020 those Who Watch the Sky - 20
20 – Children Wandering
Under the Sky 4
*Phew~*
With a soft exhale Link fell gently onto her rear and
supported herself with her arms. Looking up from her new vantage point at the
dam and Temple of Ocia beyond the churning pool that stood between her, Elliot,
and Melody from reaching it a pout crossed her features.
“I guess then it’s time to figure out how to get there?”
“I could always fly you two across ~♪”
“No Melody. Elliot and I have to figure this out ourselves
or it won’t matter. That and the lack of life down here is starting to leave me
with a bad feeling. It’s too clean…”
Shooting down Melody’s offer Link earned a pout from the harpy
but ignored her as she tried to comprehend the lack of life down in the chasm
at the foot of the dam. There was obviously life at the top of the cliffs but
nothing below them or any sign of life. There was also the corrosion of the dam
itself leaving being down in the chasm extremely dangerous. There was no way
Link could determine the age of the structure or how long it would continue to
hold before the lake it likely formed burst through it.
“Ugh~! This is so unfair. We finally find a ruin to explore
but we can’t do anything from here thanks to being infected. I mean we could backtrack along one of the other
rivers and hope that leads us to a town but with no life down here and how
small the one we followed was at its end I don’t think that’s likely.”
Her own pout deepening Link scowled at the tri-river head
with no immediate solutions to crossing the raging fountain. Elliot was no more
educated in how rivers worked than Link but believed speaking at least would
stimulate their imaginations.
“It is odd to think that a river would just trickle off
like that.”
“Not really ~♪ You two don’t really have the ears
for it so you probably didn’t notice but, it sounded like the river when it was
smaller was going underground here and there ~♪”
“So the land around here supports caves then…?”
Turning to Melody as she thought aloud, Link slowly scanned
the cliffs around the river head in search of any caves. If there were any she
could not see them in the shadows cast by the midday sun. Even if she did spot
any there was no guarantee that they would be able to reach one from where they
were.
“Ugh… even if there are caves here could we even reach
them? And what about the potential of monsters dwelling in them? It’s one thing
fighting monsters out in the open but in their lairs…”
“Well perhaps the dam holds the answer to reaching it Link.”
“The dam…?”
Again Elliot was just throwing out things to say in the hopes
of stimulating one of their imaginations and this time he hit home. Looking at the
dam and its size and shape Link’s mind scrounged up memories of her father’s
teachings and how power was supplied to machinery across Icarus. As much as
Cross relied on the Artificial Ambrosial Gate of the plant to extract Nectar to
convert into energy there were countless other ways to draw power. While Nectar
extraction was the most efficient as Nectar was also the fuel for magic it also
did not have to be used on its own.
“I wonder…”
Rising to her feet and eying the statues of Ocia as well as
the remnants of the symbol of the Cardinal Church carved into the face of the dam,
Link began heading towards the edge of the water. Considering how violent the water
was here Elliot and Melody reacted with concern.
“Um… Link…”
“I hope you’re not thinking to see if you can swim through
that, no less upstream Link.”
“Don’t worry you two; I’m not ready to throw my life away
yet. It’s just… I had an idea that might let me find a way in. There’s no guarantee
it’ll work or if I do find an entrance that we’ll be able to reach it…”
“I don’t get it Link? What can you learn from the river?”
“If you don’t mind elaborating Link…?”
Her every action under scrutiny by Elliot and Melody, Link
smiled as she kneeled down next to the water. Reaching her hand into churning
pool she flinched from the cold reminding her that even though her skin had
been replaced with the dark shadows of the Foreigner that her senses seemed
fully intact. The reminder was as much a reassurance as it was uncomfortable
and Link stirred the water to let her hand get used to the feel of it. While
waiting on her hand to grow accustomed she looked back at Elliot and Melody to
offer her explanation.
“Well, dams like this were built in different eras to
convert the movement of water into power asides from making artificial lakes.
If you don’t have access to a plant or an Artificial Generator of any kind to
extract Nectar it’s not uncommon to find different ways to generate power.
According to father there aren’t many engineers who know how to build one in
this age, no less repair one, so finding one affiliated with a modern community
is extremely unlikely. It’s more likely that you’ll find communities where sorcerers
conjure and pool Nectar daily for the community to ration off. Father called
them spell towns and said that on a whole they’re pretty amazing even though
they have to trade with outsiders and salvagers especially quite a lot to enjoy
things like radios and machine sentries.”
“That’s a really nice story Link, but I don’t see how that’s
going to help us…”
“I might have an idea Melody.”
“Really⁈”
Prompted by Elliot’s mention of his potential insight
Melody turned her confused gaze from Link to an expectant one on Elliot.
Offering her a smile before raising his own gaze onto the symbol of the Cardinal
Church upon the dam Elliot began his explanation.
“Traditionally, the Cardinal Church has always had the most
advanced technology and knowledge of Ambrosia and the casting of magic. Even
though this temple is dedicated to the goddess Ocia it still bears the Crosses
of Cardinal. That would mean that it was sanctioned by the Cardinal Church and
is perhaps a lot more than it seems…”
“That’s about right Elliot.”
