Amy had spent the morning trying to decide on an official location for the triceratops called "Becky". The animal was massive, practically the size of an African Elephant in height but longer. Although Becky appeared to be relatively docile, like a big lumbering cow, Amy still had no idea of the true temperament and tendencies of a triceratops. At first, she kept it in the pin with the sheep, but later decided to bring the big beast out to let it roam the clearing along with Bruno and Angelo. This seemed to do fine, and the triceratops quickly took to grazing on the grass and heading into the old barn for hay. Still, it was a tad frightening to walk outside and see a huge maroon-colored triceratops walking around.
"We only need two more Amaranths now," she heard Dipper saying as she entered the house. He was talking to Mabel and Dionysus. "The Crystal Amaranth and – what was the other one?"
Dionysus answered. "The Blooming Sun Amaranth." He leaned back against the couch. "But those are so rare. In fact, I think they're the rarest of the ten, and they're only found underground."
Mabel eyed him. "They're called Blooming Sun but they grow underground?"
He nodded. "The darker the place they're in, the brighter they glow. They fell from Starpelt centuries ago when Dawnbringer set the spirit's eye ablaze. A byproduct of the intense light magic that had occurred then. Only a handful of them appeared, and they were all gathered up to use as artificial suns underground on the dark side of Telmak. As a result, they're coveted things, so it's highly unlikely any of the communities that have one are going to give it up."
"But it's for the sake of, well, everything!" Dipper exclaimed. "Even them!"
"Now that I think of it," Dionysus was lost in his own thoughts, "I've only ever heard of Vault having those flowers… They use them to light up the city and the Mines and Bank."
"Is Vault a place?" Mabel asked.
"Oh, it's the underground city on the dark side of Telmak. It's the largest community of earth dragons and the location of the Mines and the Bank."
"What kind of mines?" Dipper asked.
"Why, gemstone mines of course! Dragons just love gemstones. Like, it's hilarious how much they love them. They can hardly resist them!"
"I always thought stories of dragons hoarding gems and gold was made up. What do they like them so much for? Is that the dragons' currency?"
Dionysus chuckled. "You could say that. Thing is, they love to eat the gems."
"I'm sorry, but did you say eat?"
"Yup! It's a precious snack to them."
"Rocks?!" Mabel made a face.
Dionysus laughed. "No, no! See, let me explain. Gemstones that grow in Telmak are very different from gemstones that grow in Avas. Telmak and Druunire, er, Necronire, have special gemstones that are not actually 'rocks' like the ones you know."
"Then what are they?"
"They're solidified chunks of pure magic."
"Ohhh," both twins said together as they understood.
"There you go." Dionysus smiled at their realization. "Yup. Telmak and Dru- Necronire are so full of intense magic that the magic solidifies and hardens into colorful gemstones. They look almost exactly like the gemstones you know and have the same names and similar structural properties in the growth formations, but they're pure magic. So, they're bigger, prettier, and naturally look polished. Not to mention, they can form anywhere and taste divine."
"Avas doesn't have any of its own magic," Dipper mused aloud, "so the gemstones here are just results of the soil and pressure and – Um, anyways, that explains that crystal portal we saw in the snowy mountains. Remember?"
"Yeah," Mabel said. "All the crystals were pointing at the portal and making sparks."
Dionysus nodded. "Mm-hm. Of course, Telmak is the birthplace of magic, so it naturally has the most of it. Meaning, the magic gemstones are abundant there and are of the best quality. It never runs out. But they mostly form really deep underground and on the dark side of Telmak. So, only earth dragons can locate and mine them."
"Okay then. So, what's the Bank?"
"Oh, it's sort of like a bank you humans keep money and stuff in. A dragon, or anyone really, can set up a bank in Vault where they can store their gemstones. Or whatever else you want to store. If it's in Vault's Bank, you can guarantee that no one will ever get to it but you. The Bank is the safest place in all of Telmak. Maybe even all of the multiverse. It's a great system too. See, the earth dragons of Vault are all so busy, they never have time to leave the underground. Some of them have never even seen the surface. So, even though they can raise and grow livestock and crops, there are still lots of things they don't have that they either need or want. So, you can trade just about anything for gems. They keep a catalogue of the current month's trade-in values. Uh, anyways, I highly doubt they're going to give up one of their Blooming Sun Amaranths."
