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Before Namingway, the gate groaned. Those great stone doors of funerary aquamarine and grey lines swung open. The stone tiling of the chambers inside was lit by the orange and blue tones of the concept crystals bulging from the walls. The Palace spoke of things laid to rest with words of moon dust, and shone its hope for the morrow with the light of stored knowledge.
As far as Namingway was concerned, its caretaker was far more than a living epitaph.
‘Greetings and salutations, Watcher! I’m here, as you requested,’ Namingway said as he strode past the gate and into the Palace’s ground floor.
The Watcher’s arcane voice echoed from his Amaurotine seat: ‘It is a pleasure to witness the crimson brightness of your garb once more, Namingway.’
‘Likewise for your starry-white robe,’ the loporrit replied as he reached the centre of the floor. There, he gave a smile to the tallest of interlocutors. ‘Seems like you’ve had more chances to build your conversational skills since last we spoke. It’s been a while, hasn’t it?’
‘Indeed. A scant few lunar revolutions over a hundred years, if my count remains accurate.’
Namingway nodded.
For a moment, they held each other’s gaze, as much as one could hold the gaze of a faceless, masked construct. There’s a warmth of recognition, an instant understanding you get in times like these, Namingway thought, that only another construct of Hydaelyn's making could bring. A pendulum swung on the wall high above the two of them, its crystalline weight glittering brightly, tick-tocking away the minutes.
‘So,’ Namingway started, ‘have you heard of our developments elsewhere on the moon?’
‘That is precisely why I have summoned you thus. Might you favour me with a retelling of you and your kin’s advancements, thus far?’ The Watcher’s hooded head turned towards the crystal-affixed walls, and Namingway knew that he was focused somewhere beyond them. ‘My very existence is bound to Sinus Lacrimarum, but as Hydaelyn bade me watch over her moon and her people, I would know the sum of the loporrits’ achievements, and their choices in attaining them.’
‘Certainly!’
With the Watcher’s encouragement, Namingway deposited his backpack against the iron structure that held a globe model of Etheirys.
‘I see your dictionaries have grown manifold as well,’ the Watcher commented, with a hint of humour that surprised the loporrit.
Afterwards, the ancient helped Namingway up to the wide metal railing that circled the globe, where he could sit while remaining level with the Watcher’s head. For the next bell, Namingway rifled through his memories of lunar exploration as he dangled his legs over the railing.
He told the Watcher about stellar conveyances, rainbow-lit portals and spherical domes of ashen-white shielding. In Sinus Ardorum, the loporrits had worked with the people of Etheirys to map new, surprising formations of rock and dirt, and uncovered both foul and sweet-smelling new species of fungi. They had tunneled through mountains and uncovered gleaming chasms, aetherial waterfalls and more.
‘Crystal overgrowths and weather patterns still throw the teams for a loop now and then, but you should see the way our technology has improved!’
The Watcher’s voice reverberated like laughter. ‘I should like to, but your account shall have to suffice.’
‘Oh, right. Of course,’ Namingway said, scratching his head. ‘I got carried away.’
‘It is clear that man has endeavoured to reach the cosmos with due diligence. But, pray tell, what of the stars beyond?’
‘You’d like to know about the planets we’ve visited after the moon?’ Namingway’s ears perked up. ‘I’ll tell you all about it!’
The retelling of the cosmic exploration initiative took a few more bells, but nothing could take the wind out of Namingway’s sails as he relived some of the most thrilling adventures he had had. Exploring with my fellow loporrits and those of Etheirys made for a completely different experience compared to when I mapped the star all on my lonesome!
I wish I’d had company back then, too. Oh well. What’s done is done.
‘Most intriguing,’ the Watcher said as Namingway finished his tale. ‘The inhabitants of Auxesia, as you have described them, are not unlike watchers of their own kind. As I awaited the coming of Hydaelyn’s chosen, so too did they await the awakening contact of another species.’
‘You think so?’ Namingway ran his hand over his whiskers gleefully. ‘I had the same idea!’ I just didn’t know whether it was rude to say it myself, so it’s a good thing you did!
The Watcher reclined against his chair, seemingly absent-minded. ‘Hydaelyn placed Her trust in you and yours, and I held no doubts about your worthiness. Nonetheless, it does me well to hear of your progress, and of your enduring love for the world.’
Namingway knew how to accept a compliment, so he simply grinned and nodded.
‘And what of you, Namingway?’ Tilting his head, the ancient focused on the loporrit. ‘Where shall your footfalls resound next, now that you are returned from that grand journey across the night sky?’
‘Well…’ Namingway scratched his chin. ‘I suppose I could continue mapping new parts of the stars we’ve reached. There’re still some shuttles going to and fro. Plus, I imagine that some day, civilians may be authorised to travel there too, and it’d be great to have a full map to offer them by then.’ He shook his finger. ‘Helps reduce accidents!’
The Watcher kept quiet. Namingway could imagine a smile on his face, behind the mask.
