Archive of Our Own ^beta

*THUNK* *THUNK* *THUNK*

Something new, then. What was it this time? 

The Tome rose into consciousness in a way its former owners had compared to waking up from slumber.

As it absorbed information from its surroundings, it made out the faint rumbling of a wooden cart, being tugged along by two workers.

No jewellery… slaves, then. Can’t be anything that precious if the Vault-master isn’t bothering to drop the thing off personally.

(The “Vault-master” was a tall, annoying man who the Tome had never seen without enough jewelry to strangle a man. He had never once heard the man stop talking.)

The door to the vault opened with a sliding hiss, the bindings that kept it in place sparking both with the blue light of Mana and with flakes of rust.

The two men said nothing, and the diamond on the top of the Tome began to glow softly, allowing It to take in visual signals of the area around it.

Oh. That would be rather heavy. Explained why it took so long to bring inside.

A large bronze statue, about the size of a man, was stored haphazardly within the cart. It seemed to glisten against the faint red flickers let off by the lanterns, revealing a strange head. Whatever process had been used to create the statue had clearly gone… wrong, as the head was made up of two strangely shaped chunks of metal, with a large seam in place of the mouth and strange divots in place of eyes.

It was posed in a fetal position, the face resembling something akin to fear.

With two grunts of exertion, the two figures lifted the statue (lighter than a statue of pure bronze should be) out of the cart, placing it down against the cobbled stones of the large former prison room, now filled with artifacts both magical and malign.

The Tome was about to describe the statue as the latter, if not for the fact that before they left, the two workers did one last thing.

With careful precision, chains, long since having rusted thanks to the room losing its former purpose, were unscrewed from the wall, replaced with a set of fresh ones from a bag. The Tome didn’t recognise the material, but they appeared durable .

"Why are we doing this, again?" 

"The Boss said the statue... moves?"

"The hell? This thing doesn't look magical to me."

"Apparently it moves when you ain't looking. They haven't gotten it to do anything big."

"Huh. Weird."

Once the Chains were firmly secured to the wall, one of each of them were quickly clasped around each limb of the statue, which had not moved from its near fetal pose.

As if possessed, the two poor workers were out of the room the very moment they finished their work, leaving no evidence of their presence behind.

Hm. That was… 

The Tome took in the presence of the statue. From the outside, it was a perfectly normal, if bizarre statue, but-

*PING*

Between moments, the statue shifted, almost as if it had… come to life.

And suddenly… it took a slow, heaving breath.

Oh.

OH!

FINALLY!

“SOMEONE TO TALK TO! I'M FREE!”

Kojirou was… awake again?

He stretched tired limbs as he looked around the room he was in.

The place was circular in shape, slowly closing in a cone shape at the roof, built out of old worn stone.

A castle, then. He had been taken alive.

He tugged at the chains that bound him in place by his arms and legs. They offered him a little bit of maneuverability, but they were bolted to the wall with no chance of him being able to break through them.

The others could break through these without any trouble. But I’m… me.

“Psst. Hey. Big guy. You sentient?”

Kojirou snapped up, looking around the room for whoever had spoken. “W-who’s there?”

His voice was hoarse, his artificial vocal chords rusted. It was bound to happen without maintenance, and he had no idea how long he had been asleep for.

(He sucked in a breath at that thought. Any time, they could have killed him with whatever magics they used to keep him asleep. Why was he still here?)

“Oh. Heh, you probably think I’m a ghost or something. Look in the center of the room!”\

The voice seemed to echo through his head, leaving him unable to determine where it came from.

Following the voice’s instructions, his gaze turned to the center of the room.

An intricate marble pillar jutted out of the ground like a plant. Careful etchings of protective magic symbols lined it in a language Kojirou didn’t recognise. Atop it…

A large leather bound tome sat on top of the pillar, almost seeming to shine in the dark room, contrasting the deep orange lights of the small lanterns that lined the walls. The cover stated nothing about the contents of the pages it contained. Instead, it was inlaid with five precious gemstones of different colours. Two of them, a ruby and a false diamond, were pulsing with an inward light.

