A simple Path, The road less Traveled
Pick up your Map, Lay down your Gavel
When all is Said and done
Only ℒove is on

The abundance of tasks, activities, and social gatherings over the next month was staggering! Artorias found himself doing a plethora of events involving various people, biding his time and efforts into not only personal gain, but the relationships he was developing with others. It was comforting to know that others were also in similar boats at times, often holding back secrets or concepts that could rattle the minds of others, but these secrets also intrigued him. Artorias had to investigate somewhere, into someone, lest his curiosity get overbearing. Settling down on a single person to delve into their secrets however.. Was proving to be a harder task than anticipated. Each friend he made proved to be rather wonderful in their own manner, but were able to uphold some form of barrier or share just the right amount without exposing too much detail. Perhaps he would need to up the ante on this front.

One of his newly appointed friends was Toni. Having spent many an evening or morning with the lovely lady, Artorias often spoke on an intellectual level with Toni, trying to help her with social crisis complications or her research. It seemed one of her friends had descended into an acquaintance status, was still floundering in the ‘maybe-a-friend’ zone, or was completely separated from her existence. It wasn’t Artorias’ place to say, but perhaps Toni needed to drop this Siegmund individual. The absence of such a plausible toxicity in her life could benefit her own mental willpower, but it could also hinder her desires to expand her horizons. Perhaps these thoughts were best left in his own head. He did however work on several projects with her, one especially in fabricating the fibers or wires he’d noticed in Siegmund’s body. It was an arduous, time consuming process and Artorias loved every moment of it. When they weren’t working on projects however the duo often just talked about research. It was a mutually beneficial existence, and one Artorias wouldn’t trade away.

When he wasn’t working with Toni or doing his own private research, Artorias was enjoying moments with his friend Evelynn. A pleasant girl to be around, Artorias found her abundance of manners, cheery smile, and quiet disposition to be welcoming. They’d had lengthy discussions about their own past experiences, yet still lingered on the brink of fully unveiling their innermost secrets. Of all his friends or peers, her secrets intrigued Artorias the most, as the cover of her own book was just before him. During their talks, Artorias occasionally made commentary about his research, explaining how his test theories were beginning to take a toll on him. Physical labor was not his forte and sometimes if his experiments went array, he had no real means of maneuvering an object out of the way. He’d expressed this issue to Evelynn before, more so to bounce the idea off a willing ear for personal use. Who knew if he was going to actually get help or not?

Outside of his two closer friends, Artorias held some small talk conversations with Hebi, Starlyte, Briar, and Lizzie, whenever he saw them in passing at least. With so many students throughout the school, it was rather remarkable Artorias had time for anything outside his research! He hoped to someday get a chance and meet with these set of individuals, as they’d been rather nice to spend time with, but weren’t truly close enough to confidently declare them friends. Perhaps they didn’t even want to be friends. Nevertheless his mind kept them in the back of his thoughts, hoping to jump on this train at a later time.

If Artorias ever got a moment to himself, he spent it studying or working on a new experiment. Turning various objects or matter around him into new forms of crystals of various shapes or colors. Over and over again he would try to use parts of the schools structure to reshape into crystals, only to watch them vanish after a moments pause, reforming as the structure they once were. What kind of magic had been harnessed for such a design? Could he learn to do this as well? Several doors were presented to Artorias’ mind, each one expressing a lifetime of dedication to master. Would he be able to choose just one?  

Doubt drives this Thirst and Pain drives this Hunger
But don't let the Strife that drives your Life tare you Asunder
When all is Said and done
Only ℒove is on
It was rather… strange. Everything had gone swimmingly for Artorias, then for one reason or another, he’d been transferred out of Heartless to a sister school. Whisked away from his classmates, from his teachers, from his enrollment in such a fine establishment. The reasoning was never fully explained to him nor did he find a true defining chance to even question it. All Artorias knew was this wasn’t going to be permanent, it couldn’t be permanent… right? He’d only just begun to make friends who were valuable to him, to befriend those of similar minds but also complete opposites of his own design. It was a chance for him to be happy… and he was yanked away from it. Begrudgingly he accepted his fate, but time would prove to favor his endeavors.

The transfer did not last long, for as the morning came around, Artorias soon found himself waking in his old familiar bed. Eyes blinked rapidly, trying to focus in on the ceiling pattern. Had the transfer only been a dream? The events felt so real, but the transgression of time seemed.. Off. Slowly shifting over, Artorias let his prosthetics dangle just above the floor, extending them ever so slightly so the bases were flat to the ground. This mechanic made it much easier to stand in the mornings. A hand pressed firmly to his temple, the Terramancer slowly stood. The room began to spin around him. Faster and faster it went before… THUD! Artorias stumbled to the ground, no effort or course of action to brace his fall. Hand still pressed to his forehead, Artorias laid motionless on the floor, a low, nearly inaudible grumble escaping him. The hand to his side balled into a tight fist, tension in his frustration of the situation.

Eventually the young Terramancer grew silent, before the floorboards around him began to tremble. Much like an instinctual defense mechanism, the floor itself erupted into a vast array of crystal spikes, forming a smooth inner pattern to protect Artorias, but preventing anything from getting near him. Pain had been the trigger for this sudden mana usage, a flashback to horrid times well before Heartless. Artorias could be heard underneath the layers of crystal, breathing heavy as to calm himself. Eventually the crystals started to crack, before shattering completely into dust. Sparkling dust fell about his person as Artorias struggled to his hands and knees, taking in deep breaths. His arms trembled, his knees, or really the stubs of his legs, were weak. Sweat dripped from his brow. This was not a good morning for him already.

Able to finally gain his composure, Artorias sat on the bedroom floor, back leaned against the bedside. Silent breaths brought him back to the moment, to the non spinning room he was truly in. Had he just been struck with sudden light headed symptoms? Was there something foul afoot in the room? Or was he simply just losing it? Running a hand through his hair, Artorias began to chuckle weakly. ”Nearly seven years since a major outbreak, and I have one right at the crack of dawn.. I’m beginning to slip..” 

And it's the only Gift

That could ever Cost so much and still be Free

And my only Wish

Is that it finds its Home in the Heart of You & Me

”Aaa-hhh...”

The little yawn puffed out of the goddess, less out of sleepiness and more out of boredom. After all, it had been an entire night of taking turns with Kiyato between staying in the cafeteria and going out to patrol the halls. They’d just shared a breakfast, and it was about time to get back to patrols. ”Almost everyone is back, I don’t think we need to hold the fort down here anymore!” She boomed to Kiyato, standing up and stretching her arms up above her head, rolling her neck, trying to get energized again. ”I’m going to check to see if we have any stragglers in odd places! Call if you need anything.”

”See you later!” With a salute and a radiant smile, Zila said goodbye to Kiyato and Abyssia. Spinning on the spot, the goddess made her way out of the cafeteria. Despite all the chaos of yesterday, they would be celebrating love and new beginnings later this day at Ostrava and Hariki’s wedding. There would be mishaps that could derail that, if there was anything at all she could do about it!

Ostrava had wished to the goddess in the form she’d entered the school him, as ‘Zilar’, to see Ostrava off. While the woman walked through the halls, fingers interlocked behind her head, she contemplated if she could make that happen for him. She could hold a male form for a while, but it would need to be that one. Maybe if she called on her believers, got a couple of offerings? There was still the morning to figure it out, but she really did need to check to see if there was anything strange in the areas they hadn’t been checking!

Like the basement. Everyone had been brought back to their dorm rooms, or suites, so there had been no reason to check the basement all night. However, with some of the faculty and student body still missing, it was about time to check these spots, just to be sure.

Honestly, Zila hadn’t expected to find anything at all, so she was rather surprised to lay her eyes on a familiar golem upon entering the basement bar!

”Sieg! Have you been here??” She asked, confused by her discovery. 

Well obviously he hadn’t just BEEN here the whole time. Siegmund had been missing an entire month! The goddess had feared he’d succeeded in pulling himself to pieces or disappeared. Yet here he was in the Basement Bar, like he’d never left, dressed like he was ready to get back on the job.

Perhaps Zila shouldn’t have been so surprised by the golem’s odd behavior, he did tend to be peculiar! It wouldn’t have been strange if she found out he’d literally just been standing in a corner for a month because someone had said something that vaguely suggested something to that tune.

”Sieg?”

