51. Mad Science or Desperate?

The couple of days,Nights? Micah couldn't really tell except for the clock and his internal sleep cycle, of driving through a slowly flooding forest back to home, to Silver, is quite entertaining for him and Silver's parents, hearing her fun exploits like the fighting bets she rigged and would pretend through in order to reap more rewards, which explains how she managed to buy the car she had. But, they also heard of Silver's struggles, which makes them seem to sag into themselves, after all, some of them may be direct results of her dna being so warped, barely identifying her as the same species as them now, but there is nothing they can do about the past. Micah though understands, doesn't really bat an eye, he and silver having long settled this between them when they were much younger. But, it was hard for them to stomach when they heard the stories behind the days silver showed up at home,covered in bruises and abrasions, and why Micah never stopped her. "What is she so afraid of for her to..." Aideen asks, his voice shaky. Terra, silver's mother, though she is usually well composed, hearing that her daughter willingly got beat half to death regularly, filled her with guilt and sadness,silently crying on her husband's shoulder as she listened to Micah's reply. "Afraid? I have never once seen that flicker in her beautiful ruby eyes. She always said its training, for what, only she seems to know but she always had this look, like staring at an unyielding wall...The reason I never stopped her was, I knew I couldn't, she would just stop bringing me, and worse would happen, at least I got her home, in one piece." He shrugs, though its hard to admit his part in it, he wasn't raised to pass off his responsibility. 'Training? For what?! Not even the Military trains in such a way, why did she choose the beatings to learn?' Widen thinks silently, his eyes darting as thoughts of different scenarios run through his mind, but none seem to fit, but each one makes him more and more pale as he thinks of the weekends at a time she came home daily with blood all over her and bruises covering her face, and the bits of her arms they saw, though they didn't feel like it was best to ask they always wondered what sort of trouble she was on, only to realize now that she went looking for it. The truck falls silent, everyone needing some time to digest their conversation of silver, the soft tune of rock on the radio as micah drives, without a break, through the long drive back to the city of the lost...Home. The few days pass relatively quietly, despite the overcast and pitch black skies, arriving, they can see the entire city lit up like never before, mana conduits lit up and shimmering brightly in the darkness, and lights all throughout the city aglow, though some are broken or in disarray, the city is alight with an unnatural life, the view startling the Micah and silver's parents, making them gasp softly as they see what their daughter's mana is doing to this derelict city. Coming to the gate, just as he is about to navigate through, a shimmering and almost seeming, glitchy version of Silver is trying to flag him down as he enters. Stopping with the window down, he tries to listen, but its as if the Ai is struggling to maintain their position as it talks in a rushed and what seems like a panicked manner. "Que--bzzt--power lo---bzzt--fused----bzzzzzzt----hur---stop---bzzzzzzzt----dying!----" Hearing the fragments of its speech, only to see it blink out of existence mid sentence worried him as he quickly accelerated, racing through a now unrecognizable city, building erecting and collapsing every few seconds all throughout causing obstacles and nearly crashing them on more than one occasion as he drives to the heart of the city, the throne room with which Silver had stayed in since arriving here. 'What is Silver doing to cause this?!' Micah screams in his mind, trying to keep his usual calm facade.but the more they drive the more they worry, seeing bits of ancient computers turning on and machines that looked long ruined start moving. But, despite all that, its the city of the city that takes the spotlight, gears are shifting, cavities in the underside of the city opening, mana with a density unlike any he had felt to date, weighs heavily on everything around, her throne room ablaze with lights and mana flowing from every seam possible, clearing the city grime to bare steel all around. Thankfully they are in a vessel maintained by the same mana, otherwise, Micah worries they might never have survived trudging through this destructive mana. As he nears the tower, the same clutching Ai is by the door, though it looks as if in pain, its image constantly trying to split and reform like a glitch, it doesn't attempt to speak, simply pointing at the throne room before vanishing again."well shit..." Micah says, out loud, his mind trying to find a way to not be ripped apart by all of that mana. 