Melting Hope

For centuries humanity has known the world to be made of ice. But now everything is melting, and humankind must learn to adapt. But first they need Hope.

This is where Seoif comes in, after saving a piece of the dead god Hope he goes on an adventure to find the god's body which is encased in ice.

Seoif Hoeir hadn't expect to see a tiny insect with a funny hat today. But there it was, on a table in the ice sculpture garden, being prodded at by two bullies. He paused his stroll and watched them.

"And what are you supposed to be?" sneered one of them. Her brown hair was pulled into a messy braid, and she poked at the bug's head with a fingernail. Her breath formed clouds in the cold air.

"Someone to not poke at." The little thing crossed his two sets of arms after getting up again.

"The thing talks!" the other bully yelled.

Seo stared at the thing. If it talked, that meant it was sentient, and if it was sentient... No, it wasn't right to leave them with those two. Seo strolled over. "Hey, did you know there are shark-dragons hiding in the glaciers?"

The bullies turned to stare at him. Seo grinned, and then he swiped the tiny thing and sprinted out of there, weaving around ice sculptures of historical figures and sliding briefly on ice patches.

They gave chase for a bit, but Seo knew the frosted streets of Logix better than at least fifty percent of the population. He ran by ice homes as he headed towards the glaciers at the northern edge of the city. After a few minutes, the bullies gave up.

Huffing, Seo finally took a seat on a glacier, pulling his layers of clothing around him. The nearest home was a good distance away, though still within sprinting distance if the glacier cracked. Carefully, he opened his hands. The tiny thing looked up at him, kind of curled up in his palm.

Seo stared at it/them/something for a good minute without blinking. Around three inches tall, six arms, eyes of a color that was hard to pin down... "Are you an alien?" Seo asked, completely seriously. "You are, aren't you? Are you scoping out Earth in preparation for an invasion? I've read all about you in classic sci-fi novels! Ancient humans seemed practically obsessed with alien invasions."

"Alien? No I'm quite from here, thank you." The little thing stood up on it's two legs.

"From Logix?" The city was of a decent size and Seo didn't claim to know all of its secrets, but he was fairly certain he'd have heard of a creature like this before.

"Not this city specifically, but this planet, yes."

Seo stared at them suspiciously. "How do you know? Do you have proof?"

"For the thirteen's sake! I'm a little piece of a god!"

And then Seo dropped the little piece of a god.

He fell a few inches to the snow-covered surface of the glacier, and Seo immediately picked him up again. "Sorry about that! That's just... pretty surprising." He stared for another minute. "...Which god?"

The little piece of god stared at him unamused, snow covering his face like a bad beard.

"I mean, it'd be cool if you were a piece of Atmosphere. That could explain all the wonky weather lately. But imagine if you were part of Insanity?" Seo thought for a moment. "Actually, then you'd be a perfect match for me, seeing as most other people call me insane." It didn't hurt, really. He'd always known he was a little different, staring up at the clouds instead of at the ice in front of him.

"How much do you even know about the gods?" He rubbed his face.

"Oh, I've heard the tales!" Seo replied cheerfully. "Humor playing pranks on Dirt, how Cloud and Craft came into existence, Flavor blessing humans with good food..."

"Good job, you've mentioned everyone but the more important ones."

Seo frowned at that, his silver eyebrows scrunching together. "I'd say food is pretty important for us humans. And if you've never had freshly roasted fish before, you're missing out. Also Humor! How would we ever survive winter without Humor? Or, y'know, life in general in the constant miserable cold outside." Seo shivered. The elders said it hadn't always been this way. One claimed that long ago, in the time of her great-great-great-great-he lost track of how many greats-grandparents' time, the ground had been green, not blue-white. And people had put tiny things in the ground and that created more green things. Strange.

"Geez okay, look, I'm a little piece of Hope."

Seo looked at him. "You don't sound very hopeful to me. More sarcastic. But sarcasm isn't a god."

"Yes, I'm a piece of Hope who also got the very rare sarcastic side."

For the third time, Seo stared at the tiny piece of Hope without blinking. The little thing stared back at him.

Finally, Seo said, "Okay! I believe you! But now I'm going to head home, since it's never a good idea to be out for long. You should go home too. It was very nice meeting you, not-an-alien." He'd briefly considered showing off the little piece of Hope as proof of a new conspiracy theory, but who would he show? No, it was better not to get involved in divine matters, not when one of them had supposedly started this whole Ice Age...

"I- don't have a home." The piece of Hope admitted.

Seo tilted his head to one side. This had been a very bizarre day. Most days were bizarre, actually, but usually the bizarre things were in Seo's own mind. Today was especially bizarre, then. But his aunt had taught him to be kind... "Would you like me to carve you a new home in this glacier? Don't worry, I was joking about the shark-dragons earlier. Well, mostly. I'm still partially convinced a shark-dragon ate my left arm that one morning and then restored it using alien tech."

"It doesn't-"

"Actually no, I don't have the foggiest idea of how to carve something. What a conundrum." Seo stood up and paced for a bit. "What if you came to our cottage? My aunt will probably think you're just a figment of her imagination."

"Really?" He perked up a bit. "I'd like that."

"It's settled then!" Seo hopped off the edge of the glacier and back onto the streets of Logix, swinging his arms merrily. The little piece of Hope held onto his hand for dear life. "Say, do you have any powers, being a piece of a god and all?"

"Yes." The little piece of Hope continued to hang on.

"Can you fly?" Seo raised his hand to his eye level and looked at the little piece of Hope. There weren't many others out on the streets. The sun had gone down a while ago, and the last whispers of its glow were disappearing on the horizon.

"No. Do not throw me." His eyes shifted to an orange-ish red.

"What if someone was ready to catch you?"

"No."

Seo turned onto the street of their cottage. The ice buildings were spaced further apart here and looked distinctly more ramshackle. None of them were melted, of course, but they showed signs of being worn by the wind. "Fine, fine. Are you immortal, though?"

"Somewhat, yes."

"Somewhat? How can you be somewhat immortal?"

"I won't die, but if I choose someone, my life is as long as theirs."

"Guess you better choose someone with a long life, then," Seo mused. He pushed open the door. "I'm hoooomeeeeee."

His aunt poked her head out from the kitchen. "Hey Seo!" She looked at the little piece of Hope. "Is that a pet, a doll, or neither?"

"A friend," Seo said, then grinned at his aunt. She nodded and turned back to her work, banging pans and alternately cursing and pleading with Flavor to just not let this bird burn oh please not again- Seo had learned to keep a very safe distance from the kitchen. Of course, his aunt was nowhere near the disaster he was in there....

His room was small, with some paint decorating the ice walls. A few blankets formed his bed in a corner and there was a small desk of bone on the opposite wall. Seo set the little piece of Hope on the desk. The little thing walked around.

Seo sat in front of him. "So. What piece of Hope are you? Like, do you transform into his ear or something? Is Hope walking around earless right now?"

"I'm just a cell. Hope is trapped in the ice." The little thing replied softly.

Seo blinked. "But Hope is a god, isn't he?"

"Gods aren't perfect beings. Hope doesn't smite people out of anger. He likes to help people. He's the traveler who picks up people's wishes, and makes them true."

"Good. I like not getting smited. But why can't he make his own wish come true? Or can I just wish for him to be freed?"

"If only it were that simple." The little bit of a god sighed.

"I think," Seo declared, "this universe is unfair. Also, the gods are probably aliens."

"What? No."

"But it makes sense! They have powers unlike humans. Maybe they're a highly advanced extraterrestrial species." Seo's eyes sparkled with excitement. He could ramble on about conspiracy theories for hours. All the possibilities were fascinating.

"How do you know that you're not the aliens?" The little thing crossed his arms, his eyes orange.

Seo jumped up and started pacing in excitement. "That is an excellent point! We very well may be. Humans aren't adapted to live in this environment, after all. It's too cold and forbidding outside and we are weak little flesh bags. I know people tell stories of a different time, but it sounds so different that maybe it's an entirely different planet!"

"But you could live here, if all the ice melted."

"How do you know that? Have you seen the fabled gress? Or floors?" Supposedly they were green, kind of like his eyes, and colorful things.

