Remi felt like pursuing the matter further, but didn't want to risk her grandpa changing his mind about telling her about all this. "Winged beasts--I think they were Icixes. There were also other strange creatures . . ."
And then, it hit her. Remi's eyes widened as she took in her seemingly frail, old grandpa, and remembered the way he'd used his powers to make himself into a giant of darkness. "You . . . were there. And another giant, but of light. They were fighting."
He raised an eyebrow, and then shook his head. "Not me, but someone like me. Someone who had learned how to use their powers to their full potential, in the way they were intended. Anything else?"
"Lots of other drawings, but most didn't make sense," she answered honestly. "I suppose the words that spiralled beneath and around them would have helped me to understand if I could have been able to read them."
Her grandpa let out another one of his deep sighs as he clasped his hands together on the table between them. "We never used to live here, like this, Remi dear."
"What do you mean? I don't understand."
"It is true that the islands were once a large continent that split apart. But not here, not on this sea. Have you ever wondered why this cluster of islands, altogether filled with millions of people, just happened to be? Or, why there isn't anyone else out there, like us?"
Gears turned in Remi's mind. No, she'd never stopped to consider that before. But now that Grandpa Bericc mentioned it, she had to admit it was odd. "I never really thought about it before. But if I had, I'd probably have just assumed that there were other continents and islands out there, with people in them that we've never met, because the sea monsters keep us segregated."
Grandpa Bericc hummed his agreeance, a smile bright like the sun on his face. "That's a fair assumption. Smart, too. Of course it is, you're my granddaughter, after all."
Remi offered him a small smile. It was hard to stay mad at him. His wrinkled face and bright smile was hard to ignore, and seemed so unassuming. It was hard to remember that he could transform himself into a giant of dark energy, and was powerful enough to stop two of the strongest men she knew--her father and uncle--in their tracks.
He continued speaking as he swished his beer around in his glass. "There never used to be people down here, on this blue planet, or these islands we now live on. Only an endless abyss of sea. There is a large continent, a long ways off, but all that lives there are vicious beasts without the intelligence of people like you and me. It's a bloodfest there. Dangerous, and unsurvivable."
Remi tried her best to process what he was saying, but it was hard to make sense of it all. "If there never used to be people down here, then how did we all get here? You're not making any sense, grandpa." She couldn't resist making a joke. "Perhaps in your old age, you've lost your marbles."
He cracked a toothy grin. "Heavens, no, child! I've lost a few teeth, and most of my hair, sure, but my marbles are most definitely in tact."
She laughed lightly, enjoying the sparkle in his eyes. This was the grandpa she remembered.
"Let me try to explain this better for you. Just as how islands can float on the sea, there are land masses that can float in the sky. They are special, and look different than these down here, because they haven't been corroded away by water, and stained dark from the blood of warring sea creatures. You can't tell them apart from the clouds, because clouds surround their bottoms, disguising them. All these islands--Merricrest, the others, and even Northfall--they all used to make up the north side of a much larger continent in the sky."
The sky?
Impossible.
Her heart hammered against her chest.
But where had Remi heard that before? It seemed almost familiar.
She thought about it, wracking her mind for where she'd heard of it.
And then she remembered. Killure, in the cave that day. Looking at the depictions on the cave walls.
"We had cities in the sky, once," Killure murmured softly, his voice silky and smooth.
"What happened to them?"
"Who knows. All I've heard are rumours."
She felt conflicted, and confused. How could she tell truth from falsehood?
Remi gave him a look of disbelief. "How can islands float? How is that even possible? And what, you're saying that Merricrest and the other islands got sick of being up in the sky and just up and decided to fall down to the sea beneath them?"
Grandpa Bericc barked out a laugh. "Of course not. But there was a great war up there, between the races. They each wanted power, and none were willing--or wise enough--to come to a compromise. On the north end of the continent, the races all gathered together and a great battle was fought. But each of the races were immensely powerful, and they pulverised the battlegrounds with their powers. So much so, that chunks of the north end of the continent broke off, and fell to the sea, far far below, along with the people on them, of course."
"And they couldn't just fly themselves back up?"
"No. Unlike these contaminated islands that we live on, which never move, land masses in the sky are always moving and floating around. Our ancestors tried and tried to find the continent again, but to no avail. It was gone."
Remi shook her head. It was too much to take in all at once. Her grandpa must be spinning tales. "Races. You mentioned races. What did you mean by that? Which races were at war?"
"The four most powerful races: the Icixes, the Designers, the Effigies, and the Hollows. There were other races, of course, as you know them today. Careans, for example, like Clawls and Condas. They chose sides, and fought as well."
Remi blinked once, then twice. "You're saying a lot, but it's like you're speaking another language, grandpa. Icixes, Designers, Carneans--I get that. But what are Effigies and Hollows? I've never seen or even heard of those before."
Her grandpa scrunched his brows together. "Boy, you don't know much of anything, do you? Shame on your father and uncles for not telling you any of this. Idiots, those two." He lifted up his glass and guzzled down the rest of the mug until it was empty. Again, he wiped his mouth with the back of his hands. "Anywho. You've never heard of the Hollows or Effigies because they don't live here. They only live in the Dome."
The Dome.
Remi did a double take. "The Dome . . . where all the technology comes from. Like the slave chips. Grandpa, I don't understand any of this. How does any of what you're saying have to do with what happened today?"
"Because, my dear, the technology in The Dome has allowed us to determine when the continent will be back. For a brief period of time, it will come back above us, and we will take back what is ours."
Remi froze in place. "And father and Uncle Fahrem are in on this? They knew?"
"They knew, and until I got here I'd thought that they had intended to bring along those of you who would be most helpful to the cause. There are so few Designers left, you know. Blue and Bliss? They're in The Dome at this very moment."
Relief flooded through Remi, cooling her boiling veins and soothing her throbbing heart.
"However, it appears that your uncle had a coup of his own planned. I'll have to make sure he refocuses and gets over that little fantasy of his."
As shocking as that was, Remi couldn't quite get past one thing. It was tugging at her mind, and wouldn't let go. "And . . . when, exactly, is this continent in the sky supposed to come near?"
Grandpa Bericc's eyes looked through the window at the bright, clear sky outside, wistfully. "Three weeks from today, love. Only three weeks until we are back home. And that's why I'm giving you this."
Something jingled as it dropped out of his hand and onto the table.
Remi glanced down. It was a golden token, in the shape of a triangle, and it was glowing. Literally glowing. "What is this?" she asked as she picked it up.
A sharp sting bit into her thumb. "Ow!" She tried to pull away, and get the token off of her, but it was stuck, burning into her thumb.
And then, it stopped, dropping to the table, still glowing brightly, perhaps even brighter than before. Remi jerked away, sitting as far back in her seat as she could. Once she was sure the token wasn't about to jump at her and attack, she glanced at her thumb. It didn't sting anymore.
That couldn't be right.
Remi looked at her thumb again. There wasn't even a mark. It looked the same as it always did.
"It's a ticket, granddaughter," he said, as if that explained everything. "A pass, if you'd like, to get into the Dome and come see it for yourself. It's the only way in."
"Why would I want to go there?" Remi hissed, staring suspiciously at the triangular token sitting on the table before her, looking ever so harmless--beautiful, even. Deceitful thing.
This time, her grandfather's smile disappeared completely. His eyes lost their spark, and warmth, and his normally jolly face became solemn. "Because, my dear, we are all leaving. Your entire family. And I don't want you to be left behind. The continent only appears once every one thousand years. There will not be another opportunity any time soon. You will be left behind if you do not come."