Enmity of Atlas

“Need something?” Trenton asked, facetious.

“I couldn’t sleep, so I snuck around a little bit. Come on, I want to show you something,” Kiva said, darting out the door, motioning Trenton to follow.

“You can go, lad. I’ll watch over here. If anything happens, I’ll holler,” Raligoth said, his empty eye sockets clearly visible.

“Right, keep an eye out. I’ll be right back,” Trenton said over his shoulder, slipping out of the room and shutting the door softly behind himself.

The hallways were dark, the soft hum of the mechanical gears whirring filling the air. It seemed that the tower was not a building made to be traversed after hours, poor design really. Trenton pulled out a small light to carry, its luminance brightening the space around himself just barely enough to not trip on any stray wires or metal plates that were just laying randomly around the floor for some reason.

“So what’d you want to show me?” Trenton asked.

“Shhh, no one else is awake right now. Just follow me,” Kiva whispered, grabbing Trenton by the wrist and quickly dragging him further into the building, taking turns wildly, Trenton barely managing to keep himself from careening into the walls. So much for following. At least he couldn’t get lost this way, not that he had a poor sense of direction or anything.

It took a couple of minutes of a half run, half jog around the building, but slowly they ascended the tower, pushing through many surprisingly unlocked doors, Kiva slamming open the door leading to the workshop at the top of the tower. She danced around the room with a youthful vigor, freely flying through the aisles without a care in the world.

“Feel’s a bit hollow without anyone in here, like the remnants of an old smith long forgotten,” Trenton remarked, watching as Kiva ran over to the expansive balcony, leaning over the railing to peer out at the vast city with a childlike wonder.

“Don’t be so sour. Take a look at this,” Kiva said, motioning Trenton forward.

Trenton slowly made his way onto the balcony, taking care to steer wide of any of the tables, ensuring he didn’t set anything off by accident. It was a foreign place. There was no telling what could happen if he touched anything. Not to mention no one would be awake if anything started to go wrong. Best to avoid any problems all together, not that Kiva would be of any help.

Trenton peered over the railing, bracing himself against it. Unlike Aria, the city was marvelously bright, even at whatever odd hour it happened to be. It was hard to tell exactly what time it was without any real sunlight, but the artificial sun hovering above the city center had been turned off, so it was likely pretty late at night. Down below them, lights of every color twinkled and flashed, buildings and streets lit up with the most brilliant displays he’d ever seen. The city almost looked…alive, like a fresh daisy just budding, a moving mass of mechanical parts never quite sitting still. People were even still roaming around, a city night life like no other. They must not have had an official curfew since they were so well defended. The threat of monsters was pretty much gone entirely no matter what hour of the night it was.

Trenton ruminated over the brilliant skyline, remembering an old tale he’d been told. Avar was often called the “shrunken city” the popular rumor going that it was once a city of humans who did some unknowably evil deed which angered the gods, who shrunk all of the inhabitants down to become dwarves as punishment. It was funny in concept, but no proof or records that such an event ever happened existed anywhere in the world, just conjecture and gossip, so it was probably just the work of an over imaginative story teller.. Yet, looking down now at the vast expanses of moving metal, birds and buses running around with a handful of stray passengers seeking late transit, Trenton thought of another name, one more fitting to what the city actually was. Avar–city of transience. It wasn’t quite as catchy as shrunken city, but he liked it nevertheless. It felt more inspired.

“It’s beautiful…I didn’t realize I wanted to visit Avar so much until now, but I thought I’d share it with you. You said you’d take me to see the world, and here we are, seeing the world…together,” Kiva said, laying her head against his shoulder.

“There’s a lot of world out there to see. I wouldn’t limit yourself so much. Who knows what wonders are hidden in the little corners of the world, away from prying eyes?” Trenton remarked, stroking the back of her head with his hand.

“Yeah, I guess I just didn’t figure it out until now. I want to see the world, but I never really knew what that meant. It was just an idea I had, a distant dream far out of reach. I still don’t really know where I want to go, but that’s okay. I’m sure we’ll figure it out. It’s better if you’re there, anyway,” Kiva winked at him. “Hills above Dasellium are still on the list, though. I really want to see them. Oh, and the Nuvarian and the Balvian ranges. I also want to see all the capital cities. I heard they’re pretty big. And we have to-”

“We can’t be everywhere at once. The future is a wondrous thing, but if you look too far ahead, you’ll just leave yourself wanting. Delis always used to tell me and Leo that to keep us from blowing up over not making progress quickly enough. Worked like a charm back in the day,” Trenton locked eyes with Kiva, her wonder and admiration rubbing off on him. “We’ll take it one step at a time…” Trenton said, grabbing her arms from behind and wrapping his legs around hers to loosely manipulate her limbs. He took a step to the side with both of them, Kiva flowing with the movement. “...else, who knows where you’ll end up. You could be entering a free fall before you know it,” Trenton said, walking them to the railing and forcing the both of them to lean over, looking down at the several hundred foot drop to the ground.

Kiva flipped around in his grasp, looking up at him from below, “My, how right you are. I didn’t even realize. Well in that case, I’ll just live in the moment,” Kiva wrapped her arms around Trenton’s neck, pulling his head close to hers, kissing him passionately as they dangled over the edge. Trenton melted into her grasp, allowing his mind a moment’s reprieve, fading away from all that was and all that wasn’t, focusing only on now–on her. He wasn’t sure if it was what he needed, but he didn’t care. It was a fruit so sweet he couldn’t help but partake. She pulled away after what felt like an eternity, looking at him with a coy grin. “Isn’t that exciting? What’s a little danger to spice things up?” She said, flipping them around to fall back into the center of the platform.

“Of course, because danger is the one thing we’ve really been lacking,” Trenton said, twirling her around and pushing her away, meeting again at the railing.

“Not outside danger,” Kiva said, spinning around him, forcing his back to the railing, “but danger of our own choosing. Can’t you feel it? The pounding in your chest? The thrill? Isn’t it wonderful?”

“I couldn’t say. I’m not sure what’s more thrilling at the moment,” Trenton said, flipping back around her and pressing her over the edge,“you or death. But I know which one I’d choose given the chance.”

“Aren't you the little romantic?” Kiva said, raising her eyebrows at him and going in for another kiss.

“I don’t mean to interrupt, but I really don’t have much time to spare,” a voice from off to their side called out.

In an instant, Trenton and Kiva both backed away from the railing, drawing their weapons and holding them aloft to face whoever dropped in on them. There on the railing, crouched low, was a familiar bored looking man in a black cloak, the hood drawn back. It was the very same man that had given Leo and him the letter so long ago back at Rema’s tower, and in much the same fashion, too.

“Are you here to deliver another message?” Trenton asked, holding his arm out to protect Kiva, his tone measured. Even as flustered as he was at the embarrassment, their safety took top priority, and while Kiva looked to be struggling to refocus entirely, Trenton was ready to fight to the death at a moment’s notice, just as he always was.

“Correct. East sent me with another letter,” the man said, pulling a wax sealed envelope out of his cloak, the very same as last time. He tossed it over to Trenton, not bothering to wait for Trenton to grab it, leaning backwards to gaze behind himself at the artificial sun without looking to see if Trenton even caught the message or not. It was an odd motion, one marking incredible balance and stability, but it really would’ve just been easier for the man to turn around. Was he trying to show off? “Midnight already…late,” the man mumbled, leaning back to look at Trenton. “I’ve done my job. I’ll be seeing you, probably,” and with that, the man simply fell backwards, disappearing from view in exactly the same fashion as before. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Although he really could use some more variety if they ever saw him again, which at this rate, seemed very, very likely.