Havel

  Nameless

  The sky was the same as she remembered.

  Which was somehow disappointing yet comforting. Nameless sat next to the window as she ate from a bag of chips. The chips were too salty and too flaky, neither of which she preferred in any snacks, but the packaging did look outstanding to her, a vibrant bag with hand-illustrated style seasonings drawn on it.

  Unlike the chips, Nameless preferred the hotel room they stayed at, with two bunk beds standing on each side of the room, while a wall blocked the view from the entrance. Despite the cheap price, the hotel offered a rather impressive view of the city, though Nameless never found the concrete boxes impressive, nor did she find the Tower that magnificent. Both were imitations, one imitating the tall houses of the old days, but lacking the elegance, the other imitating the Burnt Codex, but lacking the rage. Though Nameless did find the Tower absurd, she couldn’t find the source of its power, and the runes were written too similarly to prose that she thought were decorations until she realized they were able to function.

  Those who built the tower… seek control, but a tower? There are more ways to utilize runes; a Tower is not the best of them. But, like Suiming said, only two things are in a tower: something forced to be there, and something that is eager to stay there. Auderheim…this is a nation free of Existences, only the Remnant tide flushing the villages. The lords of the old days are no more…but did their hearts go with them into the field of flowers?

  As her train of thought chugged further, a knock came like a horn blasting while the train came to a halt.

  Nameless lazily put her bag of chips away while she walked toward the door. Beyond the peephole was Kodekse, her face paler than it was before, while her eyes were in horror. She turned the lock as she let Kodekse into the room. Kodekse rushed in and closed the door. Her pace was fast and uneasy while her coat was half-bottuned. Some buttons were even put into the wrong holes.

  “…Miss Nameless…I apologise for my sudden visit…” she said, panting as she sat down.

  “Have I broken any of the rules?” Nameless asked while she rolled up her sleeve to show her the metal device. She had become used to it, after all, her sense of Realm-art was relatively weak when she was not conciously focusing on it.

  “No…no…but…I need to ask about the Mushroom…”

  Nameless looked out. The Towers runes were glittering; those must have been the ones responsible for communicating and other issues. They were like the eyes of the city, with their tears reflecting under the dim moonlight.

  “What could power something like the Tower for this long?” she asked.

  “…As far as I know…the materials found in Remnant tides have lower arcane capabilities…processed organic matters in Remanat tide offer a more stable source of energy, which is mainly used in Runes…” she continued, her voice neutral as if reading the next station of a trolley. The words came out of her mouth, clear and loud like a student reading from the material.

  “For external sources, it is either of them, processed and purified…and funneled under the carved runes.”

  “But whatever powers the Tower, I should feel it with my hypersensitivity…but….but it is empty….”

  “…Miss Nameless, you are different from us regular casters…you must know something more than me, right?”

  Nameless looked into Kodekse’s wine-red eyes. There she saw the tremor of a pillar shaking, tumoring the things it supported…that expression, she had seen before on the ruins of Yel, a ruin where flowers were yet to bloom and wings yet to grow perfect.

  …Nameless…we are the stars of the Old World, if everything we fought for, everything we put our passion into, is now gone, then what am I? What would I do if the Tower of the Library were burnt down? And all the knowledge corrupted… I can’t see the future, but you will live on….

  “…Kodekse, why does the source of the Tower’s energy concern you?” Nameless asked.

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  “Because it means, other than the Faceless Governor…Auderheim is hiding more things…” she answered.

  “I am not the first one to question this, I know, if I can figure this out, someone has already done that…but where are they? Why is no one questioning? The system I oblighted to, is it the most possible just?”

  “Faceless…Governor? I don’t think I am familiar with such a title,” Nameless said. Suiming did not say anything about that before or during their trip to Auderheim; perhaps he did not think it was vital.

  “Ah… It’s the peculiarity of the Auderheimian government…we know nothing about our leader other than their agendas, policies, age, and voice,” Kodekse said.

