The Box of Traps and Treasures
I was given a puzzle box.
A box of rods and gears.
With a wood varnish that
Haven't been touched in years.
Any time I tried to open this box
I end up leaving it where it stands
Because every time I try to use force
A hidden blade cuts my hands.
"The box is magical,"
The merchant's pitch was strong.
She sold it to me
After I spent my time in the Falls too long.
"It is said to repair holes,"
"And find what they lost,"
"But once you find their answer,"
"There will be a big cost."
"Anything this box has I'll use,"
I told the merchant with glee.
And the next thing I knew
I awoke with the box near the metal hanging tree.
Someone wants the box
Will it give them hope or dread?
The box the woman of emerald sold me.
As she dug it into my head.
Kokoro Culture Festival Day 2: Evening
"Ok, they must of put something weird in that curry," Eddy resolved placing his palm against his head. The gang made an attempt to clean up Sayori's room after lunch, however with no power came with it slow progress. When the power came back an hour after they started the cleanup, Eddy had a terrible sinking feeling in his gut. He started sweating and he had to bow out of the effort. A panic started when Eddy started breathing heavily and shake.
"D-do you need to go to the bathroom?" Sayori asked in a worried tone throwing a blanket over the immigrant. She then sat next to him on the couch in the living room. "You look really pale."
"No," Eddy stammered slumping over with clenched fists. "I-If I rest it goes away on its own."
"Do you need to see somebody?" Sado asked returning to the living room with a water glass and pain medicine. He also had a manila colored folder that he rested on the coffee table. Sayori turned her eyes to it in interest.
"Like I said this doesn't happen all the time," Eddy's breath was staggered as he plucked the white capsules from his rival's palm. "Thanks Sado." With a swig from the glass the pills disappeared with a light gulp.
This is not good. Monika thought trying to find some way to assist the ailing kid. After some debate she decided to just try to rub Eddy's lower back. Something changed in the script. I can feel it. If this is a mod, it definitely isn't subtle in event handling. She glanced at Takeshi or rather the gray thing under his tie. Sado doesn't seem to be speeding through frames to a decision. This must be an unique experience. She then eyed her VP. And if it was a larger event cascade, Sayori would have been affected by it too. No, this only involves the kid and in some extension me as well. I better check out his address when I get a chance. "Sayori, don't you have a guest bedroom he can use to try and sleep?" Monika poked the sentient cinnamon bun.
"Ah!" Sayori yelped startled. "Sorry I got distracted, It's the door after the bathroom upstairs."
"My house is nearby," Eddy mumbled. "I could take a bath, that usually works too."
"You're not walking outside like this," Sado firmly put his foot down. "I won't allow it."
"Yeah, even if you did make it home, what if your condition gets worse?" Sayori's eyes wavered as her mind ran a thousand outcomes neither of them ending up wholesome.
Eddy's chin rested on his chest. The pills were taking the edge off but this was still the worse he felt in a while. Eddy was alone if he just up and went home. Damn panic attacks He thought glancing into the Genki girl's sky blue eyes. "That's a good question," He spoke softly after a small droop of his head.
"It's settled then, you'll stay the night here. If you are up to it you, Takeshi, and Sayori will head to the school together in the morning," Monika planned.
"I have industrial watch 5 to 7 tomorrow morning, it's more or less looking for things," Eddy rubbed his eyes. "If I play my cards right, I may not even need to leave the truck."
"You need to feed the bird tomorrow?" Sado looked up.
"No thank god," Eddy waved off the thought, the blanket covering him bellowing outward. A burning sensation grew in his back. He tried his best to ignore it but rubbing the palm of his left hand with his right thumb. "I can barely keep my food down now. Much less watching that thing tear into cow carcass."
"I don't know what people see in Amagumo," Monika blurted out. "To me it seems kind of creepy that everyone just sort of accepts that we have a giant eagle flying around destroying overhead lines now."
