Woosh.
Sat on the hill, confused and unaffected, the three wanderers finally see the chaos resolved as the storm turns into a soft hail. But the men and women who partake in this insanity? They do not seem to feel remorse or a nuff. Instead, they left with a spark of hope and a new light in their metal-bearing skin like a drought citizen begging for a well.
"Such a prosperous gift!"
"My electricity shall be blessed!"
"It came too early for us to be this blessed!"
The wanderers soon found that these people were not insane. The folly was merely a reason, but the real treasure lies behind the storm's power. Like the three of them, Alphiore people were also trying to harness this invisible force from the storm. Now, they are capable of more than just a cold metal.
Bulbs shone all over the town of Alphiore, and the paradise was reborn in the new dawn. The storm headed out into a wisp as it left the ocean from which it came. Yet the librarian still stands clouded with doubt as she sees the cataclysm gifted these people another life and another blessing.
"Are those people..." One bulb was shining bright before Cyrus, and he took it from the base just to see how ridiculously miraculous the brightness was.
"Harnessing the invisible force? Yes, and it seems they finally had what they needed. And I think we just found our ticket way home." Eve commented.
"Oh, so now you believed me?" Charger raises his bulb, trying to earn the invisible force. But the wind cannot accept his plea—not without a medium.
"But how do we start getting that hidden force now? The storm just left!"
"Starting what again?"
Before the three wanderers could continue, they saw the Engine coming right before them on the back of their heads. She was folly—less follies than these people—but it doesn't mean she would've seen her people as foolish as the librarian was. Because, like many others, the metals are proud of their foolishness.
"What are you three doing there? Aren't you having fun already with your new life?" The Engine teases. In her eyes, nothing had happened—no misery, for one thing.
"Well, if our new lives had taught us something, it's not to fall into the eye of the storm! What did you teach your people with?" Cyrus confronted the Engine. Mad and in disbelief, he sees the lack of guidance as disturbing. But who's to say the librarian couldn't say the same?
"Oh, you simple flesh-limiting thoughts cannot comprehend the will of one man? What you just saw right now is us sipping on the cocktail of resolution after a long day of darkness."
The Engine sat quietly, viewing the cloudy dawn from her metallic gown. She offers the three wanderers a chalice of a mysterious substance. In her words, she saw the wanderers—especially the librarian—as warriors of a newness. And for that, a chalice was raised once more before them.
"Us, metal-bearers, starve from the lack of power within our grip. As we who stand here on this island to watch the world prosper in their already destiny and design, we are but a forgotten yet resilient spirit."
"The storm loved us, humans. And we loved it back. But we merely at the grip of our true potential. Not while we're here still."
"For us who embrace impermanence, we follow the force that never stopped. Say, do you fancy the idea of an invisible force?" The Engine tried to tease the librarian with her charm, but she was too late to be the messenger.
"Actually, we've heard about that before from our little Tin friend here. Which is why we're planning on leaving this town already and heading into North to get this precious force right before we—"
But before the librarian could have a sip on that chalice and relish in the Engine's words, she decided for the long departure back into the ocean for a world of the unknown. Yet hearing that offer does not give the Engine many pleasing thoughts. Her gift was but a waste.
"Leaving? Right now...? Oh, what a shame...I thought some of you could've stayed a bit longer for some...lesson." The Engine stands in Eve's way, using her body as a wall to bump Eve's face onto.
"I mean, what else would be wasted now?"
Sadness runs on her face—but not the one with tears. The Engine couldn't cry from her metal skin, but she could feel sadness that only humans could shed when someone was leaving. Suddenly, it feels so terrible for the wanderers to leave this place upon seeing the chalice dripping with red juice. Surprisingly, they didn't even smell a wine inside.
"But I get it...sometimes, strangers don't really have a reason to leave this place. Like my people, you are all equal in your own will to move, right?" Alpha was ready to leave upstairs and to her tower, leaving the wanderers guilty.
"*Sigh* I guess that means I get to save these precious juices and breads for myself in the tower without anyone to feast on it."
"Won't your people have a feast with you?" Cyrus steps in with a curious face.
"They've got their shares already. Only those who were desperate would eat my bread, but nobody here is."
The town was at the peak of their life, and the three wanderers were leaving so soon. The librarian is so quick at pushing the tide and ignoring the sweeps before cleaning the coast. After all, she has yet to participate with truth in this town. Yet she convinces herself that there is something more important than looking back for the people.