'Where did she even get this much mana?! What can I even do? I am higher level than her, but holy Feth! She terrifies me more than that thunder wolf, the feth do I do?' He slowly spirals himself, seeing the dense mana clearing the city better than any sweeper bot or chemical he had seen. At some point, a loud THUNK, resounds from behind micah, startling him out of his spiraling thoughts, only to see Aideen struggling to drag Micah's newest cuirass, the gift from Silver ,making micah's eyes light up,causing him to speak unlike his usual polite self. "Dad, you're a fething genius!" Micah says, scrambling to help him, his stats once again being made known as he picks up the couple hundred pound cuirass without even a moment of struggle slinging it together as he listens to Aideen reply. "Of course! We ARE scientists, mad scientists, but still scientists!" Hearing this, micah chuckles, letting out a relieved breath, pulling on the rest of the armor, eventually looking like a walking tank than a simple suit of armor, one could see that silver definitely was curving away from the basic blacksmith design of a knights armor that's been standard for centuries now. "Stay put, it's not safe!" Micah says,his voice somewhat muffled by his helm,hopping out to reseal them back inside. Though he is sweating buckets, fear a very real thing for him as he walks toward the door. Though its only a few dozen feet from the truck, it feels like an hour passed to cross the distance, his first obstacle to help his best friend, and brightest flame, the massive door, locked with an ancient and strong mechanism. Taking his face, he swings it overhead, much like a wood chopping swing, the edge of the axe scrapping along the seam, sending sparks flying, but no purchase to fly the door open. He repeats the, again, and again, his desperation apparent as he swings fast and erratic, despite his stats, his size, even the armor he wears, doesn't seem to be enough to cut through the door, when almost as if his fragmented prayers were heard, the edge of his axe catches, burying just an inch's worth of his face, but it's a start. With great effort, causing the handle, and even the blade to warp, the screech of steel grinding against steel ear piercing. But all the better, a sign of progress. Giving his all, Micah pries hard on the handle, groaning from the strain, but alas, not even a squeak from the solid doors, But he doesn't give up, doubling down his efforts to force the massive door to open for him. At some point, he can feel extra hands, and hear the grunts of others, but through the strain he hadn't bothered to open his eyes. Why should he if they are already helping as best they can? Eventually as if whatever was jarring it finally gave, whether a motor or a gear, he doesn't know, the door slowly creaks open, though still under tremendous tension, which surprises everyone considering the age of the city.

Someone managed to wedge a tower shield in the gap, forcing the door to remain open, though the creaking of the shield is worrisome to some capacity. Is silver trying to lock us out of was this a mechanic of the city waking up? This thought flashes through micah's mind as he steps through into an empty throne room, hundreds of incomplete machines and alchemic oddities that Silver had been working with from time to time, though a showcase of her knowledge, she is nowhere to be found amidst the machines, some of which flicker on briefly, before falling silent. But as he starts the panic, flicking images of strange beings and partial images of silver flicker here and there, all pointing towards the staircase that leads to what micah has no clue, hopefully silver. Taking to the stairs leading down, he storms down taking them two or three at a time as he races against an unseen clock the feeling of trepidation growing fiercer with every step into the underbelly of this city. Lights and mechanical doors shuttering and flickering. The scene more a poltergeist scene than a rescue romance, at least in the subconscious thoughts of Micah as he follows the flickering images of beings either in prayer or guidance to who knows where, but he has nothing else to go on, so he follows. Eventually, her finds himself in a round atrium, filled to bursting with so much mana the likes of which he didn't know silver was capable of, and in the center of it, the dyson sphere, a beautiful piece of technology on any other account, is now a reason of great tripedation as the one he is trying to find is in the heart of it, seeming unconscious but that isn't the most pressing issue, its the fact that she is bare once more with some sort of magical runes etching themselves all over her skin causing swells, and well to form, and the worst of all, the silverfish veins had appeared once more, this time even more pronounced than ever, covering nearly every inch of her, despite having already mutated, and having physical deformities already, now, he doesn't know whats going to happen, only that it will. I can't leave you by yourself for one day without issues arising I swear! Is all he thinks to himself before taking a running start, preparing to jump in after her, despite weighing in total nearly half a ton, or the fact that he might hit hard, it doesn't matter to him, afterwards the choose of life versus limb had already been made long before he got involved. With a growl that shook the air, what little remained, he started the short dash to the sphere, he steps like thunder, his breath releasing puffs of air, he towering size moving much faster than he had in a long time, before a mighty leap, or...it would've been if not for the sheer density of mana halting his momentum with jarring force, barely "falling" forward through it. But, just as he draws near the heart of of, where silver resides, curled in on herself, seeming more vulnerable than even the day she lost her original arm, something takes form in the mana, at first, it seemed like a demon, until it took on a familiar shape, looking like an illusory version of silver...but something is odd, its eyes seem hollow despite the fact it blinks at him. Given no time to process much of what it is before it moves in a flash, despite the density of mana slowing everything down, this being moves like a blur, slamming into him, well specifically his armor, only to disappear, but while it may be gone,so is Micah's progress, being hurled out of the sphere, pancaked to the floor with such force the metal floor crumples, turning into a small crater with him ad the center. Groaning from the pain, he goes to move, only to realize he is unable to move anything, he isn't crippled, but its