“I see with the diamond and hear with the ruby. I don’t really need touch, smell or… taste, but they're there nonetheless, heh.”

That meant… “You’re… the book?”

“And from the looks of it, you’re a big piece of metal.”

Kojirou nodded. “F-fair enough. Uhm… how are you speaking to me?”

“Thoughtwelding! It’s one of the only spells I can use off of the standard Mana I produce without a User. Fancy word for ‘Magical Brain Blast’, but don’t worry about that.”

“I… see-”

He let out a dry cough as his throat muscles spasmed.

“Whoh-ah, hey! No need to talk if you’re not up to it! Hold on…”

With a click, Kojirou felt strange.

“Your body isn’t at all like humans, but it’s structurally pretty similar… there!”

“Woah… “

Kojirou took a deep breath as his lungs seemed to open, the pain dissipating.

“Huzzah! Minor Heal! Now we can chat without you hurting yourself!”

“Thanks…”

“It’s more for me than you. I’ve been alone here for months now! It’s so… boring!”

Oh. So he was trapped here, after all.

“Well… anyways, what’s your name? If memory serves, you're supposed to use those in conversations!”

“Oh… it’s… Bondo. ” 

“Nice to meet you then! I think we’re gonna get along just fine!”

Kojirou nodded, taking a deep breath. Well, if he was going to be stuck here… at least he had company. Even if the company was… excitable.

“What’s your name, then?”

The voice stilled. Impressive, considering it didn’t exist, but it did.

“Oh. I… don’t have one of those. People mostly just call me ‘The Great Tome of the Blood King’ or just… The Tome.”

“Hm… t-that won’t do.”

Kojirou recalled the language his Creator had used, with its spiralling prose being the supposed source of most names in the world.

“Fukidashi.”

“Oh! Okay! My name is Fukidashi, then!”

Fukidashi sounded at least decently happy with the name, then. He pumped a fist.

“Alright then, Fukidashi… Uhm… would you happen to know... where we are?”

The question seemed to shock them a little. “You mean you don’t know?”

He shook his head. “The last thing I remember was... fire. My Creator was fighting my... he was fighting. Then... I was here.”

“I suppose that’s fair… we’re in the Unification Empire’s Vault.”

“This feels more like a prison... than a vault …”

“I think it's meant to be obfuscation. This is where the Military keeps all the magic artifacts they use for war.”

Fukidashi (A name! Wow!) braced as the Vault-master paced around their new friend, a vain smirk on his face.

“And you’re saying it hasn’t moved since you brought it in here?”

One of the man’s assistants shook his head. “No, Sir Sako. We hear noises coming from inside on occasion, but it’s inert whenever we come in to check, only a little different then what it was like when we brought it in. It’s like the book.”

I am a TOME, thank you very much. Only friends can call me a book.

The Vault-master sighed. “What a waste. Well, It’ll be a good scrap once we retake the forges. Come on.”

The door slammed shut behind the two men, and Fukidashi cheered internally as Bondo released a breath, sitting up.

“Good job! They haven’t caught on, yet!”

The Golem nodded, rubbing at his sore throat. “M-mhm. I’m grateful… my Creator allowed for me to… pause myself.”

Bondo’s voice was slowly getting better, with whatever had damaged it during his transport here slowly being worn away by his Magical regeneration, another feature granted to him by his “Creator”.

Fukidashi desperately wanted to ask, but they didn’t want to alienate their friend.

It had been around a week since Bondo had been dropped off, and from the mutterings he had heard from patrolling guards, the artifact gathering missions had been put on hold to get more numbers to the frontlines of whatever war the Empire that had stolen them was fighting.

Silence returned for a while. Their new friend preferred it, but every so often they would chat, giving them something to think about during the wait.

Their memory banks were vast, at least, so they had plenty of space for imagination.

Large, flowing fields. Rivers... Peace.

“So… what do you want to talk about today?”

Bondo had adjusted himself to be as comfortable as he could be with the chains around his legs. “Well… w-where are you from?”

