The mindful librarian succeeds at her first challenge against the Tophat. Now, she gazes from the roofs of Wailstone with a thought of low for the town. As delightful as it was lied to her, even a lantern could not save the darkness it had been swept upon.
The walls of this town are not friendly enough to hide her, and people inside know no trust for outsiders. Whatever the barrister had said to the Wailstone citizens had snuffed every hope for another light, as it seems that everyone is to turn a blind eye to every death and disappearance. For all the librarian knew, she was an enemy of the residents here.
The three wanderers finally ended up on a roof. How lucky they were to still stand a ghost despite the fuss they made.
"Alright. That was close, and it was horrible. Didn't know the Wailstone defense system is that horrible." Eve muttered with a few dust on her coat.
"If I had to do that again, then I'd probably die." Cyrus appears with a dusty face.
"Where's Charger? Do we lose him??"
"Right here!" He replied from a distance.
Out of nowhere, Charger appeared from thin air. All his pebbles faded into existence and were unharmed by the town. Yet the sight of his appearance shook Eve with illogical presentation. But the two notice a watch in his left hand that they never see, designed ludicrously.
"How did you...did you do that yourself?"
"No. Invisibility watch."
"Help me camouflage with surroundings even better," He replied with an innocent smile.
[Storm] "Maybe I should devise a new countermeasure after I'm done scrapping more from this place."
"You can do that? What kind of witchcraft are you using right now?"
"None. Just a pure copper and a few environmental awareness."
"I don't believe you. I'm not a mechanic, but that doesn't stop me from telling you," Cyrus critics.
But for her to slip over the eyes of the Tophats, finding her boat in their cruel, decrepit confinement seems out of the odds. She was not an assassin nor a thief, after all. Of all the things she had honed since childhood, one was to keep her away from this event, from treachery.
The three sat on the balcony of an abandoned building.
"So, what now? Do we have anything?" Eve mumbled.
"I don't think so. Going down from here is like jumping into a sea full of sharks." Cyrus commented.
"As long as they don't look up, then we'll be fine."
"Maybe we should look after my new machine? I called it—Tether!"
Charger presents his unique tool for the two.
[Sun] "Woah. First a magical cloaking device, now a reeling gun?" Cyrus comments.
[Storm] "Of course. Impress me with your brilliance, creature," Cyrus rolled his eyes out.
So, the first one to think was the Tin Man. With his brilliance, he shaped a tool to help them traverse the darkness. A piece of tin he shreds into a line, like a reel to a fishing rod. It was the only way they could sneak and head further from the watchful grim of the Tophats, a cursed band of men whose eyes never looked up like the librarian's.
The hook lunges from the gun's barrel, crashes into a wall, and silently stretches through two blocks. The other hook is tethered to its current position. A zipline was made.
"Aw, yeah! Now we could go for a trip. Let's go, everyone!" Charger holds onto the line.
"Uhm, Charger? I don't think this will work..." Eve stops him.
"What? It does right now!"
"Well, I don't think it works for two humans at once, does it...?"
"Oh..." Charger pauses.
The line was too thin and weak. And the shot was poorly aimed from Charger's size.
The librarian and the cleric quickly follow, with more assertions to fix what the Tin Man couldn't place before. With hook swing tight and its line thickened and stretched, the three swiftly traverse through the sky like a bird gliding down. The Tophats couldn't bother to look at the shimmering stars for hope or curiosity like them.
"Aagh! The sand! It's all over my mouth!" Cyrus gagged.
"Aargh! Blergh! How can someone make me do this!?"
"That's the taste of tension to me! I mean, look at us! Can you imagine how tall it would be down there if the sand didn't cover our eyes?" Eve teases from behind.
"What? Ah!!" Cyrus yelled as he looked down.
"Don't look down, boy!" She yelled.
They climb like monkeys on the line, watching the sky gloomy and the ground far. Tophats linger and leave, and then a man flees through the alley. The Tin Man took the mantle for the nimble one while the cleric rolled the second and the librarian wandered the last. Yet despite her defeat, the trembling heartbeat is what she focuses more on.
A broadcast is sent throughout Wailstone's district from a tower.
