Chapter 13 - Interlude

With their backs pressed against the cold metal surface of the articulating platform the three friends and Phlip took a brief moment to gather themselves. Philip lay nuzzled against Mari with his large floppy head resting over her shoulder. An array of glowing orbs dotted the sky, moving gently from the distant mountain range. As they moved closer, long tendrils could be seen lofting in the air, dangling below the colorful orbs.

Mari pulled out some pizza and without a word distributed a slice to her exhausted friends. With the spire at the top of their field of view, they knew there was still a lot of work ahead of them.

One of the floating orbs detached from the formation and drew close to their position on the platform. Within the mass of glowing jelly coalesced what appeared to be a miniature universe, swimming with stars and galaxies. The colors swirled and the long tendrils grew close, within a tails length of them.

Mari felt a sense of calm wash over her, as if the weight of The Glorp was momentarily lifted. A gentle voice spoke into her mind, “Even in darkness, there is light, in pain, relief, in despair, hope.”

Tips of the tendrils detached and flaked towards the friends, like massive snowflakes on a calm winter day. The gang basked in this brief moment of respite and a surge of energy rushed over their bodies.

The jelly tendril tips glowed with an intensity upon landing and Mari picked one up to examine it in her small paw. The calm was overwhelming and an urge to consume this jelly tip drew her paw towards her mouth. Before she could think, it was already there, the texture was smooth and firm and a wave of energy pulsed through her mind in a faded reverberation. She fell back, but did not hit the ground, instead gently floating just above.

Jerro, Greg and Phlip watched as her eyes flashed to a soft white glow with hues of blue streaking outward, arms and legs gently laid out.

Mari was back in the temple from her dream, with the ornate white columns and segmented mosaic map covering the floor.

“What is this place?” She thought to herself again, “Why do I keep coming here…”

She moved to the outer edge of the temple where the steps led down to the cracked clay landscape which stretched out until it disappeared and met a line of silhouetted mountains reaching into the dark, blood red sky.

“The sky.” Mari put it together, speaking aloud. This was the sky of The Glorp.

The same darkened red sky dotted with glowing orbs filled her vision again as her eyes returned to normal and her body came to a rest against the smooth metal, with the jagged spire looming above her.

“Uhhh, you okay Mari?” Greg asked concernedly. “Yeah… I’m, I’ve never felt better actually, you guys should try that.” Mari calmly responded.

“You want us to eat some random jelly stuff from a creature on an unknown plane of existence?” Jerro confirmed with sarcasm.

“I do, yeah” Mari said plainly as she got to her feet.

Greg popped one in his mouth without further need to be convinced and repeated the process that they had just witnessed Mari experience.

As an observer, the whole thing went by in a mere second or two compared to what felt like several minutes when Mari ate the jelly tip.

“Woah… yeah, let's get this!” Greg said as he came back from the journey.

Jerro followed suit reluctantly but came back a few seconds later with a similar epiphany, a gentle tear ran down from his eye and he wiped it off.

“You okay buddy?” Greg asked Jerro, plopping a paw on his shoulder, “Yeah man, I’m good.” Jerro said, a genuine smile taking over his face, “Let's go kick that giant hyrax square in the butt.”