Chapter Two
The cliff sides that bordered Lahan village were bright and easily visible in the noon sunlight. The clay-colored rocks were flecked gold and crimson veins, providing a delightful accent for the sparse bits of shrubbery that littered the paths. There wasn't a single cloud in the sky, and the high sunlight didn't leave room for nary a shadow.
This was the perfect time of day to encounter beasts, and Fei knew this. However, he had a goal set for himself and did not intend to break it.
Fei encountered a few wolves and hobs on his way through the path, but easily dispatched them with his unsurpassed skill in martial arts. He felt reluctant in taking the life of any living creature, and so he moved with care to avoid most of the creatures as they staked out their midday meal. The hobs, black and orange flecked balls of organic matter, were particularly difficult to avoid.
Soon he made it to a branch in the path, staring up towards the western edge of the cliffs.
"Doc Uzuki's house is over the bridge and up to the north," Fei said aloud to himself, nodding and heading off in the right direction.
Fei passed by a few withering evergreens and towards the familiar, but very worn, wooden bridge that connected to the hills where Dr. Uzuki kept his residence. Fei placed one foot warily in front of the other, hoping that the wind and rain worn planks would hold his prim weight. He made it easily to the other side however, displacing his weight expertly.
A rickety old sign sat precariously near the large boulders that separated Fei from the doc's place. He knew he was close.
Just over the ridge, the orange-flecked rocky cliffs seemed to disappear under a pad of well manicured and maintained lawn and gardens. A low stone fence surrounded the green property, giving it sort of a quaint look without being too repulsive. In the middle of the property sat a brick and steel house that was built into a seashell-like spiraling shape. From the passerby's eye it could be scoffed at for appearing to be hastily and lazily put together, but any true craftsmen would notice that the home had been specifically built for a life high among the cliffs.
The top of the towering stone house petered off into two distinct metal-plated towers. One was equipped with an enormous broadcasting dish, and the other topped with two different kinds of steam chimneys.
Fei didn't even bother knocking as he entered the home's small front door, he was such a familiar guest to the Uzuki's.
"Oh Fei, welcome," said Yui, Citan's wife. She stood in front of their warm fireplace with their younger daughter.
"Hello Yui," replied Fei politely. "Where's doc?"
"My husband is tinkering with his junk out in the backyard."
"I should have guessed! Doesn't he ever get sick of playing with that stuff?"
Yui gave him a pained look, but smiled to mask it.
"Well, okay then, I'll go out into the backyard and see if I can find him."
Fei marched through the back door and into the backyard. A dozen or so blue-feathered chickens separated him from the doc's back shop. Fei thought he had even seen one of the smelly birds in the house.
"Where are you, doc?" Fei called out.
Just as the words escaped his lips, an enormous and frightening explosion rocked the doc's shop.
"W-what's going on?"
"Oh! Oh oh! This is no good! Why do they use such inferior parts? This is why their intervention is strat..."
"Doc! So that's where you were!" Fei yelled.
Citan yelled back. Neither of them considered meeting the other one, either inside or out.
"Oh Fei! Good to see you."
"Are you alright, doc? What are you doing all the way up there?"
"I thought I would try to restore this Land Crab. Oh, and that explosion was nothing to worry about. It happens all the time," Citan said, laughing nervously.
"Could you wait a while? I am just about ready to call it a day. Oh, yes. There is something interesting in the storeroom...Why not take a look?"
"Okay, doc, I will. But please hurry up. It will get dark before you know it," Fei replied.
Fei entered the storeroom. It was a cluttered, musty place that smelled of oil and burned metal. In the middle of the mess was an ornate gold statue, perfectly shaped like a rectangle with an enlarged base. There were ornate designs etched into it, little patterns.
"Oh so this is what the doc was talking about...Let me see what's so interesting about it," Fei said, touching the statue.
It began to open up, and Fei jumped back in surprise. A bright, bone-white angel emerged from the golden box, and the sides folded down, their insides displayed pictures of a heavenly design. A bright sun back-lit the angel's head.
"What is this?" Fei wondered aloud.
