@Hanno Futaba Theme: "Well~! Well~! It's been three long weeks touch and go, but I think we're finally ready for Stage 2 Hanno~! Mhuhuhu~ Thanks for your hard work partner. For realio, I couldn't have done this alone." Wiping the sweat from her brow, Kepler grinned as she tossed the approaching Faerin and his trusty shield a fresh towel. They were currently camping out somewhere on the border of the Asotrea Frontier Territory and The Hyland Mountain Range. What they were up to was a public works project, something Kepler had been dreaming of doing for a long, long time-----Modernizing Astorea's Public Water System. They were creating what may have been the continent's first Aqueduct, but to do it, there were still some significant preparations to take care of before hand. As Kepler said, thanks to Hanno's help, the first leg of the project was now complete way ahead of schedule. Waving Hanno over to have a seat by the campfire Kepler had set up between their two tents, Kepler offered her buddy some Camp Chili along with some crackers. It was tonight's dinner. Whether the young man ate or not, Kepler unfurled a scroll with some architectural diagrams as she began to speak. "----Right, with you having dug the trench, which will become an honest to goodness river to Astorea's capital mind you, we're probably through the worst of the infrastructural busywork. I'm not really one to lay it on thick, but really, I'm super grateful for your help on that end, mhm~ building some sort of tractor and trying to do it all myself would've slowed down phase 3 after all~" Kepler smiled as she pointed at the diagram. "And Phase 3 of course, is getting the water that'll turn that long ravine of ours into the river we need." Phase 3: The Arcane Demolition of one of Hyland's Mountain faces. It was a brute-force method, but it would create a channel that would redirect a decent portion of their chosen mountain's snowcap melt stream. From there, nature would simply take the course they'd nudged it in and fill the channel until it was an artificial river. Or at least, that's what Kepler assumed would happen after countless hours spent in her real world local library. The real world didn't have magic, however, and physics may be right out the window when elementals become involved. "So just to review, creating an arcane mana bomb is a fairly simple process, one just needs to gather a lot of energy in one place----which I've been doing of course----slowly but surely. Right~ because safety is important. If we're going to use a metaphor, I've simply been gathering a whole heck a lot of gunpowder in once place. And, as of today, it should be ready to use whenever we're ready for it..." Kepler moved her finger up the list... "Buuuuut~ before we blow anything, we still have all the wildlife to think about. And that's why Phase 2 is us conducting a wildlife dispersal mission." Kepler nodded. "Ya know~ so they don't get caught up in the blast or any potential flood from the growing pains of our new river." Taking a cracker, Kepler popped it in her mouth, chewing as she thought. "...As for how we're gonna disperse the creatures, while I've been tinkering with the leyline we're camping on to enable our mana-bomb, I've also been making a whole heck of a lot of stink-bombs based on an ant juice formula an acquaintance of mine introduced me to. Animals have strong noses, so I think it'll do the trick. They smell downright awful though, so we may want to prepare some masks before we get to work tomorrow... Actually I'll get right on that after dinner..." Holding a hand to her chin, Kepler nodded. "Oh yeah, so tell me~ tell me~! What was it like being a human plow? I was a littttle skeptical when you claimed that you and your shieldy there could dig the trench just by pushing, but color me surprised~ ahaha~ really, it's not so bad being proven wrong from time to time when things work out so well in our favor~!" Kepler laughed. "So was it a hard journey? Take any detours? Encounter something interesting? A little chitchat might do me some good to take my mind off the strain of the leyline. This thing is super exhausting..." Kepler sighed. Underneath her cheerful demeanor, she did look pretty tired. "But we're almost there so I just gotta tough it out, okay~? So don't keep me in suspense~! How was your end of things~?"
The Faerin tried to grab the towel, but the Shield's tentacle stretched out and grabbed it, making Hanno frown at it. 'Come on...' He gave it a serious look as the Shield gave the towel to him. Letting out a tired sigh, he began wiping a bit of the sweat. "You are welcome, partner." It has been weeks since they started that hard work, and it was a hell of a work to dig that huge trench... He couldn't believe he actually did it, he actually dug a trench for what was going to be a Public Water System. The Faerin looked at the enthusiastic girl with a tired smile. Yes... A Public Water System, as weird as that idea sounded, the girl wanted to make something of that level of complexity. And that was something that caught the Faerin completely off guard. When he received a message from her asking for his help, he was expecting something like going to a dungeon or to help out on a quest... But he would never guess it was to build an Arqueduct. 'I wonder if that counts for a construction worker curriculum?' He distracted himself as he had a silly thought, until a good smell catched his attention: Some Camp Chili and some crackers. "Ah, I haven't had one of these has been a while, thank you!" He said almost drooling as he held the crackers between his fingers and shoved some of them in the chili, eating them right after... 'So good~' A huge smile opened on his face. Of course the glutton Faerin would love it, the tinker girl sure knew how to please him. He tried to pay attention on the girl's explanation of the project phases, it was a little hard to follow up since those plans were coming from someone with a much higher level of intelligence than him. But he still did his best to understand all of it, and even if he didn't understand the details, that sounded like a good plan to him. It was pretty much something from real life, but applied in a game. And she even thought about the possible dangers of the life beings on the surroundings? The Faerin looked at her impressed. She was better than a lot of architects and engineers that just planned on building, building and building without a single care on the consequences of it. Now she was wanting to know about his experience. "A Human Plow? More like a Human Backhoe, but at least you know the level of what you made me do..." He chuckled a bit, though technically it was 'Faerin Plow/Backhoe'. "A lot of things happened, I would never guess I'd ever use my shield as a shovel, but I did." "I thought it was a good experience though, I got to find new ways to use my skills and I indeed encountered a few interesting things on my way. For example while I was digging I found a giant worm... It chased me around until I decided to fight it back. And it was a big fight you know, I had to avoid and deflect it's attacks and cling on it to hit it's head. Something that looked like Shadow of the Colossus" Hanno smiled when comparing it to a retro game he loved. "I almost died a few times fighting it, but in the end I was able to strike it down with the help of my Shield here." He patted one of the Shield's tentacle, that answered back by slapping his hand. The Faerin shook his hand. "You are a tsundere now?" He frowned at the Shield, that had it's eyes looking away from him. "Ehm, I also found some really neat stuff." Hanno opened his bag and shoved his hand inside of it, pulling out a few beasts fossils that looked like dinosaurs and some different types of rocks that had different types of colors and texture patterns. "I would never know that dinosaurs were actually a thing here! And those rocks are very cool, they could do some really nice decorations. You can have them if you want, buuut-" He said, once again putting his hand inside of his bag. "-I think you will like this one more... That kind of reminded me of you." The Faerin pulled out a crystal that had a similar color to Kepler's eyes, had the size of a lemon and inside the crystal had marks that looked like lightning bolts. "I wonder what it is?" He threw the crystal to the girl. "You can have it, by the way. Think of it as a 'reward' for being incredible enough to do all that to help everyone." Hanno grinned. Hidden: Kepler's Crystal (Original Picture)
