We Leapt Into the Sky

Chapter 34

They met in the cavern the caretakers had sealed away. Dim light filtered in from above, glinting off the towering crystals that reached down from the ceiling. A brief vision of Seph falling into the darkness flitted before her eyes. The crystals had spilled toward him in that pit, drawn to his pain and anxiety, overwhelming Aster in turn when they had visited this cavern together.

"This place was most affected by the memories of your colleagues," Aster said.

"You reacted strongly to them when we first spoke."

"Indeed. I did not know their memories had become embedded here—nor did I realize my own emotions had manifested in such a dramatic way."

"What memories of yours are left here?" Kendra asked.

He raised his hand to a long crystal, and it creaked toward him, a soft glow suffusing it like ink spilling into water. "Many are mere shadows. Little things that only hold significance when woven into the tapestry of my own thoughts and feelings."

Kendra held her palm to the cool, glassy surface, and scenes filtered into her mind, passing like water through her fingers. "I see a city with glittering towers. A smile from a friend. A vast library. The images are fond, but hazy and tinged with melancholy."

"They are places and people I lost, and it is difficult for me to think of them without sadness." He shook his head. "But my memories lie within me. These crystals are physical manifestations created by my inability to process my grief."

His shoulders were slumped, and Kendra sensed from the faraway look in his eyes that the memories he was revisiting had barely faded in the years he spent here. "Even now, I keep trying to make sense of it, but I can't," he said. "We were attacked by beings who wished to reshape our world for their own purposes. Instead, they destroyed our dimension, leaving nothing behind." Aster rubbed his thumb over his palm, tugging at the skin there. "I spent so long combing through the ship's database for information on our apparent enemies, trying to understand them. But my only conclusion was that they were opportunists. Many of them likely perished as well when our dimension collapsed. What a waste."

"Some things are difficult to make sense of. I can't ascribe any special meaning to why I ended up with a shorter lifespan than others," Kendra said. "It was just bad luck. I could have wished for the right treatments to extend my lifespan or even become involved in that research myself. Instead, I decided to experience as much as I could, even if I wouldn't have as much time as my friends will." She huffed. "One could argue that cramming as much into my life as possible led me here, to a place where my life was instead cut even shorter than it should have been."

"But that isn't your fault," Aster said.

"I know. And as much as I hate being in limbo, I am grateful the machines saved me. That they gave me a little more time." Kendra raised her fist into the air, and the crystals slowly shifted, pointing toward her. The light glowed from purple to a deep red, and she unclenched her fist. Cracks spread, growing into deep fissures as the crystals split apart. In seconds, they were nothing more than sand and spilled to the floor in a cloud of dust.

Aster's eyes glinted in the low light as he stared at the empty space on the ceiling. "Amazing. Did it cause you pain to break them down?"

She shook her head. "No. I imagine the pain is yours alone, and like you said, most of it remains in your mind, not in these physical remnants." Kendra turned her hand over, peering at the dust glittering on her skin like tiny points of light. "Yet, I can feel a subtle shift, like something was released."

"As do I. Would you mind if I returned to the cavern below? Knowing you are helping gives me the strength to believe I can do this as well."

"Go ahead. I'll meet you later."