Silence.
Myst was silent, the only sounds being the gentle sea and the calm winds. For months, it had been unoccupied, perhaps even abandoned. But for two and one half weeks, someone had walked the island's pathways - but who?
The Ages of Myst were silent, the only sounds being the winds of the suddenly blue sky of Mechanical, the storms on Stoneship, the creatures of Channelwood, and the various, somewhat-disturbing sounds of Selenitic. Only these four remained, out of the countless Ages written by Atrus, and all were vacant because of Sirrus's greed for power and Achenar's thirst for blood. But for two and one half weeks, someone had rotated the Mechanical tower, walked the planks of Stoneship, rode the Mazerunner in Selenitic, and operated the water valves of Channelwood. But who?
D'ni was silent, for all of its people had been killed 62 years before, because of the greed and hatred of one cruel man. The only noise was coming from an ancient chamber on K'veer island, and this was the furious scribbles of a fountain pen. The creator of the noise was Atrus, son of Gehn, the last D'ni survivor.
Atrus stopped writing as he watched the precious ink burn into the Book. "There," he thought, "That might make Riven a bit more stable for a while." But with that he sighed. For a while. Soon, the corrections would fail, making Atrus need to start all over again. It wouldn't be long now until the Age would finally die.
He looked up from his writing. There stood the strange man who freed Atrus from his imprisonment by Sirrus and Achenar. He was clothed in brown robes - these actually belonged to Atrus but he let him borrow the robes, because the stranger didn't bring any spare garments when he accidently linked into Myst. Atrus thanked the man for his kind deed, and wondered what he could do to repay him. However, the only thing the stranger requested was the only thing Atrus couldn't do: to return him to his home.
But now, Atrus needed him to do something more important than ever.
"Thank God you've returned," said Atrus, "I need your help." The stranger bowed and silently approached Atrus's desk. He was always very silent, and that might have been the best thing about him; it made him an exceptionally good listener.
"There's a great deal of history you should know," he continued, "I'm afraid that I must continue my writing. Here," and he handed the stranger one of his many diaries, "Most of what you'll need to know is in there. Keep it well hidden."
The stranger hid the journal in his robes. Most people hide their diaries, considering them private. Atrus, however, did not agree with that. He commonly handed people his journals so that they could learn more about him. In fact, he remembered handing Catherine a journal when he first loved her, over 30 years ago (this, it turns out, wasn't as necessary as he thought it would be, for she knew all about Atrus through his grandmother, Anna).
Atrus sighed as he picked up the next item his friend needed. A Trap Book, similar to the ones that sealed Sirrus and Achenar's fates, except it was cleverly disguised as a Linking Book to the D'ni chamber he was now sitting in. He stared at it. Did Gehn really deserve this fate? After all, he was his father.
But then he thought of Age 37, the Age that Gehn had oppressed, then destroyed. Then he thought of all the civilizations that he could have blotted out to make room for his vague memories of the D'ni. Then he thought of what kind of father he was to Atrus; how he vandalized Inception, his very first Age, how he threw Atrus in the D'ni cell he was in now and attempted to marry his beloved Catherine, and how he disowned Atrus for getting in his way of dictating one thousand worlds. Worst of all, what kind of father abandons his own son right after he was born, WITHOUT EVEN NAMING HIM?!
And then he thought of Catherine. The only way he would be able to see her again would be if Gehn was safely out of the way.
Yes. Gehn did deserve imprisonment in a Trap Book, but whether or not the Book would be burned behind him, he would decide later.
"For reasons you'll discover," Atrus continued, "I can't send you to Riven with a way out, but I can give you this. It appears to be a Linking Book back here to D'ni. But it's actually a one man prison. You'll need it, I'm afraid, to capture Gehn." And he handed his friend the Trap Book. Fortunately, with his confronts with Sirrus and Achenar, the stranger had good experience with Trap Books."
But how would the stranger signal him? And how could Atrus grant his only request? Atrus remembered something about Riven that was on his mind for 30 years: the Star Fissure.
"Once you've found Catherine," Atrus continued, "Signal me, and I'll come with a Linking Book to bring us back. There's also a chance, if this all goes well, that I might be able to get you back to the place that you came from."
