CHAPTER 41: In
It turned out to be the late morning once Jacob finally got back to Lum, and just his luck, when he returned to the entrance of the archives, Hope was meeting with Orsel and Vino. Jake barreled forwards, the three happy to see him again after thinking the big guy went missing.
“Jacob!” Vino greeted. “We were worried about you.”
“Where’d you run off?” Orsel asked.
“I went for a walk… Needed to think.” Jake answered. “And with all my thinkin’, I have an answer for you, Hope… And some terms to discuss.”
“Oh!” Hope expressed, startled. “Well, then, let’s hear it.” She put her hands on her hips.
“I’ve decided I’m gonna help you out with yer big Keystone thing.” Jacob announced.
“Oh, that’s wonderful! We should-”
“…Once.”
“Once?” Hope tilted her head, confused, the other two following the expression.
“Yup. Tunnelis, my home, is the closest nation here, and they’ve got a shard of the keystone if’n I recall correctly. I’ll help you with your heist there, but after that, I’m out.”
Hope scrunched her face a bit in thought, cupping her cheek in her hand. After side-eyeing for a few seconds, she extended her hand outwards in agreement.
“Alright, I’ll allow it- we need all the help we can get, and if you’re willing to come along for even one of these jobs, then I’ll take it.”
“Jake’s in!” Orsel raised his arms upwards in excitement.
“Yes, welcome to the team.” Vino invited.
“Alright, don’t get too excited, you heard the drill. ONE shard. Now let’s get down to brass tacks, how exactly is compensation gonna work here?”
“Well…” Hope answered awkwardly. “I was planning on paying you that sum from yesterday, plus a sizable amount for each shard you brought back. So I’m sorry to say you’ll only be making one job’s worth.”
“That’s fine.” Jake replied solemnly. “I own a ranch, money ain’t too much of a problem.”
“How much would we each be making per shard?” Orsel asked.
“How much do you want?” Hope answered, slightly regretting the words that came out of her mouth.
The three stood in awe for a couple seconds, then immediately huddled together.
“This is big.” Vino whispered, “This is bigger than anything I’ve ever done before. What should we do?”
“She’s loaded.” Orsel boasted. “We-we pretty much have a blank paystub here.”
“Keep it respectable.” Jake said. “Let’s not bleed the poor woman dry— how about a thousand per?”
“A thousand? For what we’re gonna be doing?” Orsel protested.
“That’s a good point, we should try to take the outside factors into account.” Vino proclaimed. “Jacob, how many shards of the Keystone are out there?”
“Uh, lessee here…” Jake counted on his fingers, recollecting the different parts of the world led by elementals. “I think there’s nine total… so you’d be fishing for eight of ‘em considering one’s safe here.”
“Alright, so eight… hoo… that’s a lot of shards and a long way to travel… still, I think, with all things considered, we should ask for at least two thousand per shard.” Vino deduced.
“Sixteen thousand for the complete collection? No, twenty. How many times does eight go into twenty again?” Orsel asked.
“Two and a half.” Vino answered.
“Alright, so 2500 star per shard…” Orsel pondered the amount. “I dunno, I think that seems fair… That’s like a year’s salary! Jake, you think that’ll be enough?”
“Yeah, that’s fine.” He answered. As Vino nodded in agreement as well.
The trio turned back towards Hope.
“2500 Star for each shard!” Vino demanded.
“Done!” Hope agreed sunnily. “Meet me up in the throne room, I have something to show you.” She blipped away, the party hearing the door open at her arrival.
“I’m a bit worried at how fast she agreed to that.” Vino pondered.
“I still think it’s a good amount.” Orsel reassured. “Besides, things could always change.”
“Yeah, but for better or for worse?” Jake prodded as he began to ascend the steps.
The sight within the throne room was one that all three of them had come to accept— littered with spread-out and dangling papers and notes scrawled with evidence of some form or another. This time, however, Hope had some maps laid out on a makeshift table in front of her.
“Alright, This is how things are going to work.” Hope announced, picking up a pointer stick from nearby, bending it slightly between her hands. She slapped it down on the spread-out menagerie of maps in front of her. “These are maps of every major city and region where the keystone shards are being held. Study them. Memorize them. As far as you’ll be concerned, these are the only places in the world that matter.”
“Can we make copies of them?” Orsel asked politely.
Hope sat for a few seconds in realization.
