Author's Note: Lookee here, I decided to write another Neopets fic. XP This
one is a lot more tame than my last fic. In any case.Neopets doesn't belong
to me, but the concept for this fic does. If by some strange coincidence my
fic sounds like your earlier-published fic, I swear, it's a total
coincidence. O.o But don't steal my idea either. ;.; Or I will cry. And
kill you. Simultaneously. Besides, who would be stupid enough to do that?
XD
Memories are painful little things. They're much like a splinter-easy to forget for a moment, yet deciding to sting at the most inconvenient time. They are also difficult to remove without going through some large amount of pain, if for a short amount of time-but perhaps that is where memories and splinters stop their similarities. For while a splinter can be permanently removed, only leaving a scar behind, memories remain within your brain, in a constant safe which can be locked but will invariably be reopened, revisited. You cannot help yourself-since you constantly have the key within you, you will eventually subside to the temptation and open that can of worms all over again. It is the sad nature of the sentient mind.
And these are the memories that remain inside of me, locked in my mind but seeping through the cold safes that I have built and leaking into my heart, affecting my mind to open the safes and relive the experience, relish in its brief glory, only to be brought down hard as I ever was before. But no matter how hard I try to break the abusive cycle, I fall back into it without fail. Maybe I like the internal pain-or maybe I just want to cling to her memories, never wanting to tell myself that he was truly gone, abolished from the way I remembered him. That old version of him lives on in my mind-as long as I remember, he will never fade.
But it was all a lie, wasn't it? All a façade that I was unable to see through in my childish naiveté. I should've listened to my father-to the Elder Miltiades. To all the other Grundo seers I should've given my ear and pulled away from him before I was permanently scarred. But I bid them no mind-besides, what could happen to an invincible adolescent such as myself? I sigh in anguish as I look back at those days, the red sun burning huge in the sky, so similar to his eyes, and I chastise myself: why hadn't I seen it coming, after all of the evidence before me?
I do not expect you to know what I am talking about-for you really know very little of the story of how Grundos came to the planet of Neopia. Although you may cuddle one and claim it as your pet, rest assured you cannot possibly know our history in full, for it has been heavily guarded by the remaining seers of our species, including myself. A seer, you may ask. What is that? Simple. We are the chosen of our species-while the majority of Grundos are dim and dull-witted, if loving, perfect for pets, we are the cautious ones, our intelligence challenging even brilliant human minds, rebellious to any kind of slavery, or "ownership," and thus are absolutely dreadful pets. We are nearly two different species. However, seers have been nominally depleted from the Grundo population. No Neopian wants a pet who does not want to be ordered around by them. I am one of the last of our surviving kind, and they call me Citali, brightest of the stars.
We are the ones to remember our home planet, the ones who remember the terrible events that were brought to it by an outward force-a single entity pained with isolation which brewed to hatred and darkness. Him. We were the ones to guide our population through the coming millennia, the millennia destined for destruction, although we knew not the magnitude. And I, in my young foolishness, was not prepared to do so, and befriended, fell for, the very man who would crush our species with the iron fist of technology. He was our White Horseman, a conqueror to conquer, with a long bow, yet no arrows. And conquer he did.
But no-the story cannot be started at the middle, nor the end. I must start from the very beginning, on our home planet. The memory is fresh as a new splinter, digging deeper into my mind daily. I was only a teenager then, but still 'bubbling with potential,' as Elder Miltaides had said. I was practicing emotion control, a rather difficult skill to be mastered by all seers, when something suddenly intruded in my thoughts: a rather desperate cry for help, coming not from the ground, but from above, reverberating through my mind as if it were a metallic chasm. The voice did not yell in our language, but still in one which I could understand- frantically, and growing louder.
Not able to concentrate on my studies, I leapt from the chair I had been sitting on and began to head outside, temporarily blinded by the sunlight. My father hadn't seen me interrupt my studies yet, so I was fine for now, if doing something I wasn't supposed to. Shielding my eyes against the orange sun, I looked up into the sky where the call seemed to come from- and lo and behold, within the yellow sky flamed a small object, growing increasing larger. My eyes widened in fright-meteorites frequently breached our atmosphere, but they were usually reduced to miniscule sizes as they came through. This one, however, did not seem to be getting any smaller, but brighter, and much larger.