"As part of a whole Hope, yes, I have a long time ago."

Seo sat back down. "Tell me everything."

"Only under one condition."

"Which is?"

"You help find and free the rest of Hope."

Finding a trapped god and freeing him from the ice, when not even the mightiest cooking fire could melt a single home? It sounded like an impossible task.

"Deal," Seo said. He smiled.

"I- wait- really?"

"I have no clue how to start, but yes," Seo said happily. "This is the most interesting thing to have happened to me since I saw that super cool cloud a week ago."

The little piece of Hope disappeared from the desk, and reappeared on his shoulder.

"You can teleport?" Seo gasped.

"Yes, sometimes."

"That's just as handy as flying! Can you teleport me, too? Or..." Seo found a stick of charcoal on his desk. "This?"

"No. just myself."

"Aw. That's alright, I guess. Say, what should I call you? Little piece of hope is too long, insect sounds insulting, alien is apparently incorrect..."

"My name is YurY. Yours?"

"Your E," Seo tried. "Yooooooorieeeee. Y. Why. Yooyoo. Ree."

"Just YurY."

"Okay, just YurY! I'm Seoif, or Seo." He grinned brightly. Night fell fully, casting his room into darkness.

"Nice to meet you Seo."

"Nice to meet you too, YurY."

YurY seemed to glow in the dark, especially his eyes.

"You," Seo pronounced, "are a beautiful nightlight."

"Thanks?"

"You're welcome. Do you need to eat?"

"Eating is nice."

"Then let's go try whatever charred bird is for dinner, shall we?" Seo offered his hand to YurY.

YurY walked onto his hand. "We shall."

This, thought Seo, is so cool.

"Are we going to eat or just exist here?"

"Oh!" Seo stopped staring and started walking. "Well, preferably we'd do both eating and existing." There was the faint smell of smoke in the hallway. When Seo reached the kitchen, he saw his aunt setting a thoroughly roasted bird on the table. She flashed him a grin as he set YurY on the table and grabbed some cutlery to set the table.

"Aunt Wena, this is YurY. YurY, this is Aunt Wena."

"Pleasure to meet you. How do you do?" YurY asked her.

She blinked and looked at YurY more closely, then grinned again. "Oh, you look like you were hit with a shrink ray! I do very well, thank you. And you?"

"I do fine, thank you."

"Wonderful. And what is the story behind the two of you meeting?"

Seo recounted how he'd found YurY as they ate dinner. Despite its charred appearance, the inside of the bird was quite good. YurY sat on the table, eating a piece that was bite sized for Seo.

Seo was washing the plates when the world began to shake.

The table started to shake, and YurY first thought it might be someone messing with him. Then he realized the entire place was shaking. There was the crash of a dropped plate. But more ominously than that, he heard crackling sounds.

Oh please, don't let that be this home. He thought, teleporting to Seo. He chose one of the pockets in his jacket near his chest.

Seo was frozen (figuratively, not literally), staring at the wall. There was a jagged crack winding its way upwards. It grew even as they watched.

"Move Seo!" YurY called.

Seo snapped out of it and dove towards the entryway of the home, right as the roof collapsed. YurY retreated into the pocket, curling up to not be crushed.

The sound of crashing ice resounded for an interminable length of time. Snow puffed into the air and bitterly cold winds whipped past the material of the pocket. The shouts of neighbors echoed in the air.

Finally, all was still again. YurY peeked out slightly. Seo groaned and carefully stood up, turning to look at the scene behind him. They'd barely made it out of the house, Seo's right foot having been a centimeter from a block of the doorway that was now besties with the floor.

"That... What..." Seo mumbled, staring at the ruins of the house in shock. "Aunt Wena!" He scrambled over the ruins of the doorway, back towards the kitchen.

"Oh dear." YurY whispered, looking at the other destroyed houses too. It would be nice to see grass again, but for these people it looked like the world was ending.

Aunt Wena's legs were trapped under a chunk of ice. She stared at the sky and babbled happily about little fish swimming around in the clouds. Seo sobbed and started pushing at the chunks, but his noodle-like arms were about as effective as an ant trying to topple a glacier.

"Oh, this is quite alright," Aunt Wena said agreeably. "Now my feet aren't sore, and I have no pain from those bruises I got when I tripped yesterday."

"You're in shock," Seo muttered. "Or worse." He looked at YurY desperately. "Can you save my aunt somehow? Maybe give her a sense of self-preservation while you're at it? We're both insane, but right now I think I'm the less insane of us two." His silver hair flew in the wind, as energetic as the words that tumbled out of his mouth.

"Wish." YurY replied softly, staring at Aunt Wena. That looked horribly painful. He'd seen stuff as part of Hope, but never with his own eyes and feelings.

"Wish?" Seo repeated. "Like, I wish Aunt Wena was healed and free of the ice?"

"What could you do?"

Seo blinked. "I could try to break dance. I'm also capable of learning to juggle fish bones." He paused. "Somehow I don't think that's what you meant."

"I mean if you could do anything, within reason, what would you do."

Seo sputtered. "That's- that's too broad! I could determine whether the shark-dragons in the glaciers are happy, go on an adventure to see if aliens exist--" he glanced at his aunt-- "talk to my aunt, talk to you, walk, eat birds..."

"In this moment, something you need." YurY rubbed his temples.

"Magic? To free my aunt?" Seo asked hopefully. "An elf, maybe. Those are supposed to have cool abilities, right?"

"Do what to free your aunt?" YurY found it frustrating that he couldn't just tell Seo what to wish for.

"Summon an elf?" Seo returned to unsuccessfully pushing at the ice. "Or some sort of lever to get this off? Or a shark-dragon to eat it?"

"Something within reason, and you have to wish."

"Within whose reason?" Seo glanced at Aunt Wena, who was staring off into space. An edge of panic entered his voice. "Okay, okay, I wish for a lever that I can use to get the ice off of my aunt. Is that reasonable enough?"

"Granted."

Seo looked around. A long stick with a curved end appeared in his hands. He stared at it. "Okay, that is neat."

Seo shoved the stick under the block, then leaned on the long end. Slowly, the block moved. Seo had to practically put his entire weight on the lever to lift the block enough to free his aunt. "Aunt Wena," he gasped. "Can you use your arms to pull yourself out?"

It took three tries for her eyes to refocus, and another minute for her to understand the question. "Oh, sure, Seo," she said genially. She grasped nearby blocks of ice and pulled herself out. Seo slid off the lever, exhausted. The lever dissipated into nothing.

Finally, Seo gasped out, "I wish Aunt Wena's legs were healed."

"Granted." YurY slipped down into the pocket, feeling weak and tired.

Seo rolled over onto his back. It was quiet for a while, other than the shouts of their neighbors in the distance. Finally, Seo moved, and after a moment, he said, "Her legs really have been healed." He reached into his pocket and drew YurY out, staring at him. "Thank you."

YurY nodded. He needed a nap, so he just laid there, and closed his eyes. Seo put YurY back into the pocket. Comfortable, YurY slept.

Seo was, to put it simply, flabbergasted. For one, their house had crumbled into a stylish but utterly-useless-at-being-a-shelter pile of ice blocks. For another, his aunt had had her legs crushed and then healed by the little piece of Hope. For a third thing, his parents had actually agreed to take him and his aunt in, which, he thought, was the most unexpected thing of all. Actually, no. That wasn't the most unreal thing. Because for a fourth thing, he had a little piece of Hope sleeping in his shirt pocket. Snoring.

Seo sat on the steps outside his parents' home. The ceiling of the living room had collapsed, but the other rooms were mostly intact. They were fortunate. He stared out at Logix, where lights were flickering amongst icy ruins. How many people would be sleeping out on the streets tonight? How many would freeze to death?

He saw the bullies from before plod across the street, pulling their belongings along in sacks. Something in Seo sobered, and he didn't have the energy to come up with conspiracy theories as to why the shaking of the earth had happened. Maybe later.

"YurY," he whispered. "Can I wish for all the buildings to be intact again?"

"No..." YurY groaned from his pocket.