as if the armor had been welded in place.Just as he thinks of struggling, an all too familiar voice tickles into his air, far too close that from where he can clearly see her, more than a dozen feet up floating mid air. "Can I trust you? No...should I? My hopes...dreams...my very soul, can I trust you with them?" Silvers voice, pure and filled something, something he had never heard from her, but he keeps quirt, letting her talk. "Why do you follow me? I am far from beautiful,I hold no wealth, A criminal,a killer, ruthless, so why?" Her voice seems to trail off, but he cant exactly move to follow it. "You want to know why? Its really simple, I...LOVE YOU...not as a sister, or just a bestfriend, no I love you with all that I am. I follow because of that love, I fell for you long before my dad passed, he gave me a word of advise...To follow my heart,wherever that may take me. You! Are my heart, so of course I will follow you. I don't care what you've done I know you better than anyone, no one can change my mind on you, not me, you, your parents, not even the gods. I am loyal to you and you alone." Micah says into the quiet tension filled air, the sensation of something stroking his cheek can be felt, but he cant see anything,whether on the inside of the visor or the outside of his helm, nothing is there, but the feeling of a hand on his cheek is unmistakable. "Silver, you need to stop, you are hurting yourself, let me help you." Micah tries, but the feeling of someone pressing a finger over his lips silences him from continuing. "Whats new there? I am already a monster, why not finish it?" This time the tone I'm her voice is harsh, seeming almost self deprecating, but the feeling of his armor restraining him loosen, but the sensation of someone or something laying on top of him, stops him from moving. "I am finally home, why should I leave so soon?" Silver asks, her voice filled with a melancholic tone now, the back and forth without him answering, whatever is going on, micah hadn't a clue, but he is trying his best to save his only love left in the world. "You were always home, when my dad passed, you were there, every day, you helped me feel at home, despite having none, you...you were always home for me..." Micah says, trying to stand, despite the sensation of something very heavy and feeling quite real weighing him down, eventually getting back to his feet."you are home, you just never realized it." Micah says, getting ready for another leap, his mind clear despite the doubt surrounding what's going on, but the force doesn't stop him this time, simply it weighs him down, burdening him as he prepares to throw everything he has into this final jump. But, like everything going on, it wasn't his choice to make, just as he goes to jump, almost like something snatched him up from the ground, he is now floating in the sphere, and the once unconscious silver is moving, though seeming far more natural in this realm than micah could ever hope for, as she glide over, her eyes aglow with power, the silvery veins along her face and eyes pulsing, but despite that, all he can see is how beautiful she looks filled with such power, as she draws near, she drapes herself on his armor, much like the sensation he had felt earlier, and the only barely whispered words from silver, before the wild mana outside, and the clanging in the halls, and the buzz of the city above, falls quiet, all the mana that had been turning on, and off the city, vanishing, every light every machine, falling silent as it is pulled back, in the span of just four,spoken words..." Welcome home...My king." Before the rush of all that mana, an unprecedented volume, rushes into his armor, bypassing what had kept him safe til now, to flood into him, drowning him in silver's mana, the sensation a mix of fire through his veins, and cooling comfort as more and more mana flows into him, funneling in through his mouth, nose, ears, ears, it fills his body changing it, changing some thing, creating other things, but it doesn't stop there as more mana pushes through, following his soul thread tethered in the mana world, only for it to find and fill it, conforming around his soul, what is happening, he doesn't know, but he trusts Silver, despite the tinge of pain, he trusts her,afterwards he hasn't burst into ash like he has seen her do now. But unbeknownst to him, silver is giving him something he didn't even know could be given, a fragment of herself...more accurately a fragment of her power, like a key to the city in this context, and making him worthy of being her king, filling him with more power than any being at his, or even her level should ever possess, though his body can feel things changing, the truly surprising thing is the system screen that pops up, though it keeps flickering as it updates. What is shown is his personal status, and on it, several of his stats are flickering, the number changing and growing larger, ones that had been barely a dozen points now rapidly approaching fifty and those that had been on the verge of a breakthrough now flying higher as silver not so subtly gives him her answer, tying them together until they both fall. Though, if micah could see his body, he would see intricate tattoos of powerful runes forming, and the pattern of a cat and moon forming over his heart, but the strangest thing of all, is the color in one of his eyes slowly changing colors, now having an eye much like silver's,though hers is through a mutation, silver has grown to understand what she can do, and what the world will allow her to do, so changing the properties of ones eye isn't the hardest thing in the world, but not that easy either, but she pulls it off, granting him a sight much like her own, seeing into the world of mana, and being able to see the world like she does.