[Archivé] Nydoo [Libre]

Pisinnnnnnn…. Kinsinn...Kinpin. Pin. Pisinnnnnnn…. Kinsinn...Kinpin. Pin.

A working sound of micro electric drill filled with the whole lab, a girl in goggles worked hard for drilling the last screw.
It was near daybreak. Even though the work shop was beneath a limitless desert; no windows there, Sabrina could feel the dark night was over by sensing it through her own skin. Spending the whole night, she had exerted herself to repairing her armored suit.
Lots of pitting and finish peeled off because of a big crush made by her “sando” several days ago.

Spoiler:

“Nydoo!”She took off her goggles and whirled the chair backward, finding no one behind.
“Nydoo! Don’t hide, I know you are in somewhere places… Look! What I’ve made!” She stared at her work on the long table in satisfaction.
To cut down on the chances that the suit got pitting so easily by Nydoo’s savage crush and also to prevent Nydoo got hurts from it, Sabrina inserted the sponge sand in it. It was more flexible. Anyway, the suit wasn’t made for fight but for self-protection.
 
“Nydoo?”
Nobody answered.

Nydoo had been quite weird recently, she found, especially in these weeks. She would rush in the lab around, like a sport car without brake system, until she wore out on the ground, moaned and kept calling herself in a weak tone. Nydoo was made by sand, only in 50 cm but very hyperactive.
Just three days ago, she even bumped herself into the wall for several times… as if there were a string boned with her and it was pulled, pulled, pulled… but finally was cut off…then, she let out a dreadful scream, a really thrill scream.
However, Nydoo wasn’t a “self-damage” creature. She had kept Sabrina accompany for 13 years and it was the first time for Sabrina seeing her in so much pain and explosive temper. No answer could she got from her because everything her “sando” would say was “Nydoo...”, as one reason for the name was concerned.

“Uh...”
Sabrina stood up and walked around to find...
Sometimes, She would find Nydoo sleep in the dark and dirty corner, covered with the dust cloud for warmth or even too tired that slept beside the faucet, which could put her in death in a second.
A turn.
She saw NOTHING on the mini table ! Blink eyes. Nydoo’s armored suit was often placed there, which was also considered to be her working suit. It was she made for her 5 years old birthday gift,  also be the  protection to her small size in such a big world, waterproof for sure.
Nydoo would usually wear it once she went out… but now?

Sabrina highly suspecting, Nydoo had left when she was busy in her repair working…
During the night? Where was she going?
Without any thought, she turned off the light and “went up” the stairs to the ground.

*

On the street, indeed, there was a small machine creature moving...

Spoiler:

Tic.
Tac.
Tic.
Tac.

Out of frustration, the black-skinned young man was moving in and out of Time, the world around him stopping in its tracks and restarting again each time he did so.
He was sitting on a barrel, the symetric sets of scars on his cheeks and his braided hair giving him a wild look, just like his expression of pure annoyance.
He had lost his target.
The man had just blinked out of existence, using a spell to travel, preventing Acheron from following suit, his own powers over time useless if he had no clues as to where his target went.
He shouldn't have followed this person here ; now he was stuck far from Hypnos, unable to see his Father's glory set in motion !
More and more frustrated, Acheron hit the wall behind him with his hammer, the strange weapon increasing the impact and caused a vibrant tremor that expanded to the whole building.

A bit calmed by his action, the young man got up from the barrel and went into the streets, just as the inhabitants of the building he just hit woke up from the tremor they felt in their houses and beds.
At least he was somewhere he liked, the small village built in white stone just near the arid regions of Phobos, just like where he once lived. With his family...
Acheron was getting tired. But frustration, and excitation from seeing his Father in Hypnos kept him from finding a random place to just lay down and sleep. Which frustrated him a bit more...

Just when he started to get bored of walking in this smallish town, Acheron heard something weird.
Bzuuuut, Bzuuuut, Pppfffssshhh... Bzuuuttt... Beep.
Following the sound, he passed a corner, and found a weird creature of metal, a bit like a spider, with several thick legs and many red dots on its big head. Two little arms shot out of its front, with three-digits "hands" that looked funny.
The thing was moving.
Acheron stopped, both curious and cautious, one hand on the hammer attached to his belt. The thing moved like a living being, but it was the first time he saw something of metal move on its own.

There is another way…

Sitting right beside the window, hardly could she find a shop opening at dawn, especially in such wildness. Sometimes, she just wanted to pretend to be a normal girl and did something 13 years old girl would do.
Anhydre stared at the glass of juice, which wasn’t she wanted to order but a damn clerk insisted she was too young to drink Bloody Mary. It was the name that attracted her. Despite of her claim: I won’t drink and CANNOT, still, only a cup of juice was offered.
The reason why she came nowhere but Desert Phobos was because she wanted to find the place she was born, about the past, about the history 13 years ago. However, she hadn’t got any idea of it.
A messy and complicated feeling crushed on her - anxiety, excitement and mystery- However, everything turned sour with that cup of juice. Not a really good sign…

Even if that juice disappointed her a bit, she was very surprise and hard to believe she could “grab” things. “Switching” left to right, right to left, Anhydre smiled at it in a sense of achievement. Thanks to the panther-man’s cure, she now was an invulnerable and water-proof sand girl ! Nobody could do her harm.

Invulnerable?
This word prickled her thought suddenly. In fact, a few hours ago, the wind brought her to Desert Phobos wasn’t the bar but a rather dark alley with dead leaves and scattered branches. She got an awful eyesight in the dark. It took her near half an hour to finish it and just as she turned left, which would lead to a brighter place…
At her back, a sound. Beep. SHORT and SHARP. However, nothing did she find when she turned around. To check it out completely, Anhydre went back and followed the direction of sound from which she had heard. Far from there, beneath the tree, a red spot.
Red Light Spot!

Without any thought, she poured her sand out powerfully… It highly could be the masked-man’s team. Perhaps, they knew she was coming and… She wasn’t that fool anyway. No second time. Not again. Pour the sand so hard until the red light spot disappeared at sight.
To keep herself safe, she left with the wind blowing…

Invulnerable?
She wasn’t quite sure of it after having such a big reaction toward the red light spot… She was afraid of losing her freedom again, of being controlled again.

Shaking her head to get rid of bad memories, in a sudden, a voice came…

“Hey you, could you stop playing your drinks?

Anhydre looked at her “half” glass of juice.
She had kept “switching” left and right and splashed half cup off on the table without notice.

Rushing to the street, Sabrina had no clue which direction she should begin with. The hunch told her Nydoo wouldn’t appear in the place she used to be since the hideous action she had taken. It wasn’t the first time Nydoo running away from home. She remembered last time, Nydoo came home on her own with a broken “armored” leg and “FAINTED” over a week… Until now, she got no idea what happened to her.

