Blue Age

Ellis didn't like being touched unless it was a pretty young thing doing the touching, and the two grunting, potbellied Aeons who manhandled him into Exeria's only jail didn't qualify by any stretch of the imagination.

He and Blue were separated after that doofus-in-armor Duken got the drop on them. Ellis was arrested (and none too gently) while Duken led Blue away in another transport. He'd never heard of a Disciple, but that was the only explanation the knights had for Blue's magic light show... or whatever that whole thing was. Hell, the kid didn't know what was going on either. Everyone who witnessed it had been shocked to their cores. Ellis just wished they'd been in shock long enough for him to make another escape.

"Let me go!" He growled and thrashed against the Aeons who dragged him down a poorly lit corridor toward a cell. The entire building was empty except for them. Exeria really did have a low crime rate.

"Quiet, scoundrel!" The second Aeon drew his sword and held it to Ellis' throat as they struggled toward the cell.

Ellis almost spit at the sight of the blade. "You know why you got yourself a big fancy sword instead of a pistol? 'Cuz you knights couldn't hit a bullseye with a handful of banjos."

The knights forced him into the small, dank room and tore off his duster, shirt, and even his boots and socks. Sweat matted down the thick, dark hair that ran along the swell of his bare chest. Least they had the manners to leave my pants, his mind snarled.

They left the cell and locked it as Ellis jumped to his feet and banged two angry fists against the bars. "The hell are you goin'?! You can't just throw me in this dang hole!"

He was answered with the slam of another door, another lock clicking into place, and then silence. Ellis pushed himself into the middle of the room, so angry he couldn't see straight. So angry that he couldn't tell at first if the woman's voice from the corridor was his imagination or not.

"Settling in nicely, I see?"

Out of habit, Ellis' hands groped for his pistols, only to remember they'd been confiscated. A woman stood in the corridor just outside his cell. A frail old thing, but stately looking, with a spiky jade crown sitting buckled on a head of mountainous, burgundy hair.

Shit. It's a Keeper.

"I'm doin' fine." Ellis stared at her, hard, and tried to calm down. "Fine as sweet cream gravy."

"My name is Raina," the old woman smiled. If she was at all concerned about the amount of skin he showed, she did a good job of hiding it.

"And you're this frontier's Keeper."

"Ah! Very astute, dear. Now, I've told you my name, what shall I call you?" When he said nothing, she switched tracks. "Shy, I see. Ooh. Then come whisper your name in my ear."

Ellis' glare intensified. "What happened to the rest of my crew?"

"Your crew?" Keeper Raina tapped her finger to her lip. "Your crew. Ah, do you mean your unwashed gang of scum-of-the-earth ruffians? My Aeons gave them a proper beating, if you recall. But not to worry! Once they're out of the hospital, you'll have plenty of time to catch up with them in your little cells. How lovely would that be?"

Ellis could tell she was somewhat daffy, but an eerie calmness hid beneath the surface.

"Now," she continued, "because your colleagues are currently nursing broken bones and flesh wounds in medically-induced comas, you're unfortunately the only chap I can ask about the ugly events that went down tonight in my frontier."

The fierce way she emphasized my frontier only made Ellis hope she could take just as well as she gave.

"No offense, lady, but I ain't gotta tell you shit."

She smiled again. "You most certainly do not."

"Then I don't see a reason for you to be starin' me down. This is a waste of my time."

"If I may speak frankly," Keeper Raina moved closer to his cell, "You have the time to waste. See, my dear, when you threaten and steal from Exeria, you put an awfully large spotlight on your head. Can you blame my curiosity?"

Ellis crossed his cell and leaned against the farthest wall. He took his time, leisurely folding his arms across his naked chest. "Far as you're concerned, I'm just a petty thief. Ain't nothin' special about me."

"I think Blue would disagree with that." She saw a spark of interest, but he was playing it safe. "I believe you've already met Sir Duken. He told me everything about Blue. About how this whole sordid affair began with the two of you. At dinner."