"What about for a tool that'll help people rebuild faster?" Seo tried. Sure, the other citizens hadn't been the kindest to him and his aunt--they ignored them, mostly--but seeing all the destruction... Not even the icy winds could numb him to the suffering.

"Like what?"

Suddenly Seo regretted not paying attention in engineering class. "Some gadget... gizmo... thing?" He sighed. "Okay, what about fish? Can I wish for a large bag of cooked fish?" He could distribute that, at least, and offer some warmth to the victims.

"Seo, you're limited on wishes. This is the last one that I'll be able to do for a little while. Are you sure?"

Seo looked down at his pocket sharply, worried thoughts suddenly filling his head. "Does me wishing have a downside for you? I never thought about that." His eyes widened in panic as the possibilities flooded his brain. "Oh no. Am I killing you slowly? Does each wish drain you of the strength to exist? I am so sorry YurY please don't die I know wishes are powerful things and it was utterly self-centered of me to use them when they're slowly draining your life force and feeding it to a sparkly rock giant sleeping in the earth-"

"Okay, hey, hey, you aren't slowly killing me." YurY poked his head out of Seo's pocket.

Seo took a deep breath. "You sure?"

"Yes, but as you can understand wishes are powerful, and while I'm a small piece of Hope, I only have a fraction of his power. Even the god himself was limited. I can help heal people, but when it comes to other things I can only aid. Like if you want fish, I can give you assistance to catch fish. My life force is not being fed to a sparkly rock giant."

Seo digested that for a moment, calming down. "Good. I would hate for you to be eaten by a sparkly rock giant. I mean, out of all the ways to go out? That one hits rock bottom." He shook his head. "The wishing thing... makes sense. How long would we have to wait if I made a wish right now?"

"I don't know. Maybe a week." YurY shrugged.

"So, the question is whether we'll need to make any more wishes during this next week." Seo frowned at the icy ground. Streaks of dirt were trapped in the layers of ice. Did they feel claustrophobic? Did dirt think? "I don't particularly look forward to staying with my parents, so, maybe now would be a good time to start your quest to find Hope..."

"Then it would be best to save the wish. Plus I think I'll recover faster."

Seo nodded. "Alright then." He smiled at YurY. "We can rest tonight, and then I'll say goodbye to my aunt in the morning."

YurY nodded, and retreated into the pocket.

Inerqi is YurY's magic to serve people. Which couldn't be used by anyone else unless he established a bearing with them. This one-sidedly would drain him. Now if he established a parallel he'd be able to take some energy from the person and transform it into Inerqi, although it would be like taxes and he'd have a big chunk taken out of what he'd get. But he could only form a parallel with the other person's consent, and at that stage the bond would be irreversable. Unbreakable.

YurY was glad that Seo didn't push him to the limit. Seo saving him from being poked around gave him the feeling humans knew as hope. So he followed his instinct and once Seo agreed to helping him find the rest of Hope, he formed a bond. Even though it was removable, it terrified YurY that this wouldn't work.

YurY continued to rest in Seo's pocket- although at this point he was getting bored. Seo's parents had calmly bid him farewell, his mother muttering that it was one less mouth to feed. His aunt, on the other hand, was rambling on about the rock she'd given Seo.

"Now, onto its history. My mother's father's great-aunt acquired this garnet from a traveling salesperson who got it from an artist who'd won a bet with Color."

Seo smiled and nodded as he looked at the stone in his hand. "Thank you," he said for the fourth time.

His aunt finally wrapped up her explanations. "I'm still not entirely certain what it does, but take it with you for protection."

"Will do. Goodbye, Aunt Wena."

She smiled fondly. "Goodbye, Seo."

With that, they left the house.

Seo's boots crunched against the ice of the road as he walked. He asked, "So, where are we going, again?"

"Well, I've got a list of gods and their sanity levels."

"Is saner better, or is it the other way around? Also, where was Hope on that scale?"

"He's among the saner. As for sanity, there's different kinds. Some could be helpful, others aren't. But like humans on the autism scale, all gods are on the scale of insanity."

"Well, maybe they'll get along with me, then!" Seo said cheerfully. "Who'd be most helpful, though?"

"Dirt is probably the sanest of all of them right now."

Seo looked at the ground. "...And where might Dirt be? Does Dirt exist everywhere, silently spying on us, simply waiting for the chance to rise up and make the Earth a barren dirt wasteland to grow the legendary pompkins on? No, wait, you said Dirt was sane. To grow mangoose on, then. Y'know, the yellow froot in that one book about ancient plants." Seo gestured vaguely in the frigid air.

"Or carrots, yes. Dirt likes to be alone as an entity ever since he resurfaced, so we need to go somewhere where the ice is thin or gone, and is away from people. He's in mourning from all the dead plants and bugs." YurY nodded

Seo nodded, though YurY could tell he was uncertain as to why plants and bugs needed to be mourned, or, actually, probably as to what they even were. "I know there isn't much civilization to the north of Logix, but it's mostly glaciers. To find thinner ice, we might need to go in the direction of Owie8. They try to reconstruct historical culinary creations there, so they may have dirt around?"

"Sounds good. Take a stop for some tasting, yes?"

"Yes." Seo grinned.

YurY smiled back.



They hadn't gotten far out of Logix when the sky turned gray and freezing rain stared pouring from the sky. Seo pulled out an umbrella from the pack he wore on his back, looking out in surprise.

There was a miserable lump on the road ahead. The rain seemed to intensify around it until the atmosphere seemed to be more water than air.

By far, one of the gods that YurY didn't want to run into was Love. Also Cloud having a tantrum. Seo decided to go up to the weeping god who was curled up on the ice, despite YurY trying to tell him not to.

"Hello," he said. He held the umbrella over the lump of a god awkwardly. "Trying to make an ocean for the rainbow sky-fish, are you? That's right kind of you."

YurY remained fully in Seo's pocket. The god would probably detect him anyways, but he hoped not. Normally Cloud wouldn't be in such a bad fit that he'd be murderous enough to kill a mortal.

Cloud wailed harder.

"What's wrong?" Seo tried. "Got your arm kidnapped by a shark-dragon? That happened to me once, though I got it back soon after. Or has a seagull stolen your breakfast?"

"Atmosphere pushed me!" Cloud whined. "I never wanted to come to this miserable, broken city."

YurY internally groaned. Atmosphere was always pushing him around and he was always crying about it.

"Oh. That's... uh, usually that'd be insulting, but I have to admit Logix is quite broken right now." He sounded sad. "But aren't you a god? Can't you teleport or something?"

"Do clouds normally teleport?" Cloud sobbed.

Seo was quiet for a moment. "Uh, maybe? I'm not a cloud... Oh, okay, judging by that glare, wrong answer. But hey, the scenery's not that bad... If you use a little imagination, you can see the buildings as they used to be. And there's a lot of fish if you like fish, and lots of ice..."

Cloud just wailed more.

Finally, Seo shrugged and turned to leave. He made it two steps before Cloud reached out and clung to his leg, still sobbing.

"I'd be much obliged if you would release my leg so I can perambulate out of here..."

He got no response other than, as expected, sobbing. Seo reached into his pack, dug around for a moment, then pulled out a roasted fish. He pried Cloud's hand off of his leg and waved the fish towards him.

"Here. A nice roasted fish. It's best freshly cooked, but can still be enjoyed."

This might be interesting, so YurY peeked out to watch. The god tentatively reached out for the fish. Seo dropped it in his hand. The god stared at the fish.

"You chew it," Seo suggested. "With your teeth. Careful of the bones."

"I've never been given an offering before." The god sobbed quieter now.

"Ah." Seo dug around in the pack again. "If I'd known, I'd have offered you a better fish... here, take this one too." The new fish was slightly plumper and looked to have softer flesh.

The god reached out for it, then stopped as his eyes landed on YurY slightly peeking out. "You have a cell of Hope?"

Seo frowned thoughtfully, then grinned. "Well, it's more like he has me. Or, he's decided to stick around despite my ramblings."

"Please, cell of Hope, stop Atmosphere from pushing me around, I wish, I beg." The god sobbed.

Seo glanced down at YurY. Around them, rain beat down harder on Seo's umbrella, forming a cacophony of tiny voices, each of them seeming to be an echo of Cloud's sobs.

