Reviews :

Snake557 : Yes, indeed! ;)

Burgie : He most certainly does! This is one of my favorite chapters yet~


Song Listened To :

Pure Spirits of the Forest by James Horner


*Chapter 64*

"What to eat, what to eat," Gideon gently mumbled to himself.

Bare feet that crunched through a secretive little clearing, just outside of Turbotime's glorious entrance, he had previously had the straight-forward inkling to take the train straight to Vidrix to find Mara at her's and Lash's confectionary. Putting two and two together, and given the notion that Lash wouldn't be relieved of game day racing until two o'clock when Academy let out, Gideon loitered at the rather empty train station for mere minutes before he felt drawn to the woods behind it. Beautiful, fluffy golden clouds rushed the mountain side with the promise of warm, sprinting rain, and though the sun had risen a few hours ago, the sky, that peaked through, was kissed in pale pinks and blues. In the nervous turn to get one last glimpse of the back of the train station, an open-aired little building safely tucked just outside Turbotime's entrance and near the tunnel that burrowed through the mountain, in which the bullet train ran, Gideon held his breath and felt a weird knee-jerk reaction to turn heel and head back to said train station.

Although his bare feet scuffed on the dirt and foreign terrain, he finally looked forward, once and for all, and shook his head. Knowing he had already made this decision to head in the direction of the ocean, he pressed on. Having seen the gorgeous, shimmering sea-level from Turbotime's lovely tunnel of an entrance, he was well aware he was headed in the right direction. Although the only thing before him was simply dense, lush, foggy forest, he confidently pressed on, knowing he'd eventually hit the beach. Eager to soak up some sun, to lay in the sand and really take in the bask of temporary freedom he had rebelliously allowed himself, he heaved a long sigh and prepared to tune himself to the lovely, enchanted forest about him. Just as he collected his thoughts to do so, his stomach urgently gurgled.

"Right, food, food," Gideon hissed as he snapped his fingers, scratched his forehead and confidently pressed on. He narrowed his golden gaze and weaved about trees, pressed carefully around thick foliage, confident he'd make it to the shore in the span of about fifteen minutes, he scoured for a snack he could easily eat while walking, "Let's try... An apple."

Gideon held out his palm, held his breath, and though his feet pressed forward, his purple coding swarmed his palm and illuminated the stricture of a bright, green apple right in the palm of his hand. Gideon grinned and heaved a shaky breath of surprised delight; although manifesting was becoming easier, he had previously fallen into a spell where it wasn't technically the easiest thing to do any longer. Understanding it had something to do with lack of confidence, he was glad he hadn't totally lost touch. With a crunch, he took a bite of said perfect, juicy apple and carried on. Although this lush woods had a proper trail head just off of the train station, Juniper Forest being specifically known for great, quiet hiking trails, Gideon was none-the-wiser and powered on through an unmarked trek of blind, uncertain hope that he'd eventually make it to the ocean. Eager to just get to the beach and spend the rest of the afternoon looking for an easy hiking trail back to Turbotime's entrance, he pressed on in full confidence that he'd be okay.

Gideon proudly continued on with tender footsteps, his eyes and ears attuned to every sound of the forest, every chirp of the birds, listening eagerly for warning signs and energies that could warn for danger, though he happily munched his apple and tossed the core once he was finished. Before he could begin thinking about manifesting yet another snack to eat, due to the apple only barely satiating his hunger, he perked up in boyish delight as he could see a break in the trees, the kiss of the blue ocean tight in his line of sight, and as he began to walk a bit faster, he huffed an excited breath and eased out of the break of the trees and straight into the lush, lovely ocean air. With a thick inhale through his nose and a lull of his eyes closed, he opened his arms and eagerly accepted freedom, though as he sagged his arms in lazy relief to his side and donned a happy little smile, he furrowed his eyebrows in a jolt of surprise and felt his heart beat to a jarring stop as to just what the toss of his eyes caught to, far on his left.

Like in a waking dream, the lucid states he had always found himself in, Gideon felt the coding on the soles of his feet practically glue him to the becoming-sandy patch of grass he firmly stood on. In all of its beautiful glory, Gideon's infamous lighthouse stood stoic on the beach's sand and golden, grassy plain of lightly rolling hills. Gideon froze, every single pixel in his body attuned to this sudden, weird reality he was sat in, and though he desperately wanted to rub his eyes and assure himself that he was simply dreaming, the atmosphere about him swirled in energetic, easy-going ocean breeze, the sun kissed his cheeks, the minty-swirled colored lighthouse stood in whole wreckage, out of commission and begging for Gideon to come inside, once and for all. For a solid few minutes, Gideon stood frozen in uncertain, terrified, baited wait, as if this was a massive, dirty mind game his imagination was playing on him. Finally, he dart his eyes about the beach, the lovely, golden tall grass that waved in the wind, the gorgeous splay of the morning sunrise that kissed the empty beach side with love and familiarity, Gideon's heart had never felt so snug inside of manifested destiny.