Ellis looked at the ceiling, unwilling to confirm or deny anything.

"He's safe, if that what worries you. Blue is important to us, if he really is the Disciple... I will confirm it tomorrow. What I'm wondering, is whether or not you were aware of Blue's, shall I say, unique title? Did you bring him into Exeria on purpose? To, perhaps, use him as some sort of bargaining chip? Or was this all some colossal coincidence?"

After a while, Ellis breathed deep and answered. "This night isn't how I wanted it to turn out. For me or Blue. I wasn't gonna hurt him and that's all I'm saying."

The deep lines around Raina's eyes creased even deeper. "You come from the dust zone, you and your friends. Now, we have no official quarrel with your kind but I'm most certainly not above detaining you for a very, very long time. And whatever you had in that sodswiddle desert will be nothing but a sad, distant memory. I have known many men of sinister intent, Ellis..."

His eyes shot toward her. His whole body tensed upon hearing his name escape her lips.

"...and if their company has taught me anything, it's that the truth always reveals itself. In one way or another."

Ellis straightened his posture. "You knew my name this whole time?"

Sensing that she would get nothing else out of him, the Keeper walked away. "I wanted to test your honesty," she called in a sing-songy voice.

"Yeah?" Ellis snorted. "And how'd I do?"

She reached the end of the corridor and waited for the Aeons to unlock the exit door. "That is yet to be determined."

***

Duken knocked on the chamber door and ran a hand through his beard, a nervous habit he'd picked up in the last few days. He certainly had much to be nervous about that morning. It hadn't even been eight hours since he stopped the first ever robbery in Exeria, a robbery that ended in him discovering the very real Disciple was a very real young outlier named Blue.

"Oh, for Starlight's sake." Duken rapped his knuckles against the door again. Since last night the Aeons did everything in their power to accommodate Blue. They bought him the dinner he never got a chance to have and set him up in the most expensive guest lodging in Exeria. And yet the boy had the nerve to sleep in.

After a third, much more irritable knock, Duken listened for a beat. "Blue, this is First Captain Sir Duken. Keeper Raina is expecting us and it's of utmost importance that she meet the Disciple as soon as possible. Are you awake and dressed?"

The door flung open. A sleepy Blue stood on the other side, his hair a dark brown hurricane across his delicate but tired face, wearing nothing but a pair of briefs. Duken straightened his back and coughed, suddenly thankful he sported enough facial hair to mask the flush of color on his cheeks. He didn't mean to stare... but he couldn't quite help it. His eyes performed a quick scan of Blue's body, which was slender and lean, but well-defined.

"I take this to mean you are very much not dressed."

Blue blinked the sleepiness from his eyes and recognized the man standing before him. "Oh. Uh- sorry- shit."

Duken studied the ceiling very intently. "If I may make a suggestion? Trousers."

As Blue approached his bed, Duken, if only for a moment, let his gaze roam down along Blue's flat stomach to his tight butt and strong, ropey legs.

Stop this, Duken chastised himself. My god, man. Be a gentleman.

Duken was often surrounded by undressed men - the Aeons' locker room was near legendary in its tales of rowdiness. But his fellow knights all had bodies largely similar to his own, brawny and hirsute, built for taking a punch or two. Or three.

Blue, however, seems more built for taking a...

Something caught in Duken's throat then, perhaps some subconscious signal to stop his line of thinking before it got out of hand. His cough alerted Blue, who pulled on a pair of dirty, faded jeans.

"You okay?" Blue asked with an arched eyebrow.

"I merely wish to shepherd this day along," Duken replied, eager to distract himself.

Blue slipped on his shirt. "Why exactly do I need to meet the Keeper, again?"

"Because you are the Disciple."

"Yeah, I still don't know what that means."

As his composure regained, Duken's impatience surfaced. "It means you've been chosen by forces neither you nor I could understand for what might very well be the most important quest of our age."