Head tilting to the side, all the goddess could hear was a faint murmuring. Was something wrong with the golem’s circuits, he was just staring at her as if he had no idea what to do. Like a lost child! At last, the Siegmund simply said ‘Something.’

”Oh boy…”

This was going to be something, wasn’t it? Running fingers through her bangs, the goddess frowned in through, hearing her text notification but ignoring it for the moment. After all, it wasn’t an alert tone and she had something of an ‘emergency’ on her hands here. Well, time to see just how fried Siegmund’s circuits were!

”Golem, give me a status report. Tell me how far back your data logs go. What day is today? What is your occupation here?”

Generally, Zila wouldn’t order Siegmund around, but right about now, that was the easiest way to see what the heck was going on here. Should she call Abney? That young mechanic, Toni? Both of them? She would decide that once she got an idea of just what condition the golem had found himself in. 

The Goddess before them was catching on to the situation, or at least that was the hope Rigel clung to. If this security guard couldn’t figure out what was wrong, then there was little hope for others. If only Rigel could remember her name… he was finding it hard to remember the names of those who weren’t denizens of his planet. Or maybe the time they’d been separated or shut down had taken a toll on him as well? There were too many variables to consider and rigel wasn’t the mathematician of a machine that Siegmund was. Nevertheless, the evidence that Zila caught on to things being off was a good indication they were in good hands. Rigel had given Siegmund a command, he’d spoken the provided word, and Zila was reacting. ”Excellent. I think she caught on to our issues. Perhaps now we’ll be able to get things across to he..”

”Oh Boy.” Siegmund cut off Rigel’s train of thought, copying what Zila had stated. ”Oh for the love of.. Siegmund just stay quiet until someone gives you a command.” Taking the words to heart, Siegmund stood at attention, awaiting instructions from either Rigel or Zila. It seemed the security guard had caught onto this issue, as she gave a command to the Golem, instructing for a status report. ”That’s the way! I’m glad she’s figuring out what needs to happen.” The Golem was silent for nearly eight point nine seconds before relaying some information, as commanded, to the security guard. ”Status report. All functionalities in eighty seven point three percent capabilities, with marginal error of point zero zero two percent variance. Current date unknown. Data log entries recorded on file are zero zero zero two and zero zero zero one. Each recorded seventeen minutes fourteen seconds prior to command, and nineteen minutes twelve seconds prior to status report. Current occupational position unknown.” The punctuation, pacing of his words, everything was in perfect setup for someone to keep track of, to follow along, and even the volume of his words sang true. It was a hollow feeling for Rigel however, as the spark of emotion he had noticed within the Golem was gone. Even if his monotone voice never showcased the emotional levels, they were still there. This however.. There was nothing. He had no personality.

”If only I could speak directly to this security guard, it would make it so much easier.” The voice of Rigel grumbled within Siegmund’s chest cavity. If he was lucky, maybe someone would be able to hear him, but the chances of that were slim. Siegmund however, began to inspect his surroundings with a rather curious expression. The childlike status of his processing core peaked in intrigue. He wanted to know about everything around them. A few steps were taken on a whim, approaching the bar counter itself. A single hand reached out for a glass upon the shelf, as if a triggering memory was returning. However as the fingers wrapped around the glass, his hand shattered the glass, applying too much pressure in his grip. As glass shards trickled to the ground beneath his hand, Rigel sighed internally within Siegmund. The road was going to be a long one for retraining this brute. 

That’s what she’d been afraid of. What exactly had Siegmund done? Drowned himself? Pulled himself apart? He looked well enough now, had the school put him back together? With a frown, the goddess interlocked her fingers behind her head, rocking back on her heels. Was there a faint presence of a wish around him? Blinking, the goddess could notice the flicker, a color which was indescribable to other beings, shimmering and thumping like a tiny, fluttering heart of flame.

”Tell me, what is that feint sound coming from there?” Unlinking her fingers, one of Zila’s hands came to rest on her neck, while she vaguely motioned to the Golem’s chest area with her other hand as Sieg was beginning to lose focus, like a puppy curious about new surroundings. ”Some kind of issue with your circuits?” It seemed one of the glasses on the counter had caught the golem’s attention, unfortunate for the glass, really. It soon found itself in many little pieces, crushed by Sieg’s mechanical might. ”That’s ok, the school will replace it, but for now, don’t go grabbing any living things like that, ok?” As a security guard, making sure Siegmund didn’t end up being dangerous to anyone was uh, well, pretty important.

Pale green’s blinked as the goddess listened to Siegmund’s answer, clarifying if she needed to, hands now tucked into forest green jacket, tapping against her side in a rhythm to match the jazzy tune playing in one of her ears. ”Riiight. Ok, before anything else, you should know that your name is Siegmund Gole! Or at least that’s what you go as around here. Sieg for short, most of the time. I sure hope you can understand me in there! Man oh man, what is Abney going to think about you being back? And that student, Toni. Coming back after a month in a state like this, I think you might catch an earful from someone, so it doesn’t need to be me.” A light chuckle left the goddess as her eyes flickered over the childlike expression of the being before her, the room seeming quieter then ever after having been filled with her booming voice moments earlier.

”Come on you.” Motioning with her chin and one of her hands while still in her jacker pocket, Zila commanded Siegmund to follow her. ”Follow me.” The goddess would lead the golem up the stairs and towards the security office, taking the moments to check and send messages. This didn’t seem to be the only strange event of the morning, as she’d received a text from Ephraim as well.

Text to Ephraim:

It so happens that I just found someone else with memory less! Unsure if it is connect, but I’ll see if I can get any answers on my end. Are you doing ok? Need me to send someone?

Text to Kiyato:

Siegmund, the golem who disappeared last month, has returned but his memories seem to be gone. I got a report from Ephraim that he’s also missing memories. Keep an eye out for anyone looking lost or confused, ok?

Of course she had to let her fellow guard know what was going on!

”Go on in.”

In one fluid motion, the door to the security office was pulled open and the goddess in a sweeping gesture for Siegmund to enter. ”Now Sieg, can you use the equipment here so make those little odd noises from your chest more easily audible to me? If not, I think it’s probably about time for me to call in the mechanics, or someone that’ll believe I can.” She mused, sitting down on the edge of one of the many tables in the office, crossing her arms as she smiled at the currently fairly clueless being. ”For right now though, I’ll believe that you can!” 

Though the curiously stoic Siegmund was inspecting the world around him, Rigel was growing restless. For being within the body of Siegmund, this new sensation of self awareness of location was.. Cramped. His own existence was noticing that he couldn’t tell what Siegmund was grabbing like before, but that he was indeed contained within a small space. This awareness of confinement was beginning to take a toll on him, as Rigel tried his best to thrash about, possibly expand his enclosure. What such movements provided was faint flickering of lights emanating from beneath Siegmund’s torso attire. Grumbles and grunts were rather faint, even lower than a whisper perhaps, but maybe Zila was taking notice. As her words reached out to the Golem, Siegmund turned his head to her full attention, head tilting to one side. ”Sound? It seemed that whatever Zila was indicating or hinting towards, Siegmund wasn’t fully aware of it. Rigel though, taking notice of Zila’s voice calmed down. ”Oh, has she taken notice of me? Can she hear me? Hey! I’m in his chest!” Rigel called out, but nothing but garbled murmurs could be heard.

Hearing Zila mention circuitry issues, Rigel grew concerned. ”No no no no no no! I’m not some kind of malfunction, I’m the heart and… well maybe not the soul of this Golem, but I’m another existing thing!” The panic was real, but it went unnoticed as Siegmund crushed the glass cup. This was a rather concerning matter as things were in danger should Siegmund get ahold of them. Letting his little panic session run rampant inside the core, Rigel let Siegmund follow Zila out of the room. ”Siegmund?” Sounding out each syllable, Siegmund tilted his head to a side, trying to incorporate the words into his slowly growing vocabulary. She spoke nonsensical gibberish about some other individuals giving Siegmund an earful, to which his head tilted again. ”Ear..ful? I do not understand.” The progress of sentences was beginning to mimic Zila, not in tone, but in stylization of wording things. Perhaps he was learning at a faster pace, or perhaps he was simply repeating segments of phrases?

