Fountellion: Mira in the Green Game

The Flickering Fountain within a Circle of Stones

Chapter 8: The Flickering Fountain within a Circle of Stones.....


The Green Region welcomed Mira with a sense of peace and calm that she hadn't felt since arriving on the island. The recent, continual need to survive and watch her Energy level, and just survive... had been more tiring - plus motivating - than she'd realised. To have more light and more space here and... something shining... up ahead, had a calming effect. The air was cooler, the landscape lush with vibrant green trees, and the ground beneath her feet was soft with moss and wildflowers. The gentle sound of a nearby stream and the rustling of leaves in the breeze made her feel as though she had stepped into a place of healing and restoration. But despite the beauty, Mira knew that the island was still scarred by the presence of the Stokers, and the damage they had caused to the ecosystem was evident even here.

She knew she had progressed - changed - and was now deeper into this vibrant game, and Mira felt her senses heighten to the environment. She began to notice something unusual—the faint flickering light through the trees. Drawn to it, she followed it until she emerged into a large clearing. In the center stood something wonderful. The Flickering Fountain, but it was unlike any fountain she had ever seen. It wasn't water that flowed up from it, like a geyser, but light—colored light, shimmering and dancing as it rose upward in a magnificent display. The light reflected all the regions of the island, each color representing a different part of Fountellion's spirit - and her own! Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet—each color pulsed with the energy of the land, flowing upward in a continuous, mesmerizing stream.

Mira stood in awe, her breath catching in her throat. The Flickering Fountain must be at the heart of the island, a symbol of its interconnectedness, its life force. The colors danced and swirled, reflecting the health of the island and its regions. But as Mira watched, she noticed that the light wasn't as strong as it still could be. The fountain flickered unevenly, its colors dimming at times, as though something was draining its energy.

She touched the light of the fountain, putting her hand into the streaming power, and in that moment, she felt the connection between herself, the fountain and the Spiral Tower. She had learned from Greenwise that the height of the Spiral Tower and the presence of the Stokers were directly linked to the health of the island. When the tower grew taller, the Stokers became more numerous, and the island's energy diminished. The Fountain was a reflection of that balance. And now, as she touched it, she felt the weight of that imbalance—the damage caused by the Stokers, the weakening of the island's life force draining into the grey presence of the tower shrouded in mist.

But there was hope here, too. The fountain flickered and pulsed with life, even if it wasn't at full strength. Mira knew that her journey wasn't just about unlocking the Insights—it was about helping to restore the island, to heal the damage caused by the Stokers and bring the fountain back to its full glory. She felt she could only do that by reaching this... dark, twisted tower. What was it? Why was it?

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The Circle of Stones...

As Mira stepped away from the fountain, she noticed something else in the clearing—a Circle of Stones, arranged in a wide ring around the fountain. The stones were large and weathered, their surfaces etched with intricate carvings. As she moved closer, she saw that the carvings weren't just random designs—they each had unique faces. Friendly, caring faces, etched into the stone with a kind of reverence. Each one seemed to radiate warmth and familiarity, as though the stones were imbued with the memories of the people they represented.