Beau would have liked it there. It was peaceful. And there were plenty of things to keep him occupied when he got too restless. It was a thought that made Paradise smile sadly as she sat on a large, crystalline rock overlooking what could only be described as a lake that spilled over the edge into space.

Behind her, a beautiful little field of wildflowers. There was a gentle breeze that rustled the long grass, and small waves lapped at the beach that looked like it had been made from gemstones.

Paradise had removed her shoes when she arrived, and took a long walk along the sand. It seemed as though that place had been some kind of rest stop. A place for travelers to refuel and take a break before getting back to their journey. There were some old boats in the harbor, but on the otherside was a full dock that opened into the vastness of space. She could only assume some kind of magical force field protected the entire Wonder, or maybe it was just magic beyond her comprehension.

Whatever the place was meant to be in the past, it was clearly in need of cleaning up and repairs.

She’d found the little orb already. It had been in a sad state, barely spinning where it was kept in a special little shrine within one of the buildings. She’d had an idea of where it was when she’d found her ring before, but didn’t understand what its important was until now. The area around it looked like there had been a fire. Everything had been burned and smelled of smoke and ash. But after sitting with it for a while and closing her eyes and really focusing, she was pleased to see that some of the scorch marks seemed a little more superficial than she first thought.

“You can join me if you’d like,” she said out loud as she looked across the water. “It’s okay if you’re shy. I won’t be here for long.”

After a few moments of thinking she was going to be ignored, the image of a person appeared on the other side of the rock she was sitting on, also looking across the water. Paradise smiled, and while she would have liked to ask him about himself, she kept from prying too much. He seemed shy, or maybe skeptical. It seemed strange that a Knight who took care of a Wonder that saw many dozens or more people come through every day would be shy.

Then again, she didn’t know what kind of tragedy had befallen him in his life. He didn’t look too much younger than herself at least, although like her, she suspected he had a few years more than his appearance. He had long blond hair, braided down his back and tied with a lilac ribbon, similar to the one that adorned her crook. His robes were mostly white but the colors of the rainbow made it obvious that he was a Knight of Cosmos.

She didn’t say anything more. Maybe he just wanted to see who this strange woman was who sat with the Code piece for over an hour. Or who’d taken the ring that he’d probably left behind when he passed.

It didn’t matter for now, but one day she would be back to try and coax him out of his shell and learn more.