LoVelly opened his eyes to find himself nowhere. He wasn’t sure what he registered first, how dark it was or how cold it was. He was immediately chilled to the bone and when he drew his arms around himself they felt oddly heavy and it occurred to him that he was floating. He was underwater. Suddenly the panic for air set in and his lungs burned for a breath. He struggled, trying to get his bearings, looking for a surface anywhere but it was all black water.


    In his panic, swinging his head around wildly, he saw a light. A round bright disk of light shone at him and it didn’t even matter which way was up or down or sideways, he swam for the light, his only beacon in a dark sea. He didn’t think he was going to make it, his lungs screaming for air due to the extra exertion to push himself towards his only hope. The light was getting bigger as he quickly approached, swimming as fast as his body would allow him.


    He gasped, loud and desperate, when he broke the surface, heaving air into his lungs and even swallowing several gulps of water in his haste. He wasn’t expecting to also go tumbling up and out of the water in a violent shift of gravity. He landed in a heap on a cold stone floor spitting up water and trying to orient himself and failing. His head was spinning and it was all he could do to roll himself flat onto his back and spread his arms and legs out, holding on for dear life.


    After more than a couple of dib he felt like the room should have stopped spinning but he still felt like he was moving. He opened his eyes hoping to find something to ground himself with and he was met with the disorienting pool of dark water on the ceiling (or was he on the ceiling?) The glasslike surface was a mirror reflecting back his own confusion.


    He sat up onto his elbows so that he could look around the room he’d fallen into. The floor was wet right where he''d fallen onto it but was otherwise dry. Despite that there was a pervasive smell of dampness lingering in the air. The room was baren save for what appeared to be a staircase going down following the curve of the rounded room. There were two windows, directly across from each other and from the angle he was at all he could see was inky darkness like he had in the water. He gave one more look back up at the mirror pool, having a thought and felt around in the low light for any loose pebbles or similar in the grout between stones tiles in the floor. He managed one tiny little stone and he got to his wobbly feet and threw the pebble up toward the water.


    He wasn’t sure what he was expecting, for it to fall or continue on into the water beyond, but it wasn’t for it to burst into a ball of sizzling light before fizzling into nothing.


    He decided not to do it again.


    Still feeling a bit off-center he could finally see out the window nearest that he realized the tower was spinning. Not especially fast it seemed, but it was in fact turning. He could see a handful of tiny glowing dots slowly passing around him. He also found that upon further inspection they looked an awful lot like the light disk he’d swam towards.


    He turned around and went to the opposite window, sticking his head out and leaning as far out as he safely could. He braced his feet against the wall and hoisted himself for the best view. There were so many other lights and looking below him he saw that the tower extended well below, further than he could see, into the darkness around it. He turned back to the room, to the staircase, and realized there was nowhere else to go but down. He walked to the edge of the first step. He could see the first bit of stairs fine and they looked normal but he noticed that the further down they went the…weirder they got. He didn’t know how that was going to work exactly…They seemed like they slowly twisted up and down and around and surely he couldn’t walk on those?


    He found himself taking one step down at a time anyway. He felt crazy but something within him told him to go and somehow, some way, the stairs seemed to continue on in a very manageable downward slope the entire time. He looked out over the edge of the stairs once to confirm and what he saw made him dizzy trying to mentally process the  swirling shapes and colors popping in and out of view. It nearly made him wobble right over the edge but he pulled back bracing himself against the wall until he felt like he could continue.


    He walked in circles around and around as he went down the tower, the floor he’d descended from long behind him and invisible in the distance now. How far had he gone? He had no way to tell. There had been no other floors since he’d left the one he started on and he didn''t dare look down again to see if he was getting any closer to the next.


    He wondered if he''d be stuck on the spiraling descent forever and just as the thought came a landing suddenly appeared just ahead of him. It was just a small break in the stairs that leveled out and there was a simple metal door set into the wall. The stairs continued on past the landing but he was far too eager to consider them. He quickly pressed the handle down and pulled and the door popped open easily and then it felt like he was pulled through the threshold. Just as suddenly as the door had appeared he found himself in a very different place.


    The hallway was wide open and airy and well illuminated through numerous tall paneless windows that lined the outer wall. Sol shone brightly above and it was reflected brilliantly off the sparkling, jewel like landscape outside. He had to shield his eyes against it, looking instead up and down the hall. The floor was lined in brilliant blue tiles. He heard voices coming from somewhere down the hallway and he followed the sound of them to an open door some ways down.


