A Stone in the Pond

The question rippled through the silent Archipelago, a stone tossed into a still pond. For Maia, it was a spark of hope, a crack in the monolithic silence. A question, by its very nature, invited an answer, a new story. For Jester, it was a challenge, a gauntlet thrown down. The world had an author, but now the story itself was asking for a new one. The game, it seemed, was not over. It had simply changed.