001 "Painted And Blue: Chapter 1" by Dr. Abraxas 2012-05-28
Under the surface, a mile into the earth, that bleak arctic world transformed from winter to summer. It revealed an oasis: a garden encompassed by a lake, encased by a cavern. There, where neither moon nor sun existed, they did not need a torch to see...
Pakku led Katara through the garden, stopping only at that portion where a sliver of water fed into a pool.
"Who built it?" the girl asked of the withered cyclopean architecture - whose ruins arched out of the water, clung onto the cavern's natural wall.
"We do not know," the wizard replied. "Perhaps it was not built. Perhaps it was ... dreamt? Imagined into reality. Katara - the world we inhabit is ancient beyond description. We were not the first. We will not be the last."
Inside the water of the pool swam exactly two fish - white and yellow - encircled ceaselessly...
"Once upon a time I was your age and when my master brought me into this garden, a relic to our people, they were the same exact fish then. They are the same exact fish now. We do not pretend to understand, only to accept."
"They are ageless?" Katara froze. The fish inspired a swell of anxiety that the sanctuary itself could not. Why, exactly she did not know except that as they were elder they demanded awe. Into that void, away from the Universe, they carried their dance eternal. Suddenly, she was aware of a world with its own manner of being, wisdoms, and secrets ... a world where people were too small to matter. "They are the sun and the moon."
Pakku raised an eyebrow.
"Hmmm, the sun and the moon surrendered their immortality to be a part of this existence; however, I cannot believe they chose to be fish. I believe they roam here and there and that we may, by chance, encounter them from time to time."
Katara nodded - she uncorked a vial of pewter and brought it into the pool. It bubbled as air escaped and watered entered.
"You many need it to call the spirits."
END