The small town of Galance was a peaceful place along the River Brave. Despite being on the King’s Road, it had managed to escape the growth and overcrowding that many of the towns had succumbed to. Less than fifty buildings stood in the town’s limits and all of them crowded around the city square where the main road passed through.
The party passed through the square on their way to Pierro’s and saw the merchant’s carts. Many were selling the bounties of the nearby forest with fruits and the meat of wild game being abundant. Children ran through the streets with sticks and balls and the gentle murmuring of the river could be heard over the quiet sounds of the town milling about.
Passing through the town, the trio eventually pulled up to an exceptional house. Not exceptional due to it’s size but due to its construction. Though it was a simple two story house, several additions had been made on either side to add a rather large workshop and an open forge. Where there would normally be ceramic shingles were plates of a brass metal with electricity arcing from one corner to the next. The brickwork was precise and symmetrical with the blocks all seemingly the same size. It was far from the cobbled together rocks and stones that comprised most of the homes Sera had seen.
The sounds of hammering from the forge greeted them as they made their way towards the front door. It was unlike any door that Sera had seen, having no handle nor window to see through. From the ceiling there hung a length of brass pipe that eventually ended in a large, flanged end like a funnel.
As if it was to be expected, Anjelica walked up to the flanged end and began to speak with strong enunciation and volume into the pipe.
“Pierro! Put down whatever farcical thing that you are working on and come engage in a social life!” Anjelica shouted.
There is a brief pause before a buzzing noise is heard. A mechanical whirring starts from the door before it swung inwards in an invitation to enter.
Entering into the house felt like passing into some other world to Sera. Pink light flooded the room from lamps filled with burning chunks of bloodstone where electricity crackled and arced off of the interior of the glass. A wide foyer stretched out before them filled with a large table made for many people and luxurious looking chairs of soft wool. The entirety of the chairs and table were covered in books both closed and open, scrawled notes, bits and pieces of metal, and tools. His work had long overtaken the surfaces available to him and so the notes had crept up onto the walls which were similarly covered. Tiny flying contraptions whizzed and whirred around the room to small stations where they would deposit whatever small pieces of metal they could find to containers near the ceiling attached to a track which ran the whole length of the house. A small locomotive pumping magenta smoke would pass by and add the containers to its cargo before chugging off to another part of the house. On the left side of the room a hallway stretched to the back of the house but to the right were several stairs that led up to a kitchen area. Sera noticed that off to the right side, the stairs had been leveled and a small ramp had been constructed.
Sera gasped at the splendor of the machinery with an awed expression.
“One man did all of this?” Sera asked.
“Well I certainly had some help along the way!” A shrill voice called out from the back of the kitchen. The small form of Pierro emerged from the metal door of his workshop as it swung shut behind him with a thud and a hiss. Pierro was short but mostly on account of his legs which twisted and turned like meandering rivers. He had two canes which he had fastened to his forearms that he used to help him walk. His blonde hair was receding but certainly still there and combed over to cover what it could. He had a round face with chubby cheeks and a wide nose with a dull point. His brow hung heavy over eyes that seemed to bulge out a bit from his face. He was smiling as he took the last few steps with his cane towards a new contraption.
This looked like a chair to Sera’s eyes, with wagon wheels set into either side of it. Thick cushions rested on the seat and back. Metal pipes and workings ran up and along the sides of the chair. Two armrests were covered in buttons, switches, and dials in a confusing arrangement much like the controls to the carriage. As Pierro sat, he turned a dial on the right armrest and the chair shook. He pushed forward on one of the levers and the chair began to move forward. Pink smoke shot out of pipes either on the back or sides of the chair as Pierro maneuvered across the room and down the ramp to the foyer to join them.
“As you can see, I am not much for physical activity. Many hands have laid the foundation for this place and the work that I do. Not to mention the bloodstone that the Church provides to me as fuel and the metal that my Fledge forges. You are most welcome here, friends!” Pierro explained as he drew nearer.
“I see that your housekeeping is still the best on this side of the river!” Anjelica chimed.
“I requested a house maid as a Fledge but they sent me a blacksmith instead! If you have a problem with the state of my house then please lodge your complaints with the Internal Bureau!” Pierro responded while chuckling, “Though it seems that nowadays the Internal Bureau is lodging complaints against you two.”