And with that, he closed the colossal Riven Descriptive Book, and opened it to the page with the Gateway Image, which he held out for his friend. The stranger was obviously puzzled by the fact that it was blurry - perhaps remembering the static in the Gateway Images of the Red and Blue Books. But still, he slowly and cautiously extended his hand towards the Image.
Once he vanished, Atrus closed the Book, and opened it to the page that he was modifying before. And as he wrote, he whispered, "Good luck, my friend."
**********************************
"Link in, link in, wherever you are," groaned Cho. He was standing on his least favorite place in the world: the Fissure Plateau, working in his least favorite position: Cage guard.
The past 5 months had gone from bad to worse. Isrin was now the chief of the Maintainers, and he did a worse job than Ytanog, though his vanity was greater than Ytanog's and he was over 10 times as obnoxious. The Moiety was less of a menace, now that Katran was being held hostage, but all of its attacks were directed towards the Maintainers, perhaps because they were the ones who captured their queen.
CLANG!
The Cage Bars went down again. Cho slowly walked towards the Cage, thinking, "The Moiety is playing a trick on me. First, they'll sneak up from behind me when I look at the empty Cage, then, they'll dart me or knock me unconscious... again!"
He approached the Cage, but he turned around first to make sure that there were no rebels waiting to attack him. And then he turned around to face the Cage.
There was a young man standing in the Fissure Plateau Cage. He was wearing brown D'ni robes, but he did not look like a D'ni or Rivenese person. Who was he? But whoever he was he looked like he was hiding something behind his back. A Linking Book?
Cho was stunned by this new visitor. He forgot about the Linking Book he was supposed to take, and instead decided to greet the strange newcomer.
"Hello," Cho said in his native tongue, "What's your name? Welcome to Age Five!"
The stranger did not reply. A nervous chuckle escaped from his lips, which clearly showed that he had no idea of what he just said. Cho heard a loud thud!- sound from behind the man. The stranger looked behind him, and picked up a large book that he had dropped. A Linking Book! Cho remembered he had to say something to the man, so that he would hand him the Book.
"Tah-em-ah," Cho said slowly, "re-ko-ah."
That didn't work.
Cho stuttered, "Tah... tah... tah... tahg-em-ah b'soo re-ko-ah!" He made hand gestures for the last few words, as if that would draw out that syllables to help the stranger understand.
He groaned. Cho remembered practicing it for years, and here he messed up... badly.
"Look," Cho said, still in Rivenese dialect, "Just give me the Book. Give it to me!"
The stranger did not respond. That did it! Cho approached the Cage in fury, and yelled, "Give it to me!" And with that, he wrestled the Book out of the man's grip.
The stranger yelled at him in a strange dialect, but that did not matter. What did was that Cho now had a Linking Book to give to his master! Success!
He flipped through the pages of the Linking Book, until he saw the Gateway Image. He could see it now: Gehn would shake his hand, link to D'ni, work out his issues with his son (in a not very good way), and would crown Cho as his second-in-command of a thousand Ages. Yes. He would have 10, 20 Ages that he would claim as his own, expensive jewelry around his neck and on his royal fingers, he would be adorned with the finest fur and linen garments, wine would be made for him as if it was mere water, and a woman would be in each of his arms.
But even as he dreamed, Cho didn't notice someone sneaking up from behind him.
***********************************
"WAKE UP! WAKE UP, YOU FOOL!"
Cho woke up to an unpleasant start: Gehn staring him at the face, his hands tightly clutching and violently shaking Cho's shoulders.
"This has been the third time you've been hit by a Moiety dart," hissed Gehn, "THE THIRD TIME, YOU LITTLE SAVAGE! This is INEXCUSABLE!"
"Sir," said Cho quietly, "I can explain what happened! A man linked in, with a Book back to D'ni!"
"And did you GET the Book, slave?"
"Yes, sir, I..."
Cho stopped. The Linking Book! His government role! His 20 Ages! His valuable garments and jewelry! His wine! His women! All gone! The Moiety rebel must have taken it upon his escape!
"You let it go to the Moiety, didn't you," Gehn sneered.
"Sir, it was an..."
Gehn howled in rage. He screamed, "YOU WORTHLESS LITTLE BAHRO!" And then he lifted one foot, and stomped on Cho's stomach. He happened to be wearing heavy boots that day.
