by N Felts
blasting the foe in half.
“Ohh, I liked that one!” Mai cheers flirtatiously, the boy’s growing skillset becoming more distinguished and admirable. The brief isolated shower settles on the ceiling, the forming puddles of water beginning to seep through cracks and disappear to someplace higher above. Taking another moment to revel in his hard fought victory, Rift finally makes the trek over to the chest he spotted earlier. Throwing back the lid reveals what he should have expected, another small, silver key. After snatching it out he takes one last look around, deciding there is nothing more to be found in this particular room. Making his way back to the main foyer, he notices another doorway on the opposite side of the central dome room, only visible from this particular height. Lining up another portal, he has a compelling thought, lowering his hand to consider the prospect. “What’s wrong?” Mai asks, her always growing affection for the boy swelling in her voice this particular time.
“What’s to stop me from just teleporting down to where the chest is?” He asks as if she should have suggested it to begin with.
“Hah, I was waiting for you to ask that,” she snickers. “The portals only work on flat, smooth surfaces. Anything else is too much for me to handle.”
“Oh… Well that makes sense I guess,” he shrugs, noting the small, uneven chunk of stalagmite the chest resides upon. Now seeing his surroundings with new eyes, there are a multitude of spaces he could utilize, but equally so, several spots across the floor and along the walls that are far too convoluted. Returning his gaze to the new doorway, veiled in a bluish hue through his palm, he determines the best shot and falls upon the ledge. Now significantly higher in the room, the boy can clearly see a small series of cracks lining the curved ceiling, though they don’t show any signs of imminent structural failure. Proceeding through the progressively twisting hallway he reaches a large door with a familiar keyhole. Inside he finds an expansive room with a massive staircase leading up in front of him before turning one hundred eighty degrees to meet a doorway high above. A pair of strange buttons rest just inside the doorway, their trapezoidal shape and fairly large size clearly intending for weight to be applied upon them. As cautiously as he’s able, Rift steps toward the switch, inadvertently activating yet another glyph upon the floor. The entire temple shakes momentarily before returning to normal, but unfortunately for the boy, the gigantic staircase leading to the next room breaks in several places as a steady flow of water pours up through the broken sections.
“It’s always something isn’t it?” Mai sighs, painting a small smile on Rift’s face. Continuing forward, he steps on one of the two buttons, the shape popping into the ground with a loud locking noise. One of the two doors high above opens allowing a river of water to pour into the room. Colliding with the multitude of inverted waterfalls already pouring up from the staircase, the sudden influx of water spreads in every direction, blanketing the open air with a swirling display of absurd physics. The second glyph has affected the gravity of water far more severely than the first, the entire invasion of liquid never reaching the ground as it is steadily pulled to the ceiling, draining through the many cracks and crevices above. Starting up the staircase, the boy’s aggravation increases as the button pops right back up, slamming the door shut and ending the spectacle. Proceeding up the stairs just the same, he moves between the jets of water in his path, before spotting two large cubes he couldn’t see from ground level. Each resting on a wall just wide enough to accommodate them, they stand on either side of the entrance, directly above each of the door control buttons. One of the pair is easily accessible, only a short drop off the staircase to reach the wall it resides upon. Dropping down and giving the block a very light push, he accidentally sends it across the gap, colliding with the opposite wall and falling directly upon the switch below. Once again, the door swings open and water twists and soars in every direction.
“Not exactly what I was going for, but I guess it works,” he shrugs, trying to determine whether or not he can simply proceed through the single open door behind him. The upside-down river covers over half of the doorway, meaning the boy would have to crawl through if he intended to progress right away.