The angel began to spin, and a hauntingly beautiful tune slowly began to play. A music box, it's metal tines pinging over a rolling pin that lay somewhere beneath the angel as it spun, brought forth the gorgeous melody. Small pink and white lights gently popped around the angel.
"This music...I've heard it somewhere before," Fei said. He became enraptured by the beauty of the spinning angel. The slow and delightfully sad melody pulled at something deep inside him.
"What do you think? Not bad huh?"
"Doc.."
"Hello again Fei. Sorry to have kept you waiting," said Citan. He walked inside, right up to the statue, the spinning angel.
"Music is a mysterious thing. Sometimes, it makes people remember things they did not expect. Many thoughts, feelings, memories, things almost forgotten. Regardless of whether the listener desires to remember them or not."
"Doc, what is this...?"
"It was excavated from some old ruins, and is still under repair. Obviously it is an audio device of some type. Long ago people would listen to this melody, just as we are doing now. At times they would have been cheered up, while at times the melody would have made them cry."
Fei was silent among the melody.
"By the way, what brings you here today?"
"Oh yeah, that's right! Alice asked me to borrow some camera equipment from you," Fei replied.
"Oh yes. Her wedding is tomorrow. Understood. Well, we had better get that stuff for you then. Oh, and dinner should be ready soon. Would you like to join us?"
"Would I ever! I was hoping you would ask!" Fei exclaimed.
"I still have some cleaning up to do out here. Would you mind giving Midori some company back in the house?"
"Okay. Take your time, doc. I'll go ahead and eat when dinner is ready!"
"Go right ahead," Citan chuckled. "But I will not be held responsible if you get a stomach ache from eating Yui's cooking."
"Doc...I feel so strange when I listen to this music. I feel something warm inside."
"That just may be because you have someone living inside of you...and maybe he too must have liked this music a long time ago before he became a part of you."
Fei mulled over Citan's strange words and began to leave the shop.
"Is Timothy and Alice's wedding really tomorrow?" Citan asked aloud. "It might actually be better to live an ordinary life, in this condition...as a son of man. Well, anyway. I suppose I had better adjust the gyro, at least."
The song began to wind down.
"Huh?"
The angel shook violently, then burst into a thousand shards of white fragment.
"This cannot be. Is this...Is this an omen? Now, what is going to happen?"
"That was good!" Fei said happily, clutching his belly. "Your cooking never fails to impress me, Yui! Thank you for such a delicious meal!"
Fei made his way towards the door, the family following him in step. The warmly decorated but humble home was easy to get used to, and Fei found himself just a tad envious of Citan's wife and her ability to really turn a house into a home.
"You're welcome," said Yui. "If you like my cooking that much, then I'd be happy to cook for you anytime, Fei!"
"I will bring the equipment you need to the village tomorrow morning, myself. It does not exactly make me feel comfortable to have you handle such delicate instruments, I am afraid!" Chuckled Citan.
"Where have I heard that line before?" Fei said, scratching his chin. "That's alright by me...Well, see you tomorrow, doc! Good night Yui and Midori!"
"Good night," said Yui. "We're looking forward to tomorrow's wedding."
Midori remained silent, clutching at her mother's skirts.
Fei left, a smile on his face and warmth in his belly.
"Well, good night doc."
"Yes, good night," said Citan.
"Oh, Fei! Please be careful. I mean...the path is dangerous when it's so dark."
"What's wrong doc? There is nothing to worry about! Well, anyway, I'll see you tomorrow," Fei said, at set off back down the path, this time in darkness.
Fei made his way down. As soon as his feet touched the bridge, a violent shaking erupted throughout the cliffs. Fei looked on in alarm as menacing mechanical beasts roared overhead, heading towards Lahan.
"Giants...?"
"Fei!" Citan called.
"Doc! Some flying objects went toward Lahan!"
"So you saw them too! Judging by their shadows, they appear to be a group of Gears from our neighbor country, Kislev."
"Those were Gears?"
An explosion rocked the cliffs, and the sky momentarily turned orange and red.
"Oh no! They are heading directly for Lahan!"
"The ones I just saw?"
"Let us make haste!"
"Right!"
Citan took off toward Lahan with Fei trailing close behind.