The Burning Wick - Chapter 12

While his philosophical musings were indeed personally significant, the man still carried many responsibilities he must see through. Seda was to take precedence, as he was the only being, aside from his predecessor, that the man could not fully control, and if he were to die, there'd be no telling whether the man, Keeper or not, could bring him back. It had already been well over a day since Seda had been abandoned to fend for himself with only a fishing pole, bed, and boat to his name, so the man quickly set about the wind, allowing it to carry him on another trip to the lake.

The man arrived to find Seda sleeping in his bed, despite the Sun still hanging high. Standing at the tent's entrance, he spoke, "Seda." Yet Seda did not stir. "Seda," he repeated, louder this time. There remained no answer, and so the man set upon the tent, stepping inside and walking himself to Seda's side, whereupon he shook him until he finally awoke with a groan.

"What do you want?" Seda asked sluggishly.

"To know you're alive first, and to know how you're doing second."

Seda sat up in his bed, "Well, I'm not exactly dead, but aside from fishing there's not much else to do out here beside sleep. I don't even have any way to cook the fish."

"A bit of an oversight on my part, but I didn't expect to be away for so long."

"I see," replied Seda.

After a momentary silence, the man sought out further conversation, "And what about my second question?"

Seda replied, not with words but with a stabbing glare. Whatever had remained of his tears had become a begrudging anger, a kind of stubbornness not set to leave him anytime soon. The man simply met his stare, not offering any acknowledgement otherwise. A short time passed as the men looked at each other – Seda continued to glare but the man merely saw.

Then, the man turned, walking back towards the entrance of the tent, "I am trying. I still don't think I can allow you to return home, but that's a decision for when I'm successful. If I'm successful, that is." Seda's expression lifted, and a noticeable shock came across his face, yet the man did not turn to see, instead taking a step out of view.

With a clap, a lit campfire rose from the ground along with a wooden cutting board and a nice, large knife to be used to dress the fish. The man then jumped into the air, leaving Seda undisturbed once more and returning to the crater whereby he would set out to conquer the task that had previously eluded him – opening a crack in the universe.

After he arrived, the man quickly descended the steps and raised two rocky pillars for which he manifested a hammock to hang from. As he lay in the hammock, he recollected his previous attempts. He first considered his motions, comparing them directly to the ease in which the woman had created her crack. Then, he remembered his intent at the time of his attempts. Perhaps, he thought, his motive was not appropriate, after all, a crack is nondescript¸ in it of itself it holds no meaning, let alone naturally acting as a portal to another universe. His other motives were no better, as he seemed to recall them moving away from the crack entirely and instead devolving into an obsession with matching his predecessor's prowess. Clearly his intent needed to change, but to what?

The man tossed and turned in his hammock before waving his hand through the air, as if trying to slice it in half for the crack, no, not a crack, for a portal to another universe to take its place. But this too, saw no success.

There was something that he was doing that was fundamentally wrong, there had to be. As the man retraced the woman's steps, he became further entrenched in this belief. She was showing him the strain affecting another universe has on a Keeper. This wasn't something that he couldn't yet do, but rather an action that comes at a cost. It seemed to the man that his predecessor at least believed him to have the capability of producing a crack or a portal or whatever it was. Then what was the issue, the man asked himself?

Though he could not come up with an answer, he sought to pace himself this time. I am a Keeper, he thought, I have all the time I could ever need. So, he pondered his answer, swinging from side-to-side on his hammock, his arms tucked behind his head as he stared up towards the top of the crater wall, not quite positioned to be able to look at the sky.

He tried to imagine Seda's homeland as had been previously described to him – a desert with endless rolling sand dunes so vast and expansive that only by a stroke of luck can one survive traversing through it. But this too failed to produce results. Perhaps he wasn't specific enough, after all, it wasn't as though he had a thorough knowledge of Seda's home. Then again, maybe he was being too specific.

With that thought in mind, he envisioned creating the portal, seeking to link his universe and Seda's together. He pictured the destination – the desert – and expanded it to the broader concept of just "Seda's Home." Still, nothing. Strangely, despite his many letdowns, he felt as if he had stumbled upon something significant. Yes, perhaps the important part was the linkage of the universes itself. He had previously been thinking of the crack as, well, a portal – something that can instantaneously transport someone from one universe to another, but it very clearly wasn't that, after all, it took his predecessor a non-insignificant amount of time to transport both Seda and herself back through the crack, and she required the man's help to do it too. Rather than a portal, it may be best to think of the opening as a gate to the road between universes.

However, he had no conception of this so-called road, merely a brief experience with a gate itself. It may be that he therefore lacked the capacity to then create the road. Yet, once more, the woman's actions led him to believe that he had that power, not that he would come to obtain that power, but that he had it now. Again, he was forced to turn towards his idea of the gates themselves.

First, he thought of the crater in which he lay, with its rocky and uneven surface, its high walls that rose up to the sky and flattened off to become a view that looked over the world. He thought about the opening he had made, an area that now held one of his most valued creations. Then, he turned his attention to the beds and the people that still rested on them. Lastly, he imagined himself as he still was, lying on a hammock supported by two large protrusions of rock. This was to be the location of the first gate.

While he still had no real reference for Seda's home, he had at least been to the woman's universe, and so he recalled what little he had experienced. In his mind's eye, he brought forth images of the tropical forest, its lush palm trees towering high over the ground, as a single hill made its place at the top of the world, accompanied only by a distant volcano. The air was hot and heavy with humidity, yet not a single bug buzzed.

Just as he had endured, he brought forth a snow-covered mountain landscape so white that the Sun blinded any passersby as its heavenly light reflected off the snow. The wind was chilled so cold that it seemed to cut into any uncovered flesh.

Furthermore, he reimagined the open ocean that the woman had plunged him into. It was deep, unknowingly so, and stretched on for an entirety, completely lifeless except for his body that was submerged in it.

Finally, he turned his focus to the alpine forest that his own universe was based on. He recounted the hill, the trees, the town, and even the worm that could devour worlds. This place, as he deemed it, was the center point of all he knew of the woman's universe. All these biomes and landscapes combined to form one place, a place where the second gate would sit. Now all he had left to do was hope that the two gates would somehow connect to each other.

And hope he did. This was his most concerted effort, a product of a complete thought, well-reasoned and meticulously detailed.

With one last thought of a gate opening in front of him, he unsealed his eyes. The man's shoulders drooped as a look of exasperation and disappointment crossed his face.

There was nothing, absolutely nothing. He had failed once again – failed thoroughly too, as he had exhausted every last one of his thoughts.

He once more considered his planning, trying to decipher anything that could have gone wrong. After a few moments, he realized his mistake – he had no conception of the woman's universe. The only one he had was destroyed when they departed to come here to his. That was his only frame of reference. As for her true universe, he had no experience to imagine and nothing to personally recollect. Even if he was a soul from her universe, he lacked any memory of his past life and now found himself completely stuck.

This, indeed, was his conclusion. Truly, he didn't lack the power to create a gate or a portal or a crack. He just didn't have any idea with which to reference. Now, however, since that was his conclusion, he must find a way to relay it to Seda, a task that appeared far from simple given his vulnerable emotional state.