, pray, is such a pity? More important, where do you get off blaming me for him vanishing? It’s not like I asked the night to swallow him whole!”

If the Code’s initial greeting had been a slap in the face, what it said next was like a punch to the gut followed by a kick in the face.

"You, Nis, are the pity. If you'd been a better wife, perhaps your husband would have come home. It's simple, you know. It's all right there in front of you. If you can't maintain your own, private life, why aren't you working harder up here? This Wonder is more important than your love life could ever be. I need you to step up to the plate. Why not just stay up here and work—really work—on fixing your Wonder? You really don't have anything else going for you."

Mouthing opening and closing in shock and hurt, Nis stared at the Code orb for a moment longer before turning her face away and diving back into the frigid water. How could it say such things? What she had just encountered was not the impartial helper that she’d been told to expect. Instead, it had been something colder than the water she now moved through. It had left a slimy feeling upon her soul.

This time, when her head broke water, she pulled herself back onto the beach and lay there, ignoring the fine sand coating her skin. She was vaguely aware of hot, angry tears warming her chilled cheeks. Once she had her breath back she grabbed her clothes and without bothered to put them back on, willed herself home. She needed a hot shower, a bottle of wine and a lot of time to sit and think about what she’d been told.

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