Terrain on The Horizon

Departure Once Again

Skies of blue reigned over Guardorign as Matt woke up from his first night's sleep back at home. He got up and realized how much he had slept in, but brushed it off. He walked out into his yard and checked the mail.

Surprisingly, he got a couple letters instead of just junk mail. He excitedly walked back inside to open them. He opened the first one, and it was a notice that he'd been fired from his job, which didn't surprise him as he was thinking of quitting anyway. Then he opened the second one.

"Dear Mr. DeAlto, please come to KC Square on November 9th, 2009, for a special event. We've heard about your story of heroism and have put together an award ceremony for you and other outstanding citizens. It'd be greatly appreciated if you attended, as we can't do this without you. See you there, Matt. Sincerely, MGEC (Maddsolian Government Event Conduction)" The letter read. Matt's eyes lit up instantly.

After receiving the letter, Matt quickly wrote a thank-you letter and put it in an envelope. He wrote the mailing information and stuck a stamp on it. He gathered some stuff, some belongings, and walked outside. On the way out of his yard, he put the thank-you letter in his mailbox to send it off.

He declared to himself that the next few months leading up to this event shall be spent celebrating, vacationing, and living the good life in general. So, what better time to start than right now? It was a good time to vacation just for the sake of vacationing, but Matt had a different idea.

He figured that he should try to get some knowledge out of this and make his vacation meaningful. He also knew that in order to become president, he must know a lot about history and government first. So, he grabbed some money and booked a plane flight to the former GeometryLand territories later that day.

After packing his carry-on suitcase, he was ready. He arrived at Guardorign Airport and went through the normal security checks, then explored the terminals. After sitting around and stagnating, it was time for him to board the plane. He felt a sense of national pride and confidence rush through his veins as he boarded and walked down the aisle to his seat.

A little while later, the plane successfully landed at Tagonia International Airport and Matt arrived. This was his first step in his transformation from an ordinary citizen to, hopefully, Maddsolia's president. Most importantly, it was his first time being an actual historian.

Because Maddsolia (and other countries) had taken GeometryLand by force, and destroyed many buildings along with artifacts, his only hope would be to explore the ruins across the former nation. He was already in GeometryLand's former capital, but there was nothing here. He had to go further. But for now, his only goal was to find somewhere to spend the night, as sunset was soon to come.

After spending the night at a run-down hostel outside the Tagii suburbs close to Tagonia, Matt left and got to work. He walked to the coastal region of the island and bought a small, cheap boat from a tiny marina shop. Due to his past knowledge, Matt knew where to go. His best bet would be to go to ZigZag island and search through the artifacts left behind by Tatum and Tutor, the former rulers of GeometryLand.

He fired up the motor and set sail off the coast, towards the forgotten land. The morning sun glistened on the rough ocean waters as the boat cut through the sea. Despite being a short distance, the trip from Tagon island's south coast to the ZigZaggian northern coast was reported as a moderately difficult passage. This was no challenge for Matt, as he had been through worse and didn't fear great injury or death.

He barely managed to stabilize and steer the boat through the fierce waters, but he was close to his destination. Foggy outlines of unique sandstone structures filled Matt's vision as he inched towards the island, and a look of proud satisfaction was plastered across his face.

"Land ho!" He yelled. Shortly after, he arrived on land at Linea Port. Matt gathered his belongings and started exploring the island and was hit by the weird atmosphere of the place. The island was a desolate wasteland: barely any people lived there, almost every building was abandoned, and the cities in general were haunted with the souls of past nobility. Once again, Matt's expectations weren't surpassed, but he had a conversation with his conscience. He knew that it was the inside that mattered, not the outside. So, he pointed his head up and moved forward.

After a while of walking, he came across an abandoned town square or plaza thing or whatever. At the center, there stood a grand well. Being a desert town, wells were rare and sacred, and Matt was drawn to it. He had the idea to enter it, hoping there would be a secret passage.

He paced around, thinking of what to use to climb down, and saw a mining shop in front of him. He found three pickaxes and some rope. He brought his new materials to the abandoned blacksmith next store and got to work. A grapple was the most appropriate tool for the job. He got some tools from his backpack and welded the pickaxes together, forming a handle with a hook on the end. He trimmed off the excess, tied a rope to his contraption and left after cleaning up.

"Well, this is it." Matt said to himself as he used his contraption to lower himself down the well. It was dark and murky down there, but Matt inched his way down. He found a hole in one of the well's walls and checked to see if he'd fit in it. After verifying that, he made his way through the tunnel that followed, using a flashlight he brought to find the way. At the end of the tunnel, there was a ladder. Carefully, he climbed it and it led to a sketchy corridor.

There were some strange symbols on the door at the end of the corridor, and Matt walked closer to investigate. Surprisingly, the door was unlocked, and he entered a mysterious room. In the front of the room, there lay an old, empty desk, and other furniture and artifacts were sprawled across the rest of the room. He walked towards the empty desk and sat in its chair. He opened a drawer and found various journals and books. He laid them on the desk and opened another drawer, which had a small sheet of paper in it. On that paper were some more strange symbols, but with corresponding letters of the Latin alphabet written beneath them. He had cracked the code, and it was that easy!

"My Collection of Random Thoughts" One journal's cover read, with letters actually being in the Latin alphabet. Matt opened it and started reading, awakening his mind. The book was mostly full of nonsensical thoughts, observations and ideas, but there were a few gems. After reading the book, he tucked it in his collections bag and continued searching the room. He took almost everything off the desk, and took some artifacts from the room, including a camera. Matt wanted to stay, but it was time to leave.

He left the room and shut the door, walked down the corridor, climbed down the ladder, walked down the tunnel, and climbed up the well. At this point, it had been two days since he embarked on this vacation, and he felt he had enough time. He made it up to the ground and walked toward Linea Port, but his boat wasn't there. Matt feared that he'd never make it home, so he started searching for an abandoned boat to use. After walking to a nearby port, he found the perfect fit: a tiny sailboat. He promptly set sail for a sacred GeometryLandish island off the coast of Tonalonia: Tesseractia.