"Ah." Blue considered this as he laced up his boots. "No pressure, then."

Duken watched him grab his jacket. "Can we get a move on, finally?"

Blue paused and stared down at Captain Starlight's insignia, still burned deep into the skin of both his palms. Studying them made him nervous. "What happened to Ellis?"

Duken scoffed. "Pardon me? That lowlife from the dust zone? Ellis is no friend of yours. He's a criminal and currently in frontier incarceration, far away from you. As he should be."

"He's not a criminal!" Blue tried to find the right words. "He's- okay, sure, if by criminal you mean someone who... breaks the law. But he's not dangerous."

"You know this how?"

"He was only trying to keep me safe."

"Safe?" Duken could barely believe what he'd heard. "Trapping you in the middle of a gunfight, in a room full of hostages is not in any definition of the word safe. I am the most devoted Aeon in Exeria. Your safety is my concern, not his."

"Look, I don't need you to be angry with him on my behalf, okay? I just need to know that he's alright." There was no mistaking the tone of challenge in Blue's response.

"You are part of something larger now," Duken said, hoping to galvanize him. "And your concerns should reflect that."

Blue looked at him in a way that gave Duken pause. He seemed battered, haunted in a manner that was highly odd for someone his age. When Blue spoke again, his voice was much smaller. "Fine. Can we just go and get this day over with?"

Duken waited for the tense moment to pass and nodded. "Shall we? Keeper Raina awaits."

Blue kept his eyes on the floor as he left for the hallway. Duken watched him carefully. While he knew the young outlier was uncomfortable with his current situation, Blue's obvious displeasure with him was startling and unpleasant.

This entire situation is just so bizarre... it's unprecedented. I can't even imagine how it all appears to Blue. Should I be the one making a greater effort, here?

The question lingered in Duken's mind as they made their way out of the lodgers' building and into Exeria's sunny streets.

***

Blue shielded his sensitive eyes from the blazing sky, cursing himself for forgetting his shaded goggles on the airscooter the other night. They walked in silence for several minutes, though Blue couldn't help but notice the adoring passers-by who patted Duken on the arm, or squealed in delight and ran away, or bowed before him graciously. The knight clearly left people starstruck, which both bemused and annoyed Blue to varying degrees.

Who knew Sir Lancelot here could draw such an admiring crowd?

Duken himself appeared to be appreciative but embarrassed with all of the attention. More than a few of his fans were young women, one of whom nearly elbowed Blue in the face in a mad rush to earn the knight's attention.

"Sir Duken!" the young Exerian woman called, "I've been hearing clawing noises on my front door at night. Can you come 'round after sunset to... scare away the intruder?"

Duken chuckled in a way that told Blue he'd heard plenty of requests like these before. "It's probably just a raccoon. If you like I can send one of my men with a, erm, broom of some kind."

The Exerian woman bit her lower lip. "I'd much prefer your broom, Sir."

"Okay!" Blue interjected as quickly as he could, throwing himself between the two of them. "Sorry about your raccoon, but if you don't mind, the big guy and I have a meeting."

Blue pushed through the cluster of the adulating fans. Duken followed, muttering apologetically to all the disappointed faces.

"My mistake," Duken jogged to catch up to his charge. "Should've known better than to cross main street at this time of day."

The Duken groupies were annoying, yes, but they also made Blue see the big knight in a new way. The man was still a touch too guarded and severe for his taste, but Blue could recognize Duken held a certain charisma, a confidence that was earned yet modest.

He's also about half a foot taller than you, Blue reminded himself. And he looks like he could tackle a grizzly bear. Maybe it's not all that bad if he's on my side. Key word being 'if'...

Duken spoke, jolting Blue back to reality. "Have you been to Frontier Exeria before, lad?"

"Oh, uh, once before I think. I was just a kid." Blue shot a hesitant look at him, unsure where this was going.

"That must have been a little overwhelming for a child outlier."