‘However…’
Namingway’s eyes wandered and he turned to face the large globe that he sat beside. Though it was unpowered and therefore showed no features, they both knew it represented the star that they had been tasked with protecting, each in their own way.
‘I’ve been thinking of coming back to Etheirys.’
‘You plan to take your ease, then? None would gainsay your decision.’
‘No…’ Namingway sighed. ‘Livingway told me about what happened while I was gone.’ Just as the Watcher had done, he cast his attention towards what lay beyond the opaque walls — in the direction of the pit where Zodiark had dwelt. ‘With the voidsent and the Thirteenth. The Solstice and the natural rejoinings.’
‘...They are troubling developments, to be sure. I am told that the Scions are working to prevent such an event from taking place, and the many societies of Etheirys alongside them.’
‘Right. And I don’t think I can be of much help with that, but it got me thinking…’ Namingway crossed his arms. ‘We don’t have maps of most of the reflections, do we? They’re part of the star too. One of the Scions, the one that Livingway likes to work with — Urianger, I think — he has a map of the First, but that’s about it.’ He cleared his throat. ‘And of course, even those names could perhaps be improved upon, but that’s neither here nor there.’
If the Watcher still had eyebrows, his voice made it sound like they would be raised. ‘So, you would venture to other reflections to explore them as well?’
‘Yes! After all, someone has to do it! If we’re going to prevent the rejoinings, the reflections will keep existing. I know that travelling there isn’t easy right now, but neither was it easy to reach the planets across the firmament, and we’ve done that too. Who knows how far we can go when we all put our minds to it!’
Again the Watcher laughed, and the animated display caught Namingway by surprise once more. It’s like he’s coming more and more alive lately. He’s nothing like how he used to be when I left the moon, all those years ago.
I’m glad that we’ve all found a new purpose, in a way.
‘Very well. Then, of the remaining reflections, what shall be your first target?’
‘Why, the void, naturally! It’s spilled over into the moon enough times that we might as well get a good look at it.’
‘...You are doubtless aware, Namingway, that due to the Flood of Darkness, the Thirteenth has been scoured of much vitality and colour. That most of it, by all accounts, lay in ruin.’
At that moment, the silence that filled the grey-brown inner walls of the palace seemed more apt to Namingway than ever. The crystals glowed, though with hesitation or expectation, he could not tell.
‘In such a land where little remains,’ the Watcher continued, ‘what shall you hope to find? Would it not be more wise to direct your attention to those realms that yet teem with life and people, that they may make use of your work?’
Namingway shook his head resolutely. ‘No. If nothing exists, then it hasn’t been named yet! There’s always something, somewhere. It’s like when you feel sad or anxious. Until you name it, you’re unsure and confused. But then you put a name on it, and suddenly it all makes sense. It’s the first kind of life you can give back to a place, I think.’ His smile was radiant. ‘We’ll bring the void back one name at a time. It might take ages to do more than that, but that’s where I can get started!’
He straightened his back. ‘Provided I can secure a talisman — a warding scale, Livingway told me — and permission to go there, of course. Oh, and a proper entry point too.’
There was a warm smile in the Watcher’s voice. ‘Most living beings would shy away from the void, but you continue to go against the grain, my friend.’ He shook his head in a way that signified disbelief. ‘Still, to think that you…’
Namingway tilted his head. ‘To think that I…?’
The Watcher crossed his arms in reflection. ‘We are all creations of Hydaelyn, but that is the extent of our relationship. I would never liken you and yours to Her biological children, no more than I would compare myself, and yet…’ He faced Namingway. ‘If one were to overstep and draw such a comparison, then I would venture that you, Namingway, are the one loporrit who most clearly inherited Her spirit.’
‘What? Me?...’ Namingway blinked several times. ‘Hydaelyn’s spirit?’
‘Perhaps, not Hydaelyn’s spirit, but rather… Venat’s spirit, as I faintly remember it.’ He chuckled softly. ‘Her bravery and taste for exploring the unknown. Her desire to venture wheresoever she was needed, regardless of the vexation and chastisement it invited from her peers. Her love for the star, in its many ways and shapes.’
It was a rare occurrence, but Namingway felt his eyes sting and his throat tighten. ‘Ah, well, I see.’ He rubbed his nose. ‘I don’t think I’m capable of much like Venat, though. I just…’ He gestured to his backpack. ‘I just carry dictionaries around and make up words, smash them together. I’m not helping anyone like an adventurer or a Scion.’
The Watcher nodded. ‘That is what you do for our star, Namingway. Regardless, you are your own self, and let no one tell you otherwise, least of all this relic of ages past.’
Signalling the end of their conversation, the Watcher extended his arms. Namingway accepted the help to get down from his perch. Once he was done re-equipping his backpack, he turned to the ancient and cleared his throat.
‘I’ll see you next time, Watcher!’ He offered a toothsome grin as a parting gift. ‘Next time, I’ll tell you about the void!’
The Watcher waved, the way he had done a hundred years prior.
‘Once your work is completed, Namingway, you shall know where to find me.’