Chapter 6: First Raider, Lessons and Reunions

no one's pov:

in the next morning the rain had stopped, the sun is shining, the birds are singing, a jynx kitten pursues a butterfly... Klein, Mona, Jacob, Ellie, Tomás, Curie, Fahim and Panambi comes out from the tower to go find Hilda; as they walked and collected some materials in their way they come across an barely abandoned shack and come closer to see, inside the building was none other than the now alive again Hilda Bulla, the maker of gunmancy, the leader of the raiders and the first one; she was an old woman who seems that got blind from one of her eyes and wears an eyepatch because of this, her long grey hair was tied into a bun and she looked akin to a rugged survivalist and at same time a grumpy old lady by the look on her eyes, and she wears a long coat, a dress with pants under it and a large hat and was welding a gun; when they approached and showed no harm towards her, she looked at the 6 young gunmancers and the 2 young mage hunters; she said "oh, so... you guys are not only my replacement but also my fellows replacement as well, all of the people of the shatter but you... 8; gods, i hope that she, the cryptomancer, knows what she is doing... As you guys see i am getting too old for this nonsense but if one, two or more or all of you guys want to take my job, you all should do it at least well; but..." then she examines their guns and continues "first things first, let's get these guns reloaded. head over to the loading bench over there".

Klein's pov: me, my sister mona and our companions went to the loading bench, thank the gods... that we can now properly reload our guns now as we make lots of new destruction bullets with part of the wood we collected in our way, after our guns got reloaded, Hilda came and examined our guns again, a small smile appears in her lips as she says "ah a simple destruction spell, a classic, next time when you guys check out the research mechana, it will help you guys learn to build better spells" then Mona smiled tipping her hat saying "thanks master Hilda" Hilda took well the compliment with another smile and said as well "as you guys see, you 8 must build the loading bench to one or more people use it, the next time when you 8 and any certain allies you guys will make in the way.. i may not be here... and you guys found the instances of the first edition! good! if any of you are aware this book is smarter than you guys think, if any of you 8 let it see something it will teach you guys a lot; use the first edition to have a good look on me, then it will show you guys how to make the "worldbuilder", a furniture gun". then me, Ellie, Mona, Tomás, Curie, Fahim and Pananmbi looked at each other and agreed to keep on our lesson after all we need to put some new furniture and make the life in the tower more bearable and comfortable, we held our respective copies of the first edition as the book did the same thing it did when they scanned the stuff in their tower before leaving to find Hilda, after the magic scan was complete not only we got the knowledge on how to create the world builder but also did Jacob when me and the others showed him, then we build our own furniture guns after we done creating it, Hilda examines them and says happy and proud as she remembers something good "ahh, i remember when i built my first furniture gun, the first edition will be useful to for learning about buildings you 8 can put on the tower. so have it scan the loading bench, the same one where you guys reloaded your guns over there."

then me and the others gladly did so as we scanned the loading bench and Ellie and Mona showed Jacob how to make the loading bench he seems interested, then Hilda told us: make sure you guys build it on you guys tower it will serve all of you guys and any allies you guys make till the end of time or forever". then she looks down frowning as she continues by telling us a tale "2 hundred years ago, before all of you 8 had been born, the world broke and the shatter was created. despite this, things were stable, mostly to say the least, until..." then a expression of regret and remorse appears in her face as if she is feeling very guilty about something "we opened the tower and let the chaos out; the chaos keeps destroying the world no matter how many times we roll back the wheel... now the chaos has broken the wheel, to rebuild the world you 8 must go and rebuild the wheel, one ancient gear at the time"

and before me and the others could go and get the wheel Hilda has her eyes widened in surprise, shock and disbelief when she took a closer look on not only me and Mona but also specially towards Tomás and Curie as if she had seen ghosts as she remembers some people who she know bedsides the other raiders and others close to her as she approaches Tomás gently and carefully examining his face; " not only y-y-you but also that pink haired noirmagus with cyan eyes' then she does the same towards Curie, "i am starting to remember... you 2 are... not only the children of 2 of my best students Patch and Amélia but also my godchildren" then Tomás and Curie smiled and Curie said "yes, it's us, our uncle and aunt told us about you and that you knew and trained our parents, master Hilda" and Hilda happily answered "look at you both, grown so big, you two are not only identical to your parents because you Tomás are like your father and your twin sister Curie her mom, except partially for you guys eye color which are a mix because you curie has most of your father's blue eyes and your brother Tomás is splitting both the blue from your dad and the verdant green from your mom; i still remember that fateful day 19 years ago when me, Orion and the some of the other raiders who were very young at the time went to help your aunt who also works as a midwife because the other 2 midwives who are both your aunt's and you 2 mom's friends couldn't go help because one of them became very sick and her sister had to go take care of her; then Tomás and Curie and me and the others began to gladly hear this other tale after all she is a family friend of not only me and Mona, but also, Fahim and his sister Panambi, and of course Tomás and his sister Curie, while Ellie and her brother Jacob are willing to hear it by curiosity:

*Flashback: shatter 19 years ago: the day of the Hexiel twins: Tomás and Curie are born*

a pained scream and labored breaths fills the room as a noirmagus woman with long bright bubble gun pink hair tied into a messy bun and green eyes lays on a giant tub filled with warm water infused with tangy leaves and flowers from medicinal herbs and the smell of the scented lit candles also fills the room, she holds and grips one of her dear husband Patch's hands as he stays by her side coaxing her and calming her down, he is also an noirmagus and has long black hair tied into a ponytail, blue eyes and he wears glasses, a pair of bandages had been warped on the soon to be mother's torso to give her some decency, aunt Rosalia Midnight who is one of the middle siblings of the future mom's is here to help her baby sister Amélia give birth as Orion hands her with his tentacle arms the first child who is a baby noirmagus boy who really looks like his father except for his eyes partially and she calms the little one down and cleans him, as Orion looks examining and says "i can see that the head of the 2nd last one coming out, keep going" then Patch reassures and coaxes his beloved wife and tell her "yes come on, just few more and the last one is out, love" as he kisses her forehead and pets her head with his other hand, then Hilda comes to action and she also assists on helping as after the 2nd noirmagus baby is born she does the necessary procedures with Orion's and the aunt's help, cutting the umbilical cord, and cleaning the 2nd and last lil one it was a girl and she is just like her mama specially her bright pink hair, except for most of her eyes who are cyan showing that she is also splitting a part of both her mom and her dad like her brother as Hilda carries and calms the little noirmagus baby girl while the aunt is carrying the little noirmagus baby boy, before they could handle them back to Amélia who had been cleaned and dried up and got dressed with some pajamas and her husband Patch still by her side as Hilda alongside Amélia's sister Rosalia come and hands Amélia her newly born babies as the little void looking humanoids with short black fur which is very thin at the moment begin to have their first meal a surge of emotions fills both Patch and Amélia as they see their children and how small and precious they are;

"look at him Patch, love, he is like you" says Amélia as she hands her husband the boy as she keeps holding the girl while still smiling "the same thing i have to say about her and you Amélia my dear" said Patch also smiling; then Hilda approached the now parents who were also 2 of her best students and asked "what you are going to name them"? then Patch said "me and Amélia already decided what we are going to name the babies, the boy will be named Tomás, Tomás Hexiel in honor to my great grandfather Thomas" and Amélia said "and the girl shall be named Curie, Curie Hexiel to honor my aunt Curie who died before me, all of my siblings and all of my cousins could meet her"... "welcome to the shatter little ones" said both parents to their newborn kids as 3 young members of the raiders, Talia, Kolanna and Hilda's Niece Isa come to see the babies in curiosity and getting delighted on seeing how cute and small they are while being careful to not wake them up after Hilda, Orion and the other raider known "as the weaver of bones" told them to be careful...

*End of the flashback*

Ellie's pov:

i loved hearing the story, it's shows that's true that both Tomás and Curie's parents are truly good people and didn't deserve any of this that led to make both twins become orphaned like me and Jacob, i could feel sorry for Hilda and the other raiders, she and the others probably didn't knew and/or expected that the tower was probably being used to seal and imprison the chaos away and something tells me that the chronamancer might have failed to properly banish the chaos and fix the world hence why they might did that and i can tell that the others could feel the same thing and see that she feels regret for what happened and also failed to do so; so indeed is up to not only us but also the future allies we will make in the way; as Hilda approaches Klein and Mona and says "so... you 2 are.. 2 of the biological children of another of my best students, Juniper Mystifog but also that former cult of steel member who became one of the leaders of the escape Indigo Starchaser", "yes we are" said Klein and then Fahim and Panambi approached and Fahim told Hilda "By the way me and my sister Panambi are the children of Percival Eclipse..." "and Magdalene Meadows" said Panambi "my other 2 best students" said Hilda,

then the gunmancy inventor came to me and Jacob and asked "and you 2 mage hunters"? then i answered and explained everything in the most honest way " I'm Ellie Carnelian and this is my brother Jacob, and..." after telling Hilda our story she seems to clearly take pity on us as an grudgeful feeling about her brother fills her eyes after all he is also responsible for ordering the death of Tomás and Curie's parents, then she hugs me and Jacob and said comforting us "i am so sorry about both you and your brother's loss, as you 2 heard, Patch and Amélia were 2 of my best students, i really also want to end what my brother had created, so this is also up to you, your brother, your friends and any future ally you guys will make; and specially that i got the news that they nearly killed Klein and Mona this is the last straw but again i am too old to do this, so i also do pray that you, your brother and the others end the militia cults as well for saving the world from the chaos, by the way you and your brother Jacob did the right thing on sparing Klein and Ellie's lives and hunting only militia cult members instead of wizards who are not part of the cults, before you and the others leave, i want to you and Jacob give this to Talia if you guys find her and manage to pass the horde of mage hunters and ensure that she will trust not only you 2 but also your companions, despite that you guys never meet her directly properly", then Hilda handed me some potion vials, an old necklace pendant/amulet made of bones similar to a cractus ones, pink dry coral rock fossils and a red diamond, while Jacob she hands him a letter addressed to not only Talia, but the other raiders and some other gifts.