"WHY, I WOULD BE WELL ADVISED TO MAROON YOU ALL ON THIS CURSED FIFTH AGE, AND START ALL OVER AGAIN!" And with that, he stomped on Cho's stomach again.
"THIS HAS BEEN THE FIRST TIME IN YEARS IN WHICH SUCH A PERFECT BOOK ENTERED AGE FIVE, AND YOU LOST IT, AND LET THE CAGE GET SABOTAGED!"
"Sabotaged," squeaked Cho, cringing in fear.
"IT CANNOT OPEN NOW!" And with that, he stomped on Cho with both feet.
Please," said Cho, still in fear of his enraged master and in agony, "Can I do anything to make up for this?"
Gehn thought for a moment, and said, "Look here, slave. Since you let the stranger go, you track him! No, I don't care if you aren't a Surveyor. Head over to Jungle Island; the stranger was last seen by the village. Now, get your worthless bottom off the ground and go!"
***********************************
87.7.30: Damn these savages! I would be well advised to leave them all in the Fifth Age and begin again with a clean sheet of paper!
A stranger has arrived on Riven ~ with a Linking Book to D'ni! And once again my useless minion was overtaken by the rebels. From what little I could decipher from his muddled explanation, it apparently occurred sometime this morning. The cage has been damaged, but it is no matter ~ everything I need is here now. Atrus is certainly behind this, yet how could he be so foolish as to send someone here with a Linking Book? Such blatancy is unlike him. Could it be that he has had a change of heart? After all these years, is he finally letting his poor old father go? No, he's only after one thing ~ perhaps he should find her.
For now, I need only to wait and observe.
***********************************
To be continued...
Thanks again to Serpent Mage, Lady Kat, and Mitsuki Hoshiko for reviewing! Whoever reads this, please review.
Chapter 7 is on its way.
(P.S.: Come to think of it, Serpent Mage, I was a bit optimistic towards Gehn in the earlier chapters. However, this shows that Gehn, like his guard, also has a good side - though his is ridiculously smaller. After all, he was a good son to Aitrus - not Anna, though - and a good husband towards Keta, even though that partook in her death.)
Myst was silent, the only sounds being the gentle sea and the calm winds. For months, it had been unoccupied, perhaps even abandoned. But for two and one half weeks, someone had walked the island's pathways - but who?
The Ages of Myst were silent, the only sounds being the winds of the suddenly blue sky of Mechanical, the storms on Stoneship, the creatures of Channelwood, and the various, somewhat-disturbing sounds of Selenitic. Only these four remained, out of the countless Ages written by Atrus, and all were vacant because of Sirrus's greed for power and Achenar's thirst for blood. But for two and one half weeks, someone had rotated the Mechanical tower, walked the planks of Stoneship, rode the Mazerunner in Selenitic, and operated the water valves of Channelwood. But who?
D'ni was silent, for all of its people had been killed 62 years before, because of the greed and hatred of one cruel man. The only noise was coming from an ancient chamber on K'veer island, and this was the furious scribbles of a fountain pen. The creator of the noise was Atrus, son of Gehn, the last D'ni survivor.
Atrus stopped writing as he watched the precious ink burn into the Book. "There," he thought, "That might make Riven a bit more stable for a while." But with that he sighed. For a while. Soon, the corrections would fail, making Atrus need to start all over again. It wouldn't be long now until the Age would finally die.
He looked up from his writing. There stood the strange man who freed Atrus from his imprisonment by Sirrus and Achenar. He was clothed in brown robes - these actually belonged to Atrus but he let him borrow the robes, because the stranger didn't bring any spare garments when he accidently linked into Myst. Atrus thanked the man for his kind deed, and wondered what he could do to repay him. However, the only thing the stranger requested was the only thing Atrus couldn't do: to return him to his home.
But now, Atrus needed him to do something more important than ever.
"Thank God you've returned," said Atrus, "I need your help." The stranger bowed and silently approached Atrus's desk. He was always very silent, and that might have been the best thing about him; it made him an exceptionally good listener.
"There's a great deal of history you should know," he continued, "I'm afraid that I must continue my writing. Here," and he handed the stranger one of his many diaries, "Most of what you'll need to know is in there. Keep it well hidden."
