by Kyle Larson
“This hotshot may be cocky, but he knows how to fly,” Mara said. “He’s pulling off maneuvers that are even difficult for me, and I’m a thousand times smarter than humans.”
“I still think that’s up for debate, Mara,” Kelvin said.
Mara was right though. The canyon became very narrow as they moved through it, and there were a lot of quick turns. Wherever Teve was taking them, Kelvin and Amelia were pretty sure it was supposed to be this hard to get to. Almost like the difficulty of finding it helped keep it secret. The Royal Palace itself was already remote. Finally, after a few more twists, they came to a large opening in the canyon, where a colossal structure was built into the wall of the canyon. Teve flew up to a landing platform and pointed them to it.
Mara put the shuttle down, and when Kelvin and Amelia stood, it felt as if Venus’ gravity was even more intense. The canyon was so deep they could barely see the sky. It was a much darker and alien place than the beautiful planet they’d first landed on, and it was much more difficult to get around.
When the shuttle door opened, Teve stood in front of them. He examined the interior of the shuttle and then turned his attention to Kelvin and Amelia.
“You’ve both got to hurry. Quick. I know it’s difficult but we don’t have much time,” Teve said, as he motioned for them to follow.
Each step felt like they had bricks for feet. They struggled to walk with their usual posture, though they managed to stand up straight enough to move. Teve did not have very much patience, as he kept calling on them to move faster. What Kelvin and Amelia didn’t know was that their lives depended on it. The gravity this deep in the canyon would be way too much for their bones. The longer they stayed down here, the more they risked serious breaking crucial bones.
Teve had about five minutes to get them to the Sanctuary Spring. It was the only thing that could protect them.
“What’s happening to us?” Kelvin said.
“You won’t last long in this gravity, my lord. The two of you best hurry,” Teve’s voice was serious. His scowl was gone and he looked more worried than he had been irritated.
They looked up and realized the platform was at the base of what looked like an intricately carved temple on the surface of the canyon wall. It rose higher than their vision could see, with endless networks of stone steps etched into each floor.
“The stairs are for the visitors,” Teve explained. “If your training goes well, you won’t need them. Hurry.”
“I can’t even imagine walking up one set of those right now,” Amelia said, not sure if she was speaking to Kelvin or herself.
The structure looked more ancient than anything Kelvin or Amelia had ever seen. The stone walls were various shades of slate and orange rock that reflected what little light trickled into the deep canyon. It was much colder down here and a howling wind suddenly picked up as they got closer to the door.
“He’s not kidding, you two. The gravity down here is going to crush you. I hope he has some sort of Venus magic trick since they all talk like they’re a bunch of wizards,” Mara said.
The door parted and a cloud of steam came out. Inside was a dark cavern and what looked like a warm pool of water, like an underground lake. It looked like they were in something between a library and a church, as the walls climbed forever, but were mostly shrouded in darkness. At the top of the ceiling, which looked to be thousands of feet above them, there was a skylight that let in a faint bit of sunlight. The sparse rays were the only light for Kelvin and Amelia, so much of the cavern remained a mystery. It was so far away the light was barely visable, but they both noted it was the only window in the structure. Whatever this place was they could both tell it was something sacred.
“It’s a hot spring. Rich in minerals and elements of Venus. You need to get in this now,” Teve said, sternly.
“In our clothes?” Amelia said.
“There’s no time for anything else. Your clothes will be fine. Tell your robot we’ll use one of our wizard tricks to dry her out,” Teve said.
“So funny I forgot to laugh,” Mara said. “You do realize how offensive it is to refer to me as a robot. I am a sentient program, entitled to the same rights and privileges as any human. I’m helping this little prince out for now, but once he’s finished his business, I’m getting an artificial body and going on vacation to Hawaii.”
“I guess some would say it was equally offensive to refer to my people and culture as wizards. We know we are perceived as strange in the rest of the Nine Kingdoms. That does not mean we deserve to be belittled,” Teve said.