I gave a little cry of alarm, and then raced back inside, my heart thundering in my chest, shouting loudly through the Great Hall of Seers, most likely awakening many from soothing trances. "Meteor! Meteor!" I cried, pounding on every door I came across. In no time flat, I had aroused most of the seers within the Great Hall, most grumbling Grundian swears under their breath, rubbing their foreheads. Finally, my father's head poked out of his doorway, an exhausted look on his brown-colored face.
"Citali, what are you doing?" he asked, his irritation and embarrassment apparent, as brown slowly ebbed to a flush of red on his face. I grabbed him by the hands, squeezing them tightly. I tried to express my anxiety as well as I could to him, but my father was almost as unlikely to be surprised as Elder Miltiades.
"Daddy, there's something in the sky.a meteor. It's approaching quickly, and it's not getting any smaller.and I know this sounds strange, but I can sense that there's someone in it," I said, my voice loud enough to be heard by the rest of the seers. There were a few scattered grunts of reactions, and my father shook his head, smiling slightly. He rubbed one of my ear stalks affectionately.
"Are you sure, sweetness?"
"Positive," I said flatly, disliking being treated like a little child. He always did that too-he seemed unable to accept that I was getting older, and thus needed more freedom. "If you want to see for yourself." Other seers were already out the door, probably figuring that if she had enough reason to shake us from our concentration, we may as well check it out too. My father, seeing that others didn't seem to doubt me, nodded. I grabbed his hand by the wrist and began almost dragging him towards the door, a baffled look on his face.
By the time we were outside, a crowd of seers had formed, looking up at the sky, their hands visoring their eyes. Many snorts of astonishment could be heard as they saw the meteor coming closer as well. The murmurings seemed to die down, however, as three Grundos appeared from the Great Hall. The two on the outside of the group were black and white, and I recognized the white one was Prakash and the black as Shyam, two rather minor seers. However, they were supporting the greatest seer that Grundian culture had ever seen: Elder Miltiades.
"What is this talk about meteors, Aditya?" asked Elder Miltiades calmly as the three approached my father. My father gave a heave of his shoulder, and then picked up Elder Miltiades' withered hand, pointing it towards the sky. The old Grundo seer's eyes lifted up to the sky, but it was apparent he couldn't see a thing-the cataracts in his red eyes blocked out any light that would offer him eyesight.
"Up there is a falling meteor-approaching quickly. Will it hit the village?" my father asked, although his voice did not seem supremely concerned. Elder Miltiades' face screwed into one of deep thought, his wrinkles seeming to deepen, especially on his forehead. Prakash and Shyam gave worried looks to each other, but did not speak. In fact, I couldn't honestly say I had ever seen either of them speak, although rumor had it Prakash had a thing for me. Disgusting.
"Do not worry-it will not strike, nor threaten, the village. It will land within the Grundian Pond to the west," replied Elder Miltiades, putting down his arm. "We have nothing to fear. Leave it be."
"We can't!" I protested, urgency in my voice. I grasped the old Grundo's hand, and it was apparent by the look on my father's face that he did not approve of my directness. I ignored him for the time being. "There's something inside of the meteor, Elder Miltiades. I..I can't say exactly what it is, but it's organic, and it needs help. If it lands within that pond, whatever is inside will surely suffocate, because I don't believe that it's aquatic."
Elder Miltiades scanned my face with his blind eyes, his hand lifting up to stroke my cheek. "Dear Citali.the child of the stars. You are just as vibrant and brilliant as ever. Yes, I feel it now as well, as I concentrate- I feel the desperation of the organism inside." He pulled his hand away from my face and had Prakash and Shyam turn him in the direction of the rest of the Grundo seers. "My fellow seers, when this meteor lands, we must retrieve it from the water. Meanwhile, we must let the villagers in peace- we cannot let them be concerned. All those who have passed the Tests will come with me to the pond to retrieve the meteor-the rest shall calm the villagers, if they had caught sight of this meteor." An uncomfortable mumble ran through the crowd. As a rule, Grundos severely dislike water-we do not know how to swim, nor do we need water to sustain life. "Now, let us go!"
