Ambrosia

"Is it really you?" Roa asked.

"The Queen Bitch herself, in the flesh." Nirvana brushed her shoulder with a smug look, then turned to him and smiled again. "I see that you've been very busy since last time we saw each other. I'm glad you made it out alive. It was a long shot, but it was the only one we had."

He bombarded her with specific questions about that fateful day when she crashed into his life, making sure she was who she said she was, and not someone else in disguise.

"Did I pass the test?" she asked, reaching her hand into the fountain, cupping some water. She sipped it and smiled, furrowing her eyebrows. "Of course, the Gate had one next to him—opportunistic sociopath. I bet the others have them too," she murmured to herself, then turned to the boy and said, "you took the wrong Exit, didn't you?" she shook her head.

Roa's face grew dead serious.

"You got a lot of explaining to do. I want to know the truth and I want to know it now. No more cryptic nonesense, no more beating around the bush. I need to know what's going on." He stared at her with lightning bolts in his eyes.

One of the girls chewing gum pointed her long, painted nails at him, leaned over toward her friend and said, "that's the guy Miss Nobody's been looking for?" The other scoffed, responding with a roll of her eyes.

"Shut it, gals—momma's got this," Nirvana raised her hand, then turned to Roa and said, "Alright, I'll tell you." She let out a sigh and sat on the edge of the fountain next to him. "When you jumped through the Exit, Briteside grabbed me and that chick you were with. After a struggle, I managed to break free and escaped. I stayed hidden for weeks until I found the other two members of my team."

"Tanoò and someone named Ditto," said Roa.

"Right, how—"

"Never mind, keep talking."

"We played the waiting game for some time until we were able to leave through the same Exit you used. Imagine my surprise, after all the effort and planning, and money, to not find you at the agreed-upon meeting spot."

"And Eralay? What happened to her?"

"Who?" the pink-haired Jumpers asked, tilting her head.

"The girl I was with," Roa shot back, his voice laced with annoyance.

Nirvana shrugged. "Who cares..."

"I care," said Roa, sternly.

Nirvana's eyes grew wider.

"That chick didn't put up a fight. It was as if she wanted to be taken, or something. Last thing I saw, was her standing next to the smiling bastard, right in front of the Exit."

"Liar. She would have come after me. That makes no sense. What's your deal?"

"My deal? You think I'm making this up? You think I care what you do with your side chicks? I spent a lifetime looking for you. This is how you thank me?"

"She's not my side chick, she's the love of my life," the Sunflower said with passion in his voice.

Nirvana froze and went silent, looking away as she shook her head. One of the other girls touched her on her shoulder, gave Roa a bad look, and said, "screw him. Just ask him for the directions to the Heart of Hearts, and let's get the hell out of here."

Roa was staring at Nirvana while she sat silently with her arms crossed, when something caused him to grow suspicious. His eyes narrowed, noticing something different about the way she looked. His mind was forced back to the moment Lord Smog had tricked him. His heart filled with wariness.

"You—you look younger than you did last time," he said, squinting his eyes.

The pink-haired Jumper lifted one eyebrow. She looked around, then back at the boy. A look of surprise crossed her face suddenly, as if something dawned on her.

"How long have you been in this water?" she asked with a hint of panic in her voice, standing up.

"What are you talking about? Don't try to change the subject. I told you to tell me—"

"I'm dead serious! How long, Roa?" she asked, raising her voice.

He paused, trying to recollect the moments after they opened the giant doors of Ardor's Forge.

"A couple of hours, I think. We kind of lost track of time."

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She groaned, tugging on his shirt, pulling him close, their faces inches apart. Her fiery eyes stared at his, her pink irises reflecting the light of the room.

"Idiot! Did you drink any of it?" she yanked on his shirt again.

"Of course I did—I was really thirsty. We battled a monster surrounded by fire all day. It was really hot. We all drank!" He pointed towards the crowd who began to stare at the commotion.

She dragged him out of the fountain with her bare hands, as she let out a loud grunt, throwing him onto the floor.

"What is wrong with you?" he screamed.

"You reset moron! You have no idea what you've done," she shouted, as Roa looked at her confused, as did the crowd. "The rest of you idiots, get out of the fountain, now!"

The Sunflower stood up and opened his arms wide.

"Care to tell me what your problem is?"

"This is a Fountain of Ambrosia. These are the rare and sacred springs of the birth waters that flow in the labyrinth. They're the reason we Jumpers call this place the Birthpalace." She paused as the boy glared at her. "They are the waters—of immortality."

The Sunflower's face was stuck, lost in thought, his mind trying to process her words.

"You mean that I'm going to live forever—because I took a bath?" he chuckled.

"No, genius, you're going to rewind your biological clock, and how much it rewinds is based on your contact with the waters. How else do you think that both you and I are still alive if we fought at Black Fortia some 300 years ago?" she shouted at him, frustrated.

