1. Green carnation city luster

While the moon cast its light upon the city of Utgard, the Orichalcum facades glittered and fractured the moonlight into a million pieces. Flower petals hovered above the asphalt, saturated the ground with emerald and silver, and masqueraded the urban cityscape with a meadow.

The city’s party noises had long subsided, and the night birds trudged towards their beds or any object that in their drunken brilliance would provide for a substitute. Crickets and cicada played their songs to which the people on the streets marched like the undead. Their heads hung from their shoulders, their feet followed lines as straight as rainbows, and their half-open eyes barely reflected consciousness. Only one individual refused to obey the insects’ tact.

Nephthys strolled through the illusionary grassland. He hummed a song and bobbed his head whenever he skipped a step. Under the lights, the asphalt and his legs disappeared.

“Yahoo. It’s like I’m dancing through the water.” He giggled. “Or maybe through a flower field.”

He raised his leg and spun his body around its axis. His body performed several pirouettes until he stopped, and his eyes looked at a house that rose from the ocean of emerald lights. He walked towards its door and rang the doorbell.

Half a minute passed, and Amakusa opened the door.“ Amakusa Shirou, apostle of Ymir here. How can I be of help?” The priest put a smile on his face. If he tried to hide his eye bags, his efforts wouldn’t work. “What are you doing here?”

“I was partying with some friends nearby and thought to pay you a visit.”

The priests’ grey pupils focused on Nephthys, and his smile disappeared. “Do you know how late it is?”

“Haho.” Nephthys waved his hand. “It’s never too late for a poor soul to seek guidance.”

“Since when do you need my guidance?”

“Of course, I do.” Nephthys pointed at himself. “Please guide me towards a warm bed.”

Amakusa sighed. He ruffled his colorless hair and went with his hand through his braid. “Can’t you just take a ride home?”

“Don’t wanna.” Nephthys puffed his cheeks. “And I’m not gonna let some tuk-tuk driver rip me off.”

“Well, my humble home serves as a confession booth. If you truly seek forgiveness and wish to repent for your sins, then say the words, and I will let you in.”

“Of course.” Nephthys grinned. “I’m sorry, daddy. I’ve been naughty, so please punish me.”

Amakusa slammed his door close without a second to spare and left Nephthys outside.

A minute later, the door opened again, and Avici stood before him.

Nephthys whistled. His eyes inspected Avici’s body from head to toe. He had exposed his defined musculature to the world, and only a towel covered him below his belt line.

“Please come inside.” Avici pointed inside. “I wish to apologize for my husband’s uncouth behavior. It seems years of serenity made him forget the sacred pillar of hospitality.”

Nephthys shook his head. “No, no. I didn’t know you two were busy. I should better go.”

“It’s too late for that.” Amakusa smiled. “So, don’t stand there like a tree and come in. I’ve prepared the couch for you.”

Nephthys nodded and followed them into their living room.

“It is not much, so I hope it can suit you.”

“It’s fine, it’s fine. You shouldn't have put the effort.”

“Those who turn away a guest shall never become guests themselves. Anyway, we have some baklava in the kitchen. Dear, would you please bring them?” Avici kissed Amakusa on the lips, and Amakusa walked away.

“You have baklava?” Nephthys made big eyes, and his face started to glow. “It’s almost impossible to find some in Utgard. How did you get it?”

“I know someone who regularly trades with merchants from Kemet-Raa. She ordered a few packages for me.”

“I really miss eating them.”

“Why did you come this late to us?”

Nephthys averted his eyes and fumbled with his fingers. “With how the streets looked, I just felt like seeing you guys.”

Avici smiled. “Ah, yes. When you first arrived in Utgard. I remember the city glittering like tonight when we found you. I still consider it a miracle that you survived the crash.”

“A miracle, huh?” Nephthys lowered his head. “I wonder about that.”

Avici looked at Nephthys for a few seconds before his eyes shifted towards the windows. The petals danced outside, and lights painted an underwater filter over the glass. “Utgard only shines like this when there is a full moon in the sky but neither clouds nor stars.”