"I'm sure they'll let us borrow it at least, right?" Mabel asked. "I mean, if we explain…"
"Better than nothing," Amy said at last. "There are some things I need to take care of here, so do you think you two can handle it if some dragons accompany you?"
The twins smiled. "You bet we can!" Mabel told her.
She smiled too. "Good. I knew I could count on you guys. Let me round up some escorts for you. The dark side of Telmak is dangerous, I hear. Meet us outside in ten."
"Yes ma'am!" they both said.
…
"Why do I have to go?" Bill complained loudly. "You're not going, so why do I have to!?"
"Yeah," Dipper said. "Why does he have to?"
Amy rolled her eyes. Behind her, Teeth, Shade, and Mabel were all smiling at each other, excited to have been given a task.
"Technically," Bill said, "that deal we made has been done for months. I don't have to actually do what you tell me!"
"I'm not telling you," she told him.
"You're not?"
"No. I'm asking you to go with them."
He stared at her. "…Why!?"
"Because you're the most capable dragon out of everyone in this clearing. Who knows what they might encounter over there? Since you're not really a dragon, you're the most adaptable, so I'm asking you."
He stared at her longer. "…Fine! I'll go. But I won't like it!"
"Thank you." She addressed them as a whole now, "You guys be careful now. I don't think the earth dragons will be any threat, but the dark side of Telmak is harsh and teeming with dangerous wildlife. The temperature on the surface is the same as the Great Plains because of Starpelt, but the underground is supposed to be very cold. Telmak doesn't have a core like Earth."
"Right," Mabel said. "It's a rocky shell around a giant spirit!"
"There's also the looming threat of shadows. Take your time, but if you guys aren't back by tomorrow afternoon, I'll send someone after you."
…
The group of five made their way into the woods, through the forest portal, and ended up following Bill across the Great Plains when he continued walking without a word.
"Do you know where you're going?" Dipper asked him.
"Of course! I've been here before."
They made their way over the grassy hills, careful to avoid the random patches of flowers. Every now and again, they encountered the odd tree or two. One was a grand rhododendron while some ways off was a tall spruce that looked highly out of place in the hilly plains. These were obviously the graves of dragons, the twins thought, and they began to wonder what their names were and why dragons never marked them. They also began to wonder if Bill's ability to read minds was returning to him because he suddenly said as they passed the spruce, "That's Ulric."
The twins stared up at the tall evergreen as they passed it. The foliage was a deeper, richer green than they had ever seen on any spruce and the bark was unscathed by bugs or birds or weather. There was no breeze, but the tree's branches seemed to wave slightly as they passed and a strong scent like walking through an evergreen forest swathed over them.
"Dragons are made of both magic and flesh," Bill said as he walked. "If they die, their flesh and bones sink into the ground and their soul is collected and brought to Sava. Their magic stays behind with the flesh and transforms into enchanted natural formations. Plants that never wilt or react to seasons, forever in bloom. Springs of fresh water that never become tainted. Heck, some of the big ones even turn into whole forests or even mountains."
"Wow," Mabel gasped.
"Yeah, but dragons aren't meant to die…" He stopped talking now and continued to lead the rest of the way in silence.
After some time of walking, they began to see less and less flowers. Finally, at the top of a particularly tall hill, they came to a large arch made of twisted black branches. There were large thorns along the outer edges that stuck out in all directions, making the portal look less than welcoming.
"This one should lead straight to the outside entrance of Vault," Bill said. He snapped his fingers and the portal lit up instantaneously with a purple and silver swirl.
On the other side, they found themselves in darkness. They could still see, for the most part (though Bill, Shade, and Teeth had no impairments from the lack of light). It was like nighttime, but it was darker here than nighttime on the other side of Telmak. At night, Telmak's sky was a deep blue and the land looked as though it was washed in the light of a full moon. Here, however, the sky was black with stars twinkling farther away. The land itself was also dark, which did not help to lighten anything.
They were standing in a flat field of tall grass that looked very much like a gray savanna. The field was dotted with the odd tree or two, and the trees were black and motionless like the grass. Ahead of them, in the far distance, the grass faded away to be replaced by flat rock, and farther still was a land of crags and craters. To the left of that they could just barely make out a dark orangish-red glow. Behind them, not quite as distant as the flat rock, was a dark forest of huge brambles and thorns.
