Welcome to Gaia! ::

Rather than wandering their neighborhood in search of a secluded park where they could power up safely. Melody drove Harvey out to the interurban trail where she knew some more densely wooded areas that would provide safe shelter for them. The only people they might need to worry about were the homeless who lived in tents hidden in the brush.

Only when she felt sure none was near enough to notice them, Melody powered up. The comfortable jeans and orange knitted turtleneck were replaced by a lavender dress and matching shoes with thankfully short heels. Even her hair style changed; going from a high ponytail to an ombre waterfall of wavy blond and brunette locks. Atop her head was a circlet of gold and set of three pale purple flowers.

“Before you say anything,” Einhornhohle leveled the lookat Harvey. “I know I look like a bridesmaid that lost their way to the reception.” She lifted the golden tea light lantern as if she were about to threaten to hit him if he so much as made a comment on her dress. Granted she did give him a bit of s**t when she found him in the park so it might be karma saying ‘fair is fair’.

“Anywho, I don’t sense anyone so I think you’re safe to power up as well.” As a page there was no way to be entirely certain since Captains and Generals, like Squires and Knights, could sense signatures at a range that far exceeded her own.
---
In truth, Harvey was happy to not understand why in the hell he suddenly found himself dressed in pink that one random afternoon. He’d played oblivious and ignored the curiosity gnawing at him from the back of his mind for at least a week now, and he would have been totally fine if Melody hadn’t brought it up again out of nowhere earlier that day. Her asking had opened the floodgates he’d been almost purposely keeping closed, but now that they’d been opened...well. Here they were.

In the middle of nowhere.

And before he knew it Melody was suddenly wearing different clothes. Her outfit was in a similar shade of pretty pastel, and it rather suited her. Not that that was enough to keep him from snorting in amusement. Her description of her own outfit was spot on, which only fueled that fire. Her warning didn’t do much to stay his snickers.

“If you say so…”

He sort of had to force himself to focus, mostly because it had been spontaneous the first time and he honestly had no idea what he was supposed to be doing. All Mel seemed to do was stand there for a second, and then voila. Pretty bridesmaid with some kind of lantern. He tried for a few seconds, felt absolutely stupid about it, and then sighed and gave her a quizzical look.

“How exactly do I even do that? Do I just stand here for a second and it’ll...I don’t know, come to me? Or were you actually thinking about something specific.”
---

“Umm…” unsure how to articulate how she powered up. Ein’s expression twisted into one of uncertainty as she searched for the words to describe the process. “Well…” motioned with her hands and offered a small shrug. “Kind of…”

“Yes I was thinking of something, my weapon.” Again she held it up, this time non-threateningly, and offered it to Harvey for him to inspect. “But it wasn’t just thinking about the lantern, it was wanting it. Willing it to appear, if that makes sense.” It felt like she was fishing for an answer that would make more sense but until he tried it she wasn’t sure how else to explain or what else she could compare it to.

“So for you, think about the cone… that horn thing you had before but rather than thinking about how it looks or feels, just… reach out and grab ahold of it.” Einhornhohe cringed at how confusing that sounded, even to her.
---

It sounded really silly, the way she explained, but obviously since she was able to do it by thinking of her lantern then...theoretically, he should be able to as well. He took the offered lantern and inspected it for a moment before handing it back to her.

“Pretty,” he said, unsure of what else to say. “Alright, I’ll give it a shot.”

Again he closed his eyes, thinking back to that sweltering summer afternoon when he first saw the white cone...horn...thing and became suddenly clad in pink. The cone was simple enough to remember, though, white with some kind of basic design. He could see it in his mind’s eye as if it were right there in front of him. He reached out as soon as it was as clear as he thought it’d ever be, and suddenly he felt his jeans, t-shirt, and sneakers sort of just fall away, replaced by heavier, more stifling material.

When he opened his eyes the pink nearly blinded him, but the cone was in his hand.

“Damnit.”