“What the hell!”
Looking and walking around, nothing did she find…
What burned in her thought now was her brother. He had swore to kidnap Nydoo in thousand times. Even though it happened in no once, still, there was a chance. For thirteen years, she had tried to escaped from the shade of her brother and made up her mind after Nydoo came into her life.

However, even so, the thought of “monitor” was not on the list...

Worrying and aimless…
She knew it clearer than anyone- Nydoo’s stubborn was her second brain !

Walking into a bar, she wanted to refresh and calm herself. Impulsive rush ought not to be her first act. However,  Nydoo’s recent behavior was so strange that she couldn’t stop thinking of the upcoming danger and forgot to put her armored suit back to her body.

“Damn.”
Turning around...
She wanted to sit alone but almost seats were occupied.  Only one in a corner left, she walked toward it. Checking the time, she’d better coming up with an idea before it was getting dark.
Staring at her glass of green-colored wine, she attempted to squeeze the last word Nydoo talked to her out of “Pinsinnnn” memory.

Is it possible that I didn’t hear what she said?
Whimmmmp.
What did they do before she worked on the repair?
Whimmmmp.
How could she not hear she open the door?
Whimmmmp.

The sound of Whimmmmp kept interrupting her thought. Plus now, she was in an anxious and emergent mood. Taking a glance at the girl sitting beside her,  that girl seemed not to notice her “Whimmmmp” sound, which had driven her crazy ! Keep Whimmmmping ...
Much to her stun, the half cup of juice had been splashed out but the girl, as if no nerves to sense, still, sank in her imaginary world.

She couldn’t stand it and said:
“Hey you, could you stop playing your drinks.”

Until then did the girl look at her cup…
Once the girl notice the juice had been splashed around, she withdrew her hands and jumped back in a big step, nearly falling down to the seat. Such frightened movement also gave Sabrina a shock. What the hell!

Even knowing it’s not her words surprised her but the juice, she said:
“Uh… Sorry. If it’s my words jerked you up.”

The girl looked at her…So did Sabrina.
That girl had a “dust-yellow” short hair with white hoodie in back, having a quite cute and wild look. Barefoot.

In her eyes, she could see the frightening even though the girl tried to cover it up.
That frightening she had seen before… but where?

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Ha..hooo..ha..hoo…haaaa.. hoo..
Nydoo had a sound sleep beside Sabrina’s pillow. Even though temperature didn’t work on her, she still covered a tiny quilt. It has been a long time not having a real rest. So fatigue that even the drill sound sounded like lullaby.
-
Suddenly, as if an electrical wire were connected, Nydoo bounced up straightly.
Her sand particle kept trembling, she looked at her body… SSSSSS… and at Sabrina’s back…
She didn’t want to bother her work, thinking she would be right back very soon, so-

Throwing herself under the bed and “nipping” toward the table beside the window silently. She got to wear her armored suit and take a quick leave. The suit was help her move around at the outdoor and protect her from danger or unexpected weather. Considering she was fatal to water, Sabrina made it for her five-year-old birthday gift and would upgrade it every year.
Once she sit in,  the machinery cover on the both side would closed automatically. Could not see through from outside but everything appeared, like under the sunlight, so clearly inside the suit. Several control buttons listed along in the back of cover shell. To alert people not to step on it, red lights would reflect on both sides and in the middle.
There was a chassis beneath the body to fast speed and be able to turn around in 360 degrees. It moved on the ground like skiing on the ice. For the four “spider-like” legs were to fix point or to rise up the whole base if she wanted to see further or get over bumps.

Nydoo set out by moving slowly.
Thanks to the “skinnnpinnnnn” sound deafening Sabrina, she got out successfully.  
Fast…
Nydoo moved on the street and followed an unknown direction she had inside her mind. Something she didn’t know exactly what it was but she really would like to embrace… It was just like the feeling of thirsty to water…
It was getting closer. Inside the suit, a limited visual field she got…but she knew it was so close…
that she had never been that close to it before.
Beep.
She stopped. That feeling was hanging too. Under the tree, those leaves had blocked her sight. She couldn’t see the front clear but she knew IT was in the front- watching her!

Hold the breath… inside the suit, then-
booooosssssoooooobooooooo….
booooosssssoooooobooooooo….
booooosssssoooooobooooooo….
Tons of sand hitting on the metal suit made a “drizzling” sound!
Nothing did she know and then was attacked, without a reason. Until she move a bit to be covered under the tree did sand storm stop… but also that belonging feeling was gone.

SAND! The belonging SAND!
After making sure nothing was there, she moved out… Butzuuuu….
Right and left and right a bit.
Back, right-front, left-back… Butzuuuuut
She adjusted the position.
Extended her “digits hands”, she wanted to collect the sand on the ground. However, her “digit hands” was incompetent at “picking” sand…  as clumsy as eating soup with forks...
“...doo?”

Butzuuut… move toward right side.
She did sense something.
Beep. Stop.  
Nydoo looked up inside the suit. A black boy with his hammer.

Not think much, she moved to the boy’s feet… She extended her digits hands again, asking that boy to give her his hammer to collect the sand.

The thing was digging into the dust packed on the ground there, near a solitary tree. There was no one around, and the boy wondered what this thing was ; a toy away from its owner ? He never saw anything like it.
Acheron frowned when the weird metal creature skittered towards him on its huge legs and waved its small "hands" at him, like a young kitten beg for attention.

- What do you want, scrap-head ?

He took a step back, cautious, his hand gripping the hammer's handle more firmly, ready to free it from his belt and take a swing at the creature if she showed any sign of aggression.
From the back of his head, he heard a short laugh, low and growly, but paid no mind to it ; he sometimes heard a voice in there, but it wasn't his Father, so it was not important. The dark-skinned young man also had his power at the ready, and would gladly go into the infinitesimal time.

Once Anhydre found her hands “sinking” in the juice splashes, she withdrew hands at once and threw herself back straightly. Heartbeats bumping, bumping, bumping… People around her were shocked by the sudden reaction.  
Watching those splashes form into several tiny streams, slowly run to the edge and drip on the floor, she raised up the hands to check if there were “festered sand”. Thankfully, they were as good as before. Dry, clean and particles.  
“Uh… sorry. If it’s my words jerked you up.”
Anhydre looked at that girl, who had a golden hair and was quite strong and tall, looked like a cool person, who just told her to stop making noise. Anhydre shook her head immediately for a reply…although the frightening was stone-like sank into her mind deep.  Bumping, bumping, bumping… She thought she was going to die.

The girl then turned to a waitress and asked for a rag to wipe the table clean. While the girl helped her pick up the pieces, Anhydre gave a glance at the “green liquid” through the reflection on window. She felt herself get pinched again.
The green liquid ! The tone of color was exactly the same as the one dripped on her given by the masked man in Cruor.
What?!

