Child's Play [Text] [Reboot]

Go check out the volcano, but watch out for Unsa

Check outside. What you may be hearing might be the subtle sound of tectonic movement. Nothing too alarming, but it's good to check what might be happening.

With an annoyed sigh, I disengage from the molecules and leave the safety of my shelter. Whatever’s going on with time isn’t quite as bad as it was before, but I still have to give myself a hard mental shake to make the sun resolve itself from a blur to a static object in the sky. I look around for the source of the rumbling noise, which has now stopped, hoping I was just picking up on something subtle like the planet’s crust moving. With a quick glance at the volcano, I can see it’s still cold and remote as usual, but I keep feeling this presence, like someone’s watching…

Oh.

On the other side of the island from the mountains, there’s a plateau where the crust is thicker than usual, flat and baked rock-hard by the unforgiving sun. But right now it’s being baked a bit more directly, because there’s currently a giant pillar of fire planted right in the middle of it. The burning wound in reality stretches from ground to sky, disappearing somewhere up into the clouds. The flames swirl hypnotically as they cycle through every color of the rainbow, clearly not fueled by any natural source.

I approach it tentatively - What’s this form? Is she mad at us for some reason? What could we have done? - just in time to see a smaller glowing streak shoot up into the sky like an inverted meteor. “Unsa!” I call out. “Is that you? You know we’re not allowed to go up there!” But it’s too late, and he has already disappeared from view.

I’m not sure how I know, but I can tell the burning pillar has turned its attention to me. “Oh,” it rumbles, and its voice is a close-up version of the thunder I heard earlier. “You’re awake.”

What should I say to my mother?

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SpoilerSuggested listening: (had trouble picking a song, pls don’t read into the title)