Fukidashi would have smiled if they had a mouth. “Oh! Well, it’s not a super exciting story, but I suppose it could pass the time…”

Bondo nodded. “You mentioned you were made by… The Blood King.”

“Mhm! The court of vampires threw every bit of knowledge they knew into one place. Not even I know how much is stored inside of myself.”

Bondo’s voice was soft. “Didn’t the Blood King … that would make you... Ancient. ”

“Technically, I am… but I’ve only been… me for about sixteen years now. When the Vampires fell… I was lost in the rubble. Only after explorers pulled me out did I… exist.”

“I… see. Did you ever get… used?”

“I couldn’t say. I haven’t linked with a user since I woke up.”

“Hmm…”

It was times like this where Fukidashi wished they could move. Give their friend a nudge. Anything. But…

“Well, after that, I got passed around a lot. Never really talked to anyone lest they be… cruel. My last home was an old library.”

“And then… they came for you?”

“The Empire has a vampire in their employ, I think. Would have been a baby when the Legion fell, but they would have been able to sense my Magic. Bought me for no small price. Heh, they must have been pissed when I never did anything and no one could read my text!”

At that line, Bondo let out a laugh. It was deep and bellowing, but… it made him feel right .

“I suppose I should start making the poses I strike… more vulgar?”

Perhaps his new friend would open up yet… but he would give him time.

“Oh man, that’s genius! How about you-”

“Hm… can I ask you something a little silly?”

Kojirou sat up, opening his eyes from his daydream of fields far beyond where they were trapped. “Of… course.”

“What’s it like… out there? I mean, I know what it’s like, the pages inside me describe it, but… what are the places that aren’t the Unification Empire like?”

Kojirou raised a bulky finger to his chin. “Well… I can’t say much about places outside of the archipelago… but my Creator always liked to talk about Ayyuu.”

“That’s the place south of here, right? What did they say it was like?”

“He used to be… a teacher. At the Capital, before he moved away to make us. He made it sound… very, very large. Much bigger than any city in the Empire.”

“Fancy.”

“It was built… between two landmarks. A great forest and a large mountain. Most… otherfolk live there, under the guard of the Blood Lord and the Freezing Gorgon.”

“Why’d he leave, then?”

Kojirou felt his throat close up. But… there was no point in denying the truth.

“My brothers… They were dangerous. Too dangerous, even in the middle of the deep forest where he retreated to create us. They broke out of any barriers my Creator tried to place them in. So he… destroyed them. But not without a fight. That’s how… the Empire found me.”

“Oh…”

Kojirou shrugged. “Despite their… fury… Gold and Silver were good. They did not deserve to die, and neither did Ken… My Creator, for creating us.”

“If you were made in the same way they did… Why were you not like them?”

Kojirou shrugged. “Sheer chance, I suppose. My… material was inclined to peace, rather than fury. When they died… I picked a new name. I had to morph the characters a little… but I am… the Stable one. The last one. Perfectly ordinary.”

The gems on Fukidashi’s cover seemed to glow brighter, as if they were trying to break out of the cover. “I think you’re plenty cool! And… I say, when we get out of here, we can go visit the place the guy who made you is from. See all the sights! Doesn’t that sound exciting!?”

That’s… confidence. Something that he sorely lacks.

“I think… yes. That sounds… nice.”

“Sweet! Well, how about you tell me anything else? Surely you know about some other places?”

“Well, there’s always…”

*RUMBLE*

The small pebbles that lined the floor of their prison seemed to shake as the castle was rocked by the shaking earth. A moment later, the rumbling stopped, and everything seemed to return to normal.

“What… was that?”

“Magic. Counting out the seconds…”

*RUMBLE*

“The Empire’s Great Cannonade.”

“I’ve… heard of that… where?”

“About a mile from here, I think. High Prince Tomura's domain. The projectiles are meant to deploy disintegration magic. It’s the strongest defence they have. For them to be firing it this much…”

“Whoever they’re fighting…”

“It must be a big deal.”

Internally, Fukidashi’s pages ruffled under the rumbling pressure the weapons gave off. If their damnable creators hadn’t bound their magic to requiring a user they’d be able to sense what was going on outside with ease. But…

Bondo flexed his eight fingers, eyes moving in the direction of the large metal doors of their prison.

