The group silently watched as the mountain slid away, or perhaps their cries were just muffled by the screaming planet. Neil was sweating as he maintained his hand position, fearing that if he moved the whole thing might turn off and send them spiraling into a fiery grave. It wouldn’t- but he didn’t know that. Slowly they felt their transport descending to the ground, however, they slowly realized that might not be a good thing.

Outside the planet was cracking, splits and seams opening up on the very surface of the world itself. Just like the mountain, entire city blocks were being snagged away like someone removing a mask, revealing underneath a layer of thick, muddy skin. The group were unnerved, to say the least, but their fear didn’t quite match the Quiludians’ in the slightest, which is understandable since they didn’t live here. However, this did affect their livelihood in one important way.

“The Lavender 1, can you see it?” Alex shouted; his face pressed on the glass window trying to catch a glimpse of their ship.

“Shit!” Neil shouted, making sure not to move his hands. “It’s fallen, hasn’t it! Shit, it’s been pulled away like the rest of the city!”

“Wait, I see it!”

Sure enough, as fate would have it, the Lavender 1 had gotten very- very lucky. Despite being at the base of Tallizumdul the wreckage of the mountain had mostly avoided the vessel, however, the ground underneath it was already beginning to crack and split. It was clear that they didn’t have much time.

“Guys, listen!” Alex brought Sophia and Timothy into a huddle, figuring Neil was best left to pilot the ship. “We barely have any time before this entire planet goes up in smoke, we need to be fast when we get down there! Tim, I know your last experience with being the pilot didn’t go well, but we don’t have any other option right now.”

Timothy gulped; he could still feel the electricity burning through his brain. He remembered the voice that he had heard, he worried it would talk to him again. But he knew that now was not the time to get cold feet, since no time was a good time to get cold feet- who likes cold feet? “Alright, I’ll try my best!” He declared, forcing a smile.

“What do we do, then?” Sophia questioned.

Alex opened his mouth to speak but stopped when he didn’t know what to say. “Well, we help Timothy, that’s all we can do now!”

“Great, so we sit back and watch Tim get fried while we zip off to safety?” She shook her head. “There has to be something else!”

“Well, you think about it then!” Alex screamed, his face turning red. “I don’t know everything you know! You’ve got any better ideas, Goddess?”

Sophia matched his angered tone. “I ain’t got a clue, buddy! But what I do fucking know is that if we strap him back in that death machine, we’d be killing him! Is that what you want Alex?”

“You know that I don’t want that, I’ve never wanted that!” Alex stood his ground. “But you heard it with your own ears! We even spoke about it, Timothy’s agreed to it!”

“It’s our fault that he’s in this mess!” Sophia screamed, pointing a finger at her friend’s face. “If we never pressured him into that damn chair, none of us would even be here! Now I ain’t going to kill him just to save my own skin, unlike you!”

“Guys, stop!” Neil protested but his words fell on deaf, angry ears.

“So that’s it, huh? You just want us to die here?” Alex batted her finger away. “Well, we’re going to get your precious wish if he doesn’t fly us away! Maybe you’re blind or something, it would explain why you’re dressed like a potted plant- but look outside! Don’t you see that this planet is literally coming apart at the seams?”

“Listen here, smartass!” Sophia snapped. “I don’t care what the world looks like, I care that my friends are alright and have their brains in their skulls! If you can’t get with that then…”

“Shut up!” Screamed Timothy at the very top of his lungs. The two fell silent, they had never heard Timothy raise his voice, it was unnatural. For a second his defiant cry was more disturbing than the screaming planet. His face was turned away from his friends, trying to hide his true emotions from them. “Please,” he muttered softly. “Just… stop.”

“But Tim, he’ll…” Sophia started to protest but stopped when Timothy turned around to face her.

He looked like he had been crying, but strangely he was back to his old cheery self. “It’s okay, Sophia.” He stated with a brief smile. “Alex is right, I have to get us away from here, it’s the only way. I know you feel worried for me, and trust me that means so much, but I do believe we have no other option.”

“Tim, are you alright?” Neil asked, only his face moving into a position of concern.

He responded quickly. “I’m fine!” He wiped his cheek. “I’m quite fine!”

Suddenly the ship buckled as it touched land, they had arrived. Everyone exchanged quick glances before booking it outside. Sophia was the last to leave, she didn’t like what she was doing but even through her panic and rage, she had to admit that Timothy was right. Outside they found themselves looking up at the Lavender 1, they felt like ants in comparison to its massive size.

“Wait!” Neil’s eyes went wide with realization. “How do we get in?”

In a awkward moment of group realization, they all remembered how they had never found a door inside their ship and the memories of how they had arrived in the Holy City had been knocked out of them in the crash. “Well, they had to get us out somehow,” Alex observed. “They must’ve made a hole or something!”

“Look!” Timothy shouted; his finger raised to point out where a giant seal had been made in the side of the ship. “There!”