The stranger hid the journal in his robes. Most people hide their diaries, considering them private. Atrus, however, did not agree with that. He commonly handed people his journals so that they could learn more about him. In fact, he remembered handing Catherine a journal when he first loved her, over 30 years ago (this, it turns out, wasn't as necessary as he thought it would be, for she knew all about Atrus through his grandmother, Anna).
Atrus sighed as he picked up the next item his friend needed. A Trap Book, similar to the ones that sealed Sirrus and Achenar's fates, except it was cleverly disguised as a Linking Book to the D'ni chamber he was now sitting in. He stared at it. Did Gehn really deserve this fate? After all, he was his father.
But then he thought of Age 37, the Age that Gehn had oppressed, then destroyed. Then he thought of all the civilizations that he could have blotted out to make room for his vague memories of the D'ni. Then he thought of what kind of father he was to Atrus; how he vandalized Inception, his very first Age, how he threw Atrus in the D'ni cell he was in now and attempted to marry his beloved Catherine, and how he disowned Atrus for getting in his way of dictating one thousand worlds. Worst of all, what kind of father abandons his own son right after he was born, WITHOUT EVEN NAMING HIM?!
And then he thought of Catherine. The only way he would be able to see her again would be if Gehn was safely out of the way.
Yes. Gehn did deserve imprisonment in a Trap Book, but whether or not the Book would be burned behind him, he would decide later.
"For reasons you'll discover," Atrus continued, "I can't send you to Riven with a way out, but I can give you this. It appears to be a Linking Book back here to D'ni. But it's actually a one man prison. You'll need it, I'm afraid, to capture Gehn." And he handed his friend the Trap Book. Fortunately, with his confronts with Sirrus and Achenar, the stranger had good experience with Trap Books."
But how would the stranger signal him? And how could Atrus grant his only request? Atrus remembered something about Riven that was on his mind for 30 years: the Star Fissure.
"Once you've found Catherine," Atrus continued, "Signal me, and I'll come with a Linking Book to bring us back. There's also a chance, if this all goes well, that I might be able to get you back to the place that you came from."
And with that, he closed the colossal Riven Descriptive Book, and opened it to the page with the Gateway Image, which he held out for his friend. The stranger was obviously puzzled by the fact that it was blurry - perhaps remembering the static in the Gateway Images of the Red and Blue Books. But still, he slowly and cautiously extended his hand towards the Image.
Once he vanished, Atrus closed the Book, and opened it to the page that he was modifying before. And as he wrote, he whispered, "Good luck, my friend."
**********************************
"Link in, link in, wherever you are," groaned Cho. He was standing on his least favorite place in the world: the Fissure Plateau, working in his least favorite position: Cage guard.
The past 5 months had gone from bad to worse. Isrin was now the chief of the Maintainers, and he did a worse job than Ytanog, though his vanity was greater than Ytanog's and he was over 10 times as obnoxious. The Moiety was less of a menace, now that Katran was being held hostage, but all of its attacks were directed towards the Maintainers, perhaps because they were the ones who captured their queen.
CLANG!
The Cage Bars went down again. Cho slowly walked towards the Cage, thinking, "The Moiety is playing a trick on me. First, they'll sneak up from behind me when I look at the empty Cage, then, they'll dart me or knock me unconscious... again!"
He approached the Cage, but he turned around first to make sure that there were no rebels waiting to attack him. And then he turned around to face the Cage.
There was a young man standing in the Fissure Plateau Cage. He was wearing brown D'ni robes, but he did not look like a D'ni or Rivenese person. Who was he? But whoever he was he looked like he was hiding something behind his back. A Linking Book?
Cho was stunned by this new visitor. He forgot about the Linking Book he was supposed to take, and instead decided to greet the strange newcomer.
"Hello," Cho said in his native tongue, "What's your name? Welcome to Age Five!"
The stranger did not reply. A nervous chuckle escaped from his lips, which clearly showed that he had no idea of what he just said. Cho heard a loud thud!- sound from behind the man. The stranger looked behind him, and picked up a large book that he had dropped. A Linking Book! Cho remembered he had to say something to the man, so that he would hand him the Book.
"Tah-em-ah," Cho said slowly, "re-ko-ah."
That didn't work.
