Montport.

From the distant darkness, I could sense something approaching. The sudden cold to warm change in the chamber’s temperature sent a chill down my spine. That, combined with the overwhelming sense of nervousness gave way to a fear like I had not felt since that morning I awoke on the beach. The whole thought that maybe – yeah, this was a dream – came back to me swiftly, and I wanted to believe that this was a dream, but perhaps I just couldn’t admit it to myself that this was really happening.

I saw a floating, hovering object break the cloak of shadow and move closer to me. The golden splashes of the water suspended over my head continued to echo throughout the room. As the mysterious thing moved into the light, I got a better glimpse of it. It was like a mist of black smoke, alternating between transparent and opaque states as it descended from above to meet me. I could tell now that it wasn’t just some kind of weird cloud. It had a purpose, it was intelligent.

The entity came to a rest just in front of me, perched on a lower ledge that extended into the abyss. Suddenly, two glaringly bright “eyes” shone at me from what might be considered its head.

“What do you want?!” I asked, confronting the strange visitor.

It responded in a hissing, throaty voice. “It is not what this wraith wants, but what it wants.”

“What who wants?” I continued.

“Oerrr-aaabolusss Moooo-biiiii.”

It was all drawn out and hard so understand, so I repeated it, hoping for more information. “Oerabolus Mobii?”

“The Mobii will end this state,” it said. “The Mobii guards the exit above you. Look, and sssseeeeee.”

I looked back up at the vast sea over us. Through occasional bursts in the surface of the water, I saw something like a large leviathan, or some other worm-like sea creature toss about.

“Is that the ‘Mobii?’” I asked.

“Oerabolus Mobii….yessssss,” answered the wraith.

“I don’t understand,” I continued, “am I supposed to kill it?”

The wraith let out a prolonged booming laugh. “Kill it?” it said. “One who seeks an end to suffering does not kill the Mobii.”

“Who’s suffering...mine?”

“You seek a final exit to this place, an answer that will make all of this go away. The Mobii can do this, but only if you welcome it.”

I was still thouroughly confused and quite scared. Continuing the discussion was the only way I could think of to deal with my fear. “How do I welcome it?” I asked, noticing the thing appeared to have no eyes or a face, just a gaping mouth that was the first appendage of its long tubular body to leap upside-down out of the water.

“It welcomes youuuuu,” the wraith replied.

“Tell me,” I begged, “what do I need to do to get out of here? How does it welcome me?”

The wraith approached me further. “It must look you in the eye.”

That seemed simple enough, so I glanced upward and stared at it. I tried to make sure it saw me each and every time it emerged from above the surface of the waves, but nothing happened.

“I don’t get it,” I commented. “What am I not doing?”

“Your eyyyye. It must see into your eye in order to know you; to what your future holds,” the wraith told me.

I then remembered what Manuel gave me in the shuttle earlier. I reached deeply into my pockets and retrieved the Eye of Fate. No sooner than I had pulled it out, the Oerabolus Mobii let out a screeching roar and swiftly dove downward toward me. I saw it get menacingly larger the closer it came. Not knowing what to do, and on a small ledge with nowhere to run, I looked back at the wraith.

“Don’t be frightened,” it said. “This is how it’s supposed to go. This is how you wish it to end for you, but this isn’t where you end.”

“And what about you?” I asked. “What purpose do you serve?”

“You see the spirit of your projected trepidation, the embodiment of Montport itself. I am only here to guide you; the Mobii will do the rest.”

Before I knew it, a veil of darkness dropped down around me. I heard a large crash and crunch, and I lost my footing. The Mobii had consumed me. I fell backwards against the inside of this creature’s mouth, knocking the wind out of me. Back and forth I swayed inside the closed jaws of the creature, and I could hear it splash as it reentered the ocean. I then knew how Jonas and Pinocchio must have felt. I grabbed hold of the first thing I could brace myself against: a slimy, sinewy mass of the Mobii’s insides. It felt like I was gripping the innards of a pumpkin, but even more disgusting.

Then without warning, the beast’s mandible slowly began opening up again. The golden seawater started rushing inwards at me, and through its cascade I saw another object. At first it looked like another wormy Mobii, but then I realized it was the same one that had devoured me. It was its tail – the other end of this thing. The tail inched closer and closer to the Mobii’s mouth until its teeth began pulling it the rest of the way in. As the tail section got closer to me, it pushed the water away. Unfortunately, that only exchanged one problem for another. I clung to the inner wall of the Mobii’s mouth as its fat tail pushed me farther inwards.

The thing kept gobbling itself up while I struggled to hold on to a feeling that I wanted to be here, even when I didn’t in the beginning. I remembered what I had been through since I first arrived – the Centaurs, the cabin, Montedio and the others that had been through all of it with me. None of it seemed to matter now, and perhaps that was the key to releasing me from it. None of it really mattered. I then resigned in my futile efforts to hold on, and I swallowed a deep breath as I felt myself fall deeper and deeper into the world beyond the Oerabolus Mobii.

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