A look was shared between Anjelica and Hound of serious consideration before Hound turned to Sera.
“We are planning on helping out with the cooking but we have quite a bit to talk about with Pierro. Would you mind going and introducing yourself to his Fledge while we get organized here?” Hound asked.
“Her name is Marina and she is about your age. She will be out at the forge as usual!” Pierro added with amusement.
“Will it be long before we eat?” Sera said with a bit of annoyance at the grumbling of her stomach.
“Well dinner gets pushed back every second that we spend discussing how long it will be until dinner is ready so…” Anjelica trailed off.
Sera, knowing that Anjelica would just make snide remarks until she complied, decided to just do as she was asked. She exited back out the front door and headed towards the forge and the sounds of hammering.
Sera was surprised to see that the forge was rather simply made compared to the rest of the house. There was an awning that hung over top of the work area that still had the sparking brass shingles but everything else was plain. The forge was made from cobbled stones and mud climbed up and above the awning to drop pink smoke out of the chimney. The coke of the forge was filled with fistful sized chunks of bloodstone that shined with heat. Barrels of water and oil lined the exterior. Next to the main beam in the center there was a heavy iron anvil. Hammers, spikes, and chisels had been nailed up into the central post for easy access while working.
Sparks flew off of the surface of the anvil as a hammer was slammed down and retracted by a powerful arm.
The woman working the anvil was huge. Tall and wide with the thick corded muscles only hard work like smithing can give, the woman wiped her brow and looked up at Sera as she approached. Her skin was of a deep brown color and her eyes were a stunning sky blue.
“If you are looking for nails or horseshoes then I have sold my quota for the week. You will have to go speak to Torlund in town and see if he can fill your order,” she said with a gruff voice.
“Oh! No, I was just going to introduce myself! My name is Sera and you are Pierro’s Fledge right?” Sera said with a bit of nervousness.
“That would be the rumor. Name’s Marina. Charmed I am sure,” Marina said with a roll of her eyes. She then immediately picked up the tongs and shoved the piece of steel that she was working back into the forge.
“Well I did not mean to be a bother…” Sera squeaked out.
Marina raised an eyebrow but continued about her business.
“Do I seem bothered?”
“Well you are just being very short with me and I feel like it is a struggle to capture your attention,” Sera answers.
“On the contrary you have most of my attention. I thought that they chose people for their qualifications and not for their red locks and pretty face?” Marina said with a snide grin.
Sera was taken aback by the underhanded compliment.
“Well I was not chosen in the normal way and even if I was it would have nothing to do with my hair!” Sera snapped out.
“Why not?” Marina asked, “I have spent 18 years on this earth and never seen anyone with hair the color of copper wire!”
“Well then you have not traveled very far!” Sera stammered.
“Oh? So where exactly can I find this land where everyone has copper hair hm? I traveled all the way north through the Ebon sea and across this country and still never seen anyone like you.”
“Why does any of that matter?” Sera asked quizzically.
“It means that you are unique! Just like a sword. I wonder what purpose God has forged you for? Maybe it is simply to tempt me away from my work?” Marina chuckled as the hammer came down onto the orange metal, flattening it further.
“Well what is your work anyways?”
“I make the parts that Pierro requires for his machines. It takes a master smithy to be able to make the delicate pieces and an inordinate amount of time to pour the casts for his clockwork gears. So the Church trained and provided me. Young, strong, and with smithing literally in my blood,” As Marina finished speaking, she set down her tools for just a moment. Pulling up her long shirt sleeve revealed a magenta colored clot on the back of her arm. It was not more than a second before the sleeve fell over it and Marina moved back to her tools once more.
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“You almost sound unhappy about it?”
“It is just the way of things. They gave me this clot with this job in mind and so in some ways I think that I am fulfilling God’s plan for me,” Marina explained.
“What about in other ways?” Sera pressed.
“In other ways, eventually Pierro will be gone and I will still be here. The things that he makes here are wondrous. If you have been inside then you have only seen a fraction of it. He has plans for flying machines, gates that can open by themselves, elevators to scale cliffs…All of it lives and dies in his workshop. One day I will be able to take everything that I have learned here to a big city. A good smith can make downright decent money in a city. With that and a bit of ingenuity then the things I see and learn here could really help some people.” Marina sheepishly said, almost as if she had never said the thought aloud.
