Chapter 5 – Knowing the Neighborhood
"Damn it!" I grumbled as the sunlight bothered my eyes, as if that wasn't enough; I heard the neighbor's roosters crowing in the distance. I'm regretting moving to this village, I ended up trading one problem for another.
Getting up from my bed, I let out a yawn as I stretched. Still in my pajamas, I left my room and headed towards the kitchen.
"So, what are we eating today?" Jekyll asked, sliding out of my body and standing next to me.
"Scrambled eggs and bacon. I don't feel like cooking something complicated." I muttered, taking a frying pan from the kitchen shelf and placing it on top of the wood stove.
"You talk like you cook every day." Jekyll grumbled, placing some wood into the stove and lighting it with a match.
Shrugging, I added a little of olive oil on the pan and then the eggs and bacon. A few seconds later, I stirred the food with a wooden spoon.
While I cooked breakfast, Jekyll set the table, placing plates and silverware on the wooden table in the center of the kitchen.
What came next were a few minutes of peace, the only noises being the food frying and Jekyll walking around the kitchen, unfortunately this peace ended with the arrival of a rude book.
"Good morning, idiots!" Zon screamed as loud as possible as he floated into the kitchen.
Jekyll and I gasped audibly as we heard the first insult of the day.
"What?" Zon asked, ignorant to what he just did.
"Nothing, nothing…" I mumbled, focusing on the food, trying to ignore the book behind me.
"Wow! What a way to start the morning! Don't I get a good morning?" Zon said, floating above one of the chairs at the kitchen table and stopping in front of the plate.
"The morning was good until you showed up!" Jekyll exclaimed, slamming a plate onto the table.
"Hey, what did the inkblot say?" Zon asked me.
"Nothing important." I said, turning off the stove, taking the frying pan to the table and placing eggs and bacon on each plate.
"BACON! FINALLY BACON! HOW LONG HAS IT BEEN SINCE I ATE SOMETHING SO DELICIOUS?" Zon shouted, throwing himself onto the plate in front of him with his pages open.
*NOM*
*NOM*
*NOM*
I recoiled in disgust as I saw the book open and close on the plate, similar to a mouth chewing food, the crunching noises didn't help. How does a book eat? Moreover, where will the food end up?
Looking at Jekyll for an answer, I stared in disbelief at the sight in front of me. Jekyll stabbed a piece of bacon with his fork, but instead of chewing it with his non-existent mouth, he brought the piece of bacon to his forehead, where the bacon stuck for a few seconds before slowly sinking into his body.
Speechless, I sat down and looked at the food on my plate. What the hell am I doing with my life?
-XXXXXX-
Changing into casual clothes, I closed the door behind me, slung the bag with Zon on my shoulder and headed towards the village near my house.
The main part of the village consisted mostly of stone houses and buildings, with small shops here and there. The village was surrounded by a large stonewall with stone gates leading to different plains and roads; each gate was guarded by a pair of guards.
Technically, I still lived within the village, as the plains around the main part of the village were considered part of it. Most people living outside raised cattle, sheep, chickens, pigs and other animals, or grew vegetables for consumption or sale.
In our case, Jekyll and I chose to live outside to avoid attracting attention. Unfortunately, this had the undesirable effect of generating rumors and distrust among the village's inhabitants; this was an isolated place that received few visitors, so it is normal that they didn't like strangers very much.
Our unexpected arrival overnight didn't help much.
Putting these thoughts aside, I greeted the people I met on the way, farmers who woke up early to work in the fields.
They responded with a grunt of acknowledgment or a quick nod before continuing on their way.
Continuing my walk, I reached the main gate; I ignored the suspicious look that both guards gave me and continued on my way.
Honestly, I wasn't impressed with what I saw, Seafront was much busier than this place, and even so, I saw some points of interest.
The owner of a tavern opened the door of his establishment, welcoming his customers. A blacksmith focused on his work, forging swords and armor. A florist watered her flowers and left them arranged in an inviting way for passersby.
