Day 3 - 2 days before the calamity.
How confused that day was, a man set against a nature's beast. But no longer a doubt for the prince—his throne is fixed on the race. His parade continues at another grand, for the librarian and the Tin Man slowly lose time off this land. In a haste, they must, for the last piece of gear before it rusts.
Two more days before the calamity swept this town free until the prince could set his divine wisdom free. Thousands of adherents are on the way to his glory, raising flags and bringing flowers to him only. The librarian sat and watched a new faith cheered upon the unbelievers and newcomers. Another day, the same colour and mark for the Great Stone lies before her eyes.
Eve is glancing with awe at the banners of Carven outside her library, hanging at each streetlight.
"My, my, my..." Eve perched from the window of her beautiful library, inspired by more ink on her papers each day.
"This town couldn't get any more fun than now. Shame I have to leave right afterwards..."
Charger appears behind Eve with a tin can on his antennae and a ring of metal waste on his waist.
"I've been looking around the Plaza for two hours but all the machines he displayed are—unfit. If that heavy rain could wait for another day, maybe I wouldn't need to look for two hours." Charger sat beside Eve.
"Don't worry, we still have one more day to look forward on that. Besides, wouldn't you like to see the new cult first?"
Red flags are upon the street poles, the prince's face is on the banner, and the clouds are still dancing for the third round. The air is warmer than before, and the grounds are littered with grains of sand. Yet the reservoir is still tanked and filled, for the third day serves a new, brown dread. Another misery for the unfortunate side of the Great Stone that the librarian hopes to avoid.
Eve watched as Lisa and Trud walked by the library with a dissatisfied face.
"Trud, are you sure you can't just share a portion of water for me? I'm so thirsty this morning."
"I want to, but my family needs to keep the water clean after the sand hits our home. You would've kept a ration if you hear the prince Carven's omen before."
"Yeah, I'll just stick to the yesterday's rainwater, then." She holds a jug of pale green water.
"I want that water." Charger peeked.
[2 hours later]
The cleric is left on his trail with no friends to listen to his wail. As lost as he was in doubt, he had nothing to pay his debt. But as the librarian saw, he was as desperate for salvation. Soon, he became aware of the terror he couldn't handle by himself. So he left slowly—for a place that still has him in their heart.
Cyrus enters the library with a glowered face, covered in sand and holding three scrolls.
"Good morning." Eve mumbled on her table. But when she saw it was Cyrus, her ignorant face turned into a jesting smirk.
"Well, well, well...how's the class going, dear mentor? Got any advice on how to tackle the calamity on your own?"
"If only. School's closed because sand kept piling up on the floors and people had to keep each of their reservoirs from another. No information about the prince, but I'm sure our Highness was busy helping his people from the calamity!" He rants.
"I hope he did because the quarantine law is pushing a setback on our voyage!" Charger wanders around the empty library with bore, surprising Cyrus.
"Just remember that I'm doing this because I trust you have something in solution for this 'voyage' of yours," Cyrus stares in disgust at Charger.
The librarian, the cleric, and the Tin Man now hide under the roof of this sandless house, with minds centred around the shore and their departure from this town. There's a boat to get away but not a key to replace. A paddle won't do, and the coast won't be calm for long. They must think, and they must be haste. A library belongs to them only.
The three sat on the roundtable. Cyrus was hesitant, Charger was satisfied, and Eve was determined.
"So, any idea where can we start?" Eve sat menacingly at the face of Cyrus and Charger.
"What? Haven't you think of it yet? We have like two days left!" Cyrus stares with dismay.
"I think we should start by looking for a proper gear! I have the boat already on the dock of the Great Stone coast. But I just need the missing parts to start."
"Wait, there's a coast here? Does that mean Trud was lying when he said he went to another town for a coastal pilgrim?"
"But we haven't found one yet. The gear is locked away from our reach. Charger had been looking around since morning, but we have nothing." Eve intervenes Cyrus.