---

“It’s going to take some getting used to. I wish I could say I have all the answers for you but unfortunately when I powered up the first time it was under vastly different circumstances.” With a simple thought she dismissed her weapon, not wanting to carry it around while they simply spoke.

“My lantern appeared before me in a time of need. A monster attacked me after work a few years ago. Fortunately, my intern at the time was what we call a White Moon Senshi. She was able to power up and help protect me but afterwards she was of little to no help. Her only advise was to find more friends before leaving.” Shortly after that Delilah’s internship was over since it was for a school thing and only lasted for a semester.

The two never spoke since that day, couldn’t figure out why since Melody thought that they got along well enough at the theater.

“Needless to say, work took precedence so I just ignored the lantern or the call and ignored that day ever happening. But then strange things kept happening and eventually I found myself powering up again. As this,” she gestured towards herself, the outfit she wore, the everything that had chanced before him. “My name is Einhornhöhle, anyone who knows me calls me Ein for short. You and I, we are both Pages of Cosmos. Yes, our princess is still alive and guards some Cauldron. Unfortunately, I’ve never met her myself.” To this day she still felt bitter towards that fact. Were her knights not important enough for her to introduce herself or offer any support and guidance to?

“If you have any questions I’ll do my best to answer them for you but I won’t know everything.” Sava might, however, be able to fill in some blanks.

---

Kiringul tried not to focus too hard on his pastel outfit and instead looked on at Ein, who at the moment was now trying to offer him some help as to what he can do about this version of himself. What she did sounded plenty good to him—ignore it until he couldn’t anymore. Much like now, actually. That seemed to work out okay. Granted he didn’t really understand much of anything. All he really had was a name…

“Einhornhöhle?” he repeated, testing the name and finding that it was rather long and, at least for now, really weird and unfamiliar. “Ein for short. I can remember that.”

He listened as she went on about what they were and about some princess and a cauldron. He figured she wasn’t talking about the physical cauldron as he’d seen in movies and stores during the Halloween season. And then she offered to answer questions and once again he felt some kind of dam break inside of his brain. He did his best to control the flood of questions that were threatening to spill out. He decided to start small, though, with a tentative self-introduction.

“So I’m...Kiringul Page of Cosmos?” he asked, saying it in much the same way he’d said her name only moments earlier and feeling just as weird about the moniker. “And...why exactly am I this now? You said you ignored it for a while but strange things kept happening. What things? And why’d you eventually get forced to stop ignoring this? And why does this feel like some kind of real life convention costume?” The last bit came out almost twice as fast as the first few questions, mostly because it only occurred to him then that it felt oddly similar.

Granted, he could probably do more damage with the prop weapons she made for the convention costumes than he could with this cone thing he was currently holding.

---

“I umm,” ok that was a lot of questions at once.

“So, yes. This you is Kiringul. The stars on our outfits are the symbol of Cosmos. There are other knights who have other symbols, repeated patterns on their uniforms, which belong to one of the planets like Mercury or Jupiter.” Unfortunately she didn’t know any by name or visual queue otherwise she’d introduce him to them.

“As for the why, I have no idea,” Ein offered him an apologetic smile and small shrug. “There is usually some reason as to why we’re awakened but I think it varies from person to person. I believe my lantern appeared because I was in immediate danger. However, it could be that your awakening happened in response to something about to happen.” The time and placing of his awakening was a bit odd but it could have been a lot worse.

“Before I get too much into your other questions, I want to take you to my wonder. I know it sounds strange but please trust me.” Held her hand out to him and for a brief moment she felt a bit like Aladdin standing off the edge of Jasmine’s balcony kindly asking her to join him.
---

He listened patiently, nodding when he felt it appropriate, and tried to let what information she could currently give him sink in. In a weird way it sort of made sense, though that didn’t necessarily mean that he fully understood. But he did appreciate what she could explain. Kiringul’s expression became quizzical once more when she said “wonder” and then held her hand out to him.

