It was a struggle for the librarian and the thief today, but now they've made it through their darkest time and into a far land. Escaping the cave in a near-miss attack from the horrifying thought, the thief sweats profusely before relieving himself with water and gold.
"Aah...nothing beats the feeling of walking out with a precious gold. Just like the old days with banks." Charger mumbled.
"Now where would I be now if it wasn't for Eve?" He uttered with a scowl.
The thief arrived in Austeria, following the trace of the librarian through remnants of ice and sweat dripping down the sands until he found a beautiful arch standing with a circular light and a long chasm under his path. With his gold piling on his sack, the thief journeyed through the long gravel, trusting only one stone in his pocket than any else.
"Ooh...new town," Charger mumbled.
"Why haven't I heard about this place before?"
The warm yellow orbs stand between the bridge for a light source to the plateau, guiding the thief further into a gazebo. The cold air inside alienates every doubt he had from the cave, following the stream by the river before his eyes.
Austeria is a large home for a starling but was too big even to be called a home. The vast body of water and stone houses dwelled by giants, yet its dwellers are nowhere to be found. The absence of people rubs the thief in the wrong face, but on the other hand, perhaps its silence could ensure the safety of his gold.
"Whoa, Eve. If you were really eager to go here, then I wouldn't have stopped you before." Charger sat on the gazebo.
"I would've needed some refreshment, too."
He washes his face with the water, removing the moss from his face and relieving himself from dehydration. His sack of gold sat beside him, glimmering yellow and pristine like the water. It has never been a peaceful time for him.
"Woah...What another adventure..." He said.
"But I'm already tired of another one. What should I do?"
Temples and shrines are between a lake, where he is in a gazebo without a hopeful path. Golds and tins may lie inside, but traveling is nowhere possible with feeble tin legs. The depth is beyond light, and the thief couldn't swim long enough to reach the other side if he could. Yet he never gave up on a loose end.
From above, a vine came low to his head, and its edge was locked with his waist into the pillar like an anchor. Then, he grasped a stone and sharpened it with his metallic hand to a hook shape to make a grapple out of it. Last, only a measure of distance to see how lucky he could be. And then the thief glanced from afar that he prepared to shoot.
"I hope this works. Or else I'll have to go swimming again..." Charger set his rope tight.
"Here goes! Hya!"
He shot the hook far for the coast, where the temple shimmers with a star-like, and the grass is unsoaked. But a throw so poor, the hook drowned before it could hang onto something. The thief scowled and retreated the hook to the gazebo before trying again.
"Here goes again! Hya!"
His second throw was further than before, but it was nowhere near a success for him. The hook fell into the water again, only to be risen by the thief's hand to the deck for the third time. He was displeased, yet he continued. But as he was about to throw further, a presence shivered his tin bones from behind and made him terrified.
"Alright. Alright...Maybe I should've gone further. Should I?"
"Maybe you shouldn't." Said a voice.
"Huh? Who said that?"
A starling got his attention from his boat, wandering through the flows of Austeria while encountering a confused spirit in his quest. The thief's will for the gold is something to admire, but the greed is disturbing. It was enough to lure the luminous face to drop his oil jars somewhere dry between the thief and his sack.
It was a nice feeling to meet someone new, but it also presented a threat to his beloved gold. The thief's hand was as fast as thunder when he picked his sack of gold away from the guest. His only motives for the travel are to have his gold to be where the land is friendly for someone so poor as him.
So his happiness was replaced with an indifferent stare, turning the starling in discomfort by his shoulders. The thief fears of ruining the chance of rowing above the abyssal grim, only for the man to be aroused with his mundane stare.
"Oh, little one. Why have you come here?" Said the starling.
"I'm searching for my friend. Also, what is this town?" Charger grabbed his sack.
"Austeria, the land of serene happiness. I believe a Quasarian like you shouldn't be here freely."
"I don't. My friend was here and I need to find her! You see a human here? Tall, blue-sweater, short hair, likes to scowl, and always smells like fish?"
The starling didn't understand the thief's hostility, but his heart was too pure to deny his pleasing question. Right after he docked his boat and delivered some fresh jars from another island to the stone gazebo, he helped the thief sail into the markets, away from the temple.
The thief felt betrayed but had no choice but to let the paddle lead him to his friend. As the yellowish light faded from his eyes, he was relieved to have his sack of gold as the least option. The man wanted to know more about the thief on their way to deliverance, so he questioned a few words about him.
"So, Quasarian. What's your name?" The Hyperian gazes at him.
"C-Charger." He replies.
"Charger, huh? Must have been a new generation of Quasor? What breed?"
"Blue." He glances awkwardly at the man.
He calmly answered, but cutting every edge that rots the name of his greatness. The thief doesn't want to be spoiled by compliments, as the starling poses as a stranger of danger. Yet the man remains calm with every inch of his story while his boat draws closer to a light.