Anhydre was too shocked that she didn’t notice herself speaking.
A low voice, like murmuring...
“That colour...”
She was in her own thought and memories again... and the event just happened three days ago.

The girl looked back at her and the direction where she was looking at after giving back the rug to the waitress and a “thank you”.

That frightening on the girl’s face she had seen before… but where?
The feeling told her it was quite similar with this time. It was also the matter of water !… but where?
That girl shook her head- is to say “I’m fine” or to say “No, it’s not your words but that juice”?

Juice! Now, she did remember something.
There was one time, Nydoo was shocked to flip herself from the shelf and broke the whole plates inside and her face turned as pale as the moon as she sent her a plate of water and only one drop she sip. It was two days after she took Nydoo home and worried she might die because of lack of water. Following several liquid tests, including fruits, she had found water was forbidden to Nydoo and she hated it so much.

But this girl in front of her just did the same reaction to the juice she splashed out…..why?
Is she also afraid of water?
No way, it must be me that miss Nydoo too much.
Not to make the girl feel embarrased, Sabrina decided to put the suspicion aside and called the waitress, taking the rug to wipe those sticky stain on the table. She even squatted down to clean the floor.  Anyway, thanks to Nydoo, she was a great housekeeper now, cleaning to her was everyday chore.

Just after she returned the rug to the waitress and said: thank you, the girl murmured something in surprise:
“That colour...”
She followed the girl’s sight, she found she was looking at her wine.
Yeah, her wine color was quite unique- verdigris. However, there was more inside the girl’s eyes. She seemed to think about other things.

Sabrina knew this color name in her brother’s potion lab at her age of five.
To seize the chance for teasing this girl, she said:

“If I said it’s the potion that can make things real, will you believe that? Do you want some?”

Sabrina tipped her head toward the girl’s juice cup…
Indeed, what she said it’s true, she once saw her brother did make things real by using the potion in the same color as her wine.

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That boy stepped back instead and gripped the hammer tighter. He didn’t know what she wanted was the hammer in his hand… In the armored suit, even though she could hear the voice, she could send no more word than “Nydoo” so she gave up.

Backward. Beep.
Moving to the pile of sand, Nydoo opened her suit. The cover gradually lift up and she climbed out. Not thinking too much what this boy would think of her, she walked to scattered pile and with her tiny hand, pinched sand bit by bit into her seat.
She intended to fill the seat with full of sand and brought it home.
Nevertheless, her hands was so small that only o.1 g she could bring in in one time.

Nydoo looked up at the dark-skinned boy, pointing his hands with hers and said : Nydoo.

The thing ran back to the dusty spot after a while and a "beep" that sounded almost... disappointed ?
Acheron relaxed, removing his hand from his hammer. What did it want ? He felt somewhat frustrated himself for not being able to understand but, in his defense, these "beeps" and "boops" were outside of any idiom he knew.
Then, the thing opened, and the strangest creature went out ; tiny, kitten-sized silhouette in black, with a white mask as a face and head. Dark hollow eyes looked around and the creature jumped to the ground, starting to grab some of the dust there to throw it into what apparently was her vehicle.
When the thing suddenly turned towards him and yelled something while exaggerating her gesture of throwing what sh was holding, he finally understood.

The thing wanted his help for collecting the dust ?

Acheron was a lazy boy. Some said - his brothers and sisters mostly - he was Lazyness incarnate. It wasn't common for him to make any effort whatsoever but, right there, he felt compelled to stick around this weird creature, out of curiosity for what it was and why it was here.
But waiting for it to finish collecting all the sand would be boring ; Acheron knew he wasn't patient enough to wait for that to happen.
So he chose to help.

He was lazy alright, which in turn gave him a really practical mind : he was an expert at finding the shortest and most efficient way for doing what he had to do.
Acheron moved to the other side of the street and grabbed a big bin that was laying there. He emptied its content on the sidewalk - making a huge mess in the process - and, with his improvised basket, joined the small creature.
Approaching, he noticed that it was not dust the creature was trying to collect, but sand, which was even weirder. Where did this much sand came from ? There was only cobblestone around...
Acheron dismissed the thought with a shrug, and started to collect the sand using the bin, scraping it on the ground with an annoying sound. The creature was actually too close now. And in the way.

- Move, scrap-head, or you'll go in with it.

Once he collected enough of the sand, he emptied the bin into the creature's vehicle, taking a second to inspect the weird little seat and the different levers inside of it. It somewhat reminded him of one of his brother's noisy vehicle, a motorbike if he remembered the name of it correctly...

Anhydre was dragged back into the real world after a surprising ask thrown at her by the girl beside her. Actually, she was really stunned at it- her response.
Potion?
Does she know something? The same thing as I do?
Or she just wants to shock me?
Will it be coincidence?

Climbing up her seat, she turned to the girl. From the behavior of helping her wipe the table and the feeling she gave her, this girl seemed to be a nice person, despite of her weird temper.
No, she cannot be…
Between two possible answers- yes or no-  Anhydre chose the former one in a firm tone without a second.
“Yes, I do!”
She would like to see what reaction the girl would have… In her “truly-know” eye sight, this time was the girl’s turn being surprised. As if any kind of answer would be right but YES.

In order to ease the awkward moment and not to let the girl hang in her surprise too long, Anhydre laughed:
“Ha, ha… look at you! I’m kidding. I only know the potion that extracted from herbs… Is that called potion too? I don’t really know… or therapy? The maker is an awesome person. She helped me a lot.”
And I call her Tata! She had forgot the real name though...
she is very different from another potion maker whom I call masked man!
Anhydre continued and tried to hide the laughing eagerness:
“It's the color of your “potion” reminded me of the snake that I saved from the danger once, from a group of people…”
Sorry, Tata, I take you as my excuse in this emergent moment.

Then she winked at that “potion”:
“I am under the legal age to drink wine so thanks.”

This answer seemed to be “more acceptable” to this girl.

At last, Anhydre cast a question on purpose in a tricky way:
“So… does the potion you mention really exist? Could it be that you, the potion maker?”

and do you know the masked man?

Yes, I do.
The girl back to her seat and gave her a “superise” answer.