“What, you’re gonna show me the world?” he asked with a smirk, tone playful.

---

Ein laughed, glad that he got the reference and didn’t leave her hanging in an awkward moment.

“No, just mine. You have one too but we can discuss more about that later.” She held onto his hand and closed her eyes then repeated the ancient words that would whisk them away to a place not of this world. “I pledge my life and loyalty to Cosmos, and to Einhornhöhle. I humbly request your aid, so that in return I may give you mine.”

There were times where the words felt hollow, her devotion to them wavering especially on days she felt most alone in all of this. Perhaps her wonder knew of her struggle and offered her sanctuary from the chaos despite her own uncertainty. But, with Kiringul with her, she wondered if they might be able to solve the mystery of Cosmos, her role in all of this. What happened in the future and what were they supposed to do going forward.

No sooner did the last word leave her lips did the pungent air of Destiny City shift. No longer did it smell like car exhaust, damp garbage in stale alleyways or cigarette smoke. Rather, the air here smelled clean, perhaps a bit salty from the ocean that circled her wonder. However… this time, rather than the feel of sand beneath her feet or the sound of crashing waves as they raced upped the shoreline. There was a more fragrant scent.

Einhornhöhle opened her eyes and was surprised to be in a field of flowers rather than the beach she was most familiar with. I wonder if it’s because I came with him instead of Sava. Even before her purification, every time she came to her wonder Ein always arrived on the beach.

A curiosity worth considering upon another visit. “Welcome to Einhornhöhle, the place that I am named after…”
---

Kiringul found her laugh reassuring and he held onto her hand tightly and, as he watched her, closed his eyes in turn. He listened to what she said and committed them to memory, wondering if they would work for him too if he just changed the name mentioned in it.

Before that thought could even settle, however, he found the comfortably familiar atmosphere of Destiny City fall away. The scents, the sounds, even the feel of the air changed almost as if someone had just snapped their fingers. In this case, though, it was after someone said a very specific phrase.

He opened his eyes and observed the area all around them. An expansive field of nothing but flowers. Beautiful, he thought, and rather...peaceful.

The new knight took a few tentative steps, as though he thought that gravity would stop applying once he started to move. But no, nothing strange at all happened. The grass crumpled beneath his feet, the flowers parting with each step. He turned, surveyed the area for a long moment before his eyes eventually landed back on Ein.

“So we’re named after places?” he asked. “Your wonder is a place? Well it’s…” he paused and took another good, long look around. “It’s beautiful.”

---

Ein watched as he took tentative steps forward, found herself amused with how Kiringul’s reaction mimicked her own the first time she’d arrived. “I feel like we might be the lucky ones in that regard.”

“From the few things I understand about wonders is that each place follows a set of themes attributed to the princess each of us follow. Mercury knights have wonders that are often covered in ice or snow, while Uranus might be centered around a desert or oasis. Saturn wonders may be a place that was once haunted or still is, I’m not really sure. Not all are beautiful, and some can be dangerous.”

“One way to learn, however, is by visiting often. Eventually you may retrieve memories of the past, see visions of what life was light before. Some of us are reincarnations, like myself, while others are descendants of knights that previously guarded these locations.”

“I also know there is something regarding a Code but I don’t know much about it, never really took the time to delve into it much or find someone to learn more about it.” She’d assumed that the knowledge would come to her if she just visited her wonder but so far it hadn’t revealed anything to her.

---

Kiringul’s expression had started at relaxed and curious when she started to speak, but the longer she went on the squintier his eyes got and the more his eyebrows drew together in confusion until his expression was somewhere between astonished disbelief and frustration.

He didn’t speak for a long moment after she finished, doing his best to process all the information. It was as though the new knight was frozen in time, expression and all, until he took a seat with a rather loud frump.

“Okay, so...the wonders are on planets? And each planet is...different.” Kiringul was more thinking aloud than actually asking questions. It was doing nothing to fix his still contorted face though. “And on these wonders you’re either going to remember a past life or meet an ancestor…”

The man blinked before looking back to Ein, expression now blank.