then Hilda tells me, Jacob and the others about where some of the other pieces of the wheel are "my allies, the raiders, may have the other pieces as well but won't trust you guys, unless if they manage to recognize and remember not only Tomás and Curie when they were newborns and their deceased parents, but also Klein's and Mona's parents, hence one of the reasons why i handed Ellie and Jacob the letters and the simple presents; by the way this is the first time you 8 met us and not the first time we meet you guys, except for you both Tomás, Curie because few of us still remember you both, when you guys roll back time again i won't remember any of this..."

then Tomás got the wheel which Hilda handed to him and he places into his backpack; after we said goodbye i could see that Tomás and his twin sister Curie are smiling and glad that at least their godmother still remembers them the same way as their deceased parents, which gives me a smile to and warms my heart to see at least in this god forsaken place not only the twins but also Klein, Mona Fahim and Panambi has some friendly and family like contacts unless some of them remember them,

then we went and we went to collect more materials after dodging the attacks from 2 hostile mechanas, we took both of it down carefully to not shot the other 2 but friendly little mechanas by mistake, then we looted an abandoned old chest, and came back to the tower, after Tomás built the loading bench, while his sister Curie made some new chests, then me and the others gathered to the wheel and Tomás hands the cog piece to Curie who places it, after we rolled it together we heard angry distorted screeching noises and a very bad feeling that we couldn't deny what was that... it was the chaos and it got awake after the world got rebuilt a bit more! Panambi said wide eyed while trembling "it seems the chaos got awake! and even if they are mindless as they are evil, it seems that they are not very happy about the fact that the world got rebuilt a little bit further!" then Fahim says "i agree sister, it seems that we now have a time limit to stay outside the tower! if the time runs out... the chaos will not only come to destroy the world which it also cause to get difficult to survive; but..." then he looks at the arcana stored in the arcana bank "if we destroy the rifts that will appear in our way and the dormant ones we can extend the time of our expedition but at least we will get some arcana to store and use"!

then Curie asked, "so when we begin our expedition how much time we have and start for the chaos devour and destroy the world Fahim?" "Depends, probably 5 hours, but again this can be extended if again we not only destroy the rifts but also when we begin a new expedition after getting more cog pieces of the wheel and fix it further it will extend the time we will stay out bit by bit". then me and the others looked at each other and Klein says "so we need to gather the other pieces that got scattered across the world, but before we go, we need to rest for at least some time, we need to get prepared, because now we got some manuscripts and materials, let's go to the research mechana and be able to craft other types of bullets" " big brother Klein is also right, now that we got some materials and manuscripts we can now make the other destruction bullets at least the basic ones from different elements specially that we have our own loading bench now" said Mona;

then Jacob said "i agree with you guys we need to not only rest but also prepare ourselves because who knows what might be holding other pieces of wheel bedsides the other raiders unless we manage to show them that we mean no warm, know Hilda and that she is at our side and that we want to save the world! probably some unfriendly folks who won't hesitate on killing a group of wizards and a duo of mage hunters who will stand in their way"! then i said also showing that i agree with it and that we need to rest "i also agree with everything let's rest for some moment while we get a bit more stronger, after all i cannot deny the feeling that our journey and quest will get way more dangerous as we progress and we are not careful despite that we will always revive inside our tower but i also have been reading some books about the soul tether god machine which is that giant mechanical hand, it said that even if any of us are brought back the items we gather with the exception of the ones that we are equipped will be lost so we have another reason to be careful, survive and get stronger"

and Tomás says "all right lets rest together and prepare the new destruction bullets of poison, ice and fire, then after 3 days we are out and go gather more stuff and find the other pieces of the gears before 5 hours until the chaos devours and tear apart the world, after all we need to not only save the world but also... *sigh* me and my sister have unfinished business with the cult of steel leader the same way as you Ellie, Jacob, Klein and Mona"... then finally Curie says "alright let's place our hands together as we do a sign of agreement and make an oath to stop the chaos, save the world and make the militia cults regret corrupting and ruining so many lives including innocents forever!".

then we all placed our hands together as a sign of agreement and at same time as an oath as we shook our head a little in sign of that we will act to be careful on our journey now on, as i was going to go to my room i saw Klein come and he said "Ellie, do you want to join me on making some poison, fire and ice bullets? i will share to you some of what I made" then i answered smiling "yes Klein also do you..." then i shyly asked while blushing a little bit "want to resume reading the old artesian guide book with me"? then he answers happily while also blushing a bit as well "of course Ellie"!