Sabrina thought it would be a joke or something fancy, something attractive to the normal young lady. However, the girl’s firm reply and serious look made her nearly believe that potion, her throwaway remark, the girl had seen before.
She, herself, saw the potion in two times, one was at her age of five, the other was on Nydoo. The first time they met, Nydoo’s left hand was in “verdigris” for several days and faded with time passing but no reason. Since then, she always kept her brother away from this small creature and lived in fear until thay escaped successfully.
And this girl…

Thankfully, just before she put herself in her word- YES- and got to ask further questions, ready to moan for her because of her brother, the girl denied. Thankfully, this girl wasn’t a victim. She just played a trick on her.
The big laughing also smiled Sabrina… Her looks ought to be stunned. In true, she was almost dropped out of her own tease by this girl.
She said she knew no more potion than those made by herbs. And for sure, her brother’s potion had nothing to with nature but magic.  In result, their interpretations passed by. A pure misunderstanding.
Also, the girl explained why she was awed at her color of wind because of… snake? Sabrina doubted it though… saving a snake? In this color? But the girl’s look was far from sinking in a “good” memory as she let out “that colour...”. A bit too hard to express. However, that may be a privacy so she gave up digging it deeper.

Sabrina nodded after the girl’s words:
“Oh yeah, some potion are made from herbs that can cure our body but some are not so be careful. Potion can be poison! And you’re right, it’s not the potion, just a cup of wine. I want to tease you but you back fired me obviously.”
She smiled as she imagined the snake:
“So cool ha ha! I haven’t seen a snake in this color honestly.”

Then, she sipped the wine but the girl’s questions nearly made her gush them out:
“Oh… yes, it exists. I’ve seen it before. But no, I don’t do potion experiment, either herbs or magic or water, what soever… not to mention potion maker. However, one of my relatives lives on it.”

To prove she was not, she kept going:
“Instead, I made this...”
She turned around her left wrist fast in the air, the hand was in the armored glove in a second…
The brown metal.

The gloves parts were the only part left in her body...

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Nydoo kept pointing at the boy’s hand but he seemed not to get her points so she demonstrated to him in an exaggerated action. She carried a big sand pile with her body and hands and part of head- as high as her height- then, thrown it in her seat heavily. A mini sand storm dusted.
After several times, the boy understood?!… but…
Watching the boy walk across the street, now leaving? Nydoo? Nydoo tilted her head…
Just as she was going to give up the thought of having the boy’s help, he stopped and picked up a bin, pouring content out… and walked back.

Nydoo didn’t know why he brought a bin instead. Perhaps, he wasn’t here for assistance so she got to her own sand collection work.
Ny-doo, Ny-doo, Ny-doo… she murmured in some kind of rhythm.
Suddenly, a sound of sand sprinkling caught Nydoo’s attention and looked back. The boy was helping her collect the sand with the bin, used as the “big mouth”. Nydoo was too stunned to do her own work and turned to fix her sight at the boy’s simple and efficient movement concentrically.  So focus that she didn’t let out any sound… A head moved from left to right, left to right...

Suddenly, the boy spoke. He called: scrap-head.
Scrap-head?
Nydoo hadn’t aware he was calling her actually until seeing the boy stop at her front with sand pile. Standing there she would soon be swept up with it. She was in his cleaning way!… then she jumped to another side hurriedly.
“Nydoo!” She corrected him.

Looking at the sand pile grew higher and higher in her armored suit, she was like a kid holding her hands together and couldn’t wait to see all the sand being collected. Watch and wait…

Abruptly, a sudden gust of wind blew… from the direction of those content the boy put aside… Nydoo was too light to stand such a strong wind… watching the plastic bag floating, she got to grab it before she was blown away… got to grab it… otherwise…

yeah, she grabbed it but still-
She stumbled, Nydoo...

Until now did she find she had left her protection for collecting sand...ah oh!

Acheron was a lazy boy but, thankfully, there was less sand to collect that what he had thought at first. That, or the trash-can technique was a really efficient one.
The little creature had stopped and stepped aside when he told her to, observing him do all the work with its weird black eyes. Apparently, it could not talk, aside from these screams that sounded like someone coughing or sneezing.
Acheron was a bit frustrated to do all the work, but the creature's hands were really small after all, so he guessed it couldn't do much. The metallic spider was almost full now...

Then, a sudden gust of wind threatened to disperse all the sand left, forcing Acheron to close his eyes because of the dust and bad smells coming with it. When he opened them again, the creature was rolling on the ground, carried away by a plastic bag like a small toy attached to a kite.

Tic...
Before he could think about it, Acheron entered the infinitesimal time.
The world stopped. Silence fell. Debris and dust that were flying with the wind stopped in mid-air, shimmering under the dull light.
In the middle of it all, the creature looked even weirder, with its head like a chitinous white mask and those black eyes. Acheron took some time - pun intended - to inspect the metallic spider, curious about how it could work and trying to find who built it. Clearly it was not the creature who made it, it was too complex.
The design was really different from his hammer, even if there was some similarities between the two.

Acheron went back to the creature in distress.
Should he help it, or not ? Even if he was tired before trying anything, maybe it would bring him to the person that built the metallic spider if he helped it. That would be interesting.
The lazy young man approached the creature and put the trash-can he still carried over the creature, forming a dome that would stop it from being sent away by the wind.
Nodding, Acheron took a few steps back and...

Tac...

Anhydre awed into silence, staring at the metal gloves appearing on the girl’s hand in a flashing second. She had known someone who was a telepathist, was an elemental spirits and was a painting geek. Everything related with magic or super-nature ability but none of her knowledge told her there was someone who was proficient in “hardware” magic.
The girl placed her hand on the table slowly and slightly, in order no to make a big noise, which made Anhydre want to laugh.
She was eager to touch her armour-plating glove but concerning to her own body, having no interest to let the girl know she was made of sand yet… perhaps, that gloves had function of detection, despite of “cold-blooded” metal, she withdrew her hands. A high self-defensive mind !

Instead, she threw questions while scrutinizing the material and its design with her curious eyes.
“You made it all by yourself? Is it heavy? You are an expert in this? A talent or….?”
Finding herself going to bombard the girl with too many questions, she stopped. However, her eyes couldn’t take off and swept over every inch.

There are over twenty “micro-tiny” screwdrivers on it. To tally with human body- finger parts- the brown armoured plats were designed into three parts for joints; in that way, it was free to move fingers. Under such thick metal plats, Anhydre couldn’t stop thinking how much weight it was and imagined herself putting this on… could sand particle sustain it?
To her much surprise, her skin and the gloves was integrable. As the girl rolled over her wrist, her flesh skin turned with the hard plat; or to say, they both were in one piece as if she got two different skins.

Doesn’t she feel hurt?
Unaware, Anhydre rolled over hers too.

For Sabrina, it was her first time showing the armour work to a stranger. She avoid revealing it as possible as she could; in result, she was quite surprised by how naturally she activated it in front of this girl, whose name she even didn’t know. If this girl were some kind of spy, then apparently, she had been caught into her trap.
However, she couldn’t deny on this girl, there was familiarity… beyond description though. Curious as the girl’s look, she found her hands took back instead while her head drew closer as if one microscope were set in her eyes that could check and “touch” it carefully.  
Drumming her hands on the table, she raised up her eyebrows, thinking what a strange reaction this girl got… She should have touched it according to her degree of curiosity or should have asked for it in politeness.