"The dark side of Telmak is, uh, not quite as friendly-looking as the light side," Dipper remarked.
"This is where all the more dangerous creatures live," Bill told him. "Along with the weirdos who like the dark. You should see what lives in the dark side's ocean."
"Um, maybe another time, but what's that red glow in the distance?"
"Oh, that? That's Meltdown Peak. The largest community of fire dragon's you'll ever not see. Unless you have a way to prevent yourself from spontaneously combusting from the extreme fire magic's heat."
"Noted."
"Let's get this over with already."
Bill walked away from them and over to a large sloping hole in the ground that shortly led them to a giant pair of iron-barred wooden doors. He pulled one open and entered; the others followed and Shade turned to close the door behind them.
The tunnel was lit with strange lantern-like plants that hung from the ceiling, spaced apart in a specific way so that they knew the plants had been placed intentionally. Dipper was fascinated by how perfectly round the walls and ceiling were and how the size of the tunnel never seemed to shift as they continued further down. There were no beams or poles supporting the tunnel but it appeared sturdy and well-made. The tunnel was big enough that he was positive Ghost could walk through it on his hindlegs and still have several feet of room between his head and the ceiling.
Eventually, they came to another set of large doors that were rounded to perfectly fit in the tunnel.
"Hm, there are normally guards right here," Bill said, half to himself. "They're very strict about letting people in, so where the hell are they?"
"Should we knock?" Mabel asked.
Bill thought about it for a moment then shrugged and used the iron ring handle to knock hard on one of the doors. The sound echoed loudly around them. They waited a minute or so but there was no response of any kind.
Shade tapped a claw lightly on Bill's shoulder to get his attention then began signing with his hands to tell him something.
"Oh, you learned sign language," Bill remarked. He watched the moth dragon signing then crossed his arms and looked back at the door. "Hm, you know, you might be right."
"What is it?" Mabel asked. "What did he say?"
"There's a presence somewhere on the other side of these doors," Bill explained, "but it's an awful lot like the presence of shadows. Still, there's also the presence of dragons…"
"You think we're dealing with a similar situation to what Maashva had?" Dipper asked him.
"Probably."
"So, if shadows took over the city, then there could be dragons hiding somewhere."
"Oh, most definitely."
"Is the door locked? Can you open it?"
"Why don't you open it? Scrawny little –" Bill started muttering darkly to himself as he pushed the heavy doors in.
On the other side of the doors was a massive open area with earth and stone bridges leading to different tunnels and obscenely tall, twisted pillars that seemed to be supporting the ceiling or perhaps were just decoration. Below was a grand city of stone, brick, and clay buildings and structures, with pathways and streets, and a tall tower at the far end. Hanging from the ceiling way up high was a circular cage of roots that they could barely see due to the distance and the bright yellow light within it that lit up the city as perfectly as if it were outside in the midday sun.
Dipper squinted, trying to see what the source of the light was. "Is that it?"
"Yeah," Bill said. "That's a Blooming Sun Amaranth."
"It's so bright," Mabel said.
Shade signed something to her that Bill translated as, "Maybe you should not look directly at it right now, he said."
"I can't make out any signs of dragons down in that city," Dipper said. "Should we go down to look?"
Mabel was inhaling a deep breath, readying herself to shout loudly at the city below, but Bill stopped her by lightly backhanding her in the face.
"Oof! Hey!"
"Did we not say moments ago that there are shadows lingering around?!" Bill hissed.
"R-Right. Sorry."
Bill paused for a moment then growled lowly. "I can't transform. It's more of those damned Light Snatchers. And since I just tried, they're going to come looking for us."
They followed his gaze and saw the distant figures of dark bat-canine hybrids beginning to crawl out from some of the buildings like an infestation of insects. One crawled upside-down out through the front door of a house just below then up to the roof where it stopped to sniff and glance around. It turned its head in their direction and, upon spotting them, perked its head and ears up and stared unblinkingly at them with tiny black eyes.
"Don't move," Bill muttered from the corner of his mouth. "Don't even blink."
They all held their breath and remained stiffly frozen where they stood and stared back at the shadow below. It stared at them for a long time, its ugly vampire bat nostrils flaring as it tried to catch their scent. Finally, the shadow turned away from them and began to crawl down the other side of the building.
"Hmph. I figured as much," Bill said very quietly.
"What?" Dipper matched his voice level.