As they began to leave, Siegmund’s hands went out to whatever objects he could grasp or touch, hands putting rather large dents into the walls, doorknobs getting crushed under extreme pressure from his grip. At one point his finger tapped on a glass window, shattering it around his hand. Each one brought a focused, curious look to Siegmund’s face, analyzing the reactions he had on the world around him. His pace never lingered far behind Zila though, taking necessary strides to catch up in a prominent fashion. Rigel just sighed, this was going to be a long, bumpy ride wasn’t it?

Eventually though, the security guard had directed Siegmund into the security office itself. Giving the command to enter, the Golem promptly followed the orders, eyes staring down at the technology presented to him. Zila gave the request of ‘hearing the noises’ within him, another confused look to his face. ”Arrrrggh! This is never going to work! I just need to handle this myself.” Rigel exclaimed, his muffled tones possibly going unnoticed. ”Siegmund, remove vest and shirt.” Without any prompt from Zila, Siegmund grasped the vest and button up shirt and with one fluid motion, yanked the torso attire off himself. ”Okayyyy not what I had in mind but… it’ll do.” With the chest cavity now exposed, the flickering lights emanating from the chest container were rampant, almost lifelike in response to things going on. The large central plate on his chest had no vent lines, no openings or gaps for which Rigel could look out. ”Open chest plate” Rigel commanded, bracing for impact as he knew what the results were going to be. With one hand, Siegmund thrust his fingertips into the plating, curling them once on the inner siding of the plate. With one YANK!, the plate was removed, sliding off his hand to the floor with a CLANG.

If eyes shifted to the now exposed core within Siegmund, they’d be met with a burning ball of white and blue ember, crackling in a rather unique pattern. Half moons of amberish yellows soon appeared on the fiery ball, resembling the familiar pattern of eyes flickering open and closed. As his own eyes adjusted to the world outside of his imprisonment, the amber eyes settled on Zila, blinking a few times. The ball shifted, before a rather disembodied voice emanated from the fiery core. ”Ah it seems we’ve finally met face to face. I was hoping to speak to someone directly but, seems it had to come at a rather,” eyes glancing to the plate on the ground, the tattered pieces of shirt and vest, ”unsightly reveal. But I digress. My name is Rigel, and it has become apparent that I am the power core for this Golem.. Siegmund.”

”Well I’m going to have to sit you down in front of a screen and just let a dictionary scroll on by!” Zila boomed instead of actually explaining to Siegmund what ‘earful’ meant. He was going to learn in due time! The goddess realized the golem had… really been sent pretty far back. Without his memories, he was no longer the Siegmund she’d known. Somewhere in the back of her mind, Zila felt that sting of powerlessness the school could make every individual feel. There were always ways to restore his memory, considering the great wealth of power possessed by those at the school, but was it ethical to do so when that would essentially killing this new ‘Siegmund’ that existed in the here and now?

Thoughts for later! Right now, the goddess wanted to get to the bottom of whatever that odd sound was. It could be a clue to what had happened, or it could be nothing at all! That weird, quiet humming coming from the golem probably wouldn’t have been heard at all by the goddess if it hadn’t wished to be heard. It was that glow of a wish that had further peaked the Zila’s curiosity.

This goal in mind, Zila had brought Siegmund to the security office. Because he could still run a diagnostic on himself, the goddess was hoping he could also process other requests concerning his physiology, like enhancing a sound coming from himself, but as before, Sieg didn’t seem to know what the goddess meant by ‘the sound’. ”Uh-“ Lips parted, pale green eyes blinking in confusion as the golem suddenly tore off the vestments covering his chest. ”What are you-“ The goddess couldn’t finish her thought.

CLANG!

The metal chest plate now lay on the floor. Zila’s pale green gaze had followed it, eyebrows scrunched up in concern though she didn’t move form her spot. Had she misused a command? When her eyes returned to the golem two pairs of eyes stared back. The flame within Siegmund spoke, not surprising the Guard who’d seen many things in her lifetime; though she did wonder why she’d never heard of this until now. ”Rigel, huh?” Holding up a finger, Zila seemed to be requesting a moment to just process this all.

The flame called Rigel certainly contained a soul, for Zila had sensed, if weakly, the wish he’d had to be heard. ”If you have been there all along, and you recall your own name, I presume you know me well enough! If you are living within Siegmund, how did you manage not to lose your memories? What incident caused your bodies current state?” These were the first of many questions that came to mind, but Zila wasn’t going to go asking everything all at once! Why exactly did a living being of science and magic have another living being inside of it? Presumably, Rigel was a good power source. The goddess had a hunch he hadn’t always been just a flaming core.

”One of the resident engineers may be able to solve your communication issue! Or most likely can. I do think it’s about time I called one?” Zila suggested, though left it with a questioning tone, waiting to hear if Rigel had any objections to calling for help now. The goddess was beginning to be satisfied that she’d unraveled a bit of the mystery and was getting to the point she would need assistance, through belief or otherwise!

A simple Path, The road less Traveled
Pick up your Map, Lay down your Gavel
When all is Said and done
Only ℒove is on

The subsequent fall had been enough to embarass or unnerve Artorias, but for Toni to have witnessed it all, to have her directly affected by his own bodily instincts, that struck home. He had been able to hear her each time she spoke, but his body had been unable to react, too focused on not collapsing or trying to drive out the dizziness. When he’d struck the floor with such a solid impact, Artorias had grown hazy, his hearing of the world lost to all formalities or awareness. There was only him, the situation, and the pain. Eventually though, as he’d gathered his senses and sat back up, did things fully take in the surrounding world. Toni was limping around the bed, his eyes fixating on the blood slowly trickling down her leg. He’d injured her. His hair was a mess as fingers laced through it, the whites of his eyes dominating most of his eyes. He wasn’t in a good place of mind right now. Hands trembled slightly as he took in a deep breath, trying to remain calm for both of their sakes. ”Toni.. I assure you, I am fi..”

The train of thought didn’t linger long as one hand clenched, tightening up as the world spun again. Boards from the bedframe he leaned on quickly snapped off, forming into a crystal wall around Arty’s initial presence. The room had started spinning in his peripherals before calming down, which in unison caused the crystal wall to gently shatter into glittery dust again. Both hands shifted to palm his forehead and eyes, hair falling about his face. ”No I… I haven’t lost it, as I haven’t had it since the day of the incident..” His head shook side to side, trying to pull his prosthetics up to rest his head on his fake knees. ”I’ve taken the steps, the procedures, I followed each and every single method the physician had to offer me and yet..” Hands shifted from his face to ball into fists, trembling before him.

Growing silent for a good long while, Artorias finally let out a low sigh, lifting his head to look to Toni. His face looked tired, worn out, eyes red from retaining any desire to weep. ”My existence is rather.. Unstable. I have kept it under control for my entire stay here in Heartless but,” letting his voice trail off Artorias couldn’t believe he might be slipping. ”Listen.. I don’t share my past much because it’s a sign of weakness where I come from. I’m not an acclaimed mage back home. Hell, I’m not even considered a citizen anymore because of my… existence.” Reaching behind his position, Artorias slowly hoisted himself to his prosthetics, using the sturdy part of the bed to do so. ”Though since we are friends I suppose.. Explaining my situation and condition is necessary.” He looked up to Toni, a slow sigh escaping.  

Doubt drives this Thirst and Pain drives this Hunger
But don't let the Strife that drives your Life tare you Asunder
When all is Said and done
Only ℒove is on
Artorias took his time getting prepared, explaining to Toni that he wanted to talk about this after they both had eaten something at least. He offered to patch up her wound if she would allow him to, before getting dressed and making a simple meal for them both. Having a cup of tea to help stave his nerves, Artorias took a seat on one of the chairs in their living space. A few sips of tea, he finally started his story. ”I once was.. Enrolled in a prestigious magi academy. One that would rival in comparison to Heartless itself even. I’d carried my nobility and family name with honor, but it seemed I wasn’t truly destined to remain there.” His hands held firmly to either side of his tea. ”I held no friends or companions whilst enrolled, often outshining some of the students, possibly even some of the faculty in my field of study. But eventually I caved into being the recipient of bullying. I made enemies fast, and one day a single moment escalated out of control.” His hands started to shake slightly, recalling the incident in his head. Plate and tea cup chattered from this, but he continued to elaborate. ”We got into a fight and.. and…” His hands lost grip of his cup and plate, dropping them to the floor. He didn’t look ok. He looked FAR from ok.

