The great sea lay quiet. The ship slowly rocked with the waves, as an infant lying on its mother's chest.
Cap looked out and smiled to herself. It must've been around here, when only a few days ago Myriad had--
-?!
A large spray of water shot up in the air - about a mile away, the fountain a mile tall - and Cap's eyes widened.
"What the--"
A silhouette twisted and turned against the sunlight-- no way, this wasn't Sharkie or one of hers, this had to be someone else! A sudden gust carried noises of coughing and hacking and an old, dying radio.
"Hey! You!"
The figure turned its head and Cap squinted against the sun, she wasn't quite sure who--
then a shriek, and the figure was gone.
--
The sharp whistle of the kettle tore through the peaceful silence of the kitchen. Bram frowned, nose stuck into a book, and poured some tea with the other hand. It had been a lovely sociable afternoon, and now had come the time to curl up in an armchair and wind down. He put away the kettle and picked up his cup.
A sudden crash made Bram flinch and spill hot tea over his fingers. He cursed under his breath as he put the cup back on the counter and crossed the room to peek through the doorway.
"What was that?"
In one corner, the leftovers of a broken vase. In the other, Crom pushed up against the wall, whining lightly.
--
A shadow danced across the mirrors - except that for a shadow, it was way too colourful.
"I know it's you."
Krystal knew, oh, she knew. She hadn't been waiting - not exactly - but the intruder had been hard to miss, this pitiful attempt at stealth notwithstanding.
She had already found what the intruder was looking for. While watching TV, she had kept it between her fingertips, thoughtlessly rolling it around and around. An iridescent shard, no larger than her fingernail. It was hers. Yet it was not.
She sighed. "We do not have to play this game", she dryly remarked. But the room remained quiet, as if the intruder refused to be even there.
Finally, she shook her head - just a miniscule movement - and daintily placed the shard next to her glass. Then she turned away from the table and focused back on the TV.
The next time she looked over her shoulder, the shard was gone.
A smile tugged at her lips.
--
In the colourful light of the kaleidoscope, two figures met. One figure, hunched over, had a glowing orb dangling from its forehead.
"Yes..."
Szakoi was pale. His hair was drenched in sweat and mud and seawater. But under a thin layer of grime and exhaustion, he smiled as if a friend was opening his birthday present.
Ches finished counting the shards and nodded.
"This is enough."
Szakoi felt the flicker above his head. It lightly touched his hair, making his scalp tickle, and as he pulled a grimace and scratched his head, he glanced up.
There it was. In beautiful, blocky, green letters.
1UP!
[[Since Szakoi helped with Ches' creation, Ches gained some abilities relevant to Szakoi. Among them is the power to grant Szakoi extra lives - but only if Szakoi brings him a certain number of tiny shards that Myriad accidentally lost all over the world.
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