"The stupid things are nearly blind. They rely on those big ears and that ugly nose, but if it doesn't move, they're too stupid to realize that it's alive. I imagine they could have located us though if I had tried to use any magic just then."
"I was so worried I was going to blink before it finally turned around," Mabel sighed.
Teeth tilted his head. "I wasn't worried about that."
Shade signed something at him.
Teeth tilted his head more. "I wasn't joking."
"So," Dipper stared hard down at the city, "there aren't any dragons down there. And as far as I can tell, there aren't any random, oddly placed plants either. Meaning, the dragons all got away. I think."
"But where did they go?" Mabel asked. "Did they leave the underground? Wouldn't the shadows have followed them out?"
"Yes," Bill answered. "They would have. The dragons must have stayed. I'm willing to bet that they're all hiding down in the Bank."
"The safest place in Telmak!" Dipper smiled and snapped his fingers.
Bill turned and led the way along a path that trailed in the opposite direction of the city and back into darkness. Once again, the only lights were the odd lantern plants hanging from the ceiling. The tunnel gently sloped downwards, and after a while, they could make out the sound of falling water growing louder as they continued forward.
Eventually, they reached a dark area where the walls opened up and they had to cross an arched bridge that passed several feet in front of a loud waterfall. Dipper stole a quick glance over the edge to find the pit below so dark he could not see the bottom, and the water seemed to fall forever.
"That's dangerous," he said to himself. Though, the bridge was admittedly very wide and sturdy.
When they re-entered the tunnel, the sound of the waterfall was much more tolerable. A few yards further and they encountered a chamber with several tunnel entrances all around. Each entrance had a massive minecart of sorts resting at the mouth, with rails that led further into each tunnel.
"These lead to the banks," Bill told them.
"There are so many," Teeth said.
Shade walked ahead of the group and examined each tunnel, stopping a moment by each one to stand his feathery antennas up. There were two tunnels next to each other that he kept going back and forth between, his antennas quivering each time he poked his head in them. Finally, he stopped and pointed down one of them then signed something to Bill.
"The aura of dragons is strongest down that one," Bill translated.
Shade pulled open a door on the side of the minecart and gestured for them to enter it. Once everyone else had gotten into the cart, Shade himself stepped in and closed the door.
The cart was impressively sized. It was big enough to hold all of them rather comfortably.
"Brace yourselves," Bill said as Shade made to pull a lever at the front of the cart.
Before they could really process what he had told them, Dipper and Mabel were already knocked back onto the floor of the cart as it took off down the tunnel at frightening speed. By the time they managed to stand themselves up, the cart halted very abruptly and they fell forward back onto the floor. Bill chuckled at them.
"Dang," Mabel said as she rubbed her neck. "Are they trying to give people whiplash?!"
"Earth dragons are sturdy," Bill told her. "They forget to accommodate for weaklings like you. Besides," he shrugged, "it's not like they get many humans down here."
Shade waved his feathery tail to get their attention and led the way out of the cart and over to the huge set of iron doors they had stopped in front of. His antennas were quivering like crazy before he flattened them back against his head.
Bill grabbed the handle of the door and knocked it three times. After a few moments, a blue light appeared between the doors, starting at the top and trailing down to the very bottom before vanishing. One of the doors suddenly opened with an odd sound and a chilly breeze. Something was pushing it open from within. After opening it enough to peer through it, it stopped and stared at them with a ruby-colored eye. The creature examined them all very carefully before focusing on Bill specifically.
"I don't know how you got down here, Cipher, but you'd better not ask me to see your bank," it said in a deep rumbling voice.
Bill grinned and almost laughed. "We just used the front door, of course!"
"That so?" The creature pushed the door open more then stepped away to allow them inside.
The inside of the bank vault was massive and dome shaped. It was filled with stony-scaled dragons that looked very different from any of the dragons they had encountered thus far. All of the dragons watched them curiously; a few of them whispered to each other upon spotting Bill.
The one who had let them in and was now closing the door was a big beast of a dragon. He was quadrupedal with short legs and broad paws tipped with frighteningly large claws. His oblong body was completely covered by a thick, hard, sand-colored carapace and there was a large shovel-like horn formation on his face that greatly resembled a rhinoceros beetle's horn. There were spaces between parts of his carapace, separating it in rows like giant wheels, and his broad tail was tipped with a spikey ball. He was like some huge combination of a rhinoceros beetle, an armadillo, and an ankylosaurus.