  “…This is believed to protect the Governor’s privacy and not let the voters vote based on their personal image. Which…sometimes is a great conversation starter to guess who the Faceless Governor is.”

  “That is…interesting, but I believe that the source of the Tower needs to be investigated.”

  Nameless omitted what she wanted to say and the thing she just thought. Old memories, before the disaster and the ascension of Fosfor, she saw the thing the Last Faust had made. The strange machines that no one bothered to explain the functions to her, the technologies that even seemed advanced for Yel’s achievements. If there was something that could power the Tower, it must have been what Yel remained.

  “How do you plan to find out what hides in the Tower?”

  “…I don’t know, but I think I’ll risk it.”

  Nameless looked at her reflection in the window. Her eyes were the same, familiar amber, while the city beyond the glass was different. Thought this may be something that drove her into the journey and gave it some joy. To see the ever-changing world with her unchanged eyes, and perhaps one day, it would light a different spark in the amber.

  “I will be there with you, Kodekse, I promise.”

  …

  Seren

  “Did you make the change you said you were gonna make?” Seren cried as she held Tavia closer. Feeling her presence in her arms like she had hugged her before Tavia’s departure.

  “I did, Seren…I did, I am doing what I love, and I couldn’t be happier,” Tavia answered, almost sobbing.

  “Right, Tavia, you have more important things to do, we’ll do some chit-chat while we get ourselves some tea and biscuits,” Seren said, letting Tavia go. She smiled at Seren while she wiped the traces of almost-fallen tears away with her sleeve. To not get herself bored out of her mind, she walked out of Tavia’s office and waited in the lounge. It had been a long time since she met her ex-subordinate and engineer. Tavia used to be a part of the Messenger, writing runes and cutting up the bodies of abnormalities. She liked it, at least that was what Seren assumed. At that time, under the great Dome and the starry nights, by the warmth of the street lamps that burned days and nights, Seren couldn’t see the frowns on young Tavia’s head when Seren was blinded by the city’s light.

  Tavia didn’t want the life of a Messenger; she wanted the life of a teacher. Seren understood her wishes and helped in letting Tavia grow out of her cocoon and fly away, toward the blossoms she wanted.

  As Seren almost fell asleep, reminiscing about the old days, Silvia walked out of the office, smiling and joyful. She seemed like a different person without that tired, gloomy face. Seren could guess what happened to her, like a cat scratched at the right spot.

  “Read the abstract to me,” Seren blurted out, resting her head on the wall.

  “I’ll leave it for dinner,” Silvia answered, trying to lower her lips from smiling ear-to-ear.

  “Playing hard to get, huh, lady?” Seren joked. She pushed herself up from the chair that she felt she had sunk into. Silvia walked before her while she said something to herself.

  Seren could figure out a few words: finally, rest, graduation. Her white coat flapped in the wind as she opened the gate. For a brief second, Seren swore, she saw wings on Silvia’s back.

  Just like she saw the wings on Tavia when she left Euth.

  The walk to Silvia’s apartment was uneventful, and that mundanity sometimes felt like a luxury to Seren. Something was always happening, and it was nice to take a rest. And walking over the crunchy leaves was a great sensation.

  Thought that comfort was gone when they opened the apartment’s door.

  As the door opened, they saw Suiming lying on the ground, face downwards, while some solutions spilled around him. Thankfully, none of the solutions seemed to have any tint of blood or crimson in it. While Silvia panicked and tried to pick Suiming up, Seren stopped her.

  “I think he ain’t dying, Silvy…just wait like…I don’t know, a minute?”

  Right before Seren could finish her thoughts, Suiming bolted up like a spring. His face was covered in the solution while biting a white key. With the blues and grays of the solution, he looked like an unsuccessful attempt at camouflage. Seren tried her best not to laugh while Silvia looked like her soul just jumped out of her body.

  “Seren!” he said, the key falling out of his mouth. It fell on his knuckle, but Suiming didn’t mind.

  “Just in time! Silvia! I need a sample of an abnormality.”