“I think I’ve heard that somewhere.” Nephthys looked up.

“It is a sight that will forever sustain my desire for aesthetics. Even outside the nation’s border, this light play has been the fabric of tales. “The city in the jade sea”; “The Emerald City”; “The city of green carnations”; “A city so beautiful it might be an illusion”; and more names than I could remember.”

“I had heard about the Emerald City. A place where everyone can live to their own logic, live however they wanted. I never thought I would end up there. But when I did, I couldn’t believe it. I was finally free.” He smiled. “Of course, reality begged to differ and slapped me in the face.”

Avici nodded. “There’s no Shangri-La but the one you create. And sadly, have to protect.”

“There are things about Utgard I don’t like and things I like. Even if the magic wasn’t real, I still love it whenever its illusion enchants me.”

֎

Several hours later, Avici walked down the stairs to the living room. Nephthys and the box with baklava were long gone, the couch tidied up, and in their stead, two tickets lay on the duvet. He picked them up and smiled. On the pink paper, it said that he could enjoy an all-inclusive weekend at a spa resort.

Avici looked out the window. The sun was shining and baby-blue coloring the world. For now, the magic was gone. But as long as the city, the moon, and the sky existed, and people wished to see them, the green carnations would continue to bloom.

2. Labrys in holy land

Patricia Colditz looked out of the window. Clouds surrounded the plane, and they dove through them like through a snow sea.

Her hands trembled, and Patricia’s gaze switched to the interior, locking on the two Paladins that sat opposite of her. One was sleeping. The other played on those smartphones all the people from the cities used to have.

She had heard from travelers that the people from the cities used machines to fly, but their descriptions paled to seeing it with her own eyes. It didn’t feel right. Humans should walk on the ground, and birds should fly in the sky. It went against the rules Twice made. If Twice wanted them to fly, they would have given humans wings. But they didn’t. She had broken god’s laws. It had been less than an hour since she had left her village behind, and she went against god’s word. How many more sins would she commit? Was going with the Paladins a mistake? Maybe she should return?

“Relax.” Lif Evergreen smiled and looked at her. “You’ll get used to it.”

“That’s what I’m afraid of.”

A sword appeared on Lif’s lap, and she stroked it with her hand. “I get it. Seeing these things that defy explanation and seem to go against everything you knew can be frightening. It feels like we’re becoming heathens.”

Patricia nodded. “So, it was the same for you too? Aren’t you afraid you’re doing something you shouldn’t?”

“I’ve been called a heathen or the enemy of god by many. Most of those had perished at my blade. But when I left my home behind, for the first time, I believed their words.”

“Damn, what kind of party pooper are you?”

Patricia’s and Lif’s heads turned towards the captain’s cabin. A woman walked out of it towards them. Silver-platinum hair followed her like a curtain. Her ears extended from her head like daggers, and her eyes cut through everything she lay them on like emerald knives. She wore a white uniform similar to the other Paladins, except that she had cut out parts to expose her stomach and hips.

“Oh, we’ve summoned the witch.” Arturo Diavolo yawned in his hands and stretched his arms.

“Looking at you, I almost forgot that you were a half-dead corpse less than a day ago.” The “witch” smirked, and her hand went through her hair.

Patricia looked at Lif.

“Don’t worry. It’s just banter.”

“Though, she’s right,” said Arturo.

The “witch” walked to Patricia, and with her finger, she raised Patricia’s chin. They gazed at each other for seconds. Her emerald eyes inspected every inch of her: her face, her body, her thoughts, her soul.

Patricia blushed.

“Your father will spend the rest of his life without family. He’ll be forever alone, so you can have a shot at a better life. And what are you doing? Being all mopey. I’m gonna tell you right now.” She raised her voice. “Don’t you ever forget his sacrifice. If you fail, fine, that’s on you. You did your best, and that’s all there’s to it. But if you squander it because you’re a pansy girl afraid of the big world, I’ll make all the darkness in the universe swallow you.”

