This chapter, though fun, was also really difficult to write. There's a reason why I switched to making manga, cause I've never been good with describing things with words...but I did my best with this chapter! As well, due to the massive lack of feedback on chpt 5, you guys made it plain and simple that you wanted more Orianna in this fanfic. So I've decided to change switching between characters every chapter. Instead, I'm going to do 2 Chapters focusing around Orianna and Mykale, for every 1 Chapter focusing around either Rona or Mykale. So yes, the next chapter is going to be the continuation of this story. I've got alot planned for this, so just know that not everything in this place is what it seems. :D...too much spoiler?...ok, i'll stop.
Chapter 6: The Clocktower (Part 1)
I felt my body falling through the air. My eyes were closed, so I couldn't see what was happening. I wanted to open them, but it was like I wasn't in control of my own body. The cold wind hit my skin like water, but I didn't shiver. Nothing I tried to do worked. Was I paralyzed or something?
Before long, I started to slow in my decent. I became much lighter. My body began to move on it's own, moving my feet under me. I felt dirt and grass touch the bottom of my bare feet.
My eyes finally opened. I was met with the image of a grassy plain as far and wide as the eyes could see. The tall grass swayed beautifully in the wind. I knew for a fact that where I was, wasn't real. I had always been good at figuring out I was dreaming while I was still in the dream. The surreal feeling always gave it away for me.
Within moments, I saw an image in the distance. Then, I saw two images. When they came into view, I saw that it was the image of a boy and a little girl. The boy was definitely older than the girl. The two of them danced around in the grass, holding each other's hands and laughing.
My eyes grew wide as I instantly recognized the two of them. I felt my stomach begin to churn. I couldn't smile for the two of them. I would of loved nothing more than to look away at that moment, but I was still not in control of myself.
"...Jenny…" I said under baited breath.
I watched as the little girl started to slow down. She looked to be in pain, as she grabbed her chest. She started coughing heavily, so much so that she coughed up blood. I watched in shame as the young boy just stood there...unsure of what to do. He wanted to help, but he didn't know how.
I wanted to cry out to him to do something, ANYTHING, but no sound came from my voice. I wanted to run over to her, and help her myself, but my body refused.
I watched as the girl fell to the ground, slowly dying. All while the boy still just stood there, too panicked to do anything. All he could do was shout the girls name...over...and over...and over.
I tried with everything I had to move. I strained and pulled at my muscles, but they just wouldn't respond. I gritted my teeth so hard, I thought I would break them. In the back of my mind, I think I knew it was pointless.
I watched as the world around me began to slowly fade away. The grass blew away into the darkness. In a moment, all that was left In front of me was the little girl, laying on the ground motionless. My heart sank along with the rest of this world. I was helpless to do anything. All I could do was stand and watch.
"...no...NO...STOP IT! STOP IIIIIIIIIIITTT!" I screamed as I was finally able to close my eyes again.
I threw my body up, screaming at the top of my lungs. I could tell right away that I was somewhere else as I felt the hard platform under me. I also knew that I wasn't laying down just a second ago. I let my hands feel around me, attempting to identify where I was.
I felt a warm blanket over my legs, as well as over the platform I was on. If this was a bed, then I could only imagine who slept here. I gradually started to open my eyes. A bright light instantly beamed through the crack in my eyelids, causing me to squint. I covered my face with my hand, letting my vision adjust. It didn't take too long before I was able to fully open them and see where I was.
My mouth dropped as all around me I saw gadgets. Mechanical parts, strewn all about the room I was in. A large machine laid in the corner. It looked like a kind of furnace. In the middle of the room was a workbench. I could tell it had been used several times, and recently too. Corks, screws, bolts, scraps of metal, all laid unorganized on it. Whoever worked in here definitely didn't know how to pick up after themselves.
I looked down at where I was laying. I wasn't exactly sure what It was I was sitting on besides just a regular metal platform, but I knew for a fact that it wasn't comfortable. Aside from that, the only thing else in the room was just a few shelves, some tool chests, a large metal door, and other various things. Only one window was in the room, but that was enough to let the sun brighten up the entire place.
I threw the covers off myself, and swung my legs around to the floor, completely forgetting about the little charade that happened recently. I quickly grabbed my chest as it started surging with pain. I looked down at my body, just now realizing that I was shirtless, and having even more bandages wrapped around me then what I had before I got slashed.
"Nghh, I got cut up pretty badly, didn't I?" I said to myself.