The Grundos parted like water to Moses' hand, some heading in the direction of the village, and the rest going towards the water. They would not need ropes or any other device to lift the meteor from the water-if they had truly passed the Tests, they would be able to use a community of their minds to lift the sunken meteor from the water. As Elder Miltiades and my father began to move in the direction of the pond, I again stopped them, not wanting to go to the village because of my inexperience and lack of having passed the Tests.
"Daddy, please don't make me go to the village," I pleaded, my eyes as innocent as possible. "I was the one who spotted the meteor after all- don't I have some kind of duty to see that it's recovered from the pond?"
"Citali, you're pushing it," he said under his breath, giving me a warning glance. Elder Miltiades, much to my relief, seemed to have a different view on the matter.
"Oh, Aditya, you are already becoming a grumpy old Grundo," chuckled Elder Miltiades, my father's face again leaning more towards the red end of the spectrum. "Let the girl come with-she has a right to see what she discovered, after all." My father reluctantly agreed. A smile spread across my face, joy blossoming in my heart. Elder Miltiades had stood up for me! Well, it was probably due more to the fact that I had gained special privileges that others my age wouldn't have access too, but that was also a factor as well.
The meteor was ever-closer as we came to the pond, which appeared to be large enough to take the shock of the meteor landing inside of it. In fact, it was argued whether it was a pond or a sea-for it was certainly large enough to gain the title of such. We waited, watching the sky for the flaming meteor, the cries becoming louder. I rung my hands at the sound of the suffering, sweat dripping down my forehead. I wanted to scream out with the voice, the tone affecting me so completely, striking me at the heart. I restrained myself, however, remembering the emotion control I had been practicing, though it hardly helped a bit.
With a suddenness, the meteor seemed to expand in size, every little detail visible for a fleeting moment. Then, it plunged into the deep, cold water, letting up a spray of water droplets and foam, bursting into the air, a great pillar of water. Many Grundo seers winced and pulled away from the liquid, but I stood steady, not minding too much that I was getting drenched. The pillar of water seemed suspended in the air for a second, but then pummeled back down to the surface of the water. As if breeching for a great gasp of air, the silver meteor bobbed up to the surface, proving to all that it was indeed a hollow object.
At closer inspection, it did not seem to be made of any material known to any Grundo. It was silver in color, and mostly smooth, except for a few lumps here and there, mostly circular, and red things made of a softer looking material. There was a patch of a transparent material on the side in an oval shape, but nothing could be seen clearly through it, as it had been greatly clouded when facing the atmosphere. Most noticeable was a rectangular area, framed by many circles and deep crevices in the silver material, which was slightly blackened from being burned. I assumed that this would probably be our door, as it had something like a door handle on it, painted in vibrant red. An eerie noise came from the object-it sounded slightly like a music instrument, but frantic, a tapping coming from within the meteor.
"All seers gather around now-we will lift this object from the water and place it on shore, whereupon we will open it and rescue whatever happens to be inside," instructed Elder Miltiades, still a great leader in his old age. "All hold hands!" he ordered, and those who had passed the Tests stood at the edge of the shore. I stepped backwards, a bit embarrassed, as hands were linked together in front of me. Although I felt slightly left out, I knew I was still lucky to be able to watch as the seers showed their power linked all together.
Each and every Grundo seer closed their eyes, already deep in concentration. Elder Miltiades began the chant, which moved on to the Grundo seer next to him, and so on. It spread throughout the chain of Grundo seers, until not a single Grundo seer was left silent. The chant's beat vibrated in my chest, and I felt obligated to join in, although I did not know the words. Somehow, they seemed to come to me, though, yet I repressed them, knowing that I was not allowed to do such a thing. The air shivered with their words, and a great pulse of energy seemed to flow from all of the Grundo seers towards the meteor, cradling it as a mother Grundo would do an infant. Ever so slowly, almost painstakingly so, it began to rise from the water, as if it were given new life. The chant grew louder as it took more energy to lift it into the air, transferring it over their heads and towards the shore. I watched in absolute awe, backing up as the meteor began to be lowered in front of me, never jerking or faltering from its path. It finally rested on the ground, hardly unsettling a blade of grass or a grain of dust.
