Luna Mountain, Past the Third Challenge: Wind
Gaga and Onua had left the cavern with the challenge of wind behind a few hours ago. The tunnel seemed to go on forever, always following an odd pattern. At first it had moved straight forward for half an hour, and then it had turned right abruptly. Since then it had continued to curve gradually rightward; it also had an upward grade so slight that they barely noticed it.
They had taken a break for a late lunch, and had then continued onward. They talked, really talked, for the first time since they had started on this quest. They discussed all manner of things, such as why the Gypsies moved around so much, how Onua's parents had gotten together, and why Niko had such an odd collection of swords and other bladed weapons. Gaga told Onua about his duties as Princess Grenda's steward, and many of the adventures he had accompanied her on while she was still a Platinum Princess Candidate. He spoke of the odd curse that had been laid on her and the other four girls, so that they never aged past ten, and how it had been broken by the previous Platinum Princess, from the Magic World which was now gone forever.
And they kept on walking, and they kept on talking, for hour after hour. They stopped for dinner and then continued on. Eventually, after what seemed like an eternity, the tunnel changed again. It turned sharply rightward, and tilted upward noticeably. After another half hour or so, they realized that it had gotten colder. The moss had changed color to a soft, deep, velvety blue that let off just barely enough light to see their way by. They stopped talking, sensing that something truly important was coming up. They walked noiselessly, their feet making absolutely no sound on the thick carpet of soft blue moss.
Finally, they reached a cavern. And what a cavern it was! It was immense, with a high, vaulted ceiling like a cathedral. It was perfectly round, and the walls had half-columns spaced evenly around the perimeter. In the precise center of the room the floor dipped gently to the edges of a faultlessly circular pool. A pool whose water was so pure and still that it shone like glass, without flaw. As they watched the pool, the moon outside Luna Mountain rose higher, until its light poured down through the small opening in the peak of the mountain. The moonlight reflected off of the polished, mirror-like stones at each bend of the long, spiraling, complicated way downward into the center of the mountain. Reflecting off of the final flat, polished stone, it struck the water in the pool, and was magnified so that the water itself seemed to be made of moonlight.
Gaga and Onua simply stared in awe. The room, and the pool, had such a quiet majesty that neither of them dared to speak. It was so ancient, so mysterious, and so profoundly magical that it was filled them with a kind of holy wonder. Gaga, in his entire over 1000 years, had never seen anything so marvelously, breathtakingly, solemnly beautiful. Onua, despite how far she had traveled in her twenty-five years of life, had never seen anything that came close to comparing to the ancient dignity and magnificence of this place.
They simply stood there for a good half hour, just drinking it all in. Then Onua's innate practicality finally took over. "Well," she said, "I think this is the place."
Gaga, startled by her voice, stopped staring at the Mére of the Moon (for that's what it was), and replied. "I think you're right, Onua-san. But…what do we do here?"
"Mother gave me an extra, empty large canteen to collect the water in. I think I'll start by doing that."
"Oh! Of course you're right."
They walked to the edge of the pool, and knelt there. As Gaga looked at the pool, he realized that it was extremely deep. With its extreme purity and the moonlight, he could see the bottom, but it was so far down that he didn't want to think about it. Onua quickly took out her large canteen and unscrewed the cap. She filled it with the water and screwed the cap back on carefully, then set it aside. Looking over at Gaga, who was still leaning over, looking into the pool. She murmured quietly to herself, "I wonder…"
She grinned mischievously to herself, and then, setting the canteen full of water aside carefully, she crept up behind him and…pushed. Splash! Gaga floundered for a few seconds, coughing and sputtering, before he managed to grab onto the side of the Mére. He hung there, panting, for a minute before looking up into Onua's merrily laughing eyes. "What was that for?" he asked her, confused.
"You looked like you needed to loosen up!"
"What? That's silly! Besides, what if I didn't know how to swim?"
"But you do. You told me yourself earlier. Besides…" she leaned down very close to him, so that their noses were almost touching. "…there was something that I wanted to confirm."
Gaga's heart skipped a beat. "What?"
She leaned back again, freeing him from her eyes. "That the water from the pool can't turn you back into a demon. Sadly, it looks like I was right, and it can't." She helped him out of the Mére.
"You don't look that sad." he commented.
"True. I'm not, really. I suppose I'm a bit selfish, but once you become a demon again you'll go back to working as Grenda-chan's steward. I'd rather have you all to myself."
"Yes, but that doesn't mean that we can't see each other again. Surely your caravan will stay for a while longer."
"No. Part of the reason we had to do this now is because we're planning to leave the day after the festival. If you were still human then, Papa was planning on asking you to join our caravan in its travels, until a cure could be found."
"Oh, I-I'm touched." Gaga hadn't really thought about what would happen when the caravan left. He'd just…assumed that he would be returned to normal by then.
"So, really, I'm glad you haven't changed back. Even if it's selfish of me, I would miss you when you were gone."
"Thank you, Onua-san, I'd miss you too." At this point, Gaga wasn't even sure if he wanted to change back.
"Well, on that note, let's turn in."
"Huh?" Gaga was confused by the turn in the conversation.
"It's very late, if the moon can shine through. Also, I'm exhausted from all that we've done today. We should sleep, and make our way out tomorrow."
"Oh, of course. But why were there only three challenges on the way in? There should have been five." They moved away from the water, and began taking out the blankets and sleeping clothes that Niobe had packed for them.
"Hmm. I don't know. I expect that the other two will be on the way out. We've had fire, earth, and wind, in that order. That leaves water and void."
"Or heart, depending on how you look at it."
"True. I wonder what those challenges will be like."
"There's no use speculating, we'll find out when we try to leave tomorrow."
The bases of the columns pushed out roundly, and the thick moss which covered them made them ideal low seats or pillows. Onua and Gaga laid out their blankets near them, and close enough together to be safe. Gaga made quite sure that they were about arms-length apart, though. He didn't want any accidents. Kicking your traveling companion in your sleep is not a good way to get along with her.
"Turn around."
"Huh?" Gaga was startled by the unexpected request.
"Turn around. I need to change into my bed clothes."
"Oh. Oh, yes, of course!" Gaga turned around hastily. In a surprisingly short amount of time, Onua finished changing.
"Okay, your turn, Gaga-san. And I think you should towel off before you put them on. And lay out your clothes to dry. It won't hurt the moss." Gaga obeyed, and then he crawled into bed.
"Good-night, Onua-san."
"Good-night, Gaga-san."
They were asleep before they knew it.