“So you want to help people…and so you make horse shoes with all your great talent?” Sera questioned.
“Well we can only do what we can. It may seem meager to you but these people need the smithy work.”
“Oh no! Quite to the contrary, I think that it is very admirable. I used to live on a farm far outside of town and I think we would have killed to have someone like you less than a day’s ride away. Although you must always question exceptional blacksmiths as they might have been chosen purely because of their striking blue eyes!” Sera jested back.
“So you are clever after all?” Marina said with a smile.
“On occasion. I have also been told that I am quite strong and have exceptionally unique hair. It could have been any of those that got me here I suppose!”
Then the pair’s eyes locked for the first time. They were both smiling but there was a certain quality to the look Marina gave her. It was searching and hopeful.
Sera felt a flush come to her face.
Marina then cast her eyes down.
“It is a real shame that you all are just passing through,” Marina added solemnly.
“Well we might be here for a few days! It depends how long this case takes!” Sera chirped.
“If that is the case then maybe…,” Marina began but was cut off by the sound of a steam whistle echoing off Pierro’s roof.
“What does that mean?” Sera questioned as it had cut Marina’s thought short.
“Dinner time. Come on.”
After hanging her tools up, Marina began to lead Sera around the side of the house and into the front door once more.
The two enter and they see Anjelica and Hound at the long kitchen counter already setting about preparing meat and vegetables for the meal.
“Hello you two! I assume that you are both getting on famously?” Anjelica yelled across the room.
“Well we barely got a chance to talk to each other!” Sera lamented as she came up to the counter to see how she could assist Anjelica.
As they ascended the steps, there came a hissing from the air locked door down to the basement. Pierro appears from the door once more with a haphazardly held bag of potatoes in one hand as he tries to navigate with his cane in the other. Marina quickly runs over and takes the bag from him.
“Oh thank you dear,” Pierro said as he clambered onto his chair.
“Well you were certainly down there for long enough!” Anjelica says sarcastically, “Maybe now we can get closer to dinner?”
“Science cannot often wait, Anjelica!” Pierro said as he wheeled himself over to the counter. WIth a press of a button his chair raised up slightly so he could work more easily at the counter.
At Anjelica’s behest, the group sets to work. Eventually a fine stew is presented with vegetables and bone broth. It takes them yet more time to clear off space to eat at the long table. By the time that the conversation died down and the food had reached its end, night had fallen over Galante.
As Marina went back out to the forge to finish her work for the evening and Anjelica fixed up the rooms with Hound’s help, Sera and Pierro found themselves working together to clean the massive amount of dishes the night had created.
Sera dove her hands into the soapy water retrieving a plate and handed it to Pierro who accepted it with a toweled hand and began to dry it.
“Anjelica and Hound seem quite taken with you, Sera,” Pierro begins.
“Well I am glad for that! It would be quite unfortunate if my traveling companions began to dislike me!” Sera added through chuckles.
“Yes…very unfortunate indeed. Is it misfortune that brought your paths together?” Pierro asked curiously.
“In a way I suppose you could say that. It was misfortune that gave me my clot but it was fortunate that they came upon me. Who knows what would have happened if I were still out there on my own?” Sera chimes.
“So you got your clot by chance instead of choice?”
“Well I certainly did not ask for any of this,” Sera replies curtly.
Pierro stops for just a moment. His eyes looked far past Sera and into the past.
“I am so sorry my dear. This curse is something that I would never wish on anyone. If these clots are pieces of God then they only prove his cruelty.”
“Well I would not say that! People use their clots for all sorts of good things as well right? You and your work, Marina and her smithing, and us making sure the villages are safe.”
“We would never need people like Hound and Anjelica if we were not doomed to this existence,” Pierro retorted, “Does the good outweigh the bad? Even if one of us spent our whole lives using our power for good then it could all be undone by one rampage of our demonic selves. We are forced to use our clots to survive which brings us closer to our death. The death of who we think we are if not the true death. There are babies being born today who will spend their whole lives with that burden. Babies just like you.”
Pierro trails off for a moment, collecting his thoughts.
