Note: This story is set in an alternate 1900s ′s world where technology advances in a steampunk version. Due to the alternate timeline, technology and certain historical events may appear off the hook.
It was a beautiful day at the start of autumn—the wind was breezing, the water was chilling, and the sun was finally cooling after its long blaze upon the summer. Today was a perfect day to leave the house and enjoy a walk on the windiest day in the land known as Gold Creek. But today, one must dress warmer than yesterday, for the wind is fiercer than ever.
In the far east of town, a lady had lived in a forest shrouding her home from the sun — protecting her from the summer for long. Now that the summer was gone, it was finally time for her to depart and shimmer again in the autumn's daylight starting from her decrepit bed.
*Ring* *Ring* *Ring*
"Uhm..." The girl left her bed tired as her steam alarm went to snooze.
"What is it now? Oh, it's a bright day." She looks through the window and sees how bright and warm the outside is.
"What a warm day to start a school...It's warmer than many months ago..."
With autumn coming by early September, the water from the river returns from upstream with a low-temperature change from a blazing summer. The scent of unroasted wood and falling leaves in autumn had never felt better during a bath. Even the librarian had never been so refreshed to wash herself since summer. But in a world filled with steam and oil machines, the smell of gears is fiercer and more inspiring.
Steam blows through her shower, powered by an oil-based mechanical. Just like steam coming out of the houses near her.
"How ludicrous." She looks again at the mirror, and nothing has changed. But now she looks refreshed and ready.
"Do I need to clip my nails? I guess not."
"Teeth? I don't have time!" She drops the toothbrush in a hurry.
But autumn is only the second thing she loves because the lady's favourite thing to do is reading. She loves reading so much that she became a librarian to collect pieces of literature and books for herself. Such a clever and wise decision of her to start the day.
Eve hums with a page of adventures in her hand. There is more literature on the couch than on her hands to read.
"Hmm..."
*Growl* Her stomach rumbles.
"Aww..."
The librarian is a wonderful woman. She was always curious, with doubts reserved for those she could seek out and answers she wanted to journey through. But deep in her blue eyes, she has a void holding together the blackness of her boredom. It was no doubt that she was longing for a taste of tension, but she had none. Her curiosity lies nowhere today.
"Nope. Nothing new to hear in this town..."
"Boring as usual. BORING..."
She reads the newspaper. A daily news on Monday.
"More cases of dead people on the Frayfoil? Predicted that."
"A rise in thermal pillar stock from the upper class? Predicted that, too..."
"School's event cancelled because someone who's definitely smart enough to not lit a fire actually cause a fire? Would've gone out of my eyes if it wasn't for yesterday."
"Is there anything interesting in this town ever??"
So today she leaves her home, with the scent of autumn lingering on her nose. The smell that brings comfort as she knows the summer is done, and no longer she had to be scorched. It was the loveliest day before a winter, and the librarian couldn't wait for one.
Eve left the house with a blue coat and black trousers.
"I hate going to school." She uttered.
"Good thing I didn't. Wait, is that supposed to be a good thing?"
"Hey, Eve! Ready to walk, friend?"
But in her excitement, joins another man. A man she knew, and a man she befriended long. The man stood out with its thick coat, envisioned with hope in his eyes. Despite his overflowing self-esteem, he is still a man. A cleric and a priest.
The cleric is a man of faith whose name is engraved on a silver amulet that he prayed for strength. He stood out on a blind day, merely appear a man like no other. But he was unique much like the librarian, for he has sight unmatched. His eyes are keen and his ears are sharp. The cleric could hear and see from a distance—an opportunity or a vision.
A boy wearing the same coat as her but a brown and white long-sleeved shirt appears at Eve. He shimmers as a friend of hers.
"Thought I didn't see you there?"
"Ah, Cyrus. At least this town serves me well."
"Fancy meeting you here, aren't we?" He muttered to her.
"I suppose you and I should walk together on this beautiful autumn day?"
"I could not expect more." She said.
With a long path ahead, the two traveled together rather than alone. From the eastern side of a lushful forest and greenish residence of East Wood to the stony land of the west known as Great Stone, they walked over like nothing. For it was too easy in this town of machines.
