Jesperville

“I don’t know why we even bother opening the gates, not like anyone’s coming all the way out here anyway.” A scrawny man with a long beard said as he turned a brass valve.

“It’ll be good practice for when this city really takes off after that stubborn forest finally dies.” A burly man chortled while turning a valve on the other side of the gate.

“Can’t we at least have the steambots do it or something.”

“We need some way to prove to the brass we’ve got what it takes and the brass needs people at the gate as well. Openin’ the gates makes sure we’ll be there when they want us there.”

“You’re right.” The scrawny man lifted a canteen from his hip and took a swig. “Least we get paid to drink afterward.”

“Can’t say no to that.” The burly man did the same.

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A massive brass-coated wall loomed in the distance. Mary looked through her binoculars. The gate was open. A brass humanoid with gears bursting from each joint and black steam escaping from pipes attached to its head stood at each end. No people or other security devices could be seen.

“The Brass Armada likes to guard their cities with those scary steambots so we need to be careful.”

Mary watched their every movement. “They do not seem very dangerous, what makes them so scary?”

“They’re coated in a magic resistant substance.”

Mary pulled out her notebook and wrote in it. “Thank you Fiivon. After what happened in the forest. I thought brass might be magic resistant.” The hand carrying Mary’s notebook reached into her coat and returned with her favorite gun. The sight of it caused Fiivon to flinch as he remembered how quickly it killed his master. Mary pressed a button and the magazine slid out. She inspected it before returning it to the handgun with a satisfying click. She flicked a switch on the firearms side then pulled the slide back as she walked toward the steambots.

Fiivon stared confused for a moment. Many choices and conflicting thoughts raced through his mind. “W…wait.” He mumbled as he ran after her.

Two sets of brass eyes telescoped outwards at Mary and Fiivon’s approach. A clanky crackled voice berated the duo. "State your names and any business you have while providing the appropriate iden—"

Mary raised her arm and fired. A loud BANG rang out bringing attention to how empty the forest was.

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The two men woke from the drunken stupor and clambered about. Three more bangs reverberated against the brass entryway. “Wha’s ‘at noise, why ‘ould wizards be comin’ *hick* out here.” The scrawny man struggled to sling two gas tanks onto his back before he fumbled around while attempting to attach their connected hose to two long tubes on his arms.
“‘Bout time we saw s’m actchin.” The burly when hefted a cannon-like object off his back and into his arms. The two tripped over each other on their way to the gate.

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“Miss Mary, we need to go now.” Fiivon Whisper screamed as he tugged on Mary’s coat

Mary glanced at the gate. Two men were barely visible on the other side. She pointed north. “That way.”

———————————————————————————————————————

Two heaps of brass and gears lay on the dirt road. Each had two perfectly placed holes through them in the same places on their bodies. One through the head, another through the chest where a heart would be. “I dinn’t know wizards could do this.”

“They usually hate hiding as well, want everyone to know what they did.” The two scanned the area. “couldna gone far.”

“Les *hick* try this way.” The pair went to investigate the south side of the gate.

———————————————————————————————————————

“Now.” Mary sprinted through the gate as Fiivon struggled to follow. The gate itself was large. Brass doors stood at each side of the gate. A colorful sign which shouted ‘Welcome to Jesperville’ met them on the other end. Scaffolding littered Jesperville’s skyline. Their footsteps clacked against the amber streets. The sun’s glare reflected off the completed building's brass finish nearly obscuring their amber windows. One building rose above the rest. A towering spire-like structure balanced an ornate disk on its peak. Four brass semicircles stretched from the ground to hold the disk in place.

Very few buildings had been completed and the town was largely empty. The only noises they heard were the bangs and whirs of construction.

“We believe Jesper lives in that tall building in the center of town.” Fiivon pointed towards the disk then looked over at a disgusted Mary. “P…please don’t do anything like what you did back at the gate miss.”

Mary took a deep breath. No birds chirped. No branches swayed. No water flowed. The only sounds she could hear were the clangs of construction and the spinning of gears.

“M..miss.”

Static filled her thoughts. She smirked.

“I…I’ll…I’ll go grab us a seat at a restaurant, please wait for me before doing anything miss.” Fiivon ran off.

A bespectacled man wearing a permanent fake smile and a red suit approached Mary. He tipped his black top hat revealing even blacker hair. “Jesper’s penthouse is quite the sight isn’t it?”

“It is an eyesore.”

“An eyesore could still be considered a sight, miss.” He pulled a card out of his hat. “The quality of the architecture is undeniable though. I’m sure that’s something you’d agree with.”

“It is well built and the design is striking. It would look much better covered in plants and without the brass.”

