Chapter 18: Into the Pit (Part 2!)

“...Want to go somewhere else?” For a long time the Snake Skin didn’t respond. When she opened her mouth to ask again, the Snake Skin motioned his head up and down repeatedly.

“Vega! Where are you?” Bolato’s yell finally reached her. The Snake Skin’s eyes sharpened into thin razors, ready to slash at any unfortunate victim.

“Please. Don’t make a-a sound and don’t move.” The Snake Skin stomped towards the direction Bolato’s voice came from and Vega pushed it back.

“Do it for me? Will ya?” She asked, half politely and half commandingly. That was enough for the Snake Skin for it stopped and stood at attention. Looking over her shoulder, she went to Bolato. Before passing the corner, she gave a smile and a wave to the being. The Snake Skin couldn’t wave back.

“What took you so long?” Bolato beckoned, now raising a brow at the scarecrow.

“It was just the voice again. Ya ever heard voices like that?”

“Back when I was in the army, but that doesn’t matter. I found it.” Bolato knelt down to the flowing river of trash.

“Found what-what?”

“Found that snake.” He pointed his blade to a body in the water, wearing similar clothes and with an equally enormous amount of arrows.

“Looks like our work is done, time to head-” Vega got in front of the soldier.

“Wait!”

“What is it now?” Bolato took off his helmet, believing that the sewer was still safe.

“Don’t go-go all the way back. Just use the…” Vega searched for a way out and quickly found it, much to her relief. “The ladder!”

“Oh. Good eye.” Bolato began to climb up towards the hole above them. Vega wiped a figurative tear off her forehead.

“Are you coming up or what?” Bolato gestured to her to follow him up.

“Nah, I’m gonna go look-look for treasure!” She sped away, out of the soldier’s sight.

“You know what, fair.” Bolato walked back to notify the city.

Racing towards the Snake Skin, Vega was pleased that it hadn’t moved an inch. Or a centimeter… Or a millimeter… Or at all...

“Alright! Time to show you off to… every…one…” Vega’s none existent heart sank. Something wrong was happening again, and now it burned in her chest. Vega imagined a fate for the Snake Skin, where it encountered only doom.

It made sense to Vega, since that was all the Iozains offered to ghosts. How did she know this all of a sudden? Why am I knowing all of these unkind truths? That and many other questions scattered and shot around her head.

“Okay… new-new plan.” She opened her hand to the being, who only stared down at her.

“Don’t you want to find out?” She smiled as best she could under the pain of emotion. Eventually, the Snake Skin gripped her softly, much like a babe to a parent’s hand.

Vega hurried throughout the halls, as the Snake Skin dragged its feet wherever she ran. Searching desperately for an exit that didn’t lean to the city, Vega darted and dashed over and under the space. Stopping every corner to listen for the melody of flowing air, it was hard to decipher in the orchestra of crashing water.

Naturally, the scarecrow found a means to leave, but one that was less than easy to get to. At the end of the hall she discovered a rectangular operating system for the whole sewage system of the city. One problem, it was flooded.

“Huh. Well, no one said this was gonna be easy.” Now on the staircase above the flooded floor, Vega saw the floating platforms swimming. The scarecrow didn’t want her new friend to drown, so she began testing the pool. Picking up a brick, she threw it into the water. Splashing on impact, the brick sank until it was an indiscernible fog in the water.

Similarly, she saw the door to the outside was also underwater.

“Okay… what to do-do?” Scoping her entire education for an answer, she pounded her palm with her fist.

“I got it! Booze!” What Vega was really meaning was related to the book Rural Commodities, the one she had read in Core Civitus. One of its sections was dedicated to distillation, the separation of pure elements via boiling and condensation. And the operating room resembled that of a distiller, with pumps and chambers to separate water.

Hoping from platform to platform, she hoped that there would be a boiler. Looking into one chamber, she discovered a pit full of coals.

“Boing go!” She said, now striking the metal wall to create sparks. Originally these pipes connected to a hypocaust, a room for central heating. Due to the destruction of the city, the pipes shattered and fell into the pool. After a few strikes and adding some tinder, the coals started to warm.

“Time to make booze!” She shouted, now tying together pipes to both pump water out of the room and to send burning heat into the pool. Within minutes and a fire burning red hot, the room steamed up with sewer water.

“Yeah! Hey buddy, I’m getting ya out of here!” The Snake Skin didn’t respond.

