Heavy is the Head that Wears the Solemn Crown

Twenty-Nine - Believe Only What You Can Prove

Techno

People walk in the opposite direction as him, quietly conversing with one another about trivial affairs that help lighten their sour moods. The healers walk around the hospital tents, calling out to one another while gesturing to specific patients. Some guards were sparring against each other in the training grounds, their labored breaths and grunts of effort matching with every beat of their feet hitting the sand. If he strains his ears, he can hear the flickering of candles and the scratches of inked quills on parchment. Despite all the noises, Techno can't help but notice how quiet everything is. The silence festers in his ears like a plague, and he isn't sure if he's gone deaf.

Alex and Steve had not shown their faces or revealed their voices since Techno had brought Tommy back from the pirate's makeshift campsite, bringing along Fool and the other seraphim. Techno knew they were upset with him, but he wasn't entirely certain he knew why. It seemed like they were weary of the primordial gods, or maybe they just didn't want to upset the ancient deities by harboring multiple specimens that should have perished alongside their gods a long time ago. Techno would venture to say that the primordial gods wouldn't care. The seraphim have obviously lived for more than a dozen years, and Techno was sure that Fool had lived for many more. If they were going to be killed, they would have been attacked and disposed of already. In the case of the seraphim, their forefathers would have been slaughtered. He believed it was going to be fine.

It appeared his patrons did not agree with him. They had left him in the crumbling silence. It had been such a long time since he didn't have their voices floating in his head. He could still feel their blessing racing through his veins, but his instincts had fallen just as inaudible as their source. Techno wanted to be grateful. He never particularly liked the screaming voices demanding blood in his head. He couldn't be, though, when he felt like something was fundamentally broken. For reasons beyond his understanding that he blamed on his unique connection with the Blood Gods, Techno felt like there was something else at play besides surrounding himself with creatures wanted dead by the cosmos itself.

Techno growled beneath his breath, deciding that he wouldn't dwell on it any further. Per Wilbur's orders, Techno was going to the guard's barracks to inform the soldiers resting at the camp that they would be taken into battle soon. Techno was given authority over one of the corps, and he was planning on leading his men to victory. He already had a few plans concocted in his brain. He just needed to double-check the capabilities of his soldiers. If they weren't up to par, he only had a few days to get them somewhere close to his standards. It wasn't going to be pretty or easy, but Techno swore to himself a long time ago that Pogtopia was going to win this war with as little losses as possible. He knew it naive to believe that no one was going to die, but he didn't want to burden Wilbur any further.

Techno might not talk about his emotions often, but he wasn't blind. He knew that Wilbur was struggling through this war, doing his best to preserve everyone's lives. Techno could see the way Wilbur was deteriorating slowly, and he was growing afraid that Wilbur's psyche would break. Techno knew that he would be of little help in improving Wilbur's emotional state, but he could lessen Wilbur's worries. He would leave Tommy and the others to bring Wilbur out of his mental decline. He would focus on making sure Wilbur had less dead bodies weighing down on his soul.

Techno halts his movements when the guard's barracks come into sight. His eyebrows furrow as he tilts his head to the side, noticing that there is a new sound added to the mix. It is a subdued noise that isn't quite as natural as everything else in the camp. Techno finds himself staring at a bunch of wooden crates stacked outside of the mess hall. Techno pushes aside one of the crates with his foot. He suspected that he would find a wild animal, but the tuscan yellow eyes staring back at him decidedly do not belong to a creature trying to siphon food from the camp. They belong to a gnomish girl with her arms wrapped around herself and a worried expression on her face.