I saw some people fishing as I walked along the riverbank, on the way I passed the market street and saw some of the products being sold. Mainly food, but there wasn't much variety.
We moved to a poor village in the middle of nowhere, a perfect place to plan our next move.
Hm... Don't think that way Hyde! You wanted to move to a more peaceful place and now you have what you wanted! Make the best of what you have now!
Be polite, be nice and try to make some friends, this is the time to start a new life. Try to mingle with the locals.
Unfortunately, because I was lost in thought, I didn't pay attention to where I was going and bumped into someone.
"OUCH!" A familiar male voice shouted.
"Oh! Sorry! It was my fault, I didn't pay attention to where I was going and..."
The words died in my throat and my hand remained stretched out in the air as the sight of the person in front of me paralyzed me.
Nier.
SHIT! /SHIT!
Jekyll and I mentally screamed.
"Damn it! What was it... Wait! Hyde?" Nier asked confused.
"Hehe! Hi Nier... How are you?" I replied nervously.
"Jekyll, quick! What do I do?" I asked mentally.
"First, help Nier pick up the groceries that he dropped." Jekyll replied.
Paying attention to what Jekyll said, I saw a basket with food thrown on the floor, there were some fruits, fish, vegetables and other things. I quickly bent down to help Nier pick them up.
"I'm sorry about that, let me help!" I spoke quickly.
"No, no, no problem. I can do it myself; I don't want to bother you." Nier replied politely.
"Please, I insist." I responded with a smile.
Nier nodded and smiled. Therefore, I helped him pick things up off the floor.
"So, Hyde. What are you doing here? I thought you lived in Seafront." Nier asked.
"Now repeat what I'm about to say." Jekyll spoke in my mind.
"Oh! Yes, that's true, but I decided to move. Things at Seafront got too hectic for me, especially after the accident."
"That's right, I heard about it. There was a huge explosion in the sea near Seafront, flaming debris rained down on the city and some people were injured. Fortunately no one died. I'm glad I left town before this happened, but it's a strange coincidence that the explosion occurred on the same day we met, isn't it?"
Hm... I believe Nier is asking an innocent question, he mustn't have made the connection yet.
"You can bet. I planned to leave Seafront; the explosion only strengthened my resolve." I responded, finishing helping Nier and then getting up.
Nier got up too, and together we walked through the village.
"Well, welcome to our little village, there's not much to do here, but it's a peaceful place with kind people." Nier spoke.
"I noticed, even though they don't seem to like me."
"Don't worry, give them some time and they'll soon get used to you."
"I hope so; I don't want to get into trouble with anyone."
"Changing the subject, where are you living? Would you mind if my sister and I come over for a visit? We could introduce you to the village and its inhabitants, and my sister Yonah would love to meet new people."
"Right, I'm living in the small stone house next to the main entrance, close to where most of the farmers live."
"Wait! Is that your house? The same house where someone threw a chair through the window?"
"Oh... You saw that... I had a little argument with my roommate about breakfast."
"And apparently your bird too."
"My bird?"
"Yes, you bird. Sorry about this, but my sister and I heard the whole argument, including the screech of an animal that I assume was a bird."
"Of course! Of course! My bird! I'm sorry for our bad first impression. It seems the argument with my roommate agitated my pet."
"I understand. Maybe we can all meet each other someday. Yonah loves animals."
"I don't know if it would be a good idea. My roommate is quite grumpy and my parrot is a bit scary."
"It can't be that bad."
"Yeah, believe me."
Our conversation ended when we reached a fork in the village streets, I said goodbye to Nier and we both went our separate ways.
"It was nice talking to you Hyde! Welcome and come by for a visit!" Nier waved goodbye.
"Leave it to me! I can't wait!" I replied, waving back.
Then Nier disappeared around a corner.
"That was close!" Jekyll spoke in my mind.
"You think? I didn't notice." I replied sarcastically, leaving the village through another of the gates, I don't want to risk meeting Nier again.
"Look on the bright side, you're making new friends."