“And you’re sure this isn’t some elaborate hallucination?”

---

“I mean… it could be.” She shrugged but the expression she wore looked unconvinced. “The few I’ve had have seemed pretty real to me. It’s the only reason I found one of the cave entrances along the beach.”

“Unfortunately I’m not big into spelunking and the idea of going cave crawling alone is kind of terrifying.” Sure there was a chance another memory might guide her way or reveal any hidden traps within the tunnels but that was a pretty big maybe. “I wouldn’t even know what to bring with me.” Again she shrugged nonchalantly then leaned over and plucked a single flower from amongst the ones encircling their feet.

An idea struck her, one that pulled the corners of her lips into an amused grin that would make anyone who knew her well enough back up or flee before she could so much as utter a word. Kiringul liked hiking, perhaps he might join her? Assuming he’d be brave enough to come here with her again in the near-ish future.

---

The thought of this being a very real hallucination—an oxymoron, yes, but that was the only way he could think to describe everything that was currently happening—was completely erased from his mind no sooner had the word “spelunking” left her mouth. His head snapped her way so fast that it cracked (a bad habit that his chiropractor often reminded him he had to stop doing), his body quickly followed, and then he crossed the distance between them in huge strides, stopping just short of actually running into her.

He barely noticed her grin. It was a grin that he certainly knew all too well. It was a grin that he honestly hated seeing on her face when he was just innocently enjoying a game or brainstorming a solution to his latest project. But now? No, the grin wasn’t important.

“You have caves here?” he asked, narrowed eyes betraying the excitement he suddenly felt at exploring an otherwise unknown and inaccessible cave. “Where? Have you been inside? What was it like? It’s by the beach so there’s a chance it has some kind of back opening that leads out into the ocean.”

As he spoke he had unknowingly lifted his hands so they were gripping her arms, not too tight but certainly tighter than was warranted. When he realized what he was doing he promptly let her go, stepped back to put some proper distance between them, and he cleared his throat.

“I mean…I have spelunking gear we can use if we wanna go deeper into the cave, but for now just a quick sweep near the entrance would be nice. Or are you supposed to keep the location of this thing a secret?”

---

“In the past it may have supposed to be a secret. It was a unicorn cave, which is why when we walk around you’ll see several stone statues of them.” Most appeared to be frolicking. Others were covered in a sort of moss, while only a few had a piece of them broken or missing.

“All I can tell you is that beneath us is a labyrinth, in the center a grotto of sorts. Only three entrances and a lot of dead ends. I don’t know which entrance is nearest to us but we can walk around and try to find it if you’d like.” This field was unfamiliar to her and while she didn’t want to say anything out loud, it felt like something terrible had happened here. “Worst case scenario we get ourselves lost and I take us back home.”

Unlike a Fall corn maze they weren’t stuck here indefinitely until they found their way outside again or the sanctuary within.

“Although, I would say it’s probably safer to explore once we’re able to bring your gear since I’m not sure how to get light in the caves yet.” She recalled seeing some bioluminescent strings around the main gazebo and coiled within lamps like fairy light but how to turn them on or activate them she wasn’t sure.

---

Kiringul nodded along, his expression one of focus as she explained the situation. Unlike when she was first talking about wonders and planets and the various climates, this—talking about caves—felt far more real. Granted they were in ridiculous clothes and had apparently teleported to get to where they currently were, but at the very least caves were a concept he could follow and understand.

Or at least try to.

The way she was describing it, a labyrinth with a grotto in the center that he had a feeling was akin to the center of a Tootsie-pop, it didn’t sound like any other cave he’d ever been to, researched, or even heard of. But still. He understood the words cave, labyrinth, and grotto, which was a welcome relief.

“Yeah that sounds… well, different, but maybe not a bad different. So there’s a chance it’s all a lot lower than the entrance to the cave, and so you need some spelunking gear and a buddy to go with you.”