“The vault is starting to run dry… the empire is losing. Do you think… we might…”

“Be able to get out of here?”

The golem nodded. “I… don’t want to curse us. That we might be trapped here… forever.”

*RUMBLE*

Whatever those projectiles were hitting… it was getting closer.

“I suppose that’s… fair , huh. Guess we just have to wait.”

Their friend nodded, before shifting themselves, the faint light emanating from their eye spots fading away. The closest thing he had to sleep.

Fukidashi responded in kind, allowing their vision to fade away, leaving their metaphorical ears open to listen for when their friend woke up.

The distant but ever approaching sounds of battle did little to prevent their slow dive into sleep.

Day by day… The quiet began to shrink into the corners.

The vaults began to empty as the panic of chaos began to set it. Without news, the two of them were left in the dark.

“This room… it’s nearly empty now.”

“Yeah… Do you think… they’re gonna take one of us out, soon?”

Kojirou shuddered. He sure as anything hoped not. The only reason this imprisonment hadn’t driven him mad had been the company.

He sucked in a breath. “Perhaps…”

“If they do, I’m going to fight.”

He looked at his friend with something akin to awe. The book sat on it's pillar, same as it always had, but he could almost feel their presence emanating out. 

Confidence.

The Gems on Fukidashi’s cover pulsed. “I’ll figure something out. Blow myself to pieces if I have to!”

Despite the lack of vocal chords, their voice cracked in a replication of what one who did have them would feel. 

Consciously, Kojirou knew he should discourage the words. But he nodded.

“I am… not as strong as my brothers were. But if they try again…”

I faint chuckled emanated through his mind. “Heh. Maybe we can fight together, one day. Magic and Strength.”

Kojirou nodded. “That would… yes. If the time comes... How would I… use you?”

“Oh! That makes sense! All you have to do is-”

*KRAKAKOOOM!*

Whatever was said vanished into the wind.

Kojirou awoke wearily, his body aching.

What had…

Fire… And noise.

He snapped upwards, his body screaming in pain as he did so.

On the closest thing he had to instinct, his functions as a failed tool of battle kicked in, running through his injuries.

Bruises across back and left arm. One large laceration on right arm.

The fluid that fueled him was slowly trickling out of his arm, rapidly solidifying upon being exposed to the air.

Nothing fatal.

He looked around his prison, finding it in ruins.

The large wall behind him was torn to pieces, with rubble spread across his feet. Ahead, a large rock laid on the other side of the room. It was burning hot.

His ears finally opened up to his surroundings, making out the doldrums of combat in the area below them. Whatever force was opposing the empire had finally reached their inner walls.

If this had happened any later, He and Fukidashi might have-

Fukidashi.

His vision snapped to the centre of the room where he usually found his friend. The pillar that held them had been knocked over, seemingly by the quakes right before the impact, and had tumbled in his direction. As for the Tome itself…

Oh. Oh, thank goodness!

He spotted his friend, not too far from where he was, sitting on top of a pile of rubble.

Faint sparks of Mana emanated around him, filling the room with a faint blue glow.

“S-some kind of shield… oh, Fukidashi.”

Whatever supply of Mana was keeping him alive would have been drained almost dry with a spell of that magnitude.

He winced, clenching his sore arm. What were they going to-

“My arms!”

The chains that had bound him to the wall sagged lazily on the ground, granting him more movement than he had had in months. While his legs were still bound…

He quickly began to move, stretching his chains to their limit as he moved towards the rubble that held his friend.

The chains snapped taught, and he fell to the ground.

He stretched his body, leaning as forward as he could.

“Come… on…”

“I think you’re plenty cool! And… I say, when we get out of here, we can go visit the place the guy who made you is from. See all the sights! Doesn’t that sound exciting!?”

With as much will as he could, he stretched his hand forward, his fingers arched straight, and-

*ZAP*

He felt the thrum of his own Mana surge into the Tome as his fingers grazed the pages.