"Woah~ Putting everything in perspective~ I really sound like the bad guy here~!" Grinning, Kepler burst out laughing. "Sorry~ Sorry~~! Sometimes I forget the little things, like for instance, what some people may find practical... I feel a little bad about it now, though, honest! But really! WHAT a story! AND you brought me a present?! What a lucky Overlord I am~! I truly am blessed with the kindest of minions~ Mwah-! Ha-! Ha-!" Wiping the tears from her eyes, Kepler sighed in relief as she looked over the crystal. "----Thank you, for real though. I feel much better now. And this really is quite something.... I'm not entirely sure what it is... but it's brimming with power... You sell yourself far too short Hanno~ Seriously~ I'll gladly accept it. It's super interesting after all~! As for the fossils..." Kepler smiled, due to his Faerin-size Hanno had looked a bit like an elementary schooler as he discussed them with stars in his eyes. "Of course they're yours, you found them after all. Hm~hm~ But stop by my workshop in Honeyhome when this is all over and I'll clean them up for you, perfect for display! I guarantee it." It'd be rude to reject a gift, but I wonder if I can turn the crystal into something useful for Hanno down the line as thanks... Surely I can, I'm me after all~ That'll have to go on the back burner for now though~ Clapping her hands together, Kepler put a close to the matter and changed gears. "Right! Now for tomorrow..." Leaning back a bit so that any mishaps wouldn't interrupt Hanno's dinner, Kepler went over the relatively simple procedures for activating the stink-bombs. It was apparently as simple as shaking the paper canister which looked a bit like a cardboard milk carton, and breaking the seal which would release the pressurized gas which smelled super-ultra-rankly-awful. "It's that simple!" Kepler laughed. "Well, it's what comes after that'll get complicated because we'll be wading through the stuff. It can sting the eyes if you're not careful but other than that, there shouldn't be any lasting physical harm. Let's just hope the masks tomorrow work~! I'll walk you through that then. One thing at a time, right?" Giving a thumbs up, Kepler saw that Hanno had finished dinner. "I'll clean this up, I'm sure you're tired after all. I'll be waking you bright and early so try and get what sleep you can, okay~?" Waving, Kepler cleaned up the camp and went to bed herself. **** NEXT MORNING. "Heeeey~! Hannnno~! Rise and shine partner, it's go time." The sun was just cresting over the Hyland Mountains as Kepler called the probably asleep Faerin from outside his tent. When she saw that he was up, Kepler returned to her morning routine, which was mainly just washing her face and brushing her teeth. "No breakfast today Hanno, can't have us risk losing it inside our masks... speaking of which..." Kepler revealed something that looked like a cotton baklava. "I made them out of the same materials that we're using for our tents. And to counter act the the smell of the bombs..." Kepler loosely held up a vial and wiggled it. "It's a very fragrant herb. Apply it like so." As she spoke, she slathered the gel evenly over where the mouth and nose would be on the mask with a knife almost as though it were jam on toast. "Right, now you try." Handing the materials over to Hanno, Kepler careful observed that everything was in order. "Good." She nodded. "With that, let's get to work, if we wrap this up quickly, I think we'll be able to sneak in a mid-day nap..." Yawning, Kepler shouldered one large bag of stink-bombs and handed the other one to Hanno. "Oh yeah... your shield doesn't have a nose does it...? Probably not right? What am I thinking... so early...." Rubbing her eyes, Kepler walked until they reached their destination. "...So long story short, we're starting at the base of the mountain and fanning this stuff outward, hmmm, about a three miles should be enough. You're probably going to hate me when we're done this with, ahaha, but well, maybe I should take advantage of that future inevitability and have you do the honors. Go ahead and toss the first one----and remember----Hold it AWAY from your face~!" Stretching her arms and legs like a sprinter, Kepler rolled her shoulders and waited. "After you've tossed it, don't forget to run, we're hitting an entire bee factory with sticks here, okay~?" When the first canister went out----no matter who threw it----Kepler heard the very first of the stampedes they would bear witness to that day. ...However, as Kepler took off in a dash beside her partner... Huh...? Kepler found that her legs weren't moving quite the way she wanted them to. It was almost like trying to run in a dream... What's going... As her knees failed to support her weight, Kepler tripped. Eyes widening in horror, she looked behind her to see that Hanno was safe. Satisfied with that, the young girl could only helplessly watch in confusion as her face rapidly approached the ground. Ah... I screwed up... Kepler decided. She'd pushed herself far too dangerously close to a Mind Down in an attempt to rush Stage 3 of the operation----The Mana Bomb. And now, Kepler assumed, was the time to pay for such carelessness. Clinging onto her consciousness with a nail-digging effort, Kepler halted her fall into unconsciousness, and was rewarded with a terrible migraine instead. Her body becoming sluggish, Kepler's only regret was carelessly putting Hanno in danger.
'Bad guy? Heh, not really' Hanno looked away, really now. "I mean, I did accept when you asked if you could depend on me a little, so it's fine." The Faerin said. 'Though I didn't expect to be something that laborious.' "So I am a minion, eh?" He couldn't help but chuckle a bit, that Kepler had a thing for having minions? She kind of fitted with Majolica... Actually, it even felt like they could be siblings and everyone would never doubt it. 'Grand Tinker Kepler.' Hanno chuckled at the thought, but decided to not say it because the enthusiastic girl would probably accept it. Seeing her all happy made him smile, it was a good idea to keep those stuff to give to her. 'I hope the 'selling myself short' wasn't a pun about my character's height...'. Even though the girl accepted the crystal, she decided to let Hanno keep the fossils and even offered some cleaning service. The Faerin pondered, it wasn't a bad idea at all, it would be a good excuse to visit and know Kepler's workshop and as bonus he would get some neat fossils decorations. 'I should buy a house to put them.' He thought, but he didn't have gold for that, so yeah... Those were plans for the future! "I will accept your offer then, this is a promise!" Hanno nodded with his chill smile, but a clap from the girl made him tilt his head, she was changing the topic as she leaned back and began messing with that stinky dangerous stuff. Even if Hanno knew that Kepler knew very well what she was doing, he couldn't help but worry a little bit, who knows if that thing wouldn't explode. The Shield similarly stared at with with a worrysome feel on it's eye. The Faerin looked at the Shield with a relaxed smile. 