Patricia gulped, unable to say a word.

“Besides, the way I see it, you went against the way the world’s supposed to be long before you set foot on this airship.” The witch smiled and blew a stream of air against her cheek.

Patricia shrieked, and her face turned red.

“Have you ever heard of the story of the cave?” Lif asked.

Patricia shook her head.

“It goes like this: Three men are chained to a wall in a dark cave. In front of them is a walkway with another wall. Behind is a fire that casts their shadows on the wall in front of them. The fire is too far away for them to notice its heat, and the men can’t look anywhere else but the shadows. And behind the fire, other men walk. They don’t cast shadows since they’re behind the fire, but they make noises. The three men have been in the cave since they could remember. Because they don’t know anything else, they believe the shadows make the noises and are real humans.

“One day, one prisoner escapes. He looks around and sees the fire. The light hurts his eyes, and he can’t see that the fire creates the shadows. For him, the shadows are the real humans, and the real humans are not real. Yet, even though the light hurts his eyes, the man runs out of the cave into the sunlight. Because he knows that being in the cave isn’t good. The sunlight hurts even more, yet the man doesn’t go back because he knows being in the cave isn’t good. So, he stays outside, and slowly, his eyes adjust to the light of the sun. First, he can see only shadows. Gradually he can see the reflections of people and things in water and then later see the people and things themselves. Eventually, he is able to look at the stars and moon at night until finally, he can look upon the sun itself. Only after he can look straight at the sun can he understand what is real and what the shadows are.

“The man decides to go back to the cave and free the other prisoners. But his eyes are so used to the sun that he can’t see in the dark. So, he stays outside and makes a torch that lightens up the cave. He goes inside to the prisoners. Once he is in front of them, the fire of the torch hurts their eyes. They plead that he stays away from them and that he should go away. But the man doesn’t. He wants to free them and manages to convince them to come with him. He frees them, and they go outside. But the sun hurts their eyes even more. One feels betrayed by the man and returns to the cave and stays there forever where his eyes won’t be hurt. The other trusts the man and goes with him. Eventually, his eyes get used to the sun, and he understands the truth behind the shadows as well.”

“I think I understand. Even if it hurts, we have to learn more, so we can stop being blind and help others.”

“Atta girl.” Arturo smiled.

Patricia looked at her hands.

But that still didn’t feel right. How could she know that she wasn’t walking from one cave into a bigger cave? How could the man know that the sun he saw wasn’t another illusion? And what about the shadows? The story said they were fake. But were they? The sounds didn’t belong to them, but they were something too, weren’t they?”

“Well, we’re almost here.” Arturo snapped his finger, and the plane disappeared.

֎

Patricia’s head looked in every direction. Her eyes wouldn’t stay still and hopped from one spot to the other.

Buildings rose to the sky that they managed to scrape the clouds that floated in the heavens. These heavenscrapers shone in alabaster like snow in the sun. Not a spot could she find that wasn’t pure.

In front of her stretched two walkways in the same color, and between them was a path of glass. It reflected her face as bushes grew on its surface. Along the sides, the wind ruffled through the leaves from trees. Always the same distances separated them in such order that someone had to plant them. On the horizon stood a building with a dome as large as the entire path that led towards it.

Doves and magpies tweeted and chirped on the ground, looking at their reflections.

“It’s…It’s beautiful.” A smile appeared on Patricia’s face. “I’ve heard stories of it. Is that really “World Capitol Vaix”?”

The witch cringed and showed a pained expression as her face seemed to freeze. “Yeah, please don’t call it world capitol. The name’s taboo for about a thousand years.”

“Oh, I didn’t know.” Patricia looked at her reflection.

If this new world was a cave, too, then she would have to search for the light again. And if the next one was a cave as well, then she would continue to search. She would hop from world to world and seek knowledge until the day would come when she could enlighten all the caves that existed.

“Now come.” Arturo waved with his hand.

“Where are we going?”

“What do you think?” Arturo grinned. “You’re going to meet Her Majesty, the Kaiser.”