Ch 17: Blistering rain

Like a overheated engine, Ogda had to literally, but also figuratively, take some time to cool down; unfortunately for him though, a voice stopped him from doing either. He never disclosed it to anyone, not even Lian, but whatever ordered him to try a lie during the ritual has never stopped talking. It’s been whispering ever since, sometimes repeating certain words or phrases, but it kept one command on repeat- “ Protect her”. Over and over and over, reminding Ogda that afterall he had a purpose, whether he wanted it or not.

Zinc -” Wet man!”, came buzzing from a little bracelet firg. To Ogda’s surprise, Zinc was walking on his own, shaped like a tiny lizard with a long neck, aggressively calling him back to the others. “ Follow me, we've got work to do.”

They found Arim and Giol staring at a large uncut block of stone, which towered over the rest they had worked on so far. At least eight times wider, with multiple outcroppings; some of the crust was already cracked, and showed another, golden layer underneath it.

-” I think I can guess what is for. Mind if I-?”, asked Ogda while stretching his head over the slab of rock. “Let me take a look. I can see crystalline portions sticking out, which look like the ones from the surface. Is this used to store light, energy…”

Arim -” You've hit the nail perfectly. These are lifted to the surface to recharge for a day per month, and then the stored charge is used for powering the light sources, heat, etc. until the next month. Well for a portion of the underground at least, for the entire sector, we have a few more crystals scattered around.”

Ogda -” Ah…ok. So what should I do? I can’t stretch over the entire surface, and it doesn’t sound like we’ll make another mirror…”

A stomp cued Nizzio’s entry, who approached the team with a new set of written instructions. While they were busy reading them, she used her palms the size of an umbrella to gently head pat Giol and Arim for their good work. Before she could do the same to Ogda though, she used a hand sign to ask if he was ok with that.

-” Uhmmm…translate please?”, he asked Arim with a confused frown on his single eye.

Arim -” It’s her way to thank us for our help. Teacher said she did the same to Blitz, Goidel, and Masso while they were kids, to calm them down...And tease them, Nizzio always towered over the others. Did I get it right?”, the boy asked the mute firg , who signaled him that he forgot someone: “...Really? At his age?”

Ogda blushed but tried to play off like he was preparing his boiling, which didn't fool anyone. Nizzio stood still, with a diligent, soft gaze on her face, which Ogda made even more shy and defensive about.

Ogda -” I don’t know…”

Nizzio slowly retracted her palm, not wanting to pressure the firg any more.

Ogda -” Ok maybe…”, he agreed, becoming redder than Zinc’s crimson armor.

The pat lasted only a second, finished in two short motions that he hardly felt, which seemed odd considering how much she insisted on it. Ogda didn’t realize it immediately, but he theorized that she probably restrained herself from not pressing too hard.

….

As mentioned in the instructions, the mute firg signaled them to take a few steps backward. She then put her hands on the slab and small tremors vibrated the slab's crust. “Crack!”, “Pop!” sound started to mark the first step in her plan, and the sedimentary surface fractured into tiny canyons. Just enough not to affect the crystal underneath, which meant that it was time for Arim and Zinc to chime in: Nizzio lifted the rock in a vertical position and the two kicked and hit it at different points. Their attacks were light and precise, as the crystal showed more veiled brightness with each scant kick.

-” Wet man, get ready already”, cried out Zinc to Ogda, telling him to prepare himself for his part.

The water firg frowned at the bossy attitude but at the same time felt something familiar in it, so he quietly accepted it. His body once again became a temperature pressure stamp, which he used to chip away at the remaining tiny bits of crust, while at the same time concentrating on coating the crystal. It went fine for a few rounds, but at the same time, the repetitive work made him complacent, losing himself in his thoughts as if he was relaxing in a sauna. He was thinking about the second voice, what it was, and like usual, why it was so fixated on Lian...probably.

It was obviously related to their missing memories, a holdover from their old life; still, it was peculiar how it went on a loop with it's demands and such; which in turn brought him to another question: “Is that the voice of my old self?”. The question sat on his mind for a while now; it scared and intrigued him at the same time. It was more bombastic, much slower, and deeper than his current voice. “But Lian did say that she thought I was bigger when she recognized me back in the desert."

