Chapter 71: Heart vs Heart!

Spiraling up in a rainbow air, Vega arrived at a place she had not been before. Like soaring through an unknown sky, the scarecrow felt freed from all that had contained her. The Voice, her insecurities, and herself. Whatever that would come her way, she wouldn’t let anymore fears and worries stop her.

“WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE-”

And she was going to have a lot of fun.

Happening in the speed of a snap, Vega found herself not flying but falling. More specifically, falling into a tangible place unlike all the things before. And she was falling rather fast.

“Oh fuck-” Slamming head first into pile of debris, she sent fragments of stone and papers flying. Having to dig herself out of the new place she was in, she swung her pickaxe wildly until she popped out of the top of the pile.

“...Where-where am I?” Vega stopped her swinging and her jaw dropped. A new obstacle, no. Nor was it the temple she had entered into.

The walls lined with black stones, shelves that stacked high with books filling them to the brim. Where she had landed was indeed books in various stages of decomposition and treatment, with some of the pillars that held up the ceiling having collapsed a long time ago. Cracks and scars on the floor, some of them opening to show a strange scene. And strangely, Vega could feel air coming from those openings.

Choosing to slide down the pile of books like a total badass, Vega went to the opening in the floor. Feeling the wind become stronger and stronger, she had to brace herself by going low to the ground to avoid getting blown away. Crawling to the edge of the opening, Vega saw something very few beings had seen.

“...Wait… this can’t… oh. Holy fuck.” What she was seeing was Uvi Jantok. ALL of Uvi Jantok, from five hundred feet in the air. So, you know, not the average and at least a little different. “WOOOO! I’m on top-top of the world!”

This view included a couple other things. Right now it was nighttime, with the moon shining down light to the whole city. Also, might be of more importance, there seemed to be a fire going on at the docks. Well, not just one fire, but like a pretty big one.

“Oh my-my.” Vega got up carefully, wondering how she was going to get back down. Afterall, she didn’t exactly like being so high in the sky. Rubbing her chin for a moment, she got an idea. “Maybe if I aim-aim for the bushes…”

“CURSES!” A voice yelled from behind her, before a shower of books and pebbles hit Vega’s back. Looking around to see a dust cloud emerge from out the pile she landed on, Vega knew who it was.

“Krimm? I thought ya just disappeared!” Running up to the top, Vega stood over her, seeing that she was squashed and stuck.

“A little help here?” Krimm reached out her hand which Vega grabbed onto and hoisted up and out. Patting all over herself to clean the dust from her armor, Krimm began to take in where she was at. “...What the fuck is this piece of shit?”

“Krimm. Be nice-nice.”

“Sorry, but I just got flung through a rainbow, so I’m not exactly in a kind mood. Anyway, where are we?” Krimm crouched down and picked up a few sheets of paper, most of them written in Tripolian but a few in Iozian. Some of them were bound to rotting bits of leather, likely book covers.

“Yep-yep. We’re in a big ole library.”

“Not just any library. That’s for damn sure.” Krimm kicked away the papers and circled around the pile she was on.

“Hey, don’t be disrespect-pectful of the library!” Vega flicked Krimm’s forehead, causing her to reconsider her harsh actions. “It’s trying its best, okay?”

“Alright, whatever. Just… let’s get out of here. I… I just don’t want to be here is all.” Krimm looked up to the ceiling, seeing that the very roof was barely holding together, with cracks of moonlight breaking through like droplets of water. She wasn’t lying about not wanting to be there, but there was more to it. She wanted to be safe. To be secure. Not to feel cold.

“Hold on. We’re not done here.” Vega tugged on Krimm’s shoulder, pointing down at what initially seemed to be another unremarkable pile of rubbish. But with a few seconds of examination, and Krimm’s waning patience, they saw a stone staircase. Sure, practically buried under thousands of papers, but it was there.

“Huh. So this is the home that voice was talking about.” Krimm held onto Vega’s wrist, gently walking her towards the staircase. “...at least you have a home.”

“...No. This isn’t my home. This is a memory I don’t belong-long to.” She knew she was close, close to pushing Krimm over the edge. That here, in this decaying place high in the heavens, they could finally unite.