“Yes, you can make copies of them, but I’m asking you to get a sense of where you’re going to be operating— these are capital provinces, where the grands, grandesses, and other important people will be doing business.”
While Orsel and Vino skimmed the contents of the maps before them, Jacob sniffed out the map of Tunnelis’ area of interest, and picked it up. One detail in particular caught his eye after around a minute of browsing.
“There’s my ranch!” He said, excited. “Right there, near the bottom left corner! This is great- I’ll get to do this from the comfort of my own home.”
“What do you suppose is going on so close to your house?” Vino inquired, sneaking a peek at Tunnelis’ topography.
“Nothing good, I bet.” Jacob answered, his melancholic demeanor returning. “There’s a lot of folks who want a piece of what the Dirtclumps have.”
“So you have all these maps, but what are we supposed to do? Do you have a plan for each of these places that we’re supposed to do stuff for?” Orsel asked, turning his map labeled “Aqu’arion” sideways.
“… Here’s the thing…” Hope answered pensively. “… While I do have general information, points of interest, and important people written down, I don’t have anything too in-depth set up.”
“So… No.” Orsel responded, flat-eyed.
“Things change!” Hope defended “Constantly! People are moving around and mixing everything up. I’ve tried to make plans, believe me, but then some little thing changes, and it gets all thrown out of whack. For all the time in solitude I’ve been given, I don’t know how much longer I’d need to make a plan for each of these places- I’m only one luman!”
“Alright, alright.” Vino accepted. “So I take it you’ll be expecting us to come up with these plans?”
“I’ll help where I can.” Hope replied, knocking on the scaffolding of the dayfinder. “The most important thing you’ll need to know about these maps are these spots— the drop points.” She pointed to a circled portion on each of the maps, out of the way of any civilized areas. “Once you have the keystone, bring it to this spot, and I’ll show up to retrieve it.”
“And how’re you gonna do that?” Jake queried. Hope blipped from one end of the throne room to the other in response.
“One of the perks of being made of light.” She bragged. “Although, I’m gonna need you to pace yourselves between each dropoff- I have my limits.”
“Alright, go to these places, steal their keystone shards, and bring them to these drop points.” Vino listed. “Although, if I assume you’ll be staying here, how are we going to stay in contact?”
Hope made her way over to her radio- a misshapen contraption whose base component was scavenged from a home, with a veritable tree of metal implements sprouting from its anterior, serving as an improvised antenna.
“Waveform!” She answered eagerly, tuning the device on to hear misaligned static pouring from its speaker. “I’ve made a bit of a hobby out of it- if you come upon a communicator like this one…” She searched the papers near the machine, pulling one out with glee. “… Remember this frequency.” The symbols on it were foreign to Orsel and Jacob. These devices hardly ever abided by traditional measurements such as numerology, rather a complex system of glyphs regarding the internal mechanics of the device and how it should communicate. Thankfully, Vino recognized such mechanical intricacies, and pocketed the slip of paper.
“So… what else should we know? When do we head out?” Vino asked.
Hope snatched the map of Tunnelis from Jake’s hand, laying it out flat on the larger table in the room.
“To answer your first question, Tunnelis has been rampaged by a company named ‘Maw’s Diggin’s.’”
“‘Rampaged’ is right. They’re a bunch of no-good, thieving…” Jake exclaimed, interrupting Hope. “Sorry, continue.”
“So, Maw’s Diggin’s is run by this lady right here.” Hope announced, plucking a portrait from the string-laden mess of evidence hanging above her. She then slapped it down on top of the map, revealing the face of a female terrian, wearing sunglasses, a hat, a checkered shirt, and a head of long, wispy roots tied behind her head in a ponytail. Jacob’s eyes switched to anger at the revelation of their suspect. “Maw- a terrian, and the daughter of one of the wealthiest terrian tycoons in recent history— the late Lazlo Wad. When we split the keystone up, he got the shard, and I imagine it would be in Maw’s best interest to keep an inheritance that important close by. When you get there, find out where she’s keeping it, and find some way to get it for yourselves— simple as.”
“Easier said than done.” Vino protested. “If she’s the boss of this place, there’s not one thing she’s not gonna have under lock and key— not to mention an entire workforce set out, doing her work and keeping their paycheck safe.”
“You’re smart people. You’ll figure something out.” Hope reassured. “As for your second question… would ‘as soon as possible’ work for you three?”
“I- Is it that bad out there?” Orsel asked. “And what about training? These guys only joined within the day— are you sure they’ll be ready?”