'Scary, right?' The Shield looked at Hanno, and waved one of its tentacles affirmatively as an answer to it's owner thoughts. "Sure, we will do our best tomorrow! Good night, Kepler!" Hanno waved back at the girl going to the bed, while putting away the empty plate of crackers. He wanted to chat a little more with his tinker friend, but he wasn't being too talkative because of his fatigue, and it was actually kind of late already. He couldn't even believe that he was actually going to sleep ingame, he was literally skipping college classes and playing this game for days already. He thought at it for a second, before shrugging off. After all, his college grades were very high anyway. That was the advantage of studying gastronomy, it was something practical that he was training everyday by eating and cooking food ingame, and it was something he liked so much that he barely had any fail on the tests. Putting those thoughts aside, the Faerin rested his head on his Shield and closed his eyes... He was outside, but somehow he felt comfortable and warm enough to just sleep peacefully there. ... On the Next Morning ... The Faerin slowly opened his eyes when hearing the bright happy-go-luck's voice calling him to wake up. A stretch and a long yawn followed by a tentacle planting on his face gave him a very lively good morning. "Good morning Kepler." He said while taking the tentacle off his face, and with a smile he stood up seeing the girl getting ready. But the smile faded away as soon as she said there was no time for a breakfast. 'What? No breakfast?' His face became a little gloomy, but not enough to be noticed, the Shield then just patted his shoulder with a tentacle, trying to comfort him. The Faerin shook his head to ignore the lack of breakfast and then started to get ready. A very fast wash on his face, followed by a few wake-up slaps on his own cheeks and he was completely ready to go. But before they went, the girl said they needed to wear that mask. For some reason Hanno was expecting something like a gas mask, not something a 'makeup' mask. But actually that would be better than walking around with something so big on the face. Seeing that was the only option, he carefully wore the scented mask, trying his best to not forget any place. And when the girl handed him the stinky bag, he knew for sure he didn't want to screw up and smell whatever was in that wicked large bag. "This is going to cause a mess! The way this thing look like, it will probably make the whole forest run away." Hanno said And later on the girl's words confirmed that. This was going to be a run for life. He placed the Shield on his back as it was backpack, preparing himself to run before finally throwing the bomb. An explosion with a very disgusting smell filled the air, and the first wave of the stampedes could be heard. Without wasting a second Hanno blasted off to run, making sure to stay beside Kepler during the escape. Everything was going smoothly, or at least it looked like it was going smoothly. In a certain moment Hanno didn't realize that his friend was barely running properly and she slowly was kind of distant from him until she finally tripped. The sound of the girl falling catched the Faerin's attention, that hastly looked backward and saw his friend laying on the ground helplessly as a wave of wildlife was trying to run away. Braking his run, Hanno turned back at his friend and ran at her as fast as he could... But the animals were too close already, he wouldn't have time enough to just grab her and run away. "KEPLEEER!" The Faerin yelled the girl's name before jumping and covering her under his body to act as a meat shield. The first animal that got there stomped the back of Faerin's head before the actual Shield on his back could block the stomp, making Hanno let out a pain groan. "GRAAH..." After the first stomp, the Shield got completely up on Hanno's back, and as the Faerin curled to protect Kepler, he soon looked like he was protecting both of them like he was a turtle. The first big wave of stampedes kept stomping on the Faerin's shield, that kept slamming his body as he tried his best to not let the girl get hurt. 'Damn it, damn it! What happened?! She suddenly fell like this?!' After 15 seconds of stomps on his back, his body was already pleading to him give away. But looking at Kepler, he clenched his fists against the ground and endured as much as he could until finally the first wave of stampedes passed. He coughed, feeling a bit breathless. But without giving any chance to have a break, a sound of a second wave of stampedes could be heard. "Damn it, it's not time to rest!" Hanno held the girl to carry her as he blasted off running toward anywhere that looked remotely secure. "Come on, come on, COME ON!" He pleaded for any chance to escape. The sounds of the stampede was getting closer. "DAMN IT!" Hanno looked backward, seeing innumerable animals running to them at full speed. The Faerin looked back at the girl on his arms. 'I'm not fast enough to carry her and my shield, and I don't have time to wield my shield to block the stampede, so please something come up! Please please!' He pleaded again. But the stampede was almost reaching them... In a few seconds they would be done for. But luck was on their side this time, as Hanno spotted a closeby crevice on the ground. He didn't have time to jump on it properly though. 'There's no time to check it's height, JUST JUMP!' The Faerin thought as he wrapped his arms tightly on Kepler and jumped in the crevice, that luckily was just about 13 feet (4 meters) deep. "GWAAH!" The Faerin slammed on a wall, still protecting the girl. And he finally fell on the ground, gently releasing her from his arms as he curled a bit coughing and trying to catch his breath. "Cough- ... A-Are you alright, Kepler?!" Hanno asked with a trembling voice, as he tried to look at his friend. "Are you okay?!"
Kepler's vision swam as 9 trains screamed through her ears. Only when it was all over did Kepler finally begin to regain control of her faculties. Following the voice calling her name with all of her senses, Kepler found her way back to reality. Kepler's eyes widened as she saw her companion----a friend she was responsible for's----condition. ...Oh God... ...What have I done...? Adrenaline pumping, Kepler felt helpless as her fight or flight instincts turned into a rage that she wasn't quite sure where to direct. She was furious at herself, yes, it had been all her fault. But, even so, if the genius known as Kepler had blundered------Before she even knew it herself, Kepler's mind grasped at that line of thought, yes------Seizing that perspective, Kepler said something totally wrong, something totally unfair, something she had never intended to say: "------IDIOT!" Kepler shouted, her eyes vengeful. "YOU COULD HAVE DIED! THIS WAS MY STUPID MISTAKE SO YOU SHOULD'VE LEFT ME----!" Kepler bit her lip, it was quivering, there were tears of rage and worry in her eyes... "WHAT WERE YOU THINK----" Suddenly, Kepler paused. No. What the heck am -I- thinking.... Kepler sighed. She looked incredibly worn out. "I'm sorry Hanno, you can hit me if you want..." Slowly looking up, she took stock of her partner's terrible condition. It hurt even to look at. "But please, at least let me treat your wounds. You can leave me after that. I'll finish this alone." Reaching into her pack, Kepler began producing alchemic medical supplies. Her voice was quiet. "...Thank you.... for saving my life. But please Hanno... keep in mind that if you or anyone else dies because of some stupid and careless mistake of mine... that me surviving something like that.... that's just the same as sentencing me to Hell for the rest of my days." ...Even if this is a game... The Pain is real... Working through her emotions, Kepler realized that all that was really left at the bottom of the well called her id was anger. She was behaving like a wounded and cornered animal-------and she hated herself for it.