"And these friends realized how strange it was that the explosion occurred on the same day we met."
"Don't worry, Nier was just being nice, I doubt he was trying to get information out of you."
"I hope you're right…"
"The brat was annoying." Zon muttered inside my bag.
"Shut up!"
"Then come here and shut me up! All that sweet talk about friends and family makes me sick!"
I ignored the book again and continued on my way, curiously, as I left the village, I heard the sound of music and someone singing.
Following the music, I arrived at some ruins with a fountain in the center, and sitting on the edge of the fountain was a red-haired woman with wavy hair wearing a white shirt with long black sleeves and a long red dress underneath.
She played a lute while singing in a language I didn't understand. There was a group of children sitting on the floor, listening too.
I leaned against one of the ruins near the fountain and heard the woman sing, even though I didn't understand any of the words, the song was pleasant, but suddenly she stopped.
"Can I help you with something?" The woman asked politely.
Looking around, I realized that she was talking to me, I pointed at myself with a questioning look and the woman nodded.
"No, thanks. I was just listening to the song, you sing very well."
"You've barely met the woman and you're already flirting with her." Jekyll spoke.
"Shut your mouth!" I shouted to Jekyll.
"What did you say?!" The woman demanded, offended.
I widened my eyes, realizing what I just said.
"No, no, no! I'm very sorry! I wasn't talking to you!" I spoke quickly, trying to diffuse the situation.
"Well, there's no one else here but the kids, you and me." The woman responded irritably.
"Listen, I believe we started off on the wrong foot. How about we try again? My name is Hyde." I spoke; approaching the woman and extending my hand.
The woman stared at me with disdain for a few seconds before turning to the children and speaking.
"It's time for you to go home; your parents must be worried. Tomorrow we can continue again."
With a series of confirmations and complaints about the song being over, the children left. Then the woman stood up and accepted my handshake.
"Hyde, I heard about you. You must be the newcomer. As one of the village chiefs, I would like to welcome you. My name is Devola."
"AAAHHH!"
I jumped in surprise as I heard Jekyll screaming in my mind.
"Something wrong?" Devola asked worriedly.
"No, no. Don't worry, I'm fine."
"AAAHHH!"
This was a lie, as Jekyll was still screaming like a lunatic.
"Listen, if you need help just talk. My sister and I are the village chiefs, we can call a healer." Devola asked even more worried, extending a hand.
I was about to accept Devola's help, but the moment I reached out my hand, I saw my skin turning black. I immediately hid my hand inside my pocket, but I felt my arm moving on its own, I used my other hand to keep my arm still.
"DANGER! DANGER!" Jekyll shouted.
I felt my leg move on its own too, it was trying to take a step away from Devola, I had to fight to keep myself in place, but my leg was shaking horribly.
Devola placed her palm on my forehead, measuring my temperature, I blushed at the proximity, but this is not the best time to be embarrassed.
"My God! You're boiling! Wait here, I'll call for help!" Devola exclaimed, running towards the village.
"Of course, of course! Leave it to me!"
Without wasting time, Devola ran towards the village, and without wasting time, I ran in the opposite direction.
I ran towards the nearest building, the village library, a large two-story building made of wood and stone. Closing the large double doors behind me, I let out a sigh of relief as I leaned against the door.
"Jekyll! What the fuck was that?!"
He didn't answer.
"Hello, is anyone here?" A female voice echoed through the library, going down a stairway to my left, another red-haired woman appeared, wearing clothes exactly like Devola, but this woman had straight hair.
"Hey!" I waved nervously to the woman.
Quickening her pace, the woman stopped in front of me and studied me with a hand on her chin.
"I don't remember seeing you before. Are you new to the village?" The woman asked.
"Yes that's right! My name is Hyde, and you?"
"Nice to meet you Hyde, my name is Popola!" The woman responded with a smile.
"AAAHHH!"
Not again!
-XXXXXX-
"Very well, Hyde! Time to start." Jekyll spoke, crawling out of my body.