Blue shrugged. "It was okay for one day. Don't think I could live here though. Too much going on. A lot of... noise." He caught Duken glancing at him, as if testing the temperature of their new conversation.

"I apologize for the, erm, aggressiveness from the night before," Duken said. His steely blue eyes looked softer in the sunlight. Kinder. "Me and my knights merely wanted to be thorough. You must understand that crime is non-existent here and it is my sworn duty to keep it that way. I take the safety of this frontier and its people very seriously. But I never meant to frighten you."

"I get it," Blue said, lighter this time. "Really. And it's nice of you to apologize. But if you're trying to soften me up so I'll apologize for blowing up your men with a sparkler, you can keep waiting."

A strange thing happened that caught Blue off guard.

Duken actually laughed. His deep voice boomed in the air, Blue could feel it vibrate in his chest. He knew he'd been prickly and moody with Duken all morning, but if the knight still managed to find a reason to laugh, he couldn't have been so terrible.

"Wow, so who knew an Aeon's voice could even reach an octave that high?"

"I'm not an ogre, Blue. I have a sense of humor."

"So they don't actually drill your personality of you during Aeon training?" As soon the words left Blue's lips, he realized they were both standing at the foot of Keeper Raina's tower, a dark brick building guarded by a ring of Aeons.

Duken nodded briefly to the two knights posted by the exterior elevator. "We're here. And I'll have you know our training actually encourages camaraderie. There's much to learn about the ways of a knight, lad."

The odd twosome stepped into the elevator and Blue watched with some amount of dread as the doors closed behind them. He still had no idea how Keeper Raina would react to him, or what this whole Disciple business would even demand.

Blue had a bad feeling he wouldn't like what he was about to find out.

***

The elevator reached the top floor with a polite ding. Blue held his breath as the doors peeled back to reveal a grand room with brilliant marble floors and high, vaulted ceilings. About twenty or so Aeons appeared from the shadows. The sight terrified Blue at first, but they moved simultaneously toward the farthest wall where a strange woman sat on a throne.

Duken nudged him and whispered, "This is Keeper Raina. She's a smite off-center. But don't slouch and don't trip." The Aeons parted as Duken and Blue walked through them, as if they were all participating in a bizarre wedding march.

Catching sight of Blue, the Keeper let out a long, gasping cough that reverberated off the steep walls.

"Madame!" Duken rushed to her side. "Are you alright?"

Raina waved him away, her coughs becoming fits of laughter. "I am fine, Sir Duken." The old woman patted her chest. "I just cannot recall the last time I've seen such a beautiful young man."

Duken's eyes lit with something halfway between shock and amusement.

"Come closer, child," the Keeper trilled. She waved a ring-clad finger back and forth. "Let me see what all this fuss has been about."

Blue took a few hesitant steps forward and turned his palms over, assuming the Keeper meant to observe the twin symbols burned into his skin. Instead, she grabbed his chin and brought his face so close that all he could were the fine hairs along her nose.

"Tell me how old you are."

Blue's lips were numb and he found it difficult to answer. "I'm... 22, ma'am. Since last October."

"You're still an infant." She explored every dip and valley of Blue's face, from his high cheekbones to his full, red lips. It didn't take her long to decide on her favorite feature. "Look at those eyes, how they haunt me! Like emeralds on the snow."

Duken worried the collar of his uniform. "Madame, perhaps we should broach the subject that brings this outlier before you?"

She peered down at Blue's hands and held them in hers. She held a long silence. "I knew you'd find us, Blue," she eventually said. "My faith in Captain Starlight is immovable. It guides me, strengthens me. He gave his life to save ours and now he asks you," she briefly tapped Blue's nose, "to lead us back to him."

Blue studied the room. Everyone, from the Aeons to the Keeper to even Duken, regarded him with some measure of hushed respect. Even the low, repetitive beeps from the servantbot idling in the corner sounded oddly humbled.

Blue crinkled his brow at all of this. "That's... nice."

