the garden within the wasteland

act 1, Part 7

No man has learned to fear metal, just as no man has learned to fear tools yet. No matter what their purpose is, the intentions of the creator will echo and bleed into the actions of the tool; a guard made to protect with the intention of hatred will hate.

Ereo and Brush decided to walk more, observing the bodies upon bodies of machines left behind in who's ever wake that reached the beast before them, the 2 of them getting lost in the labyrinth of the factory within the belly of the beast, counting to observe the endless posters that seemed more of demands than motivation, showcasing and parading the machines and those who run it, the two of them searching for anything to hold onto for information and they spoke
"So many damn posters, yet not even one is useful; wouldn't it be convenient to just have a map printed on the wall?" brush sighed, lowering his entire upper body down in disappointment
"From what I've gathered, this place is run by a man named Pedro, with assistance from William and Kassandra."  ereo spoke, his voice barely sounding over the ambiance of the machine and the constant sound of gears and engines 
"Wait up, do you see that poster? We haven't seen anything red yet."
brush turned to his sides, glancing over the walls to check the posters, He was correct; the colors were mostly black and red and a white, most of them show-cased the Boar of liberation in full form, with quotation such as
"reap what you sow, work to live."
"of metal, for flesh"
"for a future ruled by men, not saints."
These were the posters that had either Enkidu, William or Kassandra present on them
The ones that featured Pedro seemed to be done by another person completely; they were more aggressive, speaking of hatred, of the war itself, and they all present the same man, each with the obvious difference of age; these posters were years apart from what seems and in the current day, more than decades old, any man or women who appeared in these photographs are long dead either from age, the conditions of this land or the metal.
Brush marched slowly, his metal feet clanking and thudding with each step as he reached the poster; it had been ripped and torn, and decay took the rest of the details. All brush could make out were the red and white colors, Brush counted to analyze it before quickly giving up; it couldn't be a map after all. 
"forget the poster brush; just go through the door next to it."
brush looked to his right away from the ripped poster, seeing an ajar door next to it, the lock on it broken 
"think some one is still here?" 
brush, let his right arm go limp, revealing the cannon
"Put that away. Are you an idiot? It's a high-explosive weapon in a tight area. You'll kill all of us."
A silence followed as the sounds of the Enkidu continued their restless song.
"Yeeeesh," brush swung his arm back, closing the hatch of the cannon
"you can try to relax, man; ever since we got here, you've been so tense."
"we have to take this seriously, I've been preparing for this since my birth."
"what's the point of taking it seriously, We're fine This place is long abandoned, and we got the voice to guide us; besides, your a good shooter."
"Yeah, we're fine; I'm great at this."
brush began to move down into the hallway; it was a massive room, some sort of meeting hall, and chairs and tables filled the wide circular room, which part of the wall had some door connected to it, most of them blocked by massive amounts of tables and chairs and other scraps of metal
"who's there?"
The voice spoke out from the center of the room. A pale women with hair equally as white stood in the center of the room, a blade resting on her back, sheathed away in leather, She turned around to confront the two of them before shooting a glance to her left and begging to whisper something.
"AY, SPEAK UP LADY, WE CAN'T HEAR YOU." Ereo's voice echoed throughout the steel room as his eyes began to adapt to the darkness and he saw what was behind the women—a massive, unmovable heap of scrap that stopped the path to a gate that led deeper. Just behind it, he was able to spot a pair of stairs with a faint light.
"I wasn't talking to you." her voice was stern and detached 
"But you shall answer my question first: who are you? and why are you here?"
"You first, and maybe we'll pay back the favor." brush turned to ereo as they both shared a silent nod, agreeing on the strategy
The woman crossed her arms, her eyes narrowing. 
"Then we'll see who'll budge first."
The brush followed through as he sat down, placing one knee on the floor, his other raised and angled, using it as a platform to rest his arm, before he was able to strengthen his stance
"I am Ereo, and this is Brush; we meet in a factory on the other side of the lake, and we've been sent by the deer god to take down the Enkidu to bring peace." Ereo's voice betrayed the silent agreement before the two in an instance
"You couldn't wait for me to at least finish sitting down?" complained brush
"I couldn't stand another second of the silence."
Mary let a sigh of relief
"I'm Mary Wails; I'm here on my own mission to find out what happened to the Enkidu."
"Your here for a history lesson? that's lame"
"your outfit is lame," replied Mary, looking at ereo up and down
"Like a cape? full metal armor? Are you trying to get hit with lighting?"
Ereo opened his mouth, yet he couldn't form a response, simply looking over his outfit with a slight worry
"that's not what matters now; I'm trying to find a workaround."
she turned her attention back to the heap of scrap
"I got something for this," brush began to walk forward, reaching out his cannon arm
"How about we make a deal? We help each other; you let me find the information I need first, then I let you destroy it, deal?"
Mary spread out her arms, her right towards brushing her left-facing ereo
