To Fly the Soaring Tides

Echoing coughs and pained moans wore on the trio as they entered the last stretch of the plague ward. Cira’s healing combo lost efficacy as the overall condition of everyone here was much worse. If the patients outside were at twenty percent and she healed them to eighty, these on the final platforms were at most five percent being healed to twenty. They all remained close to the brink of death, even when she stopped to heal them individually.

Just like the infirmary, something was stopping her from healing them completely, or… what she feared most—that their base healthy condition had just been degraded so far on a physiological level. That would take much more than a wave of the hand to treat.

A woman dressed like a doctor wearing Earth Vein symbols approached. “You one of the new witches?”

Cira looked at her for a second. She didn’t seem like a witch, “Ah, you must be the doctor. Is there anything you can tell me? They don’t know much on the surface.”

She shook her head. “We don’t know much down here either. When people from Uru get sick, they seem to last longer sometimes but I feel like it’s hit or miss. They’ve been coming in a lot more the last few months from everywhere, even some of the deeper settlements.”

“Why would people from Uru survive longer?”

The doctor threw her hands up, “Not a clue. The church will tell you it’s piety, but…” She gestured an arm to show off the whole plague ward, “This doesn’t look like piety to me. Seems everyone on this rock is doomed. The last witch couldn’t figure it out either.”

So, the healer was a witch. And a quitter. “I don’t know much about this church, but I’ll have to agree with you. What do you make of it all, Lomp?”

He had been paying close attention the whole time, “There could be more places like Deep Falls, but it seems to be catching up with them. Maybe it’s all that moss they eat.”

“We looked into the moss.” The doctor sighed, “Didn’t seem to be anything there. Mushrooms as well, but there’s too many different kinds down here. While some will kill you if you look at them wrong, most don’t appear to do anything. The cure could be hiding among them but it’s impossible to tell.”

Nobody could think of any more questions, so they left the doctor to her business and went to finish Cira’s rounds. Nanri was oddly quiet. She looked like she was having trouble taking it all in. The sorcerer, for one, couldn’t blame her. It was a lot of misery in one place.

Between keeping their protections up and the barrage of healing, Cira was running low on mana by the time they got to the last platform. These people had festering boils on their bodies, and they could hardly manage more than to breathe. The sound they made just trying to do that was grating. Most of their eyes had that same film over them, they were stark white and leaking. There was one man in his thirties at the end who lacked many of those most advanced symptoms she’d been seeing. He sat leaning against a crate.

His complexion was clear, and his red hair still held a rich color with no patches. He could see clearly and take full, unlabored breaths. When she looked at his shoulders, one sat higher than the other. His chest had bulged out to a shocking degree, but his left ribcage had started to cave in and push out his side—Cira could see it fanning out against his skin. The expression on his face was one of constant pain, but the man didn’t groan or complain.

“Can you hear me?” Cira asked.

The man attentively looked up, “Sure can. And what a sight to behold.” He whistled, before wincing in pain. His voice wasn’t raspy, just low. He had to speak carefully.

The sorcerer couldn’t hide her grin at the defiantly positive attitude, “I’ve only seen symptoms like yours once before on the surface. How long have you been ill?”

“Funny you should ask. Just since this afternoon, ahah—” He started laughing and broke into a fight of coughs, “Sorry, that’s a joke… Locals love it. Hard to tell down here. Months for sure, but it’s almost my time. I can feel it.”

With a smile that didn’t betray a hint of his hopeless fate, his lips twiched and he broke into a laugh, “The angels even came to see me. Ahhahahaaa.” He laughed slowly until it was nothing but a wheeze.

There was a tear in Nanri’s eye when she spoke, “I… I wish there was something I could do for you.” Cira’s magic hadn’t done anything.

“Don’t you worry, Miss. I’ve made my peace.” And he meant it.

Cira looked at him and her heart sank. Even if she found out how to stop the plague, it was uncertain if she could find a way to help him. That would put him in the position of not getting any worse. Potentially spending the rest of his life like that just because she cured him.