"Not even Hope could do that." YurY looked up at Seo.

Seo shifted uncomfortably. "Well, maybe you could try having a civil conversation with Atmosphere?" He scuffed a toe on the ground. "Convince her that four-dimensional aliens are going to invade our planet and make everyone sing nursery rhymes all the time unless she stops pushing you around?"

"I've tried that." The god sobbed.

"Is there a godly equivalent of a therapist?" Seo counted on his fingers. "Dirt, or Invention, or Craft, maybe?"

"None here."

Seo looked at Cloud in concern, then tried handing the second fish to him again. "Fish? Fish solve lots of things..."

"Fish is nice..." The god clutched the one he currently had.

"Can we go?" YurY quietly pleaded to Seo.

Seo nodded, dropped the second fish next to Cloud, and started to shuffle away. "Enjoy your fish."

They were able to leave, and YurY thanked- well- he just was thankful.

Seo was quiet for a few minutes as he trudged along the path out of Logix, the rain lightening until he was finally able to put his umbrella away. "I think," he said grimly, "I do not want to meet Love or War, if that was the particular brand of insanity of the third-most-insane god. It's not the same kind as mine or my aunt's."

"It would be best not to." He agreed. "I told you not to go over!"

"That you did. I apologize, oh great and wise cell of Hope! The tiny gremlins running my brain must have been becoming quite overworked and underpaid to make a foolish move like that," Seo joked. "I'll be sure to feed them better."

"Oh you need more sleep?"

"Maybe. Maybe not." Seo shrugged. "What about you? Do pieces of gods sleep?"

"When drained of Inerqi, yes."

"Inerqi?" The glaciers receded into the distance as Seo turned southwards.

"My energy that allows me to grant wishes and do things, yes."

Seo's eyes widened. "If you can't do any things, it's like being dead, right? Do you die if you run out of Inerqi completely?"

"Technically yes. It's hard to run completely out because we usually pass out before that but yes that can happen, yes I would die."

Seo seemed to become smaller, his shoulders hunching as he plodded along. He glanced backwards to where the ruins of Logix glinted under the pale late morning light. Cloud's gray clouds blotted out half the scene. "So much death and destruction... If even gods and pieces of gods can weep and die, what hope do the rest of us have?" he said softly.

"That's why we are freeing the rest of Hope from the ice. Gods can die. But it's just really hard to kill them." YurY replied. He was not going to let Seo lose faith.

"Hoping to save Hope, huh?" Seo smiled slightly. "Well, I guess I can't ever lose hope with you here... It'll never be hopeless..."

"No you won't, literally." YurY smiled back.

Seo laughed, the sound ringing out in the crisp air. YurY let himself feel pride in that small achievement.

It was nice to have someone to talk to. Really nice, actually. And somehow, YurY didn't even teleport away when Seo rambled on about the giant winged fish hiding in cumulus clouds and putting on dramatic plays, which was even nicer. "...And so, instead of giving a standing ovation, the fish fly in circles through the air," Seo finished. He glanced at his pocket. YurY was asleep, quietly snoozing this time.

Well, YurY wasn't a perfect listener. But he had said he was tired, and honestly, just him being there was enough. Seo smiled, munched on a quick lunch of fish and bread, and walked on.



The first sign of Owie8 was a cluster of grayish buildings. They stood next to each other like fish bones jutting out from the ground, neat and orderly. Seo stopped while they were still a good distance away and looked around in the late afternoon light.

"Spot dirt or Dirt anywhere?" he asked.

"Not here, try over there." YurY pointed to the left.

Seo walked in that direction, observing how the ice seemed almost multicolored here. The sunlight sparkled off lumps of ice and Seo shaded his eyes as he scanned their surroundings.

He walked a few more steps. The ice turned a muddy brown and began to crackle underneath his feet.

"Here's good!"

"Okay. So. Do I... dig, or...?" Seo looked at the ground. He didn't particularly want to dig. "Maybe Dirt'll pop up like a mighty whale rising from the ground to do a couple of pirouettes?"

"Just break the ice."

Seo shrugged and stomped on the ice, brushing away the dirty shards with his boots. He uncovered a small patch of dirt. It felt... hard, but not as hard as ice. How fascinating.

YurY appeared about a foot away from his feet. Seo squatted down and stared at the patch of dirt.

"...Hi," he said. The dirt made no response. Seo duck-walked all around it, eventually returning to his starting position. "How's it going?" he tried.

YurY stared at an open patch of dirt. Seo stared at it too. YurY started digging with his hands, and Seo reached over to help. They uncovered what looked to be a face after a few inches.

Seo looked at the face. After a moment, the face opened its eyes and looked back. Seo yelped and scrambled up and away from the buried face. "You, uh, taking a nice cozy dirt bath?" he asked weakly. "Sorry to disturb you?" His voice squeaked a tad on the last word.

"Why have you dug me up mortal?" Dirt demanded.

"Because- uh- Hope, and also sharks eating pizza?" Seo looked frantically at YurY, panicking. Dirt had a different feel than Cloud, somehow. Supposedly Dirt was more sane, but still, the mood Dirt was in... It sunk in quite suddenly that Seo was dealing with literal gods here. Gods who could probably destroy him with one blink of an eyelid.

YurY looked the face in the eyes. "You heard him. You know what I am, and I'd like to find the rest. Can you sense him at all?"

Dirt frowned, crumbs of dirt falling between Dirt's eyebrows, and concentrated for a moment. "So, Hope is trapped in a cell, is he? How'd the old geezer manage that?"

"You can sense him!" YurY brightened.

Dirt grumbled and blew a few crumbles of dirt into the air.

"So? Where is he?"

"In quite a remote, miserable place. Wonder if he still has hope now?" Dirt chortled for a moment, then abruptly closed Dirt's eyes and seemed to fall asleep.

"Okay, not funny." Yury scowled, poking Dirt in what would be Dirt's right eye. "I need specifics Dirt."

Dirt spluttered and opened Dirt's eyes again. "He's at the south pole. Happy?"

"Do you see how small I am and you're just telling me 'south pole'?"

Dirt thought for a moment. "Approximately 113,000 times your height from the point in the direction west 19 degrees north reaches the south pole. Happy?"

"Yes, thank you! You're the best; now go be anti-social."

Dirt's lips turned vaguely upward, and then the earth shuddered and swallowed up the face again. Seo stared at the spot where Dirt had disappeared and tried not to imagine what would happen to any poor soul who walked on it. YurY looked up at Seo, pondering. He cleaned his feet on the ice and then appeared on Seo's shoulder.

Seo looked at YurY. "So, how certain are you that Hope needs to be rescued? I didn't exactly sign up to go to the South Pole..." Considering they were quite a bit closer to the North Pole than the South Pole, it'd be a long journey. And who knew if there were giant mutated penguins at the South Pole?

YurY looked away. "For centuries mankind has thought Hope to be dead. He'd be able to help with the transition to the non-icy world, because when you have hope you can survive. But you don't have to do this if you don't want to."

"Hold up. Non-icy world?" Seo looked around himself. Ice, ice, a tiny patch of dirt where Dirt was, and more ice. How could the world not be icy?

"How it used to be centuries ago, yes." YurY nodded.

Seo had heard about the ancient world-- he'd even come up with conspiracy theories about the so-called veggie-tables and other mythical objects like compooters. But he couldn't imagine it. Not really. What would a non-icy world even look like? "Why is the world changing?" he asked quietly. "Can't it stay as it is?"

"Nothing ever stays the same." YurY replied. "Look if you don't want to go I'll cut the bond. You don't have to go."

Seo mulled that over for a moment. It was nice to have a choice. But really, did he have one? Back home, there was only destruction, and he didn't want to be a burden to his family. And Hope... Seo thought of the citizens he'd seen after the earthquake. If change was inevitable... perhaps everyone deserved the chance to look forward with optimism instead of fear. "No. I'll go." He smiled slightly. "Hey, maybe we'll find the ruins from an advanced society of rainbow dinosaurs there."

YurY relaxed, and then looked at him confusedly. "Rainbow dinosaur?"