Did Orianna patch me up? If so, then this was some pretty impressive work from a robot. I mean, it was alot better than what Rona did, that's for sure. I touched the spot where the blades had cut, causing me to flinch from the pain. The wound was still tender, so I haven't been out for long. Maybe a day at the most. Honestly though, the main question that thrived in my mind after all that happened in the past couple days, was why the heck I was still alive.
I threw my head up, looking around the room, for some reason thinking that I might see the mechanical girl. I don't know what I expected to see, having already done an analysis on the area just minutes ago. However, to my surprise, the door to the room started to slowly creak open. I jumped from the sound at first, but quickly adjusted myself.
I watched the door, expecting a Robot Lady to walk through, but no one came. I sat there for a bit, confused. There wasn't ghosts here were there? I really didn't want there to be ghosts here. That was the last thing I needed right now.
I felt something tug on my pant leg. An instant shiver went down my spine. I looked to the ground next to my foot. A tiny little robot sat there, looking at me, still clinging to my leg. It looked like some kind of monkey with wheels, but I honestly had no idea what it was supposed to be. The thing whirred it's gears at me.
"Um...hello there." I said.
The little machines head extended itself out of the body, raising up to eye level with me. Glowing blue eyes scanned me from head to toe. I inadvertently covered my bandaged chest. After about a minute of being scanned, the mini robots head quickly lowered back into it's body.
The thing gave a buzz, letting it's tiny chomper arm's clamp down a few times. Whether or not that was a sign of approval, I had no idea. Without hesitation the monkey bot started moving towards the door. I watched, unsure of what to do. After the thing stopped and turned back around to look at me, I realized that he wanted me to follow him.
"Uh...ok." I said as I got up off of the bed.
I staggered a bit when the blood started rushing to my head. I definitely stood up way too fast. I got my composure before proceeding to follow the little robot out of the room. I was hoping I would find some kind of shirt along the way. Wasn't too keen on walking around an unknown place with nothing but bandages covering my chest.
I followed the little machine out of the room. I hadn't really anticipated what would be outside yet, but I prefered the surprise. It's a good thing that I didn't get my hopes up though, cause all that the room led to was a long, dark hallway.
"Hm, this is typical" I remarked.
The little monkey bot continued down the hallway, and I followed after him. He moved surprisingly fast for his size. I was really curious who actually made him. Did some crazy inventor live here or something? Maybe...maybe whoever it is, made Orianna too.
The hallway began to get larger and larger. We had yet to pass any other rooms along the way, so I was really curious where this thing led to. Not a moment after I said that, a large metal door shone at the end of the hall. At both sides of it sat statues of knights. Were we in some kind of castle? From what I had seen so far, those looked really out of place.
The little robot proceeded to roll up to the door. I stopped, expecting him to open it. However, instead of doing that, he opened a tiny door that laid hidden pretty well inside the actual door. I watched dumbfounded as the mini bot left me without a word
"Uhhh...what...the heck." I said.
I waited in awkward silence. I jumped a bit as I heard gears and cogs begin to start up. Dust began falling off the door. I could tell it hadn't been used much. With a creak, the door cracked open. I waited, expecting it to open all the way, but it stopped right at a slight crack. The gears and cogs slowly came to a stop. I stood there for a while, hesitant to do anything.
"Well, this is disconcerting." I remarked again.
I slowly reached for the handle. My fingers tingled as the cold sensation of the metal touched my skin. It caused my body to shiver. With a heavy grunt, I pulled on the door as hard as I could. Turns out, it was a lot lighter than I thought. The door flung open so fast, that I lost grip of it, and it smashed against the wall, just missing the statue.
"Oh, uh...hehe, oops." I said, scratching the back of my hair.
As soon as I caught glimpse of what was on the other side of the door, my attention was completely redirected. My eyes grew wide as I stepped through into the massive room in front of me.
Tall pillars of metal and clockwork lined the corridor. The floor was made of a sleek stone slab. The bright light shone from the beautifully crafted glass ceiling. All along the walls hung hundreds of random machines. If I even attempted to describe all of them, we'd be here all day. Every single one of them were so different. All around me even more machines stood. Some were even moving around.
Alot of the machines reminded me of animals. I saw some that looked like deer, bears, dogs, various birds. All of them seemed to contain some semblance of an animal. Others looked to be a mix of several different animals. Then there were a few here and there that didn't look like anything at all. They were just giant blobs of parts that somehow managed to move around.
"HO-LY CRAP! This is...this is amazing!" I exclaimed with excitement.