”I.. I need to get out of here. E-excuse me Toni..” Artorias quickly stood. Stepping over his mess, Artorias made a quick B line for the door. ”I-I’ll… I’ll be back I just… I just can’t stay in this room right now. I’m sorry.” Artorias’ voice shook with small cracking tones, hands trembling as they held the doorknob. Making a hasty exit, Artorias headed straight for outside. He needed out of the building, he needed away from the prying eyes of others. He needed personalized isolation. In his haste, he finally decided to check his phone, seeing a message from Lyrit. Of all times for someone to message him. Texting back a hopefully non concerning response, Artorias hoped to convey that he was FINE, but also accept the message from Lyrit.

To Lyrit:
Hello Lyrit. I don’t know what happened yesterday as I was transferred out of Heartless for some time. I am ok. And yes, I can help you with whatever you need but today may be a little booked for me. I can meet up with you tomorrow if you need to talk more.
-Arty

And it's the only Gift

That could ever Cost so much and still be Free

And my only Wish

Is that it finds its Home in the Heart of You & Me

The words Zila spoke to Siegmund were perplexing, if not downright confusing. Scrolling and screens, this foreign object called a ‘dictionary’, each of these decisions of words brought curiosity but also concern to his circuitry. What was the intention of the individual before him? These thoughts were soon lost however as Rigel issued commands, each action overriding any internal thought he was currently processing. Seeing Zila’s reaction was only additive to his curiosity. What could be the cause for all this confusion?

Rigel gave a small introduction, eventually watching Zila raise a finger in halt. She had a lot to process he was sure, so the little ball of fire waited. He’d lingered inside this Golem for so long, he was sure he could wait for another moment or two. When it came time for Zila to ask her questions, Rigel wasn’t surprised by the small barrage she’d procured. She was most likely holding back some of the bigger ones, hoping to maybe not overwhelm them. It was adorable how mortals worked like that. Then again Rigel pondered, wasn’t this individual a Goddess or something? He couldn’t recall. ”Suffice to say my memory on names has nor probably will be that great my dear security guard. I do however know that you’ve helped this poor Golem before when I first became aware of my presence here.” A miniscule smile of bluish purple flame streaked the face. The smile seemed to vanish however as the other questions came into play, the yellow flames called eyes darted away, possibly from shame or from aversion to the situation. ”Yes well, I… hmm… how do I go about explaining this..” There was an awkward pause after he spoke, letting the silence linger about him. ”Truth be told.. I am promptly to blame for your Golem’s disappearance.”

Had Rigel the ability to walk freely on his own, he probably would be pacing the room right now, getting the uneasiness out of his system. ”During that storm your grounds had a while back, Siegmund’s circuitry was able to rekindle my own awareness, as goodness knows how long I’ve been dormant within his core. You see, I am actually the power source, the bloodline if you will, of this Golem. Without me,” The pause was ominous but spoke for Rigel. ”At any rate.. Our own memories and internal thinking are separate, though as Siegmund, as you’ve all called him, learns how to interact with the world, the more of myself shines through him. Or at least that’s the theory anyways..” The yellow flames gazed up towards Zila’s own face. ”But I am straying from the question at hand. My memories are not dictated by the presence of my connection to Siegmund, but his are dictated to my presence in his core. I’d inquired before with you and your staff on our star coordinates and failed to get a feasible answer. So.. I inquired to a higher authority.”

If Zila hadn’t caught on by now, Rigel was sure she’d put two and two together soon. ”We approached the highest ranking individual we could locate, and upon requesting a simple explanation, we were instead mocked, belittled, and separated.” Rigel’s tone seemed to dwindle, as did the size of his overall flame. ”I have no clue as to how long we’ve been separated, nor do I know what atrocities they have done to either of us during that time. I do know that, prior to you finding us, we were within some form of small enclosed room.”

As the two of them were talking, Siegmund was surprisingly glancing about the room, inspecting each and every bit of the security office. The amount of high technical equipment set here was rather intriguing, both primitive yet advanced in comparison to his own design. A hand reached out near the end of Rigel’s answering to their interrogative questions, attempting to grasp the coffee mug left on a desk. The fingers however applied too much pressure, as the ceramic mug shattered, spilling the aromatic liquid onto the counter and floor. Unflinching from his destruction, Siegmund soon turned his body, causing Rigel to lose eyesight of Zila for a moment. The Golem grasped the remaining portion of the mug, only crushing it further into smaller pieces. ”Hey! I was talking to your… friend? I was talking to the security officer there.” Rigel spoke, trying to draw the attention of Siegmund away from the mug. ”Destruction. Mayhem. A one hundred percent destructive rate from these appendages.” The Golem, monotone as he may be, portrayed a somber emphasis behind the robotic exterior. Rigel sighed from his chest cavity. ”It’s alright buddy, these things take time to deviate from. You can’t fully control your constructed purpose right away. That’s why I’ve been here though.. And why I’ll be here until you no longer need me.” talking as if Zila wasn’t in the room with them, Rigel shared what seemed a long carried out history with this Golem.

Eventually Siegmund turned to face Zila again, hearing her just in time for Rigel to ponder over the proposition. ”Yes, perhaps calling in some assistance will be necessary, though I daresay I don’t remember any of their nam..”

”Toni.” Siegmund spoke abruptly.

”I’m sorry what?”

”Toni. Call Toni”

Rather… befuddled by how Siegmund could recall someone’s name, anyone's name for that matter. The ball of flames turned his gaze to Zila, then back to Siegmund, repeating this process for moments. What on Earth had just happened? ”Perhaps.. It is best to call this Toni individual he speaks of…” 

Hmm, so this ‘Rigel’ had retained only some memories, or rather, had been largely dormant and unable to collect much information? It was not terribly unclear! Yet Zila didn’t ask more questions of it, as it was hardly the most questionable thing happening here, was it? ”In that case, allow me to introduce myself! I am Zila Novak, god of Wishes and, as you know, Heartless Security.” Giving a playful half bow, a spark of interest was alight in the woman’s pale green eyes. ”Well, I suppose goddess of Wishes, hmm?”

Being security and all that, it would be important to understand what exactly had happened to these two. It was a question that caused the golem’s fiery core to ‘look’ away and pause, immediately making Zila understand ‘Rigel’ had had something to do with it before he actually started to explain. ”Well, to answer your question of time, it has been a month since that storm! Trying to learn anything about where here is, is… well, probably pretty pointless.” The goddess hummed, shaking her head and shrugging.

Living power source, separate from Siegmund, but also whose personality would ‘shine through’ the golem the more he lived and became part of the world? The goddess supposed they had such a mutualistic relationship, they were practically the same being after a time. Pale green’s followed Siegmund’s movement, a small frown forming once more on Zila’s lips. The Siegmund she’d talked to every night in the bar was just… gone… because he’d made the ever to intelligent decision to seek out Vlad for information. It was… frustrating. The golem was not very good at believing, or Zila would have taken offense. As it stood now, there was nothing to be done and no one to blame.

Such were her thoughts as the two shared their own little moment. Because the golem couldn’t believe in her, she spoke out loud, supposing she should get someone else to help about now. Blinking, the goddess tilted her head slightly when Siegmund requested Toni. Maybe the golem hadn’t completely died, replaced by a new version of himself. ”An interesting choice over your own roommate, but I hardly know everything about you!” The goddess boomed, taking her mobile device off her wrist, unfurling it to be flat so that she could snap a quick picture of the golem.

Text to Toni:

Hello, this is Zila, head of security. Are you able to come to the Security Office? I found someone in the bar this morning, and he’s rather out of sorts! He is, however, requesting you.

(attached is a picture of Siegmund and Rigel standing in the security office)

”Message sent, hopefully we’ll hear back from her soon!” Zila was, after all, unaware these two had had a falling out and was unaware that Toni might not have any interest in seeing Siegmund. ”While we wait, might I ask exactly why you are so desperate to know the star coordinates? Do you imagine it would amount to anything?” The goddess asked of Rigel, wondering if the core didn’t realize that there was absolutely no way out of there except for the ones advertised by the school. 