"Well, it had to happen at some point. I better learn how to use magic before I fight things I don't understand… Again…" I shrugged.
"Why are we here?" Zon asked, floating next to me.
We were in an area away from the village, a place full of shadows thanks to the gigantic rocks around us, a perfect place for Jekyll to train me.
"Training. I need to get better at using my sword and magic."
"MASO!" Jekyll shouted.
"MASO." I corrected myself.
"Hump! You don't need training with me here! Just point at the enemy and I will turn them to ashes!" Zon said arrogantly.
"That's exactly why I need to train. I can't rely on your magic alone."
"If that's what you want, just don't come begging for my help when you're on the verge of death." Zon said irritably before floating away from me.
"Ready?" Jekyll asked, pulling out his ax from inside his body.
"Ready!" I responded, drawing my sword and assuming a fighting stance.
"To begin with. What is MASO? MASO is a particle originating from another world, incapable of being destroyed by conventional means. But thanks to the ability of these particles to acquire practically unlimited energy, the feats you call magic can be performed." Jekyll explained.
Soon after he swung his axe, the weapon's blade was enveloped in dark energy before a projectile of darkness was hurled towards the sky, where it exploded into a dark cloud in the distance.
"I think I understand. Moreover, how do I use this MASO? Up until now I've only done things by accident or instinct."
"This is an interesting question with several answers, and instinct is one of them. MASO is everywhere around us, but I discovered how to use MASO differently by already having a good grasp of how it works. What we need is to find an appropriate method for you."
"And how do we do that?"
"Well, they say the best way to learn something is to practice it." Jekyll spoke, stepping forward and swinging the ax towards me.
"HOLY CRAP!" I shouted, blocking the blow with my sword.
"Good reaction." Jekyll praised.
"Are you trying to kill me?!" I exclaimed.
"No, but the next facility's defenses will!" Jekyll responded, stepping back and trying to cut me in the stomach.
I jumped back, dodging the blow, but I ran as soon as I saw a blade of darkness coming towards me. I circled Jekyll, dodging the blades he sent, but because our bodies were still linked, I couldn't move too far away.
Taking advantage of an opening in one of the attacks, I advanced towards Jekyll and tried to pierce him in the chest. However, Jekyll twisted his body to the side as if he was made of water, dodging my blow. Moreover, in an awkward position, he brought the ax down towards me.
I raised my sword and blocked the blow, placing my other hand on the flat of the blade to endure the most of the attack.
"I don't see how this is going to help me use MASO!"
"Are you even trying? MASO is all around you, you have used its power before. Remember the feeling when you fought Neptune, try feeling it again."
"You talk like it's easy!" I exclaimed, parrying Jekyll's ax to the side.
"Believe me, it wasn't!" Jekyll exclaimed, trying to hit me again.
I jumped to the left, dodging the attack, and tried to cut Jekyll in the neck, but he twisted again, ducking until his legs disappeared into the ground.
Then he tried to hit me with a low blow, trying to cut off my legs, I jumped, getting out of the way of the attack and as I fell, I plunged my sword towards Jekyll's head.
However, he simply slid out of the way and standing up, sent more blades of darkness towards me.
Come on Hyde! Do something! You're not getting anywhere with this! I mentally screamed as I dodged the blades.
"Is that all you got boy?! I expected more!" Zon shouted.
"Shut up!" I screamed, but I had to focus on the fight again to dodge another blade of darkness.
"That's your best answer?! Where is the warrior who wiped out the rust pile in Atlantis?!" Zon teased me again.
Nevertheless, I was torn about responding the book or I keep moving towards Jekyll, so I decide to do both.
"I told you to shut up!"
"Whatever! But if you can't get rid of the live oil slick there, then you better not even bother trying to save humanity!"
"SHUT THE FUCK UP!" I screamed at the top of my lungs as I swung my sword towards Jekyll.
What I didn't expect was the sword to be engulfed in flames and a wave of fire to shoot towards Jekyll at the end of my swing.