“Dude?”

Nothing.

“Don’t ya want to… go home or something?” She called out. Vega waited. And waited. And waited until the water was all gone. Vega climbed the steps to the eyes of the being. No response.

Now opening the door to the outside, it was a lush meadow with tall flowers. Vega smiled and grew, happy to be in the song of nature once again. But as she turned to her new friend, their faces weren't excited. All that Vega could see was an expressionless gaze. No happiness, no pain. Like a night with no moon or stars, simply an empty dark.

“Follow me. Let me show ya wonderful things. Like bugs and the dew on the grass!” Vega tugged the Snake Skin to enjoy the world around it.

No awe.

“Look around. The tree-trees and the birds sing to us!”

This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

No amazement.

“...Look… can ya look? Can ya do that? Can’t ya see the beauty around ya?” Vega raised her voice to the Snake Skin, in a belief that if she tried hard enough, that they would realize the world was right there. That if she helped them to really know what was there, that their chained curiosity would be escaped from their prison and love what it missed.

Nothing.

“...Are ya okay? Where are ya parents?” Vega wasn’t smiling anymore. The Snake Skin was only looking down. Not looking down at the flying mosquitoes, or the imprints in the dirt. It was only looking at nothing.

“Do ya have anyone?” Her voice was clear, but still anxiousness was apparent. The Snake Skin didn’t act.

The scarecrow held out a hand.

“Don’t ya want to feel?” At that moment, the Snake Skin responded. It nodded no.

“But the world is wonderful. Ya are wonderful.” Vega offered. The Snake Skin refused.

“Maybe… stay here.” The Snake Skin ceased moving and the scarecrow raced back to the city. Five minutes later, she came back with her guitar.

“Hello. I brought-brought something. Something that means a lot to me.” She sat down beside the being, who was still looking at nothing.

“My friend Florato taught me a song. I’m no good at it, but-but it sounds really pretty. I want ya to hear it.” Vega strummed her guitar, testing the strings. Tuning one till it sounded correct, Vega began.

Strings cast a thunderous melody, with each break building up tension. Vega took a glance to see if the Snake Skin was engaging with the song. It wasn’t, but that didn't stop Vega from singing.

“My love. The endless line. My love. The expanding line.” While her singing was clear, a few of her notes were off. This made her nervous but she summoned herself to continue.

“But still, I can never reach it. The mountains in the distant plane. The river of the far off plane. My love. The unreachable line. The untouchable lone.” Vega sang, just as her heart pained. With each additional moment, her playing of the guitar grew poorer and poorer.

“But that doesn’t matter” The Snake Skin spoke. Vega’s head jumped upward, now seeing the being looking out to the horizon. He had a raspy speech and it came from the stomach.

“My love. My endless love. My expanding love. It will cross wasteland and valley.” The Snake Skin sank down and sat beside Vega, now admiring all that it could sense. Vega envied that look. The look a person has when all of life and experience in a singular moment was acknowledged as good and all the past was justified.

All the happenings and events lead up to this lonely joy, therefore all that pain was worth it.

“I love the horizon. The horizon. For all things I love lie beside it.”

The two joined in song. A bloodied monster and a disturbed scarecrow melded together. Chirps from the birds high in the sky added to the somber strums and strings. The Snake Skin laid his head on the shoulder of Vega. In that moment, I know, there was peace made.

A union of vulgarity and tranquility.

“My love. I wish to rest beside you…”

As Vega finished the song, she realized she closed her eyes as the Snake Skin rested. Opening them, she saw that the Snake Skin was no longer moving. He had passed. I assure you my dear student, he died happy.

The scarecrow couldn’t know that. Vega gained an awful emotion.

She became sad that the ghost died without listening to a good song. Then she was happy immediately after since she believed that the Snake Skin would met Recor in heaven. All she could do was believe.

When making his grave, she noticed an odd burn on him. A brand was on his hand. It was a rough cant that had read…

“A Snake Skin, created by Ani Arma.

Made from the body of a dead soldier.

To the Iozian reading this, may your life be short and wisdom forever unattainable.”

Vega remembered the name, spoken when she first entered into Core Civitus. Upon completing the burial, she knew she had to speak to Bolato.

The people were pleased with the entertainment, as was Florato. It had only been roughly thirty minutes of playing the twin flutes, but her body grew tired.