A simple Path, The road less Traveled
Pick up your Map, Lay down your Gavel
When all is Said and done
Only ℒove is on

It was all just words. Miserable, filthy, disgusting words that Artorias needed to say. If he could only get the story out to Toni, he’d probably be in a better mood. If he’d gotten the words out and explained to Toni why he was so paranoid, why he was such a mess.. Artorias sighed. He knew he needed professional help, but what could this school offer that he hadn’t already done? There was no repair spell for a broken mind, nor one that could mend his trauma short of memory wipe. Perhaps it was best if he vanished from the school. Perhaps he needed to be alone.. Forever.

A light chime in his pocket came just as a hand graced the outside door. The hand lingered just inches from the handle, eventually pushing open the door during his escape. The fresh air helped stave his nerves, though his hand lingered into his pocket. Withdrawing the cell phone inside, eyes stared down into the message from a recently left behind Toni. Reading the message made Artorias stop in his tracks, tears coming to his eyes with a single sniffle. Toni was understanding. Taking his time to type out a message, he responded to her warm thoughts before stashing the device back in its home. He would have to thank her later when he could calm down.
To Toni:
Toni, I appreciate your kind words and understanding. It’s a psychological phenomenon that is hindering my ability to express my past and for that I apologize. Your friendship is truly wonderful and I cannot imagine what I’d do without you here. Give me some time and I will open up further about this, is just hard to speak once I’m worked up.
~Arty


The Terramancer wandered into the woods surrounding Heartless, hoping to both isolate his presence and to find a moment for tranquility. This action alone would have sufficed if a newly formatted letter hadn’t materialized into his hands. Taking a seat upon a rather barren stump, Artorias unearthed the secrets inside this message, a sinking feeling dropping into his stomach at the message. He’d been sent to a new room, no longer sharing a living space with Toni, his now possibly best friend. He’d walked out on her in such a fashion, and now the school was punishing him for not telling her the truth. Balling a fist, Artorias wondered if he could reconcile, possibly speak to the headmaster about a plausible reswap of rooms. That was.. Until he saw a secondary message arrive from Toni. His heart sank, thinking how they wouldn’t be able to have late night conversations about experiments anymore. Using his phone once more, he sent another message for her to mule over, stashing it away. Perhaps he truly needed to clear his head right now.
To Toni:
How dare the school separate us. I suppose getting upset over it in such a heated fashion will do neither of us any good, though I will miss our late night conversations. I have a proposition though; we should find a location and start a project together. I need something to keep my mind occupied, and it would be an excellent reason for neither of us to avoid. I don’t expect a response immediately about this, but I hope to hear from you soon.
-Arty  

Doubt drives this Thirst and Pain drives this Hunger
But don't let the Strife that drives your Life tare you Asunder
When all is Said and done
Only ℒove is on
Finally alone, Artorias found himself isolated in the forest now surrounding the school. It was interesting to note to his mental state just how alone he could make himself in such a school. He could be all alone out here, yet still feel the ever gazing presence of the school board watching over him. The unsettling nerve tingled in his spine over this thought, more so brought on by his elevated paranoia. He needed distractions, he needed.. Someone. Plopping his behind on a stump, Artorias rattled his brain for things to drown out his fears. Perhaps experimentation would help. Taking in a slow breath, Artorias attempted to calm his mind.

Hours went by as the small clearing Artorias had settled down at no longer had room. Numerous crystalline statues riddled the clearing of all shapes and sizes. Each one varying in design or detail, some were amalgamous forms of the human body, others were of ornate detailed creatures, and some were just basic shapes. With each design he’d created, Artorias let them fall from his presence, scattered across the grass and dirt before him. Sculpture building helped ease his mind, and got a much needed release of mana from him. Working on a final piece for the growing pile, his focus was heavily creating a lifelike hand. Letting the fingers slowly curl, Artorias found himself wishing they would just.. Move freely. To see one of his motionless statues animate to life was a desire. Tossing the hand away from his location, Artorias sighed. Perhaps this wasn’t as therapeutic as he was hoping. 

And it's the only Gift

That could ever Cost so much and still be Free

And my only Wish

Is that it finds its Home in the Heart of You & Me

Siegmund’s head cocked to one side as Zila introduced herself, lips moving to sound out the syllables. ”Zi...la.” Siegmund’s words were slow and pronounced, as if burning the words into his memory core. Well met Zila Novak, God of Wishes.” Rigel’s own voice was well versed, as if a smile came along with the words. As Zila notioned to the term goddess instead, Rigel only remarked with ”Celestial bodies and those of extraplanar existence know no genders. We, or they, simply exist.” The cheery chime to his tone elevated his optimism at the situation. Things were going to be okay.. Right? They were in good hands with Zila. Perhaps sticking around her presence meant they could get answers.

At the notion of time, Rigel let out a sigh. ”A whole month? Me almighty I’m sorry for this dear Golem, er.. Siegmund.” A metaphorical hand reached out to pat the inner lining of Siegmund. ”I know we’ve been shut down for longer but still.. I cannot feel anything but shame for having done this to you and us.” Siegmund however showed little response to these apologetic words, remaining stoic and quiet as ever.

The duo listened and watched as Zila took their picture, sending it off to the indicated Toni Siegmund had mentioned. Perhaps she could repair what had been lost in their separation? Rigel had considered what would be the results of such an event, but the outcomes were impossible to predict. Anything could happen, or possibly nothing could happen. In the meantime, Zila inquired as to why Rigel had been so persistent on the star coordinates. As if puffing out his cheeks in mild annoyance, Rigel spoke with a huff. ”Well, can’t you tell by my brilliant elegance? I’m a star Zila, God of Wishes. More precisely, I am the very embodiment of a planet that orbits my star.” Letting his annoyance subside, Rigel seemed to rotate inside the chest opening of Siegmund, gazing off in the distance. ”I’ve been… separated from my own body, my own planet for goodness sake. My planet and subsequently my body.. Must be dying without my presence.” His eyes turned to face Zila again, the tone emanating from him taking a serious tone. ”I cannot simply stand by idly while the denizens of my world perish from my absence. Surely you as a God would worry for your followers?” Rigel was not aware of Rigel’s personal past or current status of followers, but as a God she would understand his plight right?

If Zila informed Rigel and Siegmund of the message, they would understand, or at least Rigel would, on needing to tend to their own personal agendas before assisting them. ”Well, it seems we have some time before any kind of ‘assistance’ can be provided. I best go back into hiding I suppose.” Rigel looked to the destroyed plating on the ground, looking up at Siegmund with concern. ”You didn’t have to completely destroy it you know..” the annoyed tone was resonant with the ball of fire. ”Siegmund. Acquire shirt.” Immediately the Golem stood at attention, reaching down to the tattered remains of their former shirt and draped them over his shoulders. ”Not… exactly what I had in mind Siegmund but..” as he was complaining about it however, the school shifted the material, repairing the shirt and concealing Rigel behind the fabric. ”Excellent! I think this will do for a fine aversion from people inquiring on a gaping hole.” Though muffled, Rigel’s voice was easier to hear in comparison to before.

Eventually Zila received a message and was going to depart from the Golem. This was an opportune moment for them to mingle with other faculty members! But as they heard Zila didn’t want Siegmund attending a wedding for a cherished student, Rigel understood. Perhaps an amnesiac graboid of a Golem wasn’t the best party guest to crash a wedding with. Nevertheless Zila gave them instructions to report to a workshop room and await Toni’s arrival. Siegmund, being the Golem he was, followed the orders to a T and made his way out the door…. Literally walking through the door without opening it. A muffled ”Sorry!” could be heard from Rigel upon their departure, but they were off!

Nearly to the workshop, or at least what Rigel considered to be near the workshop, the duo stopped via a command given by Rigel himself. ”Stop. I think we should go explore a bit whilst we wait for help.” His proposition went unanswered, as Rigel sighed. Having a one sided conversation was always annoying. ”Come. Let’s go explore, perhaps we can find some people outside!” Rigel commanded with confidence, the duo turning pace and heading for the exit. The shirt they wore unfortunately was releasing some smoke from the slits, namely around the buttons themselves. Who knew how long this piece of torso attire would last with an excited flame just inches away from it? 

”That’s true! Though I have to say I certainly have a preferred form!” Zila boomed back to the other ‘celestial body’, although the current goddess still didn’t have any idea what Rigel was. Not that she had to wait terribly long for an answer, as her question about needing to know the star coordinates prompted the flame to… pout? Rigel claimed to be the embodiment of a planet. Zila had never sensed him as a god though, leaving the woman to frown slightly in thought at the snappy flame.