He stood, dumbfounded. He hadn't really thought about it, having completely glanced over that important detail throughout his journey. She groaned again.

"Did you honestly think Jumpers traveled the endless immensity of entire worlds—in a normal lifespan?"

He paused and then shrugged, unsure on how to answer. It was all a little bit too much for him, and at this point, he was perpetually suspicious of any unusual information that came from just about anyone.

"So, what's the issue then? I'll just be a bit more fit, if anything," he said with a smirk.

"The issue, flower boy, is that if you drink too much, you rewind yourself all the way back to your biological beginning—the actual beginning—to a fetus, and then to a single celled organism!"

Roa froze as a cold chill paralyzed him. He went from the excitement of potentially living forever, to facing death right in the face—all in less than a minute. An emotional rollercoaster of immense proportions that prompted him to shove two fingers down his throat, and attempt to vomit at least some of the copious amounts of water he had ingested. When the word spread among the group, the scene shifted from one of jubilation, to panic, as people collectively tried to force themselves to regurgitate.

Everyone eventually retired for the night, the weight of the pink-haired girl's warning lingering. In a small, modest room, the hero from Earth lay alone on a simple bed, his thoughts a tangled mess. He tried to make sense of everything that had happened in the past few days, but Nirvana's revelations gnawed at him, until Eralay's words replayed in his mind, drowning out everything else. The exhaustion finally overcame him, and he drifted off into an uneasy slumber.

When Roa woke the next day, still half-asleep and disoriented, he slid off the bed, his feet reaching the floor with a thud. He turned his head in surprise, and noticed a very large bed. Everything around him seemed unnaturally large, as if the room had grown overnight. Shuffling to the mirror, he was greeted by the wide-eyed gaze of an eleven-year-old version of himself. Just as the realization hit him, he noticed Nirvana's reflection, standing in the open doorway, shaking her head.

"Well, this is going to complicate things, but, look at the bright side—" they both froze and looked at each other; she smiled as she rolled her eyes, twirling her hand, "well, there's still hope."

Roa sighed, staring at his reflection with his shoulders slumping. His hand instinctively went to his forehead, disbelief washing over him, a quick laugh escaping at the absurdity of it all.

"I guess today I'll be grateful for not turning into a fetus," his voice high pitched, now missing the deep tone of adulthood.

He straightened his tiny body, locking eyes with her as he looked up, his expression hardening with resolve.

"You're much cuter as a child," joked Nirvana.

"Whatever. Tell me what the deal was with Lord Smog. He's wasn't the head Shadow, was he? The guy with the eyes is, right?"

She nodded, sitting down on the bed to equalize their height.

"The guy you defeated—he's not alone. There's several of them—the Gates. No one knows how many exactly. They're the Patriarch's top men, the strongest, and the greatest benefactors of the Old Order. They block the way up the Palace. They will only get more powerful and astute moving forward. Plus, we won't have the element of surprise on our hands anymore. The whole of Default World will be put on alert now."

"What do we do next?"

"Don't trust anyone. That—and we must find more fighters. We must go to the Tournament in Parallel Valley, to the Celestial Dojo. There, we will find the most skilled and powerful Jumpers on this side of the Innerverse."

Roa listened, thoroughly clueless on what she was going on about.

"But first, we must go find your old teacher—Master O, if he is still alive and kicking. He'll be able to awaken some of your forgotten skills. Plus, he knows a ton of stuff that could be of use. These floors ahead lead to some spectacular worlds. Places where the impossible is real, where mountains grow, and Jumpers of immense knowledge live."

"Alright..." the little boy nodded.

Nirvana raised her index finger up in the air, as she remembered something.

"And Vay—you must meet Pardus Vay."

"Who's that?"

"He is a member of the most influential family in Free Society. He has come all the way from the Most Secret Capital of the Free—requesting a meeting with you."

"What does he want from me?"

She shrugged her shoulders.

"We're going to need his support. He's a real big shot among big shots. Plus," she winked at Roa, "he's real cute, and full of money."

The little boy stood silent, as a serious look grew on his face.

"What?" she asked.

"Is that who you are working for?"

Gunhand Nirvana let out a loud laugh.

"Vay? I can't stand him, and his whole family—bunch of arrogant idiots."

Roa took a step forward.

"Then who are you working for? Whose orders were you following when you broke me out that day?"

Nirvana froze. Her face softened into a warm smile, replying in a calm, gentle tone as she kneeled down in front of the child, her face leaning in closer to his.

"I don't work for anyone, but—I was following the instructions of the greatest revolutionary who has ever lived."

She paused again, as the little boy's eyes grew wide.

"Who's?" he asked impatiently.

She placed her hand on his head, and ruffled his hair.

"Yours, flower boy..."

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