The sands are piling on the gravel, with clouds collecting to seed with decaying dust. The librarian determines a long chore, for a voyage must come prepared. There would be supplies to fill, a sea to navigate, and time to tend to all these tasks before the fifth day. But they were delightful, with all the resources and minds they have.
"Well, maybe we can start sharing assignments together." Cyrus uttered.
"We should also start packing up. We can't just touch another coast naked. Except you, blue heresy."
"Hey! Is that supposed to be an insult?" Charger continues his lollygagging in the library.
Eve stands up in a surprising move with determined and closed eyes.
"Great idea. I like that plan!"
"Charger, keep on finding that gear so we can start moving here."
"Cyrus, you start packing up all of our needs. Make sure to prepare only necessity—" She pauses as she approaches Cyrus's face.
"But make sure to pack up more in case! Bad things could have happened on the shore."
The librarian began with the map, searching for a swift but steady route in their voyage. From the vast sea of Britannia, with islands varying, there were little to land and many to sail. But with the help of her friends, her doubt on the sea grew thinner. Her mind was on the thrill for the mystery at the tension by the shore.
"Alright, then where are we going, then? Surely we don't just leave the town."
"Oh, Cyrus. If you really think I would navigate blindly in this town, then you would've been so wrong. We're going on heaven today!"
Cyrus moves his chair slowly from Eve with a distrustful look.
"A 'heaven' realm. But it would take us a few hours or days to reach there by water."
"How? By using a supernatural doorway located in one of the Britannia islands?"
The two went silent at the sight of Cyrus's laugh. It took him a few seconds to realize they weren't laughing with him and rushed for the idea. Eve takes a check on one of the books on her shelves while Charger and Cyrus check on her screensquare. Their first travel starts with mapping.
"Hm...let's see. Gold Creek...Gold Creek...Gold...no...Creek..."
"Got it! Our town is located under Denmark and above the Netherlands!" Charger yelled at first on the screensquare.
"No, it's just the fake world me and Eve made two weeks ago on our late night game. No one in with a sane mind would name a country like that, right?" Cyrus swaps the two papers.
"It was supposed to be a land named Nerkosi and Solevia. Right here..."
Eve stares outside the library as hundreds of people bow and worship Dion as the new messiah. He passes by the Great Stone with a carrier accompanied by the Metallionettes. It grew a jealousy within her as the praise went by. But Cyrus and Charger are still busy looking for the route.
"Alright. What's next? We've got the map but we haven't prepare anything yet."
"Then let's prepare for the supply!" Eve raised her finger as she reached for the door to open.
"Wait, how much we needed? Charger, where are we going?"
"Oh, yeah! Charger, where are we going?" Eve pauses before the sand can enter her library.
"We're going onto the Isles of Man. There's a secret interdimensional passage that has been used by people to enter another world for ten years uncaught. I used that place too when I entered this world."
"Isles of Man?? That's a Britannia territory! And that's like 2,000 miles from our foot. Can we even make it there in one go?"
"Great! Start packing up rations, Cyrus! We will need more than just food and water there."
"What??"
"Come on, Cyrus! We have a lot to do and carry on our bags!" Eve dragged him out into the sandy air with her, leaving Charger in the library.
"Eve, I may need to stay here. I have to go grab something first on my—new stash."
"Alright. Then meet us at Frayfoil, Charger!"
A moment of silence of Charger in his lonely library. His eyes locked on the one wardrobe at Eve's table.
"Wow, this library is bigger than I thought. I should've think about taking this place before..."
"Am I really that small?" He ponders aimlessly.
With the map clear, their sight of the ocean is ready. But their preparation is far from finished, for the outside is too much for them. The cleric reaches out for the librarian, for the sand is too thick to bear sight alone. The Tin Man stayed, for his size could not bear the outside. The town's as festive, for the prince and his will is tremendous. And so the librarian and the cleric left to set their rations straight. Three things are on the list, each in a different district.
Cyrus and Eve stand at the back of the bushes, watching a district being blessed with Dion's holy water. Thousands of homeless people are on the line before anyone else. But Dion stood there only to see his followers doing the deed themselves while he savoured an Arlitean wine.