"Are you a dragon?" Dipper asked without thinking. He tensed as the beast turned to look at him.
"Strange-lookin', aren't I?" He nodded. "I'm an earth dragon and beast dragon hybrid. Born in Necronire back when it was still known by its original name. I've been the banker and alpha of Vault for more years than you'll ever see. Folks 'round here call me the Warden." He turned back to Bill. "You say you came in through the main entrance? Both entrances were blocked by shadows when they showed up yesterday, so I had everyone settle into this unused bank vault. Then I sealed it."
"Don't know about the other entrance," Bill told him, "but the main one wasn't blocked. We did see the ugly bastards crawling around the city though."
"They only showed up yesterday?" Dipper said.
"That's right," Warden replied. "We can't use our magic against Light Snatchers. Well, they can't seem to snatch up sealin' magic, so that's some'n. 'Course, we got fangs, claws, armor, and spikes, but we can't fight the devils in our city. The underground is sturdy, sure, but if us earth dragons go around thrashin' and fightin' then the whole place'll collapse for sure. No use killin' ourselves and destroying everything we've built."
"Wait, they can't steal sealing magic? Why not?"
The Warden snorted and shifted his feet in an irritable manner. "Light Snatchers snatch light magic. Sealin' and summonin' magic are dark magic. Light Snatchers don't care about dark magic. But dark magic is forbidden in dragon law unless it's sealin'. You can get away with some summonin' but not much. Sealin' magic is strictly regulated though. Only monsters use dark magic. Well, monsters, and really stupid humans."
"Teeth and Bill are monsters," Mabel said.
"Uh, I don't really have any magic powers," Teeth said.
"No," Dipper said. "But Bill does! Wait…" He looked at Bill. "You said the Snatchers were blocking your magic. You use light magic?"
"I use both," he said. "But, uh, mostly light magic, yeah. Surprised?"
"Yeah, actually. Do you have any dark magic stored up that you can use while you're stuck in human form? Other than sealing or summoning, I mean."
"Hold on, let me think about it." He crossed his arms and tilted his head and tapped his foot lightly on the ground. "Hm… Yeah, I think I got something. I should have enough to do that." He looked at the Warden. "You guys don't mind some of your vegetables and plants turning into shadow-eating monsters, right? I can't promise I'll have enough power leftover to turn them back to normal after."
"Are they going to try to eat us?" a dragon piped up from the crowd.
"Will we be able to eat them?" another asked.
"In that order: no, and yes," Bill replied.
The dragons exchanged glances and a chatter picked up amongst them for a few minutes before they settled and one in the front nodded to the Warden. The Warden nodded back then looked at Bill.
"Fine then. If it'll get those damn varmits outta Vault without collapsin' the place…"
"Okay then," Bill said with a shrug. "Shade, come with me."
The others remained behind and watched them leave. Once they had gone, Dipper turned back to the Warden. "Sooo… Do you guys, like, have any spare Blooming Sun Amaranths lying around, or…?"
The Warden's eyes narrowed slightly. "You want a Bloomin' Sun Amaranth? What in tarnation could a couple o' humans want with one o' those?"
"Uh, well, you see…"
Mabel piped up. "We need one to add to our collection so we can use the Amaranths against Ragnarok when he returns!"
The crowd gasped at the name of the dark prince.
The Warden was the only one who did not react in any visible way. "That so? Usin' the Amaranths on that big brute… I had heard about a little group o' humans that's been seen 'round Telmak lately. Funny that it's you guys. Not surprisin', but funny."
"Why is it funny?" Dipper asked.
"You're the ones that done Bill in a couple years back, right?"
"The dragons know about that? About us?"
"'Course we do. You'd be surprised by how much we know. Looks like you already are. We admire the strength you lot have. The will to fight, not only for the sake o' yourselves, but for the sake o' others. To have so many dragons reveal themselves to you… You oughta realize what that means."
"What does it mean?"
"Dragons like you. They trust you. You got good auras and kind hearts. Dragons are attracted to that sorta thing. But the funny part is that you're the ones that done did ol' Cipher in, yet here you are, prancin' around together like old pals." He chuckled. "That one's a real piece o' work, he is."
The twins exchanged smiles with each other.