"Alright, then. Feel free to leave the town if you need to. I'll be in my tower and continue my impermanence...or should I say...changing a new me."
"So, are we leaving now?" Cyrus returned to Eve, and she returned to her friends. There was no denial or change in the plan.
"Definitely...what else could we waste here?"
As the three wanderers were ready to walk back and leave, the librarian looked back with a hesitant stare. The tower was tall, but it stands alone among the others. How beautiful such progress was, only to be wasted by pure and false-driven hope of oneself. If only someone wise could have set a better shade.
Something nearly sparks within the librarian's head as if the voice of a distant wail called for her. Though indifferent, something about the Engine's words made her think how passive her strength was. Perhaps destiny gave her the helpless one to be dictated with justice and facts.
"We are better together." He whispers.
The town is filled with nothing but pride, and now everyone looks as helpless as they are in Gold Creek. As it once helped her regain her strength, even so, the librarian feels like she could've done the same. Maybe the world deserves a cold, judgmental definition of their so-called "pride."
"Eve? Are you okay?" Cyrus thought as he watched her standing at the face of Alpha's tower.
"Cyrus, you think what I'm thinking?" Eve commented.
"Well, if I had to imagine, I needed some new metals on my sleeves so I don't look like the guy in that alley now." Cyrus nodded without pointing.
"That, too. But imagine what we could do here instead? The paradise? The blind and unmolded people? The hidden force?" Eve enlightens.
The librarian decided to turn back and see the town once again. In her head, a new idea brings a new layer of truth. The helpless one—the one without power—now needs a realization. Someone could give them power. The three wanderers have a power—a design better than the princess.
"You're saying we should stay here?" Cyrus stares in confusion.
"What? N-no? I'm saying that maybe we should enjoy the town while it lasts. I mean, who knows what we could have faced out there without preparation and enlightenment?"
"Well, we could've been swift to find enlightenment if we had done it earlier. Don't you think?" Charger remains indifferent, following only her task.
"Oh, come on! Where else would you ever feel this lively when a storm strike over your head twice! Enjoy the moment while you can while our answer was lying here!"
"Think about it, Cyrus!"
Eve leans to whisper at Cyrus, "Perhaps you could find some men or women here who are willing to see the real you, Cyrus..."
The cleric finds a change of mind like her, too. Reason eventually finds a standpoint with the truth. As the cape and amice were gone, the faith and fire still burned brighter. The librarian's cold and darkest shade was to comfort the warmth of faith from the chaotic sparks of freedom in Alphiore.
"Eve's right. Why rush now when we have some time here?" Cyrus mumbled excitedly.
"Have you not seen the beauty of this town yet, Charger?"
"Nope. I'm only fascinated with a greatness. And greatness comes from the harshest struggle to face, my friend. Not a leverage in an eternal paradise."
"Not eternal, but temporary. Now, come on! Let's have the Engine know we're staying for longer!" The two wanderers rush upstairs and back into the tower, leaving Charger alone.
"Wow...I just...don't know what to say. Alright...I guess..." He mumbled.
———————————————————————————————————
The wanderers returned to the tower, watching as the princess was standing on top of the balcony like a damsel in distress. She looks even more beautiful alone—pondering and contemplating. So the two wanderers trailed back and climbed like they were seeking knowledge from the sky.
"Hey, what are you doing?"
"Let them go, sister. She would've asked for this encounter. She has always been..."
Her guards are not aware of this change—not like they could change their minds or stop the wanderers. Their spears remain firm, and their feet never move more than ever. The librarian made it upstairs, following a spiralling line of struggle and the air of restlessness through the windows until she found only one door that hadn't changed.
"Princess!" Eve yelled, only to find her in a state of being too comfortable alone.
"Huh? You two, mind a knock?!" She turns around, putting the hips back to the bones. There were a lot of wires inside of her that may trigger a thought for the librarian.
"S-sorry! We thought you wouldn't be too busy! Also, we've changed our mind, we're going back so we can try adapt here..."
"So...?" Alpha stares in displease at Cyrus as if she wasn't even concerned about him.
"We've decided we wanted to have a time here while we could. Just to be sure we didn't regret it..." Eve mumbled coldly. But only her words arouse Alpha.
"Ah, I knew you wouldn't be too willing to leave your freedom yet. Outsiders have always more than a greet here..." Her hands are on her chest with relief.
"But as long as they embrace the welcoming newness." She teases a stare before the librarian.
"Now, shall we show you the way of the Novelty?"