Right now, she needed to find what Soul Gem Kaliber had been hinting at. If she could find it, then that might be a game changer.

As they began to march down the stairs with accelerating pace, Vega thought on what had been written in the inscription. Another construct? One that’s waiting for her? Maybe she might not end up alone after all. Perhaps there was someone who could explain things.

Perhaps she didn’t need things to be explained. For at least this day, Vega had enough of truth and history.

She wished, for once in a long time, to be left alone with her thoughts.

Seeing Krimm at her side, it made her wonder how alone Krimm really was. There wasn’t anyone like her, no one who could explain what she was going through or how she should respond to it. In a way, Krimm had every right to be spiteful and bitter.

But then a fucking again, does being bitter justify murdering people? Speaking of which…

“Hey Krimm, what do ya usually do in ya free-free time?” Vega asked, wanting to know more about Krimm than genocide of people and dead lovers.

“I dunno, sleep, eat… I sometimes like to listen to leaves falling. Why do you ask?” She scratched the back of her head, not really understanding why Vega was interested in the mundane parts of her life. At least the mundane parts that remained.

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“Well, since ya are still technically kidnapping me, I thought it would be nice to prepare and all. But since ya I literally can’t sleep or eat, I can’t really do that.” Vega said, making Krimm laugh at how absurd Vega’s very existence was.

“Hah! That’s a shame really. You can cry and somehow blink, but tasting an apple or resting in a cool pillow isn’t a possibility. Kinda sucks.”

“Not really. It’s not that I really lost anything, I never had a sense of taste-taste to begin with. Besides… I also like the sounds of leaves. They sound funny. Hehehe.” Vega couldn’t wait to hear some normal rhythms, hopefully some with actual life in them.

“...huh…” Stopping on the staircase, Krimm decided to think about what Vega was saying, to give her the chance that Vega had provided for herself.

Not really having a home. Not having a sense of taste. Not having a sense of self worth. Those were all things Vega had, Krimm knew. She doubted not that Vega was good, well meaning, and kind. Nor did she wonder the reason why Ani Arma tormented her in her mind. What she marveled at was a curious thing. A scarecrow that wished to sing.

Sitting down and resting her hand on her hand, Krimm thought all that had happened to be a little funny. And a little sad. And perhaps, a little inspiring.

Despite all that had been inflicted onto her, Vega wished to sing, to smile, and to save. Yes, Vega had not suffered the loss of a lover or the loss of a people that Krimm had been subjected to. However, it would be remiss to say that Vega had some type of immunity to emotional agony.

“Ya alright Krimm?” The scarecrow sat down beside the fairy, gently resting her head on her shoulder. She wasn’t pushy or annoying or didn’t want Krimm to shut her up. She wanted to make sure Krimm was alright. “Take ya time. We both kinda went through a lot-lot.”

“If you call an entire emotional journey through some unpleasent memories, then yeah. We went through a lot.” Krimm rested on Vega’s head, not noticing that she was appreciating it. She just didn’t want to feel cold again.

“Sorry if I made it hard.”

“Nah it’s alright. It’s actually the opposite. It’s just… I haven’t met someone like you in a while. And… I think if I had met you a heck of a lot early, I might be happier with the person I am today. Right now… I don’t fucking know what to do.” Leaning her head on Vega's Krimm closed her eyes, trying to calm her heart, frustrated at herself.

“Yeah ya do! Ya are gonna kidnap me, take me to Ani Arma, and then do some random experiments and stuff. Hopefully non creepy ones, cause I don’t have any-anything down there, and I’m underage.”

“No. I have no clue what Ani is planning but no...that’s not what I’m talking about.” Opening her eyes and brushing Vega aside, Krimm took a look up at where they had came from. Wind blew through the holes of the tower, making the many papers and books rain down like paper snow. “I don’t think I’ll kidnap you. I… don’t know.”

“What are ya talking about?”

“...after I lost Kalio… I lost. I lost it. I lost everything. I lost… myself. And I don’t know what I’m going to do with myself because everything I do ends up like some fucked up joke.” Krimm shot up and paced around, raging at how her life had gone, before lowering her head down. “Hah, kinda like me… I just wished I met you earlier so I could have lived a life worth living.”