Seo grinned. "Possibly teal ones. With gold."

"Those sound pretty."

"Yes," agreed another voice. A fish hovered calmly in the air. The waning sunlight gilded its scales and gave it an ethereal quality, as if it didn't fully exist in this plane. It rippled its flowing fins and swam forwards through the air. It also had no eyes.

"Eyeless Zuh of a-" YurY scowled. "You.

"Me," the fish agreed. YurY crossed his arms. The fish crossed its fins mockingly.

Seo stared at the fish, then at YurY. "You know this fish?" Clearly it wasn't a regular fish. Seeing as it talked, Seo might even feel bad about eating it.

"Yes." Both of them said at the same time, YurY in an annoyed tone, the fish in a gleeful one.

Seo glanced between them, then said, "Hi, fish. I'm Seo. You have... nice... eyeholes."

"Why thank you," the fish replied. "I'm Fsh."

"Fish?"

"Fsh."

"No I." YurY elaborated.

"Fush. Ffsh. Fsh." How did the fish speak with no vowels? Seo shook his head. "Where'd you come from, why are you here, and have you seen any gods trapped in ice and/or any monochromatic bug-bots?"

"You've got one on your shoulder."

Seo looked at his shoulder. There was a tiny dark speck on it. He gasped and plucked it off carefully. "Really? How did you know? Do you have microscope-level vision?" He narrowed his eyes at Fsh. Clearly, the fish was more than he appeared.

"Where do you think those 'monochromatic bug-bots' come from?"

"The center of the earth?"

The fish laughed. It was a decidedly strange sound, warbling through the air and almost seeming to echo off the buildings nearby despite not being particularly loud.

Seo looked at YurY. "What do we do with the fish?"

"You do nothing with 'the fish'." The fish replied. "Those little things you call bug-bots are my children."

Huh. "...Fish-bots? Baby fish? Fishlings?" Seo looked at the speck in his hand. "Would you like me to put your child down?"

"I'd like my child to bring you down."

Seo stared at Fsh. And then a sharp pain splintered through his hand. He yelped and waved his hand in the air, trying to shake off the fishling. "That was very rude!" His hand felt like he'd plunged it into the cooking fire. He dropped to the ground and rubbed it on the ice. He felt pain on the side of his head as YurY held onto his hair.

Fsh laughed again. "You devour my cousins, and give them freely as offerings, yet I'm the one who's rude? You humans spread across the land like a festering disease." Fsh swirled mesmerizingly in the air.

"I didn't know fish were sentient!"

Despite not having a nose, Fsh managed to snort derisively. "Fool." Other specks started to climb out of the ice. Seo stood up again and backed away. His hand throbbed.

"How do you even snort? I've always wondered." YurY commented.

Fsh turned his sightless eyeholes to YurY. "You cell of Hope," he hissed. "You're no better. Fraternizing with the humans, giving them precious things of the gods... Such boons should be reserved for the ancient species."

"All living things deserve hope." YurY replied, still holding onto Seo's hair.

"Ha! They won't be living things for much longer." The fish grinned, which was terrifying. Sharp teeth poked out from a void of a mouth.

Seo sprinted for his life, holding onto YurY so the cell of Hope wouldn't be tossed away by the wind. Yury clung to him for dear life.

He headed for the gray buildings. There was no guarantee the humans there would help him, but seeing as Fsh looked to be an enemy of all humankind, he thought he could convince them of the danger. Also the tiny biting fish. Those would be evidence of the fish's violent intentions.

Seo's feet burned. A mass of black on the ground followed them. The distance to the buildings seemed interminable, until they finally grew closer, and Seo threw himself through the nearest open entrance. YurY yelped.

The first thing Seo heard was the cawing of seagulls. He instinctively covered his head as he got up and looked around.

There was a door leaning against the back wall of the room. It seemed like the kind of thing that could be a portal to another universe, maybe one full of talking bananas. Seagulls flapped in and out of the room for some reason, and a few people wore wide-brimmed hats, apparently to protect themselves from the poop. Said seagulls dove occasionally to scoop out fish from long tanks along the sides of the room. The fish were around the size of Seo's hand and gleamed dully, in an unnatural way.

All around the room, pieces of metal and wiring were scattered about. People strode between piles of parts, some of which looked like they were being put together into machines whose use Seo couldn't fathom. There was a large boxy thing with wheels, and another contraption that seemed to involve rocks.

"Oh wow." YurY stood up a few feet in front of Seo.

And then Seo was attacked by a flock of seagulls.

It took him a moment to realize the birds weren't pecking at him but rather around him. The black mass of tiny fish that had followed him inside was quickly being decimated by the squawking birds.

YurY was looking at the machines, rather than the fact birds were eating the little fish off of him.

"YurY," Seo said slowly. "Should I be concerned about those metal and glass things they're pointing at me?"

"Cameras." YurY replied. "I'd say yes, and no."

"Not helpful!" Seo said. He started to back away as the seagulls finished their feast.

"Physically, they won't hurt you unless someone whacked you on the head. Egotistically, maybe."

"What does that mean?" Seo asked desperately. The people started to put the devices down and walk towards him. Their expressions were too serious for Seo's liking. "Should I run, fight, spout more theories, hide, or sleep?"

"No idea."

Seo attempted to do all of them at once and ended up flat on his face.

"How about you just start with standing up?"

"Yeah, sounds good." He groaned and stood up, just in time to nearly get a mouthful of metal.

Someone who was way too close pointed the metal thing at his face and pressed a button. There was a click, and then the person put the device down and said, "Welcome to Owie8, center for the reconstruction of historical cultures and technology. The seagulls thank you for the meal."

YurY returned to Seo's pocket once people were done greeting Seo. Seo seemed rather uncomfortable, but he laughed awkwardly and spouted tidbits about the shark-dragons in the glaciers to the north. Seo remained hidden in his pocket. That was until Seo scooped him up.

"YurY, I'm scared," he hissed, darting a glance at the crowd, which seemed to have turned away from him for now to discuss amongst themselves. "These people are the opposite of weird. I can't relate to them at all."

"What do you want me to do?"

"Summon a dancing polar bear to distract everyone?" he asked hopefully.

"And then what?"

Seo pouted. "I don't know. They pay the bear for the performance and I sneak out the back?"

"You could just say goodbye and walk off. How are you feeling by the way? Those fish bites suck."

Seo winced. "I feel like a bag of spicy chips ganged up on me to take revenge for eating their brethren. The pointy, triangular chips."

"... What?" YurY had no idea what he was talking about.

"I feel like I'm more full of holes than the sky is full of stars."

"You realize how many stars are out there?"

"...A billion?" Seo guessed. A few of the crowd had wandered back to their work, while the others were still discussing.

"A whole lot more. I don't even know how many are out there."

"But you're a cell of a god. Surely the gods know?"

"Yes, I'm a cell of god out of millions so I'll definitely know." He deadpanned.

"Would a brain cell know?" Seo mused. "What cell are you, exactly?"

"That's not important."

"A skin cell? An eyeball cell? A..." Seo thought for a moment. "jail cell?"

"What- no!"

Seo smiled. "Are you cell-tain?"

YurY just stared at him. What was he even talking about?

"Well, I, for one, think you are an ex-cell-ant cell. A great problem-cell-ver."

YurY just collapsed in Seo's palm and looked up at Atmosphere. He wasn't dealing with this nonsense.

"Oh no! Are you cell-right? No, that's too much of a stretch for a pun." Seo looked at YurY. "Alright, alright. Back to the quest? Except how do we get to the South Pole?"

"Well I saw a jeep."

Seo looked around and his eyes widened. "...Would you happen to know how to drive? Or have something to compensate the people with? Oh, or something to make sure it's safe?" Seo asked nervously. "Not to be a downer, but it looks very... hopeful. As in, hoping it stays together."

"So you people do know what a jeep is?"

"Yes, I've heard about it from stories," Seo said importantly. "It's a creature that must be fed with some kind of liquid that catches on fire, and 'driving' is the act of taming and steering it and making sure it does not digest you. Like a dragon, but with wheels."

"Okay, yeah that's close enough."

Seo smiled proudly.

"Let's go get one working."

