Bird Poop

Theo found himself back on the observation tower facing Robbie, giving him the ultimatum. “This is your last chance Theo. Work as my employee, or I take your organs. It won’t be enough to pay off your cousin’s debt, but it’s better than nothing. Choose.” Theo smiled, just like he did before. “You know Robbie, there is actually another option. It’s one where neither of us win.” Theo ran and jumped off the tower with a defiant grin. The gust of wind blew the Tengu mask out of Robbie's hand flew off the tower as the loan shark screamed in rage. Moments before lightning struck, a wrinkled hand caught the mask. Theo saw a bald old man with a white beard, a pointy nose and no eyes. He grinned with missing teeth before Theo disappeared with the lightning. "Look towards the sun." An echo in his mind repeated, with a cackle that followed. A cackle of an old man with empty eye sockets. Theo woke up in a cold sweat before chuckling himself and put a hand over his face, turning into a calm expression before laying back down and closing his eyes. Unknown to him, Cleo had the door slightly open, watching him before closing the door. She gently knocked on Leo's door afterward. "It's open." He said. Cleo walked in to see writing down some notes next to candlelight "I'm unsure about this new Rain Wizard Leo. He seems...off." Leo stopped writing and turned to her. "The same could be said for you right? We know Rain Wizards often have terrible fates because fate itself gave them a bad hand. Despite that, I can Theo's will isn't broken. But maybe he is broken, just not the same way as you."

Cleo went silent, but Leo continued. "But even though you haven't gotten over your own trauma, that doesn't make you flawed. It makes you human. And something broken can be fixed. As for Theo, knowing he's the Rain Wizard, he probably had bad stuff happen to him. I think to keep smiling no matter how tragic your circumstances are, you have to be a little crazy to smile even in the darkest moments. But that makes him human too." "I sometimes forget you were supposed to be a scholar." Cleo said with a slight sense of appreciation in her voice. "Just another part of the human experience." Replied Leo with a smile. “Now go to sleep. I know it’s hard for you. But try.” Cleo nodded silently and left Leo’s room.

The dark city inside the dome was soon covered in light as the artificial sun turned on with a loud noise before silently shining its light. The speaker system turned. “Good morning citizens of Sol City. It is now morning. Have a wonderful day!” it said before going silent. The street lights turned off and people began to come out of their houses. Theo got up with a light stretch and got out of bed. When he stepped out of his room he head downstairs. Cleo and Leo were waiting for Theo at a table downstairs. Leo waved “Come on Theo, after we eat, we’re heading straight to the Sanctum. Avoiding the Eyeless on the way of course.” The innkeeper with braided brown hair set two plates of bacon and eggs down on the table followed by a third for Theo. “If you guys never leave the city, how do you get food. Do you have a place where you keep animals?” Theo asked curiously. Leo nodded “As you’ve seen from the outside, this city is huge, and covers a good chunk of the forest. There are areas where animals can roam and be taken care of, with some for food.”

“So can you grow crops in here?” Theo asked. Leo spoke after eating some eggs with a fork. “That’s the thing. We get our water from the outside. That’s primarily the duty of knights aside from keeping the peace inside the dome. It’s still dangerous going outside, even if it’s momentarily, but it needs to be done for the water.” Theo nodded. “Is there anything we need to watch out for in regards to the Titanos?” He wondered. “They haven’t been seen in one thousand years. No one knows just how giant they are. But supposedly they used to be giant titans capable of earthquakes that were trapped by one of the previous Rain Wizards of the past. It hard to say what they are like now.”

The three finished their meal and got up. “Time to get our cloaks and head out.” Leo said. They head inside the tailor where the Dwarfs were based and Grant lead them to the back. On a table, three cloaks were prepared. Two of them were dark gray, but one was silver. “Silver is for the Rain Wizard. I figured the leader needs to stand out.” Theo smiled wryly “I think I stand out enough as is, but thanks Grant. I’ll take it.” Theo put the silver cloak around his body and put the hood up. Leo and Cleo followed soon after. “Bye Grant.” Cleo said with a small wave as Grant smiled, seeing them off. They head towards outside the dome, but as they were walking, Theo suddenly stopped, feeling a chill up his spine. Out of the corner of his eye he thought he saw the eyeless old man smiling at him, sitting down against a building. But when he looked to see clearly, it was just a citizens with sunglasses on who waved with a friendly smile. “Are you coming Theo?” Leo asked. “Yeah.” Theo huffed.

The outside was covered in fog and rain, just as before. Leo led Cleo and Theo towards the mountains, avoiding the Eyeless and moving between cover to bushes and trees, occasionally throwing a Sound Mana Ball to get their attention. When they finally made it to the mountains, there was a path they took upwards all the way to the summit. As they climbed upward, two Eyeless stood still nearby, unnoticed by the three. They had smiles, but had a crack under an eye. One had a crack under its right eye socket, and the other had a crack under its left. They looked at each other with a smile before running off into the fog of the forest.

At the top of the summit, it was thankfully clear of Eyeless. Nearby was what looked like a closed off cave, with a giant door with a sun insignia carved onto it. The three approached it as Theo pointed his hands to the sky and looked towards the sky. Cleo frowned. “What are you doing?” Theo paused. “...I’m using the skill.” “You have to raise your hands and stand still to use it? People don’t need to strike a pose for a spell. Maybe an incantation depending on the type. You’re being weird.” Theo twitched. “Well this one does okay? And I don’t want to hear that from you.” Theo sigh and breathed in and looked towards the sky with his arms and hands stretched out. “PART THE CLOUDS!” Theo yelled.

At his command, the rain began to slow down and came to a halt. The clouds began to part and the sun shined down on them. “I can’t believe it...it’s real sun…” Leo said, in a state of awe. Cleo looked at a blue sky with a small smile. “It’s beautiful.” Theo was happy as well. He closed his eyes, basking in its warm glow. It felt like an eternity since he felt the sun’s warm embrace.

...Until a bird pooped on his face.