The chant continued even after the meteor had been set down, slowly fading as one by one the Grundo seers began to stop singing, until only Elder Miltiades was left singing the chant. Slowly, though, his voice vanished to nothing, and all opened their eyes simultaneously, grins infectious among them. I wore one myself, unable to contain my excitement. Although it might have been common practice for the seers, it still was exhilarating, sending chills up my spine every time I saw levitation in action.
After a moment of stillness, the Grundo seers quickly got back into action, heading towards the meteor to inspect it on land. They all seemed to look around for one single Grundo as they took one look at the door-this Grundo seer finally emerged from the crowds. Ah, yes, I remembered him now. Although relatively weak in mind compared to other Grundo seers, Baldev was a very muscle-happy Grundo seer, very proud of his built figure. He was slightly arrogant, but nobody seemed to mind, as he did most of the heavy duty lifting around the village.
"Not a problem," he said with a conceited snort, and flexing his muscles, he leapt atop the meteor, which wiggled just slightly underneath him, though not putting up much of a fight. Grabbing the red handle securely, he began to twist it in a random direction, giving a long groan of effort. The handle seemed at first to resist his strength, but then gave in, squeaking loudly. With a pop, it opened very suddenly, throwing Baldev backwards, off the meteor. I hid a smile underneath a hand. Baldev was not one to look very foolish, and he was clearly a bit embarrassed, brushing himself off. "Well, there you have it," he muttered under his breath, and tried to sink back into the crowds.
Without any other physical contact, the door began to open by itself, slamming to one side. From inside emerged the figure who would be our ultimate doom-although at that moment, he looked rather pathetic, gasping and sputtering for air, his red eyes darting around, though not seeming to see a single one of us. "Oxygen.sweet oxygen." he moaned in ecstasy, his eight green fingers grasping tightly to the sides of the doorway as he inhaled and exhaled rapidly. For a moment, he paused, seeming to still in life completely, and then tipped backwards, fainting, falling back inside of the meteor.
It took Baldev and two other Grundo seers to drag his dead weight out of the meteor, finally lying him on the ground. We all looked at him in disbelief, rubbing out eyes at the new specimen of life. He was at least twice the height of a normal Grundo, although slimmer comparatively. We estimated he would've stood at about 20 Grundo hands, a Grundo hand equally roughly four inches. His skin was a green color equivalent to that of a green Grundo's skin, but instead of two ear stalks, it appeared he had three. Yet these ear stalks were peculiar-they did not seem to be a likely spot to have sound enter. His eyes, as we had seen, were red, and he only possessed eight digits in total. Over his body he wore what seemed to be black sheets, the only thing slightly white on these sheets a small notch near his neck, or what we presumed to be so.
"What.is it?" one Grundo seer asked, and none were able to answer his query. The only sure thing about the new organism was that it was unconscious, and probably male, his eyes closed and mouth slightly ajar, chest rising and falling with each breath of air. The black cloths he wore were slightly ripped in places, revealing a few scrapes and bumps on his flesh. One of his arms seemed to be twisted in an odd angle, although I really couldn't have been the judge-perhaps it was supposed to be bent like that?
"One thing is sure," began Elder Miltiades. Though he could not see exactly what the stranger looked like, he was probably able to guess by the shocked noises that it was not exactly a Grundo that had emerged from the silver meteor, "we must offer this creature hospitality-cure its wounds, and aid it in going wherever it may be. I foresee this-it is the right thing to do," proclaimed Elder Miltiades confidently. Without stopping to question his authority, Grundo seers closed in on the creature, hoisting him from the ground and into the air. He stirred restlessly in his unconsciousness, but did not awaken, a low whimpering noise the only audible sound he made.