Eve leans on the grass as she stares at the clouded sun in the sky with a scowled eye.
"Someone enjoys their life a bit too well." Cyrus mumbled.
"Not really. Town's getting too blue lately, and I have nothing to do in the library."
"Poor you, maybe that's a sign you should go out more? I have something you could do on my class alongside my students."
"No, thank you! I'd rather stay off where I am now. Maybe if I dig more about"
"That sounds like a danger you're seeking. Maybe lowered the search a bit more safe?"
"I tried! And it sucks! Nothing's new coming from this town. It makes my whole life boring..."
"You sure? We still have the town on the south to—"
"Don't mention that place, Cyrus." Eve stares dreadfully.
"Oh, my bad. Anyway, if you happens to need anything...let me know because I have a lot to do..."
Cyrus smiles 'comfortingly' with a persuading shoulder hug. Then they walked again to the west.
As they arrived at the Great Stone, they witnessed engines huffing steam and oil shaping a gear to an efficient shape. The stony residence lies with boulders, hence the name in return. Despite all of this, the librarian is still bored with its unchanged view. Such animosity.
"So...wanna bet?" Cyrus teases.
"I'm not betting." Eve replies.
"Okay, see ya!" Cyrus ran off before her.
"Wait! Don't leave me!"
"*Pant* *Pant* Slow down! Slow down!" Eve yelled.
The librarian and the cleric are not always in the same view. While the librarian was seemingly distasteful towards the grey's brilliance, the cleric seems to be attuned to it. But it brings no difference between them, for as long as they still bound with their heads together, it was all that matters.
"What's that? You want more? I'll go faster, then!"
"No, wait! Ugh!"
"Hey, look!" Yelled a few teenagers with thick leather clothing.
"Uh oh..." She stood awkwardly right before the others.
"It's Cyrus! He's here!"
"Ugh, you guys don't have—oh..." She pauses with disappointment.
In the light of devotion and hope, the cleric was a man across the town, bringing happiness and joy throughout the street for its lack of colours. Like the sun that shines above the librarian's head, it was difficult for someone not to even realise how evident his presence was when he arrived at Great Stone.
"Well, well, well. If my friends didn't come here, I would've thought you were slacking my class."
"Your class? Hah! Just because you're a cleric doesn't mean you're not a student like us, too!"
"And a teacher. I didn't get all the way here just to be called a cleric, everyday." Cyrus added.
*Joking tone* "Then why are you not on a pilgrim, old man?"
"Because I'm not going anywhere far from my students until all of you are mature and grown out. So, have you finally memorised the scriptures yet?"
Yet, in the light of prospects and dreams, the librarian is as neglected as her dream for the others. Wandering silently from the background of the citizens, she was silent and stares in the void of her own dream. All that she sees was thing only she could understand. And those who do not understand, won't see it.
"Hm..." Eve was tuning in her wait for Cyrus.
"I believe the new ailment practice by Wellspring should heal your inflammatory sooner, Paul." Cyrus grabs the poor teen's wrist.
"But while that happened, remember to cleanse yourself three times at the Son of Fire first."
"Duh! I guess the oil-based innovation works well than I thought for a musical instrument. In case you didn't know, I'll be on the plaza today to practice the new oil guitar. Heck, we should've named this thing better."
Eve opens a library at the Great Stone, which can be accessed anytime. It has a unique set of literature lying on the shelves, following the oil-powered lights and lanterns.
When the town is as sullen as glum, the librarian always remains in her library to sharpen a sharp blade. If her curiosity could not be fed with gossip, then there's always literature—such as novels, scrolls, scriptures, and a few that haven't yet rot on the shelf.
"Woo! Wee!" She rolls the ladder.
"Hm, I wonder what should I read now?"
"Nope—Nope—Nope—Aha! Eh, Nope—I already read everything...?"
"Aww! I'm bored! I've already drained this section for so long!"
*Click* "Alright! Welcome—Welcome. Come get your free boring books here..." She opens the door.
The library is empty, never to have a guest for long. It makes the whole room feel expanded to Eve, and the echoing sound bouncing from wall to wall slowly fades in an uncomfortable faint. With this, Eve checks the library's book data through a computer-like device (powered by oil) to see any current attendance records.