Finally catching his break, and recovering from all those hits, the Faerin crawled close to the tinker girl. "KEPLER!" He yelled a last time looking at the unconscious girl, that slowly looked like she was waking up. A relieved expression appeared on his face, she was opening her eyes! Good... But... The Faerin's eyebrows dropped in a worried expression, her face... Why she was making that face. Was it because of him? He probably wasn't in the best conditions, that's for sure. Actually, that's the same face Rivers did when he saw him after the battle against Titanus, except something was different. "Kepl-" He tried to say something, but he was instantly interrupted by her words. 'An idiot?' He looked a little down, but then flinched by her next words. 'Leaving you?' His teeth clenched a bit, how he could just leave her there to die? That was completely ridiculous, a hero would nev-... No... It wasn't a matter of being a hero or not, it was a matter of Hanno. Hanno would never want to see Kepler dying, that was an absurd to him. After the pause, the Faerin raised his head a little, frowning his eyes when seeing her... 'Don't make this face...' He thought as he heard another phrase that seemed absurd to him, but the Faerin nodded at the girl when she explained a bit of her point view. But somehow, he couldn't accept her to keep that burden, and for some reason seeing her sad expression was making his stomach twist a bit. Taking a deep breath, he placed the Shield away and interrupted Kepler's hands for a second, staring directly at her eyes. "Stop saying those silly things, I would never let you alone... I wouldn't just let you die there either! This is stupid Kepler." He gave a weak smile to her. "Everyone does mistakes, I already did a big one before... But I promised myself I'd get stronger to be able to protect who I care about." Hanno nodded to himself. 'I can't let who's important to me suffer, I won't accept it. It already happened once, and I won't let it happend again.' "So seeing you in danger, no matter if it was your fault or not, I would never let you go just because of it." He looked up for a bit, then looked at the tinker girl eyes again. "Remember when you asked if you could depend on me a little? In the Witch Ops trial?" A small grin appeared on his face. "Like I said, feel free to do it. Depend on me all you want, I will be here to help you out on anything you need. I will help you even on things you will plead me to not help you because it's 'too dangerous', no matter the cost. And I swear, I will do my best to stay alive while doing it, because I would never want to 'sentence you to hell'" 'I'm not saying this as a hero. I'm saying this as Hanno... As Brian.' "This said, no. Sorry, but I won't leave you, and you won't finish this alone, we are going to finish this together!" Hanno place his right hand on the girl's head, and ruffled her hair a bit. "And remove this gloomy expression of your face, I like the silly bubbly and very very very happy-go-luck Kepler better, much better." The Faerin chuckled lightly. 'That was a bit embarrassing, but I hope she understand what I mean.'
Really? This guy... Receiving a head-pat, Kepler nodded, and rose to her feet. She took a deep breath as she did so, and turning away from Hanno, slapped both her cheeks as hard as she could. Just as she was about to boil over----- "GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAaaAaaaAaaaaa-------" ....Kepler let out a primordial yell..... "-----Haaaaaaaah~" ...That eventually became a long sigh escaping her lips... "Ok. I feel better now. But seriously Hanno kindness has its limits... which I'm none the less going to take advantage of, I suppose." Nodding, Kepler turned back around and began rifling through her bag with an ironic smile. Finding what she was looking for, Kepler kneeled on the ground and turned a medicine bottle over a long cloth which she used to stop the flow. She was making something along the lines of a large medicinal patch. "Kay, next thing's next, turn around and lift that tunic. Surely you've got a nasty bruise back there, I can tell from your posture. Chop, chop, Doctor's orders." For the average girl of 16, this might have been a bit of an awkward situation, but Kepler was purely and almost coldly mechanical as she worked. "Here, wrap this around your torso and I'll fasten it behind you when you're done. It should deal with the swelling. In the meantime, I'll also apply a numbing agent to the worst of the places that the bandages won't reach. Sorry, this may sting a little, please bare with it. Right-----It's worth mentioning that I won't be able to apply too much, because higher doses can affect fine motor control and we've still got a lot of work to do." Kepler breathed out hard through her nose as she sharpened her focus. "Speaking of work, since you've so graciously agreed to help, maybe I oughtta tell you the bad news..." From behind Hanno, Kepler grinned a bit wickedly, her eyes however... were deathly serious. "----I've lost control of the leyline. That's why my energy's now in a state of recovery. Which is to say... the fuse of our controlled detonation has become a magical timebomb constructed by yours truly." Here too, Kepler thought as she applied the numbing agent with a cottonball on a stick. "So we're now in a race against time. We could evacuate and leave things to whatever come what may, but I think I'd rather settle things as originally planned----which is to say I'm going to continue the wildlife extraction with your help. For my full guarantee of success I'd say we have......about 7 hours. Anything more will be a gamble." Putting away the ointment, Kepler nodded. "I think that should do it, here let me fasten those bandages. Yup, looking good, you're really looking like a Sarashi'd out Samurai there, aren't you Hanno~? Better hurry up and get dressed. I'll make us an early lunch. ---In the meantime, tell me the effectiveness of the stink bomb, I wasn't able to gather any data. Did it work? How well? It bears mentioning that as of now, we've entered a realm worthy of thinking of as a battlefield. On that front, Hanno, you have considerably greater field combat experience than I do---considering you're a veteran of The Titanus Incident. Bearing that in mind, do you have any suggestions for how we should approach this scenario?" Keeping her hands busy, Kepler set to making jerky sandwiches as she waited for Hanno's opinion. Finishing, she served him his portion as she listened and began to eat.
Hanno looked at the girl stand up and suddenly yell. Making both the Faerin and the Shield stare at her with a very confused expression. 'Aah. There we go, she's mad at me.' He sighed. You did it again, Brian. The Shield's eyes went back to their normal expression, and Hanno looked at the tinker girl letting out a long sigh before talking to him again. 'Yes, I know kindness have limits...' "You can take advantage of it if you want. Just don't hate me for being kind to you." He frowned a little to himself. 'A lot of people already hated me for it, after all.' He thought, but tried to shake it off. It wasn't time to get gloomy, not after telling her to stop making a sad face... What kind of hypocrisy would that be? The Faerin did as the girl said, and lifted his tunic. He was a little embarrassed about doing that in front of a girl, but the serious tone of the situation luckily made he not think too much about it, also... Kepler didn't seem to mind it too much, it was understandable though, treating someone all bruised like he was didn't let you have the 'privilege' of feeling all shy and timid about it. He flinched a bit because of the stinging feeling, but that was nothing compared to being ran over by a stampede... And now there were bad news? Hanno already figured it wouldn't come any good news from the fact Kepler fainted in first place... "So we lost the control of the bomb?" The Faerin widened his eyes a little, that was really bad. A dire situation indeed... They weren't sure if all animals were able to run away, as powerful as those stinky bombs were, they just had the opportunity to throw two of them. 'This is indeed a race against time. Seven hours isn't much.' The Faerin scratched his ear out of concern, that was slightly covered by a silly joke. 'After this I will really reconsider removing my small ponytail.' He chuckled internally. Then, a choice of words catched Hanno by surprise... Titanus Incident... 'She knows about it...' His teeth clenched a bit, and his countenance turned grim as the memories of people dying in the most painful and inhumane ways someone could. He shivered a bit, but tried to remain control of himself when remembering Aristides infected with dissonant tumors growing on all his body, and Rivers being beheaded like he was nothing. "Y-Yes, I'm..." His lips trembled a bit... And Hanno stopped to take a deep breath. 'Calm down. Everything will be alright. It's gone. Titanus is gone. Aristides and Rivers came back already. Kepler is by your side right now. Just calm down and think on anything that can be helpful.' Taking a deep breath, he decided to report the effectiveness of the bomb, to give him time to think on what experience from the fight against Titanus could help to solve this problem. "The effectiveness of the stink bombs was very good, the amount of animals that ran away was enormous and when I protected you from the first stampede, it came out second wave of an even bigger stampede later on. But... I don't think it was enough to bring out all animals, there was probably a few from the stampede that just hid in some crevices or caves that were far enough from the smell, but I think the range of the explosion and it's side effects are going to be enough to reach those animals." Hanno gave his opnion with a flat voice, he wasn't the most intelligent person that existed, but he wasn't dumb either and he knew very well that just those bombs weren't enough. As he talked, the Faerin thought about the battle against Titanus... There were a few beast tamers and hunters fighting in that battle, and those beasts seemed very fearless when fighting the gargantuan abomination, but as soon as their masters died and they lost their magical link to them, the beasts started to act instinctively, and just ran away from the abomination. Which meant one thing... "You know how animals in real life run away from danger, like forest fires, hurricanes and earthquakes? You see... Titanus had something with it, that is basically an corruptive energy called Dissonance." His voice was slightly shaken, but he tried his best to talk normally. "And this energy is something that can active the danger sense of animals, pretty much like in real life when a disaster is incoming. And what animals do when they feel a natural disaster incoming? They run as far as they can, since it isn't a mere strong smell, but a premonition of a big disaster." The Faerin nodded to himself, to be able to keep up with his thoughts. "If we are able to get an estimate of where the remaining animals are, we can try to find a perfect spot to do something..." Hanno pointed at the Dissonant Shield, that looked back at the Faerin. "My shield have Dissonant energy on it, after all... It was made from the essence of Titanus. And I am able to make this energy flow out of it to increase my power." 'Though I don't like to use it that much.' "This way the animals are going to feel the danger of it, and they will actually run away from where I am... But of course we need to reach a very large range, as much large as it's possible. So to make this work... I will need your help." "If I use all my energy to let out as much Dissonance as I can, and you find a way to amplify it greatly... We should be able to do it! And... It isn't even too risky, the worst thing that will happend is me getting a Mind Down." The Faerin smiled a bit, with his voice getting a little of determination again. "But you will be there for me, so it won't be problem at all. You will just need to get me and my Shield and drag us somewhere else until I wake up... And then, we can go to the next step of your plan." Hanno looked backward, to be able to face the tinker girl. "What you think, Kepler? You are the big brain here, so if you have a better way to do it or have a better plan. I'm ready to hear what you have to say."