Approaching it they saw that whoever had been charged with the repairs had made a handy dandy door by cutting off and then rebuilding a panel in the side of the vessel. A convenient handle had been placed on the side, the gold clashing heavily with the black metal.

“Follow me!” Alex declared, swinging the door open and barreling inside.

Neil felt the cold air inside the Lavender, and it shook him to the core. He had almost forgotten what it was like inside the ship, with its endless corridors and rooms. For so long this had been his prison, how ironic that he was running right back into it with enthusiasm.

The group wasted no time rushing to the chair inside the dome. As the two big bulky doors slid open, Timothy saw his seat ready and waiting for him. He put a brave face on, although deep down it was the last place he wanted to go.

“You ready, Tim?” Alex looked at his friend, he knew that there was a chance he could get hurt again but there truly was no other way.

The pilot smiled, “Yep, I think I’m ready as I’ll ever be!”

Slowly he walked over to the chair and sat in it gingerly. Above him hung the birdcage-like helmet, hanging like the Sword of Damocles. But right as he reached up and pulled it down over his head, something rather terrifying happened.

The planet stopped screaming.

The silence fell harder than a sack of bricks and potatoes. Everything felt empty without the noise, many wondered if they had finally gone deaf, but they wouldn’t have to worry for long.

“CRUTHLENEL BRANELDUL SELW MOULDUNA CRUTHLENEL!!!” The planet spoke, just as loudly as before.

With that, all the seams and cracks that had been made were no longer just little splits. Now, with the words of the planet itself, they all breached opened into chasms. The planet of the Quiludians was now gone, only the creature beneath it remained. The Holy City was just skin, and the mountain once called Tallizumdul was now only a nose. The group screamed as they watched the ship slip and fall into the breaking ground, plunging into miles upon miles of dark, earthy skin. However, the pilot was in the seat, and the ship stirred to life.

In his seat, Timothy jolted as the bright colors filled his head as they had before. His hands rushed to the controls, moving to the precise buttons that only they seemed to know how to press. Continuing the trend of everyone falling on their faces, they did so as the Lavender suddenly stopped its decent midair. Through the dome they could see the last traces of the city falling around them, it would’ve been beautiful if it wasn’t so horrible.

Timothy almost gasped with relief, and he very well would have if something wasn’t already speaking through him. “Mechanic Found, repairs adequate!”

Sophia didn’t like the sound coming from her friend’s mouth. “Tim, are you alright.”

I don’t think so! The boy responded in his brain, but his mouth wouldn’t obey his commands. “Planet Inadequate, Rerouting.” Without asking for Timothy’s permission, his hands moved on their own as the ship’s engines roared to life.

With a jolt, the Lavender sped up and away out of the sinking chasm- heading straight to the stars. In the blink of an eye, the green sky was behind them, vanishing like breath on a mirror.

Neil looked back through the corner of the dome as the ship sailed off to safety. Behind them, hanging in the void of space, was no longer a planet but a giant head. It reminded him of an old film he had seen a long time ago but seeing it in person was an entirely different experience. The expression on its face was sullen, similar to how one looks when they’ve been wakened up to early. He could see Mendulla, or rather its mouth, moving- speaking ancient words in a language that had long been forgotten.

In the future, many scholars would try and translate the language this creature spoke- all would fail. However, I’m not a scholar. ‘Cruthlenel Branedul Selw Moulduna Cruthlenel’ roughly translates to: ‘Ouch, who stabbed my nose? Ouch!” Unfortunately, Neil didn’t have long to ponder the nature of ancient beings, he was more concerned about his friend.

“Mission Status, Incomplete! Rerouting!” Timothy felt like a ventriloquist doll; however, he couldn’t see where his puppeteer was.

The ship sped up, and the stars in the vast void of space became closer as the sun that had once hung far out from the planet disappeared behind them. Surprisingly, despite the speed, Sophia found she could walk normally. She reckoned that some science-jumbo was the reason for this, if it wasn’t they’d have been splattered on the walls by now due to the sheer pace of the ship.

Sophia dragged herself over to Timothy and looked him in the eye. She could see his sheer panic and terror, and although he couldn’t use his mouth to speak, Sophia could tell he was begging for help. Reaching over she tried to pull the helmet off of him with all the might she could muster- and was rather surprised when it worked.

“Wait!” Protested Alex, though it was alright too late.

The ship shut off like someone removing the keys from a car. The stars that were passing them by as blurs slowed and then stopped. Suddenly, everything was quiet- they had done it, they escaped.

Timothy rubbed his head, “thank you.” He said with his own voice. “That was rather unpleasant.”

No one responded to him, instead, they stood there in silence. They had some much to take in, so much to process, not to mention all the cuts and wounds they needed to tend to. But right now, at this moment, they did nothing but stare into the endless void of space.

As a group, there was only one thought on their minds. So… what now?