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 Posted: Sun Apr 09, 2023 7:10 am
"Hey, Code. I know you can hear me," Amarynthos said as he leaned against the cool marble statue that housed the glowing orb. It was still in one of the better places he'd found, and from where it sat it overlooked the garden that he'd succeeded in cleaning up fairly well. Though he and Ephesus had worked on cutting the weeds and cleaning the dirt out of the cobbled pathway, it seemed like some of the stone was looking better. A bench that had been cracked in two was now only one piece and, when he'd stood on it and jumped, it hadn't lost so much as a spec of stone.
Flowers had begun to grow, a bit haphazardly and not in a very organized way, but it brought a bit of color to his Wonder. Nothing seemed to be in full bloom yet, but it was encouraging all the same.
Especially because other strange things had happened since he and Ephesus had been up here today. Twice already they'd been certain they saw something--a milky white figure that appeared only in the corner of their eyes. There was no energy signature, no magic, no noise. Just something.
"Have you been walking around here?" he asked. "Ephesus was going to head over to his Wonder while I moved the weeds over to the compost pile, but we keep seeing something. If you want to say hi, you can say hi? You don't have to lurk like that. But anyway, it would be really nice to know it's you here and not some Moon Ghost. And also, my cell phone gets no service here, so I can't even talk to Effie if something weird is going on here and I need help. We were thinking maybe we could ask Soleiyu--you know, the Mauvian we told you about--to build a cell phone tower up here so we could talk if we have to split up. I'm just kidding."
Only a little.
"But for real." He squeezed Ephesus' hand. "Is everything okay up here? Or am I doing something wrong?"
He tried to sound playful and not actually worried; he didn't want Ephesus to get spooked. Although, the hair on the back of Amarynthos' neck was already standing on edge and he had that weird feeling that something was watching him.
He really hoped it was the Code.
Who just floated in front of them in a slow, easygoing little swirl.
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Posted: Sun Apr 09, 2023 7:57 am
He didn’t know how but things seemed to be changing every time they visited the Moon. For the better! The stones were looking like they were repairing themselves, and the flowers were starting to grow. He still couldn’t figure out how to get the fountains working, but figured he would just have Michael look at them at some point.
Ephesus held tightly to Amarynthos’ hand as he spoke to his Code piece, trying not to jump when he saw movement out of the corner of his eye -- but it was just the light breeze making some flowers sway.
He was sure they saw something. It was white. And it wasn’t small. But then again, he couldn’t be sure. Maybe it was just a reflection of something, but they couldn’t tell what it was and it disappeared when they went to investigate?
Either way, he was doing his best to not seem spooked. He wasn’t! It was just… strange. And… yeah, it was pretty spooky. But Amarynthos was so brave and wise and was probably right that they had nothing to worry about and it was just the Code playing tricks on them.
“I don’t think you’re doing anything wrong,” Ephesus answered, despite knowing Amarynthos had asked the Code and not him. He chewed on his lip as he held Amarynthos’ hand in both of his. “But if there is something we can help with… Or if there was a way we could talk to each other better.”
Because now that they’d seen a ghost, Ephesus wasn’t sure he wanted to be alone at all on the Moon!
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Posted: Sun Apr 09, 2023 9:23 am
Amarynthos tilted his head and flashed a quick, confident smile to reassure Ephesus, even if he wasn’t feeling so very confident, himself. “We can come visit you–the big you, you know. If that would help. We’re Knights now, anyway.”
He took a step back and did a little half twirl so his cape spun behind him. “I mean, I’m sure you already knew that. I got a gross bruise fighting this Negaverse agent, do you want to see? Oh, probably not. Effie’s been doing a really good job healing it up. We should have taken a picture when it was really bad. It looked cool.”
It was still a little sore, but after the time he’d spent at Sessrumnir and under Ephesus’ healing hands he was feeling much better.
His attention turned back to the Code and his mouth opened to say something, but before he could continue he saw it glowing a little more than usual–and, more than that, it looked like something was in the glowing light.
He squinted at it for a second and then said, “Anyway, we were just hoping–”
The orb glowed brighter and there was a visible collection of white light in the center.
“Are you okay?”
The Code wasn’t quite blinding but it was bright enough that Amarynthos knew he wasn’t imagining it. Although, when he blinked again it looked like something was in the distance–another glowing, bright light. Like the ghost they’d seen earlier, only it was gone again when he blinked.
Amarynthos swallowed and shook his head, but the light was so demanding that he couldn’t ignore it. The Code wasn’t speaking, but it looked like it was trying to push something out of itself. He extended his hand curiously, and–
It wasn’t just light. It was something physical. Tangible.
A silver ring with a lustrous, opalescent stone glimmered beneath the Code’s light.
“...A ring?”
Was that it’s way of celebrating that they were Knights? Or was it telling him to propose to Ephesus already?
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Posted: Sun Apr 09, 2023 10:00 am
Somehow, all it took was for Amarynthos to smile at him and Ephesus felt better. Not completely better because there was a ghost or something haunting the Moon, but he felt safer with Amarynthos beside him.
Mary was right, though. They were Knights. And Amarynthos’ little swish of his cape made Effie smile and look down at his own outfit. The cape he wore wasn’t likely to keep him warm, but it was pretty and shimmered in the moonlight.
Or maybe not just the moonlight, but the Code itself.
He squinted, blinking almost uncomfortably at the blinding light, but realized that it wanted to give Amarynthos something.
Oh… it was a very pretty ring.
“I think Nectaris had a ring like that. Oh, and Stirling said she had a ring, I think,” he frowned a little, trying to remember everything that had happened over the last few months. Everything seemed to be moving so quickly. “Didn’t Michael say that was how Knights can send messages? Like the one he sent us on Alastor?”
Oh, if that was the case, then that was very kind of the Code to give Amarynthos one!
“Do you think I could ask my Code piece for one too?” he gasped, because that would definitely help them with talking to each other. Didn’t solve the ghost problem.
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Posted: Sun Apr 09, 2023 11:58 am
Amarynthos hummed thoughtfully as he turned the ring over in his hand. “Oh, yeah.”
Sessrumnir had mentioned something like that, hadn’t he? And the others, too. Right, of course. That would be the more logical thing–they’d asked for a way to keep in contact, and the rings could do that.
Well, too bad. He’d have to find another engagement ring.
When he slid it on his finger, it fit perfectly–and even seemed to glint a bit in the light. “If that’s what this is, I have no idea how to use this. But I bet we can ask Michael. Thank you, Code.”
He admired the ring for a second longer and then turned to Ephesus. “I don’t think it would be fair to give me one and not you, you work as much as I do. We should go visit your Code piece and ask, though.”
…It might be best to get out of here if there was a ghost, they could ask Michael about that, too. “Let me get my wheelbarrow, stay with me while I dump the weeds. Just in case.”
Because, even if he didn’t want to admit it, he was a little afraid of ghosts, too. Thanks, Dad.
“We’ll see you again in a minute, Code. Effie can show off over at his Wonder, okay? I think he looks really good, so I hope you like it as much as I do.”
He squeezed Ephesus’ hand and smiled, because he absolutely meant that.
There were plenty of things he wanted to ask about the ring but he wasn’t going to get into it until Ephesus had his, too. And, he’d rather have answers about that than let a ghost sneak up on them while they were unprepared.
Hopefully Ephesus didn’t have ghosts, too.
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