Traveling Worlds

Allen turned to look at what just crashed near the lake.

"Damn it, another failure" It was the sound of a girl. Allen saw smoke and dust, a weird combination.

He really wanted to avoid whatever just happened, after the dust cleared the person was finally revealed, it was a girl with feather like black hair and beastly eyes, other than that she looks…human.

Beside her was a contraption that even Allen didn't know what it was, it looked like giant

clockwork wings fused with sharp metallic feathers and glowing blue veins pulsing faintly with energy. The wings seemed damaged, one side bent at an unnatural angle, sparks occasionally flickering from the joints. The girl herself was kneeling, her hands clutching a cylindrical device that was also glowing faintly.

Allen hesitated, torn between his instinct to run and the pull of curiosity. The girl looked up, her Red beast-like eyes locking onto his own brown human ones. There was something both fierce and fragile in her gaze, like a cornered predator.

"You there!" she called out, her voice sharp but carrying a hint of desperation. "Are you just going to stand there, or are you going to help me?"

"I'm fine staying here, isn't that right Xixe" He turned to Xixe and didn't see her there, when he turned around she was near the girl looking at the wings curiously. With a sigh Allen rowed his way ther and within seconds he arrived.

The feather haired girl raised an eyebrow, she wondered how this…being suddenly appeared near her invention within milliseconds without her noticing.

Allen jumped down the row-boat and landed on the ground. "hmmm"

The girl glared at Allen. "Atleast try to be a gentleman, i'm a girl"

"And i am a boy" The girl huffed, her sharp eyes narrowing as she stood up, wobbling slightly before steadying herself. Her wings gave a faint metallic creak as she adjusted them, one still hanging uselessly at her side. Allen glanced at Xixe, who was now poking at the damaged wing with an innocent curiosity that could very well turn into catastrophe.

"Hey, Xixe, maybe… don't touch the glowing parts?" Allen said cautiously. Xixe turned her head slightly, her blank expression giving no indication of whether she understood or cared.

The feather-haired girl groaned. "Could you control your… whatever she is? That wing isn't exactly stable right now."

Allen scratched the back of his head. "She's not really the 'listens-to-orders' type. But anyway, what happened here? Did you fall from the sky? Are you… some kind of angel? Or—"

"Woah there, i am NOT a worshipper of the Ide of Imagination so do not call me an angel, also never say that word again or something bad will happen to both of us" Another Ide, as expected, Allen sighed as he rubbed his head, first it was the ide of Consumption and now something called the ide of Imagination.

He was starting to wonder just how many of these so-called Ides existed—and why they kept dropping into his otherwise quiet life.

The girl folded her arms, her crimson eyes still locked onto Allen. "Listen, boy, I don't have time for your confusion. My name is Kaelith, and this"—she gestured at the damaged metallic wings—"was supposed to be a flawless flight test. Obviously, it wasn't."

Allen nodded slowly, trying to process the mess in front of him. "Right… Kaelith. And what exactly were you testing? Some kind of… flying contraption? Or are those actually attached to you?"

Kaelith's sharp glare softened slightly, replaced by something akin to exhaustion. "They're not attached, they're… an extension. Think of them as a tool. A very, very delicate tool."

"You made this?" She asked curiously.

Kaelith turned to her and replied. "Yeah what about it?"

"This is an artefact and the void energy in it seems to be of an inferior quality" She said as she traced a line against the blue veins, they started to turn purple all of a sudden making Kaelith look up in alarm. "What are you doing?!" she demanded, her voice rising. The blue veins flickered under Xixe's touch, turning from their usual calm blue to a violent purple hue, almost as if the contraption was reacting to the presence of her hand.

Xixe didn't flinch, her expression as unreadable as ever. "Just observing," she replied simply, her fingers still trailing along the glowing pathways.

Kaelith's eyes widened in shock and a mix of disbelief. "That's not supposed to happen," she muttered under her breath. "It's… it's not supposed to be able to do that. The energy flow shouldn't change like this."

"Nothing will happen, I'm just using 'WILL' to infuse void energy inside of the artefact, it should work after that" As she said that, she let go of it, the blue veins turned purple and Kaelith gasped in surprise, the wings moved as if they were that of a bird.

"This is incredible?!, Hey you can you lend me your friend for a few months?!" Kaelith immediate asked with excitement.

Allen with an irritated sigh moved back from her. "My name is Allen and you can ask her yourself, we aren't leaving anytime soon"

She immediately turned to Xixe. "Xixe was it? Can you teach me how you did that"

"Well you don't have a void body so it would be hard for you to do that..but you can probably build one even though it will most definitely be excruciatingly painful and tiresome and it will also take a long time, then you would have to learn how to use WILL" Xixe answered with a smile on her face.

Kaelith's expression froze as she processed Xixe's words. "Excruciatingly painful… and tiresome?" she repeated slowly, her crimson eyes narrowing. "Yeah, no thanks. I'll pass on the 'agonizing transformation' route, thank you very much."

Xixe simply tilted her head, her stare unwavering. "Then you won't be able to replicate what I did."