Kepler's eyebrows rose as she watched Hanno's face at the mention of Titanus. Maybe that was a bad question, but feelings are just an extra variable at this point. If there's anything we can use from there, it needs to be put on the table... Kepler continued nodding along as Hanno spoke, she was lightly drumming her hands on her thighs as she did so. Almost in a trance, she absorbed every detail. So that phase somewhat worked? Nice, nice, and~? ...ahhhhh I see-----! "Pfft-" Kepler giggled as she struggled to suppress a laugh. "Sorry~Sorry~! I haven't lost it or anything~! I just----give me a second----okay~?" Turning her face away, Kepler's shoulders convulsed a few more times until she got herself under control. Taking a deep breath, Kepler turned back around as she dabbed at the corners of her eyes. "Thank you for sharing that Hanno, It couldn't have been easy. Sorry I laughed, okay? It's actually something a little unrelated to your traumas. Hmmmmm~ Yeah~ It's just that I thought of something incredibly, incredibly stupid." Kepler grinned a little wickedly. "You're definitely on the right track though, Hanno, but let's change our line of thinking a little, okay~? We don't need to get you an amplifier, nope, what we really need~ is to turn you and your ocular buddy there into a filter." Kepler nodded with a wink. "Hey Hanno~ Do you trust me~?" Raising her hand, Kepler stopped Hanno before he could speak. "-----Because if this doesn't work, a Mind Down will be the least of your worries. In fact, you might just, like, straight-up disintegrate. Of course~ Factoring in the fact that I'm a genius... Hm~hm~ Well even something counter-intuitive can become a solution~ right? In fact----isn't that in a visionary's job description~? One can't be a visionary without usurping any publicly contrived notions of common sense~! That's just the way it goes~" Lowering her hand Kepler laughed. "...Sometimes when we're on the path to one discovery we can't help but make a couple more along the way. I don't think it's a crime to be greedy in that respect... So, if you're willing to loan me that precious thing you call a life, I can't help but have a good feeling that I'll be able to double up that investment. And of course, I'll be right there gambling beside you every step of the way~!" Rising, Kepler dusted off her skirt. She was in high spirits. "So Hero~? Whaddya say~? If you're coming with me, then lead me back to camp~ okay? And along the way, why not tell me a little bit more about the properties of that dissonance of yours. While I'm willing to work with an unknown variable, I hardly see the point when we have an expert on hand, ya know~? How does it work? What does it do? Any effects you noted while in the trenches? What is 'corruption' really~? What does it feel like? What really happened while you were down there~?" These were cruel questions, Kepler knew that, but just like how an amputation is sometimes necessary to save a body, sometimes one person will have to face a trauma to save the societal whole. This, Kepler figured, was a worthy pain to inflict, even if in the end it only happened to increase their chances of success by a single percent. If you can't cut the patient, you can't conduct surgery. Kepler frowned. She didn't like prodding her companion like this, but that only resolved the self-proclaimed genius all the more to make use of every last bit of data she could squeeze out of him.
The Faerin tilted his head a bit, seeing the tinker girl laughing out of the sudden. Did he say something weird? He tried to think on the reason they were laughing... Peharps it was his idea being extremely dumb? 'Well, it isn't my strength. But at least she's laughing again.' He smiled a bit more. "Too soft." A dark voice familiar said inside his head, and Hanno peeked at the Shield that was staring intently at him. 'Did it... Just say something?' He frowned a bit, but shook it off. It was probably just his brain playing tricks on him. When the girl finally stopped laughing, the Faerin looked back at her, and she began talking. He carefully listened to her, apparently his thoughts were kind of right... But he had to turn into a filter... A filter? The Shield also stared at the girl with curiosity eyes. And suddenly a question came up and he opened his mouth a little, though he didn't have the chance to answer as she was still throwing explanations at him. 'I should just wait her finish-' It didn't take long before Hanno frown. 'Or maybe I shouldn't... Straight up disintegrate?' Just what kind of idea was that, was it that dangerous? Not that what Faerin had proposed before was harmless to him... He just gave a light chuckle as he crossed his arms, looking at Kepler. His expressions turned a bit gloomy again, as soon as more questions about the event came up. 'Of course she want to know more about it. Who wouldn't?' He sighed quietly, Hanno would be lying if he said he was completely fine with answering all that, specially because he was trying to hide the actual reason that experience was so traumatic to him. 'Hero, huh..?' Was that even a mere act of heroism at that point? The Faerin pondered. Probably not, though he would still be saving the animals of the forest by doing that, was that the only reason he was going that far? With a sigh, he just shrugged it off with a weak smile. It wasn't worth to think about that right now, they couldn't waste any second now. Hanno stood up, stretching his arms while feeling the pain on his back, but right now it was just a ridiculous inconvenience, as he had lives to be saved... And dreams to be reached. "Let's go!" The Faerin said with a weak smile while both him and his Shield looked at the tinker girl. Hanno jumped out of the crevice and helped Kepler to get out of there, and then the Faerin began to lead her to the camp, passing all the way he had ran for their lives. "How exactly it works is kind of a mystery... But it mainly relies on getting to the deepest places of someone's heart and mind. Dissonance isn't some kind of raw power that just explode things out of nothing like arcane bolts or something... It's something closer to some sort of illusion or black magic? I'm not sure about it, but it's at least how I feel toward it." He said, considering his experiences with such thing. "But don't underestimate it just because of that. It may be not something that can cause a direct damage, but it damage you psychologically, it drives you into insanity and madness. It make you feel the worst pain you will ever feel, causing your body to get some sort of placebo effect and actually get damaged on something that in reality isn't happening at all." Hanno said, frowning at the memories of the gruesome view of his friends having tentacles ripping out of their bodies as their bodies were almost giving away to some sort of parasitic tumor caused by the high dissonance levels. "The feeling of it..." The Faerin held his chest tightly. "It's maddening... No wonder it can corrupt the heart of the victim, someone could be driven insane with that. It can even turn you to fight against your own people, I saw that happening. You will feel conflicted when getting in contact with it, you will consider giving up to death every single second you feel the dissonance pounding in your heart. It's like something is inside your chest, stomping all your hopes and feelings, trying it's hardest to make you fall." "...That was how I felt down there. If I didn't have my friends there, to give me a reason to fight it... Would I be able to keep up my will to fight it..? I'm almost sure I wouldn't. And even then, the dissonance made-" He flinched a bit. 