Once upon an orbit of planet Fait, a playful young girl and her flustered yet resourceful single father must endure sickness, encounter exotic creatures, escape a predatory government, and outwit a wicked wizard to survive just one more day. Having...
Side by side atop a certain cloud, very, very high above Planet Fait, sat father and daughter, about to start a new game. "From here, we can see the whole entire planet," Nariah said. "And I don't even need my ultra-goggles."
Rene smiled, putting his arm around her. She put her arm around him. He said, "We can go anywhere we want to, now—warmer, cooler, hotter. Where do you want to go, my daughter?"
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Nariah peered out across Fait. A strangely sparkling green jungle stretched in the east. Nariah pointed. "There?"
"Hmm, maybe too jungly," Rene replied. "They've probably got really big bugs, big and ugly. We were planning for Vespus, before. We could still go to Vespus, O-Daughter-I-Adore?"
"You're getting better at the rhyming. Good job, Daddy." Rene tipped his helmet to her in thanks. Humming, Nariah looked to the north, where the land shimmered reds and pinks. "What's that place, there?"
"The frozen Red Tundras of Thule and the Blood Sea."
"Bloody Sea? Ew. Not there."
"No, not there, then. I agree."
As she did when a particularly powerful thought popped into her mind, Nariah lowered her chin. Her father knew that look. He listened closely. She took a deep breath.
After a long moment, where they could just barely make out the four pyramids atop the four supertowers of Tetrapolis, Nariah pointed.
"There."
First to escape, Nariah and Rene Naza had come so far. Now they could go anywhere, they could do anything. But Rene knew his daughter was serious, and he remembered Ophiuchus' last command to listen to her.
"Why return to Tetrapolis? Why back to that land?" he asked. "Help me understand."
"With your powers now, you can help everybody else. And they won't have to be slaves in the factories anymore. And you can cure their boggis. Then the different peoples can talk and get to know each other and not be so alone anymore. And since Ophiuchus is gone, they don't have anyone to help them in the Sylva Dome anymore when they get sick. And plus also 'scause who would help the other kids like me, if they got sick, like I was? They need a hero, Daddy. You can't be a hero of just one anymore. You have to use your powers for everybody."
"Nariah," he began. She just looked at him. With her brown eyes, staring straight through to his soul, Rene saw the righteous, wise, and beautiful lady of the land that Nariah would someday grow into being. Of course he would listen to her, for he loved her, and he trusted her, and she knew what was best and good in life.
He nodded and hugged her tight. "They're not my powers, they're ours. You want to go back to Tetrapolis? Then Tetrapolis it is, and for the best. I'm a shinseon now. First Precept. Refuse No Righteous Request."
She grinned and hugged him back. "You're going to be a great hero, Daddy. I know it. I just know it. The greatest one ever of all orbits. Plus, also, you can find and save my mother."
Rene's eyes went wide. He coughed.
"These powers I have," Rene said, "they come from you, you know."
"I know. 'Scause we're a hero of two. Golden chain, my heart, your heart. We can do anything with the sylvas' help."
"And thank you for all your help, Nariah," her father said. "We wouldn't be here, without you."
Nariah gave him a kiss on the cheek, then hopped to her little feet. Standing at the edge of the large white cloud, facing homeward, Nariah smoothed out the mottled rags of her dress, then turned to her father. "Ready, Daddy?"
Redemptor hopped a few times in place atop the cloud, then declared,
"Ready, little lady, am I. With full faith, do you, I trust;
Go ahead, and sprinkle on us, a little of your...."
Nariah grasped her rainbow braid, then wiggled her fingers, chanting, "Sylva dust! Sylva dust! Sylva dust!"
As Nariah did so, the sylva dust that danced and shimmied and flashed through the air was so clear, easy to behold for illuminated souls of all ages who believed, like Nariah and Rene Naza, that with the right patience and a loving heart, "happily ever after" was only and always a matter of sentos.
***
AUTHOR'S POST SCRIPT
Thank you for reading this first foray into the lives of Nariah and Rene on their wild and strange Planet Fait. Everything has changed, but the danger is not over. Their mission is only beginning.
Coming Spring 2019 to Wattpad, the Naza family's further exploits are set to follow in REDEMPTOR ADVENTURES #2 - THE HEROES' JOURNEY.
And for the first sento ever, I'm happy to preview the cover here:
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