Sabrina threw her wondering away once the girl cast her many OTHER questions…
Smiling and said:
“Well, yes, I made it on my own and yes. it’s quite heavy but… since it becomes parts of my body, I feel it the same as my bones, flesh and skin. Imagine that way, you’ll know how I feel. But for you...”
She narrowed her eyes and found the girl was rolling her wrist too:
“it can crash you into a biscuit maybe, haha. Yeah, kinda, I have searched and learned it for about 10 years since I was in your age, probably…”

Opening her palm, her tone was changed:
“Hummm, you can say it’s a talent but to me, it’s far more than that…
“You will know what’s the best protection when you got someone to love and take care of.”

A warm smile shown, looking at the girl... now she got to go.
Drinking off the cup, she turned her wrist round again to normal, standing up and said:
“Glad to have a chi-chat and nice to meet you, girl. But I got to go now. For your juice, it’s on me. Bye !”

She knew the girl might not want human touch so she winked her goodbye instead.
Yeah, one thing still burdened in her heart, that was Nydoo and she got to fix it now even though she didn’t have any pinch of idea on it.

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Nydoo felt wind had transpierced her body and she was going to dispersed. Grabbing the plastic bag didn’t prevent herself from blowing away, she rolling on the ground, tried not to fly herself up. It was too late to catch other heavier stuff. With her tiny hands… still… too.. F-O-R-C-

E-D!
BON-BO.
A huge, low sound thundered Nydoo’s ear !
She thought she was on the sky… but no!
Rolling round and round and round... in an orange stuff, she couldn’t stand up but roll together, suddenly- DON- stop ! The container bumped into the wall.
A sudden halt gave her a big shock, slowly… she crawled out… from…
Until she stood up and went around did she find it was a “trash can”, the one that boy carried to collect sand saved her. One thing to be sure: now, she was quite stinky…
By hopping up and down, she arranged the sand order.
Finding the boy beside, Nydoo walked to him and bowed : Nydoo.
The question of how the boy made it happen didn’t stay in her mind too long because she’d better get into her armoured suit before next gust arrived. She quickly climbed back to her seat and SINK into the sand seat, only showed her two big eyes out.

Looking at the boy again…
Stretching out her tiny hand and pressed the red button, which could control the back cover open and close… However, it stuck and opened automatically in the half way, as if sensed something was there.
Press again. Same. Press, same…
Then, Nydoo looked the sand around her… immersing herself to push those sand deeper inside her suit. In addition, she pulled a handle that could make the suit raise up by elasticizing “spider legs”. It could reach up to 200 cm high but only 150 cm Nydoo adjusted.
It might be heaviness that shut the lower chassis down and the only one way to solve it was to use steel “joints and bones”, in which design was originate from a spider. However, the movement would be much slower while a big step it could move on.
Those steel sticks as four legs were attached with rather sharp and high-speed turning blades, which could be used in either drilling ground and attack. Certainly, Nydoo had closed them and made sure of the boy’s safety beside her suit.

For the moving, the front-feet spirals would screw up and move forward while the “back-feet” would screw in to sustain the whole machine. And then, the front screwed in while the back screw up for carrying up. That was in one step.

Then, Nydoo looked at the boy… she didn’t know the boy’s decision, come or leave?
By saying: Nydoo?
That would decided her to close the cover or not.
Yeah, she didn’t want to exclude her sand collector and wind helper!

The small creature kept going once Acheron got out of the infinitesimal time, the momentum carrying it away, taking the trash-can with it. Now that he thought about it, it probably wasn't the best idea to use the trash-can...
Acheron shrugged and kept looking at the spider metal vehicle, even when the trash-can hit the wall hard with a BONG. He acknowledged the creature's bow of thanks once it returned, carrying a faint smell of trash with it.
The young man was really curious about this machinery, wondering how it worked and if there was some similarities with the hammer he found in Crannsliabh. He really wanted to meet the thing's creator now.
Speaking of thing...

The "scrap-head" climbed inside the metal spider and submerged itself under the sand within.
"Doesn't it need to breathe ?"
The question lingered inside Acheron's head, but were put away once the spider started moving, elongating its legs to stand almost as high as him. The legs were turning around, piercing the ground to keep a steady balance. The movements looked a lot more clumsy and slower too.
Was it showing off what it could do ?

- I'd like to meet the person that built your vehicle of metal, scrap-head. Can you bring me to him/her ?

Please Father, make it so its not too far. I don't want to walk all day long for it.

Anhydre nodded.
However, a slight shock to the mention of flesh and bones made her blink eyes for several times and stop turning her wrist. Clearly, she knew it would be endless and rather dangerous to let a stranger know her identity, especially in public so she lowered her head down, pretending nothing happened.
She laughed as the girl said she might be instead crashed like a biscuit.
Yeah, actually, even now she has been qualified to be “biscuit powder”.

Somehow, in the girl’s tone, she found depression and mourn, which made emotion waving and then dive down. Anhydre stared at the girl and nodded, even though hardly could she comprehend those called “more than talent” and “you will know what’s the best protection when you got someone to love and take care of.”. Both of them seemed to combine with a long story and complicated feeling that only “human” would come across.
More to her, the girl seemed to say to herself, trying to pull herself up in the memory pool, feeling something triggered but put it out at once. Failed to analyze the answer through her eyes, Anhydre simply stared at her seriously. Maybe, it was a solemn moment.
However, to be honest, Anhydre, she only believed in talent… because everything came to her was so naturally as well as cruelly and nothing would be as important as protecting herself.

A warm smile wore on the girl caught Anhydre’s wondering mind perfectly. It showed “it’s hard to understand, I know. But don’t worry, everything will be okay.” and Anhydre returned a bright one. Once the girl turned the flesh skin back, Anhydre’s mouth rounded automatically. Still, under a long history, this way of protection was quite amazing and advanced to her… what if her sand body also… dare not to give a further thought, she watched the girl drink her whole cup in one go… and then wink her goodbye, a hand waving Anhydre did for reply.

Now that the girl had left, it was time for her departure to finding her born place…
That girl, she thought, it might be her first and also last time to see such a cool person! Even only an hour, that’s worth it.

At next moment, catching wind blowing…
Anhydre disappeared.

Switching on the light, tossing the jacket to the bed beside, Sabrina threw herself on chair with one hand on her forehead and eyes close. She sighed. After searching Nydoo for nearly whole morning, she felt exhausted.
Another thing ringing in her mind was the girl she met in the bar. As she was about to walk back and asked if she saw a small creature or maybe a gray armoured machine walking on the street. However, to her much surprise, she found nothing… the girl was gone but she was sure the girl didn’t leave from the door. What?! She knew some people in this city devoted to magic stuff but according to the girl’s aura, she didn’t see that in her.
She sighed.
It was quite fool to think a “guessing” question, she knew but still, she was pretty shocked then.