Another frightening part were its demands. It didn’t care what had to be done; the voice only wanted for Lian...or her... to be kept safe, repercussions be damned. It didn’t matter what or how; only the condition had to be met. And Ogda felt that he shouldn’t listen to it. He, unlike the voice who wanted to coerce him into action, had to consider other things before taking a step.

-” Watch what you're doing!”, Zinc screeched at Ogda, yanking him out of his dazed journey in his thoughts; the sudden irritation was too sudden though, enough for the water firg to lose control over the boiling liquid. Once again, drops scattered all around the place; this time, though, it was more intense than before, growing in a local rain of boiling liquid. It reached Nizzio’s fingers, but luckily she was protected by her gauntlets.

Zinc was surprised by the sudden eruption and frantically tried to shield Arim from the simmering drizzle, but it was too much for him to cover at once. The firg could only strech so far and wide, leaving portions of the body as clear targets.

The boy’s shoulders stung with each drop, and the parts of his black shirt that got sooked in the water became fervid to the touch. His body was pierced with tens of small needles that seared into his flesh, which Ogda noticed. The guilt and anxiety started to grown in him, slowing down his concentration and losing more and more of any grasp of control left.

Arim -" Fuck, that hurts. Thanks for shielding my softer parts, though Zinc.” cursed the boy while grinding his teeth from the pain. “ I don't know what your problem with the Ogda and Lian is, but we'll have a talk about it later; for now, just get us closer to Ogda!”. The firg didn’t peep a sound back and just did as ordered. Zinc only needed a look on his partner's face to understand the gravity of his mistake, and steadied himself, focusing on shielding him better. Giol also took action by throwing small pieces of rocks at the boy.

Ogda, in the meantime, was locked in a desperate fight with his power, unsuccessfully blocking the tears in his body. He was panicky and scared, frantically flailing his arms without noticing that he had lost mastery over their hardness. The amnesiac was more shocked when he saw Arim closing in, running, and jumping to avoid the boiling rain he caused. Before he could cry to him and tell him to back down, to take care of his injuries, Arim shut him down with a simple consolement and a little grin.

Arim -"We’ve got you; don’t be scared!” which calmed Ogda down a bit. Arim then planted the rocks thrown by Giol around the amnesiac, and when done, they all grew back to their original size, forming a surrounding wall around the firg. Nizzio enclosed the rocky prison by pressing her palm on top of the stones.

Arim then ordered Zinc to concentrate on healing and to also cool down. “I know you are mad, but this is partly your fault. Leave this to me, alright?” to which his partner nodded and did as demanded.

Giol joined them in a moment, and he wanted to ask Arim about Ogda, but the human quickly shrugged his shoulders to indicate that he didn’t know what was going on. They waited a few moments for the boiling liquid to stop raining dow, and after everything seemed to calm down, they tried to speak with the water firg.

- "H...Hey, Ogda," said Arim, as lengthy as possible. “Are you... Are you ok in there?”

Silence.

Giol -” Bud… I know this entire situation was awful. We just want to know how you are, ok?” followed Giol.

-"I hurt Arim, haven’t I?” replied Ogda from behind the stone bars. His voice was barely noticeable, cracking with each word. He was still frightened.

Arim -"True, but Zinc can fix me up... Listen, I don’t know what his problem with you is or why your powers work like they do, but...”

Ogda -”...but?”

Arim inhaled for a moment, then exhaled for another, bracing himself on what to say next. He was gonna repeat what he said to the amnesiac girl, but it was the only thing he could sympathize with.

Arim -"Ogda, I get that both you and Lian probably feel weird here; nothing feels like home, and you might not even know what home is supposed to be like. And…”

-” A lot people here are in the same boat…” added Zinc out of nowhere. After all, had troubles regarding his past. Nothing else from before he and Arim became partners had a sound or color, just numbness.

Arim -"Right, like he said. We only want to help you out; however, we can... Caer Sidi and the Union aren’t the best options for everyone. And they aren't the only ones. It worked for me because they taught me how to feel like I belong, so if I can do the same for others, I will try, ok? So while I appreciate you thinking about my health, I want to know that what happened was not entirely your fault. And it’s also something you can work on. This isn’t the endpoint, ok?”

After a while, a trail of water slithered between the stones and reformed into Ogda’s hunched-over, usual form. Thinner than before, but at least he appeared more at ease. Somewhat.