”If you very much wish to get back to your people and ensure their safety, you should be focusing on finding love! Believe me, even as celestial beings and gods, there will be no defeating the barrier otherwise. Spending all your time worrying about where you are won’t help at all if you can’t leave here!

As for myself, the worlds from which I have come have progressed beyond the belief in the simple magics of life. They turned strictly to science and logic and forgot entirely about childlike wonder…” With a soft sigh, Zila bounced a finger against her bicep and looked off to the side, shaking her head before looking back to Rigel.

”I have not believers to return to. Maybe a few now whom have left this place! Still, they are safer with me in here, as there are other gods who would not wish to see me rise back to power. Some being rather thrive on misery…”

She hoped to be strong enough to fight back by the time she left Heartless, but she also took the job of keeping the students safe seriously, so she couldn’t dedicate all her time to trying to make devout followers. Blinking, pale greens turned to her wrist device, noting a reply from Toni which drew a chuckle from the goddess.

Text to Toni:

Thank you for your future assistance! He seems to have been hard reset due to a run in with the headmaster, but the chest plate is the only physical damage. I would very much like to tell him to stop breaking shit, but he seems very adamant!

”Toni will be on her way soon, ah, wait-“ Another text. Ah, it seemed her paladin needed her sooner rather than later. ”Actually, it appears I have a wedding to attend!” Rigel seemed interest in the event but it was a HARD no from Zila to have a childlike Golem that kept breaking everything around a couples ‘perfect day’.

Text to Toni:

I actually am not able to stay in the office, as you were going to your workshop anyhow, I shall send the Golem to meet you there. If you have issues with him later, please alert me!

Oh, it looked like Siegmund had gotten ‘dressed’. The goddess only puffed out a sigh at the sight, a slight twinge in her chest of frustration… Not so much at these two so much at the loss of Siegmund. ”Siegmund, make your way to the entrance of the Workshop for repairs. It is here.” Zila turned to one of the monitors and pulled up a made, allowing the golem to see where they were versus where the workshop was. ”Do NOT touch any students or faculty.” She further commanded, not wanting to have to rush out of the wedding to deal with that kind of happening.

-------------------------------------------------------

The wedding had been a lovely event! The goddess was able to return to the form she’d entered the school with originally after calling in some favors and receiving a couple of offerings, but it was very temporary. Zilar only had enough time to see out the Ceremony and a small bit of the Reception. He’d laughed heartily at Jacob’s surprise to see him, the wish god acknowledging that it was Ostrava’s wish to have him here, but that he couldn’t easily hold this form for a long time without having a much larger base of followers.

After the Ceremony, Zilar watched the speeches and dances at the reception. He spoke with Ostrava in congratulations, ruffling the boys hair and telling Hariki to take care of him, in jest, giving the couple a playful wink as he finished up his goodbyes to them.

-------------------------------------------------------

By the time the bell rang, Zilar had returned to Zila, and had left the dwindling reception to get back to patrolling. The goddess was already missing her preferred form but with a puff, knew there was nothing to be done about it right now, not to mention it was hardly a main concern! She decided to check in with others as she made her way towards the cafeteria.

Text to Kiyato:

Noticed anything strange around? Hopefully there have been no more people wondering around with amnesia!

Text to Abyssia:

How are you doing this evening?

Just as the goddess finished sending the texts, she received an odd one from the school. ”What is this now?” She grumbled, seeing only the words, ‘Find us and be rewarded.’. After yesterday, she could only hope the school wasn’t pulling anymore dangerous stunts.

Wandering into the cafeteria, pale green eyes flickered over it, thinking how odd it was that it was all just… back to normal after it had been the ‘check in’ and ‘medical’ point last night. The school DID work fast. She could see students checking their phones, no doubt having received the same text. 

 "There she is! Get her!"

The girl 'tsk'-ed as she looked back, the shadows of the thugs looming closer to where she was in the dim alleyway light. Without missing a beat, she continued down the rundown alley, coming to an exit. Briefly, she let her gaze take in her surroundings. Dark clouds took up the sky as it always did, buildings destroyed by acid rain and weathering littering the dead land as the rubble and cracked dirt spread farther than what the eyes could see. The world had turned into a giant wasteland, and though she knew not of the gods that ruled this foreign land, she knew it was the same situation in Nihon, and she knew the situation there was caused by the Kami. It was possible, then, that the same could be said for this land.

The humans have angered the divines.

"Oi, where did she go?!"

"She must have gone this way!"

Their voices were growing clearer. She needed somewhere to hide, and she needed it now. The closest to her was a small, rundown building, obviously on the verge of collapsing. They wouldn't suspect to find her here, surely. As she entered the door, she looked back one more time to make sure they haven't seen her, but the sudden shift of energy in the air stopped her. As she fully stepped through and looked forward, she found she wasn't in a ruined building, but what seemed to be... an outside area. She looked back once more, finding the door she went through was now gone, replaced with what felt like a powerful barrier.

"This is..." Before she could articulate her thoughts, the sound of paper drew her attention back. A letter floated patiently in front of her, as if waiting for her to pick it out of the air. As she did so, she felt a weight that did not match the appearance of the letter. Opening it in curiosity, she found a box nested within. How curious. She held the box in one hand as she took the letter in the other, reading it intently. Her expression didn't change even as she read through the whole thing. "So... this is an entirely different dimension." She mumbled to herself, lifting her eyes from the paper. While she knew of alternate dimensions and worlds that resided in their own spaces, she had never left her own dimension until today. The magic in this dimension was powerful, powerful enough to encapsulate this large area in a barrier and be able to transport what she assumed were people from various dimensions in this one place. And the only way out was getting married?

It should've felt absurd to her, but she didn't find it all that senseless. She felt a tinge of regret as she re-read the letter, coming across the section about being unable to contact anyone outside the barrier, the faces of her guardian, the younger priestesses, the lightning kami, ad the fortune teller clear in her memories. If even such powerful beings wouldn't be able to get through this barrier... "I wouldn't be able to do anything against this anyway." She decided, shaking her head as she took the school's map out. Quite a diverse selection of places they had here. She'd at least spend most of her afternoon memorizing this place. With that, she made her way toward the distinct castle in the distance.

As she walked, she came upon quite the absurd scene, even by her standards. It wasn't that hard to notice a man walking around when smoke emitted from him and glimpses of fire peeked out. Hana stared for a moment, openly bewildered by what she was seeing. One thing's for sure, he was definitely not a human, if the metal parts were any indication. He seemed similar to the cyborg constructs she knew of from her own world. The only difference is that he felt alive to her, or perhaps something was. The ringing sound of life wasn't immediately apparent, but she could sense it. Finally deciding to humor her curiosity, she approached the burning man. "Excuse me? That smoke... Do you need any assistance?" Despite the seemingly cold tone of her voice, Hana was genuinely curious if he did need help. Still, she kept a good distance away from the man, as she did with most people. 

”Siegmund! You need to be careful with things!” The scolding voice of Rigel resonated within the Golem, but still came out as a slightly muffled sound from his chest cavity. His words came only moments after a tree had been knocked over, the residing Golem of Heartless having ‘accidentally’ pushing it over with a single hand. The toppled tree had soon rematerialized back into its rightful place. Siegmund had been informed to not touch anything living, but with a small debate with Rigel after those words, the concept of ‘living’ and ‘non-living’ seemed rather skewed. Was this tree actually living or was it a magically conjured object placed here? Was water considered a living thing since it contained forms of life within it? Was the air considered a living thing, and if so how was Siegmund to avoid contact if it was ever present? These contradictory issues provided much needed data for Siegmund to analyze if he was ever to co operate here in Heartless.

The duo hadn’t even noticed the residual smoke billowing from slits or button holes in their shirt until a voice chimed in nearby. Turning to witness who was there, Siegmund’s nearly fiery, emotionless gaze stared back at Hana, a foreign face to any he’d seen recently. Her words came off just as his own often were, causing the Golem’s head to tilt to a side. ”Smoke? Assistance?” He sounded out each syllable, as if copying and reverberating the words within his own processors. ”Siegmund, she’s inquiring if you are in any danger, but we aren’t in any danger. This attire shouldn’t burn up I don’t think.” Rigel’s voice was barely a whisper from his body, the clothing and design of his Golem vessel hindering the verbal transition out to Hana’s location. Maybe if she had keen hearing, she could hear his muffled words but who was to say? ”Internal verbal communicator states ‘assistance’ is not required, protocol states to inform requestee that we are working at full capacity functionality.” Whether his words would be heard on deaf ears or not was hard to say. They weren’t doing a good job of being subtle however.