"So now we're getting the sweet spot of the prince. I could do some charity with those people too, you know?"
"Give him what he wanted, Cyrus. If there's truly you could do to change everyone's mind, I think you've wasted yourself."
"Yeah, but what about the fact that—"
"Hey, Cyrus!"
A voice from a distance appears, catching him in the bushes. It was a passing Lisa and Trud who were going with newly red-clothed robes replacing their old orangish-yellow like Cyrus. Cyrus quickly peeks out while Eve ducks into her shadowy spot.
"Lisa? Trud? What are you doing here? And what are you wearing?"
"Oh, this? Just our new clothes for the ceremony tomorrow. Can't say I haven't expect you to come, too." Lisa chuckles.
"The prince are saving the town by providing water supply before snow. I can't say it yet, but I think we've got the good noble on our side."
"But the orange p-pin...? What about the oath of the lightness? Don't let...loose of your...faith...to another?" He stutters each second he sees Lisa and Trud wearing nothing of his faith like before.
"Actually, Cyrus. It's 'Don't keep your faith dim from others' which is what we're doing. We're thinking out of the box and find ourselves another box. A unique box. The thing you would've known as our teacher." Trud intervenes with a scolding tone.
"I know that! I...was just testing you two." Cyrus boasts.
"Then you know we have no time to wait or else our tongue goes dry by now."
Lisa offered him a spare red robe before she left him to the Carven's commune.
From the depth of forestry bloom, shrouding green and rich with fruits, the librarian picked the best apples before others took harm on its figs. The fresh labour of East Wood has never been so ripe for no one but her to hold the basket of its sweetness. And food was filled into the list—now she must go for two more things.
Cyrus glanced at the red robe on his hand with sadness while Eve was busy foraging for fruits on the East Wood trees.
"Hey, I thought the apples were supposed to be ripe in few more days."
"Eh, don't bother about that, Cyrus. The apples here are what matters to keep us satiated so we can survive for ten days on the ocean."
"Then what do we eat forward? Air?"
"We'll find out!"
"I'm quite concerned about this journey, Eve. If somehow we could find a new way to repel the storm, albeit magic or not, do you think we could go home after that?"
"Eh, Cyrus. Why bother with going home early? We can have fun as much as we can when the storms swept this town clean."
"You're not worried of your parents?"
"There you go. You do it again, my friend. You should be more lively like I do." Eve stares with a taunting smirk at him before picking her last apple. Cyrus was left with a confused and worried stare at her.
"Why do you always answer with that?" He thought.
"Alright. We've got the apple done. Time to head for second rations."
"Don't we have to mourn for this apple tree first? I would like to pray and weep for the loss it would endure without us." Cyrus bows.
"Sure, but be quick! Charger's counting on us for that gear and I'm not sure I can lose a sight of a witchcraft after years of boredom in this town."
After Cyrus finishes hesitantly looking at his duty, the two prepare to leave the East Wood forest.
From a lone well, sealed and tightened, an opportunity to grasp fresh water is only one reach for the librarian. There were a lot of bottles to fill, for freshness is rare on the sail. The water is as fresh as the mountain's grace, with blessing and filtering unmatched. But the people are greedy, for the sand kept their hydration at bay. So goes the water into the bottle—now their baskets felt heavier, but enough for another thing.
Eve and Cyrus visited the Wellspring well reservoir, where a line is set for people to gather their portion of water per turn.
"Hey, Cyrus! You're just in time for the water supply! Don't get too late or they'll take your days off, alright?"
"Yeah, thanks." Cyrus bids the woman goodbye without a look.
"I can't believe they replaced me. After all I did, they replaced me with some fancy-looking Britannia man for what? A sight of miracle?" Cyrus ponders tightly at the robe, seeing a mark of Carven on the chest. Disdain fills his heart as he grows more jealous of him.
While Cyrus was busy, Eve was rowing bottles into the well.
"Why did they do this? Why? I...trusted them to be more...understanding."