    He peeked his head in the doorway and there he saw a group of people gathered in the center of the room. There were a couple of bench seats near the back of room, near the door but everyone present was situated on one of many assorted cushions clustered around a woman with long long hair, the longest LoVelly thought he’d ever seen. It fell over her shoulders like a silver shroud and onto the floor in a pool around her. In contrast the woman wore a bright colorful tunic of thick woven fabric. There were intricate designs embroidered on but the stories they told were lost on LoVelly. She was speaking to a group of young people who hung on her every word. He felt bad about it but he took a step into the room and cleared his throat awkwardly.


    “Um…hello?” He started but it came out quiet and when nobody reacted he thought it was too quiet. “I’m so sorry to interrupt!” He tried again. This time he got a reaction but oddly, it was just one person that turned to look at him and it wasn’t the woman at the center, it was a young girl near the front of the group closest to the woman. He found it odd that not a single other person seemed to take notice of his intrusion. The woman never paused her sermon and nobody else looked.


    The girl, however, did a double take when she saw him, a look of surprise on her face. She looked back to the woman and then back at LoVelly. A girl next to her noticed her sudden attention and looked toward the back of the room as well before turning a strange look on the first girl. As gracefully as possible the girl got to her feet and weaved her way through the small crowd of lounging youth before heading straight for the door, for LoVelly.


    As she walked toward him she looked back over her shoulder once and when she turned back to him she had a look of pure excitement on her face, grinning from ear to ear at him. As she got closer she shuffled faster toward him, picking her long robes up in the front so as not to trip on them. As she got within earshot, before he could say anything, she whispered a barely contained, “come with me!” as she shot around him in the door and into the hallway.


    They ran all the way down the hall to the end, to a little alcove he never would have known was there without her guidance. They wouldn’t be seen tucked away in it from the main hall unless someone knew where to look. Once they were both tucked neatly into the space the girl stuck her head out briefly as if to check that the coast was clear, as if there had been anyone else in the large open hallway but them. Once she seemed satisfied that they had succeeded in sneaking away she turned to look him in the eyes and she let out a squeal that he felt might be counterproductive to their hiding in the first place. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.


    “You’re here!” She said, giving a little hop up and down in excitement.


    “I…am,” he agreed, hesitantly, because he wasn’t sure yet where ‘here’ was or who the girl was. “I’m LoVelly, who are you?” The girl''s mouth dropped into a little ‘o’ and her eyes similarly looked like little saucers staring up at him.


    “This is it,” she breathed, awestruck, “you don’t know me yet.” Her smile was back twelvefold. LoVelly smiled back at her awkwardly but unsure what else to do.


    “You are correct. I’m pretty confused, actually. I just came down some really weird stairs out of a tower-”


    “The time tower!” she gasped.


    “Uh. Sure. Is that what it’s called?” He shrugged but the girl nodded vigorously at him.


    “It’s nice to officially meet you LoVelly. My name is Onoara.” She smiled at him and he swore he saw sparkles in her eyes with the way she looked at him.


    “Have we met before?” he asked finally, unable to shake the strangeness of the girl. She was practically vibrating out of her skin at the question.


    “Yes and no. It’s complicated and we probably don’t have time to get into it. The important part is now I know your name.” She pointed one finger directly in the center of his chest and it startled him when it passed straight through him before she pulled back. He reached his hands up toward hers and with a clean swish they passed right through her.


    “Am I dead!?” he asked her, panicked now. She only laughed at him, shaking her head.


    “Of course not. You’re celestieling the dimensional planes. But you’re not dead. In fact, this is the youngest I’ve seen you, I think. It’s wild what a beard changes.” The girl framed his face with her hands, hovering just so. He gave her a strange look and rubbed a hand across his chin in contemplation of it.


    “And you can’t be dead yet because you have to come and save me!” She said it like it was the most obvious thing in the world. This made LoVelly give her what he hoped was his most confused look yet.


    “Are you okay? Are you in trouble right now?” he asked.


    “Oh no. I’m fine right now. In the future.” She reached out and pointed to a spot in the presumed distance to illustrate her point.


    “I have to save you in the future? From what?” He felt his eyes narrow, trying to make sure he was following the plot.


    “I don’t know yet. But you told me a long time ago when we met when I was little that you were going to come and save me someday.” LoVelly took a deep breath and let it out in a sigh, hating to disappoint the girl.


    “The thing is, I don’t remember anything from before just a couple of driev ago. I don’t remember you but if you know me, please please tell me what you can. I don’t know anything about my own life.”