"Citizens of Wailstone, with recent news from the Great Stone, we informed you to stay indoors and avoid any interaction outside the curfew."
"Wailstone port has been put under lockdown during the event of unexpected disaster. Anyone who was found trying to pass unregulated will be heavily redressed under Waylon's law."
"In addition, anyone who was found lingering from their home will be penalized into the prison for trespassing. A supply of water will be provided into your homes with the help of Tophats' members for 15 silver per person."
"I repeat, anyone found not in their home will be imprisoned under the Duke's law. An Overseer has been set into the town to keep an eye out."
But the Tophats didn't slip easily, for one last tool shone at their eyes in horror. The Overseer rose against their expectations, and its light had never been brighter than the city's light. The watchful Tophats stood on the tower higher than even a castle in Wailstone, staring left and right with a better eye.
"Shit. The Overseer." Eve mumbled with horror.
"What?" Charger stops.
"The district's watch. If it sees us, we're doomed. Quick!" Cyrus glares at it.
"Quick! Quick! Quick! Quick! Quick!" Eve urged faintly.
One inch from that light, and something surprising will come towards them. They have nothing but a prayer that the Overseer won't swing a circle at them. But the librarian didn't pray—she wills it. She keeps herself at peace while inspiring her companions to stay forward with their sights.
"They're coming over here! We have no time."
[Sun] "Try not to look down and hold onto the line tight!" Eve motivates.
[Moon] "Then push it! You don't see we have no option left?" Eve urges.
[Storm] "Keep your eyes on the front and maybe we can see something else," Eve berates.
Hearts beat faster, fingers started to red, and arms grew tired. But their wail makes a move worth crying to salvation. The three make it to the other side, nearly a few grips away, thanks to a window left open by the house to evade the shining catch.
"Quick! Duck!" Eve pushes Cyrus and Charger's head down to the floor.
The light shimmers at their heads, but all they found was an empty line between two houses tethered by their walls. The Tophats would've suspected the line being too far stretched, but such a question never came to their heads. The watchlight swung away, and the three were safe to look out.
The two were relieved, raising their head upwards as they looked far at the homes they traversed.
"Phew..."
"Alright! Let me just..." Charger mumbled.
The hook untethers with a silent reel ejection towards the gun's barrel.
Now they rest in another house, unowned and rugged like an old boot. A treasure still awaits even in the dark, held by walls that keep a secret forbidden. But the librarian pauses with an enamoured glaze at the ceiling, thinking about the thoughtless dust scattering and the spark brewing in her eyes from beating too much from her heart.
[Sun] "Another abandoned house, eh? I'm getting bored..." Cyrus straps his loose boots.
[Moon] "It could have gone worse. Isn't it?" Cyrus cleans his amulet.
[Storm] "Somehow, we've made that without losing a limb." Cyrus had never beat his heart so fast.
"Hm. This house looks...furnished." Charger commented.
"Nothing about this place looks furnished to me, Charger." He mumbled.
"Oh, but this place looks cosy and enough for me to live. I mean, look at that wardrobe and table! Who couldn't resist that window, too?"
All the wall felt like a hole, empty of joy and seemingly a waste of time. Darkness slowly seeps into her eyes, drowning her in the void of weariness as her heart slows. It seems everyone else was following her towards the lonesome drowsy.
"Crap. They locked the port tight. Now we can't go in!" Cyrus worried.
"Well, I can open it!" Charger raises his lockpick.
"No, it's locked and guarded! Tophats are securing the port with maximum defence and we will be killed on sight. It's not just locked—it's protected."
"Aww..." He frowns with his lockpick down.
"Damn," Eve mumbled. She pauses for a moment as she enjoys it.
[Sun] "Looks like we're having fun today. But I don't think we could stay any further waiting for one star here. Can we?" Eve mumbles.
[Moon] "How many walks do we have to go to get away already? We've walked like hundreds of footsteps from north to south in a circle. It's getting dark and we're in a hurry." Eve laments.
[Storm] "No time to rest! Don't you see the clouds raging today? It'll be worst by tomorrow! Come on!" Eve urges.
"Woah, Eve! No need to rush it over. Don't you see that Overseer hanging outside? We'll be dead in a ditch if we tried walking by now." Cyrus grabbed her by the shoulder.