“Thank you, we never knew that spirits had the company of tribals, thank you!” The priest shook her hand fiercely which caught Florato off guard.

“Y-yes. Yeah I get that a lot.” Florato said while wiping her hand off her sleeve.

“Florato! I’m back-back!” Vega shouted as she raced up the hill towards the group. Florato took this as an opportunity to leave the company of the eccentric priest and booked it to the scarecrow.

“There you are, what happened?” Florato gave a quick hug to her and tapped her guitar to sense any defect.

“I found a dead guy!”

“...right.” Florato’s forehead went purple for a moment and she started to sway side to side. The actress managed to stabilize her stance. “And what did that have to do with the guitar?”

“I played a song for him because he wasn’t feeling anything.”

“Dead…people tend to not do that.” Florato patted the head of Vega, who then promptly put her head on her chest.

“Hey priest, did ya tell her that Recor loves her?”

“You know it!” The priest snapped both his fingers to Vega. “Let us rejoice at all around us, on this beauteous evening, underneath the sure protection of the ancient scarecrow. Let's worship!” The crowd followed the priest who then lead a quick but uncomfortable service.

Although being called a spirit, Vega didn’t feel very holy. She didn’t help the Snake Skin be happy. And now he was gone. She failed.

Now with the service finished, Vega stepped beside Bolato. He was counting slowly the amount of coins to put into a bag.

“Twenty, twenty one…” The soldier counted.

“What are ya doing?” Vega lowered her eyes to the coins. Bolato grabbed the coins and placed them in a bag. He looked at the now sleeping Skaldi and wondered how he would react about giving away their money. Bolato didn’t want to find out, and so he tossed the bag to the priest.

“In that is about twenty five gold coins. You and your people take a day or two to pack up your things and head up north. There's a town in that direction. Use that money wisely, you got that?” The priest nodded and summoned the crowd to their particular duties.

When Bolato went to step on to the wagon, Vega tugged on his shirt.

“Bolato… can I ask ya something?” Vega said with her eyes looking at the ground. The soldier knew the tone, the one that called for sincerity and honesty.

“What is it? Are you alright?” Florato was just a few feet behind the scarecrow and approached the two.

“Have ya ever killed anyone Bolato?” Vega spoke with convention, with her desire for knowledge driving her voice to speak.

“Sadly yes, and for all the wrong reasons.” Bolato closed his eyes and his brows bent down. But he lifted his eyes to the listeners. “But don’t let death stop you from doing what needs to be done.” He proclaimed, half to reassure himself and Florato. Bolato didn’t say this for Vega.

The soldier mounted onto the wagon and waved the crowd goodbye. Vega waved the city goodbye.

“Bye Jin! I hope I see ya again.” Vega reclined on his seat, right next to Skaldi. He looked very cozy in his blanket. She wondered how it felt, to go to sleep.

Vega’s curiosity was challenged that day. It almost died, with her perhaps choosing that not learning would prevent that odd feeling she had when knowing about tragedy. Maybe going to the voice was a bad thing, maybe that would be her doom. Despite the assault on her persona, she didn’t relent. The Priest spoke that for every great injustice there are thousands of tiny goods that are unnoticed.

If you don’t go out and seek and promote happiness, eventually it will cease and you will no longer be able to find it. Like a dried up vein of ore, you must constantly fight and dig for your treasured love.

You must reach out and engage with the everyday good. That is what encourages people to be good. Because being good is a choice and an easy one.

The Priest took a moment to think on how to deliver the lesson to Vega. And I must say, he did it quite eloquently.

“If you dare drop your pickaxe, if you give up, you forfeit everything above the stars and lose the world’s grand bounty.”

A howling wind bristled past her. Her eyes went humanoid.

The voice came back to Vega. It was no longer crying for help. It was now singing, seducing her to come closer. This enchanting voice reassured her. Vega felt reassured, like a child resting in the lap of a parent. That she was making progress. That she was good.

Vega couldn’t refuse, she didn’t want to stop helping this weird world that she kept living in. She wouldn’t give the chance up. Her eyes returned.

“...thank ya.” Vega muttered out to the starless sky, believing that the voice would hear it.

But for now, Vega felt she should take a break. Not by drawing or playing cards. She took another look at the sleeping elf and turned to see Florato was also taking a nap. This gave her an idea.

The scarecrow went to bed.