The silence of the Surrounding enveloped her like a calming embrace as she materialized upon the glowing rainbow road. The dome over her wonder gave easily as she pushed against it, revealing the outcropping and it’s activation pedestal. The marble beneath her feet rippled as she climbed the few stairs and hovered her hand over the indentation for a moment.

While she had not strictly interacted with the Code piece on her wonder, Prena’s memories pointed her in the direction of where to go. All she had to do was open the Bifrost and it would guide her where she needed to go.

“As Gatekeeper, I bid thee; throw wide the gates and guide me where I wish to go,” she said, energy flowing from her into her wonder as she pressed down on the pedestal. The marble rippled in color, and her wonder shifted. A patch of railing across from her sank into the floor as a path formed into the dark starry horizon. A moth landed on her hand briefly before fluttering down the path.

The Bifrost made travel around the Surrounding much easier, given that it could bisect the ring and did something to the space inside to keep you from needing to walk for literal days to get from one end to the other. There were a few paths that seemed to lead to nowhere, small outcroppings floating in the middle of space. She’d never given much thought to the logistics of it; the Bifrost always brought her where she needed to go without issue. Given that her wonder acted as a bridge though…

She ran a hand along the railing of the bridge, pursing her lips.

The Bifrost was actually rather massive, wasn’t it? She’d only ever taken it from the ‘hub’ as it were, but she did remember similar outcroppings between each outpost. Which meant… maybe the hub wasn’t the hub at all, and simply the place she claimed as ‘her wonder’ when–

The top of a gazebo appeared over the rise in the bridge. As she reached the top, she came to a stop, lilac eyes wide.

An absolutely massive gazebo built of white marble and stained glass floated at the end of the path, separated by the smallest of gaps. Six sided, she could see an outer balcony and then an inner raised dias, upon which another pedestal stood in silence. The whole gazebo rippled in gold and magentas and deep forest greens, silk drapes gently moving without wind from the gaps between the gazebo pillars. The two sides parallel to her were filled in with floor to ceiling stained glass images she couldn’t quite see at this distance and angle. The domed roof glittered in gold reliefs over magenta stained glass, topped with a gold symbol of Chronos.

The structure towered over as she approached, easily two or three stories tall. It was maybe two hundred feet across from her estimations, silent except for the hundreds of wind chimes hanging along the edge of the ceiling. How they had wind here in the middle of space - and maybe even dead center of the Surrounding itself - she didn’t know, but it was lovely.

The four stained glass walls depicted scenes she didn’t recognize, nor brought any sort of recognition from Prena’s memories. One held an image of the gazebo being constructed, encircled by a ring of rainbow. Another saw someone bringing a glowing orb to the gazebo. The third was shattered, not that she could see any broken glass, and the gold that once held glass sat open to the universe beyond. The fourth just depicted the gazebo being passed from one knight to another.

Wait. The third wasn’t shattered.

Bifrost moved to face the pedestal with the glowing orb - the Code Piece - on it and looked at the seemingly empty window.

The Code’s glow and energy filled in the missing glass with a thousand colors and patterns, the stars beyond it forming constellations and shapes.

The whole of the Surrounding, its outposts, its wonders and the Sol System within rippled in the light of the Code.

“Stars above…” she whispered softly, breathless.

Her gaze narrowed on the floating orb of the Code above the pedestal. The marble pillar it floated above was about three feet tall, with the piece at just below eye level. It flickered a little from time to time, and while the gazebo was in tact and whole, the pillar looked worse for wear.

Hairline fractures ran up and down the surface, emanating from a small crater in the top. Whatever it was that had washed over the wonders, the Code had reacted strong enough to damage marble. Would that she never met what caused it.

The transcendent knight gently touched the pillar with one hand and felt it vibrate under her hand in recognition.

The knights of Bifrost had never been ones for extravagant fanfare. They kept the bridge and those who would use it safe from harm, and watched over the Surrounding with careful eyes, often being the first to alert to danger and spread it across the outposts and wonders. The paths of the Bifrost shifted and changed with each knight; given and taking away space as necessary. An unspoken agreement from knight to page was that the places left by their predecessors were left alone. They were an eternal monument to those who had come before, their trials and tribulations. Their successes and their failures. Their joy and their sorrow.

This… this was the oldest of them. The original Bifrost, where the knight could control the bridge and its outcroppings with ease and little thought. This was the beginning.

She pushed energy through her arm and palm. It encircled the pillar in a golden light, and she felt the whole of the gazebo shudder beneath her feet.

“I bid thee, as thy Keeper and thy Knight, taketh of me that which will restore thee and rebind thy to the Code,” she said, mouth working over the strange words. They felt like her own, yet not, with a lilt far older than modern speech. The pillar rumbled softly against her hand and then pulled.

Bifrost let out a gasping shudder, blinking her eyes open against the wave of utter exhaustion that sank into her bones. Time had passed, she was very certain of it, but she had no idea how much or how little. Her legs shook, knees giving out as she struggled to regain her strength. Above her, the Code piece glowed bright and restored. The pillar was again completely smooth, except for the Chronos symbol now inlaid into the front with golden light.

The same color as her transcendence markings.

Bifrost panted heavily, blood pounding her ears and sight dim. She had no memory of what happened, just that one moment she was willing the pillar and the Code to take her energy, and the next she was about ready to collapse.

Some things are better left unknown, young one, the whole gazebo seemed to say. Rest. Recover. Know that we are restored.

There was a flicker of moment, and Heimdall appeared beside her, offering her its form as an aid. She nodded wearily, pushing herself to her feet and resting a hand on it’s head for stability.

She turned back to the Code piece and bowed her head in respect.

Then one very tired knight made the slow journey home for a long bath and an even longer sleep.


[ WC: 1246 ]