The sun had set, and Jayne went back to her shed. Humming the rhyme; "As I was going to St. Ives". The details had given her enough to contemplate for a few hours. She changed course on the way to her shed, and headed to the river instead. It was a full moon that night, and she knew it would be beautiful. After her previously stringent warning from the little golden detail girl, she opted to go observe some detail to make up for what she hadn't. Upon approaching the water, she went to her knees to rinse her face, but before she had gone all the way to her knees, she noticed a little golden flec on her boot. Reaching down to touch it, she noticed that it was more of a ball than a flec. She took it off her boot and rolled it between her index finger and her thumb. It was quite beautiful. She tucked it in her haversack, but not being one to keep unnecessary things, she planned on giving it to Lilliana later. Again, pulling off her fingerless gloves, she went to her knees to rinse her face. Another thing stopped her though. She wasn't by a part of the river that was moving very fast, so the reflection of herself was bright in the moonlit part she had bent towards. Never having noticed what her face looked like in the moon light, she paused for a moment to examine it. Then the more unexpected happened. Was there something behind her? She turned quickly. No. Cautiously, not willing to believe there was something on her back, she reached behind her.
Something so soft she could barely feel it reached her fingertips. An owl with eyes too vivid watched contentedly. She stood in shock under the moonlight, while only twenty feet away, Lilliana was experiencing a similar fate.
After another soaking bath, Lilliana rose and dressed, and decided to walk for some fresh air. the sun had just set while she neared the deepest recesses of the river pools. A shimmering silver pond was eerily still.
"Lilliana."
She jumped around. There was no one else in her clearing as far as she could see.
"Lilly."
She trembled. "Jayne?" she asked hopefully.
"No." came the voice. "Step further."
"Who are you?" A single tear fell down Lilly's face, and as it ran down her cheek, the path it left was soothed. She stepped away from the voice and into the nearest pool. Somewhere in the dark, a blackened owl took flight.
Sinking. But never sunk. Down and down into the darkness she drowned. Was it really never ending? It didn't matter. Lilly hadn't realized how uncomfortable she was until her itching skin was soothed and her eyes were able to close at last. The thought crossed her mind that she could be dying. But if this was death, it was more comfortable than life. Staying here forever seemed to suit her. Wait.... where was here? Nothing seemed solid. Stretching her arms out, they seemed to glimmer because they were so pale. The pool seemed to flash green, but it wasn't so much a flash, because it stayed. Peering through the dark recesses of the pool, she saw something moving. The fact that she could see something moving didn't catch her off guard nearly as badly as the fact that she could see to begin with! Just then, a tingling sensation flowed through her back, as if it was an electric current. She reached behind her to rub her back, but just before her hand found the back of the sundress, her fingertips touched something so soft she could barely feel it. Turning her head slowly, she saw a transparent something attached to her back. Out of instinct, she began to head for the top of the pool to catch her breath. How long had she been under, anyways? Upon reaching the top and swimming to the more shallow parts of the pool, she stood up. It was broad day light. Surely it hadn't been when she went under. It had been late at night, so what was going on then? Lilliana never thought to look up from eye level, but it would have behooved her to. Jayne rested lightly on a branch above her, reading a paperback novel. Because Lilliana had left the pool without so much as a dripping or splashing noise, Jayne hadn't thought to look down from her book.
Jayne finished her novel. Lightly springing down from the tree, she leaned against the trunk and pondered for a moment. These "wings" (as she liked to think of them) softened her foot steps, and they were silent when they moved. How did they move, exactly? This was something that had never before presented itself to Jayne's line of thinking. She began to think about how she had gotten them to move the last time. Thinking. Yes, thinking seemed to be the way to go. All she had to do was think about moving them, and voila. Now, taking to the air was quite above her. No matter how much thought she put into it, the wings didn't take her off the ground. A song ran through her head... something about "take these broken wings and learn to fly, all your life", but that was a song about a bird, flight came naturally to a bird. The closest Jayne had ever come to flight was a time when she was ten years old, scouting an area for camp, when she fell, crashing out of a large birch tree. That time, she had broken multiple bones, she didn't wish to replicate it. Flight was not something that necessarily interested her, so these wings seemed to be the perfect match. They softened her footsteps and helped her into trees, as well of softened her leaps out of them.
