I followed the current through the air and over the withering treetops, and sang to the egg to guide the way. Dry paths of sunken ground wove throughout the forest. The yellow waves of the current led me to the patch of acacia trees I saw earlier. As I closed in, I saw the peaks of the Mer keys sparkling in our hot star’s rays that found their way through the clouds. What remained of a stream led to a drained riverbed. The overgrown trees hid the bottoms of the keys. What a desolate place. It only needed water, like the rest of the land.
I followed the waves through the treetops, clearing away trees as I went. There were ten keys here. I rested in front of the largest. Symbols like the one on Lulu's bean pouch were chiseled into gold seals on the four cornerstones of all the keys. Dust covered them and made them hard to read. I wiped one clean. The same shape inside three circles, but with more lines connecting smaller circles. I focused harder. Markings inside the circles tried to explain. What did the seals say?
The current stopped at the opening to the primary key. I floated up to inspect it. A golden coin embedded in the stone, like the one the Steward used, shimmered in the light. I took it into my hands, went to each symbol, and sang the Steward’s notes into it. As I floated around the keys, a golden light seeped from the symbols and slithered up to the sky. I realized as I held the coins, they were much smaller than the first time I used them. I continued my work on the seals. Mists of hues separated from the gold.
After the last symbol awoke, I flew into the sky to examine the Mer’s layout. Each hue found its key and gathered at its peak. The largest key collected red. The other large keys collected orange and yellow. The smaller keys gathered the greens and blues and purples. Each key’s note carried its own color of light. Once saturated, the tendrils of light poured into the air like veins forcing the clouds to take a new, more ordered, shape over Sleep. The notes from the keys beckoned the excited clouds with a song of life and love. Then, it happened.
The colors swirled and danced together with the clouds and, for the first time in an age, drew their happy tears into the dry riverbed. I exhaled a long breath I did not realize I had been keeping inside.
The first few drops fell. Lightly at first, the crystal drops gathered on my fingertips like snow before they melted into puddles. The drizzle developed into a downpour as the beautiful darkness strengthened above me. The sound of the droplets hitting the leaves of desperately thirsty acacia trees overpowered the music as the first warrior of thunder rolled itself together and cascaded from the clouds.
Harmony writhed in the air. The raindrops sounded like a million crystal bracelets playing at once as they spun through the air. I thought of Mother and saw her smiling, tears streaming down her cheeks as she felt the Mer's song. I knew she had felt this love before.
The vibrant blue light permeated my body as the warmth held tight to my arms and legs. I was being pulled into it again. The waves from each structure varied in intensity. The cooler colors huddled closely together in tight waves, steady and quick with their rhythm. The warmer colors huddled in looser, slower waves.