“It’s only going to get worse, and you have a long trip ahead of you if you’re even going to get to Tunnelis.” Hope explained. “It’s still up to you, though, leave when you’re ready.”
“Tomorrow, then.” Jacob offered.
“What?!”Orsel and Vino objected in unison.
“I’d say that’s soon enough.” Jacob continued, “I want to get this over with.”
“Impossible! We’re nowhere near ready!” Vino protested.
“I still have so much stuff I still need to pack just to survive that trip, and my invention, and-” Vino blubbered.
“We have the rest of the day.” Jacob clarified. “I’ll help if you need, but if things are as bad as Hope says, we shouldn’t spend any more time here than we need to.” He slithered out of the throne room doors to perform his share of the preparation.
“As much as I don’t like it, he’s right. We shouldn’t be stagnating here when there’s work to be done.” Orsel admitted.
“Still, a little heads up would’ve been nice.” Vino added
“I can help you with what you need to bring. I’m sure I have a spare backpack around here.” Hope offered
As the day stretched onwards, Orsel, Vino, and Jacob made their preparations. Orsel had returned to the barracks, throwing himself (within reason) into his training, hitting dummies with his crookshank in frustration. Hearing the noise of pitch iron slamming against wood, Jacob decided to investigate. He entered a gruesome scene of exactly one knocked-over dummy, and Orsel wrenching his crookshank’s pointed end out of one that was still standing.
“Hey there, bud. How’re you holding up?” Jake greeted cautiously.
“I don’t know.” Orsel sighed, giving up on retrieving his crookshank. “This is all happening so fast, I don’t think I’m ready for any of this.”
“Having second thoughts?” Jake prodded.
“Yes… No… Maybe, I don’t know.” Orsel fumbled. “I want to do this. I want to help Hope with putting the Keystone back together. However, I don’t know if I’m ready to do it just yet. It’s why I’ve been so focused on training, so I could be better at… Well, anything. I’m not strong or tough— heck, you guys could probably get along just fine without me.”
“Well, ready or not, this was your decision.” Jake proclaimed, yanking Orsel’s crookshank out of the dummy with a hearty tug. “You’ve had time and time again to go back on it, and in spite of everyone’s protest, you still stuck with it.” He inspected the point, comparing it to the sharpness of his claws. “Now, why is that?”
“I don’t know.” Orsel muttered, shuffling his tendrils. “Maybe I’m just stupid.”
“You are not stupid.” Jake encouraged. “You’re determined. I mean, sure, some could say you’re stupidly determined, but I think you’ve stuck with this because somehow you know you can pull this off.” Jacob handed Orsel’s crookshank back to him. “As for us leaving tomorrow, don’t worry about not being ready. When the time comes for important stuff, you’ll find that nobody ever is.” As Jacob left, Orsel stared at his crookshank, soaking in his friend’s words.
He felt ready.
CHAPTER 42: Mindlessness
“A… This is the letter ‘A’, do you understand?” Eyve sat holding a slate with the shaydonian letter “A” written on its surface in chalk. She was met with nothing but horrible screeching from the cage before her, her hood being blown back and soaked with errant drops of water.
“Alright, let’s try numbers. One. Two. Three” She announced, drawing tallies on the board in response to her explanation. “Can you say ‘one’?” She requested, tapping the board with her metallic hand. The same response came about, Eyve wiping her face of the expelled water. She checked off a box with a large, red ‘X’ on a sheet of paper on the back of the slate.
“You truly are a credit to your kind.” She sneered, wringing out some water on her cloak. “I swear it’s something about water that makes you stupider than the others.” She said, gesturing to the other cages. “I can’t believe we lost a perfectly good brai—”
“Hello!” A voice from behind her sunnily greeted, starling, the poor scientist.
“LUSA!” Eyve scolded the intruder. “This is a restricted area, get out of here!”
“What? An esteemed member of The Seven can’t observe the progress of another’s work?”
“Just because Yuttoguln shone a light on this place does not mean you can intrude on our work like this.”
“And what work is that, exactly?” Lusa taunted, mockingly leaning towards the cage. “Playing teacher for these monsters?”
The cage’s tenant, a half-shadow, half-wind monstrosity, took offense to the claim as it rattled the bars and snarled at her, blustering and thundering in anger. Lusa stepped back, wide-eyed at the response as Eyve, unimpressed, plugged her arm into the cage’s socket and administered a shock, quieting the abomination.
