Machinae mundi

xx. live again

HE AWOKE SOMETIME LATER FEELING MUCH MORE REFRESHED.

Mori was lying on the softest bed he'd ever slept in. Argent sat on the chair next to him. He smiled when Mori looked up at him.

"It's good to see you," Argent said. "How are you feeling?"

"Fine, actually," Mori said. He couldn't explain why he was relieved to see Argent after everything he'd done. But seeing him here was like a weight lifted from his chest.

The pain in his leg had gone. He gave it an experimental flex under the cover and found he could move it fine.

Argent nodded. "Junot fixed your leg. I explained what happened, and I think we're on better terms now." Argent chuckled. "It seems people only try to kill me when you're around. For such a scrawny little guy, you're a magnet for trouble."

"I'm not trying to be," Mori said. What he'd give for a stress-free, peaceful day at this point. "How did you get here?"

Argent shrugged. "I don't think Ren thought too hard about where she was sending us," he said. "I guess under the circumstances, there wasn't much time to think it through."

"Argent told me about what happened to you guys on Aurelios," Junot said, coming in through the door. She passed a bowl to Mori: a kind of thick gruel, mixed in with leaves and diced vegetables. "We've been trying to recreate that timepiece all night to try and get back."

Mori sipped the gruel. "It's too late," he said. "Ren's under Suria's control now. They nearly destroyed Mesembria."

Junot and Argent exchanged glances.

"So Terza managed to stop them?" Argent said.

Mori shook his head. "Not really. We just stalled it, for a bit. I've no idea where to go from here."

He sighed. It was easier when Ren was around. She always seemed to know exactly what to do, and how to do it.

"I'm sorta surprised Terza didn't try and kill you," Junot said.

"She did call me a rat," Mori said.

Argent smiled. "She must have been in a good mood. She hates all the lower system clockmakers."

Junot sat up and folded her arms. "It's your fault. All the stuff Ren and Bashko did ruined our reputation." She glanced at Mori and lowered her voice. "Terza was the one who told me to kill you. That's why I attacked you the first time. She said the clockmaker from Arkos destroyed Elete, and that they'd do it again if they came here. So I just thought —" She looked at her hands. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be," Mori said. He swallowed. "I think Terza was right."

Argent looked at him. "What do you mean?"

"Suria needed Ren to destroy the towers. Which means Ren already knew how to do it herself. Suria said the information on how to destroy towers had been blocked, didn't she? So Ren's probably the only one who knows how to destroy them. Which means that she's the only person who could have destroyed Elete."

"You really think so?" Argent said.

Mori nodded. "It just...it all makes sense. That's why Ren didn't want to tell anyone about Elete. Why she was trying to rebuild a tower. She was trying to hide it from us, so we wouldn't find out."

Argent pressed his fingers together, thinking it over. "But wouldn't that mean Ren also destroyed Arkos?"

"Actually—" A soft, nervous voice sounded from across the room. The three of them looked over and jumped as one. "That was because of me."

The traveller stood at the other corner of the room, clasping her hands together. She gave them a shy smile.

"Hello, Mori," she said. "It's been a while."

Mori backed away. Panic gripped his chest and squeezed until he could barely breathe.

Seeing her again was like the touch of a trigger. Everything hit him at once — the stress of Ren and Suria and Elete and the void...it all crashed into him wave, closing in over his head and pulling him under. For a second, he was back in the tower, the air heavy with the scent of his blood and, and the void's figure, blurred with rage, smashing into his broken leg over and over—

For a moment, he thought he was going to be sick, or pass out.

Argent stepped in front of him. "Listen, I don't think this is a good time."

The traveller raised her hands. "I promise I'm not going to hurt anyone."

"I don't believe you," Mori said. He had to admit, her entire energy was different to before. But he couldn't shake the memory.

Junot looked between them, head tilted. "Isn't that the traveller? There's nothing to worry about, Mori."

Mori shook his head. He knew he was being ridiculous. The girl had barely looked at him and he'd had a meltdown. He scowled, clenching his fists. Get it together.

"What are you doing here?" he said.

"I heard you talking about Ren," the traveller said. "Please don't blame her. Ren was only looking to explore the system, not to cause any harm. She discovered the secret to destroying the towers by accident. We've been trying to restore Elete ever since then. But Suria has been hunting that knowledge for years now. Ren tried to hide it away, so she couldn't access it. But it's too late." 

"And Mori—" She glanced at Mori, her eyes wide and imploring — "about the synchroniser, and what happened in the tower...I'm so sorry. I never wanted to hurt you."

Argent folded his arms. "But...?"

"It's Suria," the traveller whispered. "She found this way to control the other clockmakers. It's based on the technique Bashko used for his timepieces, but stronger. I was trying to help her escape from the void when she used it on me. I've had to do what she's wanted ever since then." She looked down at the ground. "I didn't want to attack you in the tower. But Suria needed you to come to Aurelios. And rebuilding Arkos would interfere with that."

Mori shut his eyes and nodded. Part of him still didn't want to be anywhere near her. But he understood. After all, he'd seen her do the same thing to Ren.

"Why does Suria want to destroy the towers?" Argent asked.

The traveller looked at each of them in turn. 

"Because," she said. "The grand system is going to collapse."