“Without brass, my that may as well be heresy here, but I like your ideas. Here’s my card if you ever decide to go looking for me. I could use some help making waves in the world of architecture and you, miss, seem like the best one to do it.” He handed Mary his card then tipped his hat again before walking off.

Mary looked the card over. ‘Cassius Firebellow: Architect Extraordinaire, Freelance Combat Operative, Performance Artiste. For any business inquiries, consultations, or employment opportunities please address this card’s back.’ If this were Earth I would toss the card but I will see if Fiivon knows anything.

“Who was that?” Fiivon returned.

“Cassius Firebellow.” Mary showed Fiivon the card.

“I’ve never heard of someone by that name.” Fiivon pointed toward the only built cafe around called ‘The Brass Omelete.’ “I got us a table miss.”

“Thank you Fiivon.”

Fiivon’s eyes lit up.

The two sat on the cafe patio. The chairs, tables, and umbrellas were various shades of yellow, gold, and orange to match the brass exterior of the building. After they looked over the four items on the extravagant menu, Fiivon walked inside to order. 

Mary inspected the backside of Cassius’s card. It was blank. Words scrolled onto the card. ‘I apologize for any inconveniences, but I am currently entangled within an important business meeting. I will be available to meet with you around sunset today.’ Mary pocketed the card.

Fiivon struggled to carry the two dishes over. “Here is your salad miss.” He placed a large bowl in front of Mary. Seasoned croutons and pieces of bacon were blended in with the familiar Earth vegetables of lettuce, spinach, tomatoes, and cabbage as well as what appeared to be a sliced orjun. A chicken-like meat called Polko rested atop its leafy bed covered with a blanket of parmesan cheese and balsamic dressing. Fiivon set the ‘brass omelet’ on his side of the table. It was caked in enough cheese to give the entire dish a cheesy, vaguely brass-esque color. They each took a bite. The salad was predictable aside from the odd citrus taste of the orjun. I have made better salads than this, even Lena makes better salads. We would always use fresh ingredients and I have seen why they do not. The Polko was more tender than a chicken and lacked a lot of the poultry flavor but otherwise tasted the same as one. 

“Do you want some miss?” Fiivon appeared to be delighted about his meal.

“No. You are enjoying it more than I would.” Mary hid her disgust towards the omelet.

“Thank you miss.” His smile beamed brighter. “They didn't charge me and they offered to lodge us for the night, can you believe our luck?”

“We will not be staying the night.”

“W…why not? It’ll take a couple days to do what we need to do. It’ll probably even take a couple days just for us to get prepared.”

“I will get Jesper to stop what he is doing to the forest today.”

“Today! I don’t think that will ever happen miss. I don’t think anyone will ever be able to convince him.”

Convince. CONVINCE! Whether he is convinced or not, I will do something about this. “I am sure he will be convinced once I show him the results from my tests yesterday.” After Mary finished eating her salad, she placed each of her four handguns on the table and removed two boxes from two separate pockets.

Fiivon stared, a glob of cheese in his mouth. He swallowed. “What if he doesn’t want to meet with you miss?”

“I am one of the faded. It will be easy to get his attention.” She checked each of her handgun’s magazines and returned the full magazines to their respective guns before holstering them. The final magazine was short 4 bullets which she replaced using pointed bullets from the larger of the two boxes.”

“What exactly are those Miss Mary? They are faster than any magical device or casting I’ve ever seen.”

“This one is called a Desert Eagle. It is a firearm from Earth.” She opened her coat revealing three holsters containing guns and one without as well as a set of five knives strapped to each side of the coat. “The other two handguns are called Beretta 92s. They use bullets with less stopping power so I do not use them as often.”

“Do they run on that ‘Elec-tri-city’ you talked about before?”

“They operate using a combination of combustion and mechanical input.”

“Oh, I know what combustion is. They taught us that when we learned about fire magic.” His eyes lit up.

“I modify all my weapons so I will explain more on our way to see Birch after I convince Jesper.” Mary returned the magazine to her Desert Eagle and holstered it then returned the boxes to her pockets.

“Will you be leaving now miss?” Fiivon had only eaten half of his omelet.

“Yes. When you finish eating, head to Jesper’s penthouse and wait for me on the ground floor.” She pointed at the towering structure in the center of Jesperville.

Fiivon nodded his head. “Thank you for allowing me to finish my meal miss. Galorex would have thrown the rest away if he even let me get something like this in the first place.”

Mary stared at the empty sky. The more I hear about Galorex, the more I am convinced I made the right decision when I killed him, but I know it was still wrong because I promised Lena that I would not let anyone die. “I will see you later Fiivon.” She waved to Fiivon as she headed off toward Jesper’s penthouse.