"That's nice?" Raina repeated. "This is the most significant event to happen in our world in 108 years and that's nice?"

He thought very carefully about his response. "...Yeah."

Maybe not carefully enough.

"Boy, Exeria may seem like a land of indulgence to you, but as far as civilization was concerned a century ago, we still toil in a dark age. Any land not sanctioned off to a frontier is lawless. Entire zones are lost to the outliers, to the criminals, to the ill-gotten and diseased." She paused. "No offense."

"None taken," Blue said flatly.

"And while we live in relative comfort here in the coast zone, the Earth beyond us is a ravaged corpse. We have neither the numbers nor the resources to rebuild our planet into what it once was. But if Captain Starlight is alive... and if he seeks our help... we may be on the precipice of something. A second renaissance. Just imagine using what once destroyed us to forge a new beginning."

Blue's mouth became very dry. "So what does this all have to do with me?"

The Keeper raised his hands until they reached a beam of sunlight streaming in from her balcony window. "Oracle Nova told me a Disciple would be given a message on the eve of the comet's passing. A message that will reveal where Captain Starlight is. That Disciple will be branded - as you have clearly been. Now tell me, boy, what information did you receive?"

"Information?" Blue repeated, confused. "I remember seeing the comet and getting a really bad headache that almost threw me off an airscooter. So if Captain Starlight wanted me to die? Message received."

A chorus of scandalized muttering ripped through the room. Raina pointed a thin, straight finger to the air, hushing the Aeons. "It's fine," she said to them, then turned back to Blue, "If you did not receive a message personally, it may be elsewhere, waiting to be discovered. Or perhaps Oracle Nova misinterpreted her vision. Hmm. Ninnyhammers. Sir Duken?"

Duken stepped forward. "Madame?"

"Will you please arrange for Oracle Nova to meet us at the Guardian Orchard."

Duken's eyes flickered from Blue to her. "The... Guardian Orchard? You're sure?"

She laughed, high and flighty. "Can anyone be sure of anything? Please do as I ask."

"Erm, yes, madame." Duken tapped a few buttons on his gauntlet but didn't appear assured.

"What's the Guardian Orchard?" Blue asked.

"You will see," Raina rose from the throne with great effort. "Now, how about we take a little walk?"

***

Blue thought Keeper Raina meant a walk around Exeria. Instead, Duken led them both to the lowest floor of her tower and into a winding, narrow tunnel.

"This tunnel runs all the way underneath the frontier, loops and curls and entrails," Raina said dreamily. "Back during industrial times, they used these paths to cart alcohol back and forth in secret. Ha! Can you imagine?"

"I read a book like this once," Blue tried not to sound nervous. His hands groped the dark walls as he walked, very much needing an anchor in the closed space. "A group of explorers were trapped in these catacombs beneath an old city, uh, I forget where..." He knew he was only being half-listened to, but kept going. "They were looking for an ancient sword. Or an ancient lance. Something ancient. Lost my interest halfway through. Could've used a monster." He was rambling now, desperate to mask his mounting distress.

"I'm not taking you to a monster, child," Raina tutted. "You must understand that a preservation such as the one you're about to see must be kept under lock and key. It's a great honor that Frontier Exeria holds these resting grounds."

They stopped in front of a towering wrought iron door and Blue furrowed his brow. "Resting grounds? For what?"

Duken unlocked the gate as the Keeper nodded at Blue. "I invite you to find out for yourself."

The doors swung open with a rusty groan, revealing a pitch black space. Blue waited for someone to say something, to explain the dark room or be the first one to step inside, but nobody did. In fact, both the Keeper and Duken stared at him imploringly.

"Wait," Blue said, "Am I going in there alone?"

Ever the aloof one, the Keeper examined her fingers, admiring her various rings. "As I said, this is the Guardian Orchard. And it's for you to experience, Blue. This is the start of the Disciple's journey."

"Hey," Blue bristled, "I never said I was okay with this Disciple thing to begin with. And as a rule of mine? I never scavenge at night. Predators prefer shadows."