"I believe a man like you was lost on your way home. It's not every day we get a handsome man here, " the man teases.
"Oh, come on! Beauty is subjective, my friend. Everyone here is equally beautiful and magnificent like me!"
"Hehe, you're right!" The man said.
The man smiles with a teasing eye before leaving the thief to coast as he embarks on a far river, winking at him as if he were giving him a hint. The thief takes his first step out of the boat and joins the people at a market near the water. The place is much better than the outside.
"Lypple! Get your fresh Lypple here!"
"Lypple! Lypple!"
The thief caught his eye on a gold-laced apple and had never felt so hungry until now. Even after six Ales were drunk, the taste of apples was still tempting. While the vendor is empty, and ten apples are inside the glass panel—why not go for one?
"Excuse me! Excuse me!" Charger yelled. "Can I have one?"
"Ooh. Another one? I thought some Hyperians would enjoy a Lypple. But a Quasarian?"
"How much?" The thief gambles for a scrap of silver.
Fresh from the oven, he drools at the honey goo dripping from the apple. The vendor, seemingly hesitant to provide him a piece, sighed after he grasped the stick away from his hands. The thief, who was too excited, bit down the apple and left no trace but the stick. He was afraid of swallowing the piece if not for the hot honey.
"Awawawaww!" He yelled.
But to his surprise, the cuisine was spiced with a surprising taste. The thief ached from the sensation of hot honey melting in his mouth, with a burn so fresh he spewed steam out of his mouth. Yet slowly, he ate through the pain and embraced this unbearable thought inside of his mouth without shedding a tear. It was quick, and the thief gulped the fresh apple in a second.
"Foo! Foo! Foo! I couldn't be more terrible as a culinary tester, am I?"
"I guess? The last customer who tried it take it harder than you."
"Well, I guess they did it better than me. Thanks for the culinary, old man..."
Difficult as it seems, the town was no ordinary town for him. The artistic value and the large summoning structures could not match the livelihood of people outside. It might be a vast place, but it has too little company for the thief to share his greatness. But he was adamant his friend would be here—thus, it must continue.
But not far from the direction where he had started, the sight of a familiar hair appears clearly between two ridges. The librarian was only a few inches under the water and swept by a waterfall from above the bridge. She is right where he needs her, and the thief quickly leaves among the round stones to call her.
"Eve? Eve!" He yelled.
"Huh?" Eve glanced back.
The librarian and the thief reunite again at a lake, where she is standing by the waterfall and between a mist. A leap of heart came into his relief as he quickly ran through the coarse stone ground to the shallow river, following the scent of fresh meat and unique-looking vases on the grass.
"Eve!" He yelled.
"Charger..." Eve approaches him away from the river.
*Slap* She slapped him in the face.
"I'm taking a bath, you tin foiled brain! Did you really come here to spy on me??"
"What? I'm looking for you! I didn't get over here to be slapped by a girl who lost herself!" Charger replies.
The librarian was so grateful to find her right where she needed him. She was vigorous and different than he had remembered under the fall. Her eyes are pristine as a crystal, much more than the ice on her shoulders. She had seen beauty in this land and quenched herself from the suffering of darkness within her head, much like the thief's adventure.
The smile on her face comforts the feeling of worry and doubt, with one problem left in his head. But it was far from over for the librarian and her companion, for their little travel still awaits on the land of Bellflower, way beyond their heads. The thief saw himself as the new coordinator, for his greed was also his arrogance to meet.
"So, turns out we got scammed by the kid because I didn't get anything in return and I have to find you here." Charger scratches his head.
"Augh, and you understand why I hate kids now?"
"Yeah, but at least I got a sack of precious gold during my reach here! What do you think?"
The gold of his journey lies in sharing with the librarian as a brag in their reunion. But there's nothing more intriguing for her to catch up with than a staff lying on his back. The icy magic rubbed from her hands was a gift from the scorching heat, and the snowy cloud brought back memories upon a cast.
"I should start making this weapon more portable, so I don't lose it easily..." Eve swings her staff, leaving an ice trail behind.
"That can be arranged." Charger grasps on his pliers.
"Right—and how are you going to tinker with high-grade weapon with only a plier you stole from my hometown?"
"Oh, you don't know me well, Eve. I'm a good mechanic! I could make a miracle even from just a 'plier' like you said. But I do need to know if you're the kind of all rough or smoothen one?"
The thief kindly offered her staff without tampering or stealing a scrap in return, which was a surprise. But few winds tell the librarian to perch her eyes closer to him more than yesterday, for the day might have gone without him again. The doubt in the librarian's head grew stronger with each second passed, and the trail of her answer grew thin.
"My staff's was warm, Charger."
"Really? I didn't see anything wrong with that?"
"Is that so?"
