THE MOMENT
"This is the worst party ever...," Darby complained as gently as he could while trudging through the snow. He was following his lovely girlfriend, Flora, up a mountain path a few minutes before midnight. And, they were the only two humans alive in the immediate area. Darby was walking in front, and fortunately, the moon was full and gave them plenty of light. It was almost romantic, if there weren't other happenings going on.
"Oh, don't be a baby," Flora rolled her eyes, not that he could see from behind. "It's good to get out every now and then. It'll be fun, I promise," she added.
"Should anyone really be having fun right now with the state of ... everything?" Darby complained a little more firmly. "You saw Mount Majestic attacked, and I was with you when we saw the multiversal attack announced."
"Well, what do you want to do instead? Sit at home and mope?" Flora asked with a smile. She was known for being a bit too bubbly, and she enjoyed how much Darby complained. In her mind, it grounded her, and she never felt any bitterness from him. Some people just complained as a way of life, and in all other respects, they had a fantastic relationship.
"I'd like to not have to - AAAAAAAAAAAAAAUGGHG!" Something flew by low to the ground at top speed, leaving a fading trail of rainbow light behind it. Darby shoved Flora to the ground and himself on top of her as soon as it whizzed by.
"Huh?" She was surprised to suddenly be in the snow, but Flora also noticed the rainbow light. It flew into the very cavern they were headed to, illuminating the interior with the full spectrum of colors for a brief moment before everything went black again.
"THAT WAS A FREAKING RAINBOW!" Darby shouted as he hurriedly helped Flora up even before he was fully on his feet. "Screw the party, we're leaving," he said. Then, the cavern filled with intense solid white light for several seconds. He'd wanted to run, because rainbows were currently quite terrifying. But, something about the white light calmed him down, or maybe he was just stunned, staring in awe.
"We can't leave...," Flora said it softly. She also felt a notable calm until the white light faded and the cavern was pitch dark again. "I can't," she clarified, and he understood.
"What are you going to do?" Where did his panic go? "Set up the party somewhere else? It's still kind of early; we can just tell everyone to meet at the new location."
"No...," Flora stared ahead at the dark entrance. She should've been petrified. "...it'll be okay," she said as she started forward again.
"I'm gonna be mad if it isn't," Darby chuckled and followed. For possibly, literally, the first time in his life, he agreed with the sentiment. It would be okay.
They reached the mouth of the cave, and Flora entered without hesitation. She used her node for light, and Darby did too.
Flora was adventurous, and Darby wasn't as much. She had a tendency to go out and explore alone, and when she found something she really liked, she would share it. She discovered this cave a couple of weeks ago and immediately decided it was the perfect place for a party. Darby thought so too, and they'd even camped out there a couple of nights.
The interior was vast, and the walls were unnaturally crystalline. It wasn't the impenetrable, grey stone of a mountain, as one might've expected, but was instead made of translucent, pure ice. The ground was also solid ice, almost glassy in appearance. Their two lights were enough to illuminate almost everything. And there was a new addition that wasn't there before.
"Is that a door?" Darby asked. He was mildly annoyed that someone was setting up camp in their secret spot, and he hoped it was an early partygoer.
"I'd call it a vault...," Flora said. It was an immense, round metal door that was completely pitch black with a wheeled handle in the center. It was securely built into the mountain and looked like it'd been there for centuries. "Pull it," she encouraged him. Darby shook his head.
"We should probably have the party somewhere else."
"Don't you want to know what's inside?" she asked.
"Rainbows and sunshine, I'm sure," he replied dryly with another subtle shake. He was putting his foot down, and she couldn't do anything about it.
"Fine," she rushed forward, but stopped as soon as the wheel started turning. Darby stepped in front of her and began walking backward, herding her away with his arms stretched fully so she wouldn't try to go around.
"Waiiiit," she argued, but he wasn't waiting. With a final locking thunk, the wheel stopped turning, and the door began to open. Intense white light poured out again. They both stopped moving as soon as the light hit them, and they were forced to close their eyes.
"Sorry! Didn't know there was anyone else here!" a female's voice spoke up, and the light died down. Darby and Flora heard the vault close, and the wheel started to turn again. They were eager to open their eyes at the voice, and she was still there. Smiling, with bright green eyes. She had short brown hair with a rainbow streak in her bangs. And, she wore a long duster that seemed to be made of water. It rippled when she moved like a pond's surface.
"Neon??" Flora asked. She pushed her way past a stunned Darby and up to the teenager. Flora and Darby were in their mid-20s, and the girl looked like a high school senior.
"What about it?" the girl asked.
"YOU! You beat Roy!" she said. "That was you, right?"
"Yeah...," she nodded. "People are calling me Neon?"
"You don't know? It was over a week ago, and everyone's talking about it. Sharp Development doesn't even know who you are. So everyone just calls you Neon because of your Neon Jinx move."
"I've got other things going on," she shrugged with a smile. "Anyway, I'm just passing through, don't let me keep you guys from adventuring," she waved and started walking away.
"Wait! What's your name?" Flora asked.
"I think I like Neon for now." The girl smiled and nodded. "Let's use that," she winked and shot out of the cave at rainbow speed.
"Well, now we have to have the party here," Flora said once they were alone again. "Wait, it's gone!" Darby had been starstruck, and he turned suddenly to see the vault gone and the regular wall of ice there like every other time. He couldn't put his finger on it, but something in him changed during the encounter.
"Oh yeah. But it'll be fine, I'm sure. Let's start setting up," he said. "So... what was the final decision?"
"Skis, Music," Flora gestured at two opposite walls. The Skis were to be placed near the entrance, and the music was going to where the vault was a few seconds ago. Then, she began summoning creatures from her node. Tiny green men with large heads and ray guns began coalescing from the ambient nanos in squads of four. "And, brainwashing sounds fun. It gets people to mingle more than just group pvp against killer NPC aliens."
"Yeah," Darby smiled. "Maybe it won't be so bad after all. Might be kind of fun."
