Chapter 2: The Lady in Orange
The man nosedived to the ground. The spot he was standing on seconds before was piled on by a plethora of rocks, blocking the entire entryway. Not going there anytime soon.
Our hero in blue was under the effects of an adrenaline rush holding onto the stone steps with hypered breaths, fearing if he'd ever let go death would take him at last. After some time, the fast-paced breathing began to slow inviting a new found calmness in him. The man opened his eyes to observe where he was.
Colorful stands filled with dirty clothes, wooden toys, and faded paintings left abandoned. Small houses; walls constructed from stone and roofs woven from straw, overtaken by the vines of Mother Nature, claiming her rightful place. A long path of dirt; narrowed by a concrete sidewalk, the marks of boots and horseshoes littering the road like trash; The previous residents still leaving their mark after they were gone. Lastly a white water fountain stands in the center, water not haven been flowing from the spout in some time. If the man didn't know any better, he would've guessed that this is the town square. Or at least what's left of it.
The man stood up on his feet, dusting the blue shirt of the dust from the previous dive. He saw two ways that the dirt track could take him: One leading to the left, the other to the right. The sword wielder walked forwards, not stopping until he was in the middle of the dirt road.
Now was a turning point, literally. The man needed to choose which path to take. Either direction could possibly lead him to civilization, but can easily make him more lost than he already was. The left side had large damaged structures that were in the distance, leading him further into the town. Over on the right, there were pink flowers and tall green grass, with some rabbits munching on some berries. There was nothing noteworthy except a floating castle in the sky, but that's about it. He could check town square, but it might a waste of time, not to mention-
Wait. FLOATING CASTILE IN THE SKY!?
The hero thought his eyes betrayed him, but there it was, a castle of what it appears to be made of glass is standing upon a small black landmass, hovering far away in the sky, like a remote island standing adrift in the middle of a barren ocean, with the clouds, keeping the lonely fortress company.
Forget the left path, flying castles in the sky will beat desolate buildings any day of the week. The man ran towards the right, in hopes to get a closer look at this interesting spectacle. Our hero was spiriting over a small hill before stopping in his tracks, his boots, inches away from a cliff. "Woah!" the sword wielder said, being surprised that the road ends here. Looking down, no land was visible except a handful of floating boulders, only the abyss of light blue sky, seemingly stretching forever.
What is this place?! Was this even real? It can't be, this defies the laws of physics. This must be a dream, but it feels all too real. What is happening?
The man's breathing began to quicken again, feeling distress from the situation at hand, his eyes darting to the island and the empty chasm repeatedly.
No. Stay calm, nothing would come from panicking. Just breathe, and focus on what's important at hand. He was beginning to relax, kicking fear and shock from the driver seat, letting calmness and logic at the wheel instead.
Alright, the man can still see the floating landmass, while it does seem to be an object of importance, there is no way to reach the flying fortress, so all that leaves is the left path. He gives the glass castle one more glance, sighing before walking back on the dirt road.
Unlike the island, these destroyed towers were able to be reached. Wasn't much of an accomplishment on his part. However, these buildings were more ruined than the small houses in town square. Each structure had at least a huge chunk of it missing, some missing entire floors-their tops being exposed to the fresh air.
Up on ahead, the man saw a large Rectangular archway, it seemed to be constructed from something brown and shiny (most likely copper). There was also a thick metal gate connected under the arch, rust covering the entirety of the bars from years of corrosion and underuse.
He walked at a faster pace until he was in front of the giant archway. The sword wielder tried to crouch down and lift the metal gate, hoping to raise it up with raw strength alone granting him a passage out of here. The fighter attempted to heave the rusted bars over his head, but despite his best efforts it wouldn't budge.
Giving up, our hero stood up, tried to look through the railing, scanning anything of importance on the other side. Connected to the archway was a long wide copper bridge extending for at least a mile. At the end of this bridge was another large landmass, similar to the one he's on right now.