Her staff was lighter and warmer than she had remembered, and only the thief could be blamed for this. Her grip on the ice was looser than a knot on her sweater, with a few scraps stolen from under its foot. Such little hands could only pry those gold embroidery off her grasp.
"I see you have a new friend with you, human." Linda stands from above their heads.
As the trip continues from the lowlands, the thief encounters a lady from a high pillar, who happens to descend while he rises. The solemn lady behind the frowned mask shakes him with her fake tears and white-layered face, leaving both stunned and confused. The freedom in her stance shivers the thief for he was merely as free as her.
"Aah! You scare me! You know her, Eve?" Charger drops his sack of gold.
"Linda? You've been waiting for me?" Eve questions from her wet hair and shoulders.
"I wouldn't wish to have my guest in danger, am I?" She muttered coldly.
"Are you a Hyperian? You have a sad face..." He asked.
"I'm the enforcer of this town. Austeria would always needed someone their size to defend this place than a defective human with their nonexistent threat."
He hadn't seen a face so different since he was down with the starlings, especially with one who had her ears up like a rabbit. But there's something odd from the lady's frowned mask and the sadness in her suit.
"Her name is Linda, and she'll lead us out into the Bellflower just right above this giant's home." Eve elaborates on the rest.
"Ooh...Linda, I like that name. I might have heard about you on the street if I wasn't too bored searching for scraps..." Charger taps her shoulder, only to be tapped back on his face.
"She's an officer of this town. Try not to keep up a crime for too long, Charger..."
"O-officer?" Charger froze.
"Yes.
The young lady introduces herself to the thief with her mask off, revealing a face nothing like a starling. Her pinkish figure and antennae mark a threatening figure for him. So the thief carefully hides his gold sack before the lady can find it, hoping she didn't ask for a share or his name. For this little star doesn't seem to align with others.
"You seem terrified, Quasarian. What's the catch?" Linda stares teasingly at him.
"Nothing. I just never saw how unique you are as a Hyperian." Charger sweats from his moss, spraying a spark of his panic.
"Really? Then why are your pebbles shivering where it shouldn't?"
She was as sharp as a needle, carefully poking the thief's vulnerability just like she did to the librarian's pride. Seeing the thin-veiled mask stand between her and the thief's face draws an unlikable suspicion between authority and its compromiser. The only thing that keeps him safe from the threat is the librarian's intervention.
"Alright, alright! That's enough chit-chat. Please, just guide us into the Bellflower town already. We don't have enough time to wait here while the night is on." Eve muttered.
"Yeah! That downer could've been—" Charger was silenced.
"We could've been left before the dawn! Ehem..." Eve smirks sharply at her.
But the librarian keeps everything in silence, trying not to spill something from her eyes like the water dripping over her head. The lack of words and elaboration makes their reunion short and less comforting than she had expected, leaving lies and more lies on their shoulders to speak their resentment to one another.
"Right...let's get to it, then." Linda jumps off to the nearest cliff, starting the trip with a high stone.
The thief, the librarian, and the enforcer hide their respective truths from one another, traveling silently through the platforms of rising stones while maintaining distance. Their trust is thinner than the steepest rock on the cliff, where their feet are wobbling by the wind.
"I can't trust this snail girl. What if she finds out I was the one who made him a downer? I have to quickly freeze her after this..."
"If the human and the Quasarian reach any further, it would be a disaster for me. A psychic discombobulation should do the work."
"I better don't tell Eve where I put those silver scraps to. I'm still hungry..."
The lady was stoic in his lead, barely a word coming out of her mouth, and she wasn't happy being accompanied. Deep in her mind, reaching for the broken bridge and climbing through the ropes that once connected it, she calmly treads the thin, wobbly line with ease before giving the thief and the librarian a path through a plank on the other side.
"Stay here. I'll go get the plank ready..." Linda mumbled.
"Humans like you won't make it in a leap."
The two calmly frame the view of the river beside their left, where it was also the one that relieves the librarian from her misery. But the time was ticking for the lady, and she had her fingers tightened on the plank waiting for the two. Thus, they ran to her before her tiny fingers would slip them out.
"That's was amazing! We should've gone for a water there!"
"No need! I drank well from there and I can say I'm eager to try it again sometimes." Eve uttered.
"Ehem!" Linda intervenes.
After a bridge came a curtain of nature. The path is sealed with a wall of vines, covering a few houses and posts while also cloaking the path by dangling above the trees like a snake. It wasn't easy to navigate as a human with all those green things swinging and shading her sight.
"Just like the spore in my mycelium hair, I couldn't find anyone who had entered this town for decades. I wouldn't be sure that a child could be here any moment. Perhaps I could assist you by sending a letter to the councils to find the child so you don't have to?" She kindly offers.
"I'm staying, Linda. I'm not going anywhere after searching for days over that kid. Right, Charger?" Eve interjects.
