"Are we sure we got all we need?"
"CARTRIDGES CHECK, GENERAL SUPPLIES CHECK, MISC CHECK, BANDSAW CHECK."
I look around the general area and try to see if there is more beyond the pond, that's when I realize about the river."
"do you see any firs around?" I asked Ven
"Ven moves his head in a mechanical way as if acting as a CCTV camera.
"NEGATIVE"
"Maybe if we look upstream that river, perhaps we will find more vegetation around."
"…"
"Found something?"
"..."
"Ven?"
"TIME'S SKIPPED"
"So you can notice it." A feminine voice talks from behind us.
I startled in my place, Ven turns his head a 180 behind as we look behind us.
Sakuya had followed us.
"How long have you been standing there?" I asked
"Just a few seconds, but for you both minutes" She responded gracefully
"Ven how could you not realize?"
"I DETECT MULTIPLE SKIPS CONSTANTLY, I DID NOT GAVE IT IMPORTANCE UNTIL I NOTICE IT HAPPENED CLOSE TO US."
"When I stop time, I do not possess limited range, I do FREEZE the entire flow of time." She continued
"How did you get past us?"
"I was going my way back to the mansion when I noticed you afar going towards the shrine, something unusual to do in the late evening, I just found it weird and trailed both of you. I will say, "I was surprised when you opened the doors of the shrine and an entirely different world showed up, just became curious." She explained
"ARE YOU HERE TO HINDER OUR SEARCH? BE AWARE, WE WILL NOT BE BUDGED" Ven said as he took a defensive stance.
"We?" I said, "Easy there, we are not gonna be hasty now."
"Do not worry, I will not interfere with your business, but it's not polite to talk to a lady like that."
"Excuse him, apparently gentlemen are not factory set." I joked
Sakuya giggles as she covers her visage with her hand.
"THEN YOU WILL HAVE NO ISSUE ASSISTING US?"
"Not if you say it like that." Sakuya responded
"Please?" I ask
"That's better, shall we?"
For a while we stayed quiet, as we scanned our surroundings, perhaps the beautiful scenery is what kept us dead silent, save for Ven if he even knew how to appreciate natural life. The pond back was quiet and serene, with its vegetation surrounding it adding for its beauty, as we headed river up, we could notice that the fauna of the area seemed to increase as we went upstream, we say many frogs and snakes, both coexisting with each other, occasionally hunting bugs around the area, but it seemed that this calm kept the serenity intact.
As we reached the end of the river, we could see a small spring of sorts, it sort of acted as a geiser as water kept spouting out the middle, excess water then trailed off into the river towards the pond.
"Are you both ok? You both seem too quiet." Sakuya expressed.
"hmm? Oh, sorry, just taking the view…" I answered.
"I swear, everyday these lands blow my mind whenever they get the chance."
"NO SIGHT OF FIR TREES."
"Until you spoke…" I huffed.
"You have a very monotone demeanor." Sakuya pointed out.
"IT IS HOW I CAME, DOES IT MAKE YOU UNCOMFORTABLE?"
"Not really, sounds more of an oilless robot." I answer.
"HOW ABOUT WE TAKE ON MORE LAND, I ALONE CAN COVER DOUBLE OF WHAT YOU CAN OBSERVE, TAKE SAKUYA AND EXPLORE THE OTHER RIVER, I'LL GO PAST THE SPRING AND INTO THE FOREST."
"How will we be able to communicate?" Sakuya asks
"Ven, you got a bit of all right?"
Ven then shows us both his arms, to which they proceed to crack open and rearrange into weaponry. I've seen his left one already, but his right arm turned into a more lethal weapon, a barreled one.
"I AM EQUIPPED TO DEAL WITH DIVINITY."
"A radio fit in there?"
a tiny hole in the right of the head where an ear would be, pops out a tiny ball tipped pole, which then bends 90 degrees upwards via a small socket leaving a small part of the pole sticking out of the hole.
"Sweet." I said as I then rummaged into my haversack.