'Yes... It made me go for the kill and the revenge... And look at what happened. Look what... Just...' The Faerin frowned. 'It's not time for that, keep talking.' "-This... Is something for another time, this detail isn't going to make any difference... And I promise I will tell you that another time." Hanno nodded with an assertive tone, he knew he promised himself he wouldn't hide anything anymore, but he also knew that if he talked about that to Kepler... He maybe wouldn't be able to keep going, and right now they couldn't waste time with that. "What happened down there was utterly horrible... There was no safe place, everyone in there was in danger. Everyone... Players, NPCs... Everything. We were inside an ancient abomination called Titanus, and it was ruthlessly destroying everyone. I don't know many details about the monster itself, but I know it was probably mine and everyone's else worst nightmare." The Faerin sighed. "Like I said before, the amount of pain that the dissonance caused made a lot of people simply give up to death, while others kept fighting until the end. Some of people that were fighting were even completely absorved by Titanus because of the high levels of dissonance, that simply made their existence give up on fighting... But in the end, we striked a final attack on the monster... And we were able to kill it." Hanno said with a somewhat grim voice, taking a deep breath right after. 'Though... Me, my friends and many other people weren't there anymore to see if it actually worked or not.' "I think that's what I know about it... That would be useful." He looked back at the tinker girl, with his soft tone back. "Also, about before... Yes, I'm willing to loan my precious life to you. After all, I was willing to do that since I accepted to help you out. I risked myself to keep you unharmed, didn't I?-" Hanno turned to look foward, seeing that they were getting close to their camp. "-So yes, I trust you, Kepler. Just promise me to not get sad if something goes wrong though. Not that I think you are going to fail anyway, Ms Genius."
'Pterotillomania' Kepler thought. Looking past him, she saw that they were arriving at camp. ...In the end, I'm not sure if I get it. Abstract emotions don't have any measurable factors at all----there's no accurate litmus test----we're trying to manipulate a bomb based on cause and effect psychology----well I'm sure inspiration will strike when it's time. Now then... "Since were here, please let me say just two worthless things, Hanno~" Kepler raised a finger. "One. We don't make mistakes, just happy little accidents." Kepler raised her second finger. "And two. Don't sweat it----Justice was on your side." Kepler grinned. "I'm sure you don't feel better at all, right? Well, ready to cover my butt and save the day~?" Moving through the camp, Kepler took the lead as she returned to a small clearing near her tent. There, in a circle, were a number of runes. Kneeling, Kepler used a utility knife as she began scratching a second set of runes around the first. It didn't take long. Turning, Kepler called over her shoulder. "No offense Hanno, but I feel like you're the kind of person who might overthink things a little, so we're not going to bother with any prep-time. Do me a favor and take a step into the middle of the inner-most circle. You might feel an odd-sensation, but just pretend you're walking down the steps into a swimming pool. If you can picture that, I think it'll make sense for you." When Hanno was properly in the circle, Kepler nodded. "Now strip." Kepler's face was dead serious. "-----Sorry. That was a little joke to break the tension. Ahaha~ right~ right~ anyway... physically you'll need to get yourself comfortable, so please assume a defensive position facing me that you can hold for a long period of time. Maybe take a knee and use the cover of your shield as though I were attacking you or something? I guess in a sense I kinda sorta am..." Kepler nodded. "Right, that should do. Let's begin the briefing. As I said earlier Hanno, you're going to become a filter----a filter for the mana bomb that I lost control of. Another apt metaphor would be me turning you into a dam. By running the energy through your shield---and then your person---we'll use you as a stop gap to make a Dissonance Pulse. That, I believe, should probably have the desired effect on the native fauna here. We'll send them all kinds of bad vibes in one single go. Pretty neat, right~? I couldn't have come up with it without you. " Kepler winked. "Of course, since we're mixing something volatile with something else that's volatile----the important thing we'll need to keep in mind is the rate of transference. Once we start, we can't stop, and if we bungle anything we die. Pretty cut and dry, right~?" Kepler grinned devlishly. "But of course none of that matters, because we've got this in the bag! I don't have time to give you the particulars, so I'll just have to guide you step by step on anything pertinent, okay? So for now, close your eyes and stand your ground. Just follow the sound of my voice..." ----There's no need to worry, Kepler, you have everything you need. Closing her own eyes, Kepler took a deep breath. Re-seizing control of the valve-lock to access the leyline. Hm~ right~ that's the feeling... Now we just need to open the valve little by little so it doesn't break, Temper it through the outer-circle-bypass to create a gap, Manipulate the rate of flow and.... "----Are you ready Hanno~? This is going to feel something like a fire hose of pure energy. Stop it, then absorb it. Don't sweat the details----just keep repeating those two concepts in your mind, okay? Here we go... 3...2...1.... it's starting." Kepler opened one eye to see the outer rune circle glow blue, the inner one around Hanno was beginning to fill with an otherworldly purple... Oyo~? So this is dissonance huh~? It felt like Kepler was standing waist deep in some river rapids. She was facing down-current, digging her heels into the earth. Flexing the muscles of her legs Kepler resisted being washed away by the raging flow.
