The Life of Gaia

CHAPTER 30: The Flower of Life

The tunnel continued for several kilometers, which I was forced to crawl through. You can imagine how my knees hurt, with the stone rubbing against my poor legs.

The map had been entrusted to the guidance of Zantas, who was able to identify the safest passages by his light, giving me advice on how to move in the narrowest places where he only needed to pass through the walls. He could have returned to the surface at any moment, but instead he stayed down there, and he did it for me. Evidently he had admitted his mistakes to himself, because the attitude from before had dissipated to make room for the good old flying sign.

The usual phosphorescent seaweed made those burrows very atmospheric, and had it not been for the pain, the monsters we had narrowly escaped, and the fact that my sister was waiting somewhere, I would have enjoyed the moment.Let's just say there were a tad too many adverse conditions.

Finally, after hours and hours of crawling, Zantas stopped to look upward: a large circular opening opened over our heads, giving us a glimpse of part of the black sky and a white wall. I didn't know why, but the hint of that structure puzzled me.

°We can go up: the second destination is up there.° The feeling of electricity in the air spread again, and another white glow flashed across the map. Once it was out, the name of the place we were to visit appeared in large letters. We couldn't believe our eyes: it said 'Divine Castle'.

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[1300 years before the glow.]

After Helix's materialization power spread across the planet, things changed dramatically.

Anyone with an idea contributed to the extension of the inhabited terrain of Fantastracta with only the power of the mind, giving rise to extraordinary places and creatures never seen before. Because of the isolated spot where the clash between Helix and Aeron had occurred, no one knew what really happened, and different stories began to circulate. Some details might have varied, but the pivotal concept was always the same: that the creator of the world had decided to share that ability of his own free will. Against the boy's expectations, what he had done had helped shape an image of Helix that people adored.

At the same time, however, although the goal had not been fully achieved, the man's authority had fallen into oblivion, as no one wanted to submit to the unjust laws of someone who could not impose them by force. Thus, Helix disappeared into thin air, and the location of his palace was moved so that no one could reach it. The ideivores were instructed to destroy whatever tools allowed its location by their own master, who would withdraw into the shadows from then on.

No one, even the most smart, could have suspected that that tactic served him to maintain his dominance. In fact, every time someone concentrated and brought an idea to life, a small firefly, containing that same idea, would fly out of his head and disappear over the horizon. Some tried to catch them or figure out what they were for, but it was all in vain: for the people of Fantastracta, fireflies were just a part of the normal materialization process, no more, no less. Why look for an explanation?

The truth, however, was much darker. Helix, in fact, had had an ingenious insight: if the power to materialize thought was in anyone's hands, this meant that it would be the undisputed ruler who would possess not only his own, but also the ideas of others. And so, whenever a glowing insect detached itself from a person's head, it flew straight toward him, disappearing in the shadow of his wings.

Despite his success, the man's desire for power had been deeply disappointed, as he was forced to live in darkness for fear of losing his crown, with the ideivores as his only true subjects. He had made a palace that would arouse awe and fear in anyone who looked at it, and now that same palace was hidden in a place where no one would ever see it. He had even given up his servants in order to make sure that he was completely safe from detection.