Enmity of Atlas

“So how are we going to prove anything we say? Walibeld didn’t leave us with anything to prove we know him,” Kiva whispered in Trenton’s ear as Garrote and Kiva continued to chant “tower” over and over again behind them.

“Yeah, I was just thinking about that. My only plan is to roll in with confidence and go from there,” Trenton shrugged, steering them towards an empty space to tie Blithe up somewhere near the building. The lot was incredibly busy, but due to Blithe’s immense size, the people gave him a wide berth, making it easy to assert their space.

“That’s…not very comforting,” Kiva said.

“It’s all I’ve got. Are you two ready?” Trenton said, interrupting Garrote’s and Millie’s chant.

“I thought you’d never ask,” Garrote said, practically bursting at the seam.

“We just-whatever. Come on. Karfice, you stay here and watch over Blithe and Leo,” Trenton said, looking over at Karfice’s slumbering form. “Ah, he’ll figure it out.”

Barely managing to hold Garrote and Millie from rushing ahead, they walked through the grand front doors to the tower, entering into a massive room filled to the brim with various little trinkets and gizmos. It looked like a random mash of a workshop and a storefront, the walls of the area lined with armed guards holding strange little hand cannons. Slowly, they squeezed their way through the thick crowds gawking at this and that, making their way to what looked to be one of the front desks, a stout little dwarven lady manning the register all alone.

“Is that a-I’ll be back later! I gotta check this out!” Garrote shouted as he wriggled out of Trenton’s grasp, disappearing further into the store, his eyes alight with a brilliant gleam.

“Do you want me to grab him?” Kiva asked, not surprised in the slightest.

“No,” Trenton sighed, “he’ll find his way back. Not his babysitter,” Trentonmumbled, turning his attention back towards the little dwarven lady, who had just finished tending to a little gaggle of customers ahead of them.

“Hello, what may I…” the little lady trailed off, squinting at Trenton as she panned back and forth between him and something behind the desk that he couldn’t see. “Say, are you Trenton? Trenton Boulreguard?”

Trenton shifted in place, suddenly much less comfortable than a moment ago. This could’ve either been a good thing, or horrendously bad. There was really no way to tell for certain.

“Yes, I am,” Trenton ventured, taking a risk.

The dwarven lady’s eyes lit up, “That’s wonderful! Evai said to keep a lookout, that you’d be stopping in soon. I’ll take you to her right now,” she said, leaning over and pressing a button on the back wall. “Would you please step just over there on the platform?” She motioned to a raised section in about the center of the room. It was an odd structure, no obvious mechanical or magical work anywhere around it, so Trenton really had no idea what it was meant to do.

Kiva looked over at Trenton, her eyebrows raised, but he merely shook his head in response. Evai was the person they were here for, so they couldn’t be too far from the right track. They shuffled over to the platform, keeping close watch around them to make sure nothing was off. For some reason, everyone seemed to be giving them a lot of space, watching on with mixed expressions of interest and apprehension.

“So is this like an elevator, or-” Trenton started, getting cut off by the massive metal bird descending through a hole in the ceiling…wait, massive metal bird descending through the ceiling? Trenton watched in horror as the roof above them opened like the maw of a great beast, a massive metallic owl swooping down and grabbing them before he could say a word.

“This is NOT AN ELEVATOR!” Kiva shouted, struggling against the bird's grip.

“YEAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!” Millie shouted as they ascended, the bird's acceleration impossibly quick. At least one of them was having fun. Trenton felt like he was going to hurl, but everything was all blurry and distorted. He couldn’t even tell what he’d be throwing up on.

Then, just as quickly as they had risen, the bird slowed to a stop, hovering a half dozen feet in the air as the hatch closed beneath them. The bird dropped them onto the ground, taking perch on the railing of a massive porch off to their left which took up pretty much that entire wall. Trenton looked around, brushing the dirt off of his clothes and taking in the room around himself. The whole room was a magnificent work, a large glass dome filled to the brim with random machines and tables stuffed with various projects, all unfinished.

“‘Ello there!” An older human woman from off to their right called out, pulling off a welders mask and stepping away from the forge which consumed most of the right section of the dome. To her side, there was another masked individual still slaving away over the forge with a pair of tongs and some unidentifiable red hot metal. Trenton couldn’t tell much about the figure, but given the grunts, it was safe to say it was a man, and a dwarven one at that based on his stature.

“Hi,” Trenton said, still gazing around the room in awe, taking the scene in, “surprised to see another human here. It’s been nothing but dwarves since we came in.”

“Tell me about it! I’ve lived here my whole life and have only seen a handful of humans ever. You lot sure are a sight for sore eyes,” the woman said, taking off her heat resistant gear and throwing it over a random table as she approached, stopping just in front of Trenton, looking him up and down. “...like a wall,” she muttered to herself, audible enough that Trenton could still hear. “Well, I'll be damned, kid. Walibeld didn’t lie. You’re everything he said you’d be. Names Evai!” She held out her hand to Trenton, which he shook heartily. “Pleasure to meet ya’.”

“Walibeld sent us here to meet you. He said you could help us,” Kiva butted in, holding Millie by the scruff of her neck to keep her from wandering off.

“Yeah, yeah,” Evai said, waving her hand dismissively, “Walibeld already sent a letter ahead, told me all about it. Only thing is, I haven't got the slightest clue where Wimbleton is, either. Haven't seen the kid in ages. He’s the traveling type, so I actually had no idea he was even here in Avar until Walibeld told me.”

“Can’t you get in touch with him somehow? Walibeld seemed to be able to, somewhat,” Trenton asked.