”Alright yah big galute, we should probably escort this.. Girl.. to the school before maybe finding Zi… Zul…. Uh…” Finding himself at a loss of Zila’s name, Rigel was trying to decipher these notations. Siegmund however seemed to have something else on his mind. ”Organic one, a question if you are so inclined to ‘assist’.” This sudden personal inquiry brought a rather perplexed buildup from Rigel, who was about to intervene, but Siegmund cut him short. ”What makes a living thing truly alive? Calculations indicate it require molecular formations of specific design, however each object around here has identical atoms formed together to make various objects.” The question was… deep. Something Rigel wasn’t sure Siegmund would be capable of at this time or manner. ”A followup inquiry would be… am I alive? Are you alive?”

”Siegmund.. I don’t think she will have the answers, she just met yo..”

”Am. I. Alive.” The Golem articulated his point and question, which to Hana might seem just him repeating himself, but to Rigel, his concerns grew. What had happened to the Golem he inhabits? 

 It seemed like the man hadn't even noticed the current state he was in. Hana watched as the golem tilted his left, sounding out the syllables in each word in a way akin to that of a learning child. The gaze staring back at her was quite similar to her own, unperturbed and indifferent. Though it was barely a whisper, she could hear something beneath his apparel. Buzzing... no, murmuring? It was far too quiet for her to distinguish, but she knew there was something there. She decided not to press on that, knowing how hypocritical it would be if she had done so when she herself would not divulge any kind of information about herself to any stranger.

Hana raised an eyebrow at the man's words. Internal verbal communicator... He was getting orders from something inside of him? It wasn't that surprising, but it did somewhat validate what she was thinking a while ago. Still, she merely nodded. "Understood. The smoke is certainly a cause for worry, but if you claim to be alright, then I shall not interfere." It seemed he could his own, anyway, so she wasn't too worried for him. As she was about to say her farewells, however, the man stopped her with a sudden inquiry. She stared for a moment before remaining in place, letting the golem continue with what he wanted to say.

As the question was brought up, it certainly piqued her interest. Quite a deep question coming from him, something that shouldn't be "alive" without the proper technology or, perhaps, magic in his case. Hana took a moment to recollect, truly think about what she should say. A normal person would probably answer this with ease, but for her, she was hard-pressed to find a suitable answer after "living" for so long.

What does it mean to be alive?

She searched the golem's inexpressive face. "Being truly alive... Yes. What truly would count as being alive would be our memories and our emotions. These are what make us unique from one another, despite having the same build, the same organic materials. Even if you don't have blood and flesh flowing in you, you can say that the experiences you've gone through constitutes to you being alive. What makes you happy, sad... What keeps you going despite the adversaries we face. Even just that one, small moment of happiness makes a difference." As she spoke, it almost seemed like she let her guard down a little, lost in her own memories. And yet, her eyes were nothing more than empty as she answered his next question.

"You are not alive." She didn't care for who could hear or what she'd suffer for saying this point-blank, but he asked for the truth, and she'll give him what she believes is the truth. "I know not of your circumstances, but the dullness in your eyes and your tone leads me to believe that you are nothing more but a walking husk." She answered. As she did so, his words clung to her mind incessantly. Are you alive? If memories and emotions represented living, then surely you could assume she is alive. Yet the only emotion she even fully knew anymore was anger, and she had long since abandoned her memories, even if they still lived and persisted within her.

"To answer your inquiry, you are not alive. And... to speak for myself, I am not truly alive either. Does that answer all of your questions?" She asked, tilting her head lightly to the side as she waited. 

This girl was… intriguing. The curiosity processor inside Siegmund’s skull cavity had started to activate, flaring into full comprehensive mode over her presence, her stature, and most importantly her responses. The rather exterior, cold responses reminded Siegmund of what his processors often used, an easier tone to mimic or relate to. ”The concern is.. Appreciated. I shall assess your recordings into the appropriate folder.” There were numerous folders data based inside that cranium of his, each one filled with.. Nearly pointless information at the current standpoint. Perhaps as time progressed he could refill them with thought filled memories… or more random junk.

Having provided a question for Hana to contemplate over, Siegmund waited in anticipation. Was this sensation known as being anxious? To be in a constant status of uneasiness that could result in positive or negative reactions? The whole concept of this euphoric sensory overloads was intriguing, perhaps Siegmund would seek out further reasons to be anxious. What did others do to be anxious?

As his mental processors were running at a pace of four point three seven milliseconds a gigabyte, Hana had finally spoken up again, giving her answers in a rather, contemplative way. She spoke of being alive as a notion of memories and emotions, being able to distinguish oneself solely on those factors was a rather insightful way to approach things. Rigel was silent within Siegmund’s chest, her words reaching him with a quiet sigh. Siegmund… had no memories to go off of anymore. He was truly a machine through and through now, a vessel solely for keeping Rigel contained more than likely. Was such an existence truly okay for this Planetary being to allow? If anything, Rigel felt guilt for their situation. From what he understood before confronting Vlad, Siegmund here had made a name for himself among the rest of Heartless. He’d garnished friends, found those who appreciated him, and was educating the students in a timely manner. Perhaps Rigel could do something for Siegmund…

The blatant response from Hana withdrew Rigel from his own inner thoughts to her presence, his fiery face trying to peak through the gaps in the shirt fabric. How Dare she say he was just a walking husk! ”Hey! You come and say that to me face to face you little varmint!” Rigel shouted, but the actual volume of sound was heavily muffled, only dark puffs of smoke escaping in his anger. Though she spoke volumes of truth, Rigel was not some mechanical man with no emotions. Doing what he could to initiate an advancement of Siegmund towards Hana, Rigel noticed his control was rather.. Hindered in this moment. Was Siegmund suppressing his control over the reigns? ”Siegmund...are you oka..?” ”Thank you for your honesty.” The cold words came as quickly as her answer had. When inquired about her own status of living, her answer prompted Rigel more than anything to be confused. She was… also not alive? ”Calculations had prompted an educated guess. Results were predicted of a similarity accuracy by seventy nine point three four percent. I thank you for being involved in a theoretical study.” Siegmund placed a hand to his chest, offering up a bow to Hana.

As they were finishing up their inquiries, a message flashed across the visual screen of Siegmund’s peripherals, prompting him to notice he had two unread messages. Scrolling over the topic, the name Toni streamed directly into his cranium. ”Toni..” Siegmund spoke calmly, a wavering shift from expressionless tones to… slight disparity echoed in his metal. Was this sorrow? Remorse? It might have gone unnoticed by the other individual, but Rigel caught witness to it. ”Siegmund buddy.. You might need to respond to her messages.” Siegmund blinked for a few milliseconds before turning in place. He began advancing away from Hana before stopping, head rotating to stare at her from an angle. ”A proposal for current activity. Do you wish to come along with us? We are heading for maintenance repair and studies show an increase of contentment increases in groups of three by fourteen percent.” If Hana would agree to coming with, Siegmund would mostly walk in silence, trekking their way back towards the workshop they were initially assigned to head for. Their path was the quickest route there, eventually spotting Toni on the horizon in the distance. Slowly closing the gap, Siegmund stood at attention before Toni. ”Greetings Toni. Current diagnostic of personal construction states an eighty seven point four percent integrity check. Core functions are working in optimal efficiency. Internal verbal communicator states I should have my memory core inspected for missing data.” Siegmund blinked several times, head slowly tilting to a side. ”Protocols have alerted me of the following message: I’ve missed you Toni.” 

 It was quite jarring, how different this man was compared to the people she interacted with in the past. It was just like she said, really. The golem was like an empty husk, void of the emotions and logic that made humans so invariably complex and unpredictable. It was the only thing she had on her mind as she watched for his reactions, moments before he talked again, thanking her for her honesty. Hana simply bowed back to the man, expression a bit more relaxed but still unemotional. She was, once again, thinking of leaving him alone to proceed with her own plans, but stopped curiously as he uttered a single word, no, a name. Toni. She watched the individual seemingly staring at nowhere in particular before suddenly advancing, head rotating to her direction as he invited her to come along. The whole thing was a bit jarring, but the priestess merely nodded. Why not? It wasn't like she had much to do anyway. "I don't see the problem in that. Sure."

