+Warning+
+There are signs of self harm in this chapter, this is for the sake of fictional purposes and isn't a sign from God to harm youself+
+Stay safe and Live long+
+++
The future is carved by the hands of the present, hands which are molded by the past.
"So live, carve a brand new future where you won't suffer."
Those were the last words Ester heard from his mentor as they bled out on the ground, the azure blue blood sinking into the dirty plastic filled ground.
Hand clasped around his, Ester felt the strength leaving his mentor's hands as he desperately held onto the little bits of warmth left.
And even those bits of warmth were nothing more than flickering embers in a snowstorm
Tears carving valleys on his face, Ester's grey eyes were dragged from his Mentor's still warm body and to the one who caused everything to come crumbling down.
Eyes smoldering with the flaming desire for revenge, they burnt the firewood as he spoke through gritted teeth, the black cloudy skies raining down acid that ate at the skin.
Pain on his physical body only matched by the pain in his heart, Ester clutched at his chest as his heart beat with a ferocious rage.
Breaths coming out laboured as all his equipment had broken long ago, he vaguely recalled the words of a woman long gone from the world.
"Don't worry Ester, Bleeding only gets rid of the bad blood."
Ester wondered if bleeding could get rid of the painful blood as he stabbed himself in the arm.
---
"Huuaaah!"
Suddenly flailing his arms, Ester shot up from his hard mattress made up of several stack up clothes, nearly falling off of it in the process.
And in waking in such a violent manner, he woke up his fellow room mate also sleeping on the same bed.
[Uhhhh, why are you shouting so early?]
The sound of a monotone and mechanical voice groaned as its owner got up from besides Ester.
Clad in nothing but a thin sleeveless top and shorts, the blanket made of a patchwork of clothes slipped off of the two as Ester clutched at his chest in a panic.
Eyes shaking, Ester took in several deep and frenzied breaths as his heart felt as if it would burst, strange and unfamiliar emotions seemingly emerging from nowhere as they attacked his psyche.
Clutching at his chest, Ester couldn't be bothered to answer his bed mate.
And Eva, upon noticing the chaotic state Ester was in quickly sobered up, hurriedly hugging and placing her metal mask against Ester's face.
[Are you okay? Do you want me to get the Emotion Killers? Just rest and breathe.]
Arms circling around his body, the mechanical and monotone voice tickled his ears
"Just... Just hold me for a moment."
Arms both of metal and flesh circling around Eva's body, they locked her into a tight hug as Ester made a request
And accepting said request that lasted more than a moment, Eva slowly circled two arms of her own around Ester's wide body, patting his back in the process.
Taking in several deep breaths, the room was filled with nothing but Ester's frenzied breaths and Eva's back pats.
Slowly calming down, Ester's heart soon slowed to a more normal level as he awkwardly pulled Eva's hand away from him.
"...I'm fine now Eva, you can let go now, no need for the emotion killer"
Staring at Ester in doubt, she nevertheless released him, giving him a concerned glance every so often as she shifted to the side.
[Are you sure?]
"Yes."
[If you say so.] Giving a doubt filled glance his way, she got up from the mattress and left the room, poking her head back one more time to evaluate whether Ester would break down in a mess again.
And although Ester noticed, he ignored it in favor of trying to recall what it was that had caused him to be so panicked.
'Seriously, why was I so panicked and afraid?'
Panic and fear was the mind killer, eventually devouring him to the very last bone, so it was important to find out why he was both afraid and panicked
The thing was ever since that day, it was as if a bit of him had died, leaving nothing more than the ashes of his emotions he self evaluated.
'And I think I just had a normal nightmare although it probably isn't normal...'
Eyes blinking, Ester tried to recall the last time he had a dream or nightmare that made his chest feel tight as if someone had bound it in white cloth.
But just like his emotions which had turned to ash the very same day, that day had left him with only dreamless nights.
'...Was it because of that day?'
Reflecting on his inner self, Ester's thoughts were interrupted by a monotone voice.
[Food.] Carrying a platter of artificial foods, Eva entered with the valuable food stuffs and crouched down to Ester's eye level.