"That's what you get for trusting a false disciple, Cyrus. You think they finally enlighten by your teaching, but in the end, one small tragedy and all their beliefs were shaken just like that? Talk about the biting truth."
"What could have been!"
"I don't know. I'm not a cleric or a prophet. All I know is that any belief is belief to me. You want to strive? Then start believing in anything exemplary."
"Well, I'm a priest, okay? I should've been followed at least as an example. I believe in myself and I didn't need to tell anyone about that...!"
[5 minutes later]
"Alright. Fifteen bottles should be enough for all of us. I suppose until we had to go for the saltwater." Eve puts the bottles along with the apple basket.
"Mr. Beth, can you be quick? You're holding the line for years here!"
"I did? I was about to leave with my waters now." Cyrus looks at the angry man behind him.
"Haven't seen any of your muscle moving the water right there!"
"What? You don't believe me, too? Is that what this town now has for me? Disbelief?" Cyrus starts a ruckus on the line.
"Alright, Cyrus. Time to go before you do something stupid." She drags him against his will.
From the plain, rugged grass of Frayfoil, where oils are manufactured, and society burns the hardest, the librarian arrives to find the missing piece with a cold, doubtful face. A town desecrated with crime and mobs unpunished, for the underworld is out of authority's sight. But should one gear be taken swiftly, the three fear no blade to punish their necks.
Eve and Cyrus stare at the arch welcoming the town of Frayfoil. One face is filled with wonder and disgust, while the others harboured resentment and hate.
"Frayfoil. The worst town you'll ever wish to be in this land...crimes everywhere, laws on the loose." Cyrus mumbled.
"I can't believe you used to live on here, Eve. Is that why you were so independent now?"
"No. I just hate growing up here as a child. You could never pay me millions to see guards and Duke's lapdogs on the street gathering silvers on their paycheck by lollygagging on the law." Eve rubs her hands around the fire.
"I moved out only because I had the chance on me. When I got that librarian intern spot in my hands, it was like a salvation from my ten years of nightmare."
The horror of an unlawful place where a child could die without a trace. The librarian stared fearfully at the darkest alley, for each man with a flat cap could swing hard at her belly. The man who swore only by his hat, collected the silver that didn't belong to him. For a man sitting taller behind the brick house, others are weeping at his ruse.
Eve stares at an abandoned schoolhouse, now turned into a criminal's base.
"You know how many children here have been holding up their hats because they don't want a gun on their heads?" Eve scowled with deep resentment at the gang members' sight.
"I don't know. But I still remember the day I met you on East Wood with a face like that. It can't be that bad in your home...right?"
"I think if a calamity occurs, this town should not be saved at all. Perhaps a few should be spared, but what is few now?"
"You really dying to leave this town, aren't you?" Cyrus grew more concerned.
From where she started, she travelled far more than she had remembered. But years have passed, and she has forgotten the old gravel she used to walk. When she thinks she has lost, searching for her way out like she does once, she encounters yet another dilemma—one that speaks a family's name. In the last moment of her life in this town, only her loved ones stand before her.
Eve and Charger stroll around the town for a long, but Charger is nowhere to be found. She and Cyrus start travelling around the street, which led her closer into a small town.
"Where's Charger? I told that cretin to find me here..."
"Oh, I'm gonna miss going around in this land when I'm out there on another world...doing heretics. When I can help a lot of these people purify their minds from the sinful prince..."
"When I can return what's right on the sky as the righteous priest! Or else my name won't be Cyrus Beth!" Cyrus oath with his right arm up.
"You're going to miss this world when you know how less you would—care?"
Eve was stopped at a sight of a woman at the bakery, who was looking confused and troubled after leaving the store. The woman draws an uneasy feeling for her.
"Eve?" The woman approaches her with stunned eyes.
"Uh, who are these people, Eve?"
"My mom. You don't see the hair?" Eve kept her eyes on the woman, slowly turning from frozen to yearning.
"Glad I can see her face still happy after all of this mess."
The woman gets closer to her position, passing through the intersection and carriers before she appears with a relieved smile at her.