He puffed his chest a bit, looking rather proud of himself for no apparent reason. “Sounds like I’m your guy.”

---

“You are one of the few people I know I can count on.” Aside from her brothers, Sava was the only other one that she could ask for help as she seemed equally as interested in visiting Einhornhohle, or at least the beach.

“From what I have learned, while powered, we are not confined to these uniforms.” Although there was little reason to elaborate on the specifics, she had divested herself of everything save for her cosmically gifted under garments and gone swimming in the ocean surrounding her wonder.

“We can change out of them and into something comfortable. However, the benefit of these outfits is that if anything happens to them such as a ripped seam or blood stain,” because that would happen eventually be it from a fall, a monster, or another member of chaos that she needed to warn him about before they went back home. “If you power down and back up again then your uniform will be made new again. Instant dry cleaning for your convenience. ”

“While I have no doubt that my past self could navigate the labyrinth, I’m not sure how well the caves have fared over the last several centuries which is why I’m less inclined to go adventuring in a dress.” She hiked up the hem of her outfit high enough to show the simple shoes she wore; low heel slip ons. Could have been worse, the comic tailor could have blessed her with three-inch narrow heels that sunk into the dirt and sand with every step she took.

--

Kiringul listened carefully and considered everything she was saying, at least with regard to how it would relate to hiking and, potentially, climbing gear. He looked at his own clothes, then over at hers, then back at his own as he mulled over the possible options, ultimately giving a quick shake of his head.

“Right. Well, at the very least I’d definitely advise a change in shoes and you putting on a pair of pants,” he said with furrowed brows. “Or short or something, to make wearing climbing gear more tolerable. Possible, even.” He couldn’t quite get how she would put a harness on while wearing a dress, but he supposed they could try things out in non-magically-imbued clothing back at home. “Magical dry-cleaning sounds awesome, but I don’t think it’d save you from a bad fall from fifty feet in the air.”

Then again, maybe being a knight was similar to being a superhero. They fell from insane heights and usually never got a scratch on them.

“And even if it does,” he then quickly added, “Better safe than sorry.”

--

It was at that moment Einhornhohle had the wild hair idea to share with him her cosmic gifted lingerie that often doubled as a swimsuit when she wanted to go for a swim. She’d done it once with Cavansite nearly a year ago when she’d brought the General here and they went cliff jumping. However, after considering the implications of such an act, she decided that it was neither the time nor place to partake in that particular form of show and tell.

Instead she nodded her head in agreement.

“I’ll go with you to the REI or Cabela’s to find some gear that will fit me.” Probably the only form of shopping he’d tolerate for a day since it meant he got to dress her up and drag her around partaking in his hobbies.

---

Had he known what she had just considered, even for an instance… Well. Better safe than sorry, as it were.

Ein’s suggestion to potentially go to two of his absolutely favorite stores brought an all too bright smile to his face. It wasn’t often that he got to take her around to go shopping for his hobbies, after all. And now seemed the best time to give her just a small taste of her own medicine. He had never known her to enjoy shopping outside of her projects...though perhaps this is one of the things that might have changed in the years they’d spent growing apart.

“I think the closest one to us is REI, but best hit up both stores to be safe,” he said with a sage nod.

---

“One thing worth noting, before I forget, as we are now we can only visit our wonders once a month. Not that I know how… but-” Ein turned, smoothed the wrinkles out of her dress and began just walking around the field. “If we can figure out how to get stronger, we’ll be able to visit more often.”

“Only reason I bring this up is because you don’t want to waste a trip for nothing.” Her tone became somewhat somber if not serious. “Whenever I feel too overwhelmed with work, or life… Rather than calling up one of my brothers to vent or bug someone on the phone, I come here.”