"Gosh, nobody borrows a book again? I can't imagine how terrible this place would go if people starts using this 'screensquare' more than they read books."
Does that ever gonna happen in the future?" She pauses.
"Meh. As if..."
"Ugh...where are those scholars and aristocrats when I needed them? Do they even know there was no library than here?"
But one day, there was something in the town right at her library—A new observation to record. A dark hour appeared in the Great Stone, clouded by a sunless sky and black clouds in the early morning. Darkness, like doubt, brought people out of their houses and made them question the absence of light in their towns. Even the cleric was filled with confusion as he began to wonder.
"What? What happened here?" She stays near the library.
"Woah! Ah!" Cyrus fled into Eve's library.
"Cyrus? What happened?" Eve caught him.
"Terrible stuff! We're getting consumed by the abyss! All our hopes fall into the void!" Cyrus panicked with unexplainable thoughts.
"What?"
"Frayfoil was just hit by a dark sky for like six hours! They didn't even know it was morning! And now it happened to all of the town! Well, probably not Wellspring yet!"
"Dark sky? What are you talking—about?" Eve opens the window.
Thousands of people walked outside with questions about the storms. Even from the school, they wondered why and how the sky was dark when it was morning a few hours ago.
"The weather is not...good," Eve mumbled.
"Someone must have done this." Cyrus shivers with pain.
"This is a work of magic! A dark magic! Shame to whoever did this!"
"I had to end my sun session for this!"
The sound of horses stamping could be heard in the distance, accompanied by wheels rolling along an electrical burst on the gravel. Bright lanterns indicated the presence of a nobleman's carriage approaching the Great Stone Road towards the library.
"What was that? Is that..." Cyrus looked out of the blinders.
"Noble's cart. That ain't good." Eve intervene.
"But it doesn't sound like we're having a good guest."
As the carriage stopped by the town, the people gathered and waited for the prize inside. Hundreds gathered with the lanterns on their hands as the carriage remained silent for long. But what comes out of it was not a human, at least from the eyes of the librarian.
A 7-foot-tall machine stood on the roundabout to perform a speech. People gathered in the place with confusion as the machine prepared its voice.
*Robot voice* "Attention, citizens of Gold Creek. Stand ready for the arrival of a brilliant mind of the entirety of Europe. One that has appointed himself to be here out of kindness."
"What the hell is that thing?" Eve perched out of the window.
*Robot voice* "All bows for...Prince Carven the Brainstorm of a new age."
"Prince...Carven?" The two glance confusedly.
From the fog of his carrier, a man appeared to the eyes of everyone as a noble prince. But he was nowhere from his domain nor a right to rule it. Yet he stood calmly without a threat as he only wanted to see the town clearly, even in the darkest hours. His priceless rings show that he was not from here.
A man with an unbuttoned red tailcoat and pale crimson vest appears with a humble and royal stance. He descends through the stairs of his carrier with an extendable belt.
"Thank you, thank you! No need for the praises. I'm a humble man today." He mumbled on his way to the centre.
"Uhm...who are you?"
"A noble? That attire looks expensive. Must be a noble."
"But what's that thing walking with him? It looks mechanical! Must've been a machine!"
"A talking machine? What a bluff! That thing must have been piloted by a man!"
"Citizen of Gold Creek, you may not know me, but I know you. Fear not, for I am here to save your town."
The citizens mumbled in confusion as they were unaware of him.
"My name is Dion Carven, a descendant of the Carven family the greatest inventors and mechanical enterprise. I ask nothing but for your ears to listen for what I am about to say."
The silence grew louder.
"I have something of an importance to tell. Your town, your poor little town..."
In a prophetic tone, the prince stands as a doomsayer through the ears of the Great Stone dwellers. He warns the town of a calamity at the edge of their foot, coming to sweep their beloved homes into yet another dust to bite. A fear even strikes him as he had said to witness in another town, and only he remains to supposedly save this town.
"Your town is in danger. You might have seen that the clouds are moving aggressively from this morning, ruining your chores and your kids crying in your home looking for a light."
"But these clouds are not just a passing storm. These clouds are an omen coming to take your town! I have heard of them from afar at the other side of the town."