As the princess heard their change of mind, she was more than forgiving of them. After all, change is always meant to happen here. The wanderers are welcomed as they were once, where they found the air turning slowly stale—at least far from demise.
———————————————————————————————————
Down in the tower, the librarian awaits, where she sits on a long table of servitude, and the Engine is the host of this party. There was no one but the wanderers here, but it's not like a party couldn't be festive with a few people. As long as they could get their hands on the invisible force that they might enjoy every day here. What a party they have after.
"You think this would work, Eve? I'm not sure if royalty is in my blood..." Cyrus whispers to Eve.
"Yeah, but where else would we get to harness the invisible force now? If it was lying here with the princess, maybe we could get along and buy ourselves one. Then, we can go home..."
"But how do we know it'll work? Maybe it could have killed us instead!"
"Nonsense! Have you seen what made us already? We're a strong spirit here!"
The princess sat distant, but her eyes were looking at the librarian with a gleam. Her truth was too appealing to be resisted, and the metal-bearer couldn't be too desperate for an answer. As soon as the librarian felt comfortable in her seat, she found the princess waiting for her.
"*Sigh* I can't believe to see a lost mind like you here in my town, trying to seek truth by herself. What a terrible world to imagine..."
"But if I had to be honest, I do find seeker like you tempting. Always had the ambition and will to make the sacrifice for the honesty and transparency. As I am to my people, there was nothing in me to hide when we are all equally a seeker of freedom."
"But you said my truth was obsolete..." Eve stops herself from drinking the chalice.
"Well, I said the truth was harsh and hurting my people, but I didn't say you should stop moving out of your ambition. I just said maybe...maybe we could direct the way of this 'truth' to be worth taking." Alpha teases with a lean on the head and a smile.
She was so happy with the librarian that she began to show her freedom of speech. In her words, keeping the town safe isn't easy when one can't understand the danger of hiding behind the curtains. One could always move and realize. It was as if she was trying to tell the librarian that she was teaming in her quest for truth.
"Alright, that settles it!" Alpha slams the table.
"Ms Ainsley, can I inquire about your presence alone with me on top of the tower? I have something to ask for you..."
"What?"
"Oh, don't get me wrong. I only needed some time with you for some discussion about—your human interest."
"My human interest?"
"Yes, your interest with...uhm...what's again? Truth?"
"Would it be a good idea if the two of us could talk together only alone? I fear maybe not all of us can share an honest share of minds without the intervention of another mind." Alpha pities and talks so elegantly that it makes Eve feel more deepened by her.
No faith, no false belief, only a mind who wanted to think outside the box just like her. What a tempting word to hear from the Engine, the librarian thought. With a firm and resolute idea, she left the table to join the princess upstairs and discover the stars in the darkness together in her tower, leaving the cleric for his dinner himself. After all, the cleric and the librarian were an honoured guest.
"Is that so? Well, I guess a little peek on the princess' wardrobe shouldn't be too much a danger." Eve left with a curious smile. She was adamant that she was closer to this hidden force than ever.
"What about me?" Cyrus waited in participation.
"You can join us later, Cyrus! But me and Alpha had to get into this alone first! Have fun!"
The librarian left with the princess upstairs. Together, they walked into the stairs of darkness with the librarian walking from behind. Her stare was pointed one last time for the cleric, holding something more than a curious stare for a glimpse. But her book convinces her that she must continue for the sky.
"Oh, okay..."
"Waiter, I need water!" Cyrus tapped the bell.
The two headed further into the tower until only their voices were heard within the long stairway. The silence was overbearing for the librarian, as she saw merely a torch to light her way. Yet the bright princess of this metal world was luminous enough to guide her into the world of the unknown at the top of the tower.
"Woah..." She awes.
The truth still lies here, but high and distant before her eyes. A seemingly fresh-looking observatory for a princess, filled with schematic lenses of creativity and innovation between wires and royalty. The librarian now knew that the princess was no ordinary lady but a seeker of her own truth—an innovative truth.
"Since you've been fascinated by this invisible force so much, maybe we could spend some time here trying to solve the puzzle?"
"Yes. Absolutely." Eve gently replies.
"I'm not really good with machines, but I could stay here any day watching your work as you wish. Maybe I could have helped, too." Eve perched her eyes on every invention she could find.
But little did the librarian know that something was hiding behind this friendly invitation. As soon as she was further from the doorway and into the maze of brilliance, the princess sealed the way out with a curse of metal and sparks. Now, the curiousity began with a chase.
"A lost spirit in a false guidance between light and dark..."
"May she lived only between them."