“If you two are done we’d like to know what we’re getting ourselves into,” Kelvin said.
“Relax Kelvin. I’ve been scanning it this whole time,” Mara said, trying to calm him down. She detected his heart rate was elevated but figured it was normal considering he’d just been told he’s about to die. “It’s just what he says it is. My guess is he’s hoping these elements soak into your body and help it adapt to the gravity. Is that about right, prince?”
Teve turned and nodded.
“Your friend is smart. She’s right, and you should know this is a great gift you are about to be given,” Teve said in a solemn tone.
“Oh, gee, thanks. I’ll remember to start writing my thank you letter,” Kelvin said, as the pain became noticeably worse.
“Yeah, what’s wrong with you? Why couldn’t we have done this up at the palace?” Amelia shouted.
“This gravity is our last line of defense. This is called the Sanctuary Spring, and it only runs this deep in the canyon. It’s what kept my mother and the first Gravity Warriors alive for nearly a hundred years as they prepared to retake their planet. It will give you new strength and allow your body to do things in this environment that it couldn’t.”
All Amelia and Kelvin cared about was making the pain stop. As it increased, it forced their muscles to move faster out of reaction to the pain. Their bodies were in panic mode and if the water would help, they were willing to jump in. Mara didn’t fully understand what the Sanctuary Spring did, but she didn’t see anything harmful in it. What she didn’t know is that it would change Kelvin and Amelia forever. Even if she had known, there would have been no choice.
The two of them stepped up to the edge of the large pool gently lowered their bodies into the water. It was warm, not too hot, and it brought them instant relief. They both took a deep breath and went under. It wasn’t very deep at all and when they came up, it was barely to their chest.
“You’ll need to stay in there for a few minutes,” Teve said. He walked over to a panel on the wall and pressed his hand to it. Suddenly, the entire cavern lit up brightly, revealing itself to be a massive library. Books, ornate armor, and other staffs lined the spaces between the shelves. “This is the Archive. All the knowledge and history of the Gravity Warriors is stored here. The only reason you two are permitted here is that the highest teacher in the Gravity Warriors has allowed it. I am her student and son, so I will do what she tells me, but please show me the respect of not taking a single second of this for granted. People study for years before even being allowed to set foot in this temple. The lessons I will teach you, I do because our time is limited. You both need to know how to defend yourselves, and if the fight comes to you, to return it.”
Amelia noticed that not only was the pain gone, but she felt very light. It didn’t feel like she was standing in a pool of water. It was as if the water was like air passing around her. She moved to hop out of the pool but didn’t know her own strength, so she ended up propelling herself out and onto the ground. Amelia had just jumped nearly five feet in the air, completely effortless. Luckily, Amelia landed on her feet. When she turned, Kelvin looked at her surprised and confused.
“Millie…how’d you do that?” Kelvin said.
“You call a lieutenant by her first name? Have some respect, my lord,” Teve snapped at Kelvin.
Kelvin ignored him and could tell instantly Amelia didn’t have an answ
er for him. She looked even more surprised than he was. Kelvin moved to get out the pool himself and started to jump up to get himself out, but suddenly shot up into the air. He couldn’t tell how high he’d gone, but he guessed more than ten feet. His landing was not as lucky as Amelia’s –– he landed flat on his back.
The impact stung for a few seconds, but by the time Kelvin lifted his head up, he felt no pain at all. Every sensation was different. He felt light, just like Amelia, and movement was effortless.
“You have bonded with our gravity. From this moment on, when you are in the presence of Venus and its gravity, you will share in its strength,” Teve said.
“I don’t understand,” Kelvin said.
“And I don’t expect you too. We still don’t understand, and there have been countless scholars that have devoted their lives into discovering how the gravity here touches us and allows us these abilities –– and still, no one has an answer. I doubt we ever will, but today your first lesson will be climbing to the top of this tower. The Archive stretches two-thousand feet up into the canyon. As you saw, there are stairs out there, which you are welcome to use, or you can test your new lease on the planet’s force and try to get to the top. We will not move on to the next lesson until you get to the top.”