"I dunno," Sayori mused. "I think Ama-chan is kind of cute in a cosmic sort of way, and it's better than having to deal with Stormchaser." Eddy and Sado nodded in agreement.
"Speaking of dealing with things," Eddy pointed to the folder with a pained shiver. "What's the deal with that?"
"I found it poking out from under the dryer," Sado answered rubbing his chin. "Nearly slid on it trying to find the vacuum. Have you seen it before Sayori?"
"Not recently, I would of tripped on it myself much earlier," Sayori slid the folder closer to her reach. With a light flip the folder opened to yellowed sheets of printer paper. On the first page was a nearly faded blue stamp. The stamp was a box with the words, "Belongs to:" followed by a blank line underneath. The pages afterwards had odd drawings of dissected objects with lines pointing to prominent pieces of the drawing with instructions. References to Sado and Sayori were in these instructions. Like "Sado, hold this side up while I screw in the gear," and "Sayori don't touch this while it's running you'll get burned."
"Who's the "I" in this?" Eddy asked intrigued. These looks like blueprints for Scams. He thought as the two childhood friends looked at each other in thought. They didn't have an answer for this. The folder gave more pages of cryptic plans until Sayori's eyes light up in delight.
"Hey! This one looks like Mr. Rabbit!" Sayori smiled.
"It does, doesn't it?" Takeshi had a light smile form.
Eddy and Monika looked at each other then back to the folder. The page referenced was a cross-section of patchwork in the shape of a floppy eared bunny in a sun dress.
"I know what this folder is! I'll be right back!" Sayori bounced up off the couch and sped up the stairs to her room. Eddy gingerly slid the folder to him. Monika craned her neck over the boy's shoulder to to read. 3 more pages of blueprints followed until the end of the folder. The back of the folder had pen writing on it.
"A poem?" Monika asked to no one in particular. Eddy and Sado looked down to the folder.
Little girl, little girl
Little girl of sand.
I made your arms out of twigs.
So they can hold your hand.
Little girl, little girl
Little girl of clay.
I made your legs out of metal scrap.
So you can play all day.
Little girl, little girl
Little girl of string.
I fixed buttons for your eyes
Great beauty they will bring.
Little girl, little girl
Little girl of stone
I brought you with all your friends
So you'll never be alone.
Little girl, little girl
Little girl in the rain
I made all these friends for you
Why do you still feel pain?
Little girl, little girl
Back to the bench I go
When I make the perfect friend
I'll be back to let you know
Little girl, little boy
Sayori and Sado
Hold on to this until I return
With love, Nanako
Eddy's mind flowed with a strange sense of nostalgia. He thought back to when his scam book was just a few leaflets. These small leaflets formed as a result from his first real scam. The Bottomless Ed.
...
Eddy(RM Recording Transcript): Truth be told The Bottomless Ed was not really a scam in any real sense of the word. It was created more as a test on my new friend's strength than any monetary value but if I could snag a few jawbreakers for the work why not right? It was simple, a mere 25 cents(System equivalence) and you get to see a 5 year old kid eat a television whole. Anyone would pay 25 cents to see a 5 year old eat a television whole, hell I would pay top dollar now to watch someone eat a television whole! All the scams I made back then were simple, I was never one for actually tinkering with things. So the technical aspects of my scams were basically: 1. Have Ed(Name not in system) do something, and 2. Money. Knowing what I know now the Bottomless Ed failed because of a pigeon's (RM Reference - Scammer slang: Customer of lower street intelligence than the average intelligence of the Scammer Trifecta) need for "plausibility". The only customer we got was disgusted by the show and didn't cough up the dough. That aspect was a failure but it did create an opportune encounter with our much needed brain(RM Reference – Scammer slang: The Architect of a Scam idea) of the Trifecta. With Edd, all the pieces had fallen into place. All I needed was the perfect idea.