The most interesting part though, was a lady in orange slumped against the wall inside the left corner of the gate. "There is someone here!" The man said to himself, surprised that he wasn't the only sign of life around here. The women in question had brown hair that draped over her shoulders, wore a bright orange shirt while also sporting black boots and gloves-certain parts of it glowed with a cyan hue. There was also a strange device on her right arm, its design was cylinder in nature; with an opening on top of the gadget.
The most eye-catching feature about her was the familiar black strap wrapped around her waist. There was a word written on the buckle.
Mii.
The man grabs his own sash, examining it. These two belts are exactly alike. This couldn't be a coincidence, she must be related to him somehow, perhaps a fellow soldier? Or maybe even a family member?
That thought will have to wait later, she needs help. "Miss are you alright?" The man said to the girl, who is still sleeping soundly. "Miss, please wake up!" he shouted "I need to talk to you!" No matter how loud he yelled, she wouldn't wake up.
The hero needs to get to her, there must be something around here that might help. The sword wielder looked around the arch, and over on the right abutment, there was a silvery circle with a small hole in the middle. Our hero in blue examined the circle, and saw a trail of scratched beneath the circle. Looking down, he saw a tiny trench sprinkled with silver dust, leading to the right side of the foundation. Something was dragged through here.
The man followed the trail, unsheathing his sword in hand just in case. He found an old wooden shack right up against the pillar, a clear contrast from the marvelous copper giant. The silver trail went into the cabin, with no other lead the sword fighter approached the hut and cautiously opened the door, preparing to attack just in case.
The room was grey and quite plain, there were only a few items in the room: a grimy stove, a stained bed, and medium bookcase, the books covered with dust and cobwebs.
The trail ends here, whatever he's looking for has got to be around here something. Whatever 'it' was. The man checked inside the stove, but only saw was more grime. He then walked over to the bed, lifting up the mattress. However, all he found were a couple of coins and some lint. That only leaves the bookcase, the fighter advanced towards the grave of books, please let there be something here…..Bingo!
Hidden behind the books on the lower shelf, he saw something shiny, and what appears to be made of silver. Our hero in blue tore the times that were blocking his prize from their resting place. What was hidden behind the novels, volumes, and story books, lied a bright silver valve handle.
It appears that he'd found what he was looking for, the man put the sword back in the scabbard and grabbed the handle with both hands, now he can get to the girl. The fighter was about to leave when his eyes saw a small drawing, which was previously covered by the silver valve, it seemed to be painstakingly sketched in the ancient wood. There was a picture of an equilateral triangle, with a symbol on each corner: A gun on the bottom-left, a sword on the bottom-right, and a clenched fist on the top.
Underneath the diagram was an outline of a hand, traced with white chalk. On the palm, something large was written upon it, the handwriting was messy and uneven. Whoever wrote this was either in a hurry, or a terribly bad writer. It was barely legible, but he able to read the entire message, what was scribbled on the wood was:
DO NOT LET THE WHITE BEAST GET HIS FINGERS ON 'THE TRIO OF MANY FACES' FOR IF HE SHALL, HIS CRYSTALLIZED RAGE AND TEARS WILL OVERTAKE THE LAND. INVITING A DARKNESS THAT WILL CORRUPT THE WORLD FOREVER -FW
What did this mean? Who is this 'white beast'? What is 'The Three of Many Faces'? Never mind, there are much more important things to do right now, like saving that girl. He grabbed onto the handle and walked towards the exit, sparing one last glimpse at the bookcase, before hurrying out the door.
The man was turning the valve wheel that was now attached to the copper wall, despite the gate being rusted to hell, it is still in functioning condition. After the bars were fully raised up to the top, the man ran to the unconscious girl, shaking her to wake up. "Wake up, Wake up, for the love of god wake up!" The man pleaded to the unconscious women.