Hanno nodded at the two worthless things, giving a weak smile at Kepler's phrase. "Yes, I'm ready to do it..." He just chuckled while whispering to himself, seeing the tinker girl moving around and preparing something that looked like a magic circle. That made the Faerin raise his eyebrow, Kepler was so tinkery that sometimes Hanno forgot that she actually had some magic knowledge. He walked close to the girl that called him as he carefully heard her. 'I overthink..? What does she mean by it?' The Faerin frowned, maybe the tinker girl was right, but that still made Hanno feel puzzled. He shrugged, it didn't matter. The Faerin looked down at the circle, adjusted his shield on his back and taking Kepler's advice, he stepped in the circle. As he stepped on it, a weird feeling went through his body... It was like he was being surrounded by something that he couldn't see, like it had something touching him constantly but he could just walk through it with no problem at all. Was that what she meant when she said to pretend it was like a swimming pool? Turning at the girl, he stared at her with widened eyes as his face turned deep red. 'W...What?' The Faerin thought, he needed to strip in front of Kepler?! An embarrassment feeling filled his cheeks with heat, but that was soon faded off by the girl saying it was just a joke, making him chuckle nervously. It didn't take too long to Hanno recover, but even then he was still shaken with a slightly awkward smile. 'This girl... Well, at least she knows how to lift the mood a bit.' 'Very well, so that's what she meant with being a filter. I'm glad my idea was useful for her.' He frowned a little at the statement of their possible deaths. Normally he would say it was a bad idea and how the girl shouldn't risk herself... But it wasn't time for this. 'Instead of telling people to not risk themselves and being a hypocrite, go and do your best to not let her die.' He took a fight stance partially covering himself with the shield, with both staring directly at the girl's eyes, before closing the eyes and focusing... "Let's do it, Kepler. Strike your best shot." He could feel the dissonance clearly... And it was frightening to say the least. A deep breath came and the Faerin concentrated, feeling some sort of distraction trying to stop him... As the dissonance level raised, Hanno began feeling his throat closing, breathing was becoming hard... All his body felt completely numb as he carefully controlled the energy leaving his body, at the same time he tried to feel the pure energy that the girl talked about... It took a while until the first one faded in. Hanno instantly halted the energy, absorving it. Right after that, another two energies appeared... And more and more. Soon, it was clear that the energies were progressively increasing. "Damn it..." Things were becoming harder and the situation became more desperate, the Faerin began to panic a bit when realizing the amount of energy that was coming at once... He tried his hardest to keep halting as many as he could, not letting a single one get past him. But soon it started to be too much energy for him and suddenly it looked like everything was going to go out of control. "Damn it, damn it..." The Faerin couldn't screw up, if he did... "I can't fail, if I fail... Kepler will..." His teeth clenched, and the dissonance tried to sneak in the opening chance to destabilize the Faerin. His shield began trembling, and the dissonantic energy slowly tried to get back to try to push back the pure energy... But... "No." Hanno said, emptying his mind and the shield slowly came back to normal... Everything suddenly felt like it was happening in slow motion, now he could easily halt the energies that almost passed through him and absove them... Soon enough, the Faerin noticed that the huge amount of energy that seemed so overwhelming a few seconds ago, now looked like an extremely simple and easy task. Being a hero didn't mean being reckless to save everyone... Sometimes you need to calm down, to protect who you care about. He took a deep breath, and the absorption turned faster and smoother... "Everything will be alright." Hanno kept doing his task... Now much more confident about it. "I won't let you die."
"6-5-----o o o-----6-5-0~ 6-5-----o o o-----6-5-0~" It was pure gibberish, but none the less, Kepler continued to chant that mantra under her breath over and over and over again. It was like running a marathon as her mind did its best to drift to anything but the repetitive movements of her own legs. In a trance, Kepler let her body mechanically feel out the correct rate of arcane energy as she continued to adjust for the reverb Hanno was giving off. She was pushing the poor Faerin to the limit, but there was no way that Kepler would let him die. In any other situation, Kepler might have seemed heroic as she tried to support her friend, but in this instance-----Kepler was the reason for his pain. "6-5-----o o o-----6-5-0~ 6-5-----o o o-----6-5-0~" Kepler abandoned that line of thought to the arcane stream. It doesn't matter. Keep pushing, feel the reverberation, and maintain the pressurized bubble at Hanno's limits. No more, no less. ... .. . How long have I been doing this...? Kepler felt a drop of sweat pass over the lid of her closed eye. "6-5-----o o o-----6-5-0~ 6-5-----o o o-----6-5-0~" Kepler cut that thought at the root as well. ... .. . ----It's here. Kepler grinned. ----I'd intended to release the pulse when Hanno looked like he couldn't handle anymore but... In her mind's eye, Kepler felt a considerably sized arcane orb beginning to grind with the pressurized balloon of dissonant energy. The tension was reaching its very limit... ----He must be on the verge of mind down. To think he pushed himself this far... "-----NOW----!!!!" Kepler's eyes snapped open. Seeing her partner begin to droop into unconsciousness upon his shield, Kepler acted----she released the tension in her legs and allowed her body to fly down the stream. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ There were no words to describe the phenomenon known as a Dissonant Pulse. But, if Kepler were forced to summarize, She'd probably opt for [ ]. ... .. . The Pulse rang out. Kepler knew because she felt a sinking in her stomach like vertigo. Kepler confirmed a storm of birds taking flight with her swimming vision, then there was something like an earthquake's rumble... then... Guh, hang in in there------! Releasing the lock and returning to the original flow------! Rotating her hand on an invisible dial, Kepler twisted it 'open' and with the full force of her body 'yanked' it with both hands breaking it. A rumble down her spine ensued as she opened the crashing gates. ----Then there was an explosion. The energy which coursed down the ley-line collided with the face of the mountain. Through the tsunami of dust, Kepler saw the water flow.
Hanno tried the best he could to hold the power, reaching a point he was completely closed out from the rest of the world. He couldn't hear anything outside of that ethereal place... Eventually it reached a point he wasn't even feeling his body anymore. How long it has been since he reached his limit? Probably he has reached it a long time ago, but he didn't stop. He couldn't stop. Both his life and Kepler's depended on him, so he just stayed there. Maybe his energy has been at Zero on these last minutes, so what was keeping him on track? His HP? His Shield's energy? His determination? Who knows... Hanno only knew he didn't care, he would only stop when he was sure Kepler would be fine. Then all his energy suddenly felt like it was flowing somewhere else, completely free... Like a stream of blood coming out of a wound... And with a fear and insecurity about his companion's well being, he finally fell unconscious... After a few seconds of completely darkness, the next thing the Faerin felt was a harsh impact on his back followed by a sudden floating feeling, something similar to falling, hitting and sinking into the water. And he remained motionless and unflinching for about a minute, before he realized the current situation. He blinked, slowly seeing the ambient around him. It was an infinity black void, where you could see no horizon. This void wasn't dark, because the Faerin could easily see his hands and the rest of his body. Hanno stared intently at his hands. 