In order to put those worries miles away,  burying herself in experiment was the best way. There are tons of experiment on different combinations of genes and sand stock in her to-do list. She walked to the white table set beside the “window” to make herself a cup of coffee. Then, she washed her hands, removed those files on the shelf,  after pressing a blue button on the corner of lab table, a microscope slowly raise up. With care, she took out a sample of butterfly’s wing for a colour research.

Nevertheless, just as she put eyes close to the eyepiece, a sound- tstststststststststststs- came from… the entrance. Someone was there?
Then she grabbed her jacket and walked up stairs… before whirling the steer to open the cover, she waited sound passing by. Tststststststs…. and a bit of faint voice.

She breathed deeply and prepared herself for any fight if necessary. Whirl the steer- the cover flipped another side and opened. Sabrina rushed outside…
But what she found was: a boy in red half-covered cloak with a hammer, whose back turned on her and an occupied sand pile in armoured suit, which was almost the same as Nydoo's….
?

"Eh, so what's going on here?"
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Honestly, she missed her so much !
The boy wanted to meet Sabrina?

Imagining the scene they met, Nydoo “smiled” in her Nydoo way.
“Nydoo.” and she nodded. In her beliefs, Sabrina will be willing to see her helper !
However, it would take half an hour or more since this machine moved slower than the way she came.
Kli-kli-kli-kli-kli-kli-kli…. The metal sound clashed to the ground.
With her two big eyes out of sand pile, she observed the boy secretly. She now had time to think about how he saved her from the wind… from his appearance, nothing related to the magic power but a possible savage manner from that heavy hammer. Beside, she guessed, he came from other places and might grow up in a high-born family due to his thin air of arrogance; also he was kind of lazy person, because he would rather dumped smelly trash out of trash can than spending much more time collecting sand with two hands.
Above all, none of them would make her not trust this person anyway…

On this way to home, once the gust of wind dashed out, Nydoo would bury herself fully inside the sand to avoid being carried away. However, poor boy, he might need to stand those sand particle flying into his eye... Nydoo felt very sorry for him.

After several turns and straight… they finally arrived. On the ground there was a circle line- the entrance.
Nydoo then pulled back the handle but it seemed to be locked- tstststststststs… couldn’t fold legs up and lower the machine. After trying again and again… Nydoo jumped out of the machine and gave a detail check on each of “shrewd knives” leg.
“Nydoo...do..”
In disappointment, she found no solution and stared at the boy…
“Nydoo?” she asked if he knew how to solve it.
If they couldn’t layered down the armoured suit, they wouldn’t be able to get indoor.
Nydoo touched every screw and sighed…

Just that moment, an asking: What's going on here?
She peeped between legs of suit and found… Sabrina !

Then, she rushed to her in her small steps without a second…

Acheron followed the now long-legged metallic spider. The small creature wasn't very good at talking and Acheron wasn't either, so the walk went in silence.

Shady streets were soon replaced by dusty hills, and the duo was harrassed by harsh wind carrying a really thin and smelly sand. The creature submerged itself under the sand carried by the metal spider, and Acheron just squinted his eyes, letting the tears protect his eyes from the wind attack. He grew up in a place really similar to this one, so he was used to this harsh weather.
He was starting to get tired though, and a bit bored. The show provided by the drilling legs of the metal spider helped to keep him entertained and curious about the one behind its making, thankfully, so he endured his boredom.
For now.

In the middle of nowhere, the spider suddenly stopped.
Acheon stopped too, and looked at "scrap-head" with a smile on his face, amused to see that the enchantment helping the vehicle to move around was defective. He couldn't really help the creature ; he was seeking the thing's builder because this kind of magic wasn't his forte after all.
With curiosity, he looked at the small creature who was moving around the spider, touching every screw and nook of the thing, to no avail.

Just when he thought about what to do now, in the middle of nowhere, a feminine and authoritative voice asked what was happening.
Just as the young man turned around to see the newcomer, the small creature ran fast on its short legs to join this new person.
A woman, wearing simple clothes and a long white coat over it. Her long hair were a pure yellow, and she had a stature like a well-trained soldier.
Acheron looked at her and shrugged to answer her question, before showing the small creature with one hand.

- Hujambo, shangazi. Scrap-head here brought me here. Are you the one who built this spider ?

At the same time, Nydoo rushed out from the button of the armoured suit. Seeing her back home safely, she finally could rest her heart but still…the matter of taking the liberty of going out was something she had to lecture her later.
No asking for a hug, Nydoo probably knew she had done something wrong and felt guilty now. Instead, she stood between her snickers, grabbing the end of shoelace tightly, turning to the direction Sabrina was looking at- the boy.

Sabrina blinked her eyes at the first two or three or four words the boy burst out. She thought he was introducing himself but the following “Scrap-head” made it more like a hello or nice to meet you. What?!
Scrap-head? Her sights moved toward Nydoo and understood at once why he would call her scrap-head… she cracked a smile, thinking this boy was quite funny while Nydoo shook her head and kept murmuring “Nydoo” in a low voice as a protest.
However, much to her surprise, the reason why the boy came here was because he was interested in this armoured suit and wanted to see its builder? Sabrina nodded and said:

“Yup, it’s me, both the designer and builder. It’s to protect Nydoo, I mean ‘Scrap-head’ because of her some physical specialties… but now…it’s quite….”

Narrowing her eyes, it’s hard to accept the condition of armoured suit now- filled in full sand and the gray steel cover was carpeted with thick dust and also those joints- she even didn’t know this cool spider suit could be like an octopus with a mouthful sand...  

“...different.” Instead, she whispered it in a stun.

Her one-kneel squat pushing Nydoo forward, she touched the armoured suit but a strong “trash-like” smell kept harassing her nose. Then, she looked around… and found…

Looking at the boy, she smiled weirdly due to the smell and said:
“Hey you, boy, could you tell me how did you meet Nydoo and what have you two done this morning?”

Nydoo stared at the boy and said : Nydoo. Apparently, she had got used to the smell on herself.

The young man let out a thoughtful growl :

- Hmmm...

He found it annoying, to waste time talking about how things happened, how the sand got in the metal spider...
It was there, so why would it matter to say more ?
The young man wanted to ask if this woman could inspect his hammer instead, but he knew that sometimes, it was better to be nice to people before asking for their help. Something Eve and Holle taught him.
So he could oblige her.
Even if it was a pain in his butt.

- I saw... Nydoo... in the streets, working on collecting the sand you see here. I used a trashcan to help her collect it, hence the smell I guess.
Then I asked to meet the person who built this metal spider and here we are.