“You might feel it too someday. A longing in your heart to be somewhere you can’t just simply drive or walk to. To return to a place only you can visit because it’s yours.” When left with nowhere to turn to, Melody knew to power up and come back here. Although the field was new, the soft pearly sand along the long stretch of beach often offered a measure of comfort that food or a long nap could ever hope to provide.

Being here just felt… right.

---

Kiringul was still mentally putting together a modest shopping list of necessities he imagined she would need. Since they didn’t share this hobby he didn’t imagine she had any kind of gear at all, so he threw all the basics into the mix and considered even putting one together online for her to review so she had an idea of what all she should have, though he would definitely mention what would only be heavily suggested particularly for beginners, when they went to the actual store.

The shopping thoughts died away when her tone changed, however, and he turned a bit and followed her with his baby pink eyes as she walked around the field.

“Haven’t yet,” he said almost flatly. Granted this was only the second time he’d powered up into this puffy, pink-uniformed version of himself, so perhaps it was only because he hadn’t given himself enough time as Kiringul to feel a tug for any such wondrous place.

“Maybe soon, when I get a little more...uh...comfortable.”

And then another thought suddenly occurred to him, and he gaped at her. “Wait. You’re telling me you can’t come back here for another month?”

---

“Unfortunately. At least for now anyway.”

There was an elegance to her footsteps as she began walking towards the edge of the clearing, light footfalls as if she were trying to not disturb the lilac colored flowers which seemed to be a feat in and of itself when compared to the heavy steps that denoted her running late for work. Didn’t happen often but back in college it was a fairly regular thing that coincided with being sleep deprived.

“Trust me,” she added with a brief glance over her shoulder to make sure he was still following. “If I could come here every day then I would have sold my house and built a home here instead. It’s more peaceful here and not having to pay for property tax is definitely a perk.” Come to think of it, the temperature and weather here were fairly consistent which made her wonder if this place simply didn’t experience seasons as Earth did.

---

The page felt himself deflate at her answer.

“Well,” he said slowly, trying to find some kind of silver lining. He’d gotten so excited, but now knowing he’d have to wait thirty days before he could come back… It was a bit of a bummer. The silver lining soon came to him though, restoring a bit of his usual smile as he forced the glum away. “That gives us time to shop properly, then. Wait for sales, save some bucks.” While he had more of a tendency toward splurging on his hobbies, Kiringul would never say “no” to a sale if he happened to catch one.

He followed her still, the sudden change in her demeanor more surprising to him than anything else. For most of the time that he’d known her she was always so animated, a bright personality that contrasted rather starkly to his dullness. Opposites, yet complementary at the same time.

Seeing her so calm now was...different. Unfamiliar, though not in a bad way. He watched her thoughtfully as he followed along, the distance between them steady.

“Is that possible? To live on your wonder?”

---

“Honestly I have no idea,” Ein shrugged.

“The longest I’ve lived here was three days. It was a long weekend due to the holiday so I packed a sleeping bag, some food then came here.” Unfortunately, she didn’t really have the courage to explore the area and stuck to one general location. That was how she found the first cave entrance at the cove.

While it might have seemed like aimless wandering, she seemed quite sure of the direction they were heading even if she wasn’t quite aware of where their destination would be.

Lahela In her mind she recalled the sound of a child's laughter as leaves crunched beneath her bare feet. Lahela, where are you going? A flash of silvery white disappeared behind the tree ahead of them.

Come find me! the young girl's voice chimed melodiously.

Einhornhohle remained silent as the memory of this field of flowers played out before her. That was until a shrill scream caused her to jump back, nearly colliding with Kiringul beside her. Without thinking much on her actions she held fast onto his sleeve, wild eyes wide with the shock of what she heard. But then the memory faded.

Blinking several times, she looked away from him; completely embarrassed by her abnormal reaction to something that wasn’t even there. “We uh-” Ein cleared her throat. “We’ll need to go around. The ground is broken ahead of us, part of the tunnel beneath us collapsed over there.” They could look, if he wanted to, but would be wise if they both moved forward carefully in case more caved in.