A group of the researchers stopped discussing. One of the researchers stepped forwards, looking as if she was about to say something. Seo smiled apologetically, did a fancy pirouette, then darted past her towards the jeep, holding YurY with two hands. YurY felt like he was on a carnival ride, one with incredible motion with an incredible ability to make him feel sick. But he wouldn't be able to do the thing called "barfing" since he had no organs.

Seo hesitated a moment before the closed doors of the vehicle. "How does one enter the jeep?" The researchers were recovering from their momentary shock. Their shouts echoed through the room.

"Well there should be kind of like a hole on the side. Perfect to fit your hand in, or well like a handle. pull it."

"I offer it my hand as a sacrifice?" Seo asked, panicked. But he found the handle.

"Yes, no, just do it!"

The researchers closed in on them. Seo pulled the handle and threw himself into the driver's seat. "Now what?"

"close the door!"

Seo slammed the door shut. Below, the researchers cursed at them and pulled at the door.

"There's a little thing near the corner on that ridge where you can see through. push it down so they can't get in, to all doors please."

Seo spent a precious few seconds alternately yanking on the door to keep it shut and searching for the lock, until he finally found it and pushed it down. He was quicker for the other doors. "Sorry!" He yelled at the researchers. "Important quest stuff!"

There were a few projects between them and the still-open doors. Some researchers were rushing over to carry away those projects, or to stand in front of the jeep, as if that would stop them from moving.

"Look underneath the steering wheel. There's wires openly out because they didn't put panels back. You're going to take those and connect them. Twist them."

Seo listened intently, grabbed the wires, put them together, and twisted them.

"Okay look up, there's a flap. Pull it down."

Seo did so. Something shiny fell down and YurY grinned. "This is a very strange creature," Seo observed. "Did it just lose a tooth? Oh, no, it's a key. Key-shaped tooth?"

"Look to the right of the steering wheel. There's a keyhole."

"Ah." Seo put the key in the keyhole and turned it. The jeep roared to life.

Seo sat upright. "It won't eat me right now, will it?" He looked out of the windshield. The researchers were gesturing for him to get out of the jeep, but he only smiled apologetically.

"You're fine!" YurY laughed, smiling in amazement. He didn't know if it would still run after so long.

"Good."

"crash course time."

"I hope that doesn't involve literally crashing."

"depends on your ability to act fast."

He took a deep breath. "Okay. What next?"

"Stick to the right to change gears, two pedals at your feet, the right is gas to go, the left is your brakes and you've got the steering wheel right in front of you."

Seo stared at him blankly. "...Which one first?" His hands hovered in the air above the wheel and the stick indecisively. One of the researchers, one with short brown hair and pink glasses, climbed onto the hood of the jeep.

"Move the stick back two positions, then put your hands on the steering wheel, and your right foot on the right pedal."

It took him a few seconds, but he managed to move the stick and wrap his arms around the steering wheel protectively. Seo stomped on the right pedal. The jeep jerked forwards and researchers dove out of the way. The one on their hood managed to cling to the jeep and stay on.

YurY yelped. "Don't stomp on it! Lightly!"

"Okay, okay!" Seo said desperately. He lightened up, slowing them from a careening approach towards the doors to a crawl.

"Hands on the steering wheel, not hugging it!"

Seo made the corrections. "I can't see! The person's climbing up the windshield!"

"Push a little more on the gas, but don't stomp!"

Seo jerkily moved his foot, causing them to move at a faster pace. YurY hung onto the dash of the car for dear life. Somehow, the twig of a person on the jeep managed to hang on, clambering up to the roof and clearing the view from the windshield.

"Please steer AWAY from obstables."

"I think I'll settle for not dying," Seo said, running over a chunk of unidentified machinery. He swerved to the right, barely missed a table full of equipment, then overcompensated and grazed another project. The doorway approached quickly.

"Go, no more hitting things or we'll die!" YurY yelped.

"Ahhhhh!" Seo screamed as the jeep barreled forwards. It nicked the left side of the doorway, but was soon bursting out into the night.

Yury went to Seo's pocket and held on for dear life. They crashed over the ice, sliding even as Seo released the gas pedal. Seo winced and curled up over the steering wheel again.

"Push that stick two places forward!" YurY screamed.

Seo uncurled just enough to push it. Finally, the jeep came to a stop.

"I hate driving on ice." YurY grumbled.

"So," Seo gasped, "do I." He stayed slumped over the wheel.

"Much better on dirt, assuming it's not soaked."

Seo grunted in response.

There was a knock on the driver side window. Seo ignored it, seeming exhausted.

"Let's keep driving."

After a moment, Seo picked himself up again and wearily shifted gears. He stepped on the pedal more lightly this time. YurY did not relax.

The jeep bounced off chunks of ice, navigating under the moonlight. The figures of the researchers and the buildings of Owie8 receded into the distance. There were a few worrying clattering sounds, but the car wasn't actively falling apart, so that was a win. Not that it particularly meant anything since YurY wouldn't relax until they stopped driving.

Seo drove for what seemed to be around an hour. He improved slightly-- at least enough not to completely lose control every time they slid on a slippery patch of ice.

Finally, he let the car slow and put it in park again. He sat back against the seat, trembling slightly. YurY sighed from the pocket.

"So," Seo ventured, "think that researcher is still up there?"

"No idea. My hair is turning grey."

"Old man YurY." Seo shuddered. "That sounds terrifying." Cautiously, he leaned forwards and looked through the windshield. Nothing except ice in all directions.

"Technically I am old, to a human's standard."

Seo paused. "...That's weird to think about. You're older than my great-great-great-great-great-great-i don't know how many greats-grandpa." He cracked open the driver's side door.

"Yep."

After a moment, Seo stepped out of the vehicle. Something small hit him in the back of the head. He whirled around in time to see the small rock clatter to the ground. And, a little higher... There was that scientist, lying on the top of the jeep and propping their head up with a fist. They had short brown hair and wore snazzy sunglasses. "'Sup?"

Seo blinked. He looked up. "The sky. An interesting cloud that looks very much like a shark dragon. Another interesting cloud that looks like a bird. Oh wait, no, the shark dragon is eating the bird. Chomp."

"Wow. A literal guy. Okay."

"The shark dragon is digesting the bird, I think." Seo finally looked back at the researcher. "What's your quest?"

"Oh I'm just curious about why you're stealing a jeep. So you're on a quest?"

"Yes." Seo squinted at the researcher. "You were curious enough to jump on said stolen jeep? Huh. You weren't worried it'd eat you?"

"Silly superstition." She snorted. "Cars don't eat people. They'll kill you if you stand in front of a moving one though."

Seo gasped. "How wasteful! To kill and not even eat the result? Tsk tsk." He looked down at YurY and whispered, "What do we do with the rock thrower?"

"I don't know, what do they want?"

Seo relayed the question to the scientist.

"You said you were on a quest right? I'm going to come along." She swung her feet down, now sitting on top of the jeep.

"Why? Are you an alien trying to learn more about human customs? Or perhaps a time traveler? Oh! I've got it! You're a creature from the deep in human form, trying to infiltrate our society."

"Hit the nail right on the head." She grinned.

Seo absorbed that for a moment. His face looked caught between excitement and suspicion. "The thing is, I'm not a great example of human society."

"Doesn't matter. I think you'll be a great example. You are after all, (what was it?), human."

Seo stared at the researcher for a good minute. "...What's life like down in the depths?"

"Violent. Dark. Lugubrious. Nondescript."

"You speak our language quite well for a creature of the deep ocean." Seo maintained unblinking eye contact with the other being.

"What do you mean? You're just speaking our language."

Seo was silent for a good few minutes. Had the person broken him?

"What? It's true."

Seo raised a finger, fishmouthed for a few seconds, dropped his hand, and frowned. "That," he said finally, "is an excellent conspiracy theory. Why didn't I think of that? Language originating in the deep ocean... humans never invented language! It's all lies!"

"Of course it is! You humans with all your lies. It's fascinating. Mmmmmmm."

Seo whispered to YurY, "Can we keep them? A real-life deep ocean creature! Probably. Maybe."