'Did... Did I die?' He frowned, before widening his eyes. If he actually died, that meant- "KEPLER!" The Faerin looked around, seeing nothing but a pitch black background without a single sign of life. He desperately looked around... Only to find nothing. It was almost like a Déjà vu from the post-incident of Titanus... He found himself on a place that he couldn't find his friends, but at least there he had the hope of finding them... Here had nothing. His teeth clenched, and his eyes became teary as he curled a little. "D-Damn it..." Hanno said, mentally cursing himself for failing once again. He sobbed. After she trusting him so much to the point of putting her life in his hands, and after he told she could depend on him as much as she wanted... He couldn't fulfill his words. Closing his eyes, a image of the tinker girl's face faded in his mind, making him flinch and finally breakdown on a cry, he had done it. He failed again... The worst part of all that was that he let someone that he care so much... Die. "I-I"m sorry Kepler, I'm sorry. I'm sorry!" Hanno stayed there, a long time cursing himself, cursing his inability to protect someone and blaming himself for everything that happened. He should have just told her that was a horrible idea. ... Soon, without the Faerin noticing, a gargantuan gaze opened. Though it didn't stare at him with the frightening expression of Titanus, because it wasn't the eye of Titanus. It was the eye of a loyal partner. "You." A dark familiar voice reached Hanno's ears. The Faerin looked up, seeing the wide gaze. It took him a time to realize what that eye was doing there, but noticing the situation, his expression showed a bit of curiosity. "Shield? Is that you?" His eyes widened, though it still had sorrow on them. "You aren't wrong, I am 'Shield' as you call me. Now... Before you ask me why I am here. Our energies are linked, I feel your pain, your heart, your desires, and I feel the need to follow them. Because I am your weapon." The eye stared intently at him, while explaining. "At first, I wasn't going to come here. But I can't let you keep blaming yourself for something that didn't even happend." 'So we are connected... No wonder I can use part of his essence, but...' The words made Hanno's expression become confused. "What you mean... Didn't happend?" "You didn't fail. The girl that you are crying for is in one piece, you aren't dead too. You are just having a Mind Down." The eye stared at the Faerin, that didn't look like he had paid attention to the last part of his sentence. Hanno looked down... "That means Kepler is fine?" Still looking down, his sad expression disappeared, and a weak smile covered his face. "She's fine... I'm so relieved." His buddy frowned. "Ahem. YOU are fine too. Did you even hear me?" The Faerin looked at the eye and chuckled. "Yes! I heard it. I'm fine too!" He gave a shaken smile. "It's just that... I was very worried." The eye looked to the side, with a slightly annoyed expression. "Hanno..." A sigh could be heard. "Do you understand that you also need to care about yourself-" "Yes I do." Hanno almost interrupted. "I care about myself." He looked down. "No... I NEED to care about myself. I didn't realize that until what Kepler said to me..." He nodded. "Hm? Explain yourself." The eye looked at him. The Faerin looked down, remembering of the past. "Now I know why everything went downhill after Titanus battle." He nodded. "It's exactly because of what Kepler said. If something happened to me, if I have to die to protect her... She would be devastated." He looked at the eye. "That's why Rivers ran away from me. He saw me and Aristides dying. And even if it wasn't his fault, the feeling someone dying because of you... Is probably horrible." Hanno tried to think about someone dying to save him, but that thought was completely disgusting to him. 'I would be eternally grateful for someone that would go so far to save me... But I'd hate myself for it.' "Besides... If I die, I won't be able to protect everyone anymore." The eye looked very impressed. Something that the Faerin was saying actually made some sense. "So you won't sacrifice yourself anymore?" Hanno looked at the eye, giving a frown. "Well, that doesn't mean I won't sacrifice myself. That just mean I won't throw my life away so easily anymore... Of course that if giving away my life is the only way to save someone, I will do it without hesitation, BUT-" He halted the eye before it could say anything. "I will do my best to save everyone. I will do my best to not get hurt. I will do my best to not die." The Faerin smiled. "I will do my best, so we can go and smile together after the hard times. Sounds good, right?" The eye stared with a slightly satisfied expression. "Well. This sounds much more pleasing. I wouldn't mind to support this at all, instead of just supporting you mindlessly throwing yourself at dangerous attack." The eye frowned at the Faerin, reminding him of a certain event. He chuckled, giving a thumb up. "Great! Just a Shield as good as you can cover me in my insanes attempts to save everyone. So keep doing a good work!" "Kukukuku..." The gaze turned away. "You can count me on it..." Hanno smiled, and looked at the depth of the void. "I should give you a name." "No way, you are horrible at giving names." The eye frowned. "What? How do you know it?" The Faerin tilted his head. "I know everything about you, like I said we are connected. I even know you woke up in the middle of night and sneaked into that girl's bag to drink some Dr Kepler." The eye stared at Hanno. A sweat drop appeared on his forehead. "Oi, don't tell her that!" "I won't... Maybe." The eye stared intently at the Faerin, that stared it back. After a few seconds staring each other, they simply laughed it off. "It's a joke, I can't even talk to her... Well, it's almost time to you wake up. Are you finally feeling better?" Hanno nodded. "Yes I am. Thanks." He smiled. "Very well. See you later then." And suddenly, the Faerin lost his senses again... From the complete silence and darkness... Hanno slowly could hear a very faint humming... A humming that was somewhat familiar, but somehow he couldn't figure out from who it was. Actually, he still didn't even understand what was going on, as his mind was completely blurry. The Faerin's mind slowly began waking up, and his eyes opened lightly, revealing a silhouette of what appeared to be a girl... He tried to move his arm a bit, to try to touch whoever was there, but he was too weak to move yet. Still staring at the direction of the person, his eyes finally stopped failing him, and the silhouette finally revealed to be the girl he was so worried about. "Kepler..." He called with a weak voice.
"It sure would be nice if I could be in two places at once~" Kepler mused as she dipped a pan in a river-----her river-----no----their river. Kepler was smiling satisfied at their creation. Out in the distance, Kepler could hear it, the low shur of the waterfall they had created. Somehow or another, even after Kepler had gravely overextended herself, they had come out of everything with a resounding success. But there'd be time for celebration later... "Ooof~" Rising, Kepler carried the pan full of cool water back up the bank. Up there, resting on a strange shield that Kepler had had to use as a sled to move a surprisingly heavy little man rested----Hanno. How Kepler had convinced the shield to let her get close enough to move him was something of a long story. At present, however, Hanno was still tossing and turning. Frowning, Kepler returned to his side and knelt beside him. She then dipped a rag in the cool water she'd retrieved and placed it over her passed out companion's forehead replacing an old one. Moving away, Kepler then moved to towel she'd laid out in the grass and took a seat once more to watch the flowing river. Ahhhhh~ I'm gonna be sore tomorrow aren't I~ ....Well a little muscle work is good for the body I suppose~! But honestly... Breathing deep, Kepler began to space out. It wasn't like her to sit idle, but at the moment, all there really was to do was wait. However, later on, just as she had begun to to do something anyway----Namely checking the schematics she had drafted up for Asotrea's aqueduct----she heard a low voice calling her name. "Oyo~?" Quickly rising, Kepler rushed to Hanno's side. "So sleeping beauty awakens without a kiss~ Or maybe~ A dream Kepler just did one of us a little favor, is that it~?" Kepler grinned. "Woah there~ Don't move too fast, or you'll get an awful sense of vertigo. Trust me on that, okay? Why not take a little time to listen to your achievements instead~?" Taking a long pause, Kepler let Hanno listen to the new river... "-----I'm thinking of calling it The Keptaba River. But more importantly, how do you feel? I mean, after all, it's been three years..." Kepler's face was dead serious as her eyebrows furrowed into a stern apologetic look. Forlorn, the young maiden then turned and gazed out upon the horizon and there found her eyes once again returning to the flowing river. The wild wind which blew between them punctuated her thoughts as it tossed and turned her wind-swept bangs. Still looking out into the distance, Kepler once again opened her mouth----and burst out laughing. "Ahaha~ sorry~ sorry~! That was a joke, okay~? ----It's only been thirty minutes. Seriously though, can I get you anything? How do you feel...?"