“Krimm… ya are a huge idiot.”

“The hell you say?”

“Girl, ya are acting like ya weren’t going through a whole bunch of stuff, to put it in the most mild-mild of terms.”

“The word mild does not do it justice, but go off I guess.”

“Krimm, don’t act like ya were in con-control. Your people faced the Iozians, one of the greatest conquering people in the continents, there’s nothing ya could have done or foreseen.” Waving her hands down at Uvi Jantok, Krimm could see how large and powerful Iozia was. This gigantic city, full of people living their lives, that helped to put into perspective what Krimm faced all those years ago.

“Yeah… I guess I couldn’t really fight back.”

“Fight back?! Krimm, there was barely a fight. Plus, don’t act like ya weren’t manipulated.”

“What are yo-”

“Ani Arma is playing you. And he’s trying to play me.” Throwing her hands up and balling them into fists, Vega unleashed a torrent of her anger at Ani, wanting to illustrate how despicable he is to Krimm. “He saw a young girl in distress and hurting and thought ‘I’m gonna make her a killer’! Doesn’t that seem odd? Especially since ya are a fairy and have powers most people can only dream of?”

“...right…” Putting two and two together, Krimm was getting at what Vega was saying. She couldn’t be fully responsible and blame herself for all that had happened. “...right…he’s-”

“A CLOD! A cruel prick that deserves none of our sympathy or loyalty? Sounds about right.” Flipping off the sky in a vain attempt to flip off Ani Arma, Vega could not give a rat’s ass about him. If anything, she wanted Krimm to be mad, to be upset with him.

But instead, Krimm was mad at herself.

“...still… I can’t help but to think it’s all over. My life… over. I needed someone like you. I’m… nothing without anyone else.” Krimm didn’t feel strong enough, hugging herself once more to feel any type of warmth. Only the cold grip Ani Arma had on her was all that she could feel. But nearby, she felt the faint waves of a fire, a fire of friendship that Vega was kindling.

“Krimm… I don’t know a lot-lot.” Tugging on her forearm, Vega smiled at Krimm while pulling forward, continuing down the steps. Vega didn’t know how to communicate what she wanted to say to Vega, not having a way to put Krimm back together so easily.

“That’s also putting it mildly.” Krimm snickered slightly before she pulled away from Vega, only looking down at the steps. The wind lessened a bit, and the falling papers ceased, leaving them both alone in the tower’s dark.

“Yeah, yeah, I know. What I’m saying is that ya were betrayed. Someone who claimed to be your friend-friend was really your enslaver. In a literal sense, sure, but also in-in that nasty mental sense.”

As they descended down, a great chasm in the tower revealed the stars of the night sky, which only Vega stopped to look at. Right then and there, green streaks fell across the night sky, distant meteors burning up in the atmosphere. A destructive power blowing up into magnificent brilliance.

“Krimm, look. The stars…” The scarecrow pointed. The fairy didn’t want to look.

“...Vega… things can’t change now. No matter how it happened, what… Ani…” Barely able to continue, Krimm was on the brink. On the brink of knowing how attainable it really was, a life unchained. A belief unbound, that she could exist without someone else’s orders. That she could be herself instead of someone else’s.

Far below, as they disputed what their futures could be, Vega could see fires. Fires ignited not to warm or to comfort, but to burn. Faint, sure, but ones that if left alone, would consume all of Uvi Jantok.

Not only this, but the ships docked all around, and exiting them like a terrible plague, were the Tripolians. Clashing in battlelines, the sounds of death and war were fast approaching.

Her friends were there. The people she wished to protect were there. Her destination, Kaliber’s secrets, and her future was there. All of them were in threat.

Now or never. Vega understood that scarecrows don’t tend to have much effect on the world, or simply aren’t strong enough to defend an entire city.

But she wasn’t some scarecrow. She was the scarecrow. And scarecrows that needed help. And needed to help.

“Krimm… the time is now. I am Vega. Who are you going to be?”