Without another word, they proceeded to their destination. Hana followed the male a few steps away, coming to a slow realization that they never introduced themselves. It was... a bit too late for it, though. As they came into view of their destination, they had met with two other females, one of which seemed to be the Toni he mentioned a while back. 'A human... The other one, I'm not so sure...' Hana's eyes subtly narrowed for a moment before returning to normal, hands folded neatly in front of her while standing a bit away from the trio. She merely observed them, for the sake of minimizing contact. Even though she was taught to be so forgiving of others, she just couldn't find it in her to accept that not all humans are horrible like the ones she had encountered in all her centuries of living.

She was surprised, then, by Toni's action of kindness when the female slid the chair in her direction. Kindness being debatable, however, as she probably didn't think too much of what she just did for Hana. Hana blinked for a second in wide-eyed confusion before forcing herself to return to a more neutral face. "...Thank you." She murmured, crossing her legs and observing the ensuing scene in silence. She didn't make any move to start a conversation with anyone in the room, though she would at least have the courtesy to answer any questions made by any of them as long as it wasn't too personal. She made mental notes of her own as she listened to their conversations. It seemed like the man, Siegmund as she now knows, had known the two females before his system had reset.

She glanced over at a TV nearby as a face appeared, a slight crackling filling the room. AI? It seemed like it responded to Toni, and judging by how deftly she worked with Seigmund's parts, Toni was probably well-versed in things like this. How impressive, for someone seemingly as young as her, which Hana speculated would be around 20 years old, maybe younger.

She was pulled out of her thoughts as a monitor was suddenly right in her face, showing two different mappings of something. Hana squinted as she read the notes, finding the blueprints to be scans of Siegmund's cranium before and after the system reset they were talking about. She leaned back in her seat, sighing to herself. "While I don't know everything about what happened, the difference between these two scans is quite evident. ...What I can say is that I could feel a faint life source in him when I met him a while ago. I don't know if that will help you at all, but I figure it was worth mentioning."

She stood up, readjusting the hood of her capelet/scarf, glancing at all three in the room. "I don't have much more to offer as help, so I'll be getting out of your way. Well then..." Without another word, she left the workshop to leave the three to their work. Without a destination in mind, she decided to find her dorm room first, where her fiance supposedly is. Except... it seemed like whoever it was couldn't be found anywhere at all. Still, it was quite a nice space, completely different from the decrepit buildings she used to stay in just to survive for the night. "Well, I'll at least freshen up then..." She walked to the bedroom, where she found a change of clothes, among other luxuries that were long lost in her old dimension. Everything felt so surreal after everything she had to go through, but she tried not to pay too much attention to it as she brushed her hair, staring long and hard at herself in the mirror.

'...I wonder... how they are doing...'

Her shoulders slumped, a frown appearing on her face. Thinking about what happened to her made her feel so weak and insignificant. She placed a hand on her chest, right where her heart and the feather were. She could release her powers at any moment and become much more powerful again, but... Was she even worthy of it now? Powers bestowed by the Kami, the divine beings she had abandoned. She sighed again. The enclosed space made her thoughts all the more suffocating. "I need to get out of here..."

She left the dorms, letting her feet take her anywhere. The sun was only starting to set when she settled to sit somewhere in the vast forest of the school. Again, it was quite a surprise to find so much life and greenery here after living for years in a desert wasteland, plagued with acid rain and dried blood on the ground. She took her time, sitting beneath the trees and feeling the grass brush against her skin. It felt... nice. She hadn't ever felt such peace in such a long time, and it helped her meditate and deposit her thoughts deep within her mind where she could easily forget them. She watched the sunset and the moon come and go, unable to really sleep and not really feeling the desire to return to her dorm room and meet the person she was supposed to fall in love with. That could wait for later, at least.

The next day had come, and Hana decided she should at least explore the school a bit more. She walked through the halls, mind wandering endlessly. She had felt the school-issued phone vibrate sometime during the rise of the sun, but she had yet to read it and find out what was happening today. 

Seeing as Hana was coming along, a small spark of enjoyment resonated in Siegmund. Having company was.. Contentful. Though they had walked in silence it mattered not, as there was no pressing need to communicate. The instant Siegmund saw Toni, he’d given his diagnosis as commanded and then spoke some of his own personal agenda messages. Her color flooding to her face in response prompted no response from Siegmund, but internally Rigel was smiling. Seemed this Golem had a soft spot for someone. As Toni inquired on the internal communicator, Rigel smirked inside. ”Oh I can’t wait to meet this person face to face..” His words went muffled inside, but Siegmund tilted his head. ”Incorrect. The same system is still active, however the core source of power states it will explain itself when the time comes.” Such a cryptic message from a rather literal Golem, but Rigel’s commands were absolute…. Until overwritten that is.

As Toni began to remove his shirt, Siegmund was much like a statue, letting her do her work. As clothing was removed and the core centerpiece was exposed, the flickering blue ball of flame danced freely on its own accord. Rigel had concealed his eyes and mouth, letting Toni do her work for a while. He could sense all the nanites flowing around him, trying to repair any broken parts or procedures. Eventually though, Rigel decided it was time to react. Glowing yellow flames of eyes sprouted on the ball of blue fire, before hand like appendages of fire grasped both of Toni’s glove covered arms that were inside Siegmund’s chest. ”You know on most planets, it’s considered rather impolite to enter someone’s abode without consent but in your case,” Rigel’s eyes looked up to Toni’s face. ”I’ll make an exception.” A wink of his fiery eye as a white smile spread across him.

Depending on her reaction, Rigel would either lightly chuckle or shrug, making no effort to hold Toni in her place if she withdrew. ”So.. You must be the Toni gal this hulking Oaf is still able to remember. I must say he seems to have a deep connection to your name.” little fiery arms crossed in front of him, a yellow fire of a smirk across the facial location. ”He must have gone through some hefty steps to prevent your erasing.” Rigel’s tone was playful, as if giving a slight tease to Toni’s work. When Toni began inquiring about how her name was still in accordance to his reset, Rigel shrugged. Hana even had chimed in with some intel, however her words seemed to offer little to what they were searching for. It wasn’t until Siegmund spoke himself that things were clarified. ”Toni’s file and information was placed into Protect at all costs folder, along with visual imagery. Files in said folder are kept as first priority over language understanding, sociological recognition, and breathing.” Well, considering breathing wasn’t a necessary action.. As Gennie asked if Siegmund remembered her however, his head tilted to a side. ”I… do not recall your name.” ”My condolences to you young lady, but when he was reset, Siegmund lost much of his.. Hell he lost nearly everything! It’s quite astounding that he was able to override a preset protocol placed into his original design..”

Hana eventually left, a solitary wave of Siegmund’s hand gestured towards her as she left. His core processors would urge him to seek her out again for questioning on life and existence again. Rigel however went back to being a mild nuisance for Toni as she worked on Siegmund, but ultimately wouldn’t interfere. Siegmund would provide what information he could, analyzing his own presence and the like. The Golem and power source duo would await some instructions regarding the evening, but ultimately would take off as the night grew dark. Rigel was curious about the location and as they were growing sleepy he wanted to explore. His instructions to Toni were to ‘Contact them if she needed them again’ but for now he wanted to roam free.

The night transitioned into dawn as the duo wandered the school grounds, exploring every little nook and cranny they could uncover. As the suns rays were just beginning to stream through the brush overhead, the duo found themselves near the barrier edge, Siegmund staring at a cluster of trees and bushes. ”Alright Siegmund, I’m pretty sure that’s a tree.. And so is that.” the Golem’s eyes shifted from the giant douglas fir to the small bush next to it. ”And since they are both trees they both have bark…. Right?” Siegmund of course was silent during all of this. ”The stuff we are standing on is just baby trees, as their leaves sprout out of the ground first before the bark.” Whether or not any of this was really the right answers or not didn’t really matter to Rigel. He was always right.. Right?

”Then again… maybe we need to find someone else to point out the world.” Rigel contemplated their efforts, his fiery eyes inspecting the several burned hand marks on the trees around them. Maybe trees weren’t the best thing to start with for physical connection with.