For a moment, it was as if the battle surrounding them had been silenced, until…

“I’M ALIVE, YOU SONS OF-”

“Fukidashi! You’re… You’re okay!”

All five Gemstones on the cover of Fukidashi pulsed, glowing brighter than he had ever seen. 

“Sure am, Man! You’ve had this much Mana this whole time!? I feel INVINCIBLE!"

Kojirou made the closest thing his body could to a smile as he looked at his friend.

A coughing noise echoed through him. “Woah. I’m glad I managed to throw out that shield, though… that could have been bad. Looks like chaos reached the gates, huh?”

“Mhm… what do we… do?”

Kojirou got the feeling Fukidashi would be smirking if he had a mouth. “Well… you realise what you just did, right?”

“I… gave you Mana? Does that mean we’re…”

“We’re connected! You can use me to cast spells!”

“Oh… oh! Yes! Let’s… Do that!”

“Alright! Let’s get the hell out of this damn castle!"

Fukidashi seemed to launch open, the pages quickly turning until he reached a specific page.

“Shout this!”

Kojirou nodded, sucking in a breath.

All things willing, he would never see this place again!

“llehsihtfotuoemteg!”

And suddenly… light filled his vision.

A revolution. That was what had finally done the Unification Empire of The Zen Emperor in.

With help from the Nine armies of the neighbouring nations, the slave population had practically opened the gates for them, preventing the leadership from mounting any kind of defence.

The members of the high council that hadn’t fallen on their own swords were quickly felled.

“It’s kind of a shame. I kind of wanted to freeze the Vault-master from the waist down and leave him there.”

Fukidashi’s closest friend nodded. “I… agree. But we got out. And that’s… enough.”

“Right.”

The two of them had fled out of the city as fast as Bondo’s legs could carry them. They had wanted to Teleport out the whole way, but most of his Mana had been spent revitalising them.

(They had been ready to die, then. But he certainly wasn’t going to complain about surviving. He had already seen at least four new types of animal!)

The small forest they had found themselves in was about as empty as they could hope for. They had hid there for a few days, but…

“Well… now what?”

Bondo let out a soft hum. “There is somewhere I… want to go. It is close to Ayyuu. A safe place, as mentioned by my Creator. A friend.”

Fukidashi hummed. “That sounds nice. It’s near the ocean, right? I’ve always wanted to see what it looks like.”

Kojirou turned to where they were placed on the ground. “What would… you like to do?”

“Me?”

“Well… you are a living thing. You should… make your own choices too. If you’d like, I could… drop you off somewhere.”

For the briefest of moments, Fukidashi felt saddened. Their friend didn’t want to leave them behind, did he?

But… no. He was trying to be supportive, wasn’t he?

“Nope! You’re stuck with me now! We’re bonded! That’s a huge deal, you know? Can’t really go back on it.”

Fukidashi breathed a sigh of relief when his friend's head formed into a lumpy smile. “Okay. Thank you… I would like to be with you. Like… My brothers.”

Fukidashi let his gemstones glow bright, the closest he had to a smile. “Woo! Team Fukidashi and Bondo!”

“Kojirou.”

“Eh?”

“That’s my… True name. Only… my closest people can call me by it.”

“Oh… well, then, I need one of those, too!”

Bondo - Kojirou - let out a small laugh, before nodding. “I’ve… already got one for you… Manga."

“Awesome! Another name! Well then, that makes us team Manga and Kojirou! Together, we’ll show the world what for!”

“Y-yeah!”

Kojirou coughed. “Well, first… I should probably find some clothing.”

Ah.

“I suppose the humans would be pretty shocked if a giant naked statue rolled through their town.”

With Kojirou’s stamina, it hadn’t taken them any longer than a few days to leave the area that was once controlled by the Empire. Every few hours, they were able to spot another group of soldiers, many of which were working to establish the new government that would proceed currently… nonexistent one.

Whatever the case was, they were far too busy to track down a pair of missing artifacts. Before long, the two of them had quietly slipped into mystery, except for vague mentions of the flash of light that had marked their escape.