"and after?" Ereo spoke as he began to walk towards her inviting arm
"We'll see where the history rabbit hole leads us."
 Brush reached out his arm but not fully grasping her arm yet
"and how do we know we can trust you, lady?"
"the honor of a deal, there is some respect that comes with that."
Brush clasped his hand in hers at the same time as Ereo, forming a triple handshake bound by the simple implication that the three of them are young and in the same place, and that's all they needed.
Ereo told Mary to step back with him as brush resumed to extend his hand, and a spark of light flashed in the dark room as the impact of the rocket slammed into the heap of scrap, sending metal scraps all over the room, all of them shooting to the sides of the room, each piece flying past Ereo and Mary, none of them hitting or scratching them. The light began to shine through a blinding light that welcomed them to continue moving upwards over the stainless steel stairs that seemed un harmed by time. Before the light disappeared in an instant, more of the scrap that was blasted away fell into each other, forming another smaller, shorter barricade, the light more present than before, how ever no where near an inviting exit,
"that's lovely," exclaimed Mary, quickly suggesting that Brush simply shoot another rocket
"Before shooting another, how many more do you have?" Ereo questioned, his eyes focused on brush's arm that now lay limp next to his body
"I don't know?" answered brush
"The rockets just come when I need them and disappear randomly when I want them."
the room began to smell of something metallic and began to fill the air—a sort of smell that is difficult to pin point but felt oh so nostalgic, a smell that began to remind each one of their childhoods.
Mary of her time with the ghost knight as a child, training and learning from a knight
Ereo of his time with anna and the deer, learning and training to be a soldier
and a figure began to form in the distance, covering the radiance of the light from the stairs; the figure, which seemed to be dressed in a white hood, made it's way to the heap of metal, it's arms preaching through and splitting the massive heap in half. The noise that filled the hall, the sound of metal scraping metal, was deafening, a sort of sound that jumbled all the other sense till they couldn't focus on anything they saw but as the sound disappeared, the figure began to appear more clear
IT stood tall, adorned in a white hood and coat with an equally white pair of pants, on it a golden revolver; the rest of what he wore was accustomed with gold, golden buttons on the open coat that presented his body. The man began to walk towards them, the light bringing forth more of his details. He was a man of pure silver skin, and the eyes that he used to analyze each of the 3 in front of him were an unnatural blue, less the blue of an ocean, instead seemed like the shade to belong on a banner or flag. The eye itself seemed to be the mix of different animal's eyes; a single iron monocle rested on his right eye, and his face betrayed the rest of his stance. He gave off a smile—a comforting smile that a father would give his child. The man held a map as he began to walk forward. 
"EREO! MARY!, and what do I say now? brush?" His voice was loud; it controlled the presence of the entire room, overshining the sound of the metallic ambiance of the machine. His voice was ecstatic, as if he were meeting old friends. Brush dashed backwards towards Mary and Ereo; he seemed to be in distress. 
"Do not worry; I'm not here for any ill intentions." the man stood still, straightening his back, appearing like a massive beast as he stood, his arms resting by his side, still holding onto the map
"How do you know our names?" Ereo's voice barely came out as a whisper; he avoided eye contact with the man as if his life depended on it.
"would a father not know the name of his children?" The man shook his head as he answered what appeared to be such a simple question. The silence that followed was a disgusting mix of panic and calmness, a combination that weaved and increased with each breath the man took.
"Well, I better introduce myself; your kind know me as the alchemist, and I hope to help."
the man lowered his stance, sliding over the map towards them, Brush was the first one to pick it and observe it. It was the map of the Enkidu, where all the locations were, and there were even some passwords to by-pass security
"Why are you here?" integrated Mary as she took a step forward, The racing thoughts in her head began to fall calmer the closer she stepped towards the man.
"to help you, I know how important finding the past is for you." the man smiled, his voice full of compassion. 
His eyes peered away from Mary as it snapped towards brush, sending a jolt into the machines systems
"You saw what I did earlier, brush? pushing the scrap, I know for a fact that given only a bit of time, you'll surpass my strength."
brush seemed to lighten up as the statement as he took a step closer to the man
"you believe so?"
"with my heart," the alchemist now moved on towards Ereo, his eye studying him, before he turned around 
"I would like to share some wisdom that will be critical to your destiny, not every war is won via fighting, how ever you are guided by ereo, I doubt failure will know your name."
Ereo began to approach the man, trying to speak before the alchemist let out a loud "ssh" sound that silenced even the engines of the beast
"mother is close by; stay vigilant."
the three of them began to look around, for all the sound of the beast had stopped suddenly.
and for one brief second, the Alchemist was outside the vision of every person; he disappeared
Ereo was the first to notice the man's disappearances. He let out a small smirk, savoring the compliment.