“These monsters” Eyve retorted, dislodging her arm from the socket, “Are our future. Nigh-unkillable behemoths capable of great devastation beyond anything our military forces are capable of.”
“This— this is the real deal then, huh?” Lusa observed, reconstituting herself.
“Doesn’t get any realer.” Eyve replied, jotting something down on her notepad. “Now please leave. I have plenty of work to do- Ven’s making sure of that.”
“I take it she’s still a slave-driver, huh?” Lusa smirked as she ascended the stairs.
“We aren’t friends here, Lusa.” Eyve threatened, making her way to the next cage in line. She turned back to see with pleasure that the unwelcome visitor had left as quietly as she arrived.
CHAPTER 43: Getting Ready
Hope and Vino were the busiest of all back on Lum, having made a day out of copying maps and preparing a survival kit for the fragile flauna, complete with fertilizer, plenty of canteens of water, and some plant spray she had lying around. While the other two were gone, they laid sprawled on the floor of the throne room, tracing out pictures and maps the flauna would need for his upcoming journey.
“So, what’s on your mind?” Hope prodded, rifling through some scrolls in a pile to her left.
“What kind of question is that?” Vino responded, pen in hand, attempting to draw a curve on a sheet of paper before him as smooth as the one to the right of him. “What isn’t on my mind? I have to prepare for a hike tomorrow that’s probably going to kill me, then I’m going to be spending the next few cycles of my life on the run from the law again.”
“I’m just trying to make small talk.” Hope admitted.
“Well, I believe it should go without saying that I’m a little preoccupied at the moment.” Vino snapped, still troubled with drawing his line. “Something as big as what we’re doing requires preparation, and preparation requires time. I’m afraid I’ve been given neither for what we’re about to be doing.” Hope scooted towards Vino and gestured to the reams of evidence sprawled throughout the room.
“Well, what about all this, huh? It might not be everything you need, but it’s still-”
“No, no, it’s not that. I’m talking more in the… physical sense.”
“What do you mean?”
“What do I mea— Look at me! I’m a plant! At least partly so. A flower, no less; The universal symbol of weakness and patheticism!” My arms are thin as sticks, weak chin, heck, you saw me when those shayd came here— they wiped the floor with me!”
“So?”
“So, let’s just say I’m not exactly the most durable or impressive one here. I need water, sun, and dirt to live- and all you guys need is a good night’s sleep! Did you know that when I came here, I passed out from dehydration? Jake and Orsel had to drag my sorry hide all the way to this city while I was unconscious. Orsel was right- I’m in no shape to be going just yet.”
“You know, I’d take that less as a sign of weakness…” Hope said, holding Vino’s pen and helping guide the curve he was drawing, “… And more as a reminder that you have people who are willing to help you no matter what.”
“It’s still humbling.” Vino remarked. “And not in a good way, either. Intellect and understanding are what I’ve relied on my whole life, and with every problem I’ve ever had, I’ve had it to guide me. When things fall outside that realm, well… it worries me.”
“We all have our strengths and weaknesses.” Hope consoled. “I of all people know that, and the sooner we learn to accept it, the better.”
“I just want to get this done.” Vino suggested, tapping the paper he was working on with his pen. “Maybe after this I can work on the V-bow for a bit. The inventory in that workshop is a bit lacking, though.”
“The what?” Hope inquired.
“Oh, it’s that… thing I’ve been working on. My invention.” Vino admitted. “The name’s still a placeholder, though. I know it sounds stupid.”
“I think it sounds lovely.” Hope encouraged. “It pops, you know?”
“I dunno, maybe eventually I can build a brand for myself, making stuff like that…” Vino daydreamed, “Assuming I don’t kick it during this job.”
“You’re a very smart flauna, and you have very talented friends.” Hope proclaimed, folding a map into quarters. “I have no doubt in my mind that you’ll succeed.”
“Yeah, are you saying that because it’s true or because you need it to be true?” Vino sighed. Hope paused for a moment before speaking again.