"These dark clouds are tearing through their homes and leaving them in shambles. Many had died, and those who survived—they couldn't warn the others."
"Like the storms that passing you by now! I have come to bring you the truth! I am your truth! And the truth is, your town is destined do death."
"W-what?" Eve stares in confusion.
"In five days, your town would face each different storms with different kinds of dread. Five days, and on the fifth day your town had already turned into dust since."
"Yeah, what? And really?" Cyrus jokes.
"On the first day, darkness will squall and thunders will struck."
"On the second day, rain will turn the favor and soaked you head to toe."
"On the third day, sands will burst through your eyes and dried your river."
"On the fourth day, snow will comes sweeping down your precious autumn!"
"And on the last day, let's just say it won't be good for you."
"Fear not, as I came here to bring you salvation. With my intellect and wisdom, I could save your town from this calamity at once! Lend me your voice and I shall bring prosperity and freedom forward!"
How his fear behind his crocodile tears and the glitter of his noble vest could not fool the knowledgeable librarian. His words are utterly absurd and unreasonable to be true. She gave him a laugh for his facade yet admiring for his bravery to stand a dupe. But that's how the prince looked into the eyes of his laughter and laughed back.
"Hahahaha!"
"How ridiculous! A deadly storm? Oh, please!"
"Gold Creek might be a small town, but ain't no clouds could do such horror!"
"Leave this town, false prophet! You don't deserve that gold garmented on your cloak!"
"I can't believe there's such thing coming from his mouth." Eve jokes.
"Yeah, who in the world would believe such lies? No one!" Cyrus added.
A thunder struck with a surprise, laughing back at them as it tore through the ground with force and shattered it in two. All the laughs went silent, and even the librarian who had laughed the loudest stared in fear as the prince's eyes glared into her soul among the crowds of doubters.
*BOOM* The pylons across the Great Stone burn in a second while it leaves a loud bang in their ears.
"Aah! What the?!" Eve yelled.
"Fire!!!!" Cyrus pointed out the burning pylon on the roof.
"Everyone, run!"
*BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM*
Hundreds of homes felt the clouds shrieking with fire bursting at the impact—shimmering the darkness at a brutal cost. Chaos spread across the Great Stone as everyone ran for their lives. The librarian hides safe from the thunders in her shelter of a library. She awaits in awe, for the scream was undeniably phenomenal.
Screams can be heard from the background while the chaos happens.
"Quick! Over here!" Eve yelled.
"Ah!!" Cyrus ducks into the table.
"Ahh!!!"
*BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM*
The thunder destroys spreads so much fires, except for the library. It was tightened between buildings that it didn't combust so easily.
"Cyrus, did you see this? I'm not dreaming, am I?"
"I...I don't know...I really don't know..." he mumbled in fear.
"Eve, what's happening?? I can't...I can't think..."
"Cyrus, it's only a storm. Quit it!"
"I can't...it's too loud! Too loud!!"
Cyrus began chanting about dark magic, blasphemies and evil out of his fear of the thunders. For as he saw it, it was hurting him from the inside with its bang.
"It's loud. But it's beautiful..."
Eve stares directly into the skies full of sparks, which fills her with awe and hope. The sparks tore through like a star glimmering at night, filling the emptiness of the void.
"The sky is falling!!!"
"Aaah!!!"
"Woah." She could only say.
The thunders ended temporarily, but the clouds remained dark. Everyone left their hiding spot, watching the prince standing unfazed, even with the destruction around him.
The prince stood there ashamed, now taken seriously by many, including the librarian. From doubt turns to fear, and now the fear is a herd to guide. As thunders wreak havoc across the town, the librarian and the cleric were the only ones to stand with a question.
"What? What was that?" Eve walks out of the shelter.
"That? That is death waiting for all of you. There will be death and no one will misses you if didn't listen to me." Dion perched lowly at his broken machine crushed by the rubble.
"Now, where can I start saving lives?"
For once, there was a question the librarian couldn't answer, and there was a face not one in this town could make. The librarian stood there without a word, still trying to comprehend what had happened. But the prince only stands there laughing at them instead—A laugh that taunts everyone into submission.