The faceless felt a shiver run through their spine. Were they caught? How could this be?
They took a quick glance outside. They were still above the clouds.
[This guy is scary…There's definitively something wrong with him. How can he see so far upward? He was even speaking to a hoe…]
[Alright, let's just forget about him. Worrying about some crazy dude's actions would only make me crazy too.]
[So, where did we leave on?]
The faceless promptly cast aside their worries. They haven't looked around that much and thus weren't satisfied yet. Who knows when they will have another opportunity of using such powerful machinery? It will be a waste to stop now. Moreover, they were in the sky, well hidden behind a thick veil of clouds. Even if the crazy-looking guy could see them, he couldn't probably do anything.
And the voice was there too. They weren't responding, but they could not have left the faceless alone with such a powerful and surely priceless telescope. If the crazy farmer could really do something, he would surely share the fate of the earlier yellowed eyed monster.
The faceless more at ease dashed toward the telescope. They didn't see a hint of wasteland or a farmer talking with his hoe.
Instead, there was a small window embedded in a reddish-looking wall. Its tiny size implied that whatever was beyond seemed of utmost secrecy.
The faceless zoomed in without wasting any second.
On the other side was an elder clad in a blue-colored robe and seated in a small room. He was reading some sort of worn-out scroll. The scriptures on it gave off an antique feeling. Between his raspy lips, was a silver cigar with a wolf head. A grayish-white fog floated above his head, darkening the already dimly lighted room. At his side were bundles of scrolls as ancient as the one he was holding.
"Heh, a meteor?" he said while frowning.
"I HAVE A HUGE ONE RIGHT HERE!!!"
It wasn't the old man's shout that startled the faceless this time.
PLOUF!
[What? The toilet?!]
The faceless staggered shocked by their hideous discovery. They felt their eyes beginning to sting and their sight becoming blurry.
"My poor eyes…" they wailed while rubbing them.
It took a little more time to recover from this one.
[Still, this thing is amazing. It's almost as if I was there… I would've liked not to see the last one tough.]
[Well, it's the hazards of the trade.]
With a renewed fervor, the faceless pounced on the telescope. They didn't seem to have learned their lessons.
[Let's take one last peek. Just one. I don't want to part with my sight yet. There are many more things that I want t see, so I should be more careful.]
[Besides, I hope that this geezer isn't planning on using those scrolls as toilet papers. They definitively look more precious than my book.]
The faceless then resumed their morally questionable activity. They didn't linger on the old man and zoomed out.
[Wow! A castle?! It looks super impressive!! Is it the geezer's?]
The silhouette scanned a towering building with marble adorned walls. Their gaze roamed through them before stopping abruptly.
[Oh? There's a big window.]
[Seems like some kids are playing inside. Looks safe.]
The fearless faceless excited by their new discovery rushed toward their new targets…
"TALE TIME! TALE TIME! TALE TIME!!"
…And were welcomed by a wild yell. It belonged to a much more excited little girl.
Within a circular room illuminated by the sun's golden ray, she was bullying with both feet, the stomach of an older boy.
"All right! All right! I surrender! So pl-BFFUORRGH!!!"
[Ouch! Must be painful…]
The young boy writhed in pain holding his stomach on the scarlet and refined carpet adorning the room center. The girl approached him then, carrying a heavy-looking book. Fear painted his face when he looked at her with his slit eyes.
Covering her dark-brown skin was a white kind of traditional dress, a hanfu, adorned with a black belt and a blue decorative crystal. The boy was also wearing the outfit's male version, with this time opposite colors. And it wasn't only his clothes who had this characteristic. His ebony hair and pale skin contrasted greatly with the little girl's dark skin and ivory hair. Such that looking at them side by side reminded one of the Taïji symbols.
The little girl stepped other the writhing young boy and raised her arms, then shoot down the book on his already sore stomach.
"ARGH!"
"Are you gonna back out again?"
"W-Wait... I swear I will not! I'll read it to you! You can even treat me as a couch if you want!!" he shouted totally panicked.
''Hmpf… Good.''
[Looks like this little girl is quite a tyran, huh… Guess, I shouldn't judge a book by its cover.]
[Same for the dude other there. He looks tough but he is just a sissy]
The faceless turned thereafter their exasperated face to a piece of wooden furniture concealing half of the room's wall. At its end stood a small desk whereon numerous trinkets were crammed. But what caught their gaze was the actual furniture hiding the wall. It was a huge rectangular piece of wood divided, both horizontally and vertically, into other smaller rectangles.
A bookshelf where were stored a legion of books.
''When the hell is she gonna learn to read? Tch… If only the old fart didn't spend his time brooding or shitting all day long…'' mumbled the boy to himself.
''Why aren't you teaching me then?''
''We already tried it, you dork! But you kept running away after the first thirteen seconds!"
"Who are you calling dork, wormy? It's your fault to begin with! Your face when you're reading is the ugliest! I don't wanna end up like that!" replied fiercely the little girl after violently straightening the boy's posture and sitting on his lap.
"What are you waiting for?" she asked a few seconds later when the boy was still recovering from his stomachache. "Do you want me to stomp on you that badly?"
''Urgh…, I don't swing that way you know?'', He said while massaging his belly.
[I don't think so…]
''Is it coming?''
"Right away, ma'am!!!"
The boy grabbed hastily the heavy book and then leafed frenziedly through it looking for a good enough story. He then put it on his lap where was comfortably seated the little girl to ensure that they could both look at it.
"Once upon a time, long before- ….-was a bottomless rift. H-…-the breath on-…. –a young sapling-…- giv-… -world races…"
[Huh? Is my hearing worsening? Why now? Did this thing break?]
Tap Tap
The faceless lightly hit the telescope, hoping to fix the issue.
"Fost-…choose t-… tests-…Avys foresa-… -rdians… battl-…fruit-…"
[Bad idea, it became worse. Well, at least, I can still look.]
[…]
[?!]
[Why are they looking over here? Don't tell me that they are the same as the other dude…]
The faceless felt a wave of foreboding quickly rising in their heart. How can everyone see them when they're so high in the sky?
While they were pondering other those matters, a birds shadow flew past their field of view. The kids turned their heads, following it with their gaze.
[Oh… It was just a bird. When did I become so paranoid?]
[Now, they're turning to the other side. Seems like someone came in there.]
[Is that the geezer from before? Why does he look so panicked?]
The room's mood seemed to take a sudden twist. The old man's face was stiff and full of sweat while the kids where staring at him with a confused look.
[Now he suddenly stopped moving… What the hell is ha-]
The faceless couldn't finish their thought. A strong and retributive flash overloaded their sight. Just after came a powerful sizzling sound.
"Argh!"
The faceless jumped back, lost their balance by tripping over the candle's remain and fell on their butt. They immediately rubbed their eyes.
[What was that? An explosion? What happened to the kids? And the geezer?]
While they were tormenting their mind with new concerns, they felt their sight becoming less and less overloaded. They were recovering.
They then opened gently their eyelids.
[Huh?]
Their rampaging emotions suddenly died down. Their mind went blank once again. They noticed a new issue.
"Where's the telescope?"
They quickly scanned their surroundings and caught other inconsistencies.
There were no longer any cogs in the walls. Those were just stone gray.
The doors and windows were all closed and it was dark again.
But more importantly, in front of them were, instead of a golden telescope, a bed with messy sheets.