…
ADDRESS COPIED TO -Unknown-
ADDRESS CLEANUP COMPLETE
…
The feeling of nostalgia disappeared as soon as it appeared. Eddy's breathing has returned to normal. The shaking, headache, and sinking feeling all dissipated as well. Eddy was a little confused about all this.
Note to self: Read the expiry date when you make anything in Sayori's house. Monica shivered reading from the error codes. That ham was old enough to learn to talk.
A series of loud rustling noises from Sayori's room startles the group."You alright?" Eddy yelled upstairs.
"Just a little digging that's all," Sayori called out with a hint of defeatism. "You're right Takeshi, I do need to clear this cabinet out."
"Thank you for finally acknowledging it," Sado smiled contently. Eddy laughed.
"Nanako seemed to be very well educated for someone so young." Monika remarked handing the folder back to Sado.
"I wouldn't say she was really young. She's only a year younger than Sayori, so that would have made her eleven when she went away," Sado mused.
"She meant that Nanako seems very smart despite being eleven at the time," Eddy clarified.
"R-right," Sado looked embarrassed. "She was the smart one in our trio. Always had something brewing in her head whenever we hung out together. Whether it was a new toy we needed to get parts for, or a new path in the woods she wanted to explore."
"Why put in all this effort for toys?" Eddy asked. "Seems to me it would have been easier just to scrounge money together to buy toys."
"I kind of agree with you, Nanako and Sayori were friends before I met them and they were making toys before that," Sado rubbed his chin.
"Maybe it was a sentimental thing." Monika chirped softly.
"Sentimental?" Eddy asked turning back to face his president.
"Sometimes buying something is not enough," Monika thought out loud out loud after a few minutes of rustling. "Maybe Nanako believed that making something with people she loved meant more than buying that thing in the store. Anyone can just buy a toy, not everyone has the drive to plan, gather supplies, and build one with their friends."
Eddy couldn't help but feel a little warm inside. Switch toys with fleecing and she would have been talking about us. He thought pridefully but was brought back to reality by Reformation. No she probably hates Scammers. She seems like the type of girl who doesn't give the time of day to people who try to manipulate people. Wouldn't really blame her though.
"I found it!" Sayori cheered holding up a framed photo. She went down the stairs and presented it. The photo contained three figures. Just by initial observation Sado is in the middle of the frame. His hair was shorter and he had a couple band-aids on his face and arms. He wore a dirty white shirt, brown cargo shorts, black-red sneakers, and a mischievous smirk. He was holding hands with the girl on the left. Younger Sayori had longer hair and had band-aids on her arms as well. She wore a pink dress and black running shoes. Her eyes seemed to shine as she gave a mirthful smile. She was carrying a small rabbit doll that looked like it was stitched together with many scraps of found fabric. The doll had button eyes and a yellow shirt. The girl on the right was a little taller than the other two. She had straight black hair that went pass her shoulders. She was pulling back her bangs back with her hands. She had a rounded face with a tan complexion to her skin. She wore a black T-shirt, silver shorts and no shoes or socks. A prominent description the girl had was her eyes. She had Heterochromia, one eye was blue and the other eye golden. She had a look of surprise, like the photo was taken faster than she thought it should.
Eddy noticed something odd in the photo but couldn't place what it was.
"That's a good photo of us," Takeshi remarked.
"It's pretty much the only photo of her left." Sayori added warmly. "I'm glad it's still in good shape."
"Takeshi said you and Nanako were friends before he joined your group," Monika recalled leafing through the folder again in respect for the mysterious girl's ingenuity. "How did you and Nanako meet?"