Replaying his father's words, willing the lighthouse to him, Gideon held his breath and finally began to step out in whole caution. Keeping a one hundred foot distance from the lighthouse, Gideon nervously kept his eyes trained to it. Seeing it in real life had his head spinning, his heart raced, his coding wiggled about under his skin, as if to ponder if this was potentially a bad idea, as if waltzing up to, or even inside of the lighthouse, would be risky. The only thing keeping him pressing on was the raw fact that he was coded for Turbtotime, and he was safe to game over. Gideon's big feet sagged into the pillowy sand, everything about this situation was sunny and lovely, warmth kissed his skin in a rush of reassurance, and as Gideon finally rounded the perimeter of the lighthouse and faced the front of it, dead on, he found himself in the same exact spot he typically would take in front of this lighthouse, in his lucid dreams. He inhaled a shaky breath and eyed the glass of the door, the dreaded feeling of being attacked by his own shadow, he finally held his breath and flinched as the rushing crash of cold ocean water suddenly climbed up the wet sand, he was stood on, and engulfed his feet and ankles.

The only difference this lighthouse had, from the one in his lucid core, was that this lighthouse looked loved, abandoned, worn from years of ocean wear and tear. The spire of the lighthouse was swirled in mint and white, though properly faded due to sun and water exposure. The beacon in the light housing was still and obviously powered down, the little home attached to the side of it had an aggressive build up of beach grass and plants that did whatever it could to climb up the side of the tall deck and sitting area. The quirky, round windows looked to be dirty with salt build up, and some even broke in shards of disrepair, the whole of it looked to be left to rot long long ago. Gideon finally began to feel his pulse rise in complete uncertainty, terror that this moment had finally presented itself, in such a way that he was definitely not expecting. His eyes firmly glared down the double doors on the deck, although it wasn't the building's main front door, it was the entrance he was doing everything he could do to gain access to. The glass reflected the gorgeous ocean behind him, the sunshine, the warm sand; it held absolutely no threat of any aggressive shadow figure, and it was in this fact, alone, did Gideon feel bravery soak his circuits.

With a slow step forward, Gideon clenched his fists and exhaled a trembling breath through his nose. Uncertain of just what was inside, if anything, he shook in terror and pressed forward. Knowing that if he turned back now and never tried to get inside, once and for all, he'd be left wondering until he properly gathered the courage. Knowing it was now or never, he approached the rotting deck in full apprehension, climbed the loved wood and was shocked that he was able to get to the double doors without his vision going black, without being absolutely throttled by his shadow figure, the air about him was crisp and clear. Aware he had all his faculties, he swallowed a hard gulp, lifted his wildly trembling hand and reached for the rusted, brass door handle. With the softest turn and a crackle of forgotten use, Gideon bravely swung the door open, once and for all. Curious, golden eyes that peered into the infamous lighthouse, he held his breath and allowed intuition to lead him into the black, no holds barred.

"Hello?" Gideon's deep voice so gently called, his voice echoed in a bounce that the walls eagerly gripped to.

As Gideon's eyes adjusted to the black, he was met with what looked to be an adorable, abandoned little entry way, kitchen, dining room table and quaint sitting area. Gideon held his breath and nervously looked about the dark space, and though sunlight glinted in from various windows, he was well aware this was only a tiny portion of this rather large lighthouse. Nervous to go way too deep into this structure, due to the fear of bumping into squatters, getting lost or getting hurt, Gideon's bare feet scuffed the loved, worn wood under his feet. He rubbed the back of his head and now felt disappointment hit him. Certain this lighthouse would have a whole entire world to offer, due to just how tortured he had been, he scoffed a sigh of a noise and shook his head. With a gentle shrug, he pressed through the kitchen and rounded the adorable little dining area and island. Although the bowls, rusted appliances and other textiles looked settled in years of dust and oceanside wear, there were certain aspects of this little home that looked to either be recently lived in or visited.

"Anyone here?" Gideon called, once more, he perked up as his voice bounced into the tiny living area, which housed a round fireplace and a big, musty looking couch.