The wave of fire advanced, burning the grass in its path. I was about to yell for Jekyll to get out of the way, but he swung his axe, sending a blade of darkness toward the flames.
The two attacks collided, creating an explosion accompanied by a cloud of smoke, when the smoke cleared; I saw Jekyll staring at me with what I thought was pride.
"Well, using your anger is not the method we will use. But tell me, what are you feeling?" Jekyll asked, approaching me.
"It's so strange. It's like there's something running through my body, something powerful, but at the same time it's all around us." I responded, watching the flames engulf my sword.
"I want you to focus on that feeling. Every time you use MASO, I want you to remember what you are feeling right now, until you can do it instinctively."
"Right! But before we continue, could you answer one question?"
"Yes! Ask it!"
"What happened yesterday? When we met Devola and Popola, I mean. You panicked and tried to control my body. Why?"
Jekyll was silent for a few seconds, but suddenly, he began to twitch erratically, he slowly lost his humanoid shape and became slime on the ground, simultaneously he muttered a series of nonsense.
"DANGER! DANGER! TWINS! BURDEN! MAKE SURE EVERYTHING GOES RIGHT, EVERYTHING HAS TO GO RIGHT! EVERYTHING HAS TO GO RIGHT! HUMANITY… HUMANITY… HUMANITY DEPENDS… I'M SORRY!"
"JEKYLL!"
As soon as I shouted his name, Jekyll stood still like a statue in his distorted form, he quickly returned to normal as if nothing happened.
"Jekyll?"
"We've rested long enough, let's continue your training." Jekyll spoke seriously, moving away from me.
"Oh! He's mad at you!" Zon teased, but I ignored it.
You could say I spent the rest of the day getting my ass kicked, I regretted asking Jekyll those questions as he intensified my training to hellish levels, but after it was all over, Jekyll apologized profusely for the overreaction.
So the days passed, a few weeks to be exact, we spent most days training and in between we met the villagers or picked up more items from the abandoned city, gold, jewels and other things of value.
And with that, we bought new furniture and decorations for our home. In the end, we had a fortune hidden in the basement, let's just say I won't have to work for the rest of my life.
-XXXXXX-
"Why do I have to dress like that? It's just lunch!" I asked Jekyll as I fixed my hair in front of the mirror.
"Because the first impression is what stays! Nier is being polite, so you better be too!" Jekyll replied in my mind.
Letting out a sigh, I walked out of my room and passed by Zon who was sitting on the living room couch.
"I'm going to have lunch at a friend's house; you better not do anything while I'm gone!" I exclaimed, pointing to the book.
"You can leave it to me!" Zon replied politely.
Raising an eyebrow in doubt, I left the house, but as soon as I closed the door behind me, I heard a noise coming from inside the house.
"WOOOW!"
CRASH!
I closed my fist tightly and took a deep breath, trying to calm my anger. Better, go before I'm late. Walking away from my house, I passed the outside of the village, approaching a small stone house next to a rock formation.
Adjusting my clothes one last time, I knocked on the house's door.
"I'm on my way!" A young female voice responded.
A few seconds later, the door opened and on the other side, I saw a little girl with pale skin, white hair and wearing a light green dress with brown sandals.
"Hello!" The girl politely waved at me as she smiled.
"Hello…" I waved hesitantly with a nervous smile.
"Yonah? Who's at the door?" A male voice asked.
Then Nier appeared, tilting his head to the side and looking at me through the door opening.
"Oh! Hyde! Yonah let him in!"
"Yes brother Nier." Yonah responded, opening the door completely and stepping to the side.
"Excuse me." I said, entering the house and cleaning my shoes on the carpet.
"You can sit down; the food will be ready soon!" Nier replied, pointing to a table with chairs around it.
With a wave, I approached the table while looking around me. Nier and Yonah's house was small and humble, but well groomed. Nier was preparing lunch on a small wood stove.
Wooden shelves full of dishes and pots were attached to the walls and next to them; there was a small wooden bed. On the other side of the house was a stone staircase leading upwards and on the side of the staircase, there was a sword resting on the wall.