Thankfully, he was able to make it short.
Acheron stared at Nydoo. So apparently, it was a "she" and it was her name she kept speaking out loud...
Scrap-head was fine too.
He wanted to keep calling her that. And he would. He felt curious about what the woman meant by Nydoo's physical specialties...

He turned back to the blonde woman, waiting for her reaction. It probably wasn't the right moment to ask her about his hammer, even if he really wanted to, and move on with this day.
He still had to get back to Eaque to bask into his Father's glory after all !

Sabrina nodded. The boy seemed to compact a “morning long” story into two sentences. Overall, they did two things: collect sand and find her. Obviously, the boy didn’t know why Nydoo collected those sand and maybe, he was simply attracted by her spider suite so here he was.
To add the details, Nydoo kept waving her hands and jumped and rolled… However, Sabrina only smiled weirdly and confessed that she had no idea what she was talking about.

“Ok, Ok, Nydoo and thanks for your inform, boy.” she smiled.
Looking back the sand-full suit, she frowned and searched around her thought to find a good solution to deal with it.   The “spider leg” had been stuck and couldn’t leveled down since the heaviness of sand and the “overuse”. Such a long leg wasn’t for “moving around”, more for attack and defense. However, by shaking the suit, those screws still were screwed in well and kept the suit unmovable.
Maybe, it was in the center- a “gravity balanced ball- was moved and needed to adjust it back.

Now, she did get a good idea… but she had to get down to bring her tools up.

“You two, stay here… I got to bring some tools up.”
Sabrina pressed a button...
However, Nydoo followed her. She didn’t want to be left and kept saying: Nydoo…
“Stay here.”
A firm tone stoned Nydoo’s steps.
“Just gimme three minutes. I will be back.”
She knew it well if Nydoo also got down. “Tool-taking” wasn’t a “minutes” but “hour” thing.

Looking back at the boy, Nydoo nodded slightly and traced toward him by saying “Nydoo” in disappointment.
Just at then, the door cover had been whirled close… Nydoo suddenly looked up toward the sky, with her eyes, sweeping over the heaven from east to west, as if there were a “huge plane” flying through. She didn’t let out any sound but only opened her mouth… staring at it straightly… blinked eyes several times.
She “ran” in some steps toward the direction of thicket as if to catch the “falling kite”, like a kid…but that feeling faded so soon that she hadn’t even moved away her house in ten meters.  Fixing her sight on the boy and pointed the direction she was following : Nydoo, Nydoo. Nydoo ! Calling like “there, there, there, do you feel?”

At the same time, Sabrina had come back, carrying a “Nydoo-sized” round electromagnetic plate and a tool box. Though, she found nothing strange on them; also, Nydoo had returned.

“Boy, could you do me a favor? this suite was quite heavy now, could you lift it up with me? Since we have to adjust the balanced ball inside and it won’t work if those steel legs are connected to the ground. You, on that side… and Nydoo, take this plate !”

There is a “tiny holder” for her grasp.  Yeah, it was designed for her since Sabrina was always the one who lift the suit up and Nydoo for adjustment.

Sabrina sent a sure look to the boy...
“Ready? 3… 2...1 !”

The plate started to “zooooooooooooooom”, a low frequent sound was nearly cracking the ground. Nydoo like holding the steering wheel,  tried to balanced the gravity ball. They would know it had been done when the sound stopped.

However, somehow, Nydoo suddenly drifted her attention toward the thicket again. Without notice… the plate was skewed and-

DOOOOOONE !
A huge clashing, to be precisely, a powerful magnetic force with…
HAMMER!

Sabrina couldn’t react to it at once; it happened in a second !
Nydoo moved in “light speed” and now, yeah, you could guess, she was right on the hammer carried on the boy’s back… and the boy...

Please take me to my born place.
Closing her eyes, she whispered to the wind.

The eagerness kept running on her mind…
Since last time, she had asked the wind for bringing her to “a healing place”, which brought her to a pirate ship and met Aëlia, she found that the wind would somehow respond to her request. Perhaps, like Tata said, she was a daughter of wind and sand so that they might have some vague connections.
However, this time, she didn’t know the wind whether knew where she was born after 13 years.

Still, feeling so excited that wind did whirl her into the air, she couldn’t wait to see the place she would be at in her next eye opening moment. Just then, wind stopped and put her down in an alley… She looked around, having no time to scan the whole surrounding, the wind went up again. At the next stop, she found herself standing beside an empty orange trash can, not a second waiting for her eyes sweeping, she was in the air AGAIN. After that, wind even didn’t give her time to “stand well”, to “feel”, to “hear” and carried her away in a harsh blowing. Even at last, it only let some of her sand particle -hand, feet, ear, nose- attach to the ground for one second and shot off.

This routine went round and round… Anhydre felt so dizzy and regret for throwing such a hard mission to wind. With ground attachment, wind tried to “detect” the place of “Sand origin” from her body.
This routine went round and round…
Just for hundred more or thousands of time, she was finally placed in a “little thicket”, which could hardly be seen in a desert… those green bushes offered her a proper hiding place. Nevertheless, she was afraid this would be another “throwing and fetching” game wind played. She dare not to settle her mind down until… the last wind string flew across her hair.

“HU..Hooooooooooo..HU..Hooooooooooo ” she puffed.
Brain had been mixed up and buzzed with ears. She stood up and shook her head.

As her sight returned back clearly,  behind the bushes, she saw a bunch of people, no… three in precise, in about one hundred meters away. One in yellow blond hair, another in dark skin and the other… she seamed her eyes… hardly could she see “it” clearly and they were fixing a machine, probably.
But without knowing why, suddenly, when that “it” turned toward her direction and met with her sight… her left palm waved a hard aching. As she looked down at her palm, the hurt moved back… and she turned her head up quickly to check what “it” was… sights clashed again.

“Damn!”
The hand spasm made her scream. Hurriedly, she clasped her mouth.
Fortunately, her “damn” yelling was replaced by a sudden huge “DOOOOOOOOOOONE”, which shocked her to the core !
Sight caught fast to the front to see what the hell happened...and she just found “it” was stocked on the dark-skinned boy’s back…
What?

What is “it” ? The one who would cause her palm spasm once their sight met together.
And why the wind brought her here? Is this a real place she was born?

To dodge the sight meeting, Anhydre sneaked to a thin tree at the front and peeped them in curiosity behind the tree.

Acheron had frowned when the blond-haired girl went into her underground home. She had said three minutes, but it seemed awfully long for the lazy - and impatient - young man !
He took some time to clean his eyes from the dust and sand, leaving his clothes dirtied by it, knowing full well that cleaning the fabric while still outside was a never-ending work. Even if it was noisy, he paid not much attention to the small creature's strange behaviour. He was used to live with people who often acted rather strangely themselves, and he was able to sleep anywhere, anytime ; so "Nydoo" way of looking at the sky and waving to the bushes were not that weird.