I was in such awe of everything around me, I almost didn't notice the familiar little monkey robot roll up to me. He whirred his gears again, motioning for me to keep following him. I was very hesitant, I mean, can you blame me? Who would want to leave a room as amazing as this!?
I nodded my head as I began following the tiny machine again, still taking in everything. A few of the robots seemed to be communicating with each other. I couldn't even begin to understand what they were saying. Did robot's really have a language of their own? Because if so, THAN THAT'S FREAKIN AWESOME!
A few of the other robots seemed to take notice of me. Some of them looked at me with a curious expression. Other looked at me as if they wanted to gouge my eyes out. Then there were the ones that acted like I didn't exist. Either way, I attracted quite alot of attention.
"I've never seen so many robot's in one place before. I can only imagine who made them all. They're all so different too." I said.
I noticed out of the corner of my eye, one of the robotic birds was soaring right at me. I managed to duck just in time as the thing flew over my head. It landed on a small handle that jutted out of one of the pillars. The machine cawed with a metallic tone to its voice. I didn't even care that my life may have been in danger there, that was just TOO COOL!
"Man, I could get used to a place like this." I remarked.
I continued to follow the little monkey bot until we got to another metal door on the other side of the room. I watched, expecting it to do the same thing it did before. I was ready for it this time.
Instead, the little robot rolled up to a tiny panel on the bottom end of the door. With gears turning, a chord came out of it's front end, and plugged into the socket under the panel. Im guessing a panel just like this must be on the other door too. Both of them were probably on the inside.
Within seconds, the door began to whir and churn. It cracked open a slight bit, just like the last one. I looked down to the mini machine. He motioned me to open the door. Didn't have to tell me twice, after what I've seen so far, I couldn't wait to see what was on the other side of this door!
With a heave, I opened it up, almost forgetting how light the thing actually was. I was able to notice in time before the handle slipped out of my hand. I breathed a sigh of relief. If the door had slipped, I don't wanna think about how all the robots in here would of reacted!
I let my eyes fall upon the dark room in front of me. I squinted, but I couldn't make out what was inside. I looked back down at the little robot, but he had already gone in. I quickly followed after him. Thanks to the light from the open door, I was able to see the mini machine for a bit, but after I took a few steps in, the door closed itself.
I threw myself around to try and catch the closing door, but I couldn't. I was left in darkness, and I had no idea where that little monkey butt had went. I was only a little panicked, i mean, not like I was scared of the dark or anything…
"Alright buddy, not cool!" I said nervously.
I started feeling the walls around the door in hopes of finding some sort of light switch. All I was feeling was the weird texture of moldy wallpaper. I grabbed onto the handle of the door, and pulled it as hard as I could, but the thing wouldn't budge.
"Well, this is just great!" I complained.
I turned back around in the pitch black room, and tried to make heads or tails of where I was. I knew for a fact that the path was clear in front of me, so I decided to just walk forward until I smacked into something. Not the best strategy, but It was a start.
The room was strangely quiet. I couldn't hear that mangy little robot anymore. I would of thought that this place was super big, but I couldn't even hear the echo of my own footsteps. Maybe there was a bunch of different rooms around me or something.
"Hey, uh...Mr. Robot...dude...you there?" I asked.
I figured that it wouldn't hurt to try and call out the little guy directly. Actually, I should of really tried that earlier. I waited for a bit for a response, and eventually I got it. I heard the whir of little gears turning. I threw my head towards the direction of the sound.
"Hey, is that you?" I asked again.
I instinctively started walking towards the sound, only to run straight into what felt like a table. It's not like I was sprinting though, so it didn't hurt too bad. What kind of room was this exactly? Wait...this couldn't be like...a dungeon of some sort, could it? Was I being locked away in here?
Soon after those thoughts entered my head, I was nearly blinded by a bright light that lit up in the center of the room. I had to cover my eyes to avoid going blind. I barely managed to get a glimpse of anything before I did.
I gradually let my eyes adjust to the light. The room around me began to take shape. The kinda room it was though, I couldn't even begin to guess. The best way I could think of to describe it was that it looked similar to the room I was in when I woke up, just with ALOT more mechanical parts strewn about. If there was ever a room that would be considered a workshop, I'd definitely say this was it.
All around the table and on the floor laid robot parts. Bodies, limbs, heads, and other various pieces that I could only guess what they were. It was a little disconcerting, but kinda fascinating at the same time.
Around the rest of the room I saw about 3 workbenches, the other 2 having tools strewn about them instead of parts. On one side of the room sat a huge furnace. Kinda like what you might see in a blacksmith's shop. I'm assuming whoever worked here must of created some of these parts from scratch. That, or repaired them.