"As long at the don't eat me." YurY replied.

"Do you eat cells of gods?" Seo asked.

"Depends on what kind."

"Do you eat Hope? Or did you mean like braincells versus skin cells?"

"Hope? Wait have you actually found a cell of Hope?"

"Yes. No. I mean, theoretically."

"Like is it visible?" She jumped off of the jeep. "Does it grant you wishes like it's been said before?"

Seo backed away. "What experience do you have with that?"

"Absolutely none!"

"So, to clarify, you don't eat Hope. Or cells of Hope."

"Well I've never actually tried."

Seo gulped. "Do you eat humans?"

"I haven't tried human yet either. Have you?"

"Does chewing on my fingernails count?"

"Is it edible?"

"What defines edible? It's swallow-able. Not very tasty, though."

"If it can provide you with substance, it's edible. I'd say that's edible."

"By that definition, I'd be edible." Seo took another step back. "You are terrifying. I think I should be running right now."

"Why thank you!" She replied cheerfully, taking a step forward. "You can run if you want, I'll be able to keep up just fine!"

Seo blanched. "That's even worse. Question, though. Clearly you can eat me, but are you going to eat me?"

"Well it depends on how much I can learn from you."

Somehow, Seo managed to become even paler. He looked like a statue carved out of ice. "I-I... Do conspiracy theories count as things to learn?"

"I think that could sate me."

"Okay, well, I have an endless supply of those."

"Great! Maybe I won't eat you."

"'Maybe' is not comforting. I'd steal the jeep again, but I think you'd be able to catch up without a problem, considering my driving skills." Seo winced. "Can you drive?"

"I never have. Never was allowed to touch it." The scientist creature-from-the-depths thing pouted.

Seo sighed. "My rations are running out, and I think we're still hours from the nearest town. Guess I'll have to get back behind the wheel." He glanced at YurY again. YurY looked back up at him from where he sat in his pocket. This was a very strange conversation.

"Well theoretically I know how to drive."

"Theoretically?" Seo raised an eyebrow at YurY, silently asking whether to give the scientist-from-the-depths a chance.

"Yes, I know all the things about driving. From the books, not from experience." She replied. YurY shook his head.

"Well, I have a few hours of experience, which is more than you do." Seo hopped back into the driver's seat. The scientist got into the seat next to him. He looked at the stars for a moment. "Winerao is the closest city. I hope they look kindly upon penniless people arriving in ancient tech and looking for food."

With that, he pressed a pedal. The car protested. Seo tried again, and the engine reluctantly sputtered to life, sounding as if it'd have preferred to stay dead. They lurched forwards across the frozen landscape. YurY held on for dear life, and so did the scientist, gripping the seat.

If gaining an additional passenger was the price to pay for the jeep, Seo thought it was a fair trade. He would not want to be walking across miles of ice. And besides, the new person/creature/being was interesting.

"So," he said, "another theory is that the sun doesn't exist. I mean, a giant flaming ball in the sky? Clearly it's an illusion created by advanced space platypuses." Seo stifled a yawn. He'd been awake for the past day and much of the night as they drove away from Owie8.

"So how does it light up the entire world?" The scientist asked. "Or give off a kind of warmth?"

"The space platypuses orbit the whole world. And have you heard of those fabled things called microwaves? You stuck stuff in a box, it went mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm ding! and then your food got warm. There's obviously some of those heating the earth."

"So we're slowly being cooked alive?"

"Only if you believe we're alive. I have another theory that we're actually all ghosts and we died centuries ago, before the current Ice Age."

"So we're dead. How are we aging?"

"All an illusion. Being young is a lie. Can you remember being a baby? I can't. I can barely remember what I was like two hypothetical years ago."

"No one can remember being a baby because our brains weren't developed enough." The scientist replied. "But we can remember growing up after being a baby."

Seo pondered that for a moment. "Okay then, how about this? When we're a baby, we can't remember anything because our souls are still being transferred from the living world to the land of the dead. But after that, we remember things as usual."

Around them, the icy landscape passed by quietly.

"What about when you see people carrying around babies? Which they gave birth to."

"Simply mindless lumps of ghostly flesh still being grown into proper vessels."

"So if we're in a microwave but we're dead we're still being cooked."

"Yes." Seo grinned. "Someday the platypuses will collect us for an intergalactic feast."

"And has this happened before?"

"Who knows?" he replied cheerfully. "It's one of many possibilities."

"Where's your proof?"

"Where's yours? Who's to say any one possibility is more likely than another?"

"No, you're the one coming up with theories. Where's your proof to back them up?"

"Platypuses are outliers. They're semiaquatic mammals, and they look like a strange combination of a duck, beaver and otter, as if they're aliens trying to blend in but not quite able to do a convincing job. And really, history is full of lies. Why does the burden of proof have to lie on new theories rather than old ones?"

"So you have no scientific proof."

"Aren't the features of platypuses scientific? What would you consider scientific proof?"

"It only attributes to a small part of your theory."

Seo shrugged. "What's the scientific explanation for the Sun, then?" He steered around a large rock.

"It's a whole bunch of chemicals fusing together, which radiates light and heat, two signs of a chemical reaction."

"Sounds like magic to meeeeeee. Like, random substances going boom, light and heat?"

"Magic is created through science."

"Why can't magic be created through platypuses then?"

"There's no scientific logic to it."

"Science this, science that... Sigh. Ence."

"Logic."

"Oh hey, that sounds like Logix, my hometown!" Seo's face fell. Right, Logix. The one that was currently mostly rubble. Suddenly he didn't quite feel like debating the merits of science versus platypuses.

"Oooh, so that's where your from?"

Seo nodded. "What about you?" The first glimmers of dawn began to brush across the horizon.

"Well I was born in Dnfvmo, then for a few years I was in Hf39e, another few years in Ibnva, and finally Owie8."

"That's quite a bit of traveling." Seo paused. "Wait. Born. So you're not a deep sea creature?"

"No, I was kidding. I am a deep sea creature."

Seo glanced at the scientist. "Sounds like what someone who's not a deep sea creature would say. Where's your scientific proof, eh?"

"Oh look who's ask- STOP!" She held onto the ceiling and his seat.

Seo whipped his head back towards the view in front of him, which was currently filled to an alarming percentage by a skating city. He stomped on the brakes, sending the jeep spinning.

The traveling city of Dnfvmo slowed and settled down with a prolonged sigh as the mechanisms that kept it running released steam. The rising sun glinted off the multitude of blades it skated on, which gradually whirred to a stop.

Seo sat there for a long moment, breathing heavily and staring at the city with wide eyes. It stretched surprisingly high into the air; he was impressed at how the entire bulky building complex managed to skate over the ice so smoothly. It looked like a cockroach in an ice rink, but more graceful.

The scientist was already hopping out of the jeep. "Come on!"

Seo waited until he stopped trembling and checked on YurY. YurY was not in his pocket. Seo looked around the interior of the jeep. "YurY?" he called.

"Stop moving around so much, I'm right here." Yury's voice came from on top of his head.

Seo froze. "...You're not pulling out my hair, are you? I don't want to go bald."

"You're fine, you've got plenty of hair. A lot of dandruff too."

"Okay... Nothing alive up there, right?"

"Me. Now hurry up and go follow that scientist."

"Alright, alright!" Seo hopped out of the jeep. It felt a bit odd knowing he had a cell of a god on his head, but hey, maybe he'd absorb some hopeful vibes. Or something.

He entered the traveling city of Dnfvmo. More like he had to run after the scientist, who was standing on a ramp that was not in an easy to see place. It also got very close to those sharp blades.

"So," Seo ventured, "hypothetically, how safe is this city? And how do they feel about newcomers?"

"They love visitors. As long as you aren't suicidal you're perfectly safe."

Seo glanced at the blades again, then backed away to the center of the ramp. "Yep, I think I'm good there then."

"Great! Come on." She continued up the ramp. Seo followed. She opened a door, and then they were in the city. It was kind of like one very large building with many doors, many levels, and many halls and walkways. He could see up through all the floors. For a moment he stood there, staring, his mouth hanging slightly open. Not even his wildest conspiracy theories about Logix originally being a sentient square could compare to this.