(Kojirou was not proud of the breaking and entering he had needed to do to find the set of clothes and cloak that currently sat on his back. His only saving graces were that Magic made it easy to repair any damage he had caused, and that he had left behind enough coins that had been teleported out of the vault with them to pay for what had been taken.)

Finally, though, they arrived at their destination.

Kojirou felt the bag he was using to hold onto Manga rustle.

“Woah. This place reeks of Mana.”

He nodded at that. “Protection Spells. Can’t be seen by things… without Mana.”

The large, Spiralling Tower was ingrained into the earth like a large tree. Various mechanical marvels poked out off the old metal walls, releasing puffs of Steam and Mana periodically.

“Well… do we go in?”

“Mhm. Let’s-”

“NEW FRIENDS!”

Kojirou flinched at the loud voice. Looking up, he saw a figure emerge from one of the tower’s many windows. 

If he was a human, he might have recoiled in fear as the large Squid crawled down the wall, using a collection of tentacles to move with practised ease.

“Uh…”

The Otherfolk looked at them with a large eye on the side of their body. It seemed to sparkle with both Mana and Excitement.

“Hello! Are you here for babies? Or food, or-”

“HATSUME! NO HARASSING THE CUSTOMERS! Why, I outta… You’re not Magi.”

Another figure emerged, this time from the front door. They looked far more humanoid than the other figure, bar the many mole-like qualities that marked the appearance of an Underfolk.

The Squid - Hatsume - curled their tentacles, looking embarrassed. 

“Sorry, Higari… they just oozed Mana and I had to see!”

The Underfolk shook his head, but nodded. “It’s alright, Hatsume… just be careful, alright? Someone might attack you.”

“Yeah…”

The man uncrossed his arms, turning to face the two of them instead, nose twitching. “Sorry about that. Welcome to our home. What can I do for you?”

Kojirou nodded. “Thank you… my Creator mentioned this place before.”

Higari’s eyes widened. “You’re… your one of Ken’s creations, then. Is he…”

Kojirou failed to hide his flinch, and the man nodded. “Right. We can talk later, kid. Hatsume, set up the spare room, will you? The clean one.”

A tentacle snapped right up in a mock salute. “Yes, sir!”

As the girl climbed back up the tower before disappearing into a window, Higari turned around, waving a clawed hand. Quickly, they were led into a large room, far bigger on the inside than it should have been. 

It was a messy laboratory, filled with scrap metal and paper.

“I have questions, and so do you. We can talk about life later. First… you would have gone somewhere else if you just needed housing.”

Kojirou nodded, before reaching into the bag. “We need help.”

“We?”

With little flourish, Kojirou extracted Manga, holding him to his chest.

“Hi!”

Higari’s small eyes widened. “Sweet eyes of the Nezumi… no wonder Hatsume wanted a look at you. How old are you, Book?”

“My names Manga!” “Alright, alright. Still.” “I’m… around a hundred and fifty, I think. I’ve been aware for about sixteen years.”

Higari nodded, quickly moving towards a massive stack of notes. “Sounds about right. I figured we were due for the Vampire’s knowledge to coalesce into a form sooner or later.”

“What?” “Eh?”

The Underfolk simply kept digging, pulling out a blueprint. “You’re not the first book to wake up, and you won’t be the last, so long as societies collapse. My grandpappy was commissioned by something like you, once. I can guess pretty confidently what you want.”

“Arms and legs!”

“Yep. Fortunately for you… you have a big well of Mana available to connect to. Linking with a Mana based lifeform like a Golem is about as good as you can get.”

Manga seemed to glow against his chest. “See, Bondo? I told you it’d be good for us to stick together!”

“Mhm... What will it cost me, sir?”

Higari waved a hand. “Eh, I’ll say you're cashing in one of the favors I owed your old man. He was a good person, despite his craft. HATSUME!”

Like clockwork, the squid girl poked her head into the room.

“Yes, sir?”

“Grab your tools. We’re in for an All-nighter.”

“YES!”

“Not so loud!”

“Sorry…”

Kojirou sat quietly within the large workshop, flexing his fingers around a large cup of tea he had been offered. As the two Magicians had worked, He had quietly relayed the events of his life to Higari. The man had said little in response until he had finished moments ago.