Teve turned and shot up into toward the skylight at the top of the ceiling, rising a few hundred feet into the air, and then turned back down and dove straight toward them. At the very last second, as he was about to smash into the rock platform, he flipped over himself and landed on his feet.
“Stairs are useful and have their purpose, but they were never meant to climb two-thousand feet. Especially for those of us who can do this,” Teve said, as he shot up again, even faster, and quickly vanished in the height of the Archive. The ceiling seemed like it went on forever, even if it was completely illuminated.
Kelvin and Amelia were sure he’d be waiting for them at the top.
“So he expects us to do what he just did?” Kelvin said.
“Something like that. I mean, you saw how far we threw ourselves just trying to climb out of the pool. Imagine if we tried to jump. Even just a little bit,” Amelia said.
Kelvin smiled and narrowed his eyes. “You first.”
Amelia shook her head. “I knew you were gonna say that. No problem at all but I thought you were supposed to be the hot shot at zero gravity.”
Amelia didn’t wait for him to respond and she flew fast into the sky as soon as her feet left the ground. In less than three-seconds, she was a hundred feet off the ground.
“Oh my gosh!” Amelia shouted. “Kelvin…this is amazing.”
It was, too. There was no sense of resistance or fear of falling. Amelia felt perfectly safe because as soon as she came to a stop, she just floated in mid-air. To test her movements, she tried to dive forward, and she started to coast back down toward the ground. As soon as she pulled herself upright, she came to a halt.
Kelvin took a deep breath and jumped up, rising through the air just as quickly as Amelia had. As he passed her, Amelia kicked off and continued to rise, following him. She’d noticed how Teve occasionally kicked off with one leg as he moved through the canyon. It wasn’t long before she was in the lead and soared far above Kelvin.
“Hey!” He said as she roared ahead of him. He started to kick with his legs, but not nearly as gracefully and precise as Amelia. The movement he made through the air was in shorter spurts. Kelvin eventually got the hang of it, but it would be hard to catch up to Amelia, whom he guessed was not slowing down.
Amelia couldn’t guess what distance she’d traveled, but she imagined she was getting close to the height of a skyscraper and still nowhere close to the top of the Archive ceiling. As she got higher, the skylight became brighter, and she could see how detailed the Archive’s walls were. She looked down and couldn’t see Kelvin, but was sure he’d get the hang of it and catch up.
When Amelia looked back up, she realized she had not been aware of how fast she was going, and the giant glass window was right in front of her. Amelia tried to stop, but she slammed into the strong glass. The glass didn’t even make a sound, but Amelia felt a quick sting of pain. It was intense but lasted only a couple seconds, and suddenly, it was like nothing happened. The pain was gone.
When she shook off the shock of the impact, she saw Teve standing at the highest terrace, watching her and laughing.
“Not bad, lieutenant,” Teve said. “You’ve learned speed, but that can sometimes be a curse before learning how to control it. I see you’ve beaten his royal highness to the top of the Archive, so teacher’s compliments to you,” Teve said. Amelia noticed the disdain in his voice at the expression royal highness.
“Why do you mock him like that?” Amelia said, defiantly. “You don’t know what he’s been through. Do you have any siblings?”
Teve’s face dropped and Amelia knew immediately the question was one she shouldn’t have asked.
“I’m an only child.”
Amelia could tell there was more to the story, but decided to stick to her point. She wanted Teve to give Kelvin a chance, just as much as she wanted him to giver her one. Their intentions to stand with the Gravity Warriors were real and she wanted to prove that to him.
“Then imagine if your own family turned on you, along with someone you’ve been told to trust with your life. Have you ever been attacked? I know you and your family can do things most people can’t. Have you ever had your life threatened?”