Part Six
Discovery of the Skies
A bright goldfinch thought it was a perfect time. He flitted down on to Lilliana's shoulder, and they both disappeared, leaving behind nothing but a bit of pink glitter, and the flowers Lilliana had been holding. Lilliana appeared in a white, airy, and breezy room with a high, arched ceiling and royal blue gauzy drapes around the large, open windows. She invited the finch onto her finger, only to watch incredulously as it flickered like a hologram and morphed into a blue-jay, which then disappeared all together. She turned 360 degrees, taking in the whole room.
Meanwhile the blue-jay took to a spindly little song whilst perched on a branch..... waiting. Sure enough, the subject he had been waiting for came right under his perch. He began to glow. He flapped down until he was right behind her, eyes set on her shoulder, planning to land. Then Jayne turned and ducked. The jay turned and tried again, and again Jayne turned and dodged him. She started to walk away. The blue-jay let out an indignant squawk. It took a moment for Jayne to notice, then she thought "That didn't sound like a normal seed bird.". The bird tailed her for the next mile. If he stayed to the darker recesses of the trees, she couldn't see him. He had changed his form twice more, once a big black owl and now a plain, delicate chickadee. This time, he succeeded in landing on her shoulder. Jayne gasped as she no longer found herself in the woods, but in a large, airy room with Lilly. Lilliana was sitting on a window ledge with her head in her hands. Not crying, not whimpering, but sitting as though she had a headache.
Now Jayne didn't notice anything odd about Lilliana's appearance, because Lilliana's wings had vanished the moment her back dried off. Lilliana, in turn, noticed nothing odd about Jayne's appearance. This was simply because Jayne had folded her wings inwards to hide them in her coat.
She laid a hand on Lilly's shoulder. Both girls looked up sharply as a new addition came to the room. Flickering like he was nothing but light, he solidified. Apparently in a frenzied state, he was swinging his arms around, swatting at something neither of them could see. Yet another contrast was drawn when Jayne noticed his boots, old fashioned vest and the goggles propped unceremoniously on his thick brown hair, which stuck out in odd angles everywhere. Lilliana only noticed that his feet were muddy, yet they failed to muddy the white floor. He was definitely De Troup, "Matter out of place". He stopped and stared at a spot on the floor, transfixed; then he looked up, slightly startled that he was not alone. "Should I begin with asking the obvious questions, such as why I'm here and who you are?" He emphasized the "you" with a certain gusto that could be interpreted no other way besides him thinking Lilly and Jayne were behind this, somehow. He seemed oddly casual. Jayne was indignant.
"Excuse me, we just got here too." she said brusquely.
"Well where is this place?" he glowered at her.
"How should I know? Who are you, anyways?"
"Hutchen. Beggin' yer pardon, miss." he said in a funny accent with a bow to Jayne. Her eyes narrowed. Lilliana then stood up before Jayne could further insult his logic and presuppos
itions. "Aren't we all trying to-" she was cut off as yet another newcomer approached. This newcomer didn't flicker into existence as the other three had done. He walked through a nearly invisible door in the pristine white wall. He wore a dark red vest over a pitch black shirt, with red slacks to match. Eyes sunken, cheeks hollow, hair thinning, he was definitely old. The white hair on his head was slicked back to lay flat on his skull. Not a piece was out of place.
He was so sharply in contrast to the airiness of the rest of the room that Lilliana (who had the most time to observe everything before his entrance) actually winced as she attempted to focus her eyes on his small figure. "Follow me, if you care to know why you're here. You may stay, of course." said the man in a small, cracked voice. They turned and did as he stated. Following the old man down corridor after corridor, Hutchen had taken the lead of the three. Jayne sulked second, and Lilliana loafed easily behind.