Raina's glance darted from Blue to Duken. "Then let there be light."

Duken pulled down a lever next to the lock. Blue felt a strange displacement of air, as if the space in front of him started to stretch and expand. After a low rumble of generators groaning to life, a blast of bright light shone within the dark room, as sudden and startling as a gunshot. Several more lights followed, illuminating a space that was much, much larger than Blue expected.

The three of them entered what was, by all accounts, a one thousand acre orchard, a beautiful land of green grass beneath a sun-lit, diamond blue sky. A lone dirt path that bisected the enormous field appeared to go on forever.

"H...how?" Blue stumbled.

Raina waved a dismissive hand. "A lot of scientific pifflewubble, if you ask me. Compressed space, our technicians call it. Looks larger than it is but you'd never know from spending hours wandering the hills. "

Blue squinted at the sky and watched a formation of birds soar over their heads. Certainly looked real to him. "What am I supposed to do, then?"

"Do you see that wooded area up ahead?" The Keeper guided his attention toward a small but beautiful forest along the horizon. Blue froze when he saw it. Whatever distress he carried before quickly melted into a childlike awe.

"Blue?" Duken's voice filled with concern. "What's wrong?"

"I've just... never seen trees before. I mean, trees with this much life in them. I've only ever seen them after decay." Blue was nearly on the verge of tears. He edged forward cautiously, then stopped. "What am I supposed to be looking for?"

"You'll know," Keeper Raina nodded. "When you see it, you'll know."

Duken touched Blue's shoulder with an affirming grip. "There's nothing here that can hurt you. I promise."

Blue warmed to the knight's touch and nodded. Summoning the last of his courage, he stepped onto the dirt path and started for the forest.

"What a strange boy," Raina remarked when he was out of earshot.

Duken almost grinned at the Keeper using that word to describe anyone but herself.

"What do you think of him, Sir Duken?"

"Me, madame?"

Raina crooked her head genially. "I can tell he intrigues you."

The almost-grin left Duken's face. He broadened his shoulders and avoided her eye. "This is a... new... situation for Exeria, madame."

"This is a new situation for you, dear."

Duken frowned. "How do you mean?"

Raina watched Blue disappear over the horizon. She wasn't volunteering to discuss her feelings on the topic and Duken decided, for the sake of his pride, to follow suit.

***

Blue stopped just before the forest entrance and stroked the bark of the nearest tree. It was tough on his hands, but a far cry from the crumbling ashes of the dead, blackened trees he was used to. His entire day had been one surreal conversation and encounter after another, and he hadn't been given much to time to absorb just what this whole Disciple business meant. Why was he the one who had to find Captain Starlight, if the man truly was still alive? The man could've been anywhere in the world - again, if he's alive - and Blue had only ever stepped foot in three zones.

How the hell would I even know where to begin? By using my amazing intuition? The same intuition I used to accept a date with a thief?

Ellis. Thoughts of the man gave him pause. Was Ellis telling the truth about wanting to spend time with him, or had their dinner date really been a ruse? Blue had gone back and forth on the rogue cowboy all day long. He still wanted to talk to him, to see him again, even if one of them was now behind bars. And as screwy as things became, Ellis was still the first man to show any sort of kindness toward Blue. Plus, the kiss they shared, brief as it was, gave Blue a white-hot flutter in his stomach whenever he thought about it.

A twig snapped somewhere in the forest. Fighting against instinct, Blue walked beyond the first tree and into a clearing dotted with tall, brown oaks. It only took him a moment to notice the gravestone at his feet. He had read about grave markings before - they were traditional to pre-war burials. Back then, people actually cared about where they let their loved ones rest for eternity.

He crouched to read the stone's inscription out loud. "Here lies Omega Woman, the Mightiest Woman on Earth. 1984-2019."

The Guardians of Liberty. Blue instantly recalled the ancient team of superhumans. She... Omega Woman was a founding member. But why is her grave here?