Dark memories flooded Teve’s mind. He remembered to mind his breathing when the bad moments came back to him. Amelia had no idea the terrible things Teve had seen. Teve heard about what happened to the Monarch, but he didn’t consider it had affected Kelvin. The Venusian prince thought of Kelvin as a spoiled child who had no idea what it was to protect his people. Despite Kelvin’s intention to stand with Venus being honorable, Teve didn’t think Kelvin deserved the honor of fighting alongside the Gravity Warriors.
Teve didn’t see that in Amelia, though. He saw more strength in her and respected the fact that she wanted to serve Earth Navy. The soaked Earth Navy uniform she wore at that moment seemed more proper for her than the one Kelvin wore, which Teve considered disrespectful since Kelvin wasn’t on active duty. Teve tolerated the notion of the Nine Kingdoms, but he didn’t care for the more ceremonial parts of it. That’s what Kelvin represented to him.
Teve knew what happened when royalty took itself too seriously. He was skeptical of Kelvin. One thing he was certain of was Amelia’s loyalty to Kelvin, as well as a fierceness in her will to protect him. That increased what small amount of respect he had for Kelvin. If someone like Amelia felt loyalty to him, there must be something to him.
“I can imagine,” Teve said. “I wonder, though, if you two have seen such horrors, why do you not offer what services you say you bring to Venus to your own people? You’re an officer of Earth Navy and you abandoned them to come to follow this prince.”
“You don’t know anything about me or why I’m here. Why don’t you just stick to talking about gravity and how you’re so much more civilized than the rest of the Nine Kingdoms? You don’t need to try and figure out what I’m here for. You’re loyal to your people and I’m loyal to my friends.”
There was no better way Amelia could have said it and Teve had no response. The last moments before Kelvin arrived were silent, until he smashed into the glass, ricocheting hard off of it just as Amelia had. Kelvin shook off the momentary stinging and then noticed Teve and Amelia both watched him.
“Wow!” Kelvin said a wide smile on his face. “This is nothing like the zero-gravity simulator on the Monarch. So I guess it’s time for our next lesson.”
Teve raised an eyebrow and suddenly dove back down the Archive.
“Follow me,” he yelled from below. Kelvin and Amelia both shrugged and dove down to follow.
Kelvin was so used to his thruster suit he kept moving his body like he was in one. He felt so free feeling the air against h
is face as his velocity increased, but his clunky muscle memory kept steering him off course, forcing him to make small corrections. Kelvin dragged behind Amelia and Teve, barely keeping up. Amelia had no problem and continued to mimic Teve’s movements.
Teve unexpectedly moved toward an open passageway on the wall. Amelia and Kelvin were barely able to follow, and Kelvin actually smashed his shoulder against the wall as he turned. The pain was bad but vanished in a couple seconds. Amelia noticed it, and just like Kelvin, she was equally puzzled about their new resilience to pain.
They moved through a dimly lit corridor, just as fast as they were before. The corridor seemed to go on forever, and the close quarters forced Kelvin to become more coordinated. His flying got smoother and he noticed Teve started to slow down. Kelvin and Amelia didn’t know how to slow down.
“Let your body go limp. It’s the tension in your muscles that let the gravity know you want to fly. If you use dead weight, it slows you down,” Teve said.
They watched him slightly lower his arms, not too different from how ancient jets used to tilt their wings. They did the same thing and felt their bodies slow and lower toward the ground.
“What most people have trouble with is the landing. Slowly lower your legs and move them in a running motion. You’re probably going to fall but just practice.”
There was no landing, but Amelia and Kelvin both tripped and tumbled down the corridor. They lifted themselves off quickly and turned to Teve, who stood between two doors on opposite sides of the corridor.
“Lesson two is to get some rest. These are your quarters. There’s plenty of food in each. Eat a good dinner, drink a lot of water, and get sleep. I can tell you’re both exhausted from your travel and tomorrow you will begin your training. You’ll need your strength,” Teve said.