Once upon an orbit of planet Fait, a playful young girl and her flustered yet resourceful single father must endure sickness, encounter exotic creatures, escape a predatory government, and outwit a wicked wizard to survive just one more day. Having...
The pillars of smoke from the fires of the Neath twisted their tragic trajectories up the long lengths of the four supertowers. At their Sheriffa's cruel command, the Sirens were flying everywhere and blasting their lasers and burning many of the wooden huts, the wooden shanties, the wooden stores of all Shroom Town, the whole district of the Neath. There were no shadows there in the blinding firelight, just wretched Neathers running and weeping in fright and despair. A few of them wondered, in fleeting moments of insight, whether this would be happening to their homes if they had gone to help the shinseon when the shinseon needed it.
Most of them had promised the shinseon a shinwha over the many orbits that had passed since Tetrapolis' four supertowers first rose, and when the sento had come for them to do something brave and kind for the old man in return, what had they done? They hid and cowered, and now, look what was happening without the shinseon's protection.
(One young woman had wanted to go and help Ophiuchus, but her stepmother and stepsisters had kept her locked away in their shanty hut, for their own selfish reasons.)
Wiping the sweat from her brow, Mandias flew up to Scythia, who was scanning with her uSee visor quadrant by quadrant of the Neath, all the faces of the wretched now-homeless Neathers, yet she did not register their sadness, she did not care. Their faces were not the faces she hunted. Scythia Salve's purpose, her madness, was singular to those two she had designated "Scarthroat" and "Rainbow Rag Girl."
"Any luck?"
"Sirens don't need luck," Scythia scowled. "We have blasters."
"Should we elevate the search? I've got my hair appointment."
"They'll be here. And when they—there."
Scythia spotted Rene, cloaked in Shadowslider and holding the silver staff, standing atop a shroom cap that was growing on the side of East Tower. He smiled and gave a wave.
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Scythia grabbed the handlebars of Io and launched forward.
Set to jumping from cap to cap, Rene Naza zagged his leaping way up the wall of East supertower. Blast after blast Scythia fired at him, yet each missed. Apparently she had no luck at all.
"Where's the girl?" she shouted. "Where's the girl?"
Scythia flew, flew, flew after him, faster and faster, but she had to maneuver to dodge the crystal tracks of the transveyor that obstructed her path. It was getting tighter and tighter, the more and more diagonal tracks extended the higher up the supertowers she flew.
Finally, Rene jumped across a track, just as the transveyor itself came hurtling down the tracks. Scythia had to slam the brakes of Io in order not to fly into the transveyor and be smashed dead. She cursed.
When the transveyor had passed, Rene was gone. Scythia zoomed forward, speculating his trail. Arriving at the area beneath the factories located mid-way up the supertowers, Scythia found herself beset by coughing for all the smoke from the fires raging in the Neath that the Sirens had set—at Scythia's own command, mind you—was collecting here now, amidst the pipes and platforms.
From that shadowy smoke above Scythia's head, Xiphos swung down and whacked Scythia right in the uSee visor with its silver "t".
The Sheriffa fell back from Io, and off, down, while Rene and Nariah hopped down from the smoking shadows, and right onto Io, thanks to Shadowslider, of course. Rene jabbed and wedged Xiphos against the console, sticking out from between the handlebars, so it made like the mast of a Second World sailing ship.
Through the smoke Scythia diagonally plunged and at first chance she grabbed onto the transveyor track. She hung there, swinging, watching Rene at the handlebars of Io, with Nariah standing in front of him, and the shinseon's cloak surrounding them with its black feathers all a-bristle. To Rene, Nariah piped up, "I want to hold the handlebars, too." She put her little hands over her father's hands clutching the handlebars. On Io they zoomed past Scythia hanging there, helpless.
"You," Scythia bellowed at Rene. "You'll never be good enough! For no one! For never!"
Nariah stuck out her tongue at the Sheriffa, as off and onward she and her father flew.
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The other Sirens were catching up to Scythia now. Directly Scythia jumped down next to Mandias on Mandias' aerocycle. "After them! Stop them! Now!" The whole fleet of Sirens gave chase, their aerocycles blasting after Rene and Nariah flying on Io.
Scythia grabbed Mandias' throat and shook her, "No blasters! You could hit the girl! Just stop them, I said!" Scythia was shaking Mandias by the neck so hard that Mandias blacked out and tumbled sideways, right off her own aerocycle.
From her red blind rage Scythia recovered herself and grabbed the handlebars. Scythia watched her subordinate Siren fall down, down, down, and considered for at least 1.375 sentos whether or not she should swoop to save Mandias. But to do that would mean giving up her prey.
Sadly for Mandias, Scythia chose not to deter from her pursuit in order to save Mandias, and flew after Rene and Nariah instead. However, quite luckily for Mandias, Mandias did not fall to her death, but rather, landed on a mushroom cap that was growing on the side of North Tower, where she lay asleep as the Sirens, each after each, sped past.
"I can see it, Daddy. I can see Gorchen's Gate. Oooh, sylvas protect us, and the big spider, too." Nariah covered her eyes. But covering her eyes, she knew, would not make the spider go away.