The thing that caught my interest first though was the large metal box in the back of the room. It sat right up next to the wall. It looked so out of place. Intricate designs lined the exterior. I wondered who would go through the time of decorating such a regular box. Unless it was just a huge metal slab...then that'd be even stranger.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the little monkey robot move out from behind the metal box. I wanted to scream out "THERE YOU ARE!" but I was more curious about what he was doing back there.
I watched as the mini machine slowly putted it's way around to the front of the block, and parked itself next to what looked like a little keyhole of some sort. My anticipation began to rise as I saw him insert some kind of object into the slot, and turn it.
Nothing happened at first, but after a few seconds, I heard the sound of gears beginning to turn once again. The box began to open, piece by piece. It was like watching art come to life. Each layer of metal shifting around each other. I stared in awe at the masterpiece infront of me unfolding.
My eyes grew even wider once I saw what was inside the box. The face of a familiar robot shone through the opening. Her brass hair seemed to glisten from the light once it hit it. As the box continued to open, the full figure of the mechanical girl started to come into form.
Once an oval shaped entrance covered the entire front part of the box, it slowed it's gears, and came to a stop. I heard the sound of something being wound up inside of it. With each click that the object made, the metal ladies body seemed to move up a little at a time.
After what seemed like a million clicks, there was complete silence for a while. It only lasted for about 5 seconds though, as I could hear the robotic girls own parts begin to operate. Her eyes opened, revealing the blue glow from them that I recognized all too well.
"Orianna…" I said.
The woman looked at me for a bit, as if she was trying to identify me. That, or she was still waking up and she wasn't actually looking at me at all, I couldn't tell. The girl stood up slowly onto her feet, and stepped out of the compartment she was in. Her body tilted and swayed, but as soon as her feet touched the ground, she arched her back and stood up straight. Her parts all seeming to lock in place.
"Wow...now THAT'S how you make an entrance!" I said with a dorky smile.
Orianna continued to stare at me with a blank expression. It made me wonder if she still remembered me.
"wHy...arE yOu HeRe?…" She asked.
My face fell flat. After all I went through, THAT'S the first thing she says to me? No, "Hello, how are you?". I mean, that little robot dude led me here in the first place. Actually…
I looked around, trying to find that mangy little machine. I spotted him sitting in the same spot I had seen it last, right next to where the keyhole slot was on that box.
"He was actually the one who brought me here." I said, pointing to him.
Orianna's gaze shifted around to the tiny robot. The thing started whirring it's gears in excitement as soon as she made eye contact with it. The metal lady got down on her knees and beckoned the tiny bot to come to her.
Without hesitation, the little machine responded, rolling it's little wheels as fast as it could to the mechanical girl's side. I watched as the woman gently picked up the thing in her palms. She then proceeded to open up a compartment on it's side.
After she turned around, I saw the wind up tool on her back, slowly ticking along like the hands of a clock. I wonder how I didn't notice it until now. I mean, it's not like I didn't see it before, it just blended in so natural with her look that it didn't stand out to me. I honestly thought it was just for decoration, but with how it was moving now, that was probably wrong. I'm guessing that box she was in kept her body in stasis while the tool was wound down, and the sound I heard must of been the thing being wound back up.
I thought back to what the Bounty Hunter had said to me about what Orianna was. I also know what I said, but I still couldn't stop thinking about it. Was this girl really running entirely on programs? I remember when her tone of voice shifted to something natural. It was almost human how she talked there. Was that all just a program too?
I scratched the back of my head in frustration. I've just been asking question after question ever since I met this machine. I wanted to get some answers, but I really wasn't sure if my questions even needed answers. Maybe I should just accept things for how they are...I mean, I doubt the readers would like that, but still...What?...No, I didn't just break the 4th wall again, shut up!
My thoughts drifted to Rona. I was really curious what had happened to her. I haven't seen her in quite some time. She left with that guy...what was his name again?...Corey? Anyway, I hope she was alright with that Deathmage. I really didn't know much about what they are, but just the name alone sounded bad.
I looked back to the mechanical girl. She seemed to be communicating with the little monkey robot. It was like a mix of sign language and weird noises. If that was a language, then I'd love to meet the guy that came up with it. I couldn't help but smile every time I saw this girl interact with another machine.