"I knew you'd have to have a radio, so finally get to still use this."
I pull out my Radio Comm device out, this one I had not much idea of what it really was since it was something I stole on a PMC storage unit years ago, but despite not being Mil-spec, I could access some heavily encrypted frequencies and had a sweet and standard UI similar to a 2000's PDA. Perhaps proprietary, maybe homemade?
"What is that?" Sakuya asked as she stared at my Radio
"This is a radio device, we call them walkie-talkies. It can pick up or transmit a radio wave frequency, translate it into audio and play it back. Ven also has a device so we can communicate back and forth from a distance."
"SET FREQUENCY TO 466 MHz, I'LL COMMUNICATE AS SOON AS I SEE SOMETHING."
"Noted"
As Sakuya and I went our way into the opposite direction, I turned my head around to see Venetian, as expected, he moved forward into the forest and foliage of the area. But I notice that as he is about to enter the unknown, he turns his head towards me, and gives me a wink of sorts, or rather, just one of his eyes turning off for an instant.
Thank you…
Sakuya and I were moving toward the river, and soon enough we found ourselves back into the big pond of the area. As we are passing by the shore, we notice that a snake is eating one of the frogs sitting in the lilypad.
Passing through the pond, we go adjacent to the other river, this one noticeably slower than the other and less turbulent than the geiser, fauna seemed less frequent, and the area seemed more desolated than inhabited. The path kept continuing for meters, as we followed the river up.
However, as we kept going, I took the chance of the time I had. It was rare that I had time to breathe and take rest, especially besides a beauty like Sakuya. Rarely do a maiden like her accompany one to aid their quest.
"Sure is quiet out here, huh?" I tried to break the Ice
"Yes." She responded
"Are you a quiet type of person?"
"I prefer it that way…"
God damnit.
"Not so open like before eh?" I Kept asking
"Hmm?"
Well, there is a reason you are accompanying me, I would like to know why."
…
"Experience"
"Eh?" I exclaimed
"I've spent a considerable chunk of my time and schedule indulging my mistress' whims and orders, and back there I've realized I've spent it skipping as well. Sometimes I had the chance to gaze at the moments frozen in time as I carry my duties, but never had the complete chance to do so in real time, never saw how my surroundings evolve as it went on, never had eye for the details, never truly appreciated it, as if my powers-"
"Were more of a curse than a blessing." I finished for her.
"yes…"
"I think I understand that too. Back then, after becoming a beast, I still believed I was yet human, Voice of a man, mind of a man, but a body made of horrors. I was plagued by what many thoughted of me, plagued by what they came up with, despite never even facing me face to face…"
I stopped walking, Sakuya looked back at me and stopped as I lowered my sight to the ground.
"All those lies, those rumors and defamations, I had no other way to avoid them, even eventually I decided to follow their flow and do as they thought I did. Naturally, it got worse than ever. My new mere existence and actions also harmed others indirectly, my crew's legacy, the movement, the cause, all lost and swept under the carpet, replaced by my tainted legacy."
"Been called many things: Devil, Ghoul, vengeful spirit, but they always called me one thing… The Devil's Tanker." I said in a gloomy voice
"Speaking off, what is with the headgear? I've never seen you take it off, even in the Mansion, you wore it with your attire." Sakuya asked as she pointed at my helmet
"When I got conscripted, they issued gear. They ran out of helmets and gave me this one, ever since I've been fond of it."
"You look like a savage with it." She harshfully responds
"Perhaps that's the point, but appearances do trick." I respond in a more nostalgic tone.
"Yes…"
We both pick up our pace again.
As I forage my Haversack to check supplies, Sakuya only gazes at her stopwatch.
"What time is it?"
"Five minutes past ten." She states
"Huh, I was wondering why it was sunny here despite entering at night."
"I sense another flow of time, my watch is currently set Gensou time."
"wait…ah shit." I remembered. Yukari's visit.
"What is wrong?"
But before I said a word I then averted My gaze to the front, Sakuya followed suit.
The end of the river.
And in it…
A shrine.