"I can't give you our Bloomin' Sun Amaranths," the Warden said as he shook his head, "but I can take you to the center o' the earth to ask Telmak 'emself for one."
"Wait, what?!" Dipper jumped back a little.
"You guys actually dug all the way down to Telmak?" Mabel said. "Telmak, the spirit?!"
He nodded. "The purest and biggest gems grow closest to Telmak 'emself. Truly, it was an accident long time ago that I dug that far down. But they don't seem to mind. They can't leave the core, but they can use their magic to grant certain wishes for you if you ask. Well, and if you deserve it. Just about anything magic related, Telmak can give it to you. 'Course, dragons rarely go down there to bother 'em with requests. We visit 'cause we think they get lonely down there."
There was a trio of knocks on the door from the other side and the Warden moved to push them open.
"Well," Bill said as he and Shade entered, "that's done. Give it an hour or two and you should be free of your pest problem. Might have some tomato stains in a few weird places though…"
"Bill!" Mabel ran over to him. "We get to go see Telmak! The spirit!"
"Huh?"
"We're gonna ask them for a Blooming Sun Amaranth." She gasped and grabbed her face suddenly. "We can ask them for a Crystal Amaranth, too!"
"Oh. …I guess that can work."
"Let's be goin' then," Warden said. "Xero, keep everyone in this bank 'til I get back!"
"Sir!"
The group followed the Warden out and joined him in the minecart. This time, Dipper and Mabel braced themselves against the corners of the cart before it bolted off at highspeed. They ended up returning to the minecart central chamber and then following the Warden back towards the area with the waterfall. When they reached it, instead of crossing the bridge, the Warden led them down along a secret path against the wall that was barely noticeable in the darkness.
The path followed the walls and steadily spiraled down, deep into the abyss. Dipper and Mabel could no longer see and clung to Shade's feathers for guidance. The only sounds they could hear were the loud echoes of the water falling somewhere nearby. It was very dark and very cold.
After quite some time, they turned into a smaller tunnel in the wall that kept straight but sloped heavily downward for a long time before leveling. The twins were completely blind in the pitch blackness and even Shade was beginning to walk less confidently. The sound of the waterfall was gone now.
"Almost there," the Warden said suddenly, startling a few of them after the long silence.
They had been walking for so long in a seemingly endless, pitch black, icy cold tunnel. Then, they started to make out the quiet sound of a distant voice. It was like someone, or multiple people, were singing somewhere up ahead, and they began to feel a slight warmth around them.
"Grace fo di hyalquol, grace fo di aquol'wun, grace fo di solux ta hyalsol-ol-oll. Grace fo di belrai, grace fo di ka'aquol mazahn, grace di ka'mo solux, eh mela'kiln lunux…"
"Do you guys hear that?" Mabel asked. It seemed like the voices were both in her mind and all around her.
"It's like…singing," Dipper said from her side. "But I can't understand it."
"Grace fo di jol morn, floris dita le ste oon, grace fo di ste'aquol's xush tsou-ou-oug. Grace fo di gael melo'kiln, grace fo di wun ka'fa, grace di ka'mo solux, eh mela'kiln lunux. Grace di ka'mo solux, eh mela'kiln lunux…"
"They are singing," the Warden said from the front of the group. "They do that a lot."
The warmness around them became pleasantly stronger and they could now make out a greenish-blue glow in the tunnel up ahead. Dipper and Mabel suddenly found that they could understand the words to the song.
"Praise for the highh tiide, praise for the seasiide, praise for the sun at hi-igh noo-oo-oon. Praise for the lightninng, praise for the sea kinng, praise the father sun, and sister moo-oo-oon.
Praise for the red dawwn, grass that we walk upon. Praise for the river's whispered tu-uu-une. Praise for the wind brotherr, praise for the earth motherr, praise the father sun, and sister moo-oo-oon. Praise the father sun, and sister mooooon."
Before they knew it, they had reached the end of the tunnel and were stepping out into an incredibly massive, perfectly round chamber that was filled with the ghostly pale green light of the colossal spirit within it.
Telmak was ginormous and very dragon-like in appearance. It was curled up in a similar fashion to a child in the womb, with its head lowered and long tail curled back over its shoulder and the arms and legs held close to its center. Its giant feathered wings were half folded at its sides, and its eyes were closed. Hanging down from the ceiling and twisting all around the spirit in the chamber were massive spectral tendrils that glowered with a pure white light. Everyone present felt very warm and peaceful, yet frightened and curious at the same time.