"Uhm, yeah? It was a long week..." He added hesitantly.
"Oh, okay. But I only suggest you two to leave immediately should you not energized, okay?"
The lies bonded them yet again in a line, keeping their heads from getting too close to the secrets of others. This time, the thief takes the lead by a wall of vines, where he had strayed further after seeing a temple with its door open. His excitement draws from the gold pouring down the river, which color tempted him to stray a bit from their quest.
"Hey! Charger! Where are you going?" Eve yelled.
"I'm not going for long! Just wait there!" He replies.
The thief delves his finger into the river, feeling a hard, coarse-like stone in his grasp and more underground—each drawing closer to a characteristic of gold. So he quickly rummaged as much as he could until his sack size was half what it was before. It was heavy, much like his love for this greatest heist.
"Gold! Gold! Gold! Woo!" Charger grabs his sack.
It was not long until the lady and the librarian lost him between the vines, but not the lady. The confused librarian sat on the ground while recording every beauty in her journey with a new chapter but froze at the thought of keeping a secret between the lady and the thief.
She must find the child and retrieve him immediately before he is gone. But she knew that doing so could risk compromising the trust between the people of Austeria. The kind-hearted, solemn, and serene-minded starlings were more of her friends than anyone outside this piece of stone.
The lady left her to find the thief among the vines, following through the temple's light nearby—only to find a scouring rat in a prisoner's suit filling out his sack with things that don't belong to him. His face enjoys ransacking the river until his sleeves are wet.
"Charger?" Linda appears before him.
"Eek!" He quickly improvises a style facing toward Linda.
"What are you doing?"
His crafty hands that touched the surface of the gold became a rough polisher as soon as the lady looked at him from the green curtains.
The sloping thief almost fell from his own slope, but the lady who knew nothing about the thief was tricked by his loose elbow. But each polished stone only fell to his sack after they were glistening like a mirror.
"I was just polishing the gold—stone here! It looks dirty and I also need to wash my hands...!" Charger rubs the stone.
"Okay. Wash your hands...but don't forget to return the gold afterward." Linda walks off—her eyes are not leaving sight until she is left between two pillars.
"Phew..."
The lady didn't even flinch at him—such praise for the thief as he left that temple empty. But the librarian was not the one to be fooled so easily by his mask. A thick sack and an innocent face could not be together where she saw the thief.
She approaches and checks upon it, only to find a sack that could make up to a month on a mansion alone. Her disappointment had never grown more resentful of the thief for stealing—but the polishing he had made upon was irresistibly adorning, like a new stone, she could have collected long before. Only by a look, something had changed within her.
The thief stares displeasingly, ready to defend his gold from the librarian's grasp at his back. His eyes had never been tempted to be protective since his departure here, and how many tins he had left home only made him more furious than ever.
"You really are going to steal here? Where did you even get a precious stone like this?" Eve whispers.
"If you're going to have your fun here, then so do I." Charger smug.
"I'm tired of having you telling me stuff you never owe me. So, if you wished for me to comply, then you had to let me do my things on the other way."
"I'm not a puppet here, Eve. I can do what I want and I want to have you silent about this." Charger pokes her leg with dread.
"Ugh! And to think that you were smarter than this. Just don't irritate the people here, okay?" She begs.
But the librarian kindly asked him in a soft manner, unlike many grunts before. Her eyebrows lower but not in a bored or any hatred, rather a wishing eye staring right at the thief with hope. Her voice is softer than any stone in his sack as if she didn't willingly try to berate or anger him further. This time, she only wishes for him.
But to think about it, her eyes were already far different than he had remembered, but her attitude was somewhat of a change he didn't expect. The thief could not be more suspicious, but an agreement is an agreement.
"Okay. Keep yours and I'll keep mine," Charger said.
"Good. I just hope Linda didn't find out I was the one turning the downer here. I have a lot to see on this town before I leave..."
"What do you even want to do with the child, anyway?"
"Bringing him home, obviously. What else?" Eve packs up with her staff. From a rag came an ice backpack.
"Joyling parents don't accept downer."
"Then we'll have him somewhere with a family."
"Orphanage?"
"Maybe. But maybe we could sent him somewhere..."
"Like where? Out of here?"
Their bond may have grown slowly, but secrets are still secrets. The thief and the librarian kept their secrets together from one another, allying together to discover the lady who had seemed to hide too much. With truth hidden, they journeyed speechless.
"Let's just walk off, Charger. I don't have any time to talk right now..." Eve pauses, staring doubtfully at Charger.
"You'll find out just when you see where I'll go."
The librarian has something to do—something she couldn't tell the thief, yet she wishes for him to understand. But he was too distracted with the gold that he forgot to hear much about her words than a promise.
"Since when did her eyes get darker?" Charger thought.