Everything was covered in cob webs, though Gideon's trained eye could very easily see this place to be previously loved, a warm, sunny, homey little abode that had a world of character. Gideon pressed into the living room and took note of a nook of an archway that contained a cute, narrow little stairwell. Gideon grunted to attempt to squeeze up and through it, and though he was nearly too big for it, he fumbled to get to the second story and coughed as he kicked up dust. He flagged his hand free of cobwebs he had accidentally stepped into, though as he came to the second floor, he was curious to find that this much tinier second landing lead to the main spire of the lighthouse, as well as a balcony that faced East, out to the ocean, and West towards the lush forest behind the lighthouse. Gideon smiled, dusted off his chest and assessed the open-aired little balcony that proudly boasted the waves, though as his eyes drew all the way across the space, to the West-facing balcony, he froze and nearly felt his coding crawl right out of his skin.

Perfectly mounted in a poise of a crouch, on the balcony's edge, was a stone gargoyle. Gideon heaved a shaky sigh of relief; already on edge, he was glad this inanimate object was the only thing up here. With the loud croak of wood, his feet pressed closer to said sunny balcony so to assess the stone gargoyle he had stumbled upon. Gideon choked a small, silent laugh of delighted surprise and studied said gargoyle. A beautiful splay of large bat-like wings, a long cat tail that had an obvious lion-like tuft at the end of it, said gargoyle had a human-like body with the facial features of a big cat. Frozen in a gape of a fang-revealed growl, cat-ears taut, Gideon cautiously rounded to the side of the gargoyle and dared to get closer. Gorgeous white stone that looked worn and loved, Gideon finally heaved a long, satisfied sigh and leaned on the stone railing of said balcony that this gargoyle was diligently perched near.

"Welp, I made it," Gideon chirped in mild annoyance, he chuckled and got comfortable next to his new friend, he jokingly carried on in whole, teasing nonchalance, "Bet you'd been expecting me."

Gideon lofted his eyes to this gargoyle and gathered that said representing gargoyle was female, due to the anatomy. Built like a human, she was hunched in an aggressive stance, wings and tail taut and sprawled with scary, aggressive fangs that were at least an inch and a half long. Although small, it was clear this gargoyle was put here for a reason, having the big task of protecting this lighthouse. Gideon sighed and strangely felt comfortable in this statue's radius. He shook his head and was well aware he was talking to no one, though the urge to make this statue his friend overrode anything. His eyes scanned the gorgeous splay of Juniper forest he had just trekked from, Turbotime's entrance could be seen just up the hill. He eyed the gargoyle and smiled as he sagged his upper body to the taller, sturdy stone railing.

"At least you're put in a spot where the view is great, can't imagine THIS sight, for the rest of my life, would be too shabby," Gideon mumbled, he furrowed his brow in contemplation and rubbed his chin, "Then again, I think if I were you, I'd prefer the ocean view, but... Guess it is what it is."

Gideon firmly contemplated the heart behind this lighthouse. He sagged in dismay, as if he was absolutely certain there'd be something incredibly grand in here. Although entirely disappointed, he heaved a long, raspy sigh, blew a silent raspberry out to the air and figured that even though this infamous lighthouse didn't hold any treasures or epiphanies he was certain to come across, at least he had a fun spot to getaway in, a point of safety he could call his own, right on the beach. Grateful to have his cake and eat it too, he accepted the defeat of discovering a world about himself, inside this lighthouse, and instead succumbed to the notion of making friends with a being that wouldn't judge him whatsoever. He smiled to his new gargoyle friend and felt hope flood his veins; imagination was what he did best.

"My name's Gideon," Gideon stated proudly as he peered to the gargoyle. He narrowed his eyes and knew that this gargoyle obviously didn't have a name, nor could she tell Gideon her name if she even had one. He bit his lip and mulled over a few names he could potentially give her, and though he wondered if it was stereotypical, he blurt a chuckle and bobbed a nod, "I'm going to call youuu... Pebbles. Stoney sounded too, eh... Crass. Hope you're okay with Pebbles."

Gideon rubbed his chin in further contemplation and gestured his hand in further thought.

"OR, Rocky? Eh, I guess that'd be cool if you were a guy," Gideon mumbled. He shrugged and gingerly reached out to pat the gargoyle's little shoulder, the stone was frozen cold, "Pebbles it is."

Gideon sighed, removed his hand from Pebbles' shoulder and allowed his eyes to gloss the view the two had, from the second floor of this beautiful lighthouse. Vidrix could be seen far on the horizon, to their left, directly straight ahead from Turbotime's entrance. Gideon pulled out his phone to check the time and understood that he had a few hours before Lash would be present at his and Mara's confectionary. Eager to eventually get there and hopefully have a few drinks and paint a few things, he figured he'd explore this lighthouse some more and do some deeper digging in his heart. Although thwarted and certain the torturous lighthouse nightmares were now all for not, Gideon felt his heart tug into a deeper vat of intuition, as if to promise that deeper digging would surely surface something worthy of his time, here in this infamous lighthouse. Desperate to figure it out, he was glad he had Pebbles to talk to in the meantime, however one-sided it'd be.