"That is Telmak," the Warden said. He looked up at the things hanging down from the ceiling. "We're directly beneath the tether tree, though very far below it. Those are its roots. They trail off from this plane and connect to the other tethers. Telmak and the tether are one and the same."
The others stared up at the spirit in shocked awe; even Bill was looking a bit stunned. He had known for a long time what Telmak was and what it looked like, but never before had he actually seen it in person. The light magic it gave off was so powerful that he felt he was suffering in a potent bliss. Suffocating in pure ecstasy. And suddenly, he was reminded of Amy, and he suddenly, very desperately wanted to go to her now. So much so that it was almost painful.
The others were experiencing very similar, yet very different, feelings at that moment. They could not even get themselves to speak or move or look away. Suddenly, they realized that the spirit had opened its eyes at some point and was now staring down at them with a look that somehow consisted of curiosity, expectancy, and fondness all at once.
"The children of Chaos have come to see us," several voices said together. It was like hearing a man, a woman, and a child speaking all together, echoing each other through their minds and all around the chamber. The spirit had not even opened its maw to speak.
"C-Chaos?" Dipper managed to choke out the word in the form of a question.
"Chaos is light. Chaos is darkness. Chaos is life. Chaos is death… Chaos is all that is and was and ever will be. The spark that ignites the flame and the fuel that keeps it burning and the thing that extinguishes it. That is Chaos. Chaos is good. Chaos is evil. Chaos is divine. Chaos is unholy. All is Chaos. There is no true order. Only Chaos."
"A-Are you chaos?"
"Chaos is all that is and was and ever will be," Telmak repeated. "You come from the Chaos of Avas. Distant son and daughter of Eden. The Pinetree and the Shooting Star. Mason and Mabel."
Dipper winced a little at hearing it say his real name. "You know things like Bill does?"
"Cipher… Born from the Chaos of Tal. Close son of Chronos. The Wolf. Bill Cipher. No," it suddenly answered Dipper's question. "We know more…"
"So, you know why we're here then."
Telmak tilted its head to the side very slowly. "We know… But we find it impolite to expect and not ask."
He felt a rush of hot embarrassment. "Oh! S-Sorry!"
"What does thou wish of us?"
"We, um, came to ask you for a Blooming Sun Amaranth, a-and a Crystal Amaranth. If that's okay, I mean."
"The Blooming Sun Amaranth is a child of our sibling's light. We shall commune with her… Thou shall be granted your desire upon the surface. The Crystal Amaranth is the child of Druunire's light. Their light is fading… We shall commune with them…" Telmak was silent for a long while before speaking again. "Druunire is weak… Thou hast been granted your desire."
A prism-like flower suddenly began to appear at Dipper's feet. It was beautiful and looked as though it was made of crystal but the petals were soft like velvet. It reflected the green and blue lights of the chamber.
Dipper carefully picked it up and thanked the spirit.
Shade took a step forward and signed something. Telmak watched carefully before responding.
"Thou shall be granted your desire."
"Thank you," Shade said with a deep bow. His voice had been returned to him.
"Do the children of Chaos wish to request more of us?"
They were silent.
Telmak turned slightly to look directly at Bill. "We cannot grant your desire. Still, thou shall be granted your desire…"
He looked a bit surprised at them.
"You are an ocean of waves… A raging tempest. Take Chaos and use it, but remember that it cannot be controlled. Only guided. Thou shall be granted your desire." Telmak looked at them all now. "May thy chosen path lead way and grace you with virtue. May the best of your todays be the worst of your tomorrows. We bid farewell to the children of Chaos."
There was a bright white light and suddenly they were all standing outside in the field of tall grass outside of the entrance to Vault. The Warden was not with them, however, but something else was. A very large golden flower was sitting nearby and lighting up a vast amount of the land with its brilliant glow. They were a bit surprised to see that the grass and plants all around them actually had colors and were not just gray and black.
Shade went over and scooped up the flower in his arms, delighted by the warmth that it gave off.
To be continued…
+100 awesome points to anyone who knows the song Telmak was singing (without having to look it up).
Telmak is a spirit but they are also related to/an aspect (or piece) of the Axolotl.
Chaos is all that is and was and ever will be.