“You!” he startled her, “Stop looking like that, you’re saddin’ up the place. You’ve got nothing to feel sorry for. You’ve already helped us down here plenty.”

She was taken aback, “But I… couldn’t really do anything.”

“That’s not true,” He grinned again, nodding his head up to the hundreds of Lamplights above their heads, “You let us see the stars one last time before the night was through.”

This had tears flowing down Nanri’s cheeks, and the guard wore a tough expression. Cira felt brittle, her heart was in turmoil. This place was no more than the waiting room for a cemetery. It sickened her, but what could Earth Vein even do about it? She didn’t know how the church played into this, but one could argue that the treatment here was humane as could be for the hopeless. In a twisted sense, Cira almost felt one could argue a culling to be more humane.

They left the plague ward quickly after that. Nobody felt like saying much. They made it back to the boat and quietly took off back to Uru.

“What do you plan to do now?” The witch asked.

“There shouldn’t be any more delay. I need to check out the pump and get back to the surface.” Cira’s determination was renewed. She had to take a step back again. If she got too caught up in the melancholy around her, it would take longer to do her work.

“So, you won’t be sticking around for much longer then?” She looked a little downcast.

“Sorry, Nanri. I think Zero Stratum holds merit to help with the stampedes, but I have to prioritize the plague.”

Nanri sat on the side of the boat pouting for a minute, before nodding resolutely, “Okay then, it’s decided. I’m coming with you!”

Lomp had an uneasy look to him, but Cira had her eyes on the witch. Nanri’s fists were clenched and she held them close to her chest, looking over at Cira with a less than confident smile. The sorcerer found she didn’t have the heart to deny her.

“Are you sure?” She asked, “You can’t heal, right? And I’ll be far beyond the clouds in a week or two. Won’t somebody be upset that you’ve neglected your duties by that time? You’ve already wasted two days helping me out.”

But the witch wasn’t dissuaded. She hopped up like the morning sun, “I’m sure! I-I know what to do now, Cira. Even if I can’t heal… I… I also think the plague is more important!”

Cira liked the girl. No use denying it at this point. She didn’t want to leave her with a whole heap of trouble from above when she left—that is to say, in addition to what had certainly been accrued by this point. Salina was sure to have a strong word with Nanri when all this got back to her, not to mention that mysterious Silver Witch that was supposed to be her mom. She let an infiltrator into their secret facilities, gave her tons of unwarranted information. Even told off some officials on her behalf and ended up in the plague ward.

But the girl noticed the uncertainty playing on Cira’s lips and kept going, “Even if you say no, I’m coming anyway. Those are my orders of the heart!”

Her eyes were resolute and she held Cira’s gaze. She didn’t expect to have her own mediocre wisdom thrown back at her this way, and with complete seriousness. The sorcerer was given no other option but to accept her resolve. It was just a few days on the surface anyway. Before long she couldn’t hold it in, and a hearty laugh bubbled up.

“…what?” Nanri turned away sheepishly and the tips of her ears flushed red.

Cira’s laughter trailed off, “Oh, nothing. Spoken like an aspiring sorcerer. Just don’t forget what I told you.”

Lomp looked displeased, and finally spoke up when prodded, providing eyebrow gestures to imply his point, “Do you really think that’s wise? You remember what Pappy asked of me.”

“But that’s you. I only take orders from the heart.” She shrugged, hiding a sly grin, “Can’t be helped.”

And Lomp was back to his old, exasperated self. He wearily took a seat and gave her directions up a level. They flew over the speckled lights of Uru one last time and found a passageway leading to more stairs. Since the elevators were from the original inhabitants too, the stairs were truly obsolete. Only a handful of them around this area were still maintained for emergency’s sake.

Another hour later and they found themselves nearing the top. After a point all the stairs were paved with that old metal of the ancients. Lomp said it was called brinstahl. It was rare enough that if it weren’t for the Gandeux Group’s laws, it would have been plucked away by now. Some had already been stolen before Earth Vein took over, ironically enough. Five more points for Gandeux Group, but that’s still only ten now!