Speaking of sleep, it was now quite a while since he took a nap somewhere, and he started to feel pretty sleepy right now.
Acheron hoped that woman wouldn't be so damn long to retrieve her tools, so that he could ask her to inspect his hammer, find his answers and go back to the city to sleep !
Finally, he got his wish, and the woman returned.
But instead of giving him time to request her to help him, she asked for his help to lift the metal spider ! And it was absolutely heavy !
Acheron really wanted her help in return for his, because this kind of physical labor was not his thing at all !

His muscles were straining the second they started to lift the metal spider full of sand.
The young man had been focused on his motivation to help the woman a second time, so he had not paid much attention to what the plan really was. So when Nydoo suddenly flew in his direction, carried by a huge device that looked important, the surprise was complete !
The objects - device and "scrap-head" - hit his back, glued to his hammer, and the shock sent him flying, the weird weapon doing its trick on its owner to multiply the inertia ten folds.

The shock and the pain felt like being hit by lightning, and he saw white during a second while his body was airborne.
Then, a familiar buzz in the head.

Tic.
He went into the infinitesimal time, and brought the one that was in contact with his body with him.
Acheron hit the ground face first, and it felt smoother than usual due to the temporal modifications altering how shockwaves transmitted to the earth below. Sand and dust stayed still, unable to move naturally. The woman on the side was still lifting alone the metal spider, immobile as a statue.
The fall was still painful though and a series of coughs and groans could soon be heard, as Acheron spat the sand he had in his mouth and were forced to endure the pain. After a few seconds where he felt like his brain was doing jumps and turns inside his skull, he noticed the unusual weight on his back, amidst the muscular soreness all over his body from the fall.
He turned his head around, discovered Scrap-head still attached to the strange device, which was glued to his hammer, which was still on his back.
Acheron gritted his teeth, and growled :

- Get ! Off ! Of ! Me !

He couldn't move much, and only managed to wiggle a little in his attempt to reach for the creature.
His head felt heavy, heavier than when he brought someone with him inside the infinitesimal time. Maybe it was the fall.

Just when Anhydre was ready to cast a sight on both the boy and the small thing in clear behind the tree, everything shut down suddenly, as if the world had power cut. The sound of wind stopped and the shadow of leaves formed a robbing painting on the ground… even the sunshine kept its brightness holding.
To her much surprise, over there, the blond hair girl was statued in a “lifting” pose…

Moving her sight quickly before any attack coming, nervously, she walked out to the wild. The small thing still was attached on the boy’s back immovably… Getting closer a bit…
“Daaaaaammmmmmnnnnn !”
A sudden strong electric wave weaved through her body which nearly made her feet sink down to the ground. In her body, an electric circulation were made…

SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS…. Sand particles throbbing.
The ground was leaking the electricity?
Squatting down, she touched the soil but in a second, she hand back ! The current power almost baked her fingers and twisted them off.
Looking down at her barefoot… and then her left-hand palm. A huge force, like line of magnetic flux, flew along her scar, where she usually poured out the sand. So powerful that she couldn’t “open” her hand fully.
From the corner of eyes, something, no ! Someone was wiggling… The boy !  

So she wasn’t the only one who could move? Would it be possible…he did all of these?
Abruptly, as the boy squirmed… Anhydre stretched out her left hand without consciousness and was brought to the direction where the small thing was at by the magnetic power … At that moment, she could sense something was connected, like clashing with a different magnetic pole.

Get ! Off ! Of ! Me !
The screaming voice in a such silent space pierced Anhydre's ear.
Apparently, he wanted to get rid of that small thing.

Then, she drew back her hand bit by bit…in curiosity.
A heavy forcing power suck the air...
To her surprise, the small thing with the boy was moving toward her !

SHE WAS “MAGNETIZING” THEM... ?
Or it was..
SHE AND THE SMALL THING WERE “MAGNETIZING” HIM?

Acheron felt a tug, trying to force him backward, as if Scrap-head was trying to break his back by pulling on his hammer !
He groaned again, putting a hand under the leather strap that went around his waist to hold the hammer in place on him. The tug was going insistant, by waves, tightening the strap on him painfully.
He flexed his muscles to resist the pull, and after a few seconds of a painful tug-of-war :
Snap !

The leather teared apart, freeing the hammer from his back and everything got separated from there.
Acheron fell again, but soon turned around and scrambled back to his feet. He was still dizzy, the buzzing in his head stronger, the blood drumming inside his skull.
What he discovered after a second surprised him to no end !
A girl !
There was a girl moving with him, into the infinitesimal time !
It was impossible ! This was his place, his sanctuary ! He came here to find some calm, to sleep ! Scrap-head came because it was glued to his back when he came here but she... she was an intruder !

- Who are you ? What are you doing here ?

She looked young, her blonde hair shorter than the spider-builder. She was standing a few feet behind the mass formed by scrap-head, that strange device and his hammer, glued together.
Acheron was furious, and he failed to notice that, now that he was standing, his shadow was visible, and showed a much bigger mass that his body should have cast on the earth...

Then, a sudden conversed force pulled her few steps forward, which made her swear. In order to stop herself moving toward them, she held and “dragged” her hand with the other and tried to walk back… HA—HARD, until the force on the both side were torn in a dead balance.
The sight landing on the boy and that hammer, Anhydre realized where she got this magnetic strength. It was a current sent from the boy to the ground and came through her whole body and her palm, connected to “something”, forming a strong electric circulation system…

In other words, if the boy and the hammer cracked…
… cracked, then…
As soon as the hypothesis rolled on her tip of thought, she had heard a “bonk” and knew it was not only her imagination. The hammer and that little thing suddenly flew to her in a deadly speed because of the last string of magnetic force left in her palm and the reflex from “their” tug of war.

She couldn’t do anything.
The little thing with the hammer...

Its heaviness could be felt, even by simply watching the dark and massive shadow on the ground “shooting” at her...
“NooooooooooOOOOOOOOOO…..”
The little thing and the hammer hit into her chest directly, “flushing” her away together. The sudden heaviness of hammer almost choke her to faint.
She, then grabbed it and like pulling out the sword, “plugged off” the hammer and the “plate” from the little thing with one hand...
“You ! let them go !”
And covered the little thing’s eyes with the other hand in a reflex action.
Meanwhile, Anhydre forced her back on the ground to slow down their speed.

Finally, they stopped at somewhere else.
“DAMN...” Anhydre groaned and felt her back aching that she couldn’t move but flat on the ground. Feeling her limbs numb...

Then she found the little thing turned over beneath her hand, lying on her chest with two tiny hands beside, groaning weakly.

They hugged?  
The thought nauseated her though.