“We have wonders the likes of which we could never imagine but it brings out the worst in people. Even people like us, try as we might. One day I hope that science and ingenuity will help us to break free from that cycle. That is really what all of my work here is about…” Pierro is cut off by Sera.
“Then you have to keep doing the work,” Sera says as she clenches her fists against the counter. “Everywhere that we go people look at us like WE are the monsters. Anjelica and Hound grew up in the Church and they do not see the looks that people give them anymore. The wide berth that the crowd gives us in the street. I still remember what it was like to be a normal person and I would give anything to be able to be one again. So you have to keep going. If you think that your work can save us from this then you have to do whatever you have to. No matter what gets in your way you have to find the answers. I know that none of us are smart enough to find the answer but you just might be, Pierro.”
“Sera…,” Pierro begins with a bit of shock but then smiles and begins to dry the plate in his hand again, “You remind me of an old friend. I think she would have agreed with you wholeheartedly.”
The pair finished up the dishes before Pierro showed her to a guest room. It was small but tidy with a down bed. A squat metal brazier flamed with magenta light as it heated a large pot of water sitting atop it. There was a large tub in one corner of the room next to a full standing mirror.
Pierro sighed.
“I gave you my favorite room so that you will feel as comfortable as possible. I have some more preparations to make for tomorrow. Is there anything else that I could get you?” Pierro asked. His eyes were kind.
“Oh most certainly. Thank you Pierro!” Sera chimed.
The chair rolled back and the door was pulled shut.
Sera, left alone now, felt a calm come over her. She was in a house. Safe. There was nothing but comfort and security waiting for her here.
She took her time pouring about half of the water from the pot into the tub. Sheets of steam rolled off of the surface of the water.
I certainly do not want to boil alive though, she thought as she decided to give it some time to cool down.
Piece by piece, she began to pull the pieces of her outfit off. Sweat and dirt had worked their way deep into the fibers and made her feel like she was peeling the clothes off of herself. The leather cuirass was laid across the bed above the boots deposited on the floor. Shirts, underwear, socks, and pants were thrown into a pile near the bath to be washed after she was done.
Sera looked down in disgust as she could actually see the line where her dirty hands gave way to the more clean forearms that had been protected by her shirt.
If that is how my hands look then I cannot imagine what my hair looks like.
She examined herself in the mirror. She had seen her own face a few times in the reflections of streams and fine metals but the full length mirror felt very different. Her hair was a dirty mess and her curls still sat tucked against her head due to the consistent ponytail she had to wear for her work. Her hazel eyes betrayed a deep tiredness and her sunkissed forehead spoke of many hours on the road. Her freckles had darkened across her forehead and cheeks. In the mirror her hands looked far worse as the small scars and divots were visible and stood pale amidst the dirt. A long scar ran across the front of her left thigh from her first encounter with a demon. Where the bear’s claws had sunk in there were long, ghastly reminders that peeked out across her lower ribs. Even during her time on the farm she had been a careful worker and so injuries were few and far between. Now her skin was pocked with small cuts, blemishes, and bruises.
“Well Sera. The road has not treated you well,” She mused in an attempt to cheer herself up.
Turning away from the mirror she moved to the tub. Lowering herself into the steamy water made her feel like all of the pains and soreness of the road faded away into the warmth of the water. She sank down to her neck and rested her head against the edge of the basin. Sera began to sink into that comfortable space between waking and dreaming before it was interrupted.
“I remember this room,” a soft, feminine voice said from over her shoulder.
Sera whipped around to find the source of the voice but found only an empty room illuminated by magenta light.
“What the fuck?” she called out but of course the room did not reply.
Her restful state having been interrupted, she quickly climbed out of the bath. Pulling the drain caused the water to flow into a drain in the floor. She shambled around the room collecting her clothes to wash them.
As she walked, one of her steps connected with something sharp. She exclaimed in pain and looked down to see a small dribble of blood flowing from the bottom of her foot. She searched for the culprit and saw a shimmer of metallic sheen resting inside the floor. .
Grabbing hold of the object and yanking at it, she dislodged it from its resting place jammed between two floorboards.
In her hand was a pewter model of a crane much like the one that Anjelica had upon their meeting. It was ornate and carefully carved but the hard edges were worn down smooth from years of handling. Its beak dripped with Sera’s blood.