Cho stuttered, "Tah... tah... tah... tahg-em-ah b'soo re-ko-ah!" He made hand gestures for the last few words, as if that would draw out that syllables to help the stranger understand.
He groaned. Cho remembered practicing it for years, and here he messed up... badly.
"Look," Cho said, still in Rivenese dialect, "Just give me the Book. Give it to me!"
The stranger did not respond. That did it! Cho approached the Cage in fury, and yelled, "Give it to me!" And with that, he wrestled the Book out of the man's grip.
The stranger yelled at him in a strange dialect, but that did not matter. What did was that Cho now had a Linking Book to give to his master! Success!
He flipped through the pages of the Linking Book, until he saw the Gateway Image. He could see it now: Gehn would shake his hand, link to D'ni, work out his issues with his son (in a not very good way), and would crown Cho as his second-in-command of a thousand Ages. Yes. He would have 10, 20 Ages that he would claim as his own, expensive jewelry around his neck and on his royal fingers, he would be adorned with the finest fur and linen garments, wine would be made for him as if it was mere water, and a woman would be in each of his arms.
But even as he dreamed, Cho didn't notice someone sneaking up from behind him.
***********************************
"WAKE UP! WAKE UP, YOU FOOL!"
Cho woke up to an unpleasant start: Gehn staring him at the face, his hands tightly clutching and violently shaking Cho's shoulders.
"This has been the third time you've been hit by a Moiety dart," hissed Gehn, "THE THIRD TIME, YOU LITTLE SAVAGE! This is INEXCUSABLE!"
"Sir," said Cho quietly, "I can explain what happened! A man linked in, with a Book back to D'ni!"
"And did you GET the Book, slave?"
"Yes, sir, I..."
Cho stopped. The Linking Book! His government role! His 20 Ages! His valuable garments and jewelry! His wine! His women! All gone! The Moiety rebel must have taken it upon his escape!
"You let it go to the Moiety, didn't you," Gehn sneered.
"Sir, it was an..."
Gehn howled in rage. He screamed, "YOU WORTHLESS LITTLE BAHRO!" And then he lifted one foot, and stomped on Cho's stomach. He happened to be wearing heavy boots that day.
"WHY, I WOULD BE WELL ADVISED TO MAROON YOU ALL ON THIS CURSED FIFTH AGE, AND START ALL OVER AGAIN!" And with that, he stomped on Cho's stomach again.
"THIS HAS BEEN THE FIRST TIME IN YEARS IN WHICH SUCH A PERFECT BOOK ENTERED AGE FIVE, AND YOU LOST IT, AND LET THE CAGE GET SABOTAGED!"
"Sabotaged," squeaked Cho, cringing in fear.
"IT CANNOT OPEN NOW!" And with that, he stomped on Cho with both feet.
Please," said Cho, still in fear of his enraged master and in agony, "Can I do anything to make up for this?"
Gehn thought for a moment, and said, "Look here, slave. Since you let the stranger go, you track him! No, I don't care if you aren't a Surveyor. Head over to Jungle Island; the stranger was last seen by the village. Now, get your worthless bottom off the ground and go!"
***********************************
87.7.30: Damn these savages! I would be well advised to leave them all in the Fifth Age and begin again with a clean sheet of paper!
A stranger has arrived on Riven ~ with a Linking Book to D'ni! And once again my useless minion was overtaken by the rebels. From what little I could decipher from his muddled explanation, it apparently occurred sometime this morning. The cage has been damaged, but it is no matter ~ everything I need is here now. Atrus is certainly behind this, yet how could he be so foolish as to send someone here with a Linking Book? Such blatancy is unlike him. Could it be that he has had a change of heart? After all these years, is he finally letting his poor old father go? No, he's only after one thing ~ perhaps he should find her.
For now, I need only to wait and observe.
***********************************
To be continued...
Thanks again to Serpent Mage, Lady Kat, and Mitsuki Hoshiko for reviewing! Whoever reads this, please review.
Chapter 7 is on its way.
(P.S.: Come to think of it, Serpent Mage, I was a bit optimistic towards Gehn in the earlier chapters. However, this shows that Gehn, like his guard, also has a good side - though his is ridiculously smaller. After all, he was a good son to Aitrus - not Anna, though - and a good husband towards Keta, even though that partook in her death.)