Blue stood again and finally saw the rest of them. Omega Woman's gravestone was merely one in what looked like one hundred more. The entire forest was filled with graves, and each stone was adorned with the name of a different superhuman. The dates of birth varied, but the dates of death all ended in the same year. 2019.

The color drained from Blue's face. He closed his eyes, hoping against hope it was a very bad dream, when someone behind him spoke.

"You've come to see me at last."

The voice made him jump, but it was no demon or beast from the depths of his imagination. A girl peeked at him from the shade of a tree, a little pixie of a thing with black hair and curious, coal grey eyes. She stepped out from the shade, wearing some kind of ceremonial robe or tunic. The fabric was colorshifted - both navy and purple in alternating waves of light.

None of that, however, was as strange as the little girl's voice. She couldn't have been older than 10, yet she sounded, well, old. Much older than Keeper Raina, with a scratchy, weathered tone that didn't match her appearance at all. Yet unlike the wild, moody ups and downs of the Keeper's voice, the little girl's was slow and melodic. Comforting.

"My apologies," she bowed. "I hope I didn't give you a fright?"

"Who are you?"

The little girl moved closer and Blue noticed she walked with a staff. It was as tall as her with a jagged black jewel on top. Even her mannerisms were halting and mature. "I am what they call Oracle Nova. I am one of many. I was asked to meet you here."

Blue swallowed the lump rising in his throat. "What is this place?"

"The remains of what destroyed the world," Nova said. She approached his side and gazed at the sea of graves. "Gamma Girl, Dawnstar, Red Scarab, Mr. Midnight..." She chuckled sadly. "Such theatrical names. But I suppose that was part of their appeal."

"The superhumans who died in the Crisis War... why are they all buried here?"

"They deserve our respect." Oracle Nova gently touched Omega Woman's grave. Her face darkened. "Those less civilized... they do not understand our reverence for the Guardians of Liberty."

Blue didn't know what to say. Sensing his discomfort, Oracle Nova gestured to his hands. "You have something to show me, I believe."

He showed his palms. Nova took them, studied Captain Starlight's symbols, and nodded with grim satisfaction. "They said I was a madwoman. But Raina, she never doubted. I never doubted that you would come to us, Blue. I've had visions before, but none as clear and vivid as this."

"Listen, you're really gonna have to bring me up to speed here, because I'm at least ten steps behind everyone else."

"Your hands mark the beginning of a journey," Nova said with a glint in her eye. "Did you receive a message on the night of the comet?"

"No," Blue frowned. "I told the Keeper, I didn't get anything."

Nova's wide eyes shrunk in concentration. "I believe you did, Blue. But perhaps... you were not at the right place to hear it."

Blue let out a cry of exasperation. "So the message could have been sent anywhere? And I missed it?"

Nova took his hand and led him through the gravestones to another clearing up ahead. "I've been waiting to show you this," she said with a note of anticipation.

"For...?" Blue stopped as soon as he saw the monument. Above a large gravestone, a life-sized statue of Captain Starlight loomed at them, posed as if the inanimate thing was ready to take flight. The statue's detail was superior, capturing everything from the man's shiny golden hair to the cool, flowing blue of his cape. The symbol on the center of his chest - the sideways S, the lightning bolt - was the very same one on Blue's sweating palms.

"Holy jink," Blue said under his breath.

Oracle Nova's fingers drifted nervously along the braids of her long, raven hair. "Did you know that Captain Starlight's body was never found?"

"What?" If Blue had been piled under surreal revelations all day, this one surely would have tipped the avalanche.

"We may have erected this monument in his honor, but that's the best we can do. His body was never recovered after the Crisis War. Being so long ago, those details are lost to the ages. Our generation just assumed he'd died, his remains obliterated or lost. But years ago, a troop of Aeons traveling through the mountain zone recovered something. The only proof Captain Starlight ever existed."