Sayori's eyes lowered as if she was debating herself. She took a seat next to Eddy and with a sigh she began, "When I was 8, a typhoon hit the town in the middle of the night. No one got hurt by the storm or anything, but there were a lot of damages because of the rain the storm brought with it. The riverbed wasn't deep enough yet to handle the excess water so it flooded the Industrial District and half of South Market. It came too fast for some people to get out of the way in time and a lot of them became trapped even after the storm passed. Daddy had a boat, so he, Keichi, and I took it over to the Industrial District to help get people out. First trip out on the boat we saved 5 people, Second trip out: 7. By the third outing the Rumor Mill had enough boats in circulation that we didn't have to continue if we didn't want to. Daddy wanted to though, he was a very compassionate man. We rowed through the side of the riverbed on Stormchaser's side and came upon a small shack half submerged in the river. Keichi said that he heard crying coming from that shack. Daddy brought the boat closer and there was, so we whistled a nearby trawler. It was then that I started hearing a strange creaking sound coming from underneath the shack. Keichi must have heard it too. Without even a glance in our direction he jumps out of the boat and swam to the shack scaring us half to death. Minutes pass and the sounds were getting worse. Keichi reappears in the river with a girl on his back. The trawler we whistled was able to net him out of the water. Daddy rowed down to the search boat as a horrible scrapping noise broke from the shack. The river dragged the shack out of its support and slammed the structure into the supports of Tower 4 a mile downstream. We only knew this from the Mill, we didn't see what happened to the shack afterwards. Daddy was furious when he reached the trawler. That fury didn't last as we saw Keichi try to console the little girl in his arms. She looked like she was dressed in a potato bag and her body was covered in deep bruises and bite marks. She was attacked by a Coral Breaker before getting trapped in the shack. She was expression-less and felt cold to the touch. We dressed her wounds and tried to get her to talk, but nothing came out except What is my name? Everything we asked her she would answer with that." Sayori seemed to be struggling to speak as she tried rubbing her neck. A series of coughs came out.
"Don't force it," Sado got up and ran into the kitchen.
"You did really good on that," Eddy said patting Sayori on the head. "Exposition is hard to do in your condition."
Sayori and Monika looked at Eddy in confusion but this mutual expression was dropped when Sado returned with a cup of ice chips.
"Here, this should help your throat," Sado sounded like a nurturing father.
"T-thank you," Sayori winced. She grabbed a few and popped them into her mouth.
"Denski coming in clutch!" Eddy pointed to Sado with a grin.
"It sounds like you're feeling better as well," Sado remarked smiling at his friend's gesture. Sayori nodded in agreement. Eddy scratched the back of his head his grin wavering in the spotlight.
"L-like I said," Eddy looked to Monika for a few seconds then turned back. "I bounce back pretty fast."
Why did he do that? Monika thought as she turned her eyes away from the conversation. And why does that comment about exposition feel familiar to me? I'm reading too much into this. He probably meant it as a joke.
"That's good to hear," Sayori rubbed Eddy's head with a playful giggle. "I can't let one of my heroes get hurt if I can help it."
"H-hero?" Eddy asked a blush appearing in his cheeks. "I wouldn't really call myself a hero, I was just in the right place. Anyone would of done the same thing in a situation like that."
"Anyone didn't save my life, you did," Sayori smiled as a tear fell down her cheek. She pulled the Ed-boy into an embrace. She rubbed her cheek against Eddy's hair. Eddy quickly heated up as his blush grew deeply. "You are a hero, don't let anyone tell you otherwise."
As if the guilt I already have is painful enough the mod developer wants to twist the knife. I see how it is. I'm not looking at this. Monika switched her gaze to Sado. He was smiling but he had a dark look in his eyes. His hands were clenched into fists. Monika began hearing a deep piercing noise slowly rise in pitch in her head as the grey thing started to disintegrate.
No no no no please don't leave! Monika screamed in her head as her vision started to tunnel.
The gray thing disappeared from Sado's chest in a cloud of dust.
"No don't leave please!" Monika yelled out gripping her head in fear. Everyone jumped up in surprise. "I'm sorry! I'll make this right my love!"
The world blacked out around her.
Don't take me back there! I love you!
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