The Bird and the Garden 3: The Final Adventure

Chapter 67: Wasted Land

The wind howled around them as they plummeted into the ash, Jasper flying safely before she could hit the ground. The moment Salem and the others lifted their heads, the ash began to shift, dragging them away. Mono's eye went wide when she saw the quickly approaching cliff, her body tensing.

"Fall!"

Jasper shrieked as her friends fell over the cliff's edge, plummeting to the ground far below. Her tiny wings beat through the air as she raced down, watching as they landed in a dune of ash, disappearing underneath the grainy, sand-like substance. "G-guys!"

She flew closer, Sapphire's head popping up first, then Mono, and lastly Salem. The doll freed her arms and clapped her hands with a bright smile.

"Again, again!"

"No thank you," Mono mumbled after spitting out a mouthful of ash. "We're lucky this was here... If it wasn't, that fall would have killed us."

Mono had no trouble pulling herself out with her strength, the monoeye checking her horn to ensure it wasn't broken or chipped before helping Salem and Sapphire. It was just the four of them. As expected, the First Vao's Soul was absent. Salem ruffled the ash from her now messy hair, turning her turquoise gaze up - and froze.

Stretching as far as any of them could see was nothing but ash, with ruined buildings of past Timelines half buried underneath the dunes. The eclipse was still ongoing, hanging high in the sky with its ominous red ring casting a twilight glow on the barren wasted land. Jasper was the first to speak.

"W... Where's the prison...?" She whispered. There was no sign of the gloomy, gothic structure. There weren't even any signs of life, not even the abominations that had plagued the First Vao's Reality. It looked... Dead.

What did this mean? They couldn't even feel the Blood's influence. But he definitely had it; he wouldn't have bled black if he didn't. Down the dunes, across a deep and seemingly bottomless ravine was a small ruined town. It was the closest to shelter. Mono beckoned with her hand.

"... Come. We should get out of this wind," she whispered. The three women nodded, following the dune to the side of a half-submerged, desolate tower. There was a narrow path they could walk on leading across the ravine. Pressing their backs to the wall with Jasper flying over the edge, they began to cross.

They were tense, expecting an attack from... Something. But nothing ever came. The lifeless Reality bore no enemies to fight. As they jumped to the other side, Salem rubbed her forehead. "This... This doesn't make any sense," she muttered. "Realities reflect a person's heart; their memories, their dreams... I know the First Vao didn't have any memories, but it still took the form of a prison earlier... And he even said his new dream was to take over the world, not... This... This can't be his dream. This can't be anyone's dream."

"Where is he?" Mono mumbled in agreement as they walked through an abandoned church. "If we can find him, then we might get some answers..."

Their feet touched the sandy ash again as they walked through a hole in the wall, quickly finding themselves at a dead end with no way around. Only Jasper would be able to fly over the sheer cliff face, and it was too loose for the others to climb it.

"How do we get up there?" Sapphire asked.

"I could throw you," Mono suggested.

"But that means you'd be left behind!" Salem pointed out. They began to argue lightly, tossing ideas out in the open.

"Oh, you guys are stuck too?"

The four women shrieked in surprise, spinning around to see Saril standing before them. The arachne tilted her head, squinting at them curiously. "... Where's Yin?"