Fly Until You See The Light

Vault - Chapter 5

The elevator goes up to the fifth floor, the place of the Wastelands.

Bones are floating and they seem to surround the area, which is completely empty.

Sentinekka knows well what she has to do: she only has to wait for the Large Cosmic Manta to come, and she'll have to light the lanterns on its back to continue her journey. The Manta is still not here, it will come when the elevator will be fully motionless.

That place reminds her of the Wastelands... For real. Its emptiness looks like the one of the fifth realm, there's no sound in here. No music. Music is always present in the realms, it represents a big part of people's journey and days, and it's present even in Eden, from what the people told her... The fifth floor of the Vault of Knowledge is the only silent place. That's somehow unsettling, but the Elder made that area like this for a reason, probably. Maybe, once, that floor had a music, but it disappeared when the Wastelands lost its Light and glory.

The book Lamed gave her, in some pages, talked about the fact that Lamed and Tsadi were great friends and cousins... But Lamed, when the King lost his happiness, became indifferent and cold to the Elders, Tsadi included. Maybe the two cousins had a fight? They were on different sides, after all.

So... Is it the death of a realm, or of a friendship?

That's hard, geez. She must remember to ask Lamed this thing. Maybe she'll answer, even though it could make her uncomfortable... Oh gosh, Sentinekka just hopes that it won't happen. She'd never want to make an Elder feel under pressure.

Suddenly, a sound interrupts her thoughts: the Cosmic Manta! It came, and it's waiting for Sentinekka to set it free from the lanterns.

The Large Cosmic Manta is one of the most authentic and beautiful animals ever. It's powerful, and its greatness shocks you even if you already saw it a billion times. It looks like it's calling you. It flies around the elevator, waiting for someone to light the lanterns. That someone, as a lot of times, is Sentinekka. The two now know each other pretty well. Sentinekka knows a lot of animals of the Light, and they all learned how to trust her when they saw how the crabs were happy to see her; Mantas, Birds, Jellyfishes... The Large Cosmic Manta was the most wary one. It didn't know about Sentinekka's good intentions. It never knows about the Children's behavior, but the Children think that it trusts them.

Now, the Manta trusts Sentinekka for real. It welcomes her on its surface without saying anything.

Sentinekka smiles. «How are you, my strong friend?» she asks the animal, knowing it won't even answer. She just lights the lanterns, which float away one after another and reach the elevator. The mechanism starts working and another portal is waiting for her.

«Thank you» the girl cuddles for one second the Large Cosmic Manta, and it makes a sweet sound similar to the Cosmic Manta call.

Sentinekka finally leaves the big Manta and goes to the elevator, which should take her to the last floor...