Nodding her approval of Elliot’s deduction Link drew his
and Melody’s attention back onto her. They were both obviously still confused
however and Elliot moved to express their confusion in words.
“But even if that’s the case Link, what does that do for us
and how does the water help us achieve it?”
“Well that’s all on me and this dam hopefully having an
Artificial Gate.”
“You’re still not making sense Link ~♪”
“Well that’s your fault Melody.”
“Huh! My fault⁈”
“Yup. You interrupted me the last time I was going to try
something like this.”
“I did? When? I don’t remember anything like that! Do you
Elliot⁈”
Elliot was as clueless as Melody and could only offer her a
shrug and a shake of his head as she turned frantically in his direction. The
playful smile that Link wore while watching the two of them struggle to grasp
what she was talking about only flustered the harpy more and her perplexed
expression spoke volumes of how much.
“It was back when you saved us from the machine sentry
Melody. I was going to try and use the beam it fired to track the energy
signature back to the Artificial Gate in the plant to try and issue a shut down
command.”
“Can you really do that⁈”
It was Elliot’s turn to be dumbstruck but he managed to
keep his surprise focused. Under Elliot’s wide-eyed look Link’s smile broke and
her confidence disappeared as she laughed nervously.
“I have no idea. It was just an idea that occurred to me
after Squawk healed my leg. I know what a gate feels like if it’s outside of my
body and thanks to Squawk I know what the flow of Nectar feels like a lot
better than when training under my father. And then thanks to Sister I know
what water influenced by Nectar feels like to. So my hope is to bully my will
through the water and force open the Artificial Gate if there’s one here. I
know that Nectar Coding isn’t my specialty and trying to go backwards is pretty
crazy of me but I’ve been keeping control of my body from the Foreigner in me
despite losing so much of it to it so I’m hoping to be able to do the same
here. If I can just touch the systems and the flow of Nectar I should be able
to find a way in.”
“That sounds really impressive Link! ~♪”
“It does Melody, but I’m concerned about Link’s well being
if she can pull it off.”
“Well, it’s that or we lose days trying to follow one of the
other rivers to higher ground and based on the river we followed it’ll have been
three days since we ate anything. I haven’t noticed not eating anything for one
reason or another but you and Melody can’t possibly keep your strength up if we
back track now. Especially you Elliot. I’ve gotten better at noticing the
effects of the Foreigner blood in you too so don’t think you can hide it.”
With a smile and a sigh Elliot made his resignation plain
to see. Resigned as he was however he had no intention of just letting link
have her way.
“Alright then Link we’ll do it your way, but if I see even
the slightest sign that the Foreigner consuming you is gaining ground I’ll yank
you away from the water in an instant. At that point I also say that we give up
trying to tough it out and accept Melody’s offer to fly us across. Knowing when
to use the resources at our disposal should be just as valuable to our worth as
making it on our own.”
“That’s mean calling me a resource! ~♪”
“Sorry Melody, but… Well, I hope you understand.”
“Well I’m not a resource; I’m your friend!”
“That you are Melody. And one I’m grateful to have. Link however
seems intent on leaving us.”
“Don’t even try to guilt me out of this Elliot. If I can
pull this off it doesn’t even matter if we still have to ask Melody to fly us
across. Being able to pull it off will make me invaluable and there’s no way
the Cardinal Church can turn me away then. I’ve never heard of any Sa·B·er who
can do what I’m about to try so just imagine what that would mean for me.”
“It will be impressive Link, but you still need to be
careful. The Cardinal Church hasn’t saved you yet so you’re taking a huge risk.”
“Adventures are all about taking risks Elliot and I’m not
going to stop now. I’ve barely gotten started.”
Clenching her free hand into a fist in front of her Link
offered Elliot a huge smile. Having no arguments left for her Elliot gave in
fully and smiled in response prompting Melody to smile as well so as not to be
left out. With the approving smiles of her friends Link turned her focus back
towards the water and closed her eyes.
“Well, here I go then. Wish me luck.”
Taking a deep breath and holding it Link did not begin by
trying to feel for the presence of the influence of Nectar on the water but
instead searched deep inside of herself and her memories for a way to focus on
finding what she sought. Digging through her memories of training to use the Artificial
Gate of Cross’ plant she recalled the device that her father used. It was a
simple device composed of wires that were connected to the user by fingertip
caps which served to link the user with the Artificial Gate. Activating it was
as simple as a thought but her father had insisted on adding a motion to that
thought so as not to activate the Artifical Gate prematurely. That motion had
been honed into Link over years of training and a nostalgic feeling washed over
her as she prepared to face the trial before her and the green-eyed gaze of the
Foreigner that invaded her flesh.
[You better hope you’re tougher than me because you’ve
taken a good chunk of my body from me and that means I’m running the kick back
from this through you so get ready.]
Releasing her held breath slowly but fully Link snapped her
fingers under the surface of the water and touched a world she had not imagined.
Copyright © 2019 Joshua D Tarwater
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