"Welcome to the traveling city." The scientist said.

A wide grin spread across Seo's face. "It's fantastic."

"Yep. Come on, let's find a place to get some rest before rush hour."

Seo looked around as they walked inwards from the entrance. "Rush hour?"

"Yeah. You'll never get to where you need to go because literally everyone else here is trying to do the same thing."

"...Where are they all trying to go?"

"Wherever they need or want to."

Seo looked at the other residents of Dnfvmo. A few of them were traversing walkways above them, and others were sauntering down the hallways on their level. Some waved cheerfully. Before he could wave back the scientist grabbed his arm and started dragging him behind her.

"H-Hey!" Seo protested, nearly tripping as he was pulled along. YurY sat on Seo's shoulder, trying to not fall off. "What do you have against casual greetings through a movement of the hand?"

"I don't have a problem with that. I do have a problem with getting ran over by millions of people."

Seo focused on not being slammed face-first into a wall as they turned a corner. Then he complained, "You'd think a city marvelous enough to skate would be able to organize the people inside it better. Why is there a rush hour here?"

"How idiotic are you? Everyone's trying to get to dinner, or go home and sleep, or go to work

"On an idiocy scale of one to tentacle, I'm hail." Around them, the walkways started to get busier. "Where are we going, again?"

"A place where we won't get trampled."

"On a vagueness scale of ocean to ten, that's a sky."

"Alright cool. Let's not dilly dally, we've only got a few minutes."

"Okay, okay." Seo let himself be dragged along until they reached a door in what seemed to be a hall similar to a hotel. As doors went, it was a pretty nice door. Probably better maintained than his aunt's front door, which creaked like it was on its last legs every time it was opened. Or, well, used to creak.

The scientist felt at the wall besides the door. The door turned into a potato chip. Well, it looked like one anyways. Maybe it was one? But the scientist made a dramatic swoosh for Seo to enter. Seo tried to take a bite out of the door.

"Hey! Don't bite my door! I still need that. Not like your teeth can make a scratch on it anyways."

Seo pouted, but he restrained himself from trying to eat the door. He wandered through it instead. The scientist went in behind him, the potato chip turning into a door. YurY stuck his head out from Seo's pocket to look around.

The room was fairly small, though there were a few other doorways that seemed to lead towards other rooms.

"The bathrooom is the first door on the left, your bedroom is right across from it, and this is pretty much the kitchen and the living room."

"I get my own bedroom?" Seo blinked. "Wait. You live here? You're actually from Dnfvmo?"

"No, I'm a rich creature from the depths of the ocean. Well, rich by your human standards."

Seo raised an eyebrow. "Well, thank you, o rich creature of the depths." He peeked into the bedroom, and then checked out the kitchen. It had all the basic pots and pans and a deep sink.
(honorary mentions: @EllieMae)

The scientist was nowhere to be seen, probably having retreated to the depths of their room. YurY appeared on the counter.

Seo made unblinking eye contact with the cell of Hope. The cell of Hope stared back.

"How are you this fine..." Seo thought for a moment. "Morning? Afternoon? Undetermined time of day?"

"Carsick still. How about you?"

"Still a little in shock from almost crashing into a skating city."

"Yeah that's part of it."

Seo was quiet for a moment. "Think we can hypnotize the consciousness of this skating city to take us to the South Pole?"

"This city travels, but it doesn't get near the south pole."

"That's a bummer. And I don't suppose you can grant a wish to be transported there?"

"It doesn't work like that." YurY shook his head.

"Could you explain how it does work?" Seo claimed a chair and plopped onto it backwards. "How can you tell when you've recovered from granting wishes?"

"I can't just teleport someone or manipulate them. I only help people in certain ways. I can aid someone in lifting a block of ice. I can help heal people. Small things like that. It's a code that all cells of Hope, even Hope himself follows. Which is part as to why he- we got trapped. As for when I know I've recovered, I'll just know like a human knows it's recovered from an illness."

Seo nodded slowly. "That sounds kind." He thought back to the other gods they'd encountered. "More mature than Cloud or Dirt... How did Hope get trapped?"

YurY hugged himself. "He was asked for help. It was a trap. Unlike most other gods he doesn't smite people or wield a weapon."

"That's more unfair than a fish being judged in a flying contest." Seo frowned. It figured that the one decent-seeming god was the one who was trapped.

"Life's never fair."

"Now that's truer than a fish falling from the sky."

"What?"

"Yes." Seo nodded sympathetically.

YurY walked on the counter, still hugging himself. Something in Seo crumpled at that. It was a strange thing, to see a cell of Hope not looking particularly hopeful. Seo hesitated, then reached out a hand. "We'll find him. Even if it takes years and we find the nuclear penguins at the south pole first."

YurY touched Seo's hand with one of his very small ones. He looked up at Seo with great thanks in his eyes and much more.

Seo smiled and gently squeezed YurY's hand. "Alright! We'll have to find some other transportation then... You wouldn't happen to know of any flying tables, would you?"

"No flying tables." He shook his head.

"That's a bummer." Seo got up and started to pace. He'd learned some geography back in Logix, and he could visualize their world as a map in his head. He added some mental sea monsters and sky monsters. "There are a few cities to the south, though it'll be a couple weeks of travel between each one if we walk. There's Winerao, which we were heading towards. Then Ibnva, and Foiap is a port to the south."

"So just on this city we should be able to make it to Winerao, then we can worry about transport once we're there?"

"Sounds good." Seo looked around. "Hmm... sense anything to eat?" He hadn't eaten much since finishing off his other fish the past evening, before being attacked by the flying fish and entering Owie8.

"I'm a piece of Hope, not a food detector."

Seo shook his head sadly. "What a tragedy. It's okay. I am but a novice in the fine art of food detecting, but surely I can teach you the basics, my dear apprentice." He wandered into the kitchen. "Step one: open everything that can be opened." He started pulling out drawers.

"Pieces of Hope are not apprentices either."

"Students?" Seo tried. "Watsons?" He found cutlery and various tools.

"No."

Seo stared at an odd contraption that had multiple blades and funky holes in it. "...Then can you be the detective? Because my strategy pretty much begins and ends with step one."

"Is that a cheese grater?"

"Is that what it is?" rps asked dubiously. "It doesn't look edible."

"It probably isn't. Then again if you tried hard enough anything could be a cheese grater."

"Hmmm." Seo put the maybe-a-cheese-grater back in the drawer. Then he opened some cabinets. YurY looked in them with him.

There was...

*drumroll*

A really horrible stench that floated out of one of them once he opened it. Seo stepped back, gagging. YurY looked into the cabinet, not seeming particularly concerned.

It was a good few minutes before Seo could turn back to the cabinet with his nose firmly pinched. He peeked inside cautiously. YurY teleported onto his shoulder.

"Now then," Seo said with a nasal voice. "Is that a dead body, or is it a zombie?"

"Why does your voice sound so funny when you humans pinch your nose?"

"Because it makes the tiny mushroom fairies that live in our noses unhappy and so they make our voices sound weird," Seo replied. He pointed at the thing in the cabinet. "Should I be concerned?"

"Well, it appears to be a dead human. That usually troubles you."

"Depends on who the dead human was." Seo squinted at the body. "I don't recognize this particular one."

"How many people do you particularly know?"

Seo counted on his fingers. "You, my aunt, my family, the neighbors... Fifteen?"

"Alright. Then I wouldn't expect you to know anyone now that we're beyond Logix."

"Sounds about right," Seo agreed. "Unless this is an ancestor of mine who recently reincarnated, only to have been met with a terrible demise..."

"What?"

"Just sayin'!" Seo laughed awkwardly. "Anyways. That doesn't solve the problem of what to do with the body... Or answer why it's there."

"Don't touch it! It could be riddled with disease!"

Seo stopped guiltily, finger barely brushing the body's arm. "Uh. Too late?"

"Hope's prison, don't die." YurY put his face in his hands.

"Not even to see the dancing cities in the afterlife?" Seo pouted and put his arm down.

"Not now."

Seo grumbled.

The dead body grumbled too. YurY gaped, and teleported to be behind Seo.

Well now. That was interesting.