Enter Abyss

Chapter 13; Exploration of magic and other adventures.

It was the dead of night when Archer felt a bony hand clamp over his mouth, smothering his startled scream.

Snapping his eyes open, he found himself looking straight into the gaze of Galen, who put a finger to his lips to shush him.

"I don't usually say this to people who aren't Pip," Archer said when the king removed his hand from his mouth, "But what the bloody heck are you doing?"

Galen shrugged apologetically, "I wanted to show you something that my guards found when they captured you... I simply could not wait till the morrow."

Sighing deeply, Archer reluctantly climbed from his warm, comfortable bed and followed the other boy down several corridors before they came to a large stone room. The place was crammed near to crumbling with bottles and beakers of colourful liquid. Bits and pieces of completely random parts of steam-powered machinery lay strewn about, most of them looking to be haphazrdly thrown together to make new and monsterous creations. Books filled with unintelligible scribbles and notes lay on tables crammed with paper and ink pots. It was chaos. A wondeful, quiet chaos.

Archer nearly squealed at the sight of it.

"Look at this!" he said, picking up what looked to be a propeller of sorts. Perhaps from a very small aircraft. "This is a generation three! I haven't seen one of these in years."

Galen smiled shyly, "Yes, well, it just sort of fell down here one day. A lot of things do, really. It's quite odd." Suddenly, he gestured to a table that was nearly empty, "That is what I brought you here to see. I was wondering if you could tell me what it is--"

"My flying machine!" Archer cried, rushing up to his contraption and quickly checking for any signs of damage. It was a bit scratched but no worse for wear. "I thought I'd never see it again."

"You built it then?"

"Ay, from scraps mostly."

At this, Galen's eyes lit up, "I've made some things myself; mostly small inventions that serve no purpose-"

"Show me."

Bringing him over to a table stacked with parts, pieces and various odds and ends, Galen excitedly explained what each machine did, his eyes alight with enthusiasm. He only paused several times to cough heavily into his sleeve, gasping for air for a moment after before continuing on as if nothing had happened.

There were inventions that heated things up-- small bowls of soup, mostly-- and inventions that kept things cold. There were small mechanical men that sang a terrible sounding tune, but were amazing to watch all the same. 

Some inventions were oddly shaped little things, others looked similar to something that Archer might find back on the serface. All ran on either steam or via glowing rock, which interested Archer greatly.

"You made all of these?" he asked breathlessly, peering at each machine with reverence.

"Yes, though I must say that none are quite as spectacular as you flying machine."

Archer felt himself blush; he rarely received compliments on his work, much less from other inventors. It made him slightly uncomfortable, but he relished it all the same. "It is my pride and joy. I was going to use it to get out of the Midnight District."

"What is that, may I ask?"

Ah, that's right. Galen did not know what the serface world was like. In fact, Archer was willing to bet that he had never even seen it... or the sun. So he quickly-- or rather, as quickly as he was able-- he explained the social classes of Maufaria.

The whole time he spoke, Galen's gaze was on his face, epraptured. And Archer was sure that if the boy had a paper and pen, he would have taken notes. For his eyes were bright with interest and he only interrupted to ask questions, inquiring with unchecked enthusiasm and forcing Archer to explain more. Thus, he spoke of nearly everything; the customs, the Day of Shadows, Keepers, the airships that soared through the sky-- sometimes being attacked by sky pirates-- Thaddeus, the inventions of others. Archer told of it all, speaking till his throat was nearly raw and still Galen thirsted for knowledge. He was like a small child demanding candy, wanting more, never receiving enough. It was similar, Archer thought, to how HE was, to how even the most vast amount of knowledge was never enough. He loved watching as Galen's face lit up as he spoke of the airships and steamtrains as if they were something magical.