"What? Don't you see that staying here each second would only bring more misery? I've never beat my heart this fast since like a year I left Frayfoil." Eve scowled.
The cleric persists from continuing even further, as it seems the world is shaking at disgrace to him. Never had they treason and escaped such acts in their lives from the people, but it was somewhat worth what they must sacrifice for at the end of the day. Only the librarian insisted on the bright stars outside, where she still dreams of wisdom from the mystery awaiting her, but not without resistance from her companions.
"Maybe that's because your heart tells you not to do stuff like this recklessly beforehand? Crimes are not funny to play and you're not a woman that I could pardoned for being my friend..." Cyrus pushes her slightly away from the stairways, returning her to the group space again.
"Let's rest a bit of ourselves and then we go again. Deal?"
"Or...we make this haste and leave this town immediately so we can get a better place to rest? What about that?"
"Rest. We're getting that boat when we're ready, Eve..."
"Ugh, but the boat could've been stolen anytime! We didn't even know what they're doing with that!"
"Well, we could always pick another option." Charger suggests.
"What option?"
"Uhm...I don't know...maybe learning to swim? It seems easy to me..." He pauses awkwardly, looking at his pebbles afterwards.
"We're not going anywhere, Eve. Not until we're rested."
"Then don't stop me..."
Eve pushes Cyrus away from her sight before making a run towards the stairs before he can recover. A shocked Cyrus had to catch her immediately before she could take a step down.
"Eve, no!"
"I'm leaving getting that boat whether you like it or not." Eve rushes.
"Then you're not!" Cyrus yelled in a twist.
A fight began between Eve and Cyrus, but not a violent and beating one. Cyrus held his ground to let Eve stay further from the stairway with his body while she tried his best to push through the immovable cleric. He was desperate to keep her behind.
"Cyrus! Mind over! Are you trying to shame yourself?" She persists, but all her running feet take no steps from where she stands.
"No, you're putting yourself in danger more than I shame." He held her by the back of her coat.
"I have a task, Cyrus. And when I have a task, I don't stop until it's done. So let me go or else I'll have you fall on those steps!" Eve stands menacing at Cyrus.
"She's right, Cyrus. Don't you think we should've readied ourselves before we rest?"
"No, that's ridiculous. You're tiring yourself for nothing. We don't even know if this idea even worth taking forward..."
"Then let me show you if it's worth not pulling your life down!" Eve stands unfazed.
"Why are you so ambitious to leave? Don't you want to spend enough time here at least before the apocalypse occurs? I want to mourn to all my people beforehand."
"I have already done mine. I have already wept and it's now time to leave."
Cyrus looks at Eve with a desperate face as he grasps her attention at full.
"Then maybe it's time for you to rest after you weep? I think I'm too tired and desperate to walk outside. You know, Charger feels the same too!" He begs desperately.
"Uhm...well, he's not wrong, but he's also not right..." Charger replies.
"Besides, we have a big problem. The port holding our boat is guarded, remember?"
"Hrgh..."
"Please. Just rest for a moment..." Cyrus mutters.
Two people had stood against her, and she had none but words repeating. All the fight she had put at him had also tired herself too weak. The time for travelling is way too far for her, and she lies perfectly under a roof that comforts her and her companions' heads from the sand. Left with no choice, she had to stay unwillingly for the thrown and tired ones.
"Ugh..." Eve walked off with a low head.
"We'll get over that place. I promise you, Eve!" Cyrus comforts.
She laid on remnants of a bed, with a space preserved enough for her head so as not to drench herself in its dust. With the time wasted, the librarian could only sleep and wander in her dream. But slumbering was challenging with a thoughtful head.
"Just wake me up when you're done. And if we ended up past six, then you two would be the one rowing the boat!"
She lay on the ground restless as she sought a rest.
"I'll go look around this place. Let's hope the Tophats won't have a route here..."
"Charger, don't let her leave that space until I return,"
Cyrus walks downstairs to the lower floor, not to be heard after. The floor is left with Eve and Charger afterwards.
"Aye, fellow wanderer! Eve, stay in your space and don't go anywhere, okay?"
"Ugh..." Eve lay on the bed. But her mind is not at ease.