She began to slowly open her eyelids wide open. The first thing the lady saw was a man with deep blue eyes, carrying a sword pointed near the female. "Oh thank god! You're alright!" said the swordfighter, before being sucker punched in the face by the awakened lass, her left arm making perfect contact with his cheek bone.
The hero fell on his stomach, being met with the unforgiving floor. "Oh no! I am so sorry!" cried the women who came to the fallen hero's aide. "Ow, what was that for?" said the man now caressing the left side of his head. "I didn't mean to, I thought you were trying to hurt me" The woman regretted her actions. "Are you okay? I didn't hurt you that much, did I?"
"It's fine, I'll live." The sword wielder stood up, still holding his cheek "Are you okay though? You were unconscious by that spot when I came here." He pointed to the wall that the girl was sleeping previously before. The lady turned her head towards the empty corner, and looked back at the man again.
"Um, yeah I'm fine, just a bit surprised is all. It's nothing to worry about…" The woman trailed off, looking all around the location. Feeling nervous from a sense of unfamiliarity with her surroundings, the orange broad asked the guy in blue a question.
"What…where am I, how did I get here?"
"Don't know, when I woke up, I found myself in this strange place, just like you."
The color drained from the woman's face, feeling more agitated, she wrapped her arms around her torso for comfort. The lady however, felt something bulky and cold against her chest. Looking down, the girl saw a strange gadget encapsulating her right arm.
She shrieked to the dismay of the man, who is currently shielding his ears to prevent hearing damage. "GET IT OFF, GET IT OFF, GET IT OFF!" the woman screamed, frantically trying to free her hand from the device. "
"STOP!" the man shouted, the lady stopping in place from the volume of his voice "Just calm down, alright." The sword wielder continued "Panicking will make everything worse, can you uh…tell me your name?"
The girl calmed down a little, but was still under distress "I, don't know. I can't remember who I am." "It's fine, I can't remember my name either. Just take a breath, nothing is going to hurt you."
The broad followed the guy's advice, feeling much relaxed she had someone to talk to. "Can I see your arm?" Said the fighter in blue "I can try to take it off."
"Oh, of course" The lady showed the man her right arm, to which he carefully examined. There doesn't seem to be a latch, a button, or anything on the device that would release her hand from the contraption.
"Sorry but, there's no way I can see that can remove this from your arm, but we'll find a way. I promise." The girl felt disappointed, she won't be getting the infernal machine off her anytime soon, but at least she wasn't alone in this.
"Hold on a second, there is something written on here." Said the sword wielder, who just found a word imprinted under the gadget.
"Really? What does it say?" replied the woman.
"Let see here." The man said-narrowing his eyes onto the tiny print. "It says: Gunner."
"Hey, I see something written on your weapon as well." The girl said, who pointed to the handle of his sword. The man looked at his sword, to which he unsheathe. Bringing the bladed instrument to his eyes for a closer view. Indeed there was a word on the grip of his sword; Swordfighter.
Was that their names? If that's the case, it'll be a much better name than Mii. "You said that you can't remember your name, correct?" The hero in blue asked the lady in orange.
"Yeah?" replied the confused woman.
"Well why don't we make up some names for ourselves. How about… I'll be "Swordfighter" and you can be Gunner. What do you say?" The man said with a smile on his face.
The broad grinned with delight. "I would love that."
"Okay, we why don't we introduce ourselves. Hello there" He raised his hand. "My name is swordfighter, it's nice to meet you."
The gal decided to play along, "Hi there Swordfighter. My name is Gunner, it's nice to meet you too." She grasped his hand, to which they did a firm but playful handshake.
Despite the severity and awkwardness of the situation, they managed to both laugh.
"Hey, want to stick together? After all, two heads are better than one." Said Swordfighter.
"You know what, that sounds like a great idea." Replied Gunner.
They began to walk onto the copper bridge, but unknown to them, there something was watching them behind one of the buildings, after the two were out of sight, it sunk back into the shadows, before teleporting elsewhere.