318 The Time To Embark
—However, it wasn’t a perfect workaround.
As he tried wielding a sword with his new right arm, he found the skill he had garnered to be completely dwindled, finding it difficult to even properly swing the sword. It wasn’t a matter of strength; in fact, he felt as though the artificial arm was naturally stronger than his left as it was more empowered by mana, however, it was the case of losing his muscle memory.
“…Shit,” he exhaled in frustration, feeling the imbalanced swings from the sword against the air.
Blimpo patted his back, “It’ll just take some time to break in, yeah?”
“Yeah, hopefully.”
The truth of it was already apparent to the young man as he felt the metallic grip of his new right hand around the sword’s handle.
Adam mentioned something when we made the deal…He wanted my right arm because it had my “swordsmanship” inside of it. Did losing my right arm make me lose that? He questioned.
“Don’t think too hard about it, friend,” Blimpo assured him, sensing his uneasiness, “Losing a part of yourself–it’s weird at first.”
“You’re talking as if you know,” Emilio looked over at the elf.
Blimpo smiled slightly, pointing his index finger against his chest, specifically to his heart, “I do. Listen closely.”
Unknowing of what his companion was trying to show him, the young man scooted closer, keeping even his breaths restrained as he allowed his ears to take in all sound.
BRR-DUMP. BRR-DUMP. BRR-UMP.
It was the first time he noticed it since meeting the elven man; his heartbeat was peculiar, sounding like the purr of a machine, quiet, yet ever present.
“Wait…” He realized, looking at the elf.
Blimpo nodded, “I have a mechanical heart. It’s weird, isn’t it? Even after dying, they don’t make you “whole” again in the After; how you leave life is how you arrive in death.”
pAn,D a-n0ve1,c-o-m “Why? I mean, you didn’t do that just because, right?” He asked.
“Ha-ha!” Blimpo laughed, sitting down on the bottom bed, “I love tinkering, but not to that point!…To tell you the truth, I was born with an illness–I heard it was the same one that took my Mom, too. My heart was failing, I realized that one day while I was fiddling with some new inventions–my chest was tight and I was coughing up enough blood to make a vampire drool.”
While he told his story, Blimpo leaned back against the railing of the wood-and-leaf bed, sitting by the small, natural lamp of glowing amber sitting by one of the nightstands.
“So, you made a mechanical heart…? How did you even manage that?” He curiously asked.
“You sound like you barely believe me, and I don’t blame ya. I didn’t have any friends or the coin for the sort of potions I’d need–so, I had to get creative,” Blimpo explained, “I made a perpetual machine; perhaps one of my greatest inventions, capable of endlessly pumping my blood. I had to slice my own chest open and stay conscious while replacing my own heart. Definitely not an experience I want to repeat.”
It was only then that Emilio noticed what Blimpo was pointing out on his bare chest: a barely-visible, but long scar that trailed down the center of the elf’s torso.
“That’s insane,” he remarked.
“Isn’t it?…Anyway, the reason I’m telling you all of this is because our flesh isn’t what makes us whole,” Blimpo pointed one finger to his mind, “–It’s this. As long as we have our memories, dreams, and all of that snazzy stuff, we’re the same, impossibly stubborn people.”
“Heh. Guess you’re right,” Emilio agreed, looking over at his mechanical arm.
It wouldn’t be an overnight process, for sure, but he believed he would get used to the artificial limb that was now one with him. Nonetheless, it was a priceless replacement, at the very least, in comparison to not having a right arm to use.
He knew the current calm he experienced would be temporary; a fleeting respite amidst a realm in perpetual twilight. It was now being aware of the true nature of the Primordials that their scope weighed down on him even as he sat there in that isolated room.
…It’s a lot to take in. Blimpo doesn’t seem to be feeling it too much, but well…It’s one thing to be told they exist, but being in the presence of a Primordial…It’s not something I wish I encountered. The best way I can describe it is as if you lived on a small, isolated island your whole life before suddenly understanding how vast the universe is; how uncaring it is for your minuscule life. A single breath of that endless cosmos can blow you and everything you know away. Magic, Systems, all of it–that sort of power can’t be fought against, he thought.
At the very least, the secluded room within the otherworldly tree was comforting, for some reason; the soft glow of the amber crystal provided a light akin to a campfire, along with the natural, wooden structure and decorations of leaves and flowers made it a relaxing environment.
Though, it had been completely made a mess from the construction of the artificial arm; wood chips were scattered along the nightstand-turned-workbench, metal shavings and scraps laid along the floor, and it smelled of burnt steel.
“We should get this cleaned up,” he remarked.
“Huh? Oh right, you said there was a faerie using this place too,” Blimpo recalled, looking towards the ceiling, which housed a hanging bed of flowers, “I always heard about ’em when I was a runt, but didn’t know they were actually real.”
“Really? Even faeries are too weird for a world of magic and dudes that can turn into bears?” He jokingly asked.
Blimpo shrugged with a brief chuckle, “Ya know that your homeworld–’Earth’– sounds like a ‘fantasy’ to me, right? Guns, the ‘Internet’, even those video game things. It’s all about perspective–perspective, perspective, my friend,” the elf repeated in a singsong tune.
“Yeah, yeah,” he responded tiredly.
After it was all said and done, there wasn’t anything left but the road ahead, considering time was of the essence especially. If he wanted to make it his destination, he knew that sitting around and ‘planning’ was only an excuse; he had to move forward despite his fear.
A few more hours were spent in the tree-home while they prepared themselves, but alas, it was time to head out.
“Guess I’ll be passing back out the second we leave this room, eh?” Blimpo asked.
“Seems so. Sorry,” he nodded.
“No worries–it’s hard for me to fall asleep normally, so this is some much needed beauty sleep! Ha-ha!” The elven tinkerer assured him.