Beachcombing for Iron

The sand was a rich white beneath my feet as I first stepped out of the portal. Beneath it, shards of rock that had been worn down to nothing with the passing of ages and the waves stuck up, amidst grains of sand an unusual obsidian-black; perhaps newly formed from the destruction of the volcano-factory the monster had used to poison this realm.

... My eyes opened and shut several times, getting used to the harsh, unyielding sunlight. I had never truly looked into the sky in this realm - never had a reason to. Despite it being late into the evening when I had left, it was as bright as a summer evening here - no sun nor moon visible in the brittle white sky.

It felt as if I had never left.

Without thinking, I'd unlaced my shoes and cast them onto the beach, my socks not long after as I felt the warm sand against my skin. Picking up the cast-off clothes, I stowed them in my bag - once again pleased to have the spare room. Rolling up my sleeves and stepping into the water, I did nothing but watch the tide, for some time.

No one came to speak to me, nor ask me about my writing, my life - or anything. I was completely and utterly alone.

Perhaps an hour passed before I finally left the low-nestled tide, walking along the empty beach path toward's the tower known as Martin's roost. I suppose it should no longer bear his name - the only remnants of the inventor's presence being the long-since deactivated mechanical sentinels in the tower loft. I paid them a visit, talking out loud as I did so - with no one else to hear my thoughts, my words came naturally and unencumbered. I spoke at length about many things - my worries, my fears, the feelings I had when my parents died; and received nothing in return but the cold and unyielding look in the slightly rusted eyes of the steel hawks.

My fingers trembling, I reached up to touch one. It was motionless. Had no one really been here in so long..? Brushing the rust off as best I could, I cast aside ancient machinery looking for some kind of remote like the one I remembered - but found nothing. Promising them - promsing perhaps no one but myself - that I would return, I climbed down from the loft, to the hanger where the ornithopter still stood. Unlike the birds above, the great machine still seemed as pristine as the day I had found it - and with a surprisingly few cranks of my hand, it's engine tumbled back to life.

I flew for awhile, aimlessly. Perhaps I was looking for the sun that this world seemed to lack. Perhaps I did not know what I was looking for.

Finally - as if the memory stemmed from days ago, and not months - I remembered the location of a certain temple, and found myself surprised at how easily it's location drifted to the forefront of my minds. Even as the ornithopter's fuel began to ease quietly down, I guided it towards the sand-kissed cliff face the temple itself was carved into. The landing was a bit rougher than I recalled, but that was from my lack of practice.

The main temple chamber was as wide and open as I remembered. Not much had changed since last I had came here. No, that was untrue - nothing had changed, or almost nothing. The ornate doors that served as both protection and privacy for whatever was Liryl's inner refuge were open, and the faint sound of electricity against metal could be heard from within. I guess it was expected - why close a door when it was unlikely even an animal would find it's way in? I felt obligated to speak... So I did.

"Liryl..? It's me. I - I was hoping you'd be here, that we could talk?"

My voice echoed around the chamber back towards me, unanswered.

I knew she had been firm that no one was to come into her room before, so I waited - walking around the center of the old temple and admiring the architecture. Where all else in the realm had fallen into disrepair, something - no, someone - had done her best to maintain the grandeur of this place. An isolated memory of the people who had lived in this realm and once called it home... Before the troubles started.

The sound of crackling heat dissipated and went silent. I couldn't help but turn my head to look into the room - I caught a flicker of blond hair and a flash of movement as someone uneasily pulled themselves into the oversized contraption that the priests here had built as home, transport, and safety. Then the doors shut.

Finally, after a few moments, they slid open, Liryl's machine ricketily pulling itself along the pre-ordained path the temple priests - and perhaps she - had once constructed for it. From inside, Liryl stared at me - the brown robe-like garments she wore in as much disrepair as my own. I almost laughed, but for the uncertainty, anger, and confusion fighting in her steel-blue eyes.

Her voice cracked as she spoke, accompanied by the slightly strained sounds of her machine as it aided her speech.

"Why - did you return? You had left... So suddenly. And I was confused as to why you had left. Without telling me. I had felt... You might come back. But then, a long time passed..."

Her words trailed off, and she stared to the side, biting her lip. Neither of us spoke - feeling as if I should do something, I reached into my pockets for the shells I had gathered from the other realm - ah, the realm I came from. Home.

"I hadn't meant to leave without telling you. It was just that everything happened so fast, I - I brought you these. "

As I held out the assorted shells, anger once again flickered across her face.

"You vanish for so long... Only to think that shells and, trinkets? Will make things better? Liryl - I have been alone - for long enough. I do not need such, trivialities, any longer. "

Her fingers tightened around the control of her craft, pulling perhaps too tightly. It spun forward, careening into me and knocking me to the ground - naturally, the shells tumbled from my grasp and a look of concern crossed Liryl's face.

"I - am sorry! I - I had not... "

Shaking my head, I pulled myself to my feet. It was I who should be apologizing - but I was having trouble saying anything at all.

"They are.... Very nice. I'm sure you went - to a lot of trouble, to find them..."

"Liryl."

My eyes closed, perhaps so she couldn't see my tears, and perhaps because I did not want to meet her gaze and all the emotions it stirred in me.

"I am sorry."

"... So, so, sorry."

Falling forward again, this time as the energy left my body and I felt like a puppet whose strings had been cut, I slumped to the floor. Though I could not bring myself to stand once again - somehow it felt better, looking up at her and the ceiling - her eyes inquisitive as she stared down at me, uncertain of what I would say next.

"Never - I never meant to leave so quickly. I'd never meant to leave at all, maybe. Everything happened so quickly, and I felt so lost - when I returned home, I couldn't sleep at all. I've been having nightmares and waking dreams and all the while I've been thinking of you - and trying not to, and avoiding it, because I'm a coward."

Somehow, I managed to keep my gaze locked onto hers as I spoke, despite feeling as if I should be leaving. From where I had fallen onto the floor, the shells around me shone, tiny pinpricks of reflected light against the ambience of her eyes.

"... And the days turned into months and every day I came up with a new excuse. I'm sorry, Liryl."

She remained silent for a few moments, lips pursed as she gathered her thoughts into words.

"Why then - why... Did you return?"

"Why... Did you come back, if you were so frightene... Of me?"

My mouth opened, agape.

"I'm not frightened of you, Liryl - I - "

Perhaps she was crying, now; though she hid it well.

"It would not... Be the first time."

So we stood, looking at each other through tears in the remains of the dead temple. And yet -

"Yet... You came back. Why..?"

There were so many answers to that I could not pick just one. I wanted to talk more - about you, not the history of this place. I wanted to see you smile. I'd been curious if you'd ever been successful fixing the birdman, what you did in your free time, if you worked with other machines -

"I wanted to see you again."

And so the silence grew oppressive against us.

Wordlessly, Liryl wiped her tear-stained cheeks, her freshly self-cut blond hair shaking slightly as she pulled herself from the machine that served as her transport. With strength and patience born of practice, she lowered herself onto my chest - and embraced me tightly.

"... I wanted to see you again, as well."