“That’s not going to cut it,” Mai insists. “We need the other door open.” Knowing she is right, Rift considers jumping the gap, however, the consistent flow of water spins between him and his goal, the swirling, morphing blanket above him proving beautiful, but highly inconvenient. Suddenly recalling he has access to portals, he squints through the spray of water only to find there is no suitable surface to exploit. Almost ready to give up, his shoulders go limp as he closes his eyes to let out an agitated sigh. “I forgot to mention before,” Mai starts, realizing why Rift hasn’t figured out the simple puzzle just yet. “The portals conserve momentum when we use them,” Mai points out, having long since figured out the solution to their situation, but wanting Rift to have the same vindication.
“Meaning?” He asks, having no clue what she is implying.
“Meaning if something goes into a portal at high speed, it comes out the other side at the same speed,” she explains, not wanting to give away the answer just yet.
“At high speed?” Rift repeats, racking his brain for what he should do next. Glancing back to ground level for the first time, he realizes the majority of the surface is perfectly flat. As the pieces begin to fall into place, he grows visibly excited as he figures out what she is getting at. “Okay,” he starts, lining up his hand with the spot on the ground near the cube he placed moments ago. Locking onto the spot where he is aiming, Mai doesn’t create the dimensional window just yet, waiting for his confirmation. Working up the nerve, he steps off the ledge, plummeting to the ground below without a hint of worry. Mere seconds from a laundry list of broken bones, he shouts, “Now!” Opening both the portal he aimed at earlier, as well as the default one beneath him, Mai feels exceptionally proud watching Rift soar back upward. Righting himself during the ascent, he finds his feet easily enough having just enough momentum to land softly upon the tall wall behind the large cube.
“Alright!” Mai praises, enjoying watching him grow far beyond the timid boy who began this quest with her. She wouldn’t call his new sense of determination bravery per se, but instead, more of a drive born of a desire for companionship. He needs her as much as she needs him, and it is within this concept of mutual aspiration that the boy finds the resolve to excel.
“Yeah, yeah,” Rift counters, rolling his eyes. “I wouldn’t have thought of that on my own.”
“That’s why we’re a team,” Mai promptly asserts as the boy shoves the block onto the remaining switch. The second door swings open and the gush of water increases before leveling off. The room continues to ebb and flow, several spots forming whirlpools as the liquid rapidly drains up through the ceiling. Proceeding through the double doors without a hitch, the flowing water overhead occasionally splashes downward provoking Rift to habitually pull his hood back over his brow. A three-way intersection reveals the source of the continuous water flow, a large hole in the center pouring water onto the ceiling like an exceptionally large, inverted spigot. The path to the left leads downward while the right continues on the same level. Opting for the right, the boy finds another massive opening, the room plagued with collapsed overpasses, and varying clusters of stalagmite and stalactite. The uncertain path eventually leads to a large mechanism standing alone atop a pedestal against the far wall. The journey through the room isn’t particularly perilous, the use of portals combined with Mai’s ability to swing Rift across gaps making no challenge too great for the two of them to overcome.
The final chasm to cross is a large one, but the boy makes the running leap without hesitation. Latching onto Mai’s arm, she swings him in a complete loop to generate the appropriate amount of force to send him over. On this particular jump, Rift looks upward while Mai helps him across, catching yet another glimpse of her face. Her eyes are already locked
upon his, their wild appearance on the surface seeming superficial, hiding some deeper pain she would rather not confront. The same slight smile pulls at her lips as before. The sort of motherly compassion of helping a toddler up a short staircase when their legs are just too short to climb on their own. Not expecting her to be staring at him, the boy immediately breaks eye contact out of a habitual sort of reflex. He never expected her to be beautiful, and though he has done everything in his power to act natural, the truth is, he has grown infinitely more nervous about his speech and actions. A shifting of rocks sounds somewhere in the distance when Rift activates the lever. The sparse puddles of water remaining have long since dried up, their last drops offered to the rocky fissures high above. The trip back is uneventful as Rift delves deep into thought once again. Teleporting from one side of the room to the other, and leaping over gaps here and there, he is back at the entrance before he knows it. Passing through the three-way intersection once again, he doesn’t even notice the steady flow of water has all but ceased, the hole in the center of