Silently, the Grundo seers began to carry the creature back towards the Great Hall for further inspection and healing. If any were afraid of the creature, they did not display it anymore in their face-some could, undoubtedly, see vaguely what crimes this creature would commit, but as Elder Miltiades did not seem concerned, they pushed their suspicions aside as false prophecies. I myself felt unsettled, but did as the others, and followed after the crowd of Grundo seers back to the village.
Memories are painful little things. They're much like a splinter-easy to forget for a moment, yet deciding to sting at the most inconvenient time. They are also difficult to remove without going through some large amount of pain, if for a short amount of time-but perhaps that is where memories and splinters stop their similarities. For while a splinter can be permanently removed, only leaving a scar behind, memories remain within your brain, in a constant safe which can be locked but will invariably be reopened, revisited. You cannot help yourself-since you constantly have the key within you, you will eventually subside to the temptation and open that can of worms all over again. It is the sad nature of the sentient mind.
And these are the memories that remain inside of me, locked in my mind but seeping through the cold safes that I have built and leaking into my heart, affecting my mind to open the safes and relive the experience, relish in its brief glory, only to be brought down hard as I ever was before. But no matter how hard I try to break the abusive cycle, I fall back into it without fail. Maybe I like the internal pain-or maybe I just want to cling to her memories, never wanting to tell myself that he was truly gone, abolished from the way I remembered him. That old version of him lives on in my mind-as long as I remember, he will never fade.
But it was all a lie, wasn't it? All a façade that I was unable to see through in my childish naiveté. I should've listened to my father-to the Elder Miltiades. To all the other Grundo seers I should've given my ear and pulled away from him before I was permanently scarred. But I bid them no mind-besides, what could happen to an invincible adolescent such as myself? I sigh in anguish as I look back at those days, the red sun burning huge in the sky, so similar to his eyes, and I chastise myself: why hadn't I seen it coming, after all of the evidence before me?
I do not expect you to know what I am talking about-for you really know very little of the story of how Grundos came to the planet of Neopia. Although you may cuddle one and claim it as your pet, rest assured you cannot possibly know our history in full, for it has been heavily guarded by the remaining seers of our species, including myself. A seer, you may ask. What is that? Simple. We are the chosen of our species-while the majority of Grundos are dim and dull-witted, if loving, perfect for pets, we are the cautious ones, our intelligence challenging even brilliant human minds, rebellious to any kind of slavery, or "ownership," and thus are absolutely dreadful pets. We are nearly two different species. However, seers have been nominally depleted from the Grundo population. No Neopian wants a pet who does not want to be ordered around by them. I am one of the last of our surviving kind, and they call me Citali, brightest of the stars.
We are the ones to remember our home planet, the ones who remember the terrible events that were brought to it by an outward force-a single entity pained with isolation which brewed to hatred and darkness. Him. We were the ones to guide our population through the coming millennia, the millennia destined for destruction, although we knew not the magnitude. And I, in my young foolishness, was not prepared to do so, and befriended, fell for, the very man who would crush our species with the iron fist of technology. He was our White Horseman, a conqueror to conquer, with a long bow, yet no arrows. And conquer he did.
But no-the story cannot be started at the middle, nor the end. I must start from the very beginning, on our home planet. The memory is fresh as a new splinter, digging deeper into my mind daily. I was only a teenager then, but still 'bubbling with potential,' as Elder Miltaides had said. I was practicing emotion control, a rather difficult skill to be mastered by all seers, when something suddenly intruded in my thoughts: a rather desperate cry for help, coming not from the ground, but from above, reverberating through my mind as if it were a metallic chasm. The voice did not yell in our language, but still in one which I could understand- frantically, and growing louder.
Not able to concentrate on my studies, I leapt from the chair I had been sitting on and began to head outside, temporarily blinded by the sunlight. My father hadn't seen me interrupt my studies yet, so I was fine for now, if doing something I wasn't supposed to. Shielding my eyes against the orange sun, I looked up into the sky where the call seemed to come from- and lo and behold, within the yellow sky flamed a small object, growing increasing larger. My eyes widened in fright-meteorites frequently breached our atmosphere, but they were usually reduced to miniscule sizes as they came through. This one, however, did not seem to be getting any smaller, but brighter, and much larger.
