Visitors from Terra: Shattered Realities

The curse of Babel

Rain. That was all Amiya could see outside the landship. Countless droplets of rain pounded the large windows relentlessly, sketching tiny cascades as they flowed downwards, and in the distance, lightning bolts struck the land, momentarily illuminating the skies before fading away and leaving the firmament shrouded in darkness. To the little Cautus orphan, the sight of the raging storm was a very sad and depressing one, but soon she averted her gaze from the windows. Although Babel normally was a place bustling with life, today the landship was strangely quiet. Its corridors, usually full of passing personnel and cargo, were utterly deserted, and the silence was such that even she found it strange. However, she didn't pay it much mind and continued walking down the halls of the seemingly empty landship.

As she navigated the labyrinthine system of corridors, Amiya found herself sinking into the memories of her obscure past. Back when the Doctor had brought her to Babel, she had felt a bit intimidated by the, in her eyes, unfathomable size of the landship and the prospects that awaited her inside, but once she spent a few months there, she grew to adore what had become her new home. She remembered with special affection the kindness that the landship's residents showed towards her, for even though they still smiled at her whenever the Cautus passed, it felt more forced than in the past. Regardless of the people's somewhat odd behavior, there was one person, apart from the Doctor, who caught the young girl's heart the moment she set foot on Babel, and it was the very same one she was looking for right now.

"Miss Theresa should be somewhere around here...", she thought to herself as she continued wandering around the middle deck. Her search wouldn't be long, tough, for when little Amiya reached the corridor where the administrative department was located, she found an unlocked office, and upon taking a peek inside, she spotted the King of Sarkaz, sitting in her desk and sorting a tall pile of documents. She couldn't hold it anymore and burst into the room, exclaiming.

-Theresa, there you are!

The irruption of the Cautus caused the pink-haired Sarkaz to put a halt to her labor and turn her gaze towards Amiya.

-Amiya. What are you doing here? – She asked, a soft smile carved on her lips.

-Well... - Shyly uttered the young Cautus. – The Doctor and Kal'tsit could not play with me because they had things to do, and I felt very lonely in my room...

Upon hearing this, Theresa adopted a compassionate look.

-Oh, so you just wanted for someone to be with you... Poor little thing. Here, come with me. – She said, tapping with her hand on her lap for her to sit on.

After a brief moment of hesitation, Amiya accepted the invitation of the Lord of Fiends and sat where she had indicated. Feeling now at ease, the little Cautus raised her gaze to meet Theresa's pink eyes and asked.

-Could you please me tell a story?

-Of course. – She warmly replied. – What type of story would you like to hear?

-One with knights and castles! – Exclaimed Amiya excited.

-So be it then. – The pink-haired sentenced. – Once upon a time...

"Once upon a time, there was a father and his three sons, who lived in a castle in the middle of the forest. Life there wasn't easy, for the castle was surrounded by heinous creatures. To the west, an arrogant rooster, a ferocious lion and a deceitful eagle extorted the family of their money, and to the east, a colossal bear whose fur was soaked in the blood of millions of innocent lives threatened to reduce the castle and its inhabitants to mere ashes. In face of these dangers, the father decided that he could stand these abuses no more and embarked on a quest to save his home."