SPRINGBOUND SUMMER COUR

Naive melody

The two kids played with the weird contraption that sprung forth music multiple times, without a single care in the world. The mall was practically beaming with melodies of varying quality, some with a scratchy vinyl-esque feeling and some melancholic. Some were abstract with booming noises, and some with strange bubbling noises that left static after-hearing. It, in all sense of the word, was just two kids having fun while cooling off from all that had happened. Still, unbeknownst to them the zapping sounds of teleportation continued to ring out above them in the rooms above.

Lloyd pulled the clamps closer before sticking them onto the ends of his sleeve, feeling the buzz and the sharp, quick beats that emitted from the machine. His hair frizzed out at the ends from the feeling and he quickly shook his head to get the static shock to disperse from his already incredibly messy hair.

"I never thought to think that this so called Melody t-that you're trying to find is what those things were l-looking for in Winters, too ... A-and you're saying you found a machine in this 'Podunk' p-place that also made noises like this when you stuck objects into it? I-interesting...", Lloyd rambled.

"Eh, same old same old. At this point it's just us doing the same thing over and over until we get all of these things.", Ninten replied.

In his hand, he balanced the head of the weird, creepy doll. Its eyes rolled shut everytime Ninten leaned it back too far, and opened them again when it rolled forward, just like an actual human child. It made Lloyd shudder, how could kids like such creepy things..

"And..a-and I guess..that well..this is the only one you have?", Lloyd stammered out.

"Well, you clamped those things onto the other garbage I have and none of them played a single sound that sounded like a song."

"Y-yes..you are right about that..", Lloyd stammered again as he fiddled with the clamps in his hands.

The two shared an awkward silence for a moment, until Lloyd looked up and made eye contact with the ruder, frustrated kid. He took a breath, before holding his hand out.

"Since you're puh-playing the bad guy and all..do you a-accept truces?", Lloyd asked with a tilt of his head.

Ninten was actually a bit startled at first, his hand shaking as he looked at the outstretched hand for a while, but eventually he pushed his hand forward and slapped Lloyd right on his small, frail, and very pale hand.

"Okay, hell, fine. Truce. But I plan on leaving without you when Merrysville is fixed, alright?"

"Alright..Do w-we go to school now or.."

"Oh right.", Ninten perked up, grabbing his sports bag and slinging it over his shoulder.

Lloyd quickly followed him, copying Ninten as he also hurriedly got up on his feet, gripping the arms of his bookbag as the two slowly made their way over to the stairwell.

"You know, it's strange. All the lights are on but the escalators are not workin'. For a dimension, I'd think electricity would also affect the escalators.", Ninten remarked, his head leaning to the side to look at one of the non functioning escalators.

"W-well, as we know this is a huge hallucination. Our e-eyes and perception are being messed with. It's highly l-luh-likely that the escalator is working, but we can't comprehend it ourselves.", Lloyd replied.

When the two stepped out into the still weirdly vacant mall, Lloyd put a foot on the escalator and watched it move upwards, confirming that theory. He quickly stepped off before he got carried up the non-moving-yet-moving escalator.

"This place is a drag.", Ninten spat, kicking a can that was strewn on the floor from him beating the hell out of the trash can earlier.

"I haven't s-seen a place as quiet as this in a long time. I-it's quite nice."