I gave a little cry of alarm, and then raced back inside, my heart thundering in my chest, shouting loudly through the Great Hall of Seers, most likely awakening many from soothing trances. "Meteor! Meteor!" I cried, pounding on every door I came across. In no time flat, I had aroused most of the seers within the Great Hall, most grumbling Grundian swears under their breath, rubbing their foreheads. Finally, my father's head poked out of his doorway, an exhausted look on his brown-colored face.
"Citali, what are you doing?" he asked, his irritation and embarrassment apparent, as brown slowly ebbed to a flush of red on his face. I grabbed him by the hands, squeezing them tightly. I tried to express my anxiety as well as I could to him, but my father was almost as unlikely to be surprised as Elder Miltiades.
"Daddy, there's something in the sky.a meteor. It's approaching quickly, and it's not getting any smaller.and I know this sounds strange, but I can sense that there's someone in it," I said, my voice loud enough to be heard by the rest of the seers. There were a few scattered grunts of reactions, and my father shook his head, smiling slightly. He rubbed one of my ear stalks affectionately.
"Are you sure, sweetness?"
"Positive," I said flatly, disliking being treated like a little child. He always did that too-he seemed unable to accept that I was getting older, and thus needed more freedom. "If you want to see for yourself." Other seers were already out the door, probably figuring that if she had enough reason to shake us from our concentration, we may as well check it out too. My father, seeing that others didn't seem to doubt me, nodded. I grabbed his hand by the wrist and began almost dragging him towards the door, a baffled look on his face.
By the time we were outside, a crowd of seers had formed, looking up at the sky, their hands visoring their eyes. Many snorts of astonishment could be heard as they saw the meteor coming closer as well. The murmurings seemed to die down, however, as three Grundos appeared from the Great Hall. The two on the outside of the group were black and white, and I recognized the white one was Prakash and the black as Shyam, two rather minor seers. However, they were supporting the greatest seer that Grundian culture had ever seen: Elder Miltiades.
"What is this talk about meteors, Aditya?" asked Elder Miltiades calmly as the three approached my father. My father gave a heave of his shoulder, and then picked up Elder Miltiades' withered hand, pointing it towards the sky. The old Grundo seer's eyes lifted up to the sky, but it was apparent he couldn't see a thing-the cataracts in his red eyes blocked out any light that would offer him eyesight.
"Up there is a falling meteor-approaching quickly. Will it hit the village?" my father asked, although his voice did not seem supremely concerned. Elder Miltiades' face screwed into one of deep thought, his wrinkles seeming to deepen, especially on his forehead. Prakash and Shyam gave worried looks to each other, but did not speak. In fact, I couldn't honestly say I had ever seen either of them speak, although rumor had it Prakash had a thing for me. Disgusting.
"Do not worry-it will not strike, nor threaten, the village. It will land within the Grundian Pond to the west," replied Elder Miltiades, putting down his arm. "We have nothing to fear. Leave it be."
"We can't!" I protested, urgency in my voice. I grasped the old Grundo's hand, and it was apparent by the look on my father's face that he did not approve of my directness. I ignored him for the time being. "There's something inside of the meteor, Elder Miltiades. I..I can't say exactly what it is, but it's organic, and it needs help. If it lands within that pond, whatever is inside will surely suffocate, because I don't believe that it's aquatic."
Elder Miltiades scanned my face with his blind eyes, his hand lifting up to stroke my cheek. "Dear Citali.the child of the stars. You are just as vibrant and brilliant as ever. Yes, I feel it now as well, as I concentrate- I feel the desperation of the organism inside." He pulled his hand away from my face and had Prakash and Shyam turn him in the direction of the rest of the Grundo seers. "My fellow seers, when this meteor lands, we must retrieve it from the water. Meanwhile, we must let the villagers in peace- we cannot let them be concerned. All those who have passed the Tests will come with me to the pond to retrieve the meteor-the rest shall calm the villagers, if they had caught sight of this meteor." An uncomfortable mumble ran through the crowd. As a rule, Grundos severely dislike water-we do not know how to swim, nor do we need water to sustain life. "Now, let us go!"