She reached into the wide pocket of her tunic and revealed a bright blue fabric, folded neatly and shimmering in the light of the artificial sun. "This was his cape."

Blue stared, overcome with a feeling, unrecognized yet somehow familiar. Drawn to it, he extended his hand. Nova drew back, not impolitely, but to make a point.

"The essence of a superhuman... it does not fade. I can still feel the power of Captain Starlight in this cape. That power is filling this orchard... I sense it reaching for you. To tell you what you need to know. And I think you sense it as well." She held the cape before him again, her silver eyes pensive. "Will you let it speak?"

The notion of a cape - a piece of fabric - holding some kind of power seemed frankly absurd to Blue. Yet he didn't care. He did feel its power, it hummed in his ears and brain at an extraordinary frequency. A frequency that matched the familiar, white-hot buzzing of his hands. It was all absolutely crazy, but he was ready. Ready and willing.

Blue drew a deep breath, closed his eyes, and pressed his palms onto the cape. He expected some sort of physical sensation, a jolt or a quiver but there was nothing.

"I don't know if it's working. Nova?" When Blue opened his eyes the cape and the Oracle were gone, and he was standing just outside a lighthouse. His lighthouse, with the white tower and red stripe. The building he called home.

"I- how- hello?" Lost in the illogicality of the moment, he called hopefully, but received no answer. He was right on the verge of panic but he took a beat to cool down, reminding himself this was all the bizarre effect of touching the cape.

"Okay, okay, okay," he breathed. "This is my home. It wants me to remember my home. My... lighthouse..."

Oracle Nova's words rang in his mind again: Did you receive a message on the night of the comet?

A loud, swift beeping emitted from the top of the lighthouse. Blue absently recalled the lantern room, then the radio... The radio that never works... Aha!

"I have to turn on the radio!" Blue blurted to no one. He ran for the lighthouse entrance but the world turned inside out, causing him to trip and fall.

"Blue? Blue?" a voice echoed, but he couldn't tell who it belonged to.

"Nova!" He struggled to his feet as day became night. He couldn't immediately tell where he was, but he hoped it was back in the orchard. "I saw something! I saw my home, that's where the message from Captain Starlight is. I need to go back!"

Blue rose to his feet but he was not in the orchard.

He stood in the middle of a rain-slicked street in what looked like one of the old cities from the dead zones, except... except everything. The buildings stood intact, windows shone clean and uncracked, lights blinked from tall posts, from large signs that never used to have color, lights everywhere, all at once, blinding him. Lights that should have been long dead.

Most shocking of all were the people. Men and women and children walking around or passed Blue, people wearing clothes he'd never seen before, people speaking loudly and laughing like they weren't afraid. It had to be another vision - one that was going on a little too long.

A man around his age smacked into Blue's shoulder as he walked by, nearly taking Blue off his feet. The man glared as he walked away. He held black palm-sized device to his ear, in mid-conversation with it.

"I don't know, some jerkoff standing in the middle of Madison and 47th," the man said into the little device. He disappeared back into the crowd.

If this is supposed to be another vision, I shouldn't have felt that man bump into me...

In his fugue state, Blue didn't notice the glare of headlights that illuminated him from behind. A pickup truck barreled right at him, blaring its loud, obnoxious horn. Blue's fear rooted him to the earth, refusing to let him go, forcing him to watch in terror as the huge vehicle advanced closer and closer until-

A fantastic rush of wind hit Blue as a figure dashed in front of him, out of nowhere. The figure held out two massive arms and slammed them onto the metal bed of the truck right before the point of impact. The sudden shift in momentum forced the massive vehicle to spin upward on its front tires before landing back on the road with a heavy metal thud.

Blue watched the whole thing in awe. The inhumanly strong figure casually dusted off his hands and turned around to reveal a confident grin across a chiseled, perfect face. A blue cape connected to the figure's dark lyrca costume fluttered behind him in the wind.

"Are you alright?" Captain Starlight asked.