The seemingly pointless journey the old man had lead them on brought them to a room identical to the first, but with a large mirror over one wall, and four colored outlines shaped like circles on the floor. Then he left. Jayne looked down at her tattered boots, feeling more awkward and out of place than ever. Hutchen didn't feel out of place himself, but looked at Jayne and noticed how seriously out of place she was. Lilly stared at their backs. Jayne's figure was garbed in her normal clothing, a comfortable looking dark green shirt with ties at the top over a fitted brown shirt, and dark brown pants that seemed to meld with the flexible and tattered brown boots she was wearing. This with her leather haversack made her look like some sort of wood nymph. Hutchen was wearing a faded button down, (his vest now slung over his arm) and cargo pants, oddly accompanied by a pair of muddy boots. Lilliana felt like he was a bit of a pirate. The old man pulled each of them out of their speculations as he returned and directed them to stand in the outlined circles on the floor. They were evenly spaced, Lilliana by the wall, then Jayne, an empty circle, then Hutchen. The old man had them all facing the mirror. He exited again. They stared into the mirror, and saw their reflections begin to swim. This mirror held their gaze like nothing else. Jayne and Hutchen's reflections disappeared. Lilliana's then, as if it had a mind of it's own, reached up to her shoulder and pulled something no one could see off of it, then proceeded to sit down on the window ledge, it looked scared and confused. Then Jayne's appeared, after she twirled to get a good look at the room, she strode over to sit with Lilliana and laid a hand on her back. Then Hutchen's appeared, swatting at something that no one could see again and looking awkwardly out of place. The whole scene replayed through their reflections. Then the old man appeared, and showed them out. Their reflections flickkered, and a new one appeared. A man in a yellow jerkin and blue vest with a flat cap and lace up, mid-calf boots caught their eye immediately. Eccentric, yes. Not to mention he wasn't nearly as casual as Hutchin had been. Upon seeing the old man, he swept dramatically over to him. The old man ushered him out just as he had the other three, then behind them, a door clicked open behind them and the man in the blue vest walked in, only to be shown to the unoccupied circle on the floor. Their reflections returned to normal. As if he was announcing a show, the old man took to the front of the room and began his discourse.
"I know you all have questions, but I must first say how honored I am to be here. This is truly a lovely assembly." the four looked around at each other. Little girl, Broadway actor, wood nymph, and muddy airship pirate? Was he really talking about the same assembly as they were seeing?
"Now, without further delay, who would like to ask the first question?"
Jayne and Hutchen began talking at the same time.
"Where are we?" they inquired in unison.
"Now that," said the old man "is a very common question indeed. We are above the clouds, in the hazy blue right above them. Any more questions?"
Lilliana was the next, she timidly raised her hand. "Excuse me, but what is this place?"
Chortling with laughter (although nobody else saw what was so very funny) the old man answered. "This is the confined home of the Skies."
"And what are the Skies?" Hutchen asked, spitting out the last word as he had a tendency to do.
"The Skies are what has been giving you all the strange or odd things that have happened to you in the last few days. Lilliana.." he pointed, she was very taken aback that he knew her name. "..has been the only one to accept these gifts without question." Jayne was shocked that odd things had been happening to Lilly as well as herself. "Lilly? What happ-" but the old man interrupted. "All questions to be directed to the front, please!" His voice rose an octave.
Jayne's eyes narrowed. "What are we doing here?"
"You are standing, at the moment."
"What have you done to Lilliana?"
"Madam, I assure you I have done nothing. It was the Skies."
"Fine. What have the 'Skies' done to Lilliana."
"It is different for everyone." he sighed. "Miss Lilly, what was your gift?"
Lilliana faltered. "I... it has to do with.... with water, I think."
"Spikes or wings?" asked the old man.
"Wings." said Lilly.
"Ah, you're lucky." the old man smiled, the kind that reached his eyes.
That was when the room sort of dissolved before their eyes. A blue and silver cloud rushed in and took the form of a tall man, though he seemed to have wiped all the detail from the room. As though he had consumed all the detail, he was more defined than anything they had ever seen.... execept for what Jayne had seen. He reminded her so strongly of the little golden girl that had slid off the sunset, she shouted out. "I know who you are!"
The face of the man turned towards her.
"You're related to the Details, even if you aren't one of them!"
"No one is related to the Details. They do not multiply, they simply are there when you are."
Jayne blushed, and looked away. Fortunately, the man began to talk. "Thank you Lawrence, you are dismissed." The old man bowed low and exited.
"I am not the details, I am one of the Skies. We have limited time here, so I will convey my message as simply as possible. You have all been given a gift, a gift to use however you chose. It needn't be 'for good' or 'for evil'. You haven't been given more than you can handle. Dismissal will take place soon, and that's rough. I can't tell you where it will be, but simply survive and return to your homes, and life shall return as usual."
"Why would we want to play your silly game?" the Actor sneered.
"Because you get to keep the perks you pick up along the way, we'll make it worth your while." he smiled and dissolved again, into nothing, and the room received it's detail once again.
Then they all fell.