“It’s getting late. I’ll finish this stuff up. Why don’t you get some rest, talk shop with your friends?” Vino looked a little puzzled at the offer before Hope insisted and shooed him away. As Vino stepped outside the door and slowly descended the multitude of steps, he took one last opportunity to soak in the beauty of the shattered city of Lum, basking in the last light of day. Despite the city’s age, their combined presence had had a noticeable impact on the place, even if it was somewhat small. The streets were a little cleaner, the homes they had stayed in were kept a little more tidy, and his workshop’s lone chimney billowed furnace-fumes into the air, proving that this place wasn’t as dead as it was made out to be— although Hope’s existence played into that factor long before their arrival. Out of everything out here, Vino was going to miss that workshop the most; the one hope he had of earning an honest income would unfortunately have to remain here, as the remaining shell of some unknown craftsman’s hard work and turmoil.
He made his way towards it the moment he left the steps to Hope’s throne room, taking an opportunity to appreciate the city’s aesthetics up-close and personal. He moseyed past the piles of rubble Jacob had amassed and put to the sides of the streets, and brushed through the tracks and crookshank scratches Orsel had left on the paths and buildings throughout his training. Eventually, he arrived at the workshop. It was a far cry from how it was about a week ago, the flauna putting in a hard time’s work in order to make it a suitable workplace. His V-bow sat near-completed on his bench, while the kiln continued to burn cozily in the corner. It was a welcome furnishing for Lum’s cold desert nights, after all. After marveling at the progress of his workspace, he got straight to work amassing some of this building’s more worthy supplies, piling them on the workbench. His V-bow, of course, was an auto-include for the menagerie, then some various tools like a pentawrench and some graspers, common tools for fastening bolts and securing a grip on parts, respectively, as well as a hearty roll of bub tape. He also brought along a bottle of glue that had been tucked carefully away within the building’s cupboards. Not only was it handy to have an adhesive like that ready, but considering he would be traveling with two elementals— beings whose lives depend on a fragile core at their center staying intact— a provision such as this would certainly prove helpful. Speaking of which, Vino’s packing had suddenly become less solitary.
“Thought I heard some noise in here.” Jacob greeted at the doorway of the workshop. “You all set for tomorrow?”
“Ehh… Sort of.” Vino drooped. “It’s hard to pack everything you need on such short notice.”
“Yeah, sorry about that.” Jacob replied, scratching the back of his head. “But I think we’re ready for it, right? I mean, between your tinkering and Orsel’s training these past few days, we could have a fair shot.”
“You might be right.” Vino sighed. “It’s probably not the best idea to stay out here anyways with all the world’s developments. It’s just this trip to Tunnelis is going to be… well… difficult.”
“Well, we’ll do everything we can to help each other.” Jake affirmed.
“Hey, what’s going on in here?” Orsel interrupted, entering the workshop.
“Vino has some concerns about leavin’.” Jake clarified.
“Yeah? Well, I don’t blame you. It’s gonna be hard, but hey! At least you’re not alone.” Orsel reassured. “Sometimes an extra guy on the job is what keeps the whole thing afloat.”
“Or at least leaves a survivor to tell the tale.” Vino chuckled, grabbing a handful of homemade bolts. “Look, it's getting late, and I need some rest for what’s coming up.”
“Say no more.” Jake answered, eyes closed and palm forward. “Matter of fact, we could all use some shuteye. We have a big… well… who knows how long this is gonna take…”
“A big, indiscriminate amount of time ahead of us!” Orsel said matter-of-factly.
“Yeah, that.” Jake responded. “I’m heading on out. Let me know if you need anything.” He slithered away, leaving a trail of dirt on the just-swept floor. Vino’s face soured a bit at the mess he had made, but was interrupted by Orsel.
“You feeling okay?” he asked, tilting his head and lowering his crookshank. “You seem a bit down.”
“I’m fine, Orsel.” Vino reassured lacklusterly. “I’m tired, I’m still packing, and I have a lot to think about right now.”
“I know how you feel.” Orsel confirmed, sitting down on a nearby chair. “This is a big deal— for all of us, really. We’re going to be sneaking around, stealing these Keystone pieces, living on the lam for who knows how long.”
“I have to admit, it’s a particularly hard sell.” Vino replied, picking bits of scrap out of a pile that seemed useful to him. “It’s a miracle any of us agreed to do this.”
“Yeah, but if we don’t, who else will?” Orsel defended. “It doesn’t look like Hope knows too many people otherwise. Not to mention, she’s right— things are moving forward, and Shaydon’s doing a whole bunch of bad stuff out there as we speak.”
“Well, I suppose there’s worse things than being part of a cleanup crew.” Vino assured. “I think I’d like to start getting ready for bed now. As you put it, we have a big… unspecified amount of time ahead of us.”