The Lantern Bearers

chapter 18: who are you?

I would wake up to being dark up above again. The heat has obviously subsided, so we can leave and venture back.

Yui looked down on me with a smile, she was still awake, petting my hair.

"Your hair is so soft master and you snored loudly this time....master was sleeping extremely well, wasn't he?" She said with a smile.

"Yeah..." i said, trying to not come off strongly.

We both would get up and gather our things. She grabbed my waist and launched her arm to the ceiling, grabbing  low hanging pipe and propelled ourselves up.

As we breached the hole to the surface however, we were met with barbs being flung our way and landing at the base of the hole and inside of it. Had we been any slower, and we would....well, i would have been skewered by highly toxic barbs.

After the flux wave, two of the hanging moss anomaly was placed in the room with us, along with an electric anomaly near the clothes, and a chemical anomaly blocking the hole she made to get in the building. Outside were moving fireball anomalies.

The moss anomaly is the worst thing to encounter in this particular instance. It looks like a large, low hanging purple moss that dangles from high up places where they normally shouldn't be. They are harmless unless you touch em, but if you run or do any sudden movements, it will lunge in the direction of the movement and launch several highly toxic barbs in the direction of the creature in movement. Said toxin will kill anything with just a singular barb, causing the creature to immediately begin to rot and die painfully quickly. Thick clothing or armor can protect you because the barbs only have effect on organic matter and can be plucked or brushed off after being pelted by the barbs.

Me and yui stayed suspended in the air with her arm holding the pipe. We had to be careful when lowering ourselves because if we lowered ourselves wrong, the barbs are still active and laced with toxins. One knick can kill you.

The pipe began to creak and we slowly looked up. Great, something else to worry about.

"Your feet are resilient to those barbs, right?" I asked.

"Affirmative, they cannot pierce me either." Yui said.

"We're gonna do something risky."

"Master?"

"Let go of the pipe, while carrying me in your arms, then roll when the barbs hit the pipe." I said.

She nodded and gripped onto me. She then let go of the pipe. As soon as we dropped, the moss started flinging barbs towards us, but missed us because we were too quick. As soon as she landed, she would roll forward with me in her arms, onto a clean patch of concrete as the barbs rained from above.

I looked up and seen the chemical anomaly a few feet from my face.

"Yeesh, we cut it close, huh?" I said.

She nodded as she released me.

We would make our way back and a woman would arrive soon after us with a flickering lantern.

"Ey, are you okay?" I asked, going to her.

The woman wore a mask, which appears to be attached to a breathing machine. It obscured her face, but it was understandable. With it being cold all the time, so severe asthma conditions are common. She had grey hair and a skinny, almost frail frame, as well as short.

"Yes sir... i thought i was a gonner once my lantern started to flicker..." she solemnly.

"Yui, go ahead to the cabin, i'm gonna help this woman out for a sec." I said.

Yui grabbed my sleeve and i gave her a raised brow.

She shook her head.

"What do you mean no?" I asked.

"Master, something is off with that woman....please, do not trust her fully." She said with warning.

"She's just afrail, sickly girl, yui. I can manage myself! Don't worry!" I said with a smile of reassurance.

Zeus ran up, jumped, and hugged me around the neck.

"Pops, you're back! I was so worried!" He cried.

Willow walked up and hugged me too.

"Ugggh, why are y'all hugging on meee..." i groaned.

"Just accept it, ya grumpy bear." Willow said.

Yui would squeeze herself into the hug as well.

"Hugging master is soothing." Yui said.

The woman from earlier stared at the scene before her. I could have sworn i saw a tinge of anger in her eyes through the goggles of her breathing mask, but it was probably due to the lighting.

I would later buy some parts from Nathan and started working on her lantern with her watching.

It was just me and her in my workshed, with the door open just to please yui, so she can check on me. She's been paranoid of this woman ever since she arrived.

The lantern frame was okay, as well as the glass shield ober the bulb inside. The batteries were hit with erosion though, and the circuitry was slightly damage. She might have dropped it once really hard and busted the battery, releasing the acid inside, causing it to corrode.

She started to violently cough and laid against me.

"Are you alright? Don't be coughing on me!" I groaned.

"I'm fine....it's just an asthma attack....i get light headed...may i lean on you?" She asked.

"Haaaa...only for a moment." I said, getting back to work.

As she laid against me, i could feel her head on my shoulder, her breasts on my upper arm, with her arms wrapped around mine. It was uncomfortable, because i liked my elbow room, but she was dizzy from her coughing fit, so i allowed it.

Yui simply stared from outside, looking at us. She wore no emotion, so it was hard to tell if she was upset or not. She would resume walking by, doing whatever she was doing.

Minutes ticked by as i worked on her lantern. I swore up and down she was slowly rubbing her breasts on me, but maybe i was moving my arms while i was working.

It felt like a century went by, before i safely got the corroded battery out and replaced it. The circuitry was repaired as well.

"All done!" I said.

She seemingly dozed off on my arm and was startled when i said all done.

"O-oh! Thank you!" She said, taking it and looking at it.

I started to clean off my table and stuff, when she suddenly hugged me. It felt weird because I didn't know her, but i let her hug me. She began to lose interest, once she figured out i wasn't hugging back and would eventually let go.

"Thank you so much sir." She said with a little bow.

"No problem, now be on your way." I said, resuming my clean up.

"Allow me to repay you, sir." She said, pulling out her PDA.

I rose my brow, intrigued.

She turned it on and shown me a marked location on her map.

"What am i lookin at?" I asked.

"A marked stash location! I found one, but with it being just me, i was too scared to go in...." the woman said, looking to the side, embarrassed.

"Hmmmm.....it's in a warehouse from the looks of it....multi floor. We might can get some tools and supplies too. Lemme talk it over with my group. If it's a yes, you can lead us there. However, if this is a trap, your head is getting blown off. Understood?" I said sternly.

She nodded.

"What's your name?" I asked.

"Melody." She replied.