The Grundos parted like water to Moses' hand, some heading in the direction of the village, and the rest going towards the water. They would not need ropes or any other device to lift the meteor from the water-if they had truly passed the Tests, they would be able to use a community of their minds to lift the sunken meteor from the water. As Elder Miltiades and my father began to move in the direction of the pond, I again stopped them, not wanting to go to the village because of my inexperience and lack of having passed the Tests.
"Daddy, please don't make me go to the village," I pleaded, my eyes as innocent as possible. "I was the one who spotted the meteor after all- don't I have some kind of duty to see that it's recovered from the pond?"
"Citali, you're pushing it," he said under his breath, giving me a warning glance. Elder Miltiades, much to my relief, seemed to have a different view on the matter.
"Oh, Aditya, you are already becoming a grumpy old Grundo," chuckled Elder Miltiades, my father's face again leaning more towards the red end of the spectrum. "Let the girl come with-she has a right to see what she discovered, after all." My father reluctantly agreed. A smile spread across my face, joy blossoming in my heart. Elder Miltiades had stood up for me! Well, it was probably due more to the fact that I had gained special privileges that others my age wouldn't have access too, but that was also a factor as well.
The meteor was ever-closer as we came to the pond, which appeared to be large enough to take the shock of the meteor landing inside of it. In fact, it was argued whether it was a pond or a sea-for it was certainly large enough to gain the title of such. We waited, watching the sky for the flaming meteor, the cries becoming louder. I rung my hands at the sound of the suffering, sweat dripping down my forehead. I wanted to scream out with the voice, the tone affecting me so completely, striking me at the heart. I restrained myself, however, remembering the emotion control I had been practicing, though it hardly helped a bit.
With a suddenness, the meteor seemed to expand in size, every little detail visible for a fleeting moment. Then, it plunged into the deep, cold water, letting up a spray of water droplets and foam, bursting into the air, a great pillar of water. Many Grundo seers winced and pulled away from the liquid, but I stood steady, not minding too much that I was getting drenched. The pillar of water seemed suspended in the air for a second, but then pummeled back down to the surface of the water. As if breeching for a great gasp of air, the silver meteor bobbed up to the surface, proving to all that it was indeed a hollow object.
At closer inspection, it did not seem to be made of any material known to any Grundo. It was silver in color, and mostly smooth, except for a few lumps here and there, mostly circular, and red things made of a softer looking material. There was a patch of a transparent material on the side in an oval shape, but nothing could be seen clearly through it, as it had been greatly clouded when facing the atmosphere. Most noticeable was a rectangular area, framed by many circles and deep crevices in the silver material, which was slightly blackened from being burned. I assumed that this would probably be our door, as it had something like a door handle on it, painted in vibrant red. An eerie noise came from the object-it sounded slightly like a music instrument, but frantic, a tapping coming from within the meteor.
"All seers gather around now-we will lift this object from the water and place it on shore, whereupon we will open it and rescue whatever happens to be inside," instructed Elder Miltiades, still a great leader in his old age. "All hold hands!" he ordered, and those who had passed the Tests stood at the edge of the shore. I stepped backwards, a bit embarrassed, as hands were linked together in front of me. Although I felt slightly left out, I knew I was still lucky to be able to watch as the seers showed their power linked all together.
Each and every Grundo seer closed their eyes, already deep in concentration. Elder Miltiades began the chant, which moved on to the Grundo seer next to him, and so on. It spread throughout the chain of Grundo seers, until not a single Grundo seer was left silent. The chant's beat vibrated in my chest, and I felt obligated to join in, although I did not know the words. Somehow, they seemed to come to me, though, yet I repressed them, knowing that I was not allowed to do such a thing. The air shivered with their words, and a great pulse of energy seemed to flow from all of the Grundo seers towards the meteor, cradling it as a mother Grundo would do an infant. Ever so slowly, almost painstakingly so, it began to rise from the water, as if it were given new life. The chant grew louder as it took more energy to lift it into the air, transferring it over their heads and towards the shore. I watched in absolute awe, backing up as the meteor began to be lowered in front of me, never jerking or faltering from its path. It finally rested on the ground, hardly unsettling a blade of grass or a grain of dust.