Strangely, even though the house was old, all the furniture and decorations seemed to be brand new.
I sat down in one of the chairs; Yonah quickly sat down on the chair in front of me and faced me.
I looked away, nervous about the situation, but before I could do anything, and Yonah spoke.
"Are you the nice gentleman who gave my brother a lot of money?" Yonah asked.
"Yonah!" Nier shouted his face red with embarrassment.
"Yes I am. How do you know that?" I asked.
"Oh! One day Nier came running home, talking about how a strange guy gave him a bunch of money to distract an old woman."
"Yonah!" Nier shouted again.
"After that, Nier used the money to buy a lot of food, renovate the house, and buy us new furniture and clothes. He also bought me a bunch of toys and the medicine I needed, he also told me not to tell you any of this."
You know, the funniest part of this is that Yonah didn't speak out of malice, all this time she kept an innocent look on her face.
Trying but failing to hold back my laughter, I looked at Nier waiting for an answer.
The boy in question just stared at me with wide eyes, red face and open mouth.
"So who wants pork stew?!" Nier asked with a nervous smile.
"Me, me, me!" Yonah exclaimed, bouncing in her seat, ignorant to the entire situation.
The rest of the lunch was uneventful, we talked, we had fun and I got to know the brothers better, and honestly, they weren't that bad.
Nier asked me if I had any more work for him, as the village was very poor and most of the businesses were family businesses, so no one could afford to pay for workers.
I replied that I didn't have anything at the moment, but if any opportunity presented itself, I would get in touch.
Unfortunately, Jekyll, Zon, and I had to attend to matters that are more serious the next day.
-XXXXXX-
"The next installation is here, isn't it?" I asked Jekyll as I observed the scene in front of me.
"Yes. Just follow my instructions and we'll get there." Jekyll replied.
"I already hate this!" Zon replied, struggling inside the bag.
The Aerie was a Cliffside village, consisting mainly of wooden platforms and suspension bridges over a wide canyon. We didn't saw any inhabitants, so I just followed the directions given by Jekyll.
I question the logic of building a village on a cliff, but since I don't live here, it's not exactly my problem if this whole place comes crashing down, although I was a little scared when passing over the suspension bridges over the chasm.
As I passed by the houses, I could hear the voices of the inhabitants inside and they weren't exactly kind.
"Great! Another stranger came to cause trouble!"
"Go away! We don't want people like you here!"
"It's not enough that the accursed monster lives nearby!"
"I hope you get eaten by the monster in human skin!"
"Let me out! I'll show them who the monster is here!" Zon screamed, trying to get out of the bag.
I held the bag tightly and hurried my walk, crossing the village. I walked along a series of metal walkways built into one of the cliff walls.
"Stop!" Jekyll shouted.
"Now look up!"
Doing as he said, I saw what looked like part of a tunnel coming out of one of the cliff walls; I saw the rest of the tunnel on the opposite wall in the distance.
Jekyll removed one of his hands from my body and reached up, grabbing the edge of the tunnel and pulling us up, we flew a little before landing carefully inside the tunnel.
I noticed that the floor of the tunnel had a metal track similar to the one in the previous installation. Following Jekyll's instructions, I advanced through the tunnel, only to discover that it split into several paths.
We went left, right, right again, left, until we came to a large circular room with tunnels with tracks on all sides, and a circular platform in the center, it seemed to be able to rotate.
I approached a metal door on the other side of the circular room; Jekyll left my body and slid his access card into a device on the side of the door.
With a series of whistles and colored lights, the metal door opened and we saw a large metal staircase leading upwards.
"Well, I think that's it. We're going to enter another facility, aren't we?"
"Yes. Be ready for the worst. Neptune tried to kill us; I have no doubt that the AI responsible for this one will try too."
"Thank you for the comforting words."
"You're welcome."
Therefore, without wasting any time, I went up the stairs, wondering what kind of dangers I would encounter ahead.
END OF CHAPTER