“Why don’t you have an accent?” Cira asked Lomp, “You seem to know more than anyone else on this rock.”

“The accent can get pretty bad with descendants.” He shook his head, “I came to Fount Salt when I was young but never picked it up.”

Cira hadn’t heard that word before, “Descendants? Is that what Pappy is supposed to be?”

He nodded, “That’s right. The children of salt. Their ancestors once worshipped the nymphs when the ancients left. Did you know Pappy’s been overseer for a hundred years?”

“No way!” The fairy Cira met was centuries old, but wouldn’t admit how many, “So he can live a long time too, just like the ancient miners?”

“Not exactly. Most descendants hit a hundred fifty tops. Pappy’s was just last year so he’s up there.”

His older brother must be insanely old! I’m glad I’ll die before I get eyebrows that long.

The top of the staircase was supported by a massive brinstahl arch and Cira could hear running water beyond. Inside there was a massive lake, just like one of the reservoirs up top. Completely lined with metal. Cira had to cast another few lamplights to see the whole thing, it alone held more water than both on the surface. A pillar of water burst down from the ceiling, constantly filling it while the excess all got funneled towards a canal on the far end to be taken somewhere else—the pump.

There were heavy cast walkways with railing that stretched across the entire pool, leading to all different doors along the perimeter which was lined in the same metal. Nanri climbed off the boat and over to the platform on a little conjured titanium step, “This place is amazing!” her voice reverberate in the chamber and echoed back to them.

“Sure is.” Lomp wore an awkward grin, “They really fought against the odds making this place livable. It’s a shame how it’s fallen.”

It was a long path, but they made their way over to the pump at cruising speed, Nanri walking along. They’d be soaked if Cira hadn’t been protecting them from the violent splashing of the central waterfall.

“Hey Nanri,” she asked, “Can you make me a container with a lid that seals?”

“Of course!” Happy to help, a ball of metal appeared and swiftly turned into a cylinder before landing in Cira’s hand.

She gripped the top and unscrewed it, “This will do nicely.” She used her last sample jar in Uru. With this new one, she pulled a little water out of the pool and stored it. Placing it in a cubby of her new boat.

They approached the canal and Nanri hopped back onto the boat. It took them into a narrow tunnel that eventually let out to another, much smaller pool. Along the bottom of the clear water, there was a shiny inlet rapidly sucking up water.

“This makes things quite simple.” Cira sounded satisfied, but her companions were confused. “The artifact’s about as simple as they come. Just an enchanted hole in the wall.”

Nanri cocked her head, “How’s that help?”

The sorcerer wore her fearless smile, “This will take us straight to the surface. A glorious dawn awaits!”

Lomp had to rain on her parade, “I’m almost sure it’s night-time right now.”

“Impossible! It’ll take hours.” Nanri reasoned, “We’ll drown. And what about the nymphs?”

“Can’t we just take the elevator…” Lomp was exhausted.

“It should be fine,” Aquon wiggled around, “though I guess I’m a little low on mana. Three is more than I accounted for. You should take the elevator and meet us up there, Lomp. I can’t count on anyone else to deliver my boat safely.”

The witch looked at the underwater artifact with curiosity, “If you’re saying it’s safe… Then it does sound fun, I can’t deny that. But If mana’s the problem, I wish you had told me while we were down in Nymphus. I was starting to think you couldn’t run out. Earth Vein sends me potions with every metal delivery. There’s probably loads of them piled up on the docks.”

Cira gave her a long stare, “…” and sighed.

“Why don’t we head back for the night?” Nanri suggested, “You should rest anyway. What are we going to do when we get there? More work? You really should take better care of yourself…”

“Fine, fine… We’ll pack food this time too. And I really might steal that bed this time.”

The witch returned only a bright smile, “I’ll help!”

With sandwiches or thievery…? Cira wondered.