The chant continued even after the meteor had been set down, slowly fading as one by one the Grundo seers began to stop singing, until only Elder Miltiades was left singing the chant. Slowly, though, his voice vanished to nothing, and all opened their eyes simultaneously, grins infectious among them. I wore one myself, unable to contain my excitement. Although it might have been common practice for the seers, it still was exhilarating, sending chills up my spine every time I saw levitation in action.
After a moment of stillness, the Grundo seers quickly got back into action, heading towards the meteor to inspect it on land. They all seemed to look around for one single Grundo as they took one look at the door-this Grundo seer finally emerged from the crowds. Ah, yes, I remembered him now. Although relatively weak in mind compared to other Grundo seers, Baldev was a very muscle-happy Grundo seer, very proud of his built figure. He was slightly arrogant, but nobody seemed to mind, as he did most of the heavy duty lifting around the village.
"Not a problem," he said with a conceited snort, and flexing his muscles, he leapt atop the meteor, which wiggled just slightly underneath him, though not putting up much of a fight. Grabbing the red handle securely, he began to twist it in a random direction, giving a long groan of effort. The handle seemed at first to resist his strength, but then gave in, squeaking loudly. With a pop, it opened very suddenly, throwing Baldev backwards, off the meteor. I hid a smile underneath a hand. Baldev was not one to look very foolish, and he was clearly a bit embarrassed, brushing himself off. "Well, there you have it," he muttered under his breath, and tried to sink back into the crowds.
Without any other physical contact, the door began to open by itself, slamming to one side. From inside emerged the figure who would be our ultimate doom-although at that moment, he looked rather pathetic, gasping and sputtering for air, his red eyes darting around, though not seeming to see a single one of us. "Oxygen.sweet oxygen." he moaned in ecstasy, his eight green fingers grasping tightly to the sides of the doorway as he inhaled and exhaled rapidly. For a moment, he paused, seeming to still in life completely, and then tipped backwards, fainting, falling back inside of the meteor.
It took Baldev and two other Grundo seers to drag his dead weight out of the meteor, finally lying him on the ground. We all looked at him in disbelief, rubbing out eyes at the new specimen of life. He was at least twice the height of a normal Grundo, although slimmer comparatively. We estimated he would've stood at about 20 Grundo hands, a Grundo hand equally roughly four inches. His skin was a green color equivalent to that of a green Grundo's skin, but instead of two ear stalks, it appeared he had three. Yet these ear stalks were peculiar-they did not seem to be a likely spot to have sound enter. His eyes, as we had seen, were red, and he only possessed eight digits in total. Over his body he wore what seemed to be black sheets, the only thing slightly white on these sheets a small notch near his neck, or what we presumed to be so.
"What.is it?" one Grundo seer asked, and none were able to answer his query. The only sure thing about the new organism was that it was unconscious, and probably male, his eyes closed and mouth slightly ajar, chest rising and falling with each breath of air. The black cloths he wore were slightly ripped in places, revealing a few scrapes and bumps on his flesh. One of his arms seemed to be twisted in an odd angle, although I really couldn't have been the judge-perhaps it was supposed to be bent like that?
"One thing is sure," began Elder Miltiades. Though he could not see exactly what the stranger looked like, he was probably able to guess by the shocked noises that it was not exactly a Grundo that had emerged from the silver meteor, "we must offer this creature hospitality-cure its wounds, and aid it in going wherever it may be. I foresee this-it is the right thing to do," proclaimed Elder Miltiades confidently. Without stopping to question his authority, Grundo seers closed in on the creature, hoisting him from the ground and into the air. He stirred restlessly in his unconsciousness, but did not awaken, a low whimpering noise the only audible sound he made.
Silently, the Grundo seers began to carry the creature back towards the Great Hall for further inspection and healing. If any were afraid of the creature, they did not display it anymore in their face-some could, undoubtedly, see vaguely what crimes this creature would commit, but as Elder Miltiades did not seem concerned, they pushed their suspicions aside as false prophecies. I myself felt unsettled, but did as the others, and followed after the crowd of Grundo seers back to the village.