Evai rolled her eyes, “If only, but no. The kid doesn’t work that way. When he wants to talk, he’ll get in contact with you. Otherwise, it’s radio silence. I’ve got a couple people searching around Avar for him right now, but there’s no guarantee we can find him, let alone in a timely manner. He’s not one to be found if he’s really intent on hiding, but we can talk about this all later. Come on, it’s getting late. Until we find Wimbleton, you all can stay here with me and Dwimir. So, let’s have some dinner and we can chat. I imagine you’re a little curious about all this,” Evai said, gesturing to the workshop around herself.

“YES! PLEASE!” Millie shouted, breaking free of Kiva and jumping up and down in front of Evai.

“That’s the spirit…and a spirit. Nevermind, now's not the time,” Evai said, shaking her head and leading them down a flight of stairs circling the edge of the room.

It seemed that the bird had taken them up pretty far. Just like Rema’s tower, Evai’s had a large variety of rooms, spaces for every task or need one could possibly have. It was such a large area, in fact, that only one floor was dedicated to living space: bathrooms, baths, kitchen, washing, bedrooms, and so on. Evai sat them around a large table which was stuffed with steaming foods of every kind, servants standing at the side having presumably just set the table for them, a nice view out the far window overlooking the beautiful city.

“Thank you,” Trenton said, bowing his head to the servants as was custom back when he’d eat with his family.

It always bugged him he wasn’t allowed to show them the same respect when it came to formal balls. Apparently, it was a sign of weakness, subservience. But now, no such restriction was placed on him. He was…free, in a sense. It was odd to think about the massacering of his home like that, but really he was free, no longer beholden to the nobleman’s culture he so despised. It was what he really needed all along, to be away from the aristocracy of Aria, he just never knew it before.

“What is this place? You’ve got all kinds of cool stuff!” Millie shouted in between handfuls of juicy cuts of meat. Meat was a luxury good they didn’t get to eat very often on the plains, especially not high quality meat, so it wasn’t surprising she couldn’t help herself. In fact, Trenton was happy to see her so chipper and satisfied after what had happened to her. She really deserved it.

“This is the shop I run with my husband, Dwimir. We sell all kinds of things metal related: automatons, personal magical goods, weapons of war, and even construction projects when the duke demands it. We’re the heart of the city, in a sense.”

“Dwimir…the name sounds familiar,” Trenton said, trying to reach back into the depths of his memory to find where he’d heard that name before.

“Prolly cause Brus told it to yah,” the dwarf from earlier said from behind Trenton. Dwimir, coated in sweat and grime, pulled out a chair for himself next to Evai, using a booster to be seated the same height as everyone else.

“You know Brus?” Trenton asked, Kiva raising her eyebrows with interest.

“Know im!? He’s my brother! Or at least…” Dwimir sobered, his face turning sour, his next words barely a mumble, “...he was. But, now’s not the time for sulking. I’ve had plenty of time to come to terms with his death already. He was a great man, and I’ll gladly remember him as such.”

“He was, greater than any other. Delis had a lot of respect for Brus both as a fighter and as a person. If it’s any condolence, they went down fighting, both of them,” Trenton said, slightly fibbing. He didn’t really know what happened to Brus, but knowing him, he must have fought to the death. There was simply no other alternative.

“That means the world, really. More than you could ever know. Anyway, glad to see you’re alright at least. Brus would talk about you whenever he’d stop by. He said you’re a young kid with incredible talent, someone with a sharp mind and heaps of confidence,” Dwimir said, his expression softening to a smile.

“Did he? I don’t think I ever heard him give anyone a compliment, expect maybe Delis,” Trenton said, recalling the stubborn little dwarf.

“No, he wasn’t the type. But you he made an exception for.”

“What about that other tower!? What do they do over there!?” Millie shouted, slamming her hands down on the table, swiveling her head from person to person, looking for an answer, cutting off Dwimir and Trenton.

“Our main competitor,” Evai chuckled. “He’s actually-” Trenton’s mind wandered, tuning out the rest of the meaningless small talk to process what he’d just been told.

To think, Brus had thought so highly of him that he’d sing Trenton’s praises to his own brother all the way across the world. He probably talked to Delis about it, too. It was comforting, in a way, to know he had the respect of a man he himself respected, especially one as tough as Brus. Brus and Delis had always been Trenton’s heroes back in the day, their adventures and exploits the stuff of legends. Often Delis would talk about the many monsters Brus would brutalize, the viciousness he’d fight with, like his life was on the line no matter who he fought. But that had all been ripped away from him. All that was left now was memoires, and they were memories he’d gladly remember.

“-but that’s enough of that. I know we didn’t get to talk long, but I’m tired from a long day's work, and you kids oughta be to bed,” Evai said, the strain in her voice evident of the wear she was under. “We can chat more tomorrow. We’ll have plenty of time. Come on, I’ll show you to your rooms,” Evai said, Trenton catching the last bit of her speech. Whatever it was, Millie looked enraptured. It must have been pretty good. Maybe he’d ask about it later if he remembered.

Without another word, the hum of Brus’s compliment still dancing around his mind, Trenton headed to bed, slipping into his soft mattress and just lying there awake, thinking. For how much had been going wrong in his life the last couple months, he had to remember all the good things as well. Focusing solely on the bad would only make his life harder. Happy. He needed to be happy. Just a little bit more joy in his life. And soon, happiness came knocking on his door.

“Come in,” Trenton said, sitting up in bed. There, standing with the light of the hallway to her back, was Kiva, giving him the world's dumbest smile.