Ark of the Forsaken

ㅤ Jude and his companions looked around in confusion, trying to figure out where Maxwell had sent them. A light sea breeze ruffled their hair. The solid ground beneath their feet and the peculiar waves created a dissonance: there was no sense of movement, but Jude was certain the "island" was floating. The place Maxwell had sent them to was unfamiliar to him. Just like to Alvin, who had been in two worlds… The brainstorming had to be put off until later, as three people witnessed their arrival. A young man with a facial tattoo and unruly snow-white hair sticking out in all directions, dressed in an unusual white suit, studied the aliens with a careful eye, showing no aggression, but ready to attack at any moment. A girl with voluminous, flowing blond hair eyed the group with interest and apprehension, clutching the hem of her nondescript dress. But a striking woman in a green cocktail dress seemed carefree, as if inhabiting her own little world, oblivious to the sudden appearance of strangers. "Uh, excuse me," Jude ventured to make contact, "is this… Rieze Maxia?" he hesitated, anticipating a negative answer. The boy and the girl exchanged glances, questioning each other with their gazes. " Rieze… Maxia…?" the boy repeated. "Elympios?" Jude suggested hesitantly, but the girl only echoed him with the same intonation, tilting her head to the side: "Elympios?" Then Jude's comrades looked at each other, having no idea where they had ended up. "Elympios? Rieze Maxia? Hmm…" the woman, who had previously ignored them, suddenly became thoughtful. "Do you know something, Grune?" the boy caught a note of understanding in her voice. "Ah!" Grune realized. "Maxwell's Abode!" "What, who?" the boy, disappointed, rushed to catch her thought. "Huh?" Grune leaned over, puzzled. "Maxwell." "Who?" The girl merely laughed awkwardly, accustomed to such incidents. Grune peered into her jug, beginning to converse with its contents. "I apologize for her," the boy breathed out. "Grune… is special." The one who was most serious was Milla. "This woman is a spirit," she said quietly to Jude. "Her jug ​​contains spirit seeds—the initial form of great spirits." Jude closed his eyes, trying to call upon the local spirits, to understand the world's structure through them—to no avail. Not a single spirit responded, as if they didn't exist at all, despite the world's saturating mana. "I didn't sense a single spirit." "Because they have yet to be born. This world is still very young." Rowen took over, asking the young couple, Senel and Shirley, where they had ended up and explaining their situation. "So you're aliens too, just arrived here differently?" Senel mused, lost in his thoughts. Having recaptured Shirley, he'd somehow come to terms with the idea that his people had been the invaders. That had been in the distant past; now they were building a new future. "Also?" Alvin overheard. "This ship, the Legacy, once came from the sky and recreated land on a planet of nothing but water," Shirley explained, gloomily recalling the painfully acquired knowledge. "Hmm…" Alvin became even more lost in thought. "At least now you can open up about your thoughts…?" Jude said reproachfully. "I'm just not sure of my conclusion, don't frown so much." "Share it," Milla agreed. "And we'll decide for ourselves." "Well, a long time ago I read a fairy tale. Or rather, an ancient legend about how the formidable Maxwell spoke of a coming catastrophe, allowing the people of the originally united world to escape. But no one believed him. Except for a group of desperate people who threw all their efforts into building an ark. They gathered everyone willing, those brave enough to plunge into the unknown and leave their home forever. They gathered animals, even some monsters, and set off beyond the sky to distant and alien worlds, seeking refuge blessed by the lord of spirits himself. I thought back then that it was another story about the Rieza Maxia, but it seems I was wrong." "So, Rieze Maxia is not Maxwell's only 'ark'," Jude concluded. "And it looks like," Alvin exhaled, "we were given a one-way ticket." "We could have saved Elympios and Rieze Maxia," Jude was completely saddened, realizing that they had been deprived of their chance. "Perhaps Maxwell knew that this was impossible, so he chose to save us," Milla tried to understand the thoughts of her creator. "Be that as it may, we will have to learn to live here." Alvin chuckled nervously. Once again fate decided to laugh at him, sending him to another world. "At least this time it’s not so bad… You can count on my rich life experience," he winked, trying to cheer himself up and lift the spirits of others. Alvin had been through all this once before. He'd seen how others had coped, or hadn't. He never thought he'd have to go through it again… But he'd adapted more easily. Now he was able to help others. This time from the heart: there was no one to deceive for.

* * *

The predictability of people sometimes hurt Maxwell. But it also helped him foresee a possible tragic outcome: Riese Maxia would fail to live up to expectations—all existence in this world would disappear. This meant they would have to seek salvation outside. Gathering the chosen few into his utopia two millennia ago, Maxwell gave a chance to a group of activists, seeing hope in it. They built their Ark and left a world that had become alien. Without the support of the spirits Maxwell didn't leave them, sending along with them his messenger, who kept the seeds of the spirits. From time to time, Maxwell glanced at the deeds of the "survivors", disbelieving in their future. This disbelief was reflected in the messenger, called not only to love and protect people, but also to erase them if they became too unruly. If they eventually regained their senses and repented, new great spirits would be born, spreading Maxwell's blessing. ㅤ