He leaned up from the growing frame, looking at him with a soft expression.

“He would have been proud of you. Your old man.”

Kojirou remained quiet, and Higari continued.

“Ken’s magic only really worked to make buildings. Whenever he tried to make anything living, like he so desperately wanted to do… it always went berserk.”

“Oh…”

“You’re about as weak as a Golem could get in terms of physical strength, kid. I doubt he ever told you how little that would have bothered him. If anything, he probably was upset he got the brain right on the attempt he screwed up the head. I think he probably would have told you, one day, that you were what he was looking for… but such is life.”

The man sighed.

“I’m sure his death was at least quick, if that brings you any solace. The explosion you described… if it took out your brothers, it would have taken out him.”

He nodded at that, and Higari turned around, continuing his work.

He took a deep breath, before he smiled to himself.

He might not have been strong… but he got himself and his friend out of what could have been suffering.

And perhaps… that was good enough.

The body stood in the middle of the room, held up by the thin tentacles wrapped around it.

It was a thin gray color, lined with a durable metal. Higari had the clothes necessary to make it look about as close to a normal human as they’d get. They sat in the corner of the room, ready to be put on.

Higari leaned down, opening a small latch on the chest.

“Well, Kid. You can do the honours.”

Kojirou nodded, leaning forward and taking a breath.

He slipped Manga into the slot custom built for him. Latches quickly snapped in place, and the pipes within began to glow the recognisable blue of flowing Mana.

Higari quickly shut the latch, before he stepped back. Kojirou did the same, clenching his vision into darkness.

Please… let me be with my friend. Properly.

.

.

.

“Woah… this is what a mouth feels like? Weird…”

Kojirou’s vision flared to life.

The constructed body stood on its own, unsupported by Hatsume, who had stepped back with a large grin on her body.

Manga stood for the first time, a small smile on their eyeless face. They flexed their fingers and toes, moving muscles for the first time, before-

*WHAM*

The two metallic bodies collided in a hug as Manga let out a whoop. “I’ve been wanting to do that for ages!”

“Me… me too!”

The two figures stood by the door to the large tower. Both of them were clothed in fresh outfits custom designed to disguise their inhuman features to the best of their ability.

Manga smiled (That was new! And rad!) at the Tower’s two residents, flashing a sign Higari had called a ‘thumbs up.’

“We really, really owe you for this one, Mister Higari, sir!” “Stop calling me sir. I’m barely one hundred.” “Really?”

Higari sighed, but he nodded. “Remember to stick close to one another, alright? The body we built for you can only run on your own Mana for a few hours at a time.”

Hatsume grinned, revealing rows of teeth. “We made sure to put the best Mana absorption systems in that we could! Just stand next to each other, okay?”

Kojirou nodded from his position next to him. He held their possessions in a large sack, lightened by a spell from them. “We will… Neither of us can cast magic… without the other around.”

Higari nodded. “Come back and visit, alright? It’s the least you can do for adding two more kids to the list for me to worry about.”

“Aren’t I older than you, sir?” “It’s relative, Hatsume. You’re basically sixteen in my book.”

Manga and Kojirou bowed sharply, and the door closed in front of them with one more shout of goodbye. 

Manga looked to their friend with a sharp grin. The new face they had been given was mostly covered, since they didn’t need eyes, but the mouth had been left exposed, allowing them to emote more than ever before. “Well… it’s time we get going, then?”

Kojirou nodded. “Mhm. Off to the capital.”

“Ayyuu! Isn’t that exciting! Adventure, romance, intrigue… heroism…”

Kojirou let out a small huff of laughter. “Let’s… get there before we decide… on what we’ll do.”

“Fair enough!”

Kojirou began to walk, and Manga quickly followed behind with a spring in his step.

In that prison disguised as a Vault of treasures he had always dreamt of a life outside…

Now, he had the fortune to have it.

And he…

Was going to live it to the fullest!

*THUNK*

“Are you okay!?”

“Ran… a bit fast. These leg things are weird!”

END