"Is Undoubtedly Evil."
— They commented, whilst on the other side of the encampment there stood a Sanum whose lips remained planted on a small, dusty photograph depicting a middle-aged woman and a young girl, his heart dancing tirelessly with a barrage of emotions all coalescing together to form a profound, abyss-like solemnity on his eyes. —
"Wait for me, I'll save you soon."
————
*Psshh...!!!*
"Come on..come on.."
*Pshh....wrrrrrr...*
"Oh dang it..!"
Under the same shack he was in the entire night; Calestro sustained an undivided amount of attention towards the heads and scraps of the Papa Bear and the Mama Bear as dozens of wires are strapped unto them.
The canopy of the midday sunlight piercing through the holes present on the ceiling enhanced the illumination which was previously only brought by the lamp that sat on the three-legged table, now with a makeshift, ragged wood attached to it as the fourth leg.
With frustration creeping in exacerbated by a sleepless night, the fatigue weighed down on the young man as the ever-feared brain fog began to proliferate inside of his head. Straining his ability to think and formulate new solutions, just repeated firing of energy towards the heads of the bears, hoping for the best and failing afterwards.
"Dang it..!!" - Calestro yelled out as he slammed a fist down on the table, causing some of the small shards and tools to leap upwards before he raised both forearms to grasp his head and scratch it.
"..Why..!? .." - The young man wailed, as he pushed his brain harder and harder to think. But to no avail, no answer could be emanated from his pondering.
"Haah.. Screw this.." - Causing him to lean back to his chair before heaving a defeated exhale, staring at the hole-filled ceiling with half-squinted eyes nearing a possible passing out.
*Grumble..*
His stomach continued to growl while his body proceeded to burn through his leftover energy reserves just to keep his heavy eyelids from finally closing; but all of this remained the least of his concern as he looked at the heads of the bears with a face overwhelmed with profound sorrow.
They remained inactive, but still were being supplied with a glowing substance flowing through the transparent wire with its one end attached to the cylindrical object.
"..." - He felt tears welling up his eyelids before he quickly covered them with his forearm.
"...Please..God.. assist me.."
- He mumbled, before—
*Knock* *Knock* *Knock*
"Hello?"
Calestro heard a familliar, masculine voice emanating from the other side of the torn door.
"is someone in there..!?" - It yelled, impatience colourating its tone.
Just as he was about to open his mouth however;
"It's ope—"
*SLAMMM!!!*
"!!!!!" - Calestro jerked upwards, scaring the tears away from his eyelids before he furiously rubbed away any remaining excess.
"HEY! KALYESTRHRO— oh there you are." -
An individual, of a reddish cloak and a clean countenance kicked down the door and bursted inside, before flashing the startled young man a soft grin.
"What..gh..a..re.." - Calestro stuttered there as he froze; widened eyes staring at the carefree Bakzeu who just launched away the door from its frame with a singular kick.
"Hm..? Gghh..aree..?" - Bakzeu with a tilt of his head did repeat the mumblings of the young man.
"ARE YOU CRAZY!?!?!?!?!??"
Calestro yelled, causing the birds in the distance that rested amongst the trees to fly away.
A ping abruptly emanated throughout the shack as Bakzeu covered both of his ears with his index fingers while a goofy smile was ever present on his countenance.
"No need to yell like that.." - Bakzeu playfully replied, causing an eyelid twitch from Calestro.
"No need..!? You should've—!" - Before a painful sensation quickly shot up from his nape.
"Ow..!" - Calestro slowly hanged his head backwards as he caressed the painful region, as if a muscle was cramping down causing a vein to be squeezed tightly.
"Don't push yourself too much." - Bakzeu heaved a sigh while a vein of annoyance pulsated on Calestro's forehead upon hearing his response.
"Anyway.. I just wanted to check in on you." - Bakzeu scoffed, before giving off the young man a knowing look.
"..Check..ow..! in.. me—"
"Shh. Don't speak, your veins and Aethernan channels are probably cramping up together.." - The Third commander stated, narrowing his eyes towards Calestro's nape.
"..Hm!" - Before he scoffed triumphantly and pulled out a cloth-wrapped object from underneath his cloak and rested it on the table amongst the scattered parts.
"Nothing like a good meal and a fruitful rest can fix." - Bakzeu added with a smile before he crashed down on the chair beside the temporarily paralyzed Calestro.
"Now don't resist alright?"
- Bakzeu then began to unwrap the fabric that covered the object, revealing two lunchboxes stacked on top of each other.
One was red, the other was green.
Bakzeu then lifted the lid from the red lunchbox to reveal a gourmet that consisted of a bunch of smoked beef-jerkies, amber-coloured dough breads, and a fried fish.
Calestro watched curiously as his stomach grumbled upon seeing the humble, yet scrumptious contents of the box.
Bakzeu then snapped his fingers before a glowing, spoon-shaped object materialized above it, afterwards he then used it to scoop out a piece of the jerky before putting the spoon in front of Calestro's mouth.
"Here. say ahh." - Bakzeu uttered with sparkles on his eyes.
.
.
.
While Calestro just stared at him in mock horror.
"Come on. Don't make it weird." - Bakzeu remarked, sighing exasperatedly.
"I'll eat it myself.. no worr—OW!" - Calestro flinched, to which Bakzeu sighed.
"Come on, stop with the tough guy act. Falling sick now would only derail you in the long run.." - Bakzeu then locked eyes with Calestro.
"Is your ego more important than your creations?" - He continued, causing a memory to resurface inside of Calestro's head depicting a faceless young lass and a todder-like boy listening to her reading a washed-up book.
Calestro then diverted his eyes away before..
hesitantly opening his mouth.
"There you go." - Bakzeu cackled.
*Chomp!*
"Wasn't that difficult now, was it?" - Bakzeu shrugged his shoulders.
"Don't get me wrong.. it was, in more ways than one." - Calestro mumbled.
Making Bakzeu chuckle a little before assuming a solemn, contented smile;
"Ahahahaha!
You..remind me of my younger brother."
"Oh really?" - Calestro raised an eyebrow. "Where is he right now?"
Bakzeu remained unresponsive for a second with the smile never faltering on his face.
"You can find him in Section 6, At the northern fields in the outskirts of the town." - Bakzeu continued, picking up another jerky.
*CHOMP!*
"Fields..?" - Calestro muttered. "Is he a farmer by any chance?"
Earning him a dry chuckle from Bakzeu.
"I'm serious..." - Calestro heaved a sigh until—
"Nope, he was used as a fertilizer."
Bakzeu continued, causing his eyes to widen.
"What..?" - Calestro could only mutter as he heard the Third Commander's response, before he flashed him a solemn smile;
"The cemeteries became way too populated you see.."
————
Act 37 - FIN