    “Actually, this is the first time you’ve met me. Time is nonlinear so that’s just kind of how it works sometimes. You taught me that.” She told him matter of factly. “But this is the first time I learned your name. I hope I remember when I wake up.” She squeezed her eyes shut, perhaps trying to will it into her memory.


    “Are you not awake right now?” He asked in an ongoing state of confusion, bordering on crisis at this point.


    “Well, I mean. Sort of. If I can see you then that means my mind is between realms right now. When I snap out of it there''s a chance I forget it all and pass out.” She shrugged nonchalantly at the explanation. LoVelly put a hand to his forehead, running it up into his hairline and shaking his head slowly back and forth.


    “I’m so incredibly lost, oh gods. I really need to help my friend first, we kind of have a lot going on right now. I don’t actually know how I got here and I don’t know how to find you either.”


    “Oh oh,” she waved excitedly. “This is the big part.” She looked directly into his eyes, suddenly putting on a demeanor of calm. “Find the friends of Datsa. They’ll bring you here. You’ll know when it’s time. You seem to know when you’re older so I assume you’ll know when you need to know. I don’t even know yet.” She explained. It still left him with questions but as if a gear finally clicked in place in his mind suddenly it was so clear, ringing in his ears.


    “Datsa! That’s the name I was trying to remember!” he finally joined her in at least some of her excitement.


    “Yes!” she quickly got a coy look across her face, eyes narrowing. “You told me once you met Datsa himself. Make sure you tell me all about him somewhen?” She pleaded with her big, round, girlish eyes. It was then that LoVelly registered the light pinking of the girl''s cheeks and the tips of her ears where they poked out from beneath her long,straight hair, held back in a loose tie.


    This girl was at least somewhat enamored with him, it occurred to him finally.


    His head was spinning with everything she’d told him, barely following all the threads laid out before him. It was overwhelming to say the least.


    “I can see your mind spiraling from over here.” she laughed again and this time he definitely felt like it was at his expense. “Don’t worry about all the details. Just remember Datsa. I trust that it’ll all work out the way it’s supposed to.”


    “Okay. Okay. But wait, what about the other times we’ve met? What else have I told you? Maybe something can help me remember. I need to remember so I can help my friend.” He pleaded with the girl. She was the first real lead he’d had into who he was. Who he would be, if she was to be believed.


    “I’m sorry LoVelly,” his name sounded like poetry from her mouth, somehow. “We’re already out of time for this one. But don’t worry it won’t be the last.” She motioned up and down at him. His head snapped down to see that his body had already begun to disappear, fading like mist.


    “Oh no oh no what’s happening?” He would have flailed his hands if he still had any to do so. They’d gone with the rest of him already.


    “It’s okay. Your consciousness is just returning to wherever your body still is. It’s good. Because you’re still alive.” She reiterated to him with a seriousness on her face. She just really wanted to make sure he knew. He took a deep breath, like he was about to hold it underwater or otherwise, and nodded, unable to keep the small amount of concern off his face.


    “I have to stand over here now,” Onoara said as she took several steps out of the alcove and into the hall proper. “In case I pass out when you cross through so someone will be able to find me.” She said it like it was such a normal thing and it made LoVelly feel a bit concerned for the girl.


    “Should you maybe sit down?” he meant to suggest but the words felt the wrong shape in his mouth and he realized he wasn’t sure where his mouth was anymore. Somewhere between here and there. Whatever that entailed. He wasn’t sure if she even heard him or not and he didn’t see what happened to her either as his mind drifted into some kind of abstract…soupy feeling place.


    It felt a little bit like looking over the edge of the staircase again, disorienting and incomprehensible.


    Where…was he? Where was he supposed to be? Where was he going?


    Mez. That’s right.


    He needed to get back to Mezalie and he needed to remember Datsa when he woke up. Because he knew that name. He’d heard it before. The man back at the temple had told him that Datsa could help Mezalie.


    It was the clue they’d been looking for.


    Now, if only he could figure out exactly how to get back to wherever he’d left his…body?


    Wherever he’d left Mezalie.


    He knew, somewhere in the core of his being, that he would always be able to find her. He only needed to know how to look and when he thought about it, it seemed obvious.


    Onward he went through the swirling entanglement between one plane and the next. It would take no time at all, if that even mattered. Onoara had said that time isn''t linear and the concept alone made his mind spin when he tried to think about it. There was no tower and no staircase this time, just him and the expanse of space between time and place.


    And then,  just like that, LoVelly opened his eyes and gasped.