"...You didn't have to use-"
[Shut up.] She placed the platter on the ground before pointing at Ester then the platter of artificial foods on the ground. [Eat]
"..."
[Eat] She insisted.
"..."
Hesitating for a moment, Ester's mouth twitched once he noticed the concentrated nutrient solution's needle glinting behind her back.
It seemed even if he refused to eat the platter, Eva was determined to get him to eat something.
Even if that something consisted of the incredibly rare and expensive half filled nutrient solution that could sustain someone for an entire day.
Taking the artificial bread grown in the fake plant tube, he gnawed at the hard black bread as Eva watched.
Now satisfied with what she had seen, Eva demanded [What happened?]
"It..." Ester hesitated as he spoke through chews "It was a nightmare"
[A nightmare?]
"I'll be honest, I didn't expect to have a nightmare after so many dreamless nights" Ester confessed, taking a bite out of one of the mushrooms grown in their garden.
[Is it because of the new religious gang that Astra had aligned herself with? They're not the same group as the man that betrayed us]
"I know, it's just-"
[They're so similar to them?]
"...Yeah."
Ester tried to stop eating the food only to continue when Eva gestured at the nutrient solution.
[Just because they're also a group of fanatics worshipping something that I don't even think exists doesn't mean that they're all automatically the same as the Bloodied Moon Gang.]
"...You can't tell me they aren't similar."
[You have me there] Eva shrugged her shoulders [But in the end, they're called the Golden sun, the antithesis to blood and moons, the two things that those maniacs worshipped.]
"...Yeah."
[To begin with, not all fanatics are the same, some of them are planet born like us, and some of- well most of them are exiled.]
She shrugged her shoulders [I don't know what to tell you, they'd rather escape reality and worship something that probably doesn't exist for stability.]
"...This has suddenly gotten heavy, can I go now?"
[Yes, but you won't do daily maintenance with me today.]
"Wait what?"
[If you force yourself to work, I'll stab you, I swear I'll do it.]
Ester shook his head and got up from the ground, picking up the half eaten platter of food. "I have a responsibility you know? Just because I had a little nightmare doesn't mean that I can't work, I'm not that fragile."
[I'll stab myself if you don't stop.]
Freezing in his tracks, Ester stared at Eva.
"You wouldn't"
[If it means you don't work, then I will.]
Sensing the stubbornness radiating from her eyes, Ester helplessly retreated in shame.
Although he liked this stubborn side of hers, he didn't like it when it was faced towards him.
"...Fine"
[Good.]
Placing the nutrient solution into her back pocket, Eva glanced backwards before disappearing to some corner of their hideout as she carried the platter with her
And as much as Ester would've wanted to work behind her back, he knew for a fact that she would go through with the self harm, even if it wasn't a particularly major wound.
'...I guess I can only go to the tinkering table.' Glancing at the path that Eva had took, he pondered silently for a moment.
'She will allow that right?'
'...'
'Better to act first and beg for forgiveness later.'
It's easier to beg for forgiveness than to ask for permission after all.
Moving to the tinker room connected directly to their bedroom, Ester opened the door to a dark room filled with the vague shadowy shapes of things unknown.
And flicking the lights on the side, it revealed what it was that was hiding in the darkness.
Tools, both mundane and magical hung on the walls, Aether charges segregated to a large box in the middle of them, covered by a cloth that couldn't hide the blue glow that they emitted.
Creations, artificial limbs, weapons, traps and gadgets littered the workshop in varying states of completion.
Most of these items present were in varying states of completion due to the fact that there just wasn't enough raw material.
'If I look around hard enough or dismantle some of the more useless ones I can probably complete a lot of them...'
But just like many of the times before, he never got around to doing it.
It was funny how he was so diligent in daily maintenance and not in tinkering.
But excuses aside, there was one thing that Ester had been particularly invested in as of late.
Sporting a distinctly sleek look, the chrome silver contraption showed itself in a distinctly incomplete manner, messy wiring poking out of the incomplete frame
Cracking the finger bones in his right hand, Ester stretched his limbs and put on his tinkering equipment.
From now on, he was going to forget everything in favor of tinkering on this item in front of him.
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Tree