My thought once again went back to Rona, but this time it was the moment when I found out about Orianna from that book. Rona told me to stay away from her. I was still so confused by that. I mean, I knew she was strong, that was evident from the fight she had with that Bounty Hunter. However, I didn't really feel threatened around her. Even when she was trying to kill me with that ball, I really didn't feel like she wanted to do it. I saw what she was capable of doing, and she could of killed me instantly if she wanted to...but she didn't.
I then thought back to when the Bounty Hunter actually showed up, how she took out Orianna's ball friend. She looked so worried about the thing. Now, I'm no expert on machines, but I'm pretty sure that wasn't a normal reaction for one. Everytime I think about what she's done so far, the more human she looks to me. Yet, looking at her now, she really does look all machine.
I perked up once I realized something.
"Hey, that's right, where is that ball?" I asked under my breathe.
As soon as I thought that, I started to hear something behind me. It was moving fast. I turned around to see the door still closed. Was it outside the room? I turned back around to look at the mechanical girl, incase she had heard the sound. She was still chatting away with the little bot in that weird language they had.
I flinched when I heard the object smash right into the door. Now Orianna noticed it too, finally. She picked up her head, and eyed the door along with me. I waited a bit. Had one of the machines out there gone rogue? It must be the Platypus, he was eyeing me up for the kill before when I was out there, I swear.
"aPpEAr" The metal lady said.
Suddenly, a large metal object popped up out of thin air, right in front of me. As I took a step back, I almost tripped over my own feet. I looked to see the metal ball I was just talking about, hovering in mid air.
"Alright, well, that just happened." I remarked.
The ball gleefully started spinning around once It saw the robot girl. It flew up to her and started rubbing the side of her cheek like a cat. Orianna sat the little monkey bot down before she wrapped her hands around the thing, and started patting it like before. A smile creased over her metal lips.
I noticed that the damage that Bounty hunter had done to the ball was all repaired. The person that made all of those machines out there must of fixed him up. I was really hoping that I could meet this guy.
I smiled after I heard Orianna laugh a metallic laugh from the robotic balls affection. That kind of emotion from her, I've only seen when she was interacting with that thing. It made me really curious what the story was behind the two. Did that same person running this place make both of them just for each other? Either way, it was still amazing to watch them together.
"Hey, uh...Mr. Ball, it's good to see you all fixed up." I said.
Right as I had said that, the ball instantly stopped what it was doing, and turned to face me. It looked shocked to see me there. The thing whirred it's gears at me. I grimaced nervously. I suddenly remember not being too liked by him. The ball took off towards me, and I instinctively covered my face.
I expected to get my gut pummeled into, but I instead got a nice warm rub on my shoulder. I cautiously lowered my hands, confused to see the ball rubbing up against me, the same way he did to the metal girl. I wasn't sure whether I should feel grateful or uncomfortable.
"Um...ok, wasn't expecting that." I remarked.
I shot the mechanical girl a concerned look. I tried to ask "Is he still trying to kill me?" with my eyes. The woman cocked her head to the side.
"hE...ApPreCiaTEs yOu NoW. I iNfoRmEd HiM aBoUt YOuR UnneceSsARy AcTioNs To pROtEct mE." Orianna said.
I was speechless. I honestly didn't think it even mattered to her what I did. She didn't make it seem like that anyway. It made me happy to know that it atleast meant something to her though, as dumb as it was. I couldn't resist grinning a very dorky grin.
"Really? Well, that's good to hear. Glad my stupidity is good for something, haha." I said with a laugh. The robotic girl didn't seem to get the joke, and continued to cock her head at me confused like. I responded by halting my laugh with an awkward cough.
"But, I'm glad I was able to help you like you helped me. Even if it was pointless" I remarked.
Orianna continued to stare at me with the same blank stare that she had always given me. I know she's a robot, and this is probably obvious, but DANG was she hard to read. I still wanted to ask her why she attacked me back there, but trying to find the right time to ask just seemed to get harder and harder.
"Look...I, uh-"
"MyKaLe." The mechanical girl said, cutting me off.
"...uh...yes?" I asked, concerned.
"DeSpiTe WhAT yOu DiD fOR mE, I aM AfrAiD ThIs iS wHeRe wE mUsT pARt WaYs." The woman said.
My eyes grew wide. The ball had already stopped it's rubbing on me, and had returned to the robotic girls side.
"Wait...what? What are you saying? I asked
Orianna narrowed her glowing eyes at me.
"i'M sAYiNg, YoU mUSt LeaVe...NoW!"
TO BE CONTINUED
Thanks for sticking through till the end guys! If you liked this chapter, then please leave a review/follow/favorite, whatever you like. It really helps motivate me to keep writing :D