"Yeah sure"

[You have bought pocket Shipping, Do you want to place the Row-boat in your inventory?]

"Yes" As Allen said that, the boat shrinker and then disappeared in an instant.

"Eh" Kaelith was stunned at the display, no normal person's vessel can shrink to the size of an ant and then completely disappear.

She looked at Allen then at Xixe. "...Are you guys...Fest users"

"What's that?" Allen asked.

"What do you mean what is that, Everyone in Festia knows what Fes---oh... you guys must not be from this world." As she came to that realisation she covered her mouth in surprise.

Allen was starting to have a headache, within a moment he pulled out his revolver and aimed it at her. "I don't want any trouble like you revealing this to anybody cause I feel the 'ide of Imagination' wouldn't want that"

Kaelith froze, her crimson eyes locked onto the barrel of Allen's revolver. Her wings twitched instinctively, emitting a faint metallic hum. For a moment, the tension hung heavy in the air, only the distant sound of water lapping against the lakeshore breaking the silence.

"Whoa, whoa, easy there," Kaelith said carefully, raising her hands. "I'm not about to run off and shout to the skies about you two. I'm not an idiot, Allen."

Allen's grip on the revolver didn't waver. "Forgive me if I'm not feeling particularly trusting right now. First, you drop out of the sky with some malfunctioning… whatever-that-thing-is, then you start rambling about Ides and Fest users and other worlds. I've had enough of cryptic nonsense for one day."

Kaelith sighed, her wings drooping slightly, the damaged one creaking again. "Look, I was just surprised. You're not exactly common around here. But I'm not your enemy, okay? Besides, if I wanted to cause you trouble, I would've done it already."

"He's not going to shoot you." Xixe's voice cut through the tension, calm and detached. Both Allen and Kaelith turned to her. Xixe was now crouched by the wing again, her glowing fingertips tracing faint patterns on the surface. "Allen's cautious, not violent. His 'WILL' lacks intent to harm."

Allen lowered the revolver slightly but didn't holster it. "Stop reading me like that, Xixe. It's creepy."

Kaelith let out a breath she didn't realize she was holding. "Alright. Let's start over before someone does something stupid. You're Allen, you're Xixe, and you're not from this world. Correct?"

Allen nodded reluctantly. "More or less."

"Yep my world was a dead world which recently got consumed by a giant planter eating tentacled bug" Xixe answered with an innocent tone.

"It was the Ide of Consumption" Allen dropped his arm and put the revolver back into the inventory.

"Yeah we would have been consumed if we didn't get off there quickly" Xixe added.

Kaelith stared at them, her crimson eyes wide with a mixture of shock and morbid fascination. "A world… eaten by an Ide?" Her voice was quieter now, almost reverent. "That's… horrifying."

Allen rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Yeah, it wasn't exactly a vacation. Now, can we stop with the Q&A for a second? You've got broken wings, we've got… whatever this is. Do you need help fixing that thing or not?"

"Sure, my workshop is right across the lake and a few trees away" Kaelith said as she started walking.

Allen sighed as he gestured toward the lake. "Alright, let's get moving then. Lead the way."

Kaelith hesitated for a moment, glancing at her damaged wing. "Flying's out of the question. We'll have to walk. It's not far, just… try not to break anything else, Xixe."

Xixe tilted her head in response. "I didn't break anything though?"

"Yeah you didn't"

The trio made their way along the lake's edge, the gentle lapping of water against the shore accompanying their footsteps. 

Allen occasionally glanced at the big pink clouds in the sky and also because he could hear the occasional screams of what he would assume to be birds.

"Hey what exactly are you Kaelith" A random question was brought up by Allen.

"I should be asking that your friend the question but I am a Flightless Bird,"Kaelith replied with a touch of bitterness in her voice. "I was born without wings, but I've always been obsessed with flight. So, I built these—well, tried to build them. They were supposed to be my escape, my way to prove I could soar just like the others. But here I am, grounded again."

Allen raised an eyebrow. "So you're… not actually a bird at all?"

She shook her head. "No. But it's what they called me growing up. A flightless bird. And no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't change that. So, I built my own wings. Made from parts of machines, and—" Kaelith's gaze turned distant for a moment. 

Allen sighed and then stopped, he placed a hand on her shoulder. "You see me here without wings, do I look bothered by the capability of not flying, yes it may be a part of your race to have wings but you don't have to feel bad about your invention failing, You may not have wings but you do have the capabilities of reaching beyond the skies"

Kaelith froze for a moment, her gaze softening as Allen's words sank in. Her wings, which had seemed like the epitome of failure just moments ago, now felt less like a burden and more like the symbol of her relentless pursuit.

She looked into Allen's dull brown eyes. "Hearing that from someone i just met feels contradicting and also…i kinda feel motivated thanks Allen"

Allen smiled, though it was a little awkward. "I'm not the best at pep talks, but I'm glad it helped."

Kaelith's eyes softened a bit more, the hardness in her expression giving way to something else—perhaps a hint of appreciation or gratitude. She then let out a long breath, letting the weight of her frustration with the wings ease, if only slightly.

"it's fine, atleast someone believes in me" She murmured softly.