"Uhm...eugh..."
She was awakened as alive, and the silence from the abandoned house grew uneasy to sleep. To ease herself, she opened her journal, writing to distract herself from the spreading sand and wasted time.
"Ugh..." Eve left the bed and headed to the table with her book.
But clumsy and tired she was, her pen slipped like her focus to the floor, rolling and fading into the dark. Such an accident lures her away like a moth to a flame, following the pen to a place she had never seen.
"Oh, come one!" Eve drops her pen to the ground as it rolls away. It leads her further into the hallway.
"Gotcha, huh?"
Something held onto the house that stunned her eyes. Despite the dead-like appearance, there's still a light fleeting at the dark corner of this house through a blueish-lavender hue. But it was dim behind cold woods and stones that had fallen from the rubbles, leaving a mystery must digging.
"What's that?" Eve wondered as she perched her eyes closer into the light. And so she was set on her curiosity again.
"Dududu...huh? Eve! Get back to your space! You shouldn't go anywhere until Cyrus return!" Charger stops his work and rushes to stop her.
"Come, help me remove these rocks. I see something good out here..."
"Oh? Okay."
The librarian continues, yanking stones from the rummage with the Tin Man to follow for what seems to be a call for her. But the serenity is nothing like a charm, for all she hears is a buzz behind the rocks. Doubts thinned for her when she thought merely but a leftover light from its sounds, hence the fingers slowly toil with pebbles around her.
"Ha! What a stress. Who wasted a rock here. This ain't worth a look for all these rubbles." She pulled the last rock away. And in a second, it took to change her mind.
"Whoa..." She thought.
When she finished digging, she found herself speechless at the shining blue. Something holds on to the wreckage of that tiny space in the house, protecting what is seemingly a memoir at the centre, following the buzzing lanterns beside. Flowers and unlit candles seem to be more of a story than just a decoration, and another question comes from the blur of a writer's identity.
"What a place! Who could've been here?" Charger strolls around.
"No name on the cover? How ridiculous..." She picked the book from the shrine-like table. A cold pause brushes off her skin.
"This place looks somewhat unchanged despite the rust outside. Strange..." Charger mumbled.
"I was a lucky girl, then. But who would've left their book empty? Are they not aware of a thief?"
"Let's see what you have, sir or ma'am."
Opening that book was easy, only to discover a scribble whose writer seemed to have fallen into the devil's temptation. Only a few words are still evident, indicating a proper introduction from the writer. She leaves the critic behind, for boredom seems to sharpen her curiosity more.
"Hey, did the sand outside rub my eyes? I can't see clear of this!" Charger rubs.
"No, Charger. It's the book itself that did this. It looks like we're dealing with a special kinds of writer. One that's definitely not a good person."
"How can you tell?" He wonders.
Eve opens the first page.
[Note]
The Tophats had done too much, and even I can't deny how much I have suffered from them. My brothers lost all his fingers, and even now, they haven't felt tempted by his late debt payment. Lives here were worse than we thought, and I could barely feed myself for another day.
I built this shrine following his death. This was the only grave I could afford for him because Tophats desecrated his body like a pie when they caught him leaving the town. I may have died or left this town afterwards, but if somehow this thing survived and I returned to this town, I may have to burn it.
"What's with Tophats and finger-cutting behaviour? It seems like they didn't even care about the people they taxed." Eve criticizes.
"Do all of these people always like this, Eve?" Charger crosses his arms as he sits beside her shoulder.
"Well, I'm not a Wailstonian, but as someone who lives next to Tophats, I could say yes."
"If only this book could tell us how to evade those Tophat's blade. He does seem to survive well for being able to leave this town."
"Hey, there's another one." Charged poked.
[Note]
Brother, I apologize if the flower I bought from you is from Kornilem. I know you hated that flower type, but I was desperate because I couldn't get to shop in time.
However, I had already dug the rest of the tunnel we've made for years to the south after your demise. Know that it now lies safe and occupied in an empty yellow house with an initial B4. Maybe it could help some of us here.
"*Sobs* Wow, not even he could afford a flower. Such a tragic life..." Charger pity.
"Right, Eve?"
"Eve?"
"And I learn something new, too..." Eve stares with a delighted eye.